Expert support

Marc Pattinson has over 25 years of helping regions prepare their regional development and designing research-innovation and S3 strategies, promoting interregional cooperation actions, working with clusters and performing policy analyses.

Arnault has a PhD in Economic Geography from Utrecht University and the Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria. He is expert in regional innovation governance and innovation policies. He is responsible for validating good practices and contributes to the production of articles and policy briefs for the knowledge hub. He also answers requests for policy advice via the expert support helpdesk.

Rene has more than 20 years of experience in innovation management and business development. He has held executive management positions in several public and private sector organisations helping SMEs to increase their competitiveness. Recently he has been acting as an investor and board director of different business acceleration programmes and startup investment funds.

Luc has over 20 years of experience in the design of business support ecosystems on behalf of regional public authorities and business support organisations, with a focus on entrepreneurship and cluster organisations. He has also gained experience in working directly with SMEs on improving their competitiveness.

Mart has experience from projects related to innovation ecosystems, SME competitiveness, inter-cluster cooperation, and smart cities. He is also a representative for the Estonian contact point for the Enterprise Europe Network. On the platform, Mart is responsible for validating good practices and writing policy briefs and organizing thematic workshops and webinars.

Katharina Krell has 20 years of experience in the areas of renewable energy, energy efficiency, smart cities and circular economy. She is specialised in supporting the uptake of results of EU-funded projects in form of policy recommendations, good practices, technologies for commercialisation or knowledge for further research.

Simon Hunkin has eight years’ experience in the low-carbon economy sector, working in projects and studies to support uptake of innovative low-carbon technologies and policy instruments. He is specialised in European energy and environment policy, as well as regional policy and funding and co-operation initiatives.

Astrid is a senior expert with over 25 years of experience in regional and innovation policy. She has a track record in renewable energy, energy efficiency, the circular and low carbon economy and authored several studies and policy papers. Astrid is an accomplished communication professional. She developed corporate identities, moderated international conferences and workshops on sustainability issues.

Magda has a MSc in Environmental Assessment and Management from University of Liverpool and an MBA from Copenhagen Business School. She has experience in areas related to circular economy, waste management, green strategy development and sustainable food systems. Magda is responsible for validating good practices, producing articles and policy briefs for the knowledge hub and organising thematic workshops and webinars.

Thorsten leads and manages the overall implementation of the Policy Learning Platform. He holds responsible for the day-to-day coordination of the platform team and supports the personal development of each team member. At the same time, he works closely with the management of the programme, fostering and facilitating the strategic development of the platform services.

Elena is the thematic manager for the Policy Learning Platform and coordinates all activities performed by the thematic experts. She ensures the quality control of the platform services and supports the project manager in the strategic development of the platform.

Raluca leads the overall communication and promotion of the Platform. She works closely with the Project and Thematic managers and takes care of the management of the communication team and activities.

Anne is responsible for the platform’s communication and dissemination activities and events. She leads the production of the platform’s communication deliverables, defines and implements promotional campaigns.

Karine provides administrative support to the team and assists in organisation of meetings. She also supports the Project Manager and the Thematic Manager on quality management issues.

Lotte coordinates web developments within the Policy Learning Platform and acts as a helpdesk for the platform users. She is also in charge of community management of the Policy Learning Platform.

Eugénie is in charge of the Policy Learning Platform's onsite and online events. She also contributes to other communication and promotion actions.