Professor Donatella Donato has a PhD in Education and is a professor in the Department of Didactics and School Organization in the Faculty of Philosophy and Sciences of Education at the University of Valencia. Her main area of work is the study of cultural and organizational synergies between the territory and schools. In addition, he is a member of CRIE- Research Group in Curriculum, Resources and Educational Institutions, the POLISOC-Politics Educational, Interculturality and Society, GRUPAL- Linguistic Support Group for the visibility of voices and cultures in higher education and a volunteer at the Gitano Secretariat Foundation which collaborates on projects focusing on the promotion of the Roma community in intergral ways on the basis of social and cognitive justice, solidarity and inter-culturalism.
She came to CEU's Romani Studies Program to build her network of academic and social partnerships and expand her research into participatory and transformative social activistm and community-based socio-cultural innovation projects. She is particiularly interested in conflict resolution projects designed in collaboration with the individuals directly affected by the particular social conflict. Her work pairs social pedagogy, which provides the conceptual substrate for innovative strategies directing the practices to the formation of the active, and participatory methodologies where socially committed subjects to seek effective solutions to specific problems. The results obtained show that it is possible to promote a social transformation based on change at a personal level, regarding the perception of oneself and others, activating a multidimensional and dynamic process from the personal sphere to the community and vice versa.