Renata Buriti specializes in water and land use governance, water-oriented ecosystem governance, and agricultural transitions in the context of water scarcity. The geographical focus areas of her research are Brazil and countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). She holds a Master (MSc.) in Natural Resources Management and Development from the Cologne University of Applied Sciences (TH Köln) and a Bachelor (BA) in Regional Studies Latin America from the University of Cologne. She worked as a student, project, and later research assistant at both universities. In her later position at the TH Köln, her work was related to projects aimed at introducing Enquiry-Based Learning (EBL) into the curricula of master level courses in the Water and Land Nexus. For her doctoral thesis, she is analysing policies for agricultural freshwater decoupling in Jordan and their effects on the innovation of alternative water technologies and the governance of water for agricultural use. In her previous research, she looked at multi-level water governance and land use/ecosystem-oriented policies in Brazil. Besides her thematic research interests, she is also interested in learning and developing approaches that promote creative thinking in academic teaching and research. She speaks Portuguese (mother tongue), German, English, Spanish and Arabic and is currently based in Doha, Qatar.

Scientific articles

  • Buriti R., Al Saidi M., Ribbe L (2018): Challenges of multi-level water governance at micro-watershed level – A case from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci. 191, 012120.
  • Al Saidi M., Birnbaum D., Buriti R., Dieka E., Hasselbring C., Jimenez A., Woinowska D. (2016): Water Resources Vulnerability Assessment of MENA Countries Considering Energy and Virtual Water Indicators. Procedia Engineering 145, 900-907.

Book chapters

  • Buriti R. (in press): Water quality and protection at source. In: Filho, W. L. et al. (eds.): Clean Water and Sanitation (Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals), Springer.
  • Al Saidi M., Buriti R. (2019): Ecosystem Infrastructure for Sustainability – Revaluating nature through community-based water and land policies in Brazil. In: Bonnedahl K. J. and Heikkurinnen P. (eds.): Strongly Sustaianble Societies. Organising Human Acvitivies on a Hot and Full Earth. 99-115, Routledge.
  • Buriti R. (2018): “Deep or “Strong” Sustainability. In: Filho, W. L. et al. (eds.): Encyclopedia of Sustaianbility in Higher Education. Springer.

Magazine articles

  • Buriti R. (2016): Zika Virus – Virus shines light on structural problems. Development and Cooperation. 11, 19-20. Online.
  • Buriti R. (2016): Policymaker’s Dilemma – Lessons from Mariana. Development and Cooperation. 8, 32-33. Print and Online.