Valentina Cristiana Materia is Associate Professor in Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Chains and Networks at the Business Management and Organisation group of Wageningen University. She obtained her PhD in Economics at the Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona (Italy).

As applied economist who developed an interest for innovation as connected to organization theories, institutional economics, agricultural economics, business management and value chain analysis, Valentina’s research focuses on aspects of governance in the transition towards sustainable food systems; women entrepreneurship in challenging environments; dynamics and organization of innovation in agri-food supply chains; agribusinesses’ strategies for innovation, governance and management of knowledge.

In particular, she is interested in understanding the institutional and organizational dimensions of innovation and transition processes (i.e. the governance mechanisms behind transitions) and in supporting entrepreneurial capabilities and targeted approaches to ensure the inclusion of women, youth and indigenous peoples in transition processes. 

To do so, Valentina applies mainly quantitative research methods, although she seeks for exploring more inductive approaches to her research. Her work has been published so far in journals such as Agricultural Systems, Technology in Society, Food Policy, Journal of Agricultural Economics, R&D Management among the others.

Currently co-promoter of nine PhD projects, Valentina has received research grants for several projects, among the others: the Horizon2020 project Diverfarming and the Erasmus+ project BoostEdu, the Wageningen University INREF project FermFood.

Valentina is reviewer for International scientific journals such as Food Policy, Research Policy, Journal of Cleaner Production, Journal of Rural Studies, British Food Journal, and conferences such as the European Association of Agricultural Economists (EAAE), International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA); Wageningen International Chain and Network Management (WICANEM), Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economists (AIEAA). She has been member of Programme Committees and Session Chairman in several international conferences.

In terms of education, Valentina is coordinator of the Principles of Entrepreneurship course, and co-responsible for the courses: Institutional Economics and Organizational Theory; Entrepreneurship in Practice; Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies; Social Transformations towards Sustainable Food Systems.