Stefano Cisternino — curriculum in full text

Biography

Stefano Cisternino works on climate and energy policy and the disinformation around them. He is Head of Communications and Policy at Climate Standard, energy correspondent at The European Correspondent, and director of the Observatory on Climate Misinformation at The New Global Order, a research unit tracking how climate disinformation is built and how it travels in Europe. At the University of Padova he is Research Fellow on PersoNa, a PRIN-PNRR project in the FISPPA department that follows the personal accounts of people harmed by climate change into the courtroom: how those accounts are gathered, how they are contested, and what a judge accepts as evidence. He built the project’s public identity, runs its communications and operations, and works on the cases. That work has produced a paper on climate displacement through an epistemic lens, given at University College Dublin, and a field mission in L’Aquila around the first Italian case in which a court recognised climate grounds for protection. Over eight years he has worked inside three European Commission services, on EU funded projects and city networks, and in international newsrooms. He designed Climate Disinformation Bingo, a workshop on the twenty five tactics of climate denial, and has run it at the European Commission, the EU Climate Pact Annual Event and COP29. He founded and hosts FAQ the Climate, a monthly podcast that puts one honest question about working on climate to one guest. He holds a master’s in sustainable development and climate change from Pisa and one in peace and conflict studies from Uppsala, works in Italian and English, and lives in Lecce.

Current positions

Head of Communications and Policy, Climate Standard
Research Fellow, PersoNa (PRIN-PNRR), Dipartimento FISPPA, Università di Padova
Energy desk, The European Correspondent
Director, Observatory on Climate Misinformation, The New Global Order

Professional experience

Research Fellow, Communications and Project Operations, PersoNa (PRIN-PNRR), FISPPA, University of Padova. Mar 2026, current · Padova and Rome
Lead communications for this national project on personal narratives in climate litigation and built its public identity from scratch: strategy, website, social media, press relations and newsletter, in four languages. Manage partnerships and speaker relations across a network of international academic and legal partners, and run day to day operations: deliverables, budget and reporting against ministry milestones, plus two international symposia.
Head of Communications and Policy, Climate Standard. Jan 2026, current · Remote, Italy
Lead all communications and press for the registry: weekly editorial output on the voluntary carbon market, the company website, and press relations as its media contact in Italy. Follow European carbon market policy, from the Carbon Removal Certification Framework to the Clean Industrial Deal, and turn it into the company public position. Prepared its CRCF accreditation application and manage partnerships with associations and consultancies, plus editorial and academic requests.
Lead Editor, English Edition, and Columnist, Ultima Bozza. Nov 2025, current · Remote, Italy
Manage translation and revision from draft to publication and run the final quality check between the WordPress backend and the published site. Write a weekly column on climate misinformation, taking one contested climate term per edition and showing how the narrative around it is built, with every claim sourced to a primary document.
Communications Expert, Circular Economy team, ICLEI Europe. Apr to Oct 2025 · Freiburg, Germany
Focal point for all communications of the Circular Economy team: audiences, channels and editorial workflow for two European city networks, CCRI and CCD, and seven EU funded projects. Ran the public output of the networks: website and policy content, newsletters to signatory cities, three LinkedIn channels, recurring city features, and guidance on food waste reduction and packaging reuse. Coordinated the Frontrunner Group policy brief to the European Parliament with eleven municipalities, from editing to visual identity and communication plan, and handled communications and city recruitment for more than 15 webinars and the CCRI Twinning and Mentoring programmes.
Scientific Communicator, JRC.D1, European Commission, Joint Research Centre. Dec 2023 to Mar 2025 · Brussels, Belgium
Co-editor of the JRC report Delivering the EU Green Deal, coordinating scientific contributions and review across thirteen Commission services, with separate editions for leadership and public audiences, and ran the unit social and web channels. Wrote chapters 1, 4 and 8 of A Pathway to Europe’s Competitiveness, on the framing of the transition, critical raw material dependencies and horizontal enablers. Co-authored a peer reviewed paper in Social Media + Society with JRC Unit D.3 on 580,000 social media interactions on the European Green Deal.
Lead Communication Expert, Rural Pact Support Office, European Commission, DG AGRI, through AEIDL. Aug to Dec 2023 · Brussels, Belgium
Ran the Rural Pact communications with DG AGRI: editorial planning, stakeholder community management, newsletter, press relations and media monitoring on rural policy narratives, in several languages. Lead editor of the inaugural Rural Vision Magazine and of the Community Platform behind it, which passed 2,150 member organisations. Ran communications for the High-Level Rural Policy Forum in Sigüenza with the Spanish EU Presidency, 200 participants from 26 member states, feeding into the Council conclusions on the Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas adopted on 20 November 2023.
Press and Communication Assistant, DG ENV.A2, European Commission, DG Environment. Mar to Jul 2023 · Brussels, Belgium
Worked in the press function of the DG: daily media monitoring, incoming press enquiries, and press relations with Politico, Euractiv, Euronews and Bloomberg during the 2023 nitrogen crisis, alongside the press team and the Secretariat-General. Kept institutional messaging consistent across Commission services and farming organisations through the farmer protests, drafting factsheets and briefing material. Ran the Italy, France and Poland strands of the ReSet the Trend campaign on circular textiles, and supported Green Week 2023.
Project and Communication Support Officer, Seascape Belgium, for DG MARE. Oct 2022 to Mar 2023 · Brussels, Belgium
Supported the science and policy interface of DG MARE on marine governance through the EU marine data secretariat: weekly articles for the European Atlas of the Seas and stakeholder engagement for two Horizon Europe ocean projects.
Press Office Collaborator, Department of Environment, Apulia Region. Jan to Sep 2022 · Bari, Italy
Press office of the regional environment department: press review, releases and briefings for the Environmental Councillor, media relations with regional and national outlets, and policy content on Green Deal Going Local.
Project and Communications Officer, The Climate Route. Mar 2021 to 2024 · Rimini, Italy
Directed the association communication strategy, media partnerships and campaigns, including an event with 1,000 participants covered by ANSA and Sky TG24, and a documentary selected for a COP27 side event.
Project and Communications Consultant, Proàgo Srl. 2021 to 2023 · Puglia, Italy
Project design, budgeting and funder reporting for twelve grant funded projects on social inclusion and environmental education, backed by Con i Bambini, Fondazione con il Sud and Regione Puglia, plus their launch campaigns. Delivered with Lecce organisations: a sustainability school for children aged 6 to 12 with Camera a Sud, funded by Puglia Capitale Sociale 3.0, where I wrote the project, ran the communication strategy and built the plan of remote and in person activities; and two territorial photography projects with Pro Loco Lecce and Positivo Diretto, from fundraising and multimedia production to the closing exhibitions.

Earlier roles

Layout and Web Editor, Uttryck Magazine. Mar 2021 to Jul 2023 · Uppsala, Sweden
Communications and Project Officer, Scienza in Rete. Feb to Sep 2022 · Rome, Italy
Communications and Grants Officer, Acume. Feb 2021 to Feb 2022 · London, United Kingdom
Project Manager, CAMAAY. Jan to Mar 2021 · Bamenda, Cameroon
Research Intern, What Are They Fighting For?, Uppsala University, Department of Peace and Conflict Research. Aug 2020 to Jan 2021 · Uppsala, Sweden
Chief Editor, Pax et Bellum Journal. Sep 2018 to Mar 2020 · Uppsala, Sweden

Education

M.Sc. Sustainable Development and Climate Change, University of Pisa. 2025 to 2026 · Pisa, Italy
M.Sc. Peace and Conflict Studies, Uppsala University. 2018 to 2020 · Uppsala, Sweden
B.Sc. International Studies, University of Trento. 2014 to 2017 · Trento, Italy

Publications

ORCID 0009-0008-1832-7892

Conference paper, 2026
Monticelli, B., Cisternino, S., and Corsaro, D. Youth Communication in Climate Negotiations: A Verbal, Paraverbal, and Non-Verbal Analytical Framework. Energy Nexus 18, 100406, Elsevier. Scopus and ESCI, Q1. Best Paper Award, 5th NERPS Conference, Hiroshima University and United Nations University, Tokyo
Book chapter, 2026
Monticelli, B., Cisternino, S., and Corsaro, D. Youth perceptions of disinformation in international climate negotiations. Actas del IV Congreso Internacional de Comunicación del Cambio Climático, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Editorial Fragua
Institutional report, 2026
Marelli, L., Gastaldi, C., Trane, M., et al. A pathway to Europe’s competitiveness: the clean transition. Publications Office of the European Union, JRC147029. Chapters 1, 4 and 8 written by me
Journal article, 2025
Borchardt, S., Trane, M., Cisternino, S., and Marelli, L. Perceptions of the European Green Deal: understanding public sentiment. Social Media + Society 11(3), with JRC Unit D.3
Institutional report, 2025
Marelli, L., Trane, M., Barbero Vignola, G., et al. Delivering the EU Green Deal: progress towards targets. Edited by C. Black and S. Cisternino. Publications Office of the European Union, JRC140372, ISBN 978-92-68-23180-7
Working paper, 2024
Cisternino, S. Exploring untapped research opportunities in bridging the science-public gap: innovative communication strategies for environmental research on social media. SSRN Working Paper 4947715
Dataset and codebook, 2023
Brosché, J., Sundberg, R., Wallensteen, P., et al., including Cisternino, S. UCDP Conflict Issues Dataset Codebook, version 23.1. Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University. Contribution as research intern, 2020 to 2021
Policy brief, 2025
Cisternino, S. A shield with an aperture? Strengthening EU capacity to respond to systemic climate disinformation. POLLEN Policy Brief 2025/1, Institute for European Studies and CReSPo, UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles, co-funded by Erasmus+
Report, co-coordinator and author, 2025
Lennax, K., and Cisternino, S. (coords.). Future of Energy Report 2025. Young Leaders in Energy and Sustainability, YES Europe
Advocacy document, author, 2025
YES Europe and EYEN COP30 Team. Green Jobs for Youth: Advocacy Roadmap. YES Europe
Policy document, co-author, 2025
Alkarbi, N., Baunach, C., Cabrera, E., Chukwuemezie, V., Cisternino, S., and Loconsole, A. Policy Area 10: brain drain and brain gain, talent migration. European Youth Energy Forum 2025
Institutional publication, lead editor, 2023
Rural Pact Support Office and European Commission, DG Agriculture and Rural Development. Rural Vision Magazine, edition 1, Empowering Rural Europe. Publications Office of the European Union
Guest lectures, 2025
Climate disinformation and prebunking UCLouvain and Politecnico di Milano

Outlets he writes for

The European Correspondent, Principal Correspondent, energy desk. Since Dec 2025 · English
One energy story a week for a continental newsroom: what a decision in Brussels does to a grid, a bill or a job.
DeSmog, Investigative journalist. Since Oct 2025 · English
Fossil fuel lobbying in Europe: trade bodies, the agencies that work for them, and the money behind the campaigns.
Ultima Bozza, Lead editor, English edition, and columnist. Since Nov 2025 · Italian and English
A weekly column that takes one contested climate word per edition and shows how the narrative around it was built, sourced to primary documents.
Renewable Matter, Contributor, circular economy and energy. Since 2025 · Italian and English
Circular economy policy and the material side of the energy transition, for a readership of practitioners.
Duegradi, Contributor. Since 2021 · Italian
The geopolitical consequences of climate change: borders, migration, and who pays for adaptation.
Icarus Complex Magazine, Contributor. Since 2023 · English
The socio-economic side of the crisis, including a long piece questioning green growth as a frame.
Treccani, Atlante, Contributor. 2022 · Italian
The socio-political effects of the climate crisis, for the online magazine of the Italian encyclopaedia.
Scienza in Rete, Contributor and communications officer. 2022 · Italian
Science journalism in Italian, alongside press releases and scouting European calls on urban regeneration.
Uttryck Magazine, Layout and web editor. 2021 to 2023 · English
The Uppsala magazine on global affairs: I edited copy, set the layout in InDesign and ran the digital presence.
IdeeGreen, Contributor. 2021 to 2022 · Italian
Environmental explainers in Italian, written for readers who arrive from a search engine.

Selected articles

Be a PleniDude: how an Italian oil giant conquered TikTok. DeSmog, May 2026
Investigation with Nina Tea Zibetti into a six week bootcamp that turned aspiring influencers into carriers of pro-industry climate messaging
How AI kills academia. The European Correspondent, Mar 2026
Predatory journals, 2.8 million publications a year and contaminated research reaching climate policy
European oil giants profit from war. The European Correspondent, Nov 2025
Refining margins at Shell, BP and TotalEnergies set against hospitals rationing diesel in Chernihiv
Buy wind, make money. The European Correspondent, Nov 2025
Crowdfunded renewables, the EU investment caps and what the default risk actually looks like
When your electricity provider pays you to use power. The European Correspondent, Oct 2025
474 hours of negative prices in one Dutch summer, and a grid that cannot keep pace with its own renewables
British vape waste powers Ukrainian soldiers. The European Correspondent, Dec 2025
Disposable vape batteries stripped in a Leeds living room and shipped to the front
The false economics of feasibility. Icarus Complex Magazine, issue 7, 2025
How public money rigs the market for fossil fuels and manufactures a sense of affordability
Rethinking growth: green growth. Icarus Complex Magazine, 2025
With Linda Förster, on decoupling, the EU Green Deal and what the evidence says about it
Opinion: Europe’s climate journalism is in crisis. The European Correspondent, Sep 2024
749 environmental journalists attacked in fifteen years, 44 killed, and 87 per cent unable to access the data they need

Podcast

Ep. 1, What working in sustainability really looks like. FAQ the Climate, with Roberta Bosu, 3 Oct 2025
Ep. 2, Feedback in real sustainability jobs. FAQ the Climate, with Cecilia Consalvo, 6 Nov 2025
Ep. 3, An informal conversation about climate disinformation. FAQ the Climate, with Marc Esteve Del Valle, 4 Dec 2025
Ep. 4, Is a truly sustainable society achievable?. FAQ the Climate, with Roberto Talenti, 12 Jan 2026
Ep. 5, The myth of green aviation. FAQ the Climate, with Sean Currie, 5 Feb 2026
Ep. 6, The power of doing. FAQ the Climate, with Dafne Argondizza, 5 Mar 2026
Ep. 7, Beyond the predator myth. FAQ the Climate, with Jim Stoppelenburg, 8 Apr 2026
Ep. 8, Everything is connected to everything. FAQ the Climate, with Alice Casiraghi, 3 Jul 2026
Gears of Breath. Pathways, a possible futures podcast, with CO2RE Arts, University of Oxford, 8 Jun 2026
È vero, ma non ci credo. Guest on Radio CICAP, 12 Mar 2026
Circular economy in Italy. Guest on Sostenibilità Italiana, 16 Jul 2026
Decolonizing climate messaging, greenwashing and power. Guest on Tangelic Talks, 16 Jun 2025
Talking green, how the EU communicates climate policy. Guest on CIS Communicating International Security, 4 Jun 2025
Stefano Cisternino x Sostenibilità Italiana. Guest on Sostenibilità Italiana, 2 Oct 2025
Un clima di guerra. Guest on DOMÌNI Podcast, 11 Jun 2023

Talks, panels and teaching

PaSTIS group seminar, University of Padova, June 2026. Presented the progress of the PersoNa project on personal narratives in climate litigation to the FISPPA and PaSTIS research groups.
Migration Beyond Emergency, University College Dublin, May 2026. Delivered the paper “Climate displacement from an epistemic lens: the emerging knowledge of affected people in court cases” at the international symposium on testimony and diaspora.
PersoNa field mission, L’Aquila, May 2026. Ran a training session for ten asylum seekers on international protection granted on climate grounds, alongside observation of the tribunal hearing in Italy’s first recognised climate refugee case.
YES-Europe Annual Conference, Milan, April 2026. Moderated the panel “Urban Innovation and Sustainability” with A2A Life Ventures, the City of Milan’s Board for Technological Innovation and the Portuguese housing organisation Just a Change.
Together in Action, EU Climate Pact Annual Event, Brussels, March 2026. Co-delivered a competitively selected session presenting the Climate Disinformation Bingo, with Roberta Bosu and Marc Esteve del Valle.
CleanMed Europe 2025, online, June 2025. Speaker on “How to Communicate About Public Health and the Environment in a Complex Era” at the annual conference of Health Care Without Harm Europe.
Earth Society and Biodiversity Action Europe joint panel, Brussels, December 2024. Panel speaker at “COPing Together: Youth Engagement from COP16 to COP29” on youth participation across the biodiversity and climate negotiation tracks.
COP29 side event, Baku, November 2024. Speaker at “See Through the Fog: Fake or Fact?” on climate disinformation during the UNFCCC negotiations.
European Climate Pact Satellite Event, Brussels, June 2024. Moderated “The Future of the European Green Deal”.
Peer Parliaments, European Sustainable Energy Week, Brussels, June 2024. Moderated “How we make energy green and fair” within the Commission’s citizen deliberation format.
EU Climate Pact Annual Event, Brussels, March 2024. Speaker on “Telling Facts from Fiction: Communicating Climate Change and Fighting Disinformation”.
Climate Disinformation Bingo, subsequent editions, 2024 to 2026. Delivered the ninety minute media literacy workshop at the European Commission, Politecnico di Milano, the Amsterdam Climate Pact Annual Event, the University of Groningen and the London Climate Action Group.
Guest lectures, UCLouvain and Politecnico di Milano, Recurring. Lectures on climate disinformation strategies and prebunking methodology, drawing on inoculation theory tools including Cranky Uncle and the Bad News Game.
ICLEI Europe, city network programmes, 2025. Delivered over fifteen webinars and workshops for municipal stakeholders, including the Twinning and Mentoring programmes pairing cities at different stages of circular transition.
WAVE, ECOLISE, Erasmus+ Belgian cohort, 2024 to 2025. Co-led recurring training sessions for youth ambassadors on Climate Fresk facilitation and on podcasting and social media production.

Projects, community and mentoring

Director, Observatory on Climate Misinformation, The New Global Order. Sep 2024, current
A research and communication unit inside the think tank The New Global Order, tracking how climate disinformation is built and how it travels in Europe, with a focus on Italy.
Co-creator, Climate Disinformation Bingo, With Roberta Bosu. 2024, current
A ninety minute workshop played like bingo. Each group gets a card of 25 disinformation tactics, then hunts for them in real posts, adverts and speeches.
Operations Manager, YES Europe, Young Leaders in Energy and Sustainability. Jan 2025, current
A youth led European network of people working in energy and sustainability, more than 200 members across 24 countries.
EU Climate Pact Ambassador, European Commission, DG CLIMA. Dec 2023 to 2026
The Commission volunteer network that brings climate policy into rooms where it is not normally discussed: schools, companies, town halls.
Climate Reality Leader, The Climate Reality Project. Jun 2024, current
The training network founded by Al Gore, which prepares people to give the climate talk in their own country and language.
Peer educator, I ACT, IRENA, the International Renewable Energy Agency. Sep 2025, current
An IRENA programme, funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that trains young people to teach renewable energy and climate action to their peers.
Mentor, WAVE youth programme, ECOLISE and Erasmus+. 2024, current
WAVE prepares young people to design and run ecological projects in their own town, from community energy to food and waste.
Co-founder and communications coordinator, Earth Society, European Commission Trainees Association. 2022, current
The environmental branch of the association representing the Commission trainees, 1,300 people arriving in Brussels twice a year.

Credentials and awards

NERPS Best Paper Award 2026, NERPS Conference and United Nations University, Tokyo. Mar 2026 · Academic award
European Climate Pact Ambassador, European Commission, DG CLIMA. Dec 2023 to Dec 2026 · Ambassadorship
Peer educator, I ACT, International Renewable Energy Agency. Sep 2025 · Training of trainers
POLLEN module, EU environmental policies and law, UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles, IES and CReSPo. Aug 2025 · Certificate of achievement
Amsterdam Complexity School of Climate Change, Institute for Advanced Study, University of Amsterdam. Apr 2025 · Certificate of completion
Raccontare la scienza, Scuola Holden, Turin. Dec 2024 to Mar 2025 · Certificate of attendance
Climatebase Fellowship, cohort 6, Climatebase. Nov 2024 · Fellowship certificate
Climate Academy, second edition, Climate Standard. Oct to Dec 2024 · Certificate of participation
WAVE Youth Ambassador Programme, ECOLISE and Erasmus+ Key Action 2. Jul to Aug 2024 · Certificate of attendance
Environmental education, small actions with big impacts, Cultivating Futures and Erasmus+. Jul 2024 · Certificate of completion
Climate Reality Leadership Training, The Climate Reality Project. Jun 2024 · Certificate of completion
Turin School on EU integration, law and justice, University of Turin, Jean Monnet Chair. May 2024 · Certificate of attendance
School of Climate Change, Michaelmas 2023, Oxford Climate Society. 2023 · Certificate of completion

Elsewhere

The interactive curriculum · The playable version · In italiano

Last updated 11 August 2026.