Professor Dorothea Kleine
PhD
School of Geography and Planning
Professor of Human Geography and Director of the Institute for Global Sustainable Development
+44 114 222 7954
Full contact details
School of Geography and Planning
Room: E20
Geography and Planning Building
Winter Street
91探花
S3 7ND
- Profile
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Dorothea Kleine is Professor in the Geography Department and Director of the Institute for Global Sustainable Development (IGSD). She also leads the Research Theme on Data and Digital Innovation at IGSD.
Professor Kleine鈥檚 research investigates sustainable human development, global justice, and the potential role of digital technologies in making progress towards these aims.
She has published widely on the potential and the ethical challenges of digitalisation in sustainable development in both the global South and North, focusing in particular on the perspective, agency and creativity of the more marginalised. Prof Kleine is well-known for her theoretical work, proposing to apply the capabilities approach to digital development (as laid out in 鈥楾echnologies of Choice?鈥 (MIT Press)). She argues for a sustainable approach which centers people, justice, and the environment.
Prof Kleine combines conceptual and policy-level work with ongoing empirical research, including participatory action research and co-design. She has undertaken research in Europe, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.
Her research has been supported by UKRI, ESRC, EPSRC, GCRF, Newton Fund, DFID, the German Academic Exchange Service DAAD, Robert Bosch Foundation, Zeiss-Stiftung, Studienstiftung (ddV), the Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the EU.
Current roles:
- Director, Institute for Global Sustainable Development
- Principal Investigator, UKRI Livelihoods for Refugees Project (2022-2023), leading an interdisciplinary team across Geography, Engineering, Planning and Chemistry to co-design with Syrian refugee co-researchers an open access innovation space at a local partner university in Jordan (AABU)
- Co-Investigator, IDRC Ge-JuSTA Project (2022-2024, )鈥 Gender Justice in STEM Research in Africa -
- Co- Principal Investigator (2022-2023) Malala Fund: (free download)
- Co-Investigator, EU AfriCultuRes -
- Member of the International Expert Panel - Digitalisation for Sustainability (D4S) (Robert Bosch Foundation) analysing the negative and positive sustainability impacts of digitalisation. See report here:
- Editorial Board Member, The Journal of Consumer Ethics; Information Technologies and International Development
- Advisory roles for UNCTAD, ILO, UNESCO, UNICEF, UN-DESA, UNEP, EuropeAid, DFID, GIZ, BMZ, IDRC, private sector organisations (Deutsche Telekom; GSMA) and NGOs.
- Reviewer for funders including the UK, German, Swiss, South African and Canadian National Research Agencies
Previous roles:
- Founding Chair of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Digital Geographies Research Group (DGRG)
- Principal Investigator (2020-2021) GCRF UKRI - 鈥 Gender-Justice in Digital Innovation in Africa, which centers women as changemakers in digital futures- with 17 partners in 6 countries
- Principal Investigator and Convenor, ESRC Digital Development GCRF Strategic Network with 29 partners in 13 countries In Latin America, Africa and Europe
- Co-Investigator, ESRC SCArFE (拢670k) Ethical Consumption in Brazil, South Africa and China
- 2015-2017 Faculty Associate, Harvard University, Berkman Centre for Internet and Society
- Since 2013 Senior Programme Committee, ICTD (IEEE/ACM), International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development
- Lead Author on UNICEF commissioned Methodology Toolkit for participatory research with children and young people. .
Before joining 91探花 in 2016, Dorothea Kleine was Professor of Human Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London, where she was Director of the interdisciplinary ICT4D Centre. Prior to this she held posts at the University of Cambridge and Bonn University. Educated at the University of Munich (LMU and TUM) and the University of Oxford, she holds a PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
- Research interests
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My key research interests are:
- Sustainable and just development futures in the global South (and North)
- Information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D)
- Digital geographies and digital participatory methods
- Ethics of ICT-related development interventions, inclusive innovation and data ethics
- The capabilities approach and sustainable development
- Sustainable/ethical consumption research, food geographies, trade justice and Fair Trade
Themes such as participation, gender, justice and choice run strongly through my work.
I have conducted research in Latin America (Brazil; Chile), Europe (UK, Germany), South Asia (India), Africa (Kenya; South Africa, and more) and the Middle East (Jordan).
I am strongly committed to research which is both academically excellent and can have a positive impact in the context of the global challenges we face today.
Thus my work includes participatory action research in partnership with local communities and marginalised groups, theoretical reflections on the need to redefine 鈥渄evelopment鈥, policy advice at UN level, strategic advice to NGOs, and speaking at global policy conferences.
- Publications
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- Books
- Edited books
- Journal articles
- Chapters
- Conference proceedings papers
- Reports
- Theses / Dissertations
- Working papers
- Dictionary/encyclopaedia entries
Books
- . Munich: oekom Verlag.
- Technologies of Choice?: ICTs, Development, and the Capabilities Approach.
- Surfen in Birkenstocks? Das Potential des Internets f眉r den fairen Handel. M眉nchen: Oekom Verlag.
Edited books
- The International Encyclopedia of Digital Communication and Society, 3 Volume Set. John Wiley & Sons.
Journal articles
- . The Geographical Journal.
- . Environmental Science & Policy, 147, 11-14.
- . Gender, Technology and Development.
- . Revista de Administra莽茫o da UFSM, 15(1), 123-136.
- . Environmental Development, 42.
- . Information Technology for Development, 27(2), 361-380.
- . Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 48(5), 891-909.
- . JMIR, 18(1).
- . Geoforum, 67, 135-147.
- . Communications of the ACM, 58(9), 31-33.
- . Journal of Cleaner Production, 63, 84-92.
- Using the Choice Framework to Situate Cases of Collective Action in Capabilities Thinking:
the Example of Public Procurement. Maitreyee - e-bulletin of the Human Development and Capabilities Association, 22, 15-18.
- Sobre Palavras e atos no consumo sustentavel no Brasil: os 'aparentes paradoxos' de uma pesquisa qualitativa. Sustentabilidade em Debate, 4, 185-207.
- . Information Technology for Development, 18(1), 42-60.
- . Ethics and Information Technology, 13(2), 119-130.
- . Journal of International Development, 22(5), 674-692.
- . International Journal of Sociotechnology and Knowledge Development, 2(1), 36-58.
- . Third World Quarterly, 30(5), 1045-1067.
- . Geoforum, 40(2), 171-183.
- . The Geographical Journal, 174(2), 109-123.
- . Engineering & Technology, 2(2), 30-33.
- Striking a balance: The role of Technology in Development. Engineering and Technology, 2(2), 30-33.
- . Progress in Human Geography, 30(6), 747-782.
- . Information Technologies and International Development, 2(4), iii-iv.
- . Information Technologies and International Development, 2(3), iii-v.
- . Interacting with Computers, 17(1), 57-83.
- . Regional Studies, 39(3), 387-394.
Chapters
- Inclusion num茅rique, entrepreneuriat f茅minin et sujets n茅olib茅raux In Leterme C (Ed.), Impasses Num茅riques - Points de Vue du Sud Paris: Centre Tricontinental et 脡ditions Syllepse.
- Digital Development In Leszczynski A, Ash J & Kitchin R (Ed.), Digital Geographies Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing.
- Digital Inclusion, Female Entrepreneurship and the Production of Neoliberal Subjects鈥擵iews from Chile and Tanzania In Graham M (Ed.), Digital Economies at Global Margins Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
- , Interrogating Alterity: Alternative Economic and Political Spaces (pp. 113-130).
- Putting ethical consumption in its place: Geographical pespectives In Shaw D, Newholm T, Chatzidakis A & Carrington M (Ed.), Ethics and Morality in Consumption: Interdisciplinary Perspectives London: Routledge.
- ICT4D: Editor's Introduction to the Section In Mansell R, Ang PH, Steinfield C, van der Graaf S, Ballon P, Kerr A, Ivory J, Braman S, Kleine D & Grimshaw D (Ed.), The International Encyclopedia of Digital Communication and Society New York: Wiley-ICA.
- Children, ICT and development: Innovation for equity on the basis of participatory prcatice In Gasser U & Cortesi S (Ed.), Digitally Connected: Global Perspectives on Youth and Digital Media (pp. 93-96). Cambridge, MA: Berkman Center, Harvard University.
- Corporate Social Responsibility and Development In Desai V & Potter R (Ed.), Companion to Development Studies (pp. 195-200). London: Hodder Arnold.
- , The ethics of consumption (pp. 29-31). Wageningen Academic Publishers
- , Informationsgerechtigkeit (pp. 194-214). DE GRUYTER
- "The men never say that they do not know": Telecentres as Gendered Spaces In Steyn J, Van Belle J-P & Villanueva Mansilla E (Ed.), ICTs for Global Development and Sustainability: Practice and Applications (pp. 189-212). IGI Global
- How fair is fair enough? Negotiating alterity and compromise within the German fair trade movement, Interrogating Alterity: Alternative Economic and Political Spaces (pp. 113-130).
- How Fair is Fair Enough? Negotiating Alterity and Compromise within the German Fair Trade Movement In Fuller D, Jonas AEG & Lee R (Ed.), Interrogating Alterity - Alternative Economic and Political Spaces (pp. 153-170). Abington: Routledge.
- (pp. 1-9). Wiley
Conference proceedings papers
- A decade of applying the capabilities approach via the choice framework : practical tools and critical reflections. Proceedings of the 2019 HDCA Conference. London, UK, 9 September 2019 - 9 September 2019.
- . Locally Relevant ICT Research, Vol. 933 (pp 261-278). Tshwane, South Africa, 23 August 2018 - 23 August 2018.
- Minimum ethical standards in ICTD/ICT4D research: A participatory process and a co-created document. Proceedings of the 10th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Information anf Communication Technologies and Development. 91探花
- . Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development
- Minimum ethical standards for ICTD/ICT4D research. Published Standards. 91探花
- Dialogue interaction as a design tool for academic research. A case study of UFRJ's extension project on future of food with the youth from the periphery. Processdings of the SBDS+ISSD Conference 2017
- . 2016 International Conference On Cyber Situational Awareness, Data Analytics And Assessment (CyberSA), 13 June 2016 - 14 June 2016.
- Keynote: Placing and scaling ethical choices: ethical consumption and ethical prublic procurement. Proceedings of the 11th Congress of the European Society for Agricultural and Food Ethics - EurSafe, 2013.
- . 2009 International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD), 17 April 2009 - 19 April 2009.
Reports
- Digital Learning: A Girl-centred Approach
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- A human-centred approach to innovation to accelerate progress towards the SDGs
- Your Word Counts - Using Digital Feedback Data in Oxfam's Humanitarian Response
- Participatory methods: engaging children鈥檚 voices and experiences in research
- Children, ICTs and Development: Capturing the Potential, Meeting the Challenges
- What are the key lessons of ICT4D partnerships for poverty reduction (DFID Report)
Theses / Dissertations
- Conscientisation and Human Development: The case of digital inclusion programmes in Brazil.
- Empowerment and the limits of choice: Microentrepreneurs, information and communication technologies and state policies in Chile.
Working papers
- .
Dictionary/encyclopaedia entries
- Wiley.
- Research group
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I am interested in supervising PhD students on topics in sustainable development, digital geographies, ICT4D, critical development theory, and sustainable consumption.
Particularly, in the following areas:
- Sustainability and Digitalisation 鈥 negative and positive impacts
- Digital transformation, gender and intersectionality
- Digital learning for marginalised girls
- Conceptualising innovation 鈥 emancipatory maker spaces and transformation
- Theorising engaged digital geographies
- The capability approach and ICT4D
- Big Data and new digital tools for citizen participation and co-design
- Ethical consumption and digital tools
- Conceptualisations, translations and digital representations of fairness and justice across spatial and cultural distance
Current PhD students:
- Hannah McCarrick (funded as a Grantham Scholar), Contextualising e-agriculture: Strengthening rural livelihoods through information and communication technologies in Tanzania, first supervisor, co-supervised with Prof Dan Brockington and Dr Anna Krzywoszynska
- Chisenga Muyoya (Commonwealth Fund Scholar), A gender-focused approach to data science, first supervisor, co-supervised with Dr Suvodeep Mazumdar
Past PhD students:
- Gemma Pearson (2019, ESRC funded): Responsibility, work and transitions on the street. A grounded theory study of street-involved children and young people in northern Tanzania, co-supervised with Prof Katie Willis
- Vera Hoelscher (2019): Ethical consumption in online and offline spaces, co-supervised with Dr Andreas Chatzidakis (Management)
- Felicity Butler (2018, ESRC Collaborative Funding Award): Empowerment through valuing women鈥檚 unpaid care work? An examination of an innovative Fair Trade and Community Trade pricing model in Nicaragua, co-supervised with Christina Archer (The Body Shop) and Prof Katie Willis
- Jennie Cole (2017): The Role of Online Discussion Forums During a Public Health Emergency, co-supervised with Prof Chris Watkins (Computer Science)
- Ronda Zelezny-Green (2017): The Role of Girls鈥 Mobile Phone Use to Increase Access to Educational Content After School: A Capabilities-Based Evaluation in Nairobi
- Sammia Poveda (2016): Conscientisation and Human Development: The case of digital inclusion programmes in Brazil
- Tony Roberts (2016): Critical Agency in ICT4D: a case study of Zambian women's use of participatory video technology to challenge gender inequality
- Wouter Geertz (2014): Business travel, hotels, and environmental sustainability: An exploration of business travellers' environment-related practices at the travel destination, co-supervised with Dr Mary Dengler
PhD students of mine have won Fulbright Field Research scholarships (1) and Royal Geographical Society Prizes (2).
After their PhD they have gained posts including at United Nations University, Oxford University, 91探花 University, Royal Holloway, University of London, the Institute of Development Studies (Sussex), or they have gone on to research-related careers in the private and NGO sector.
- Grants
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Current Research Projects:
UKRI EPSRC Livelihoods for Refugees Project (2022-2023), leading an interdisciplinary team across Geography, Engineering, Planning and Chemistry to co-design with Syrian refugee co-researchers an open access innovation space at a local partner university in Jordan (Al Al Bayt University). This is linked to the work of 91探花 University鈥檚 Makerspace IForge [insert link ] and the Desert Garden Project [insert: /giving/causes/desert-garden] Principal investigator with a large team exploring sustainable innovation, including Dr Mohanad Masad, Dr Moaed El Meselmani, Prof Tony Ryan, Dr Pete Mylon, Dr Steve Connelly and the community of 18 participatory co-researchers. UK Dept Ambassador Fazey called the project 鈥渁n outstanding example of UK-Jordanian cooperation鈥.
UN-DESA (United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs, New York) Conceptualising Innovation (2022-2023) Policy Work as a Senior Expert with the UN Inter-Agency Group on Science, Innovation and Technology (STI) for Sustainable Development. Proposing a more people-centred and sustainable approach to innovation (with Dr Jaime Echavarri, Universitat Aut貌noma de Barcelona).
IDRC (Canadian International Development Research Centre)- GeJuSTA 鈥 Gender Justice in STEM Research in Africa (2022-2024). The project examines barriers and enablers for women in STEM and Data Science, while challenging the rigid definition of STEM subjects. It examines and develops best practice in gender analysis and gender-just design processes. Further, through GeJuSTA academy we support early-career female researchers in digital-related subjects in Africa. Co-Investigator on the gender-just design work package. With colleagues in South Africa (University of Cape Town), Uganda (Makerere University), Kenya (Dedan Kimathi), and Zambia (Asikana Network for Women in IT)
(2017-2023, overall 鈧8m): This large African-European scientific collaboration project aims to design, implement and demonstrate an integrated agricultural monitoring and early warning system that will support decision making in the field of food security (in Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa, Mozambique, Niger and Tunisia). Prof Dan Brockington and Prof Dorothea Kleine are Co-Investigators leading on the user engagement strand.
Malala Fund - Digital Learning for Adolescent Girls (2022-2023). Strategic Research Partnership to carry out primary research and develop, based on this, a strategy paper in time for the CSW67 UN Summit: (free download) Co-Principal Investigator with Fiona Ssozi (Makerere University, Uganda)
Robert Bosch Foundation: Digitalisation for Sustainability (D4S) (2022-223)鈥 Member of the International Expert Panel. This collaborative project combined analysis of the negative and positive sustainability impacts of digitalisation across disciplines, and at a national, regional and global level. The collaboration by senior experts resulted in Policy Proposals to EU and other policy makers - See report here: as well as a joint book. Co-Investigator leading on the analysis of global justice issues. PI Prof Tilman Santarius (Einstein Center for Digital Futures and TU Berlin).
Selected previous projects:
- ESRC Large Grant Sustainable Consumption and Agri-food Ethics among Middle Class Consumers in the Global South (South Africa, Brazil, China) (overall 拢679k). Co-Investigator on a cross-cultural multi-method study, led by Prof Alex Hughes (PI, Newcastle). Prof Dorothea Kleine, together with Prof Roberto Bartholo, Prof Rita Afonso (both Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, UFRJ) and Dr Stefania Vicari (91探花) is leading on the Brazilian study and on innovative digital methods in studying sustainable consumption. We combine interview data on online activity with observation, digital ethnographies and longitudinal social media analysis.
- GCRF Global Challenges Research Fund/ESRC Strategic Network Gender-just digital innovation in Africa (GeDIA) (2020-2021, overall 拢150k) Principal Investigator convening a new research network bringing together 22 researchers and practitioners (academics, NGOs and business partners) from 6 countries to develop joint cutting-edge research agendas. Partners included Oxfam, Malala Fund, Asikana Network for Women in IT, and Codespace South Africa. Working and supporting each other through Covid-19, this project held eight online workshops and co-developed the proposal that became . See short video interviews with all partners here [insert link: https://gedia-network.org/interviews]
- GCRF Nosso Mapa Project (2019-2020): Exploring the role of digital tools in the social innovation and environmental innovation landscapes in Brazil and the UK. Mapping initiatives and co-producing a joint research agenda. With Prof Rita Afonso, Gabriel Orsi, Dr Lee Crookes, Mike Henline.
- Global Challenges Research Fund/ESRC Strategic Network on Digital Development: Leveraging Data Science and Digital Participatory Practice for Development Impact (2017-2018; overall 拢150k): Principal Investigator and convenor of a network bringing together 29 participants (academics, NGOs and business partners) from 13 countries to develop joint cutting-edge research agendas.
- (2016-2018): Prof Andy Dearden (91探花 Hallam University) and Prof Dorothea Kleine (TUoS) are co-facilitating a process of co-producing minimum ethical standards across disciplines for research in the field of information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D).
- 2015-2016 UNICEF 鈥淐ross-cultural toolkit for participatory engagement with children in debates about digital futures鈥. Lead author, with Dr Sammia Poveda and Gemma Pearson on a UNICEF-commissioned methodological toolkit on participatory methods with children and young people in digital social research. .
- 2015-16 鈥淔ood 2.0: Using participatory film to express visions of sustainable food futures 鈥 Youth views from Rio and London鈥 (overall 拢89,546); Joint PI with Prof Bartholo and Prof Afonso (UFRJ, Rio). Participatory digital action research project with community organisations in London (Ovalhouse Theatre) and Rio (Observat贸rio de Favela) to work with disadvantaged young people to develop digital participatory films to express their views on sustainable food consumption and food justice issues.
- 2014-15 TECH4RIED Project 鈥淭echnology for rural innovation and education鈥. Collaborated, as Senior Scientific Advisor, with the Council for Scientific and Industrial research (CSIR) in South Africa, in applying the Choice Framework (Kleine 2013) in participatory ways in the design and evaluation or agricultural innovation projects.
- 2012-2013 UNICEF 鈥淚CT4D for child-focused development work鈥; Lead author, with Dr David Hollow and Sammia Poveda; on a report produced in collaboration with UNICEF Office of Research, Florence. The study interviewed 35 experts in youth and child-related ICT4D projects and distilled key lessons learned. Among the issues that emerged a key focus was gender inequality. .
- PhD supervision
Current PhD students:
- Hannah McCarrick (funded as a Grantham Scholar), Contextualising e-agriculture: Strengthening rural livelihoods through information and communication technologies in Tanzania, first supervisor, co-supervised with Prof Dan Brockington and Dr Anna Krzywoszynska
- Chisenga Muyoya (Commonwealth Fund Scholar), A gender-focused approach to data science, first supervisor, co-supervised with Dr Suvodeep Mazumdar
Past PhD students:
- Gemma Pearson (2019, ESRC funded): Responsibility, work and transitions on the street. A grounded theory study of street-involved children and young people in northern Tanzania, co-supervised with Prof Katie Willis
- Vera Hoelscher (2019): Ethical consumption in online and offline spaces, co-supervised with Dr Andreas Chatzidakis (Management)
- Felicity Butler (2018, ESRC Collaborative Funding Award): Empowerment through valuing women鈥檚 unpaid care work? An examination of an innovative Fair Trade and Community Trade pricing model in Nicaragua, co-supervised with Christina Archer (The Body Shop) and Prof Katie Willis
- Jennie Cole (2017): The Role of Online Discussion Forums During a Public Health Emergency, co-supervised with Prof Chris Watkins (Computer Science)
- Ronda Zelezny-Green (2017): The Role of Girls鈥 Mobile Phone Use to Increase Access to Educational Content After School: A Capabilities-Based Evaluation in Nairobi
- Sammia Poveda (2016): Conscientisation and Human Development: The case of digital inclusion programmes in Brazil
- Tony Roberts (2016): Critical Agency in ICT4D: a case study of Zambian women's use of participatory video technology to challenge gender inequality
- Wouter Geertz (2014): Business travel, hotels, and environmental sustainability: An exploration of business travellers' environment-related practices at the travel destination, co-supervised with Dr Mary Dengler
PhD students of mine have won Fulbright Field Research scholarships (1) and Royal Geographical Society Prizes (2). After their PhDs they have gained posts including at United Nations University, Oxford University, 91探花 University, Royal Holloway, University of London, the Institute of Development Studies (Sussex), or they have gone on to research-related careers in the private and NGO sector.