Project participants

Thomas Dworak

Thomas Dworak is the head of Fresh Thoughts Consulting GmbH. His current work focuses on environmental protection, with a focus on marine and inland waters, agriculture, and climate change.

He has worked in several EU countries, including Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Romania, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden, as well as in the Baltic Sea and Danube regions. Mr. Dworak has also worked internationally, for example in the Mekong River basin, China, India, and Iran. He has many years of experience as a consultant to the European Commission (DG Environment, DG Research, and DG Climate).
Mr. Dworak has led more than 50 projects, ranging from small projects with a very short intervention period to large-scale research projects. In recent years, he has been involved in the following main topics:
Climate change: Mr. Dworak was the project leader for the German research project "Time to Adapt," which was followed by a major conference under the German Presidency in 2007. Since then, he has supported the EU Commission, the European Environment Agency, and national governments in the further development of this policy area. For the European Commission, he led the development of the European Adaptation Strategy. Thomas Dworak is also one of the co-authors of various guides such as “River Basin Management in a changing climate - a guide”, “Exchanging best practices on Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) in the context of climate change”.

Jan Friesen

Jan Friesen heads the 'Water-Sensitive Infrastructure Planning' working group in the Department of Systemic Environmental Biotechnology at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ). His work focuses on water infrastructure planning and water management in urban and rural contexts.

Currently, many projects focus on the implementation of blue-green infrastructures and the sustainable adaptation of cities to climate change.

At the UFZ, he develops planning models and approaches to determine the potential of blue-green transformation for cities and regions.

Jan has been involved in numerous international research and implementation projects in Europe, North and South America, Asia, and the Middle East, including Oman, the USA, India, and Europe. His interdisciplinary approach combines ecohydrology, remote sensing, sensor development, and urban planning to support cities and regions in sustainable water management according to UN SDGs 6 and 11.

As part of the "Blue Green City Coaching" project, he contributes his expertise in developing climate-resilient, nature-based, and hybrid solutions that are transferable to different urban challenges and scales.

Andreas Huck

Dr. Andreas Huck works in the Competence Center for Climate Impacts and Adaptation at the German Environment Agency on blue-green infrastructures and at the interface between climate change adaptation and civil protection.

Education

BSc: Spatial Planning, Technical University of Kaiserslautern: "Regional Energy Concepts in Planning Regions to Support the Climate Change Reversal – Possible Fields of Action for Regional Planning Authorities"
MSc: Research Master in Regional Studies: Spaces and Places, Analysis and Intervention, University of Groningen, NL: "Thinking Different: Socially Responsible Planning in the Context of a 'Culture of Fear'"
Dr. phil. / PhD at the DFG Research Training Group KRITIS, Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany and at the Department of Human Geography & Spatial Planning – Economic Urban Transitions, Utrecht University, NL: "Enhancing Urban and Infrastructure Resilience: An Institutional Perspective"

Career

Freelancer at the Institute for Futures Studies and Technology Assessment (IZT), Berlin
Climate-KIC Project Manager – Education, Provadis School of International Management and Technology, Frankfurt am Main
Research Associate at the DFG Research Training Group KRITIS, Technical University of Darmstadt
Researcher at the Department of Human Geography & Spatial Planning – Economic Urban Transitions, Utrecht University
Research Associate at the Competence Center for Climate Impacts and Adaptation (Kompass) at the Federal Environment Agency, Dessau

Frank Hüesker

Dr. Frank Hüesker is a political science post-doc in the Department of Systemic Environmental Biotechnology (SUBT) at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research and heads the ANK project BlueGreen City Coaching.

Career

seit 01/2018

Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig: Research Associate in the Department of Environmental and Biotechnology Centre (UBZ)

seit 04/2016

Berlin School of Economics and Law: Lecturer at the Department of Economics (Political Economy and Social Structure of Modern Society)

2014 − 2017

TU Kaiserslautern, Department of Urban Water Management: Research associate in the BMBF research project "Wastewater treatment plants as a control component in intelligent distribution networks with renewable energy generation"

2013 − 2014

one-year parental leave

2008 − 2013

Leibniz Institute for Regional Development and Structural Planning, Erkner:

DFG research project "Rescaling Environmental Governance in Europe - The European Water Framework Directive and the Spatial Reorganization of Resource Regulation"
River Basin Governance (RiBaGo) Research Network: The European Union and China (Co-Reach Programme for Coordination of Research between Europe and China)
Institute-funded research projects, including "Common Goods Aspects and Spatial Dimensions of the Energy Transition: Between Materiality and Power" and "Common Goods in Transition. Reregulation and Rescaling in Regional Comparison"

2005

Commission of the European Union, Brussels: Trainee in the Directorate-General for Competition (Energy and Water Unit)

2002

Heinrich Boell Foundation USA and South Africa: Intern in Washington DC and Johannesburg; Participation: UN World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002

Education

07/2010

Doctorate in Political and Social Sciences at the Free University of Berlin: Dissertation on "Impacts of privatization on the public welfare capacity of the state – examined in the case of the Berlin Waterworks"

12/2003

Academic degree in political science from the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the Free University of Berlin: Diploma thesis on “Political models of international environmental policy using the example of the sustainability principles at the Johannesburg UN Conference 2002”

Research topics

Water policy and chemicals
Legitimacy and effectiveness of global and European environmental policy
Sustainable urban infrastructure and municipal management
Energy transition and sector coupling (e.g., nexus with wastewater management)

Felix Klickermann

Felix Klickermann is a research associate at the Department of Environmental and Planning Law (UPR) at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) in Leipzig.

His current work focuses on urban climate adaptation through the implementation of blue-green infrastructures and solutions for rainwater and process water harvesting. From 2021 to 2024, after a short period at a law firm, Mr. Klickermann worked on a UFZ dissertation project on managing water use conflicts, with stays in Copenhagen and Amsterdam. He completed his legal training in Frankfurt (Oder), Dublin, Berlin, and Brussels, focusing on international, European, and environmental law. Through a one-year volunteer service in Vietnam and a range of practical activities, Mr. Klickermann has gained important experience for applied research.

Ganbaatar Khurelbaatar

Ganbaatar Khurelbaatar is a specialist in urban water management. His work focuses on the development and implementation of blue-green infrastructure strategies to help cities adapt to the impacts of climate change and increasing urbanization.

At the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Leipzig, he was involved in projects advancing integrated urban water management. These included the development of planning tools for wastewater and stormwater management, with a particular focus on comprehensive potential analyses.
Ganbaatar has been involved in numerous international research and implementation projects in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, including Germany, Spain, Denmark, Jordan, Oman, India, China, and Mongolia. His interdisciplinary approach combines engineering, urban planning, and environmental science to support cities in making informed, future-oriented decisions.
As part of the "BlueGreen City Coaching" project, he contributes valuable expertise in the design and application of climate-resilient, nature-based solutions tailored to different urban contexts.

Roland A. Müller

Roland Müller has been head of the Department of Systemic Environmental Biotechnology (SUBT) at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) in Leipzig since 2013. Roland Müller has also held the honorary professorship for "Integrated Wastewater Resource Management" at the HTWK Leipzig since 2016.

His research interests lie in the following areas:

Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM)
Process development and transfer in the fields of environmental and biotechnology, as well as urban water management
Decentralized wastewater treatment and management
Implementation research to optimize the water sector in developing and emerging countries with water shortages
Development and implementation of implementation concepts for wastewater infrastructures
Remediation of contaminated soils and aquatic sediments

Moritz Reese

Moritz Reese is head of the Department of Environmental and Planning Law at the UFZ. His research focuses on the fundamentals of environmental law, European and German constitutional environmental law, environmental law in climate change, water law, public environmental services, waste management, and sustainable urban development.

Career

Feb. 2025

Appointment to a professorship for European environmental law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Leipzig

April 2024

Head of the Department of Environmental and Planning Law at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ

seit 2008

Scientific officer at the Department of Environmental and Planning Law

2006-2007

Forschungsstipendiat der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG); Thema: Autonomieschonende Rechtssetzung im europäischen Mehrebenensystem

2001-2005

Juristischer Referent beim Sachverständigenrat für Umweltfragen (SRU), Berlin

2000

Promotion am Fachbereich Rechtswissenschaften der Universität Hamburg mit einer Dissertation zu dem Thema „Kreislaufwirtschaft im integrierten Umweltrecht“

1997-2000

Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter und Dozent am Fachbereich Rechtswissenschaften der Universität Hamburg

Current Activities

Professor für europäisches Umweltrecht an der Juristenfakultät der Universität Leipzig
Mitherausgeber des „Journal for European Environmental and Planning Law“ (JEEPL, Martinus Nijhoff/Brill-Verlag)
Chairman des European Environmental Law Forum (eelf.info)
Mitherausgeber und Redaktionsmitglied der Zeitschrift für Umweltrecht (ZUR)
Mitherausgeber des beck'schen Handbuch Umweltrecht (Koch/Hofmann/Reese)
Mitglied der DWA-Koordinierungsgruppe wasserbewusste Stadtentwicklung

Stefan Schneider

Dr. Stefan Schneider has been a research associate at Difu since 2007, working in the Economics, Finance, and Sustainability Indicators team. His work focuses on municipal finance, sustainable infrastructure and investment planning, and administrative modernization, with a focus on intergenerational action strategies.

At the German Institute of Urban Affairs (Difu), Stefan Schneider has led and supported numerous projects, including the study on investment needs for a sustainable transport system, the evaluation of the KiTaG Schleswig-Holstein, the study on local economies and their location-specific effects, as well as studies related to urban development funding. In addition, Dr. Schneider played a key role in the development, implementation, and analysis of large-scale empirical surveys, such as the KfW Municipal Panel 2009–2018. An important professional focus is the development of scenarios and the resulting estimation of investment needs and other economic indicators.

Stefan Schneider completed the Public Economy degree program at the Harz University of Applied Sciences, graduating as a Diplom-Kaufmann (FH). During this time, he completed an internship semester at the Liaison Office of the State of Saxony-Anhalt to the European Union in Brussels. After initial professional positions in the field of public sector consulting, he earned a doctorate at the University of Potsdam on the topic of impact orientation in municipal administrations. Alongside his work at Difu, Dr. Stefan Schneider also taught for several years at the Department of Public Administration at the Berlin School of Economics and Law (HWR Berlin).

To further promote sustainability in the municipal context, local climate protection, and the active shaping of transport and energy transitions even in smaller towns and communities, Stefan Schneider founded GREENA Gesellschaft für regionale Entwicklung und Nachhaltigkeit mbH (GREENA) in 2022. He is also involved in these topics at the municipal political level as an expert citizen in the Committee for Environmental/Climate Protection, Order, Security/Fire Department, and Transport in the municipality of Nuthetal.

Natàlia García Soler

Natàlia García Soler works in the Competence Center for Climate Impacts and Adaptation at the German Environment Agency on issues of municipal climate change adaptation, the vertical and horizontal policy integration of climate change adaptation and policy mixes.

Education

Diploma in Political Science, Autonomous University of Barcelona - ES and University of Tampere - FI
MSc: International Joint Master in Sustainable Development – Sustainable Urban and Regional Development, University of Leipzig and University of Graz - AT: “The Cross-Cutting Character of Adaptation to Climate Change”

Career

Research Associate at the Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space - IRS, Erkner
Project Manager at the Association for Rural Development Thuringia - Regional Development, Regional Cooperation, Erfurt
Research Associate/Project Manager at the Office for Urban Green Spaces and Waterways of the City of Leipzig
Research Associate at the Competence Center for Climate Impacts and Adaptation (Kompass) at the Federal Environment Agency, Dessau-Roßlau

Jan Hendrik Trapp

Jan Hendrik Trapp has been a research associate at Difu for many years and heads the “Infrastructure, Digitalization and Security” team in the “Infrastructure, Economics and Finance” research area.

The sociologist's areas of work include the governance of transformation processes for climate-adapted urban infrastructure, the development of action strategies for municipalities and municipal public service companies, and municipal crisis management.
From 2006 to 2013, he worked as a consultant for the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) in municipal consulting and water management in Latin America. Jan Trapp has profound methodological knowledge of the participatory, target group-oriented development of projects, measures, and organizational models. He studied sociology at the University of Trier, specializing in settlement, environmental, and planning sociology, and completed training as a systemic organizational consultant (artop).

Contact:
Dipl.-Soz. Jan Hendrik Trapp

German Institute for Urban Affairs gGmbH,
Research Department Infrastructure, Economics and Finance
Team Leader Infrastructure, Digitalization and Security
Zimmerstraße 13-15, 10969 Berlin
Tel +4930 39001-210
Email: trapp@difu.de
http://www.difu.de/