Prof.dr. Frank van Oort
Dr. van Oort is an Endowed Professor of Urban and Regional Economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam and Professor of Urban Economics at Utrecht University. He is specialized in agglomeration economies, urban economics, economic geography, planning and housing, economic networks, urban geography, spatial planning, knowledge economy, European regional development, and urban development in China.
Dr. Maartje van Eerd
Dr. Maartje van Eerd is a Human Geographer by profession with extensive experience as researcher, trainer and advisor on housing and social development issues. She has conducted extensive research on resettlement projects, forced evictions, acquisition, expropriation and compensation, and the role of NGOs and CBOs in developing alternatives to forced evictions. Her PhD research focussed on resettlement and she conducted her field research in a resettlement project of the urban poor in Chennai, India, where she analysed local initiatives, and government and NGO policies and programmes.
Dr. Ingmar van Meerkerk
Dr. Meerkerk is an assistant professor at the Department of Public Administration and Sociology at Erasmus University Rotterdam. His PhD thesis addressed the role and effects of boundary spanners on democratic throughput legitimacy and performance of governance networks in the field of complex land use issues. His current research activities are focused on citizen self-organization or citizen initiatives (mostly in the field of urban regeneration).
Dr. Carley Pennink
Dr. Pennink is a capacity building expert, with extensive experience in working with public-private partnerships and looking into how they drive change at a municipal level. She has provided institutional support to training service organisations throughout Africa, Asia and Central and Eastern Europe. At IHS, she is the Head of International Projects and Advisory Services.
Dr. Jan Fransen
Dr. Fransen is a local economic development specialist with over 20 years of experience in research, education and consultancy in the field of local economic development, with a particular interest in small firms, urban employment, capacity building, clustering, innovation systems, global value chains, labour-based technologies, institutional economics, evolutionary economics and complexity theory. He has carried out assignments for the World Bank, European Commission, United Nations, NGO’s and government bodies worldwide.
Prof.dr. Jurian Edelenbos
Jurian Edelnbos has completed his PhD in 2000 at Delft University of Technology. He has developed expertise in the fields of governance, citizen participation & self-organization, boundary spanning, trust, network management, and democratic legitimacy. He conducts research in the following domains: urban management & planning, integrated water management & sustainable energy.