My ambition is to contribute to just sustainability transitions by bridging the gap between theory and practice in both my research and teaching activities. Through various action-oriented research projects, we collaborate with practitioners to learn about promising socio-technical innovations in different contexts. This provides insights into barriers, opportunities, and strategies for local embedding and upscaling.

My research focuses on local energy transitions, with particular attention to the roles of end-users, energy communities, and municipalities. My attention furthermore goes to integrations of and interactions between socio-technical systems, such as the use of digital technology for local energy management by energy communities and the local integration of heat and electricity. Examples of research projects include:

• Community-based Virtual Power Plant (cVPP) (Interreg NWE; 2017-2022)
• Organising Knowledge and Learning for the Regional Energy Transition (ORAKLE) (NWO-MARET; 2020-2025)
• Enabling Positive Energy Districts through Citizen-Centered Socio-Technical Models for Upscaling of the Heat Transition (EmPowerED) (NWA-ORC; 2025-2030)
• ACcelerate Energy Communities via Local Solar Energy Storage and Heat (ACCU) (Interreg NWE; 2025-2028)
• Smart Community-Owned Renewable Energy Management (SmartCORE) (Interreg NWE; 2025-2028)

In my teaching, I also strive to bridge theory and practice. I aim to educate transition makers with a systems perspective, an understanding of transition processes, and a sense of justice. My teaching activities are part of the Sustainable Innovation (Bachelor), Sustainability Transitions Track of Innovation Management (Master), and Sustainable Energy Technology (Master) programs.

An example of bridging theory and practice within my teaching is the bachelor course "Managing Sustainable Technology Challenges in Society", in which students are presented with real-world challenges by alumni. Students then use transition theories and concepts to investigate the underlying problems and propose solutions.

Another way in which I bridge practice and theory, is by creating and using illustrations and cartoons. As employee at DuneWorks, I discovered the power of cartoons and storytelling to communicate research findings to practitioners. Over the years, my cartoons have been used in scientific reports, webinars, newsletters, communication with energy cooperative members, and other forms of science communication.