PEOPLE project team
IRI UL, Project Coordinator (SI)
Prof. Dr. Slavko Dolinšek finished his PhD in the field of automation and production cybernetics. He did his postdoctoral studies at the University of California - Berkeley, and also finished the international MBA study. Since 1998 he is a professor of “Manufacturing technologies and systems” at the University of Ljubljana (Faculty of Mechanical Engineering) and “Management” at the University of Primorska, and he is currently chief executive at IRI UL. For several years he has been working as a researcher in various national and international basic and applied research projects in the field of production engineering. He has been involved in the research of practical industrial problems, and consultancy in production engineering and management. In the last ten years he also published more than 100 scientific and professional papers.
Gregor Cerinšek is the project manager of the PEOPLE project. He holds an MA in Human Resource Management from the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Ljubljana. His work is oriented towards development and evaluation of different education and training concepts, models and programmes (such as learning by doing, experiential learning, technology-enhanced learning etc.), addressing real-life needs of industry and based on close collaboration between industrial and higher education environment. As a project manager, he has been employed at IRI UL since 2010. He is a saxophone player and a founding member of the Big Band Zagorje orchestra currently celebrating 15 years of performing on the national and European floor. The never-ending rhythm & blues keeps him motivated to overcome different challenges that life brings to him.
Jure Vetršek received his degree in mechanical engineering from the Department of Heat and mass transfer and environmental engineering, University of Ljubljana. He received his MSc in energy policies and systems specialization affiliated by University of Iceland and University of Akureyri, and also MSc degree from the field of technology from University of Ljubljana. For 5 years he worked in Laboratory for sustainable technologies in buildings at Faculty of mechanical engineering, University of Ljubljana. At IRI UL, he works mainly in the field of energy efficiency, renewables integration in buildings and energy information systems and audits.
Tina Hribar graduated at the department of Sociology at the Faculty of social sciences, University of Ljubljana. In her diploma thesis »Alternative(s) in education – “educare”« she studied and analysed different ways that this alternative system can benefit the public school system in Slovenia. From 2006-2008 she has been working at the Faculty of social sciences as employment advisor. In 2008 she joined the research team at IRI UL as advisor and researcher and is working in the field of project coordination and project assistance on national and European projects.
ZRC SAZU (SI)
Dan Podjed, PhD is an anthropologist with 15+ years' experience in ethnographic research, project coordination, university teaching, and event management. He has been involved in development of several ethnography-based and people-centred IT solutions for promoting sustainable lifestyle. Since 2012, he has been coordinating the Applied Anthropology Network of the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA). He is the founder and organiser of Why the World Needs Anthropologists international symposium, annually prepared since 2013. He gets energy from his family and friends, and likes to recharge his batteries in countries of ex-Yugoslavia.
Tatiana Bajuk Senčar, PhD is an anthropologist and a researcher at the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Institute of Slovenian Ethnology. She has led numerous research projects and collaborated on numerous others both in Slovenia and abroad. Her research interests are wide-ranging and cover several areas: cultural constructions of economic expertise, the anthropology of tourism and globalization, heritage practices, Europeanization processes, and constructions of transnational and multilocal identity. Her latest research projects address the issue sustainable mobility, be it at the rural or urban levels.
Durham University (UK)
Sandra Bell, PhD, is an environmental anthropologist with special interests in research on energy consumption and production, as well as biodiversity conservation. During her teaching career she has taken a special interest in introducing students to anthropological research methods through project work. Her interests include reading fiction, swimming, and spending time with her two grandsons.
Simone Abram, PhD, is Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Durham and Durham Energy Institute’s Co-Director for Social Sciences & Health. Her energy research interests lie in relating different disciplinary perspectives on energy and society, including the governance of energy developments, ethical questions in energy modelling, and the changing social and political significance of energies. She has taught in many interdisciplinary contexts and is Course Director of the MSc in Energy and Society.
Lynn Gibson is Durham Energy Institute (DEI)’s Administrator. Lynn joined the DEI in September 2015 after spending 12 years in Durham University’s Research Office supporting the Science Faculty with the costing, preparation and submitting of research grant applications. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Management and Business Administration and provides leads on event management, office management and managing the DEI budget as well as providing PA support to the Executive Director and Co-Directors of the Institute. Lynn is also responsible for the scheduling, planning, delivery and evaluation of DEI events.
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (NL)
Giulia Sinatti, PhD, has a professional background in international development and holds a PhD in Comparative Urban Studies from the University of Milan-Bicocca (Italy). Currently, she is Assistant Professor at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. She has researched international migration and development both in academia and as a consultant to UN and inter-governmental agencies, the EC, NGOs and grass-roots organisations. Based on her research, she has authored academic publications, as well as policy briefs, practitioner handbooks, blogs and media articles.
Freek Colombijn, PhD is Associate Professor at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. The main topics of his research are human-made environmental changes, environmental awareness, consumptive behaviour, urban modernization, municipal solid waste management and social inequality, together with less serious topics like football in Indonesia. Alongside his academic commitments, he is actively involved in people-centred design and anticipating societal demands in the city of the future and participated in the initiative "Philips think-tank on liveable cities."
Ellen Bal, PhD, is Associate Professor at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. As Programme Director, she is responsible for teaching at MSc and BSc levels in anthropology. At Faculty level, she is active in curriculum re-design and the implementation of teaching reforms. Ellen is inspired by a keen commitment to promote the role of anthropologists in contemporary societies. Her core research and teaching focusses on identity formation, ethnicity, migration, transnationalism, and human security. As such she has published widely in anthropological journals.
Lenie Brouwer, PhD, is Assistant Professor at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Lenie is responsible for the coordination of the bachelor and master education programme and the coordination of internships for bachelor students. She teaches a bachelor course to help students bridge the gap between university and labour market and she organizes a research workshop for bachelor students, in which they cooperate with organisations and local councils in conducting applied qualitative research.
Marrije Prins, MSc, is an experienced development expert holding a Masters in Social and Cultural Anthropology from the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Since 2006, she has worked as a freelance applied ethnographic researcher and as a programme manager on education innovation projects outside of academia. Her strength lies in bridging the gap between multiple stakeholders in newly formed partnerships between profit and not-for-profit organizations focused on the realisation and acceleration of development.
Maud van Merriënboer holds a Master of Science in Culture, Organization and Management. She is involved in the project management and evaluation of the PEOPLE project, and also has the role of Junior Teacher at the Organization Sciences department at VU Amsterdam. A lot of her teaching involves bridging the gap between industry and academia and teaching students ethnographic research methods. Within different courses, she has collaborated with several partners in the public and private domain, including municipalities, energy grid operators, energy providers and housing corporations. She enjoys seeing students grow confidence during their research and attempts to pay attention to professional skill-building in her teaching methods so that students are prepared for the job market after finishing their studies.
Charles University in Prague (CUNI), Czech Republic
Jan Urban, PhD, is a researcher at Charles University Environment Center in Prague and researcher and instructor at the Department of Environmental Studies of Masaryk University in Brno. His research interests are psychological theories of environmental behaviour (particularly energy use and mitigation behaviour), and moral processes underlying environmental behaviour. He is currently teaching at Masaryk University two courses on quantitative research methods and use of experiments in the study of environmental problems.
Vojtěch Máca, PhD, is a researcher at Charles University Environment Center. His research focus is law and economics of environmental externalities, valuation of human health impacts, quantification and internalization of external costs and political economy of economic instruments in environmental policy. He is currently teaching a course "Law and Public Administration" at Institute for Environmental Studies, Faculty of Science, Charles University.
Markéta Braun Kohlová holds a PhD in sociology and as a senior researcher at CUNI, she focuses on environmental sociology and behavioural research in the field of travel, behaviour, recreation and health. In her research projects, she has employed several quantitative (discrete choice modelling, contingent valuation) as well as qualitative (discourse analysis, biography approach) social-science methods. She has participated on teaching of environmental sociology at the Faculty of arts in 2009 and 2013 and currently is teaching a course “Sociology and its research methods” at Faculty of science, Charles University.
Hana Škopková, MSc, is a junior researcher at the Charles University Environment Center and PhD candidate of Environmental Studies at the Charles University Faculty of Humanities. Her research interests are consumption behaviour and renewable energy demand in residential sector. She has extensive experience in management of national and international research projects and has been responsible for various dissemination activities.
Kateřina Kaprová, MSc, is a junior researcher at the Charles University Environment Center and also a PhD candidate of Environmental Studies programme at the Faculty of Humanities of the Charles University. In her research, she focuses on valuation of environmental goods in the context of protected areas, forests and water, ecosystem services valuation, recreation demand analysis. She has taught three courses on environmental economics and valuation at University of Economics in years 2009-2014, and from 2013 on is participating in teaching the course “Welfare measurement” at Institute of Economic Studies, Charles University.
Markéta Sychrovská, MSc, is economist and financial manager of projects and grants at the Charles University Environment Center.
Metronik (SI)
Dr Saša Sokolić is a member of the board at Metronik. He started his professional career at the University of Ljubljana as Associate Researcher. In 1996, he joined Metronik and took over several strategic functions. His main responsibilities are: understanding market demands, defining R&D directions and business development. He is head of Metronik Development research group and has successfully managed several R&D projects. His main research interests are modern production optimization and energy consumption methods and corresponding information technologies. He received a reward from University of Primorska for his contribution to the cooperation between industrial and academic sector.
Janez Žmuc, MSc has been working in Metronik since 1990. As Metronik’s member of the board and Technical Director, he is in charge of the development of new technologies and products, as well as of the organization and implementation of projects for end-users. Prior to joining Metronik, he worked as a researcher at the Jožef Stefan Institute since the completion of his studies at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Ljubljana in 1983. His field of expertise are production control systems, regulation and automation, telemetry systems and communication interfaces for process systems. He has participated in several R&D projects in these fields and has also published in professional publications.
Sara Arko, PhD is an anthropologist and a researcher in industry. She is a member of Metronik’s research group on Sustainable Development. In her PhD thesis, she explored the role of anthropology in international development cooperation, specifically in the context of intergovernmental and government organisations. In the PEOPLE project, she is working on Metronik’s case-study and is responsible for overseeing PEOPLE’s dissemination and exploitation activities. She has two small children and does her best to find some time for reading, swimming, and running in the forest.
Andreja Kerč, MA, holds a Master of Political Science with experience in project management and organizational assistance, having worked on projects EUREKA, EURL3A, EE-COOP.
Durham County Council (UK)
Maggie Bosanquet leads Durham County Council's Low Carbon Economy Team, which delivers low carbon projects across County Durham. She holds an MSc in European Environmental Policy and Regulation, and a Level 7 Diploma in Leadership and Management. Maggie has worked to create a network of public, private, statutory and commercial organisations to develop and promote an energy and low carbon agenda for the North East. She has extensive experience over 25 years in energy management, renewable energy, SME and community energy support, sustainable development and low carbon economic development. She is an experienced lecturer and sits on the Durham Energy Institute Advisory Board at Durham University.
Catherine Judge has six years’ experience developing energy efficiency and renewable energy projects for public land and buildings. Catherine has an MSc in Energy and Society (with Distinction) and BSc (Hons) in Chemistry and Biology, both from Durham University. Catherine’s Masters dissertation won first place in the Energy Institute’s North East Dissertation Award. She developed a behavioural change campaign which won first place in the National Greenbuild Awards and is published as a best practice case study for the REBUS Interreg Europe project. Catherine is a registered CIBSE Low Carbon Consultant and Low Carbon Energy Assessor (Building Operation). She is an Associate Member of the Energy Institute.
Rosalind Farrow has seven years of experience working in energy efficiency following a Masters degree in Low Carbon Building Design and Modelling from Loughborough University, and a BSc in Physics with Astrophysics from the University of Leicester. She is a graduate member of CIBSE. Rosalind has worked for a range of organisations in the public and private sectors providing advice on energy efficiency to a variety of companies, charities, SMEs, and public bodies. Rosalind is currently working on renewable energy projects including the design of a new solar farm, construction projects including DCC's new multi-million-pound headquarters, retrofit energy efficiency projects on DCC assets, and innovative heating projects including the use of heat from mine water.
Kemuri (UK)
Dr Leonard Anderson is a futurist. He predicts the future, engaging in interdisciplinary and systems thinking. This involves advising private and public organisations on global trends, scenarios, emerging markets and risk management. Not only that, he is delivering some of his predictions; as an entrepreneurial innovator he converts visions into reality. He invented the KemuriSense Smart Power Socket for machine learning activities of older people living alone. A patent pending for multi-sensor energy management capsules will take years to reach its full potential.
Stephen Coloney has 30 years' experience in finance, operations and management consulting with IBM, KPMG and as an independent consultant and projects director in the home, office and care facility automation industries.
Alliander (NL)
The involvement of people in the transition to a sustainable, low carbon future is crucial. It is for this reason that Gerriëtte Mollink, MSc is involved in several projects concerning participation, social innovation and behaviour as an anthropologist at Dutch grid operator Alliander. The projects that she is involved in try to connect social and technical innovations and introduce them to the wider public. From a technology perspective, we can already make the transition to a sustainable energy supply. From a people, economic and political perspective though, there still is a long way to go. The PEOPLE project is part of her current focus on developing local approaches to a sustainable heat supply in the Netherlands.
Peter Pos, MSc, is senior consultant innovation at Alliander. He is mainly involved in the interaction between the energy system and the people using that system. Questions that interest him are: What do people expect from the energy system? Nowadays and in the future? Which combination of variables (price, regulation, behaviour, energy market system, technique) leads to the best system to fulfil those expectations? In order to find the answers to those questions, he is initiating and participating in several projects that handle the different combinations of those variables. He is, for instance, investigating which role the real estate market could/would/might play in the energy transition.
VUPS (CZ)
Barbora Vlasatá has been working in the environmental sector for 6 years. She was focusing on the renewable energy sources, energy savings and energy efficiency. Nowadays, she is working in the field of environmental labelling of products, specifically the environmental product declarations. Main part of her activities is Life cycle assessment of products.