ESEIA Team - ESEIA - European Sustainable Energy Innovation Alliance

ESEIA Team

The ESEIA Team, headed by the ESEIA Director Brigitte Hasewend, manages and coordinates the services and operations of the Alliance.
It implements the ESEIA Strategy 2030 together with the ESEIA Working Groups.

Brigitte Hasewend

Brigitte Hasewend is founding Director and Member of the Governing Council of the European Sustainable Energy Innovation Alliance – ESEIA. In this executive capacity, she has been responsible for devising the ESEIA Strategy 2030 in the context of the European Green Deal. She has also successfully coordinated a number of large scale European R&I projects with cross-sector partners from all over Europe and from neighboring countries. Since 2013 Brigitte Hasewend has worked for the European Commission as an expert evaluator for Horizon2020 projects. She was Vice-President of the Supervisory Board of Joanneum Research GesmbH from 2014-17 and has headed the International Strategic Research Partnerships at TU Graz for many years. Before re-joining TU Graz back in 2007 Brigitte Hasewend had spent 10 years living and working in Brussels. During this time she held several positions at DG Research of the European Commission.

Brigitte Hasewend on LinkedIn.

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Richard Wheeler

Richard Wheeler, Senior EU Project Manager. Richard Wheeler is a specialist in artificial intelligence and computer science who has worked for the World Health Organisation in Geneva and The University of Edinburgh, and been a research manager at laboratories in Brussels and Vienna. He is active in the field of sustainable technology and scientific management, and acts as a Chair in a number of EU R&I funding schemes. At ESEIA he leads EU research strategy and project management and preparation.

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Sıla Çelebi

Sıla Çelebi

Sıla Çelebi joined ESEIA in January 2024 as a Project Assistant. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Hacettepe University in Türkiye (2021) and is continuing her Master’s degree in Environmental System Science and Climate Change at Graz University of Technology in Austria. Prior to her role in ESEIA, she worked as an intern at AEE Intec on Large-Scale Thermal Energy Storage systems.

Zina Mejbri

Zina Mejbri joined ESEIA in November 2023 as Project Manager. Her academic journey includes obtaining a Master of Science in Mediterranean Organic Agriculture from the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari in Italy (2020-2022), and an engineering degree in Agronomic science from the National Agronomic Institute of Tunisia (2013-2018). Prior to her role at ESEIA, she held various positions such as Production Manager in a Plant Nursery, Research Responsible in a Tunisian start-up, and Assistant to an International Project Coordinator. At ESEIA, she has been taking part in project management and project acquisition.

Zina Mejbri on Linkedin

Zina Mejbri

Yunji Lee

Yunji Lee joined ESEIA in August 2024 as a Project Assistant. She graduated from Dankook University in South Korea (2018) with a bachelor’s degree in international business administration and from the University of Vienna (2021) with a master’s degree in East Asian economy and society. She is currently working toward a PhD in Sustainability and Innovation Management (2023–) in the University of Graz’s Environmental System Science department. Before joining ESEIA, she worked for the government as a project/program officer (National Institute of Green Technology, World Energy Council-Korea Member Committee).

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Nicoleta Talpes

Nicoleta Talpes is the Dissemination and Communication Manager at ESEIA – the European Sustainable Energy Innovation Alliance. She is a dynamic force in the world of sustainability and communication, currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Communication Sciences at the Faculty of Journalism, University of Bucharest, Romania, where her research focuses on assessing the influence of documentaries in driving social change. She serves as an Assistant Researcher on the GEMINI project, promoting Gender Equality through Media Investigation and New Training Insights, funded by the European Union. With an M.A. in European Social Policy and extensive experience in environmental advocacy and communication, Nicoleta Talpes is a passionate advocate, innovator, and catalyst for positive change, serving as a serial founder of several sustainability educational projects.

Her work at ESEIA continues to drive forward the organization’s mission to promote sustainable energy innovation across Europe. In her role at ESEIA, Nicoleta leverages her extensive background in sustainability and strategic communication to enhance the organization’s outreach and impact.

Nicoleta Talpes on Linkedin.