Speakers

Dr Animesh Kumar, Head of the UNDRR Office in Bonn. Animesh manages the organization’s global portfolio on climate action and comprehensive risk management, disaster data, and monitoring of the Sendai Framework and SDGs. Animesh brings a wealth of experience to UNDRR, having served as the Deputy Head of the UNDRR Regional Offices in Africa and Asia-Pacific. In these capacities, he led regional policy and coordination on disaster risk reduction, including inter-governmental and stakeholder mechanisms, and joint UN efforts on building resilience. 

Olha Nimko holds a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Law and serves as a research assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Virginia Tech. She is affiliated with the Center for Refugee, Migrant, and Displacement Studies as the visiting research scholar from Ukraine.

During the academic year 2022-2023, Dr. Nimko held the position of Professor for Environmental Policy at ETH Zürich in Switzerland, within the Institute for Environmental Decisions and Environmental Policy Lab. From 2015 to 2022, she served as an Assistant Professor, and from 2010 to 2015, she was the Head of the Department of Law at Polissya National University, Ukraine. Dr. Nimko has supervised scientific research on topics such as "Legal Liability for Violation of Natural Resources Law of Ukraine" and "Problematic Aspects and Improvement of Legal Regulations of Biotechnologies, Biosafety, Prevention of Terrorism, and Counter-Terrorism." Her contributions to these fields include a monograph, several books, and numerous scientific papers published in well-known international journals, providing valuable recommendations on law and politics.

Olha has won many grants and fellowship including: The Project Scholars at Risk, The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), Environmental Policy Lab, Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, Switzerland; CEU/HESP Research Excellence Fellowship program at the Central European University, Budapest, Hungary. The Center for Ethics and Law in Biomedicine (CELAB); Project: FEED-UKRAINE: The politics of food security in Ukraine from the Russian invasion.

Prof. Dr. Vira Ohorodnyk, Professor at Kyiv National Economic University (Ukraine), associated member at Agricultural Economics and Policy Group, ETH Zurich (Switzerland). 

Vira is an international researcher with more than 16 years in academia, her current interests lie in the sphere of regional sustainable development, public governance, social responsibility, agri-tourism activities in rural areas, development banks, and strategic management of financial systems.

Vira is a member of the European Association of Agricultural Economists (EAAE), the Swiss Society for Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology (SGA), the Regional Studies Association (RSA), and an Associate member of AECP ETH Zürich, Switzerland

Lecture Topic: ‘‘Enhancing Smart Infrastructure for Sustainable Development and Resilient Regions in Wartime Ukraine.’’

Dr. Souran Chatterjee is a Lecturer in Energy Transitions at the University of Plymouth, specializing in energy demand modeling and the socio-economic impacts of sustainable energy solutions. With a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences and Policy from Central European University and post-doctoral experience at the same institution, he has extensive research experience in energy transitions, collaborating on projects like the Sustainable Energy Transitions Laboratory (SENTINEL) and the Energy Demand Changes Induced by Technological and Social innovations (EDITS) network. Through his teaching and research, Dr. Chatterjee is dedicated to advancing knowledge and informing policy decisions for a sustainable energy future.

Senior Lecturer at the Department of Regional Studies and Tourism, Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadym Hetman.
Vice President of the Association of Spatial Planners - Council of Urbanists of National Union of Architects of Ukraine.

Lecture Topic: ‘‘Enhancing Smart Infrastructure for Sustainable Development and Resilient Regions in Wartime Ukraine.’’

Iryna Doronina is a professor at the Technical University Munich, where she is part of the International Future Lab REDEFINE H2E. She was previously a senior researcher at the Institute of Science, Technology, and Policy (ISTP) at ETH Zürich. She is currently working on a project on infrastructure reconstruction in postwar Ukraine, focusing on policy options for a low-carbon and sustainable electricity supply system. She is also involved in the research and development of innovative technologies for green hydrogen production and utilization, aiming to contribute to the transition into a carbon-neutral future. She has a PhD in Economics from Kyiv National Economic University, where she studied international institutional harmonization of investment activities. She also did postdoctoral research at the National Academy of Public Administration under the President of Ukraine, where she examined state regulation of the development of renewable energy sources in Ukraine. Her fields of interest include Ukraine’s energy system, EU energy security, renewable energy, and green and hydrogen projects. She has published several papers and reports on these topics. She is also a member of the European Studies Council at Yale University.

Dr. Sayantan Mandal, is a senior Assistant Professor at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) in the Indian Institute of Technology Jammu (IIT Jammu). Previously, he worked at the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA, Govt. of India) and the University of Delhi, New Delhi. He has graduated (MA) from the Aarhus University, Denmark; and MSc. From the Presidency College, Kolkata. Dr. Mandal completed his PhD from the University of Deusto, Spain, with scholarships from the European Commission.  At IIT Jammu, Dr. Mandal is presently coordinating two research projects on Integrating Digital Technologies with Digital Education (ITLDE) and AI in Higher Education Teaching Learning in the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh region and is part of a Pan IIT research group investigating the impacts of the pandemic on teaching and learning in the IITs across India. 

Dr. Baskaran Angathevar is an Associate Professor at the Department of Development Studies, Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya. He holds PhD (Science & Technology Policy Studies, Sussex, UK), MSc (Financial Management, Middlesex, UK), MPhil (International Studies, JNU, India), MA (History, Punjab, India), MA (Political Professor Dr. Baskaran Angathevar Science, Madurai, India), and BA (History & Pol. Sci., Madurai, India).

His research expertise includes Economics of innovation; National innovation systems; Science, technology, and development; FDI & OFDI; and Business Incubators; Entrepreneurship & Financial management of small businesses, with a main focus on multidisciplinary themes related to emerging and developing economies.

His previous work experience includes: Research Fellow, Lecturer, and Senior Lecturer at Middlesex University Business School, London, UK (1999 to 2014); Senior Associate Research Fellow, at SHARCHI Chair Programme, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa.

He has taught several courses at the UG level including Entrepreneurial Economics, Small Entrepreneurship Development/ SME Development, Research Methodology (at the University of Malaya); Business Decisions; Managerial Finance; Corporate Reporting; Research Projects; Accounting for Business; Accounting Theories and Research Methods (at Middlesex University). PG courses: Entrepreneurship and Development, Sustainable Development and Environmental Management, Globalization and Development, Poverty and Inequality, and Development Theory and Practice (at University of Malaya); Research Methodology, Financial Management for the Small Business; Entrepreneurial Finance; and Financial & Management Accounting (at Middlesex University).

He supervised over 50 UG projects including industrial placement projects (over 10 at the University of Malaya); over 100 Masters Dissertations and Research Projects (5 Dissertation and 6 Projects at the University of Malaya); and 4 Doctoral completion (1 at the University of Malaya).  Examined 23 PhD Thesis for universities in the UK, Italy, Malaysia, and India.

Produced over 85 publications, including 10 books, 20 book chapters, and 32 articles in internationally refereed journals. Contributed to UNESCO Science Report 2015, OECD - Microenterprise Breakout Strategy in Malaysia and Oxford Analytica, UK - Indian National Innovation System. Reviewed research funding applications for the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS), Government of Malaysia, DFID-ESRC Growth Research Programme, UK and Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), and reviewed several papers for journals and conferences. 

Currently leading research projects on: "Business Incubators for Social Enterprise, Social Inclusion, and Inclusive Growth", "Role of Social Enterprise in Poverty Alleviation and Inclusive Development in Malaysia", "Exploratory Study of the Solar Industry Ecosystem in Malaysia (University Grants); Developing Environmental Reporting Framework for the Small and Medium Enterprises in Malaysia: Using Q-Methodological Approach" (FRGS, Government of Malaysia) and "Catching-up along the Global Value Chain: models, determinants and policy implications in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution" (European Commission Grant).

He has research collaborative links in several countries including South Africa, China, India, Bangladesh, Italy, Finland, and UK. Actively involved in GLOBELICS, ASIALICS, and AFRICALICS research networks.

He was invited as an expert speaker on innovation systems by several institutions including UNCTAD, Department of Science and Technology in South Africa, CASTED & IPM, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Beijing), and invited speakers at universities in Denmark, Finland, China, India, and South Africa.

He is Co-Editor-in-Chief, African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development (AJSTID); Member, Editorial Board in: International Journal of Technological Learning, Innovation and Development, Asian Journal of Technology Innovation, and Innovation and Development. 

Prof. Sascha-Dominik Dov Bachmann is a former Lieutenant Colonel (GER Army Res) with operational and exchange experience in the Balkans and the US Marines. He is an international scholar and a professional in law and higher education. He has worked in the USA, the Middle East, South Africa and various European countries in the last 20 years. He is currently a faculty member at Canberra Law School, after having taught at Bournemouth University, the University of Lincoln, and the University of Portsmouth in the UK. He is also a Docent (Reader) in War Studies at the Swedish Defence University, and a Research Fellow at CEMIS, Faculty of Military Science, Stellenbosch University. He holds degrees from Germany (LMU München), South Africa (Stellenbosch University and University of Johannesburg), and the UK (University of Portsmouth). 

Prof. Bachmann has collaborated and presented to NATO, US CENTCOM, US AFRICOM, the Austrian Ministry of Defence, the Swedish Defence University, the Royal Danish Defence College, the South African National Defence Force, and the Australian Defence College on topics such as Hybrid War/Threats, Lawfare, InfoOps and Targeting. His interdisciplinary research (more than 70 academic outputs) covers new Security Challenges of the 21st Century such as Hybrid Warfare, Information Operations, Lawfare, cyber-enhanced Hybrid Warfare, as well as International Criminal Justice and Human Security Litigation. He contributes regularly to NATO’s Legal Advisor Web (LAWFAS) and his publications are often used as NATO reference documents. He is a Fellow of NATO SHAPE for the Asia Pacific (Hybrid Threats and Lawfare).