Eric Ponthieu, Ph.D
Belgian
What I bring to UNIBO?
1. A true EU policy insider with 28-year professional experience in EU sustainable development policy- and decision-making, communication, R&D and teaching
2. Excellent capacity to process and communicate political, strategic and technical information
3. Wide range of interrelated areas of expertise: sustainable development, environment, climate, food and agriculture, sustainable consumption, energy, transport, information society, urban sustainability, R&D and innovation
4. Author of a book on climate governance (Springer, October 2020)
5. A vast teaching experience: Associate lecturer at Ca'Foscari university and regular Visiting Professor (more than 15 universities as hosts since 2006)
6. 17-year middle management experience with a strong ability to motivate staff
CURRENT PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
UNIBO: Adjunct Professor, Master on Resource Economics and Sustainable Development
Fair Trade Advocacy Office (FTAO): Strategy Director (ponthieu@fairtrade-advocacy.org)
Ca'Foscari University: Associate lecturer, Climate Studies, course of Professor Carlo Carraro
PAST PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Middle management
Head of Unit “Section on Agriculture, Rural development and the environment, and Sustainable Development Observatory”, European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), managing a team of 14 persons supporting the preparation of opinions by the EESC Members, from 01/04/2015
Head of Unit “Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and information society”, EESC, managing a team of 15 persons supporting the preparation of opinions by the EESC Members, from 01/06/2006
Head of Sector “Urban environment”, European Commission (EC), Directorate General for Research, managing a team of 10 persons dealing with R&D on urban governance, infrastructures, technologies, to promote sustainable urban development. Scientific, administrative and financial management; annual budget of €20-30 million; from 01/07/2003 to 31/05/2006
EU Policy insider and analyst
- author of the book "The Climate Crisis, Democracy and Governance [https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-58127-5] ", Springer, Climate Studies series, October 2020
- co-management of the European Stakeholder Circular Economy Platform [https://circulareconomy.europa.eu/platform/] with the European Commission since 2016
- drafting and follow-up of the EC Communication on “ ” [https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX%3A52004DC0038] (2004)
- follow-up of the EU Sustainable Development Strategy and of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (2003-2006)
- initiation and follow-up of the research cooperation between European Commission (DG RTD) and UN-HABITAT (from 06/2002 to 06/2006)
Lecturing
- Adjunct Professor at University of Bologna, Study course on Resource Economics and Sustainable Development (from January 2023)
- Associate lecturer of the PhD program on climate sciences of Ca'Foscari University (since 2019)
- Lecturer (Maître de conférences) at the Université des Sciences et des Technologies de Lille, lecture in Management of environment in the entreprise in the frame of a DESS in ‘Water engineering’, half‑time position (from 01/94 to 12/94)
- Junior lecturer at the Institut Meurice Chimie, lecture for the laboratory of general chemistry (from 09/86 to 09/87)
- Regular Visiting Professor in various European/non-European universities and research organisations: Peking University (18-22 December 2006), Kyoto University (23-27 July 07, July 09, July 2011, July 2022), University Roma Tre (26-28 November 07), Ca'Foscari University (2008), Ryokoku and Kyoto Universities (20-31 July 2009), Technion University (2009), Coimbra University (July 2012), La Sapienza Roma university (July 2013), Musashino University (July 2014, December 2017, July 2019), Technical University of Berlin (2015), University of Minho (2016), Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Madrid, (July 2018), University of Coimbra (July 2020), University of Ritsumeikan (December 2021)
Communication
- EC information officer of the Task Force Car of Tomorrow (01/96 to 12/98), Non-Nuclear Energy (JOULE) research programme (06/96 to 12/98), and Environment and Sustainable Development Programme (01/99 up to 12/2002). This implied the drafting of briefing notes and speeches (e.g. for the Research Commissioners Edith Cresson and Philippe Busquin), “success stories” about European R&D projects, press releases, the organisation of conferences, the realisation of publications and videos etc.
- Free-lance scientific journalist with different press organs: more than 400 papers on science & technology, environment, management, etc., in different newspapers and magazines: Le Soir, Libération, Trends-Tendances, L'Instant, La Recherche etc. (from 04/90 to 12/94)
R&D
Management of R&D projects - Scientific officer, European Commission, Directorate General for Research, successively in charge of R&D projects in the areas of:
- new cleaning processes for water and waste treatment, and for chemical and petrochemical industries: EC, DG RTD, 05/94 to 12/95
- transport (Task Force Car of Tomorrow) and fuel cell/hydrogen (energy technology for transport and stationary applications): EC, DG RTD, 01/96 to 03/99
- transport, infrastructure, land use and spatial planning (Key Action City of Tomorrow): EC, DG RTD, 03/99 to 05/06
Researcher under BRITE‑EURAM contract at the Laboratoire de Catalyse Hétérogène et Homogène of the university of Lille, for a doctoral thesis (from 09/90 to 09/93)
Researcher in a Japanese chemical industry (HARIMA Chemicals) in Tsukuba (from 07/92 to 09/92)
Researcher under BRITE‑EURAM contract at the Laboratoire de Physico‑Chimie et de Catalyse of the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL, from 09/87 to 09/90)
Abstracting of scientific papers for the American scientific journal Ceramic Abstracts (from 02/91 to 09/93)
Scientific consulting
- Consultant position for the realisation of the 1993 annual report of the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (Ispra, Italy) (from 09/93 to 01/94);
- Participation to various "scientific evaluation" exercises (e.g. Euromanagement programme related to the assistance to SMEs, former DGXXIII; valorisation of RTD proposals in BRITE/EURAM programme; production of media events for the Communication Unit of DG Research)
EDUCATION
2002 - Certificate in management of innovation, from the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium
1994 – Special lectures on management of environment, from the Université de Mons‑Hainaut, Belgium
1993 - European doctorate in physical chemistry, Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille, France, summa cum laude with jury's congratulations
1989 - Special bachelor's degree in Applied Natural Sciences, orientation New Materials, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium, summa cum laude
1986- Industrial engineer in chemistry, Institut Meurice Chimie, Belgium, magna cum laude
