Adriana Arista Zerga

Social and cultural anthropologist
Assistant Professor at the University of Nottingham

Adriana Arista-Zerga is a lawyer specialised in cultural rights and holds a PhD in Social and Cultural Anthropology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, where she lived while completing her doctoral studies. She also holds two Master’s degrees in Anthropology and Human Rights and earned a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (PGCHE) from the University of Nottingham, where she is Assistant Professor in Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies.

Her interdisciplinary career bridges law, anthropology, and cultural heritage, with extensive fieldwork experience working with communities and safeguarding both tangible and intangible heritage across Latin America and beyond. Adriana was part of the inception phase of UNESCO’s International Food Atlas and Digital Platform for the Safeguarding, Promotion, and Transmission of Foodways to Future Generations and remains actively involved in its development. She also collaborated with UNESCO Quito on safeguarding intangible heritage during the COVID-19 pandemic and worked in the Community Participation Area of Peru’s Qhapaq Ñan UNESCO World Heritage Project, focusing on community engagement and heritage management. She co-authored a landmark study for IBERCOCINAS on cuisines as cultural heritage and creative economy. Widely published and a regular speaker at international conferences, she is recognised as an expert consultant on cultural heritage, foodways, and cultural rights.