Attempting to change the world…one word at a time.
Carrie L. Mitchell, PhD
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Research theme 1: Urban services planning in the global South
I research and publish on waste, water, and sanitation planning in urban and suburban environments in the Global South. I am particularly interested in the socio-economic implications of urban and environmental change for people who earn their livelihoods collecting recyclable materials and providing water and sanitation services within cities. Below are selected contributions under this research theme: 


  • Mitchell, C.L., Parizeau, K., and Maclaren, V.W. (2017). Delivering and managing waste and sanitation services in cities. In Urbanization in a Global Context: Canadian Perspectives. Bain, A. and L. Peake (Eds.) Oxford University Press: Don Mills.
  • Mitchell, C.L., Ahmed, S., and Dhar, S. (2013). "Reduce violence against women by building better cities" by Carrie Mitchell, Sarah Ahmed. Originally published in the Globe and Mail, August 16, 2013.
  • Mitchell, C.L. and Kusumowati, J. (2013). Is Carbon Financing Trashing Sustainable Waste Management? Experience from Indonesia. Climate and Development, 5(4): 268-276. 
  • Mitchell, C.L. (2009). Trading trash in the transition: economic restructuring, urban spatial transformation, and the boom and bust of Hanoi’s informal waste trade. Environment and Planning A, 41 (11): 2633-2650. 
  • Mitchell, C.L. (2008). Altered landscapes, altered livelihoods: The shifting experience of informal waste collecting during Hanoi’s urban transition. Geoforum, 39: 2019-2029. 

Research theme 2: Planning for climate change adaptation 
Building on my professional experience funding climate change research for the International Development Research Centre's (IDRC), I explore the challenges and opportunities of integrating climate change adaptation principles into urban planning initiatives in cities.  As co-principal investigator (with Dr. Sarah Burch, University of Waterloo) we have synthesized findings from eight years of global climate change projects funded by IDRC. As co-investigator for Coastal Cities at Risk: Building Capacity for Managing Climate Change in Coastal Megacities, led by Dr. Gordon McBean, International Council for Science, my team of graduate students (denoted by *) conducted research in the Philippines, Thailand, and Canada. Below are contributions under this research theme: 


  • *Laycock, K. and Mitchell, C.L. (2018). Social capital and Incremental transformative change: responding to climate change experts in Metro Manila. Climatic Change, http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-018-2360-6
  • Mitchell, C.L. and *Graham, A. (2017). Evidenced-based advocacy for municipal climate change action. Journal of Planning Education and Research, doi.org/10.1177/0739456X17740939 (available online Dec. 9, 2017).
  • ​Mitchell, C.L. and *Laycock, K.E. (2017). Planning for adaptation to climate change: exploring the climate science-to-practice disconnect. Climate and Development, 1-9.
  • Meerow, S. and Mitchell, C.L. (2017). Weathering the Storm: The politics of planning for urban climate change adaptation. Special issue introduction, Environment and Planning A, 41(11): 2619-2627,
  • *Berbés-Blázquez, M. Mitchell, C.L. Burch, S. and J. Wandel (2017). Understanding climate change and resilience: Assessing strengths and opportunities for adaptation in the global South. Climatic Change, pp. 1-15.
  • Burch, S., Mitchell, C.L., *Berbés-Blázquez, M. and Wandel, J. (2017). Tipping towards transformation: Progress, patterns and potential for climate change adaptation in the global South. Journal of Extreme Events, 4(1): 1-23
  • *Graham, A. & Mitchell, C.L. (2016). The role of boundary organizations in climate change adaptation from the perspective of municipal practitioners. Climatic Change, 139 (3): 381–395.
  • Mitchell, C.L., Burch, S., and *Driscoll, P. (2016). (Mis)communicating climate change? Why online adaptation databases may fail to catalyze adaptation action. WIREs Climate Change, 7: 600–613. 

Research Theme 3: The process and politics of planning for resilient cities
I have recently received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) to explore the process and politics of planning for resilience in Canadian cities. Below are some of the first publications to arise from this new line of research: 

  • Coaffee, J., Therrien, M. C., Chelleri, L., Henstra, D., Aldrich, D.P., Mitchell, C.L., ... & participants. (2018). Urban resilience implementation: A policy challenge and research agenda for the 21st century. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 26(3), 403-410.
  • Doberstein, B., *Fitzgibbons, J., and Mitchell, C.L. (2018) Protect, accommodate, retreat, or avoid (PARA): Canadian community options for flood disaster risk reduction and flood resilience. Natural Hazards, doi.org/10.1007/s11069-018-3529-z


Check out all of my latest research on Research Gate!














© 2019 Carrie L. Mitchell