Maeve Mc Gandy

Biography

I work as a postdoctoral researcher on the ERC-funded GEOFORMATIONS project, which traces and examines the geographies of dynamic governance assemblages within development cooperation civil society spaces. I am particularly interested in analysing how governance systems, structures and processes emerge and function within this space, as organisations cooperate and collaborate across sites and scales.

Prior to joining the GEOFORMATIONS team, I was Geography Doctoral Scholar at the University of Galway, where my research explored the human geographies and scalar politics of climate adaptation in Ireland. Focusing on the realms of policy, planning and local practice, I examined the discourses, institutions and frameworks shaping adaptation processes and outcomes, with a particular focus on how adaptation emerges, unfolds, and is governed locally. My work also investigates how diverse local knowledges are considered in such contexts.

I also hold an MA in Environment, Society & Development from the University of Galway and a BSc in Geography from Queen’s University, Belfast. Beyond academia, I have worked at UN-Habitat on climate adaptation, community resilience & knowledge management projects in the Asia-Pacific region, and at the Galway UrbanLab on the design and implementation of innovative knowledge co-production practices for community-oriented planning.