Contact details +6469517911
I work on effective climate change governance in relation to risk, inclusivity (social justice) and innovation, using country comparative studies to draw lessons for policy and practice. I have published on impact assessment, research methods, grassroots innovation, energy transitions, and low carbon innovation policy.
I take a broad interdisciplinary approach to understanding environmental issues, in part to understand and bridge different perspectives on sustainable development. I have degrees in biological sciences, environmental economics, management and environmental science from Oxford University, Free University Amsterdam and Wageningen University, and a PhD in environmental policy from the University of Helsinki.
I have also worked as a social entrepreneur and consultant with a variety of start-up social enterprise on energy and IT innovation projects in India, Cameroon and the UK, and most recently worked with New Zealand’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority.
Environmental innovation
Civic engagement, grassroots innovation, social innovation
Innovation policy
Organisational learning
Sustainable development
Bioeconomy: governance, policy, multi-level perspectives
Energy transitions
Co-benefits, impacts, Distributional effects, social justice in climate change mitigation
Impact investing
Circular economy
Ecological economics
Political economics of decarbonisation
Resource Development and Management, Design – for Commerce, Community and Culture
Field of research codes
Business and Management (150300):
Commerce, Management, Tourism And Services (150000):
Ecological Economics (149902):
Economics (140000):
Environment Policy (160507):
Environmental Impact Assessment (050204):
Environmental Management (050205):
Environmental Science and Management (050200):
Environmental Sciences (050000):
Innovation and Technology Management (150307):
Organisational Planning and Management (150312):
Other Economics (149900):
Policy and Administration (160500):
Research, Science and Technology Policy (160511):
Small Business Management (150314):
Studies In Human Society (160000)
Environmental innovation
Civic engagement, grassroots innovation, social innovation
Innovation policy
Organisational learning
Sustainable development
Bioeconomy: governance, policy, multi-level perspectives
Energy transitions
Co-benefits, impacts, Distributional effects, social justice in climate change mitigation
| Position | Current | Completed |
|---|---|---|
| Project Leader | 2 | 0 |
To prepare students for careers in innovation and sustainable development, I regard the following skills and knowledge essential:
Substantive knowledge
- Understand the role of innovation at enterprise, national and societal level;
- Key theories on innovation: Models for technological innovation, diffusion and societal change; types of innovation; patterns of sectoral innovation.
- Understand the different ways in which sustainable development is conceptualised and implications for the way we manage innovation;
- Understanding the role of government, industry and civil society in facilitating innovation, and the ways in which government can work with industry and civil society to facilitate it;
- Understand the full range of market and non-market policy instruments available to government, their respective advantages and disadvantages;
- The different ways in which government facilitates innovation in different countries.
- The ways in which firms are strategically managing technological innovation, product and service development.
Analytical skills and critical thinking
- An ability to find, understand and interpret evidence from a wide range of disciplines, including economics;
- An ability to assess the quality and limitations of any given piece of evidence;
- An ability to synthesize soft and numerical evidence and to identify gaps in the available evidence, especially in policy settings;
- For a given policy problem, an ability to derive policy options and apply regulatory impact assessment for them;
- An understanding the weaknesses of the policy process in relation to innovation and where policy can go wrong
Planning, communication and interpersonal skills
- Ability to work with people who have a different way of framing the problem, different knowledge and analytical strengths and different ways of working, and recognizing the value of those differences;
- Ability to seek information from others by proactively instigating and maintaining work relationships;
- An ability to write clearly and in plain language;
- An ability to convince others using verbal logical argumentation on-the-spot;
- An ability to synthesize a work plan and deliver supporting evidence in an ambiguous context where policy objectives and priorities are subject to politics and constantly changing.
Knowing yourself and managing career choices
Understanding the advantages and disadvantages of working in public service, private sector, versus more independent entities (such as public research institutes, independent research or consulting entities) and having an idea of where students might fit in best given their strengths, personalities and priorities.
My approach to teaching
Example research themes for MSc or PhD students
I have supervised or co-supervised a number of MSc student dissertations in the area of business models for energy access, community development, impact evaluation, and inclusive energy policy: