Biography
I am an associate professor in development management and governance at ISS. I currently combine my position at ISS with the position of senior researcher at the Centre of Expertise on Global Governance at The Hague University of Applied Sciences.
Pressing societal issues in which multi-stakeholder and multi-level governance perspectives are needed, are at the heart of what I do. Currently, I am researching the issue of adaptation to heatwaves from a governance perspective. Heatwaves are becoming more frequent and intense, silently killing thousands of vulnerable people around the world every year. I strongly believe that adaptation to the effects of heatwaves requires collective action at various governance levels. I am also participating in research initiatives on the governance of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and humanitarian and social accountability.
Over the past 20 years, I have built up research and policy expertise in the areas of:
- local governance and decentralisation
- natural resource management (particularly water and mining)
- public sector reform
in the Global South, and the Middle East and North Africa region in particular.
The red thread through all my work are citizen-state relations and how they are embedded in the ‘politics of development’. This notion refers to how different types of (local, national, global) authorities and ordinary citizens negotiate over access to services, information, and social justice, often mediated by consultants or other brokers. I am particularly interested in how local actors translate and appropriate – and sometimes resist- global policy models and tools.
In my research, I am also able to draw on my substantial teaching and thesis supervision experience at BA, MA, and PhD levels in the areas of political science, governance, and public policy & management (including evaluation). This experience allows me to approach the pressing issues of our time from an interdisciplinary perspective and using a range of research methods. Listening to the research needs of actors on the ground, and engaging my extensive networks to disseminate the results and try to influence policy at various governance levels is central in my research. I find it important that my research improves people’s lives.
Are you interested in doing research on these topics with me? I am available to supervise PhD candidates and keen on setting up international research collaborations. Please get in touch at bergh@iss.nl.
International Institute of Social Studies
- bergh@iss.nl
- Room
- I3-16
- Location
- Kortenaerkade 12, 's - Gravenhage
More information
Work
- Sylvia Bergh (2022) - How can heatwaves be governed more effectively? A look at the Middle East and North Africa - [link]
- Luciana Dos Santos Duarte & Sylvia Bergh (2022) - Fashion and Beauty in the Tower of Babel: how Brazilian companies made sustainability a common language at COP27 - [link]
- Sylvia Bergh (2022) - Towards an Improved Governance of Heatwaves in the MENA Region - [link]
- Sylvia Bergh, S Pellissery & Christina Sathyamala (2022) - The State of Accountability in the Global South: Challenges and Responses - doi: 10.4337/9781789907513 - [link]
- Thea Hilhorst, Sylvia Bergh & Susana Chang Espino (2022) - Closing the Accountability Gap:: Community Perspectives and Experiences with Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment (SEAH) in Occupied Palestinian Territories (oPt), Bangladesh, and Ethiopia
- Sylvia Bergh & Shellan Saling (2022) - The effects of heatwaves in the EU - DevISSues, 24 (2) - [link]
- Shellan Saling & Sylvia Bergh (2022) - Addressing the deadly impacts of heatwaves in Europe – The European Union Must Do More - [link]
- Erwin van Tuijl, Sylvia Bergh & Ashley Richard Longman (2022) - Urban heatwaves and senior citizens: Frugal solutions in The Hague - [link]
- Francesco Colin, Sylvia Bergh, Ward Vloeberghs, Intissar Kherigi & Hicham Jadaoun (2022) - Powerful tool or passing trend? Meanings and practices of social accountability in the Arab world, and why they matter - [link]
- Sushant Anand & Sylvia Bergh (2022) - ‘No Formalities Please!’ Broker Practices in the Municipal Governance of New Delhi - Economic and Political Weekly, 57 (17), 46-53 - [link]
- Sylvia Bergh (2018) - The Redeployement of State Power in the Southern Mediterranean - Implications for Local Governance
- Sylvia Bergh (2016) - Mediterranean Politics (Journal)
- Sylvia Bergh (2016) - European Journal of Development Research (Journal)
- Sylvia Bergh & Karin Willemse (2016) - Contemporary Islam (Journal)
- Sylvia Bergh (2015) - Decentralisation and regional inequalities – evidence from The Netherlands and Morocco
- Sylvia Bergh & Kees Biekart (2015) - Can (Evaluation) Consultants be Civic Innovators? Exploring the Shift from Auditors to Allies
- Sylvia Bergh (2015) - SpringerPlus (Journal)
- Sylvia Bergh (2015) - Cogent Social Sciences (Journal)
- Sylvia Bergh & Daniele Rossi Doria (2014) - Plus ça change? Observing the Dynamics of Morocco’s ‘Arab Spring’ in the High Atlas
- Sylvia Bergh & Daniele Rossi Doria (2014) - Plus ça change? Observing the Dynamics of Morocco’s ‘Arab Spring’ in the High Atlas
The Hague Unviersity of Applied Sciences HHS
- Start date approval
- September 2023
- End date approval
- September 2026
- Place
- THE HAGUE
- Description
- employment next to my part-time EUR appointment
Major GDP
- Year
- 2023
- Course Code
- ISS-GDP-22-23
4392 GDP: Working towards the RP
- Year
- 2023
- Course Code
- ISS-4392-22-23
Global Poverty, Local Solutions
- Year
- 2023
- Course Code
- ISS-MI-8102
General Information
- Year
- 2023
- Course Code
- ISSGENERAL-23-24
Major GDP
- Year
- 2023
- Course Code
- ISS-GDP-23-24
3105 Research Paper Preparation
- Year
- 2023
- Course Code
- ISS-3105-23-24
5401 Research Paper
- Year
- 2023
- Course Code
- ISS-5401-23-24
Board of Examiners
- Year
- 2023
- Course Code
- ISS-BOE-23-24
Senior researcher, Centre of Expertise on Global Governance
- Start date approval
- September 2020