Dr Arabella Fraser

Professional biography

I joined the Open University as Senior Lecturer in Global Development in March 2022. Prior to this, I held positions as Assistant Professor in Geography at the University of Nottingham, Lecturer in International Development at the Open University and Research Associate in Geography at Kings College London. I hold a PhD in International Development (London School of Economics), MSc in the Politics of Development (London School of Economics) and BA Hons Social and Political Sciences (University of Cambridge). I have been an Associate Lecturer at the IHE-Delft Institute for Water Education, the Netherlands, and regular guest lecturer at the Centre for Development and Emergency Practice, Oxford Brookes University. 

Before joining academia, I worked as a Research Advisor for Oxfam Great Britain, Advisor for UNDP (Rwanda) and Researcher at the Centre for Family and Social Research, Universidad Metropolitana, Caracas, Venezuela. I have continued to work across academic, policy and practice research through projects for the Overseas Development Institute, World Bank, UN-Habitat and International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).  

I sit on the Editorial Board for the journal Climate and Development. 

Research interests

I am a social and political scientist broadly interested in the relationship between climate and development, in particular the institutionalities of this relationship in urban areas of the Global South. In urban sites of dynamic vulnerabilities, what forms of climate politics arise and how does the changing nature of environmental risk influence social and political organisation? What are the implications for vulnerabilities, and for development policy and practice? I currently draw on a broad range of theory from urban studies, development studies, science and technology studies and political ecology to explore this in the context of two under-studied issues: the implications of innovation in urban adaptation finance mechanisms and the relationship between urban violence and climate change.

My past research has investigated youth perspectives on recovery from COVID-19 in eight sub-Saharan African cities, the comparative politics of disaster recovery in the Caribbean, the development drivers of urban flood risk in Southern Europe and the Caribbean and the politics of landslide risk assessment in Bogota, Colombia. Out of this work, I retain strong interest in debates about retreat and resettlement in the face of climate risks, and about the relationship between urban development and risk creation, including the interaction of ‘systemic’ risks including health and climate risks, with development processes. 

Teaching interests

I currently lead the development of the OU’s new undergraduate teaching pathways in Global Development.

Information about our current postgraduate courses can be found at: (323) Study Global Development at The Open University - YouTube

Current PhD students:

Jen Horne (Open University), The relationship between housing, gender-based violence and climate change in York, UK (ESRC funded)

Zohreh Moghfeli (Open University), The Impact of Social Networks on Farmers' Adaptation in Iran (ESRC funded)

Past PhD students:

Luisa Andrade (University of Nottingham), The Social and Environmental Implications of Peri-Urban Land Grabbing in Small and Medium Sized Cities in Mexico (Government of Mexico funded, completed 2025)

Rebecca Bicksler (University of Nottingham), Scenarios Approaches and Participation in Urban Climate Change Planning (To MPhil)

Duvan Lopez (UNESCO Sustainability Centre, Polytechnic University of Catalunya, Barcelona), The Historical Constitution of Risk in Bogota, Colombia (completed 2023)

Current Postdoctoral Fellows:

I currently mentor Dr Alex Midlen as a one-year ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow on environmental governance and the blue economy. 

Impact and engagement

I am currently working in close collaboration with non-profit organisations Kounkuey Design Initiative, Kenya, and Slum Dwellers International, and am interested in new ways to co-produce research with policy and practice partners. 

Recent public and practitioner engagement work includes:

Blog on the urban adaptation finance gap: Bridging the urban adaptation finance gap | International Institute for Environment and Development (iied.org) 

Blog on youth resilience: A just recovery from COVID-19: young people from eight African cities speak out | International Institute for Environment and Development

A series of short films based on my research collaborations brought together under the banner 'Building Reslilience in Fragile Urban Environments', which were shown at the COP26 Green Zone in November 2021, and accompanied by a blog and policy brief: 

(323) Building Resilience in Fragile Urban Environments - YouTube

(323) Arraigo: Redefining Relocation for Landslide-Affected Communities in Bogota, Colombia - YouTube

Realising resilience: How do we make COP26 deliver for adaptation in fragile urban environments? - The Geog Blog (nottingham.ac.uk)

Policy-Brief-Arabella-Fraser.pdf (nottingham.ac.uk)

Excerpts from my work were recently published as an essay in a new volume by the Inter-American Development Bank, entitled 'Informing the Informal': Informando lo informal: estrategias para generar información en asentamientos precarios | Publications (iadb.org)

External collaborations

Current Research Projects

• Co-Investigator, ‘The Urban Futures Project: Toward health equity, inclusive governance and climate adaptation in African informal settlements’, New Frontiers in Research Fund, PI University of Waterloo and Institute of Development Studies (2024-2027)
• Principal Investigator, ‘New Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Climate Change as Systemic Risk and the Implications for Development’, Open Societal Challenges Project (2023-) New Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Climate Change as Systemic Risk and the Implications for Development
• Co-Investigator, ‘Building Infrastructures of Climate Repair in the 24 Hour Risk City’, British Academy Knowledge Frontiers 2022-2024 (£200,000), joint with IDS, Kounkuey Design Initiative, Nairobi, and Karachi Urban Lab, Institute of Business Administration, Karachi. Building Infrastructures of Climate Repair in the 24-Hour Risk City: Learning from Karachi and Nairobi - Institute of Development Studies (ids.ac.uk)

Past Research Projects

• Invited expert, ‘Using a multi-hazard and catchment based approach to understand and increase resilience in hyper-expanding cities in Vietnam and the Philippines’, Royal Society Challenge-Led Grant led by British Geological Survey (2022)
• Principal Investigator, ‘Addressing the 24 hour cycle of urban risk: Gendered perspectives on non-conflict violence and climate change interactions in cities’, (GCRF, £60,000) (2021) joint with partners in Nairobi, Karachi and Colombo Climate Change & Urban Violence Network (ccuvn.com)
• Co-Director, GCRF Global Engagement Network ‘Climate Change and Urban Violence’, joint with Karachi Urban Lab, Pakistan (£150,000) (2019-2022) Climate Change & Urban Violence Network (ccuvn.com)
• Co-Investigator, ‘Supporting Just Response and Recovery to COVID-19 in Informal Urban Settlements: Perspectives from Youth Groups in Sub-Saharan Africa’, joint with University of Warwick and Slum Dwellers International (AHRC, £150,000) (2020-2021) Supporting Just Response and Recovery to COVID-19 in Informal Urban Settlements (adobe.com)
• Co-Investigator, ‘Tomorrow’s Cities’, GCRF Inter-disciplinary Research Hub led by University of Edinburgh (£20mn; £220,000 to University of Nottingham) (2019-2021) Home | Tomorrow's Cities (tomorrowscities.org)