Safa Fanaian

Researcher - Social Science

Safa Fanaian’s work focuses on water governance and economics, utilizing participatory research methods to explore equitable decision-making processes and enable water justice. Fanaian has over a decade of prior experience collaborating with diverse development agencies and universities to enhance water security globally. She also has extensive experience building negotiations and dialogues, managing networks, conducting mixed-methods research, working with big data and facilitating interdisciplinary collaborations. Her current research interests include urban river pollution and urban water governance, learning from dialogue processes, governance and policy impact assessments, and the exploration of sustainable finance models and blue bonds for water-related initiatives.

Fanaian was an Oxford-Indira Gandhi Scholar at the Oxford-India Centre for Sustainable Development, Somerville College, University of Oxford. She is also a National Geographic Explorer.