Elsa

Varela Redondo

My research aims to generate scientific evidence to support the design of policies for the sustainable management of rural areas, enhancing the provision of ecosystem services to society and promoting opportunities for local development. 

I explore the values, attitudes and perceptions of various social actors to inform socioeconomic responses to land abandonment, unplanned forest expansion and wildfires. My approach combines economic valuation methods with qualitative and interdisciplinary tools—such as case studies, interviews and deliberative processes—to ensure that socially meaningful outcomes are placed at the core of the research process. 

Since December 2024, I have been an Associate Research Professor at the Institute of Public Goods and Policies (IPP) of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). I hold a PhD in Sustainable Forest Management from the University of Valladolid (2015), and have worked at the European Forest Institute (EFI), the Forest Science and Technology Centre of Catalonia (CTFC), and the Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology of Catalonia (IRTA). 

Prior to joining CSIC, I was a senior postdoctoral fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at the Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Göttingen (Germany). I have extensive experience in international research consortia through European projects (FP7, H2020, Horizon Europe, ERANET). 

I have served as Principal Investigator for both an international ERANET project (PACTORES – PCIN-2017-051) and a national research project (Silvopastoralism as a Strategy for Integrated Rural Development in the Mediterranean – RTA2017-00036-C01/02). 

My scientific career has developed around three main research lines: 

1. Estimating the wellbeing impacts of changes in preventive wildfire management. 
    
2. Quantifying social preferences for improved ecosystem service provision and biodiversity conservation in forest systems.
    
3. Valuing key ecosystem services to support sustainable transitions towards resilient and multifunctional rural landscapes.