Mirella Loda is Full Professor of Geography and deputy for international development cooperation at the University of Florence (Italy)(https://www.unifi.it/p-doc2-2015-0-A-2b33392e3a30-1.html). She is the founder president of the Master Programme in Geography, Spatial Management, Heritage for International Cooperation and the academic supervisor of the LaGeS-Laboratory of Social Geography (www.lages.eu).
Her main research focus is on the transformative processes ongoing in urban contexts and on the safeguarding and enhancement of cultural heritage, especially in tourist destinations. On this topics she has conducted several research projects commissioned by Florence Municipality and by the Tuscan Regional Authority. Since 2008, she has been responsible for several cooperation projects in Afghanistan and Myanmar on behalf of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) and of UNESCO. She is member of the Expert Working Group for the Safeguarding of the Cultural Landscape and Archeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley World Heritage Property.
She has published 7 books and a hundred contributions in international reviews.