Dr Francesca Salvi
Associate Professor in Education
School of Education, University of Nottingham
About
Francesca is an interdisciplinary social scientist whose work spans sustainability and climate change education, environmental sociology, and gender studies in non-WEIRD contexts. She focuses on amplifying children's voices in spaces like policy and education, where they are often overlooked. In Mozambique and South Africa, she has explored how global narratives around teenage pregnancy can undermine youth potential. Her current projects in Mozambique and Indonesia pioneer co-created approaches to sustainability education with children and educators.
Research Focus
Research Focus
Education
Education
- PhD in International Education — University of Sussex
- MPhil in Development Studies — University of Oxford
Academic Appointments
Academic Appointments
Current: Associate Professor in Education, University of Nottingham
- Associate Professor — School of Education, University of Nottingham (2023-present)
- Senior Lecturer in Childhood Studies — University of Portsmouth (prior)
- Course Leader, BA Education — University of Nottingham
Publications
Publications
Salvi, F., & Scherer, L. (2025). Children's agency across disciplines: From potential to actual. Global Studies of Childhood, 15(2), 145–148. https://doi.org/10.1177/20436106251340886
Salvi, F., Mulya, T. W., Sabine, A., & Tjahjono, E. (2025). 'The sun was so thirsty it drank all the water!' Co-constructing pedagogies for environmental education in UK early years settings. Children's Geographies, 23(3), 292–307. https://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2025.2499456
Wijaya Mulya, T., & Salvi, F. (2024). 'Grass, rice, and aubergine': a case study of an Islamic eco-pesantren in Indonesia. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2024.2385049
Pastore, M. D. N., & Salvi, F. (2023). Play and learn: Children's agency through the COVID-19 pandemic in Mozambique. Children & Society, 37, 270–287. https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12669
Bhana, D., & Salvi, F. (2022). Inhlawulo, kin and custom: Young men negotiating fatherhood and respectable masculinity. In E. Moore (Ed.), Generation, Gender and Negotiating Custom in South Africa (pp. 86–101). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003147398
Mulya, T. W., Salvi, F., Gorczynski, P., & Brown, T. W. (2021). The state and my happiness: Youth mental health, citizenship education and discursive contestations in contemporary Indonesia. Children & Society, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12481
Salvi, F. (2020). Silence, invisibility and agency: concealing pregnancies at school in Mozambique. Gender, Place & Culture, 27(8), 1195–1213. https://doi.org/10.1080/0966369X.2019.1681370
Salvi, F. (2019). Teenage Pregnancy and Education in the Global South: The Case of Mozambique. Routledge. Routledge
Salvi, F. (2019). The regulation of pregnancy in Mozambican schools: From policy, to practice, to identities. Comparative Education Review, 63(3), 337–355. https://doi.org/10.1086/703792
Salvi, F. (2018). In the making: Constructing in-school pregnancy in Mozambique. Gender and Education, 30(4), 494–512. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2016.1219700
Research Projects
Research Projects
Empowering the future: Children voices and actions on Climate Change Education in Mozambique
Funder: British Academy ISPF ODA Challenge-Oriented Research Grants
Role: PI; Co-PI: Elena Colonna
Amount: £180k
Period: 2024-26
This project puts Mozambican primary school children at the centre of climate action by co-creating new approaches to environmental education with them, generating insights that are inclusive, practical, and policy-ready.
Mobilising Cultural Heritage towards Environmental Education: A Focus on Indonesia
Funder: AHRC DCMS Cultural Heritage and Climate Change
Role: PI; Co-PIs: Teguh Wijaya Mulya (Universitas Surabaya), Zulfa Sakkhyya (Universitas Negeri Semerang)
Period: 2024-25
Exploring how Indonesia's rich cultural heritage can shape climate education in primary schools, co-creating educational resources that reflect Indonesia's diverse traditions.
Towards Caring Fathers: The Role of Young Fathers' Mothers in Enabling Alternative Masculinities in South Africa
Funder: British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grants
Role: PI: Deevia Bhana (UKZN); Co-PI: Francesca Salvi
Period: 2023-26
Exploring how young men in South Africa navigate fatherhood with the support of their own mothers, examining intergenerational dynamics shaping gender norms.
Environmental Capacity Building for ECEC Preservice Teachers in Indonesia and the UK
Funder: British Council Going Global Partnership
Role: PI; Co-PI: Teguh Wijaya Mulya
Amount: £30k
Period: 2023-24
Strengthening how future early years teachers approach sustainability in their classrooms through locally grounded, participatory learning.