Projects per year
Personal profile
Research profile
I am a sustainability transition scholar with over 25 years international experience. I contribute to theory development on: socio-technical system innovation, governance, sustainable development and innovation. I study novel ways of organising systems through new market models (e.g. P2P) and new institutional arrangements. In that work I unpack upscaling, experimentation by communities, co-creation and new business models. My empirical domains are (smart) energy and mobility, and I sympathise with cities’ agendas. I study renewables and new, multi-system technologies such as blockchain. The geographical scope of my work covers Europe and Global South (Asia, India, Thailand). I use transitions as my home discipline from where I take trans-disciplinary ‘detours’ to other fields.
Being driven by the urgent need to act on sustainability, I regularly engage with practical contexts and I aim to do research that matters. My research is funded by NWO, EU, APN, NRC, DFG and Dutch Ministries. Currently I am a project leader of a € 10,4M Interreg NWE project on Smart Community-Owned Renewable Energy (SmartCORE), a follow up of the €7,1M community-based Virtual Power Plant (cVPP). Both projects consider most effective ways to scale-up community energy initiatives. cVPP has won two prizes: the EU Citizens Award for Sustainable Energy Innovation and IE&IS Valorization Award. I also lead an NWO-funded ORAKLE project on organising learning and knowledge for energy transition in the Province of North Brabant.
From 2021 I have been appointed the TU/e Sustainability Ambassador.
I am a regular guest speaker, guest editor, reviewer and I publish in leading journals. From 2017 I am an Associate Editor of Urban Transformations journal.
PhD SUPERVISION
Tanja Manders
Brett Petzer
Luc van Summeren
Shelly Tsui
Jasper van Dijk
Amira El Faiz
Laura van den Berghe
Aakash Abraham
Academic background
My background is in innovation sciences. As part of my PhD, I studied European renewable energy from the Technological Innovation System (TIS) perspective at Innovation Studies Group of Utrecht University. This work contributed to the conceptualisation of systemic innovation problems and instruments, and to the spatial expansion of the TIS framework.
In paralel I conducted research on sustainability transitions at the Institute for Environmental Studies at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (IVM-VU). My involvement with this field started in 1999 when I became an executive officer of the Industrial Transformation Science Project of the International Human Dimension Program (IHDP). Within that task, until 2011, I facilitated research on applying insights from the emerging stream of system innovation in the context of analyzing economic and environmental transitions occurring in developing Asia. This work facilitated translation of the novel, though very western, insights about systemic change to other socio-economic and geographical conditions.
Through this research I became a founding and Steering Group member of the Sustainability Transitions Research Network (STRN). In 2015 I established a Global South, and in 2018, a Brazilian chapter of the STRN. In 2010-2017, on behalf of STRN, I have co-developed and implemented a series of challende-based professional trainings for entrepreneurs in sustainability transitions for Climate KIC and InnoEnergy KIC.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
External positions
Adjunct Professor, Norwegian University of Science and Technology
2022 → 2024
Executive Officer, Industrial Transformation Program of IHDP, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
1999 → 2016
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- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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cVPP: Community-based Virtual Power Plant
Wieczorek, A. J. (Project Manager), van Summeren, L. F. M. (Project member), Van den Berghe, L. H. G. J. (Project member), Groenewoudt, A. C. (Project member), Verbong, G. P. J. (Project member), Papachristos, G. (Project member), Kirkels, A. F. (Project member) & Alkemade, F. (Project member)
20/09/17 → 30/06/23
Project: Research direct
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ORAKLE: Organising knowledge and learning for the regional energy transition
Wieczorek, A. J. (Project Manager), van Summeren, L. F. M. (Project member), Kluskens, N. (Project member) & van Dijk, J. (Project member)
1/08/20 → 31/08/25
Project: Second tier
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Scaling up Co-creation: Avenues and Limits for Integrating Society in Science and Innovation
Bombaerts, G. (Project Manager), Tsui, S. (Project member), Astola, M. (Project member), Laes, E. J. W. (Project member), Wieczorek, A. J. (Contact Person invoices), Benckhuijsen-Mertens, P. (Contact Person invoices), Reymen, I. M. M. J. (Contact Person invoices), Martin, D. A. (Project member), Royakkers, L. M. M. (Project member) & Spahn, A. (Project member)
1/05/18 → 31/07/21
Project: Research direct
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Impuls projects between TU Eindhoven, RWS, and PON
Oldenziel, R. (Project Manager), Dekker, H.-J. (Project member), Petzer, B. (Project member), Bek, P. K. B. (Project member), Sun, Q. (Project member), Jeekel, J. F. (Project member), Verbong, G. P. J. (Project member), Veraart, F. C. A. (Project member), Wieczorek, A. J. (Project member), Spahn, A. (Project member) & Kalmbach, K. (Project member)
16/12/15 → 31/12/20
Project: Research direct
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From automobility to smart mobility
Verbong, G. P. J. (Project Manager), Salas Gironés, E. (Project member), Vrscaj, D. (Project member), Wieczorek, A. J. (Contact Person invoices) & Manders, T. N. (Project member)
1/09/15 → 31/08/19
Project: Research direct
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Community energy meets smart grids: Reviewing goals, structure, and roles in Virtual Power Plants in Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands
van Summeren, L. F. M. (Corresponding author), Wieczorek, A. J., Bombaerts, G. & Verbong, G. P. J., 1 May 2020, In: Energy Research and Social Science. 63, 14 p., 101415.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open Access123 Citations (Scopus)6 Downloads (Pure) -
Complexity, tensions, and ambiguity of intermediation in a transition context: the case of Connecting Mobility
Manders, T. N. (Corresponding author), Wieczorek, A. J. & Verbong, G. P. J., Mar 2020, In: Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions. 34, p. 183-208 26 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open Access29 Citations (Scopus)3 Downloads (Pure) -
Cycling as a service assessed from a combined business-model and transitions perspective
Petzer, B. J. M. (Corresponding author), Wieczorek, A. J. & Verbong, G. P. J., 1 Sept 2020, In: Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions. 36, p. 255-269 15 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile19 Citations (Scopus)407 Downloads (Pure) -
The promise of peer-to-peer trading? The potential impact of blockchain on the actor configuration in the Dutch electricity system
Buth, M. C. (Corresponding author), Wieczorek, A. J. & Verbong, G. P. J., 1 Jul 2019, In: Energy Research and Social Science. 53, p. 194-205 12 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile53 Citations (Scopus)204 Downloads (Pure) -
The role of users in sustainable innovation
Verbong, G. P. J., Verhees, B. & Wieczorek, A. J., 2019, Handbook of sustainable innovation. Boons, F. & McMeekin, A. (eds.). Edward Elgar Publishing, p. 238-251Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › Academic › peer-review
7 Citations (Scopus)
Prizes
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EU Citizens Award for Sustainable Energy Innovation
Wieczorek, A. J. (Recipient), van Summeren, L. F. M. (Recipient), Verbong, G. P. J. (Recipient) & Groenewoudt, A. C. (Recipient), 23 Jun 2020
Prize: Other › Discipline related › Professional
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Best Teacher 1st year Bachelor Sustainable Innovation, 2016
Wieczorek, A. (Recipient), 2016
Prize: Other › Career, activity or publication related prizes (lifetime, best paper, poster etc.) › Scientific
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Best Teacher Bachelor Sustainable Innovation, 2018
Wieczorek, A. J. (Recipient), 2018
Prize: TU/e › Other › Scientific
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Visiting professor at UFG Brazil, 2018
Wieczorek, A. J. (Recipient), 15 Aug 2018
Prize: Other › Career, activity or publication related prizes (lifetime, best paper, poster etc.) › Scientific
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Nominee Best Teacher at TU/e, 2019
Wieczorek, A. J. (Recipient), 27 Sept 2019
Prize: TU/e › Other › Scientific
Activities
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EU Citizens Award talk: Community-based Virtual Power Plant
Wieczorek, A. J. (Invited speaker)
23 Jun 2020Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk › Professional
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ENERGY COMMUNITIES SUPPORTING THE ENERGY TRANSITION
Wieczorek, A. J. (Organiser), Zeijseink, A. (Organiser), van Egmond, R. (Organiser) & Meskens, L. (Organiser)
24 Jun 2020Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Conference › Scientific
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Current developments in the community energy: cVPP and the MoRe model
Wieczorek, A. J. (Invited speaker)
30 Jun 2020Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk › Scientific
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PhD Committee Anne Marte Gardenier - Technological CitizenshipEmpowering Citizens for a Resilient Digital Society (Event)
Wieczorek, A. J. (Member)
10 Apr 2025Activity: Membership types › Membership of committee › Scientific
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PhD Committee Laura van Oers - Unlearning unsustainability Utrecht University
Wieczorek, A. J. (Examiner)
26 Jun 2024Activity: Examination types › Examination › Scientific
Courses
Press/Media
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Co-creation can serve as the catalyst for the most innovative outcomes. Here’s how.
Reymen, I. M. M. J., Bombaerts, G. & Wieczorek, A. J.
16/11/23
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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Studies in the Area of Social Science Reported from University of Szczecin (Gender Inequalities in The Light of Eu Gender Mainstreaming Activities)
26/07/23
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Expert Comment