Dennis L. Aviles-Irahola
© Dennis Aviles-Irahola
Dr. Dennis L. Aviles-Irahola
ORCID iD 0000-0001-8415-4354
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Affiliations
  • Associate Researcher at the Institute of Socio-Economic Research of the Bolivian Catholic University San Pablo (IISEC-UCB) (Bolivia)
  • External Researcher and Member of the IDEA-UNAL Council (Colombia)
  • Senior Fellow ZEF Uni-Bonn
  • Uni-Bonn Alumni
Research topics
  • Socio-environmental projects focused on local participation
  • gender equity
  • indigenous rights
  • environmental conflicts and agroecological systems
Dennis Avilés-Irahola holds her PhD in Philosophy with focus on Development Studies from the Center for Development Research (ZEF) at the University of Bonn, Germany. She has extensive experience as a consultant on gender, agriculture, and environmental issues for development organisations across different regions, particularly in Latin America. She was a Senior Researcher at ZEF for six years, working on environmental conflicts, gender equality, and agroecology. Since 2025, she has been a Senior Fellow at ZEF and an Associate Researcher at the Institute for Socio-Economic Research at the Bolivian Catholic University (IISEC-UCB), where she works on local participation, social inclusion and socio-environmental research projects.
Selected publications

Avilés Irahola, D., Tobón Ramirez, C. & Youkhana, E.  (2026). Critical Approaches to Environmental Conflicts in Latin America: An Expanding Field in Development and Sustainability Research. In: Rethinking Sustainability: Principles and Practice. Gilgan, S. & Brown (Eds.), Palgrave Macmillan. 201 - 234 (Open Access) https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-032-13886-6

Avilés-Irahola, D. et al. (2026). The Doctoral Studies Support Programme on Environmental Peace and Development in Colombia (DSSP). En: Brandt, C., Mejía, E., Schorr, B. (eds) Implementing Sustainability and Internationalization in Higher Education. World Sustainability Series. Springer, Cham. 45-67 (Open access). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-97837-1_3

Avilés Irahola, D.L., Alanoca, K., Torrico, J.C. (2025). Emisiones de Gases de Efecto Invernadero, Contaminación Atmosférica y Transición Energética: desafíos para una agenta ambiental integrada. En: Wanderley, F. y Lambertin C. (editores). Informe Socio-Ambiental OBSA-IISEC 2025 - Bolivia en su Bicentenario: Crisis, transiciones y oportunidades para un nuevo pacto de desarrollo. Pp 47 – 70. Plural.

Gilgan, S., Avilés Irahola, D., Balogun, K., Beuchelt, T., Biber-Freudenberger, L., Brüntrup, M., Inacio Da Cunha, M., Grossmann, K., Herbas Baeny, E., Rhyner, J., Vélez Triana, JS., Wanderley, F. (2025). “Plural Sustainabilities. Reflections and Ways Ahead”. ZEF Working Paper 246. Centro de Investigaciones para el Desarrollo, ZEF.

Avilés Irahola, D., Mora-Motta, A., Barbosa Pereira, Biber-Freudenberger, L., Bharati, L., Petersheim, C., Quispe-Zuniga, M., Schmitt, C., Youkhana, E.  (2022).  Integrating scientific and local knowledge to address environmental conflicts: the role of academia.  Hum Ecol, 50: 911–923. (Open Access) 

Dennis L. Aviles-Irahola
© Dennis Aviles-Irahola
Dr. Dennis L. Aviles-Irahola

+49-228-73-1718

Senior Fellow

Cultural and Political Change (CPC)