Shadi
Rouhshahbaz

Peace and conflict researcher, futurist and foresight practitioner — Associate Research Fellow at the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation and PhD researcher at the University of Melbourne.

Shadi Rouhshahbaz’s work focuses on the futures of peacebuilding, governance and justice, with particular attention to feminist and intergenerational perspectives on systems change. Her research and facilitation bring together foresight, participatory dialogue and global governance to explore more inclusive futures.

Biography

Shadi Rouhshahbaz is an Iranian peace and conflict researcher, futurist and facilitator. Her work focuses on the intersection of foresight, intergenerational collaboration, and feminist transformation within systems of global governance. With a decade of specialised experience in feminist and intergenerational peacebuilding, she has collaborated with various UN agencies, universities, youth networks and civil society organisations across Iran, Europe, North Africa, the USA and Australia. A five-time immigrant, Shadi is fluent in 5 languages and specialises in designing accessible, emotionally grounded, and politically aware foresight spaces that bring together different stakeholders to reimagine more inclusive and just futures with their communities.

Shadi was a 2023 Next Generation Foresight Practitioner Fellow in Nuclear Disarmament at the School of International Futures during which she co-designed a Live Action Roleplaying Game around the theme of nuclear weapons. Her Women Peacemaker Fellowship (2024) also looked at ideal futures of Iran as envisioned by Iranian women changemakers in Iran and in the Iranian diaspora of Australia. Emerging from that is Iranotopia, a newsletter community space for envisioning futures of Iran. She has founded PeaceMentors, the first young-women-led peacebuilding collective in Iran. Her doctoral research, “Reimagining the Futures of Multilateral Inclusive Peacebuilding”, investigates how intergenerational feminist worldbuilding can transform the UN’s peace and security architecture. When not teaching, researching or thinking about the future, Shadi enjoys creative writing, spending time with animals and painting.