Crossing multiple magnifying glasses

cecilia cornaggia

A magnifying glass.

This is one of the most prototypical images to depict the profession of researching, as research is often connected to the idea of going deeper and deeper, examining details and uncovering the most hidden aspects of reality. As a young researcher, having a multidisciplinary approach for me means remembering that there isn’t just one magnifying glass through which looking at reality, but several ones. This implies having an open mind, being humble and confronting others.

For example, through my activity I hope to provide some useful insights as regards sustainable communities on a sociological level. However, my answers will always be partial: they need to be integrated with economic, anthropological and geographical elements, and to be confirmed in other contexts, too. In other words, they need the contribution of other people, with a different background and culture.

That is why an international multidisciplinary platform is a great opportunity. In life as in research finding explanations is not a simple job. Most likely, the answers we can build together are of a much better quality than the ones each of us can provide alone.

cecilia cornaggia

30th July 1992

PhD student in Sociology | Catholic University of the Sacred Heart |Milan

“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”

That of Richard Buckminster Fuller is one of the quotes I find absolutely most inspiring, as it provides an original but realistic perspective on change. Also, it can be applied to a variety of contexts, from design and architecture to our personal lives and living communities. Exploring new models of consumption within communities is exactly what I’m going to do in my PhD research project. My interest in this topic comes from the wish to understand what can be the basis for building a more sustainable and inclusive society.
The story of how this interest was born and has grown is quite a long one, but don’t worry I won’t bother you with all its developments! I’ll note only some important steps. The first one occurred more or less four years ago, when a friend told me about Raphael Fellmer, a German guy who took care of the problem of food waste founding the first platform for food sharing in Germany (foodsharing.de).
The second crucial step of this story was the period I spent in Utrecht (NL) as an Erasmus student, where I noticed how much my Dutch colleagues were aware of the consequence of their own consumption choices, either in food, apparel and transportation fields.
Back to Italy, my interest drew me to focus on second hand clothing consumption for my master thesis project, which led me to publish in 2019 an article on the review “Psicologia Sociale”, together with professors Edoardo Lozza and Cinzia Castiglioni, of Catholic University of the Sacred Heart.

The most recent step was entering an Italian network of young students and professionals passionate for sustainability (www.csrnatives.net). Through the work I’m doing as co-leader of the editorial team, I hope I can deepen my knowledge on this topic and find some interesting insights both for my work and life choices.