Advisory Board
Efren Feliu (Senior Scientist) (M) holds a Building Engineering Degree as well as different postgraduates including spatial planning and territorial development. Efren has a relevant professional background in consultancy and capacity development for public administrations and utilities, especially focused in the fields of local sustainability, spatial planning, climate adaptation and resilience.
He worked in Central America for over 4 years and is involved in international and European initiatives for more than 18 years. Efren is currently Climate Change Manager at the Energy and Environment Division of Tecnalia, coordinating applied research projects for the development of Decision Support Systems in the fields of sustainable spatial development,nature-based solutions, regional-urban resilience and sectoral climate change adaptation. He has a long trajectory using climate projections data in climate proofing analysis. He is also actively involved in ISO Working Groups for the norms under development related to Climate Adaptation Framework (ISO 14090 and 14092) as well as Climate and Risks Analysis (ISO 14091).
Anna is a dynamic individual with a multi-disciplinary educational background and a passion for international cooperation and community-based mapping. Anna’s academic journey began with Geography studies at London University, where she laid the foundation for her future endeavours. Building on her passion for understanding the Earth’s terrain, she pursued the Aero Space survey in geomorphology at ITC, Twente, The Netherlands, enhancing her expertise in analysing and mapping natural landscapes from above.Anna’s thirst for knowledge didn’t stop there; she sought further specialisation in hydrology by undertaking post-graduate courses in Brussels and exploring remote sensing applications for the Mediterranean at Ispra. Most recently, she expanded her skill set by delving into Community-based mapping at Colorado University.
As an experienced partner and Work Package leader, Anna has made significant contributions to 20 EU-sponsored international research projects. Her expertise lies in four key areas: (1) fostering international cooperation activities, (2) designing customised multi-actor communication pathways and strategies, (3) developing frameworks for crowdsourcing, and (4) formulating Gender Action Plans to promote inclusivity and diversity.
Throughout her career, Anna has organised public participatory workshops and conducted local community mapping exercises in various countries worldwide, including Tunisia, Palestine, Israel, Egypt, Greece, Turkey, Peru, Brazil, and others. Her focus on agricultural and irrigation practices and the preservation of trees and green spaces has helped communities safeguard their natural resources and promote sustainable practices. Keen interest in globalisation issues especially with food security and agricultural (organic) and irrigation practices. Extensive experience in research projects in North Africa and the Middle East and she is greatly interested in Sacred Geography and enjoys studying and writing on Ecology and Spirituality.
Christiana Photiadou
European Environment Agency
Dr. Christiana Photiadou is a Climate Change Impacts, Vulnerability and Adaptation at the European Environment Agency (EEA). She works on climate change impacts, vulnerability and risks, indicators, Digitalization and Adaptation, Mission on Adaptation and the European Climate Adaptation platform Climate-ADAPT. She has a PhD on detection and propagation of extreme events from Utrecht University. Christiana has worked at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute in the International Climate Services Division as a post-doctoral researcher. She then moved to the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological institute where she worked as a scientific leader for the development of climate services while covering the full spectrum of co-creation for adaptation to climate change. She has worked in several European projects focusing on tailored climate services for the water sector (C3S, H2020, ERA4CS) and WMO projects for advancing the knowledge and quality of climate information in vulnerable countries.
Ruben Zondervan is a managing consultant at BMC. He provides advisory, research, and interim management services related to the energy transition to public sector clients. He held a similar position at PD and in between served as sustainability chief for the municipality of Zaanstad. For most of his career, Zondervan has worked in international research management and policy advisory, for example as the executive director of the Earth System Governance Project, as interim director of Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future, and Programme Officer at the United Nations University.
Zondervan is a specialist in public sector management, international research management and science-policy, as well as an experienced public affairs and strategy advisor in the field of sustainability. His academic training is in political sciences and in environment & resource management.
