Advisory Board

Advisory Board

INTERLACE is guided by an Advisory Board whose members are leading experts in their respective fields. The Advisory Board members are responsible for monitoring and providing critical and constructive feedback on the direction of the project, the performance of the consortium, the quality of the scientific results and relevance of its outputs.

Emily N'Dombaxe Dola

Storytelling Director

Youth4Nature

Emily is the Storytelling Director at Youth4Nature, and a member of climate justice networks. Within their climate-nature work, Emily applies intersectional, holistic and transdisciplinary lenses to issues around local knowledge, (agri-)food systems, social inclusion, livelihoods/labour, and adaptation/resilience. Beyond it, Emily has varied experience in CSOs and multisector initiatives on glob(c)al challenges.

Alumna of the University of Sussex, Emily holds an International Development BA and a Social Anthropology MA. Scholarly niches include political economy, social ecology, systems thinking and knowledge production. Besides skilled in research, PM, communications and writing, Emily is fluent in Spanish & English, and has competencies in French, Basque, Arabic, and Wolof. Born and raised in Euskadi (Spain), and with West-Central African and Latin-Caribbean heritage, Emily resides in Brighton (UK).

Emma Grün

Consultant and lecturer on urban development and management

Emma Grün is an architect-urban planner with 12 years of experience in urban development and city planning. In the last 6 years she has served as a consultant on urban planning and design issues for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Before, she was Project Director and Urban Design Specialist at the North American company Martin & Vargas Design. In addition, she has been teaching undergraduate courses in Urban Planning, Design and Urban Analysis at the Central American University (UCA) of Nicaragua.

Emma graduated with maximum distinction from the Master's Degree in Architecture, Construction Sciences and Urbanism from the Technological University of Delft, the Netherlands, has multiple postgraduate degrees and a specialization in Public Policies and Rights to the City from the Open University of Cataluyna, Spain.

Dr. Minu Hemmati

Co-founder of GenderCC and the MSP Institute eV

MSP Institute eV

Dr. Minu Hemmati is a clinical psychologist with a doctorate in Organisational and Environmental Psychology. She has been working as an independent advisor with governments; international agencies; NGOs, women’s networks; corporations; and research institutions since 1998. Minu’s work is focusing on collaborative transformation processes towards sustainable development, gender equity, and good governance. Her work includes designing, facilitating, coaching and evaluating multi-stakeholder dialogues and partnerships; leadership development; training and teaching; and research and advocacy on participation and on gender issues.

Minu works as a consultant and as an NGO. She’s a co-founder and member of the Steering Committee of GenderCC – Women for Climate Justice, and a co-founder and associate of the MSP Institute – Multi-Stakeholder Processes for Sustainable Development eV.

Sandra Naumann

Coordinator of Berlin's Biodiversity Strategy

Berlin Senate Department for Urban Mobility, Transport, Climate Action and the Environment

Sandra works at the Senate Department for Urban Mobility, Transport, Climate Action and the Environment and coordinates the revision and implementation of Berlins Biodiversity Strategy. She has extensive experience in the evaluation and enhancement of land use and biodiversity policies and the assessment and use of nature-based solutions in cities.

David Jácome Polit

Team Lead Resilient Development

Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI)

As the Team Lead at ICLEI's Resilient Development Team, David works at the intersection of socioeconomic and spatial exclusion and the effects of extreme natural events, including the ones related to climate change. He aims to ensure access to essentials such as water, food, energy, transportation and labor opportunities. The creation of livelihoods and the betterment of living conditions is a must.

Formerly he was the Metropolitan Director of Resilience at the Municipality of Quito and Chief Resilience Officer as part of the Resilient Cities Network, pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation from where he led the resilience efforts throughout the city, including those found in the Resilience Strategy of Quito. He is a system’s thinker and resilience advocate with 18 years of experience in policy, planning and project management in the public, private, and non-profit sectors, where he has worked with cross-disciplinary teams to find creative solutions to complex problems.

Prof. Dr. Ellen van Bueren

Professor of Urban Development Management

Delft University of Technology

Ellen van Bueren is professor of Urban Development Management at Delft University of Technology’s Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment. Her research and teaching focuses on the governance and management of sustainable urban development, and aims to develop usable approaches, practices, methods and tools addressing the multi-level and multi-stakeholder dynamics of planning and decision-making in the urban and built environment. Urban living labs, circular development of the built environment and climate adaptation fostering resilience of cities and regions have her particular attention.

She is involved in multiple national and international transdisciplinary environments for research and education, including the AMS Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions and the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Centre for Sustainability, a post-initial MSc City Developer, and a recently awarded programme on climate adaptation in the Caribbean.