معرفی
Dr. Heleen Mees is an Associate Professor of local sustainability governance at Utrecht University's Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, affiliated with the Environmental Governance group. She holds roles including research coordinator, Management Team member, and Board member of the Geosciences Honours College. Her work bridges academic and practical domains, informed by prior experience as a global project leader in consumer goods marketing.
Education & Academic Career: Ph.D. (2014), Postdoc/Lecturer (2014–2017), Assistant Professor (2017–2023), and current Associate Professor since 2023. Specializes in urban climate adaptation governance, democratic legitimacy, and citizen engagement.
Research Focus: Explores governance modes, climate justice, and responsibility allocation in climate adaptation. Key projects include BEAT THE HEAT (heat poverty & global adaptation fairness), RISKSEC 2.0 (climate securitization), and TRANSADAPT (bottom-up initiatives). Recent work emphasizes transdisciplinary collaboration and policy experimentation.
Grants & Projects: Principal Investigator for BEAT THE HEAT (2023–2027), coordinator for Dutch contributions to RISKSEC 2.0 (2020–2024), and co-promoter in CCAFS (agriculture & food security) and IMPETUS (governance alignment for adaptation).
Labs/Teams: Leads Environmental Governance research group and contributes to Pathways to Sustainability initiative. Active in the Institutions for Open Societies (IOS) program focusing on societal change through citizen initiatives.
Teaching: Courses include Policy Analysis, Sustainable Development Governance, and Research Skills. Supervises MSc/BSc theses on urban sustainability themes.
