SCB FELLOWS

SCB Fellows are prominent experts in environmental, energy, climate change and/or health & safety issues, from the academic, government, profit or non-profit world. They participate in SCB activities ad hoc, based on their expertise. 

The SCB Fellows are: 

  • Catherine Banet 

Catherine Banet (PhD) is Associate Professor at the University of Oslo, Faculty of Law, Norway. Her core fields of practice are energy law, environmental law, competition law, EU/EEA law and maritime law. She notably works with the energy sector related to renewable energy, support schemes, energy markets, energy infrastructures, petroleum activities, climate change, carbon capture and storage (CCS) and seabed resources management. Catherine Banet has a background in private law practice (Norway, France), the European Commission (DG ENV, Belgium), U.S. diplomatic mission and academia.  She has been a lecturer at international universities (Oslo, Copenhagen, Firenze, Reykjavik and Malta) and is a regular speaker at conferences. She has authored several books, studies and articles. She acts as consultant for national and international organizations, including the European Commission. She is member of several European research networks, board member of a foundation within the renewable energy sector (ECOHZ Renewable Energy Foundation) and is member of the expert committee on energy and environmental law of the Norwegian Center for Continuing Legal Education. She is member of the Advisory Academic Group to the International Bar Association (IBA), Section for Energy, Environment and Natural Resources and Infrastructure Law (SEERIL).

  • Lucas Bergkamp

Trained as a lawyer and medical doctor, Prof. Lucas Bergkamp focuses on legal and regulatory topics on the interface of law, policy, and science.  His practice concentrates on complex, science-based environmental, health and safety, life sciences, and product regulatory issues arising under the myriad of policies aimed at sustainable development. Lucas Bergkamp also assists clients with liability and related transactional work, and has represented multinational enterprises in a variety of matters on both compliance and policy levels. Where clients face risks arising from liability law or regulation, Lucas applies a risk-based approach to provide tailored advice. Lucas was Professor of Law at the Erasmus University Rotterdam, Faculty of Law, for 10 years, and now teaches in the Postgraduate Studies Program of Energy, Environmental, and Climate Change Law Program of Sustainability College Bruges.

  • Simone Borg 

Simone Borg LL.D, M.Jur (International Law),  PhD. (IMLI) initiated her career as a diplomat, where she negotiated a number of treaties for Malta and coordinated the environmental acquis transposition when Malta became an EU member State. She is a resident academic (associate professor of law) of the University of Malta, Deputy Dean and head of the Department of Environmental and Resources law. She is Malta’s ambassador on climate action. During Malta’s tenure of the Presidency of the Council of the EU, she chaired the EU Working Party on International Climate Negotiations. She is a visiting lecturer at the Catholic University of Leuven, the IMO’s International Maritime Law Institute and the University of Auckland in New Zealand. She has published books, articles and papers on Environmental Law. 

  • Anatole Boute 

Anatole Boute, PhD in Law (2011, University of Groningen), is an Associate Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, specializing in the fields of energy, environmental and investment law. His research focuses on the legal aspects of the transition of energy systems towards sustainability, with a special interest for energy market reforms in emerging economies. He is the author of Russian Electricity and Energy Investment Law (Leiden/Boston: Brill Nijhoff, 2015).

  • Katinka Brouwer 

Katinka Brouwer is a Legal and Regulatory Consultant at Interlex NV, Brussels, and advises on European, Belgian, and Dutch environmental health, safety, and life sciences law. Educated as a lawyer at the University of Amsterdam, she received a Master of Laws degree from American University, Washington DC. Early in her career, she taught health law at the University of Maastricht, the Netherlands. Later, she worked for an international law firm in Brussels, where her practice focused on health, food and pharmaceutical law. For almost 25 years, Katinka edited a loose-leaf publication on Dutch and European health law. Recently, she authored a report on environmental law and liability for the Dutch Ministry of Environment and Infrastructure, and conducted a teaching course on EU environmental law at the European Commission and the Court of Justice.

  • Veronique Bruggeman 

Dr Véronique Bruggeman is a qualified Belgian lawyer, working as a senior legal advisor at Milieu Ltd since October 2013. She graduated Law from the University of Leuven (Belgium), where she also completed magna cum laude an LL.M. in European, international and comparative energy and environmental law. Dr Bruggeman has more than 10 years of work experience. Her main areas of expertise include EU law and policy – in particular environmental law, energy law, climate change, financial services legislation, occupational health and safety and insurance law, which she has obtained through related project work. Prior to joining Milieu, Dr Bruggeman worked as a legal trainee in the international law firm DLA Piper, broadening her knowledge on administrative law and public law. Subsequently, she moved to Maastricht University (the Netherlands) to finalize her PhD thesis on financial compensation for victims of natural catastrophes and terrorism, which introduced her to comparative and behavioral law and economics. In October 2010, Dr Bruggeman joined a U.S. catastrophe modelling firm (London) as a model product/project manager, where she was responsible for the terrorism related and workers compensation models. She also worked briefly in the City of London as a climate finance consultant. Dr Bruggeman has published extensively in the fields of insurance law, financial compensation, energy law and environmental law. She speaks Dutch (Flemish), English, Spanish and French.

  • Sandra Cassotta 

Sandra is Associate Professor in International, Environmental and Energy Law. She was appointed Lead Author on Environmental Governance and Polar Regions (Arctic and Antarctic) at the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) United Nations and invited expert reviewer for the Report Global Warming 1.5, currently Member of the IPCC. She is specialized in environmental damage and liability problems in a multilevel context. Her expertise is on environmental regime effectiveness in a multi-level governance perspective. Included in her areas of interests are human rights, law of the sea (UNCLOS), and environmental security (particularly that of the Arctic Ocean), Energy Security and Geopolitics and Animal Law and Welfare in a Multi-regulatory perspective. Though a traditional legal scholar, her approach is cross-areas and trans-disciplinary, combining law with international relations, economics, and elements of (climate) environmental science. Sandra is also Adjunt Professor of Law, School of Law, Western Sydney University (Sydney, Australia), Fellow at the Sustainability College Bruges – SCB (Belgium),Expert Research Fellow at the Institute for Security and Development Policy, ISDP working on the Sino-Arctic Research Programme (Stockholm, Sweden), Visiting Professor at the State University of Milan (Italy) – Università degli Studi di Milano, Member of the Governamental Panel for the Academy of Finland (Projects on Environmental and climate law), expert reviser for EU Horizon Research Grant Proposals, collaborator with EU DG Clima at the European Commission (Adaptation) and the European Parliament.

  • Javier De Cendra 

Javier de Cendra is Dean of IE Law School. He is also President of the Law Schools Global League, member of the governing board of the International Association of Law Schools, Honorary Senior Research fellow at University College London Faculty of Law, Honorary Senior Lecturer at UCL Energy Institute, legal expert at the Malta Forum on Legal Issues of Adaptation to Climate Change, member of the Scientific Committee of Fondazione Scienza y Fede – STOQ, within the Pontifical Council for Culture, Vatican City State, and member of the international advisory board of CEID Colombia, among other think tanks and foundations.

  • Evelien de Kezel

Evelien de Kezel (PhD in Law) was appointed university lecturer (2007) and visiting professor (2015) at Utrecht University (Netherlands). She worked as an attorney in the Insurance and LiabilityGroup and in the Supreme Court Department of an international law firm. Between 2017 and 2019 she acts as a counsel for the Belgian Federal Agency of Nuclear Control providing advice concerning regulatory compliance, health and safety regulation and liability law. Presently she is a judge in the Labour Tribunal of Ghent. She is a member of several European research networks, publishes extensively in the field of tort law, damages, industrial accidents and occupational diseases, medical liability and health law, product liability and liability of public bodies, environmental law, and is a regular speaker on conferences.

  • Bram Delvaux 

Bram Delvaux received his LL.B and initial LL.M. degree from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in 2001, a diplôme d’études spécialisisées (D.E.S.) in public and administrative law from the Université Libre de Bruxelles in 2002, and an advanced LL.M. degree in Energy and Environmental Law from the University of Leuven in 2003. In September 2011 he obtained his PhD degree at the Faculty of Law of the KU Leuven, on the division of competences between the EU and its member states in the energy field. Bram is currently attorney at the Bar of Brussels with Eubelius and a research fellow at the Institute of Energy and Environmental Law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Leuven. His research interests include all regulatory law aspects of energy, climate change and environmental law. He is also active as an attorney at the Bar of Brussels. He has more than 13 years experience in energy law, environmental law and climate change law. He advises various energy market actors (such as TSOs, DSOs, suppliers, pension funds, public bodies, etc.) on electricity and gas market issues, energy infrastructure projects (power generation and grids), renewable energy projects (offshore and onshore), public procurement, public private partnerships (PPPs), etc. In the past, Bram worked as Deputy Head of the Cabinet of the Flemish Minister in charge of energy. Prior to that, he worked at an international law firm and was a counsellor for various energy Ministers at both federal and regional level. He was co-editor for various law books i.e. Jaarboek Energierecht, International Encyclopedia for Energy Laws, EU energy law and policy issues, Handboek bouwrecht, etc. Bram is also a member of the editorial boards of various law journals i.e. European Energy and Environmental Law Review (EEELR), Milieu- en Energierecht (MER), Tijdschrift voor Bouwrecht en Onroerend Goed (TBO) and regularly speaks at international and national conferences.

  • Veroniek Demulder

Veroniek De Mulder has successfully combined different management experiences in corporations as well as in the public sector. She has an all-round experience in negotiating on different levels, given her large experience in policy making at the Flemish government. She brings a thorough sense of finding the balance between the public sector and private companies. Veroniek graduated as engineer (1998) and has subsequently succeeded postgraduate studies in business administration (2001) and in commercial mediation (2013). She recently obtained a bachelor of laws degree (2017). She started her career at multinational Henkel Surface Technologies as European account manager with a portfolio of industrial customers. She continued her sales and management career in the automotive business, as sales manager at Volvocars Belgium. She then applied her business experience in public administration, leading the commercial and business development unit as commercial director at Waterwegen en Zeekanaal nv, a publicly held company responsible for the construction of major inland waterway infrastructure and for the management of water bound public real estate in Flanders. There, she has been focusing on the negotiation of administrative and legal frameworks for public-private cooperatives for major projects. She has been working intensively with real estate and logistic entrepreneurs and is currently leading a Belgian logistic services company. In her spare time, she is an independent advisor to the local government’s urban planning commission and board member at Antwerp Symphonic Orchestra.

  • Anne Mie Draye 

Anne Mie Draye (Louvain, °1955) is a full emeritus professor, and former dean of the Faculty of Law at Hasselt University. She was a guest professor at the Catholic University of Louvain, Antwerp University and at the Academia Istropolitana Nova, Bratislava. Her research focuses on legal aspects of heritage preservation, planning and zoning law and administrative law. She lectured on these subjects, and is still in charge of a course on zoning and planning law at the Faculty of Architecture, Hasselt University. From 2009 to 2015, Anne Mie Draye acted as a substitute assessor at the Environmental Enforcement Court, Flanders. Anne Mie is a past president of the Monument Watch association and of the Royal Commission for Monuments and Sites (Flemish Region). She is member/vice-president of the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Legal, Financial and Administrative Issues (ICLAFI).

  • Chien Te Fan 

Chien Te Fan is a law professor and founding director of the Institute of Law for Science & Technology (ILST) in the National Tsing Hua University. The Institute is the first graduate academic institute established in Taiwan that emphasizes science & technology fields, related legal training and energy and environment conservation. Fan received his LL.B degree from Soochow University, his LL.M degree from University of Washington and his J.D. Degree from Puget Sound University. Before he moved to National Tsing Hua University, Fan was a full time professor, teaching for ten years, at Soochow University, School of Law. In addition to his academic achievements, Chien Te Fan also advises different government agencies and institutions. Fan specializes in energy and environmental law, and the areas of biotechnology and related ethical issues. He is also an experienced scholar involved in the UNFCCC negotiation process, since 2001 (Marrakesh). 

  • Michael Faure 

Michael Faure’s (Maastricht University; Erasmus University Rotterdam) core research is focused on environmental law and more particularly international environmental law and environmental criminal law. His research is also carried out from an economic analysis of law and more particularly, accident law.  Typically, the research is of a legal comparative or a legal economic nature and sometimes involves the international treaties. It often focuses on specific environmental problems such as sea water pollution by oil or nuclear accidents. In addition, he also researches diverse themes in the economic analysis of law on a broader level (such as insurance, financial crisis, deposit guarantee system) and particularly the way in which legal rules influence people’s behavior. Michael Faure is haiwaimingshi (distinguished foreign professor) at the Centre for Law and Economics of the China University of Political Science and Law. In addition, Michael Faure teaches “Analyse Economique de la Responsabilité Civile” at the law faculty of the Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium) and “Environmental Law and Economics” at the International Institute of Industrial Environmental Economics. Finally, Michael Faure contributes to the course on “Law & Economics” at the law faculty of Maastricht University.

  • Anton Gao 

Anton Ming-Zhi Gao is Associate Professor at the Institute of Law for Science and Technology of the National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan. He holds a PhD in Law from the Institute of Environmental and Energy Law at the University of Leuven (Belgium). He is also the Secretary General of the Taiwan Environmental Law Association. Anton Ming-Zhi Gao received a master’s degree (MA) from the National Taiwan University, where he wrote a thesis on electricity liberalization. In July 2005, he received another  Master’s  degree  in  energy and environmental  law  (LLM)  from the Institute of Environmental and Energy Law from the University of Leuven, Belgium. In October 2005 he began a PhD program at the University of Leuven, and received his PhD in Law in December 2009. He currently teaches several courses, including energy law and policy and European environmental law. Anton Gao is the Taiwanese scholar with the greatest number of articles published in international energy and environmental law journals.

  • Beatriz Garcia

Beatriz Garcia holds a PhD in International Law from The Graduate Institute, Geneva, Switzerland. She is also a Nationally Accredited Mediator. Beatriz has joined the School of Law at Western Sydney University (WSU) in 2017. Prior to WSU, she has worked for Forests Alive, a carbon markets company based in Sydney, and also for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva. She has also conducted consultancy work for various United Nations’ agencies and environmental NGOs. Her areas of research are climate change law and carbon markets, forests, indigenous peoples, marine pollution and international shipping. She has recently received a grant from UNESCO to develop a comparative law study on biosphere reserve zonation in the Asia Pacific region (with Professor Donna Craig) (2018-2019). She was also an awardee of the WSU Women’s Research Fellowship (2018-2019) to conduct research on international shipping and greenhouse gas emissions. This research was published by Oxford’s Journal of Environmental Law in 2020. 

  • Dirk Henckens 

Dirk Henckens is an authorized mediator in civil and commercial matters and together with Kurt Deketelaere, in 2010, he set up the Flemish Association for Guidance and Mediation in Complex Investment Projects. He has built up a significant experience as a overnment appointed brownfield mediator, after having been one of the driving forces for the development of a legislative framework for the redevelopment of brownfields in Flanders. Dirk is a trained civil engineer-architect, was CEO of his own company and later joined the Flemish Waste Company and the Cabinet of the Flemish Minister for Energy and Environment. Dirk acts as an independent consultant. 

  • Kheng Lian Koh 

Kheng Lian Koh is Professor Emeritus of the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore, and a founder and Director of the Asia – Pacific Centre for Environmental Law (APCEL), established by the Faculty in collaboration with the World Conservation Union – Commission on Environmental Law (IUCN-CEL) and the United Nations Environment Programme. She was the IUCN CEL Regional Vice-Chair for South and East Asia, and a member of its Steering Committee from 1996 – 2004. She consulted for the capacity building in environmental legal education project for the Asian Development Bank. Koh was a former Director of the World Bank Institute/ Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA, Singapore) seminars on urban and industrial environmental management; she continues as the Director of this MFA course since 1999. She has also served as a resource person in numerous seminars and conferences in environmental law, including the UNITAR (United Nations Institute for Training and Research) seminars on implementation of multilateral agreements related to biological diversity, held in Kushiro and Chiang Mai. She served as a member of the National Preparatory Committee for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Focus Group III – Environment Issues), and was also in the National Environment Agency Feedback Group on the United States – Singapore Free Trade Agreement.

  • Louis Kotzé

Louis Kotzé is Research Professor of Law at the Faculty of Law, North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus), South Africa where he also teaches in the post-graduate LLM programme in Environmental Law and Governance. He is serving a concurrent term as Guest Professor of Environmental Law at the University of Lincoln, UK. His research focuses on the Anthropocene, environmental constitutionalism, human rights, and global environmental governance and he has published over 100 publications on these themes. His recent books include: Research Handbook on Human Rights and the Environment (with Anna Grear-Edward Elgar, 2015); Global Environmental Constitutionalism in the Anthropocene (Hart, 2016); Environmental Law and Governance for the Anthropocene (Hart, 2017). He is also co-editor of the Journal of Human Rights and the Environment. In 2016 he obtained a second PhD at Tilburg University and he has recently been awarded the prestigious European Commission Horizon 2020 Marie Curie Fellowship to conduct research for two years in the UK and the Netherlands.

  • Liliana Lizarazo

Liliana Lizarazo Rodriguez is attorney at law at the West Flanders Bar (Belgium), at the Ilustre Colegio de Abogados de Madrid (Spain) and in Colombia. She is lecturer at the University of Antwerp and at Vesalius College (Brussels) and has been professor at the universities of Rosario and Sergio Arboleda (Colombia) and guest lecturer at the universities of Salamanca (Spain), Nacional de Colombia, and Maastricht University (The Netherlands). She is an expert in the areas of Business & Human Rights, and Law & Sustainable Development. Liliana holds a PhD in Law from the University of Ghent, with a focus on Law & Economics.

  • Lin Heng Lye 

Lin-Heng Lye graduated in law from the University of Singapore, and holds Masters degrees in law from the University of London (King’s College) and Harvard University. She is an Advocate & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore and Director of the National University of Singapore (NUS) Law Faculty’s Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law (APCEL).  She chairs the University’s multi-disciplinary programme, the M.Sc. (Environmental Management) [MEM] which involves the collaboration of nine faculties/schools at NUS.   She is a member of the Board of Governors of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law, and co-chair of its Teaching and Capacity-Building Committee. She is also a member of the Board of Governors,  WWF (Singapore). She is a resource person in capacity-building programs conducted by the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the Ministry of Environment, Singapore. She has presented papers at conferences worldwide including Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, China, Germany, Holland, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Macao, the South Pacific, United Kingdom and the United States. She is Visiting Associate Professor at Yale University’s School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.

  • Zen Makuch 

Zen Makuch is Head of Food Systems and Nutrition and a Senior Academic leader at Imperial College London. He is recognized by the major government and private sector institutions in Europe and abroad as a top international, interdisciplinary specialist in climate change, energy and environmental sustainability. Research and strategic advisory services to Parliamentarians (including Ministers), corporate leaders, select parliamentary committees, political parties re environment, climate change, energy and natural resource management players are part of his daily working life. Selected highlights: Interdisciplinary regulatory affairs and legal advice for 15 Ministers/Secretaries of State to date; International/National Project Team Leader and strategic advisory services (>$60 Million to date); Multi-country experience of drafting climate change, environment, energy, water and other natural resource sector frameworks (122 such approved by parliaments and legislative assemblies to date); Technical researcher and adviser in 58 national and sub-national states worldwide (Americas, Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia) and for multinational institutions – the European Commission, World Bank, FAO, OECD, WTO, int’l NGOs and sustainability-oriented transnational firms; Extensive experience on contentious and non-contentious legal files in energy, commercial, trade, climate change and environment re: energy, resource, manufacturing, tech and financial services; 200+publications includes leading journals; multiple-award winning speaker, practitioner, academic.

  • Leonardo Massai 

Leonardo Massai has 16 years of experience in international environmental law, climate change mitigation and adaptation, forestry, human rights, renewable energy and energy efficiency regulation in both developed and developing countries. Leonardo is Legal and Policy Advisor for the Coalition for Rainforest Nations –CfRN (www.rainforestcoalition.org) where he provides direct counsel, assistance, advice and training to all rainforest nations on international environmental law, climate change governance, mitigation and adaptation, REDD+, climate compatible development plans and multilateral negotiations. Since 2008 he is directly involved in the climate change negotiations on behalf of developing countries. Massai is also Senior Lecturer in EU Law, International and EU Environmental Law, Climate Change Law, Human Rights and Environments, UN Multilateral Negotiations at the Catholic University of Lille in France. Since 2014, Massai is Alternate Member of the Enforcement Branch to the Compliance Committee of the Kyoto Protocol where he will serve until 31 December 2017. 

  • Marjan Peeters 

Marjan Peeters has a special research interest in legal aspects of climate change, regulatory instruments, and uncertain risks. She has co-edited more than 6 books in the field of EU environmental and climate law and supervises several PhD projects. She teaches European and international environmental law and is a member of the Maastricht Centre of European Law and the Metro institute of the Law Faculty of Maastricht University. Between 1993 and 2002 Marjan gained practical experience as environmental lawyer at the Dutch Ministry of Water Management and Transportation. Before that she conducted a PhD study at Tilburg University (The Netherlands, 1988-1992) which concerned the first legal PhD research of emissions trading in Europe. 

  • Tianbao Qin

Tianbao Qin is a Changjiang (Cheung Kong) Scholar and Luojia Professor of Law, and serves as the Director of the Research Institute of Environmental Law (RIEL). He is the Associate Dean for Research and International Affiliations for the School of Law, Deputy Director of the Research Center of the Supreme Court of China on Environmental-related Cases and Professor of China Institute of Boundary and Ocean Studies and the European Studies Centre, Wuhan University. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Chinese Journal of Environmental Law and a Member of the Compliance Committee of the Nagoya Protocol on ABS. He is a Legislative Expert for China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection, Ministry of Agriculture, and Hubei Provincial Parliament, and will or has participated in the drafting of several major environmental bills. He is an Advisor for Chinese negotiations on biodiversity, ocean and climate change issues.

  • Fernando Reina 

Fernando Reina Muñoz studied Law (2013) and Business Administration (2014) at the Comillas Pontifical University in Madrid, partially done at Radboud University Nijmegen (2011) and Copenhagen Business School (2013). He also obtained an LL.M. in Environmental Law (2017) at the Online University of Madrid (UDIMA). Fernando currently works as a legal counsel at BayWa r.e. renewable energy GmbH taking care of the group’ solar activities in Spain, Portugal and LatAm. Prior to joining the BayWa r.e. group, Fernando worked as an Associate in the Energy & Infrastructure division of the law firm Herbert Smith Freehills Spain LLP in the Madrid office. He is now a professor in the Master’s Degree in Energy Law of the Spanish Energy Club (Club Español de la Energía) located in Madrid where he lectures on the module “Legal regime of power purchase agreements (PPAs) in Spain”.

  • Daniel Rincon 

Daniel Rincón is a guest Professor for the Masters of Laws in Energy, Environmental and Climate Change Law at the University of Malta, since 2012. Daniel is the author of the books Environmental Law in Colombia and Energy Law in Colombia published by Wolters Kluwer in 2011 and 2013. He is a visiting speaker on environmental liability matters at the Università degli Studi dell’Insubria, Italy. Mr. Rincón’s professional practice involves consultancy in environmental, health and safety regulations affecting products and operations in Latin America. At present, Daniel is the in-house counsel for the DEME Group in Belgium with a special focus on North and South America, Africa and the south of Europe. 

  • Irakli Samkharadze

Irakli Samkharadze is a Visiting Lecturer at Tbilisi State University and Ilia State University (Georgia). He has earned his Ph.D. in Law from the faculty of Law of Tbilisi State University. Within his doctoral research Irakli has worked as an International Scholar at KU Leuven’s Institute for Environmental and Energy Law (Belgium) as well as DAAD Research Fellow at the Energy Law Institute of Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena (Germany). He holds an LL.M. in International and European Public Law from Erasmus University Rotterdam and an MA in Constitutional Law from Tbilisi State University. He has proven experience in cross-border project management, advisory, consultancy services commissioned by the European Union, Energy Community, UNDP, development banks and other donors. In his current occupation under Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Irakli supports the establishment of urban network in Southeast Europe and strategies for contributing to the overarching objective of sustainable urban development. Irakli is a recipient of a number of academic scholarships and, among other things, he frequently speaks at international conferences and contributes to conventional and online publications. 

  • René Seerden 

René (J.G.H.) Seerden is (parttime) associate professor in (Comparative) Administrative and Environmental Law at Maastricht University. He obtained his law degree at the University of Utrecht. Late 1980’s/begin 1990’s he did a traineeship at the Asser Institute in The Hague and was a fellow at the Europa Institute of the University of Edinburgh. In 1993 he finished his doctoral thesis on ‘the legal aspects of trans-frontier co-operation between decentralized authorities’. He was for a long time responsible for the Master courses Dutch Environmental Law and International, European and Comparative Environmental Law at the Law Faculty of Maastricht University. In 2002 he was a visiting professor for the course European and Comparative Environmental Law at Capital University Law School (Columbus Ohio).  At present he teaches the bachelor course Dutch Environmental Law. His main profession (since 2003) is administrative law judge at the District Court of Limburg (in the field of environmental law and asylum/migration law). His most recent publication as editor/author is Administrative Law of the European Union, its Member States and the United States, A Comparative Analysis (Intersentia 2012, 3rd edition) (4th edition is forthcoming) and together with Michiel Heldeweg he concluded the book Environmental Law in the Netherlands (Wolters Kluwer, 2013).

  • Maciej Sokolowski 

Maciej M. Sokołowski is a doctor of Law (PhD), expert in the field of energy law, economy, and the energy sector. He is author of “Regulation in the European Electricity Sector” (Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2016) and around 60 papers and reports on renewable and conventional energy, administrative, energy, environmental, and nuclear law. He was granted the Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship (at the University of Basel), the Swedish Institute, Visby Program (at the University of Gothenburg), and the municipal government of Shanghai scholarship (at the Shanghai University). He is President of the ABC Institute and Vice-President and Director General of Eastern Wind Foundation, member of the SI Network for Future Global Leaders, member of the Polish Electricity Association and Executive Director of the Public Board of National Program for Reduction of Emissions (2009-2012).

  • Cathy Suykens

Cathy Suykens is a PhD researcher, focusing on water quantity management in international river basin districts in the EU. She is a research fellow at the Institute for Environmental and Energy Law at the University of Leuven and the Utrecht Centre for Water, Oceans and Sustainability Law, Utrecht University. In the context of her PhD Research, she has been a guest researcher at the Environmental Law Center, Vermont Law School. She has been involved in the EU FP7 project “STAR-FLOOD”, which is an international and inter-disciplinary research project related to flood risk governance in urban areas. Cathy is member of the Ius Commune Research School, the Malta Legal Forum on the Adaptation to Climate Change and part of the EEELR editorial team. Prior to conducting full time academic research, she worked as an attorney in the energy and utilities sector at the Brussels bar for three years. Cathy holds a degree in law from the University of Brussels and an LL.M in Energy and Environmental Law from the University of Leuven.

  • Kim Talus 

Kim Talus is a Professor of European Economic and Energy Law at UEF Law School and the Co-Director of the Center for Climate Change, Energy and Environmental Law. He is also a Professor of Energy Law at the University of Helsinki. His research and consultancy focus is international, comparative and European energy law. More specifically, his activities focus on EU energy law and policy and international oil and gas. He has published widely in these areas and is a frequent speaker in international conferences. He has held teaching positions at University College London, University of Houston and Bonn University. He is the Editor-in-Chief for Oil, Gas and Energy Law (www.ogel.org) and a member of the Editorial Board for Journal of World Energy Law and Business.

  • Tom Vanden Borre

Dr. Tom Vanden Borre graduated from Gent University and is Director Policy&Market at Comeos. He is also member of the Board of Directors at the Flemish energy regulator (VREG), and affiliated senior researcher at the Institute for Environmental and Energy Law (IMER) of the University of Leuven where he teaches International and European Energy Law as well as federal energy law and policy.  He is former President of the Board of Directors of the Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC). He holds a PhD in Law on “liability and insurance of catastrophic risks (nuclear incidents)” from Maastricht University. Before joining Eni, dr. Tom Vanden Borre worked at the European Commission, DG Energy, Unit B2 (Electricity and Gas). Before working at Comeos, Tom has spent over 20 years working in the energy sector, both in the private and public sector. He was Head of Legal&Regulatory Affairs at Eni gas&power NV (formerly Nuon Belgium), he worked as Chief Counsellor to the President of the Commission for the Regulation of Electricity and Gas (CREG), the Belgian federal energy regulator. Previously Tom Vanden Borre was Head of the Energy Department of the Federal Minister of Energy’s Office; he also was energy advisor to the Belgian Prime Minister (Guy Verhofstadt). He started his career as legal counsel at the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK/CEN) and Biffa Waste Services. He is author of several articles on energy and law and policy (European energy policy, nuclear energy, Belgian energy policy,…); he regularly gives lectures at national and international conferences. Tom Vanden Borre was member of the expert group on nuclear liability, established by the European Commission in 2011.

  • Katelijne Van Hende 

Katelijne Van Hende works as a legal officer at the Environmental Law Centre of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Prior to joining IUCN, Katelijne was a lecturer at the School of Energy and Resources of University College London (UCL Australia), where she lectured on Law for Energy and Resources and International Policy and Geopolitics of Energy and Resources. Katelijn holds a PhD in law from Aarhus University in Denmark, on offshore wind and grid interconnections in the EU, and holds a Bachelor and Master of Laws from the University of Leuven.

  • Marleen Van Rijswick

Marleen van Rijswick is professor of European and Dutch Water Law and is director of Utrecht University Centre for Water, Oceans and Sustainability Law. (see http://ucwosl.rebo.uu.nl/). She researches the question how law can contribute to a sustainable and equitable use of water based on shared responsibilities. She participates in the Water Governance Initiative of the OECD and contributed to the development of the OECD Principles on Water Governance. She is visiting professor European environmental law at the Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris II) in Paris, and teaches the Masters Energy, Environmental and Climate Law at the University of Malta. In 2015 she was guest professor international and European environmental law at the Research Institute of Environmental Law of Wuhan University, China. She published in many international and national journals and books, and amongst others she was the main author (together with H.J.M. Havekes) of ‘European and Dutch Water Law’. She is substitute judge at the district court of Oost-Brabant.

  • Jonathan Verschuuren  

Jonathan Verschuuren is a Marie Sklodowska Curie fellow at the University of Sydney and has an extraordinary professorship at North West University, South Africa. His research focuses on various legal aspects of climate change, including coastal adaptation and climate smart agriculture, as well as on important foundations of environmental law, such as the role of principles and human rights. Some of his recent publications include: Research Handbook on Climate Change Adaptation Law (EE 2013); ‘Hydraulic fracturing and environmental concerns: The role of local government’ Journal of Environmental Law (2015); ‘Towards a Regulatory Design for Reducing Emissions from Agriculture: Lessons from Australia’s Carbon Farming Initiative’ Climate Law (2017); ‘Does Environmental Law Encourage or Obstruct Eco-Innovations? Evidence from Case-Studies in the Netherlands’ European Energy and Environmental Law Review (2017). 

  • Hitoshi Ushijima 

Hitoshi Ushijima is Professor of Law at Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan. His research foci include administrative law and regulatory policy, environmental law, food law, comparative law, and multi-layered legal systems and governance. Professor Ushijima has been a guest Professor at Tulane Law School, a guest Professor at University of Leuven, Belgium, an invited Professor at University of Paris 13, a guest Researcher at Georgetown Law School, and is the author of the Japan Chapter of “Administrative Law and Governance in Asia” (Routledge, 2009). Professor Ushijima has been a guest speaker at University of Oxford, OECD, Hong Kong University, Yonsei, Hanyang, and Soongsil Universities in Korea, Thammasat University in Thailand, National University of Singapore, Australian National University, American University, and a speaker at many international academic meetings. Professor Ushijima has served as a member of the National Bar Examination Committee, Ministry of Justice, the Personnel Council, Ministry of Defense, and as an instructor, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication. He has also served on many local-government advisory councils/boards for administrative reform, environmental impact assessment, freedom of information, and data protection. He has been a member of the World Commission on Environmental Law, IUCN. Professor Ushijima received his LL.B. from Chuo, and his LL.M.s from Hiroshima University and the University of Wisconsin (Fulbright Program). He served on the faculty of Fukuoka University, before joining Chuo in 2005.

  • Hui Wang 

Hui Wang is an expert in the field of environmental, liability and maritime law. She obtained a PhD in 2011 at the Erasmus University Rotterdam with a thesis on civil liability for marine oil pollution. She published extensively on the issue of marine pollution ever since. 

  • Stefan Weishaar

Stefan Weishaar is Associate Professor of Law and Economics at Groningen University where he leads the Linking Emissions Trading Schemes (LETS) research group. He is research affiliate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research and President of the International Association for Climate Policy Cooperation and Linking. Stefan has a keen interest in the working of markets and regulatory instruments. His work covers several law and economics domains in the areas of Climate & Energy law, Competition law, Procurement law and Market integration. He has been invited to share his expertise in the area of Emissions Trading as well as in the area of Energy market integration with several International and National institutions such as: the Energy Community Secretariat (Vienna); Korea Legislation Research Institute (Seoul); Ministry of Energy, Agriculture and Industry and Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment (the Hague), etc. He publishes widely in international academic journals and has authored a number of monographs and edited volumes in the areas of his research.

  • Wang Xi 

Wang Xi is professor of law and the Director of the Environmental and Resources Law Institute of the Law School of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His educational background include a B.A. (1981) from Wuhan Normal College, a M.L. (1985) from Wuhan University Law School, a M.J.S. (1987) from Washington University Law School (USA) and a PhD.(2000)from Wuhan University Law School. His publications include a university textbook titled “International Environmental Law”, published in 1998 and 2005, a book titled “Introduction to Environmental Law of USA”, published in 1992 and a book titled “Environmental Law in China”, published by Kluwer Law International in 2012, 2015 and 2017.  His recent research focused on environmental governance and law.  He was awarded the Six Annual Senior Scholar Award by the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law in 2014.

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