Ólöf Söebech is an Associate Researcher in Environment & Sustainable Development at the Brussels School of Governance and the Department of Political Science at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. She has coordinated and collaborated in several European and national funded projects since she joined the Institute in 2007.
Currently Ólöf is involved in three projects at the IES. She is a project coordinator for the Jean-Monnet network ‘Governing the EU’s Climate and Energy Transition in Turbulent Times’ or GOVTRAN, a network that brings together scholars and practicioners working in a broad range of fields, including climate and energy policy, European integration, and governance studies. She is involved in ROLECS - Roll out of local energy communities a Flemish Flux 50 ICON project that aims to analyse and facilitate the implementation of Energy Communities in Europe. The third project is a European funded FP7 project on development and the promotion of sustainable aviation fuels. The IES is responsible for the policy analysis of aviation biofuels policies, as well as sustainability criteria.
Previously she coordinated a European 7FP project on societal security: SOURCE-Societal security network, a project that aims to create a virtual centre of excellence for research support and coordination on societal security. Ólöf also worked on Participatory platform for sustainable energy management (PARENT), a project supported by Innoviris and the JPI Urban Europe funding scheme (2016-2019). It aims to Lower electricity consumption in European households through community participation and technological solutions. She has worked on a number of research projects relating to sustainability, environmental policy and democratic participation.
In 2012 Ólöf launched her own project, a website: www.everydaystories.be. There, short video stories of people who lead sustainable lifestyles in European cities are shared. The profile and concept development as well as implementation of interviews was a collaboration project.
Ólöf studied human ecology, policy focused environmental studies and contemporary dance, and has worked in the field of dance, education, research and activism.
