Ieva Garda-Rozenberga

From Oral Histories to Landscapes: Investigating Human–Environment Relationships

I am a folklorist and hold a PhD in the humanities, currently serving as a lead researcher at the ILFA.

My work focuses on oral history, personal narratives, and memory studies, with particular attention to the interplay between landscapes and identity, the environmental humanities, as well as experiences of migration and diaspora.

Within the framework of the environmental humanities, I am interested in human–environment relationships, place-based storytelling practices, and the ways in which stories, memories, and culture shape and reflect perceptions of landscape. By exploring (un)wanted transformations in landscapes and how people narrate them, it becomes possible to humanise processes of environmental change, as well as to understand how people live through, respond to, and remember shifting ecological realities—including how practices of remembering and narrating place influence contemporary decisions regarding landscape preservation or transformation in the context of development and innovation.

A significant part of my research also centres on the life stories, cultural heritage, and historical experiences of the Latvian Roma community. I focus in particular on memory of genocide, continuity and the sense of belonging, and the ways in which ethnic diversity is reflected in personal narratives.

Alongside my research, I have experience in drafting strategic documents, action plans, public reports, and evaluations, as well as in managing and overseeing national and international projects. I also organise training sessions on fieldwork and qualitative interviewing, and promote regional collaboration across the Baltic and Nordic countries by facilitating knowledge and experience exchange among professionals in the field.