Mariela Lucía Carvajal Sanjinés

Mariela graduated in Psychology from the Universidad Católica Boliviana San Pablo in 2013. She continued her studies in Belgium at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, where she obtained a Master in Educational Sciences in 2016. Following, she began her doctoral trajectory in the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences and joined SASO research group. Her doctoral research, Exploring School-Based projects through Sport-Physical Education Programmes for Communities in Bolivia focused on school-community projects and the social role of sport-physical education within the Bolivian educational policy. Her doctoral research was supervised by prof. Marc Theeboom and was completed in 2025. Mariela’s work has been published as a book chapter in Sport for Development and Peace in Ibero-America, providing insights into community work in the region. Her work has been presented at academic conferences. Mariela has also experience in social initiatives. She has worked in projects supporting young people with street connection and prevention of child sexual abuse in La Paz, Bolivia; projects addressing migration issues with Roma families and young people from North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as refugees in Granada, Spain; and support work at an asylum seekers' centre in Brussels, Belgium.