معرفی
Julia Affolderbach serves as Professor for Sustainability Transitions at the University of Trier's Faculty of Spatial and Environmental Sciences since 2023, leading the Sustainable Regional and Urban Development department. Previously, she held Assistant Professor positions at Trier (2020-2023) and Lecturer/Senior Lecturer roles at the University of Hull (2014-2020), following postdoctoral work at the University of Luxembourg (2009-2014).
Her educational foundation includes a PhD in Geography from Simon Fraser University (2003-2009) and a Diploma in Geography, Botany, and Geology from the University of Cologne and Simon Fraser University (1995-2002).
Prof. Affolderbach's research centers on sustainability transitions through urban and regional development lenses, with critical focus on green building, plastics/waste management, and lived sustainabilities. Her methodological approach integrates political economy and environmental economic geography frameworks to examine how global sustainability discourses interact with local practices across Europe, North America, and Australia. This work emphasizes transformative science applications in real-world contexts.
Her extensive publication record demonstrates consistent evolution from foundational work on environmental bargaining (2011-2012) toward contemporary analyses of circular economy justice (2021-2024), with green building transitions remaining a central thread. Recent scholarship increasingly addresses plastic crises through educational frameworks and examines digital sharing economies' role in just transitions.
Prof. Affolderbach actively shapes academic discourse through committee leadership including Trier University's Senate Committee for Quality Management and Center for European Studies Steering Committee. Her research program attracts significant international funding from Dutch Research Council, ESRC UK, German Research Foundation, and NSF USA grants. She teaches core courses including Transitions: Geography and Education for Sustainable Development: Plastics while supervising graduate theses.
She directs the Sustainable Regional and Urban Development research team, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration on sustainability challenges through interactive knowledge generation approaches that bridge academic and practical domains.
