Lucy Earle

Dr Lucy Earle was appointed as Director of Research and Strategic Impact at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) in April 2026. Prior to this appointment she was IIED’s Director of Urban Research. Lucy also leads the Institute’s research and policy engagement on urban crises and forced displacement. She has led large, mixed-methods research programmes focused on understanding how refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) navigate urban systems to meet their basic needs. She also works to change the narrative about where displaced people ‘belong’ – highlighting, through research and policy engagement, the potential benefits of hosting refugees and IDPs in towns and cities. Lucy has a background working on low-income housing, urban citizenship and the right to the city in the global South. She has a PhD from the London School of Economics and undertook postdoctoral research at the African Centre for Cities, University of Cape Town.