Dr. Anna Wieczorek

Biography

Anna Wieczorek is a sustainability transition scholar with 25 years of international experience. She contributes to theory development in socio-technical system innovation, governance, and sustainable development innovation. Her research focuses on novel ways of organizing systems, new market models (such as peer-to-peer), and innovative institutional arrangements. Anna investigates the processes of upscaling and experimenting with communities and co-creation of new business models, particularly in the empirical domains of (smart) energy and mobility, aligning with the agendas of cities. She studies renewables and new multi-system technologies, including blockchain, and her geographical scope encompasses both Europe and the Global South, particularly Asia, India, and Thailand. Driven by a sense of urgency to act towards sustainability, Anna frequently engages with practical contexts to ensure her research is impactful. Her work has been funded by various organizations, including NWO, EU, APN, NRC, DFG, and Dutch Ministries. Currently, she leads a €10.4 million Interreg NWE project on Smart Community-Owned Renewable Energy (SmartCORE) and follows her previous community-based Virtual Power Plant (cVPP) project, which won several accolades, including the EU Citizens Award for Sustainable Energy Innovation. Anna is also the lead of the NWO-funded ORAKLE project, which organizes learning and knowledge sharing in the energy transition within the Province of North Brabant. She was appointed as a TU/e Sustainability Ambassador in 2021 and serves as a regular guest speaker, editor, and reviewer for leading academic journals.

Research Interests