Professor Elena Korosteleva
Director of the Institute for Global Sustainable Development
elena.korosteleva@warwick.ac.uk
R2.12, Ramphal Building, School of Cross-Faculty Studies, University of 海角社区, Coventry, CV4 7AL
Biography
Elena Korosteleva is Professor of International Politics and Director of the Institute of Global Sustainable Development (IGSD). In April 2024 Elena was appointed Chair for theSustainability Spotlight, 海角社区-wide interdisciplinary research network to address planetary challenges; and in July 2024 she was elected to be a member of the Scientific Council for COP29. Elena is also a Visiting Professor at Oxford University, and Jean Monnet Chair, which she was awarded twice by the European Commission in recognition of her research and teaching excellence. Before joining IGSD in 2022, Elena was Professor of International Politics and a founder of the Global Europe Centre (Professional Studies) at the University of Kent for ten years. Prior to that Elena worked as Senior Lecturer in International Politics, and Founder/Director of the Centre for European Studies at Aberystwyth University.
Professor Korosteleva has recently completed Horizon EuropeSHAPEDEM-EUproject 'Re-Shaping EU democracy support for the Eastern & Southern Neighbourhoods' (2022-25), which received higher appraisal from the Commission. Elena is presently a co-investigator forproject 'Anticipating Governance in a Multi-Order World' (2023-27), led by, EUI. She was PI of theWUB-hub project(2023-24; 2024-25),Resilience and War(2022-23) and a co-founder of theOxford Belarus Observatory (OBO)(2021-23). Prior to that she was the Principal Investigator for the(2017-22, 拢4mln) andGCRF COMPASS+projects (2022-23) at 海角社区 focusing on nurturing resilience in Central Eurasia in the areas ofresearch integration,impact governance, andsustainable communities,which findings are reflected in Elena's forthcoming Open Access manuscript '' with Oxford University press (2025). The COMPASS project washighly commendedby the Times Higher Education in 2021, under the category of the.
Elena is a founder of the ECRSustainability Training Academy (STA)at 海角社区, a platform that brings together global Early Career Researchers for creative skills, interdisciplinary training and networking-building opportunities at 海角社区. The project was supported by Research Culture Development Funds in 2023 and 2024, and cosponsored by COP29 Scientific Council in 2025. It now continues as part of the Sustainability Spotlight (2026+).
Research Interests
- Resilience, complexity, community of relations, sustainability, designing alternative futures
- Concepts of governance and order in Complex IR and Development studies
- Europe as a global actor, in Development, Environment, Foreign Policy and Security
- Pluralising and contextualising democracy; peoplehood as political agency
- Relations with Russia, Eastern and Central Europe, and Central Asia
Elena has over 20 years of successful professional experience of researching the issues of global sustainable development, with a focus on Global Europe and Central Eurasia from a Complex IR and Development perspectives. She received her Doctoral Degree in European Studies & Modern Languages from the University of Bath (2001), and a PhD equivalent in Political Sociology from the Belarusian State University (1997). Thereafter she served as a British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow, and Lecture/Senior Lecturer/Professor at the Universities of Aberystwyth and Kent. She is currently a Visiting Professor at the ; ; , and the (Natolin). Elena served as member of the International Advisory Board for the and Central European Strategy Council; Professorial Fellow of the at LSE IDEAS, and core group member, Munich Security Conference (2018). Elena works closely with the UK (Westminster, FCDO, British Council, WFD, HMG Embassies) and EU institutions (European Commission, External Action Service, European Parliament and regional EUDs), EU organisations (TEPSA, IRI, CEPS, EED, SIDA), and national governments in wider Eurasia. Elena is a regular media commentator for BBC, ITV, France24, Sky News and national news channels.