Our Team

Prof. Lorenzo Cantoni

Prof. Lorenzo Cantoni

Chair Holder

Dr. Silvia de Ascaniis

Dr. Silvia de Ascaniis

Chair Coordinator

Dr. Engelbert Ruoss

Dr. Engelbert Ruoss

Research Associate

Dr. Anna Picco Schwendener

Dr. Anna Picco Schwendener

Research Associate

Working on: #MARKS #MachuPicchu

Prof. Ahmed Hussein Abdelrahman Adam

Prof. Ahmed Hussein Abdelrahman Adam

Visiting Researcher

Dr. Adine Gavazzi

Dr. Adine Gavazzi

Visiting researcher

Working on: #MachuPicchu 

Dr. Emanuele Mele

Dr. Emanuele Mele

External Research Associate

Elide Garbani-Nerini

Elide Garbani-Nerini

PhD Student & Research Collaborator

Working on: #DESy

Lea Hasenzahl

Lea Hasenzahl

PhD Student & Research Collaborator

Working on: #ICT4STD, #COT

Dr. Rafael Oliveira

Dr. Rafael Oliveira

External Research Associate

Working on: #AUDITORIUM

Susanna Phan

Susanna Phan

Stagiaire

Former Colleagues

Former Colleagues

Former Collaborators

Former Visiting Researchers 

Dr. Asta Adukaite – was the former coordinator of USI UNESCO Chair. She holds a PhD in Communication Sciences from Università della Svizzera italiana (Switzerland). Her research focused on the the use of gamification methods to support tourism curricula development in high schools in African countries. 

Eleonora Alberti – was assistant of USI UNESCO Chair from Ferbuary to July 2023. She holds a Master in History and Theory of Art and Architecture from Università della Svizzera italiana – USI, a Master in Communication Sciences and Techniques from Università dell’Insubria (Varese, Italy), and a BA in Disciplines for the enhancement of cultural heritage from the Academy of the Fine Arts of Brera (Milan, Italy). She recently got a certificate of Protection of Ecclesial Communita Heritage from the Institute of Religious Sciences in Milan. 

Daniela Baiardi – was an intern at the Chair from March 2022 to April 2023. She worked on the design of a digital exhibition on the works of the Swiss sculptor Pietro Borsari. 

Fiametta Battino – was an intern of the Chair in 2019. She studied the presence on social media of UNESCO World Heritage sites in Italy and Tessin (Switzerland).

Yasaman Behshad – was an intern of the Chair in 2018. She studied the online presence of UNESCO World Heritage sites in Iran. 

Camilla Borghi – was an intern of the Chair between 2020 and 2021. She collaborated in the design and implementation of the digital storytelling project “Machu Picchu – Seen through the eyes of Fernando Astete”. 

Evgeniya Chernysheva – was an intern of the Chair in 2014. She studied the online presence of World Heritage sites in Commonwealth of Independent States, and assisted in the organization of the Chair’s Summer School 2024. 

Dr. Maurizio De Rose – worked on the design and development of the first version of the UNESCO Chair website.

Giulio Del Giudice – was a scientific collaborator of the Chair from 2020 to 2023. He co-designed and coordinated the online communication of the Interreg project MARKS.

Gisela Etter – collaborated in the preparation of the inauguration event of the UNESCO exhibition “Travels through our fragile heritage”, which took place in May 2018 in Lugano.

Elmira Gazizova – was an intern of the Chair in 2013, and studied the online presence of World Heritage sites in Latin America and the Caribbean. 

Tetteng Gaduel – was an intern of the Chair in 2020. He studied the online representation of the African Kanga fashion and UNESCO World Heritage sites located in the East African community.

Soha Ghezili – was an intern at the Chair in 2021. She worked on the Erasmus+ #ICT4STD project, in particular for the research project “eLearning for tourism during COVID-19”. She also served as assistant to the Master in International Tourism.

Seline Girgis – was an intern at the Chair in 2018. She analyzed the reach and penetration of the social media campaign #faces4heritage. 

Carolina Guidi – was an intern at the Chair in 2020. She collaborated in the project “Machu Picchu – Seen through the eyes of Fernando Astete” supporting the digitization of the photographic material taken by Fernando Astete. She assisted in the organization of the HTHIC 2020 Conference. 

Antanina Kamelchyk – held an assignment at the Chair in 2022, working on the project “Machu Picchu – Seen through the eyes of Fernando Astete” and the Erasmus + ICT4STD Summer School in Poland. She supported the digitization of photographic material taken by Fernando Astete.

Zlata Kolesnyk – worked on the compilation of acts related to heritage, tourism and hospitality, the 4th International Conference, as well as the design and implementation of the online presence of World Heritage sites in Russian-speaking countries.

Prof. Jingjing Lin – holds a PhD from the Faculty of Communication Sciences of Università della Svizzera italiana – USI (Lugano,  Switzerland). Her PhD research focused on Massive Open Online Courses, particularly in the field of tourism and hospitality. She served as Project Manager of the UNESCO Chair Summer School ICT2ST4D. Between 2015 and 2017 she was project manager and course assistant of the first pilot MOOC of USI – eTourism: Communication Perspectives. Jingjing Lin has been appointed assistant professor at Tayohashi University of Technology (Japan) in 2022. 

Maha Abdul Muhusin – was a former intern of the Presidency. He worked on the Machu Picchu project concerning the digitization of photographic material taken by Fernando Astete. He was responsible for the communication plan.

Angela Simona Patruno – worked as an intern on a project for the creation of an app for the promotion of Batik, which is inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Heritage List, and present in the tourist destinations of the 33 Indonesian provinces.

Dr. Puspita Ayu Permatasari – was a PhD student at the USI Faculty of Communication, Culture and Society. Together with the Chair he created an online platform and mobile application, #iWareBatik (2020), designed to promote and communicate the cultural values of the Indonesian Batik tradition, recognized by UNESCO.

Chiara Poletto – was an intern of the Chair in 2022. She studied Monte San Giorgio on an anthropological level in collaboration with the UNESCO Chair of Genoa.

Carina Pop – was a former intern of the Chair. She has carried out research related to the usability of ICT and the promotion of sustainable tourism in World Heritage sites.

Laura Raimundo – was involved in the preparation of the promotion of the second edition of the Summer School, which took place in August 2015. In addition, she contributed to the finalization of several reports such as the final report of the WHACY Game and the semi-annual report of UNESCO.

Ilaria Rosani – was a former research assistant and eLearning project manager of the Chair.

Theresa Karolina Schieder – was responsible for the concept design and development of the new mobile application for the two World Heritage Sites in Ticino (Switzerland).

Jannina Stüben – was a chair intern from October to December 2022. She worked on the project “Nachhaltigkeit bei Buchungsportalen und digitalen Reiseanbietern” for Tourism Watch (Germany).

Andela Sormaz – was a former intern of the Presidency. He has been working on a project related to overtourism at the Jungfrau-Aletsch World Heritage Site in the Swiss Alps which aims to balance the flow of visitors within the area.

Giulia Vighetti – worked as an intern at Chair. He worked on the second volume of the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) “Tourism Management at UNESCO World Heritage Sites” designed by the UNESCO/UNITWIN network “Tourism, Culture, Development”, led by IREST (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne).

Angela Antonia Beccanulli – was a Former Visiting PhD Student from Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Milan/ Italy) at the Chair. She is Adjunct Professor at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Milan/ Italy), as well as a Brand Communication Master Digital Specialist and a Research Fellow of the Research Laboratory on Corporate Communication.

Ella Erzsébet Békési is from Hungary. She received her B.A in Archaeology and M.A in Cultural Heritage at University College London. She worked as an assistant in public and commercial archaeology and in the heritage sectors in the United Kingdom and Central America and co-founded Heritage Education Network Belize, a non-profit organisation dedicated to innovative and sustainable ways to understand and safeguard culture and heritage. She visited the Chair for two monhts in 2021.

Dr. Maria Garbelli – visited the Chair from September 2013 to September 2014. She holds a Ph.D. in Marketing and Management, and is specialized in global inter-firm networks and performance. She is Senior Lecturer in Marketing and Management at Università degli Studi di Milano Bicocca (Milan, Italy), and director of the Summer School ICTs to Promote Sustainable Tourism: Tangible and Intangible Heritage between Cultural, Leisure and Gastronomic Tourism (August-September 2015).

Prof. Walter Chikwendu Ihejirika – is a Catholic priest (Ahiara Mbaise Diocese, Nigeria) and a Professor of Development Communication and Media Studies in the Faculty of Humanities (Arts) at the University of Port Harcourt (Rivers State, Nigeria). He holds a Doctorate Degree in Sociology of Communication from the Pontifical Gregorian University (2003) and Masters in Pedagogy & Communication from the Salesian University (2014). In 2003, he was a member of the team of communication experts which set up the Centre for the Study of African Culture and Communication (CESACC) at the Catholic Institute of West Africa, Port Harcourt. He was the acting Head of the Department of Linguistics and Communication Studies, University of Port Harcourt (2011-2013). He is an Associate Fellow – Centre for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology at DePaul University (Chicago, USA). He is a member of the International Board of SIGNIS – the World Catholic Association for Communication and the President of SIGNIS-Africa. He has participated as a member of the jury for SIGNIS prizes at major international film festivals including Zanzibar (2013), Venice (2013) FESPACO (2015) and Locarno (2016). He is the Founder and Admin of the Facebook group – FaceGod. He has extensive publications in communication and media in both local and international journals and has presented papers in over 60 academic conferences and workshops locally and internationally. His major research interest is in the area of media, religion and culture; communication and development, communication and environment, ICT in religious praxis and youth culture. Apart from his mother tongue, Igbo, he speaks English and Italian fluently, and has sufficient research knowledge of French. He visited the Chair in 2019.

Dr. Rayviscic Mutinda Ndivo – visited the Chair from September 2014 to September 2015 as a Post-Doctoral Researcher. He holds a Ph.D in Tourism and Hospitality Management specializing in Tourism Management and Destination Competitiveness. He is a lecturer in the department of Tourism Management at Kenyatta University (Kenya). Dr. Mutinda has previously served as a member of the Committee of Experts in the formulation of the IGAD regional Tourism Master Plan and currently appointed by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) as the National Tourism Consultant in the formulation of the Sustainable Tourism Master Plan for Ethiopia. In addition, he is also serving as the Tourism Advisor to the Government of the Makueni County, Kenya, in the mapping of the county tourism resources and services.