Anna Paola works as a Policy Analyst at the Joint Research Centre, European Commission. She has an interdisciplinary background rooted in economic and political geography, food studies and critical theory. Her work supports the mission of the Competence Centre on Participatory and Deliberative Democracy, of which she is proudly part. Anna Paola currently focuses on participatory governance of environmental issues (BiodiverCities project) and on public spaces to democratise science and policy (forthcoming). She is co-author of "Engaging with Food, People and Places". A toolkit, the public output of a participatory research project “Imagining 'eat' together: the school meal”, promoting extended dialogues with school communities to design a truly inclusive and sustainable school meal.