Summer School 2021 programme

The 21^th of August 2021 marks the beginning of an incredible learning experience, as from 17:00 until 20:30 you are welcomed to the premises of the Energy Community Secretariat for the start of the 2021 Energy Community Summer School. This edition we welcome 47 participants from a variety of nationalities, generating a cultural mixture of students, which will certainly benefit both the formal and informal learning experience during the summer school. This special day will be moderated by Adrian Jasimi, the Energy Community Summer School Coordinator. Adrian will be joined on by Dr. Janez Kopač, Director of the Energy Community Secretariat, Tomas Vlcek, Associate Professor at the Department of International Relations and European Studies and the International Institute of Political Science of Masaryk University, Selma Šehović, Project Manager, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), Dialogue Southeast Europe and Prof. Dr. Dirk Buschle, Deputy Director of the Energy Community Secretariat and the Dean of Summer School.

After the opening ceremony, all participants will be kindly invited to join the welcoming dinner to be held within the premises of the Energy Community Secretariat.

Social Sunday Highlights

“Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant”

The Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant is the world’s only nuclear power plant to have been completed but never put into operation due to the outcome of a national referendum. The NPP Zwentendorf provides unequalled training opportunities for nuclear power plant employees.

Die Garten Tulln 

Die Garten Tulln - the "nature in the garden" adventure world - has developed into a unique showcase project in Europe since it opened in 2008. It has already attracted over 2.8 million gardening fans from all over the world. Meanwhile, the consequent ecological care of the show gardens has become exemplary for many garden shows in Austria and abroad.

Keynote address: "Energy, Security and Society"        

Mentor: Predrag Grujicic, Head of Gas Unit, Energy Community Secretariat     Mr. Grujicic joined the Energy Community Secretariat in Vienna in 2010. As Head of Gas Unit, he assesses and reviews the proper implementation and progress by the Contracting Parties of their obligations under Energy Community Treaty related to the gas acquis. He graduated from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Belgrade, Serbia in 1999. He held various positions within the Serbian major public electricity company, Elektroprivreda Srbije as a system operator. He joined the Ministry of Energy of Serbia where he occupied various head positions including the EU integration and international cooperation agenda. He was seconded as a national expert to the Energy Charter, Brussels.

Lecturer: Vaclav Bartuška, Ambassador-at-Large for Energy Security of the Czech Republic Vaclav Bartuška assumed the position of Ambassador-at-Large for Energy Security of the Czech Republic in 2006. He works on a wide range of issues from oil and gas supplies to energy strategy. During the gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine in January 2009, when the Czech Republic held the EU Presidency, he was involved in negotiations with Russian, Ukrainian, and EU leadership. In 2010, he was appointed by the Czech Government to the Commissioner for expansion at the Temelin nuclear power plant. Since 2003, he has taught modern history and security studies at New York University, Prague campus. Mr. Bartuška also teaches energy security at the College of Europe.

Head of Electricity Unit, Energy Community Secretariat, Austria

Jasmina Trhulj is a Diploma Electrical Engineer for Power Systems employed as Head of Electricity Unit at the Energy Community Secretariat with a 22-year professional career dedicated to electricity market development in line with EU acquis. Employed at the Secretariat since May 2013, her responsibilities include activities on facilitating energy transition and electricity market development in the EnC Contracting Parties and their integration at regional and Pan-European level. She was also a manager of an EU-funded project for regional energy market connectivity in the Western Balkans. Ms. Trhulj obtained seven years of regulatory experience at the Energy Agency of the Republic of Serbia (AERS) as senior expert for electricity, responsible for the development and monitoring of the electricity market in Serbia. With a degree from the School of Electrical Engineering of the University of Belgrade, Serbia, she is the author of numerous papers and articles published and presented in the national and international conferences.

Research Associate / PhD Candidate at the Leibniz University of Hannover

As a Research Associate at the Leibniz University of Hannover, Inga Beyers currently pursues a PhD at the Institute of Electric Power Systems on the physical modelling of energy storage systems. She has always had a passion for teaching engineering and for making the intricacies of our energy system accessible and understandable – which she hopes to contribute to the 2021 Summer School. Born and raised in South Africa, Inga Beyers moved to Germany for her university studies. While finishing her Master’s Degree in Energy Engineering, she participated in the 2019 EC Summer School in Krakow.

Head of Electricity Unit, Energy Community Secretariat, Austria

Jasmina Trhulj is a Diploma Electrical Engineer for Power Systems employed as Head of Electricity Unit at the Energy Community Secretariat with a 22-year professional career dedicated to electricity market development in line with EU acquis. Employed at the Secretariat since May 2013, her responsibilities include activities on facilitating energy transition and electricity market development in the EnC Contracting Parties and their integration at regional and Pan-European level. She was also a manager of an EU-funded project for regional energy market connectivity in the Western Balkans. Ms. Trhulj obtained seven years of regulatory experience at the Energy Agency of the Republic of Serbia (AERS) as senior expert for electricity, responsible for the development and monitoring of the electricity market in Serbia. With a degree from the School of Electrical Engineering of the University of Belgrade, Serbia, she is the author of numerous papers and articles published and presented in the national and international conferences.

Electricity Infrastructure Expert at the Energy Community Secretariat, Austria

Davor Bajs was born in 1970 in Croatia. He studied at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing in Zagreb (B.S. and M.S.), and the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Split (Ph.D.). He works in the Energy Community Secretariat as electricity infrastructure expert. Before that, he was with the Energy Institute Hrvoje Pozar in Croatia where he held position of senior researcher in electricity transmission issues. Furthermore, Mr. Bajs has been collaborating with the IAEA, giving lectures about power system studies and NPP-grid interface topics. His fields of interest include transmission system planning, power economics and market issues. His past activities include more than 100 studies in the energy sector and around 50 papers published at international and Croatian scientific journals and conferences proceedings.

General Manager Germany at Smart Wires

Susanne Nies is General Manager Germany at Smart Wires, a Silicon Valley based Global Green Tech company that optimises power networks through modular load flow control. She also serves as Board chair of currENT and is curator at Fraunhofer IEE. German national, she holds a PhD and a habilitation from Bonn University, Berlin Free University, as well as Sciences Po Paris, in Political Sciences, as well as an Economics Degree from London School of Economics.  Previous employments include ENTSO-E, EURELECTRIC, think tanks IFRI, IRIS, CERI, Berlin Free University and Heinrich Boell Foundation

Founder & Managing Partner at Šimkus Energy Consulting

Andrius is a lawyer with over 15 years of PQE in the energy sector. Currently, he runs a boutique consultancy – Šimkus Energy Consulting – with active technical assistance projects in Ukraine, Georgia, Albania, and Lithuania. Previously, Andrius spent 5 years as a Gas Expert and Energy Lawyer at the Energy Community Secretariat. He also worked as General Counsel at LITGRID – the electricity TSO of Lithuania, member of the Board of Directors at Nord Pool Holding, in-house lawyer of several large Baltic energy companies, and external counsel representing major energy stakeholders in the Baltics, Scandinavia, Poland, and Southeast Europe. His legal and energy policy practice covers, amongst others, natural gas (including LNG), electricity, renewable, and nuclear energy sectors. Andrius has a unique expertise in energy regulatory and legislative matters. Besides being a lawyer, Andrius has an in-depth understanding of worldwide energy policy, business and development trends and relations.

DG Energy, European Commission

Ádám Szolyák works for the European Commission in the Directorate-General for Energy. Most recently, he was responsible for the development, implementation and evaluation of energy infrastructure policies, in particular focusing on the Pan-European gas network. Previously, he worked on policies related to gas and electricity retail markets, with a particular focus on local energy actions, before that he covered oil markets and oil-related industrial sectors. Prior to joining the European Commission in 2008, he worked in the private sector (consulting and energy companies). Mr. Szolyák holds a Master’s Degree in Economics and in International Relations from the Budapest University of Economic Sciences.

Electricity and statistics expert, Energy Community Secretariat, Austria

Milka Mumovic is a graduate economist with substantial experience in energy business, energy regulation and energy policies. She worked for power utility Elektroprivreda Republike Srpske as a project accountant and manager on several key projects during the restructuring process. In the Regulatory Commission for Energy of Republic Srpska, she was responsible for energy tariffs and market, designing and preparing the rules for energy market functioning and monitoring. She has been working for the Energy Community Secretariat since 2009. Her main tasks are to monitor implementation of the electricity acquis, and implementation of the acquis on energy statistics. In addition, she is coordinating the activities of the ECDSO-E, a platform for cooperation of distribution system operators. As power sector economics expert, she has developed and contributed to numerous policy guidelines and recommendations covering a spectrum of policy instruments, from costs and tariffs to taxation and public procurement regimes with a view to identify obstacles for market integration.

Research Fellow, CEPS

Milan Elkerbout is a Research Fellow in the Energy, Resources and Climate Change Unit.

His research focuses on EU climate policy, in particular the EU Emissions Trading System. He has been closely involved in analysing the EU ETS Phase 4 revision processes. During 2019 and the first half of 2020, he was a visiting Mistra Fellow for the Carbon Exit programme at IVL in Stockholm.

Other topics of interest include industrial transformation and decarbonisation, state aid control, Energy Union governance, and the impacts of Brexit. His academic background is in political economy and European Studies.

Vice President, Emergy AS 

Magnus Johansen is Vice President for Emergy AS - a Norwegian wind IPP that is currently finalizing constructing the 250 MW Syvash project and has developed the 790 MW Zophia project. He is currently Co-Chair of the Renewable Energy Committee at the American Chamber of Commerce. Prior to Emergy AS, he worked for Scatec, where he coordinated much of the country-entry and development of a 400 MW portfolio of solar power plants in Ukraine. Moreover, he has experience working for different funds (VC / PE) with a focus on emerging markets, including the Dutch Development Bank (FMO). With a strong passion for human connection and multicultural experiences he has lived and worked in several continents and speaks 4 languages. Magnus has completed an MBA at IESE Business School/Kellogg School of Management and an MSc in Political Economy at the Norwegian Business School.

Dr. Susanne Rompel is Vice President of Political Affairs at E.ON. She has extensive experience in European energy policy and the energy sector. Prior to her current role Dr Rompel led the EU Representative offices of Innogy and RWE. Before that, she headed Strategic Planning at RWE, where she was responsible for the Group’s strategy development. She also served as a member of the Supervisory Boards for RWE Supply & Trading and RWE GBS. Early in her career, Susanne Rompel gained experience in the Directorate General for Energy of the European Commission. She holds a Master’s Degree in European Politics and Administration from the College of Europe in Bruges and a PhD in EU Energy Policy from Heidelberg University. Prior to this she studied Politics, Law and French in Heidelberg and Aix-en-Provence.

Head of Vienna Office of EPEX SPOT

Since 2013 Head of Vienna Office of EPEX SPOT, the European Power Exchange headquartered in Paris being the marketplace for short-term power trading in 13 European countries.

He is part of the public & regulatory affairs team and particularly in charge of representing EPEX in Austria, Luxembourg, Poland, CEE/SEE and at EU level. Acting as member of working groups and steering committees with regional and European Scope, he monitors and evaluates energy market regulation, oversees regulatory implementation projects, reports on characteristics regarding EPEX's strategy, development and business design, and finally establishes and fosters the relationship with local, regional and international stakeholders.

Before, he worked in the energy sector for ten years as legal counsel, compliance manager and head of the respective staff units.

Lectures on energy law and economics at various universities in Austria and Liechtenstein.

Contributions and presentations at numerous conferences in Europe, China and India. 

Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science, Comenius University

Matúš Mišík, PhD is Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science at Comenius University in Bratislava. His main research interests include energy security in the EU and the role of perception within EU decision-making mechanisms. He is the author of ‘External Energy Security in the European Union’ (Routledge, 2019) and co-editor of ‘From Economic to Energy Transition - Three Decades of Transitions in Central and Eastern Europe’ (Palgrave, 2021) and ‘Energy Humanities - Current State and Future Directions’ (Springer, 2021). He has published articles in energy policy journals including Nature Energy, Energy, Energy Policy, Geopolitics, Czechoslovak Psychology, Journal of Popular Culture, Comparative European Politics, Asia Europe Journal and Slovak Sociological Review.

Deputy Director, Energy Community Secretariat, Austria

Dirk Buschle is Deputy Director of the Energy Community Secretariat since 2011 and has led its legal unit since 2007. As Chairman of the Energy Community Dispute Resolution and Negotiation Center, he is also responsible for dispute resolution and negotiations and has acted as mediator in high-profile investor-state conflicts in the energy sector. He is a certified negotiation facilitator. Prior to his current position, Dirk was Head of Cabinet of the President of the Court of Justice of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in Luxembourg. Dirk is also Professor and Chair holder of the European Energy Policy Chair at the College of Europe in Bruges. He teaches the annual course “European and International Energy Policy and Governance” He graduated in law from Constance University, Germany, and earned his Ph.D. at St. Gallen University in Switzerland. He has widely published in different areas of European policy and law, and has lectured at Universities of Reykjavik, Constance and St. Gallen as visiting professor.

Masaryk University

Filip Černoch is the head of the energy-related programs at the Faculty of Social Studies of the Masaryk University, Czech Republic, and in parallel is the coordinator for energy policy research. His primary research interests are energy transitions, the environmental dimension of energy policy, and German energy policy.

Director, Energy Community Secretariat, Austria

Mr. Kopač has been leading the Energy Community Secretariat since 2012. His mission is to extend the EU internal energy market to South East Europe and beyond on the basis of a legally binding framework. Prior to this position, he worked as General Director for Energy at the Ministry of Economy of Slovenia for nearly 4 years. He acted as Slovenian Minister of Finance (1992) and Minister of Environment (2000-2004). Mr. Kopač holds a Master’s degree from the Faculty of Economics and a PhD from the Faculty of Social Sciences, both from the University of Ljubljana. His doctoral thesis entailed a comparative analysis of the foreign energy policy of the EU, the USA, Russia and China.

Marta Babicz, External Funds Department Director at the National Fund for Environment Protection in Poland, graduated from the University of Warsaw with a degree in Environmental Economics. In 2018, she joined PSE Innowacje – a consulting subsidiary of the Polish TSO responsible for the stability and security of the national energy grid as a chief consultant on project management. She has worked in the European and Regional Energy Policy team in the Department of EU Economics at the Polish MFA as Head of the European and Regional Energy Policy Unit. She has been directly involved in elaborating Polish proposals for the Energy Union concept in 2014 and their operationalization in following years. Prior to that she has worked in the EU policy coordination team in the Polish MFA, the Department for Integration Policy in the Polish Office of the Committee for the European Integration and the Polish office of non-governmental international organization. She has lectured at the Polish School of Administration and the College of Europe and is involved in the EU twinning project in the Balkans as a short term expert.

Selma Šehović, Project Manager, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) , Dialogue Southeast Europe - a  regulatory lawyer with over 10 years of experience including in policy development. Currently employed at the FES SOE Regional Dialogue SOE as a project manager, managing the portfolio on energy transition and climate change policies in Southeast Europe with a focus on the Western Balkan non-EU countries. Before joining the FES SOE, Selma worked on the transposition of the EU’s Third Energy Package into Bosnia’s legislation, and at the international law firm CMS-RRH providing advice to infrastructure investors and clients on PPA, regulatory compliance, and market opportunities. Selma holds a master's degree in energy and natural resources law from Queen Mary University London

Branislava Marsenic works more than 18 years in the field of energy regulation. She holds a master degree in economics, obtained in the University of Belgrade - Faculty of Economics. After several years of engagement in consultancy projects related to the establishment of the Serbian energy regulatory agency, she worked 4 years as tariff expert in the Energy Agency of the Republic of Serbia (AERS), where she was mainly involved in gas tariff and price regulation. Since June 2009, Branislava works as gas and customer expert in the Energy Community Secretariat supporting the work of the Energy Community Regulatory Board (ECRB), and contributing to the Secretariat’s gas related activities in its Contracting Parties. Beside gas regulatory tasks, she performs regular monitoring of both electricity and gas retail markets of the Energy Community Contracting Parties, including customer protection issues. Furthermore, Branislava leads the Secretariat’s team in charge of policies addressing energy poverty in the Contracting Parties.

Rinora Gojani is the Programmes and Operations Manager at the Balkan Green Foundation. She has extensive working experience in research, advocacy, capacity building, civic and grassroots level engagement, fundraising, and project management. Throughout her career, she has had a strong focus on sustainable development, democratization, Western Balkans politics, and EU integration processes. Rinora holds a Master’s Degree in European Politics, with a focus on energy policy, from the University College Dublin.

Head of the LeadIT Secretariat, Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)

Dr Gokce Mete has a decade of regulatory analysis, project development and stakeholder management experience focused on energy and industry transitions. As the head of the Leadership Group for the Industry Transition (LeadIT) Secretariat, she explores how policy, finance and business practices in hard-to-abate industry sectors can be aligned to achieve climate neutrality consistent with Paris Agreement and the latest scientific evidence from the IPCC. At SEI, she also leads projects related to research and stakeholder engagement on oil and gas transitions in the North Sea, with a specific focus on technology relatedness, hydrogen, CCUS and offshore wind. Dr Mete is also the Head of Research and Academic Engagement of the “Women in Energy, Climate and Sustainability Foundation” and Founding Member of the Women in Green Hydrogen.

Governance Expert, Energy Community Secretariat, Austria

Mr. Pozsgai is Governance Expert at the Energy Community Secretariat focusing on integrated National Energy and Climate Plans development in the Contracting Parties, as well as on the establishment of a Decarbonisation Roadmap. Prior to his current assignment, he worked on natural gas related projects in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine in the EU4ENERGY Programme. Previously, he was a policy officer in the ACER gas infrastructure team focusing on EU priority projects and regulatory issues related to infrastructure investments.  Mr Pozsgai was seconded at the European Commission’s DG ENER between 2009 and 2014, working on security of gas supplies, implementation and enforcement of EU acquis in South East Europe and the trilateral negotiations between the Commission, Ukraine and Russia. He was also involved in the mediation between the Slovak and Ukrainian gas TSOs that enabled natural gas flows from the EU to Ukraine. He holds a Master’s degree in international relations from the Budapest Corvinus University.

Counsellor/Diplomat, Department for EU Law in the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland

Marcin Nowacki, Ph.D. is currently counsellor in the Department for EU Law in the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland responsible for the correct implementation of EU law to the national legal system, in particular in the field of energy and climate law. He is involved in drafting national legislation and other acts (i.e. procedures, guidelines) and consultations, and has represented Poland and prepared submissions in many legal proceedings before the ECJ and EFTA Court (i.e. OPAL – energy solidarity). Previously, he worked as a legal counsellor for the Permanent Representation of Poland to the EU responsible for all institutional and legal matters. Mr. Nowacki obtained a PhD in Law specializing in EU and International Law with a doctoral thesis on EU energy security. He (co-) authored multiple publications analysing different aspects of EU law, policy and institutional matters, as well as history of international law and diplomacy. He is a member of The Warsaw Bar Association (Advocate) and International Law Association – Polish branch.

Head of Cabinet of the President, General Court of the European Union

Dr. Adrien de Hauteclocque is the Head of Cabinet of the President of the General Court of the European Union, Luxembourg, and a Senior Adviser of the Loyola de Palacio Chair and the Florence School of Regulation at the European University Institute (Italy). His research interests include EU competition and state aid law, competition policy in network industries and the law & economics of energy regulation. Before moving to the EU institutions, Adrien pursued his academic career at the University of Manchester and at the European University Institute where he co-founded the “EU Energy Law & Policy” Area of the Florence School of Regulation. He is a regular speaker in international conferences and has published numerous academic articles and book chapters. Adrien obtained his PhD in Law from the University of Manchester (UK) and holds a MSc in Management from EM Lyon (France) and a MSc in Economic Policy from Strathclyde University (UK).

Energy Lawyer, Energy Community Secretariat, Austria

Ms. Richter joined the Energy Community in 2016 as Energy Lawyer, mainly dealing with issues of competition and State aid law, dispute settlement cases, assistance to national competition and State aid authorities and training activities. Her previous professional experience consists of different legal positions as legal associate, consultant and legal clerk. Ms. Richter holds a Master’s (2008) and a PhD degree (2011) from the Faculty of Law, Vienna University where she was also Assistant Professor in the period 2009-2011. She has also published several legal articles.

Associate Director, Senior Counsel, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, London (UK)

Vesselina Haralampieva is Associate Director, Senior Counsel at the EBRD. As senior legal expert in the Legal Transition Team, she is in charge of designing and leading reforms related to energy, environment and climate change. She advises on matters relating to clean energy and climate law and policy, sustainability governance and regulation. Clients include national authorities, energy regulators and corporate entities in Southeast Europe, Caucasus, Central Asia and North Africa.  During her 13 years at EBRD, Vesselina spearheaded numerous climate legislation reforms and corporate governance initiatives, aimed at enhancing companies’ governance of climate-related risks and opportunities. Vesselina is a member of the Working Group on Climate Change to the Law Society of England & Wales. Previous experience includes work at the UN’s WIPO; Harvard’s Berkman Klein Centre; and law firms (Sofia, Washington DC). She is admitted to practise law in England & Wales (solicitor) and Bulgaria (advocate), holding an LLM (Harvard Law School), MA and LLB summa cum laude (Sofia University).

Energy Lawyer, Energy Community Secretariat, Austria

Smaranda Miron is an energy lawyer with the Energy Community Secretariat, an international organisation based in Vienna. She handles energy disputes (cases against the Contracting Parties of the Energy Community), supports the Energy Community Secretariat’s Dispute Resolution and Negotiation Centre and works, together with the competent national authorities, towards a full implementation of the Energy Community acquis. Before joining the Energy Community Secretariat, Smaranda worked as an associate in the International Arbitration Group of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and as a public procurement case-handler with the European Commission.

Heuriger Zum Berger, Grinzing

Electricity Market and Renewables expert, Energy Community Secretariat, Austria

Ms. Naida Taso is an Electricity Market and Renewables Expert in the Energy Community Secretariat. She holds a Master’s degree (MA) in Electric Power Engineering and has almost ten years of international experience in areas of renewable energy, sustainable development, energy modelling and electricity markets. Naida finalized several trainings on relevant topics and at the moment she is attending Frankfurt School’s course to become Certified Expert in Climate and Renewable Energy Finance. Before joining the Secretariat, Naida worked in the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

International Relations Officer, European Commission 

Tomasz Jerzyniak is currently responsible for the external dimension of the EU energy policy in the Directorate-General for Energy, European Commission. His particular focus is on energy relations with third countries such as China and Energy Community. Previously, between September 2014 and January 2019, he was in charge of the infrastructure dimension of the EU internal market for energy, dealing with Projects of Common Interest and the framework to develop the electricity interconnection targets. In his previous role, Mr. Jerzyniak was a principal coordinator of the Commission’s flagship European and Regional Innovation Scoreboards. In that context, he was also a Member of the Task Forces on Community Innovation Survey and development of the Innovation Indicator working together with a number of international organisations. He is specialised in energy and climate policies, global international relations, industrial policy and innovation.

Head of the Swedish delegation to the UNFCCC

Mattias Frumerie is head of the Swedish delegation to UNFCCC and leads Swedish climate diplomacy at the Swedish Ministry of Environment. Mr. Frumerie is a member of the UNFCCC Standing Committee on Finance. As an SCF member, Mr. Frumerie co-facilitates the preparation of the report COP24 requested the SCF to present to COP26 on the determination of the needs of developing countries related to implementing the Convention and the Paris Agreement.

Previous positions include deputy head of the MFA Budget and Planning Department, Head of EU Policy, Head of EU Single Market, Head of Strategic Communications, EU advisor to the Prime Minister and postings at the Swedish Embassy in Budapest and the Swedish EU mission in Brussels.

Commercial Director of “Digital Factory” and Digital-Officer for “Digital Industries”, Siemens Central-Eastern-Europe

Bernhard Bauer has been commercial director of “Digital Factory” and digital-officer for “Digital Industries” at Siemens Central-Eastern-Europe (21 countries) since 2015.  Before studying International Business Administration at the University of Vienna, he worked in Austria for a small company and IKEA. In the more than 20 years following his graduation, Bernhard held various management positions within SIEMENS, i.e. in the global HQ’s “Transportation” division, dealing with “Energy” in regional companies (Argentina/Mercosur, Belgium/Benelux+WaCA), Austria/CEE), and working on “corporate-strategy for EMEA” at the group’s headquarters in Munich. In the last approx. 10 years, he has been a guest lecturer at various academic institutions (e.g. WU-Vienna’s ExecutiveAcademy) and, in recent years, has obtained certificates in “DataScience” (JohnsHopkins) / “EmergingMarkets” (Harvard)/ “ImpactBusiness” (MIT) through part-time studies gained him. Besides his family (father of 2 I married to 1) in Vienna, seed-investment in/coaching of 2 startUps - “solarEnergy” in Zimbabwe & “cultivatedMeat” in California - keep Bernhard firmly grounded.

Richard Black

Richard Black is a climate change consultant based in Berlin. Richard’s background is in broadcasting and journalism – he worked for BBC World Service in various roles including presenting science programmes before becoming BBC News Environment Correspondent in 2002. On leaving the BBC in 2012 Richard was Director of Communications for the Global Ocean Commission before founding the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), a London-based think-tank whose core work is to ensure that discourse in the UK on climate change and the energy transition is rooted in evidence. He is an Honorary Research Fellow at the Grantham Institute, Imperial College London. Richard frequently contributes to media, including taking part in the BBC's Sir David Attenborough documentary 'Climate Change: The Facts'.

Sören Amelang

Sören Amelang is a staff Correspondent for Clean Energy Wire. During his 15 years at the news
agency Reuters, he wrote about international business, economics and politics. He was lead writer
for Reuters’ German coverage of the financial crisis and the ensuing debt crisis in Europe. He holds
a Bachelor's Degree in Development Studies from Liverpool University and an MA in International
Relations from the University of Sussex.

Milou Dirkx

Milou Dirkx is Journalism Network Manager at Clean Energy Wire (CLEW). CLEW produces and
facilitates top-quality journalism about the energy transition in Germany and beyond and fosters
cross-border collaboration among reporters. Prior to joining CLEW, she supported the datateam of
De Correspondent and she has worked for international journalism organisations, including the
European Journalism Centre and World Press Photo.

Founder & CEO, The International Sustainable Finance Centre, Prague

Linda Zeilina is the Founder & CEO of the International Sustainable Finance Centre (ISFC), a think tank focusing on a range of sustainable finance topics, where she oversees the work on sustainable investing and inclusive economies. She is a Fellow at the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) in London, and an advisory board member of the Romanian Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (RoSIF). Until very recently, Linda was a Policy Leader Fellow at the European University Institute’s School of Transnational Governance. Over the years, Linda has run consulting projects for large asset managers, pension funds and European investment funds. Previously, Linda was Director at RE-DEFINE, a boutique consultancy and think tank in London, and a Think Visegrad Fellow at the EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy. Linda is an alumna of the University of Glasgow, McGill University and the London School of Economics.

Managing Consultant, Guidehouse

Ana Amazo is a Managing Consultant in Guidehouse’s Energy, Sustainability, and Infrastructure practice. Ms. Amazo is an expert in the analysis of market environments, investment conditions, and regulatory frameworks for the promotion of renewable energy. She supports governments and international organizations like EBRD, USAID, the European Commission, and DFD in the design and implementation of renewable energy auctions for countries such as Serbia, Kosovo, Armenia, India, Bangladesh, Lao PDR, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and Tanzania. Ms. Amazo is a frequent speaker and trainer on renewable energy auctions at international conferences and regulatory working group meetings. Ms. Amazo holds a bachelor’s degree in Government and International Relations from Universidad Externado de Colombia, and a master’s degree in Public Policy from the Hertie School of Governance. She is a Green Energy Finance Specialist from the Renewables Academy (RENAC).

Researcher, UNESCO Chair in Life Cycle and Climate Change, ESCI – UPF

Mr. Sazdovski works as a Researcher in the UNESCO Chair in Life Cycle and Climate Change at the School for International Studies at the University Pompeu Fabra. Prior to this, Mr. Sazdovski was a member of the International Association of Energy Engineers and the Scientific Advisory Board of the South-East Conference for Sustainable Development of Energy, Water, and Environmental Systems. He has been working as a project developer and implementer, engaged by USAID, UNDP, and GIZ, providing technical assistance to different stakeholders in the field of energy efficiency. He is the author of the National Energy Monitoring System for local self-governments, and the co-author of the III National Energy Efficiency Action Plan 2016-2018 for Macedonia. He works as an International expert for the establishment of Monitoring Reporting and Verification systems for greenhouse gases engaged by UNDP.

Summer School Coordinator, Energy Community Secretariat, Austria

Mr. Jasimi joined the Energy Community Secretariat in May 2009 as Oil Expert. Before coming to the Energy Community Secretariat, he worked in the Oil and Gas Institute in Albania until 1994. In 1994, Mr. Jasimi joined the UK oil and gas company Premier Oil as project manager for 10 years. In 2004, he started to work as oil advisor and director of cabinet to the Minister of Energy and Industry of Albania. In 2005, he was reappointed Director of Cabinet of the Minister of Economy, Trade and Energy in Albania until April 2009. Mr. Jasimi is involved in many negotiations in oil and gas contracts. His university background is physicist.

The objective of this Energy Debate day is to allow all participants master what they have learned during the course through a debate. There will be 4 statements and for each statement there will be two teams of advocates supporting or disagreeing with the statement. The participants will be required to take a certain position, even something they do not personally believe thus putting the participant in some cases in a not so comfortable situation. However, that is what makes the debate more interesting and afterwards the participants will be also evaluated for their ability to defend a case.

09.30 – 10.15

Climate change and the energy transition: a story for everyone

Milou Dirkx

10.15 – 11.15

What’s driving change? The scientific, economic, and social cases for decarbonization

Richard Black

12.45 – 13.30

Journalism in the climate and energy space: a working life

Sören Amelang

13.30 – 13.45

Break

13.45 – 15.15

Decarbonisation for 1.5°C – what does that entail?

Richard Black

15.15 – 16.15

Disinformation and how not to fall for it

Milou Dirkx

16.15 – 16.30

Break

16.30 – 17.30

Storytelling on climate change and the energy transition: data, investigations, photo essays, social media

Richard Black/Sören Amelang/Milou Dirkx

17.30 – 17.45

Conclusions

Richard Black