EVANGELOS
MITSAKIS
Validated Lead Expert
Generic Skills
B.1. Understanding of integrated and sustainable urban development:
Diploma in Civil Engineering and Doctorate Degree (PhD) in Civil and Transportation Engineering. PhD thesis titled “Optimal design of transport networks”, focusing on the reduction of negative urban road traffic impacts using optimization methods. Since 2005 Research Associate and since 2012 Elected Associate Researcher at the Hellenic Institute of Transport of the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas. More than ten years of professional experience in fields related to sustainable urban mobility and urban development. Participation in national and international studies and research projects in the above fields as technical expert, technical manager and project coordinator. Organizer of several related international workshops and educational seminars. Member and chairman of national and international boards of organizations, associations and expert groups in the fields of sustainable urban mobility, including the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies of Science in USA and the Thematic Group on Urban Mobility of the European Conference of Transport Research Institutes (ECTRI). Author of numerous peer-reviewed publications in high-impact scientific journals in the same fields. Speaker (including invited talks) at numerous scientific and technical national and international conferences. Member of national and international evaluation committees. Recipient of the 2014 national award for excellence in Transport research.
B.2. Understanding of exchange and learning processes at transnational level:
Experience in ERASMUS (incoming) exchange of postgraduate students, in the framework of bilateral cooperation with foreign universities. Responsible for mentoring and training of exchange students. Experience in postgraduate students traineeships (incoming) from foreign universities. Responsible for mentoring and technical skills development (including the communication of scientific results). Responsible for the provision of traineeships (incoming) for graduate students of national universities. Experience in the organization and execution of specialized workshops, training courses and training schools in the fields of sustainable urban mobility. Experience in the organization of specialized conferences in the fields of sustainable urban mobility through the participation in organizing and scientific conference committees. Own participation in specialized training and educational seminars in foreign research organizations (including the Joint Technical Secretariat). Extended knowledge in multi-disciplinary international experts group management, through the participation in numerous committees and technical working groups. Experience in the provision of specialized learning courses in the fields of urban mobility, as invited guest lecturer within the framework of international collaborative research, development and innovation projects. Experience in specialized knowledge exchange through the participation in national transnational PhD advisory committees.
B.3. Proficiency in English:
More than 10-year experience from the participation as coordinator, technical manager and technical expert in international project consortia, comprised by several international entities each. All project related communications (oral and written) and activities are managed, executed and held in English. Continuous participation in international conferences, workshops and scientific events as speaker/presenter (more than 50 in total). All presentations and talks are prepared and held in English. Participation as invited speaker or lecturer in seminars and training schools. All activities, including training materials, are prepared and provided in English. Author of numerous (more than 80) scientific papers published in peer-reviewed journals. All papers are written in English. Author of several technical reports, deliverables and notes within the framework of national and international research project and projects. All reports are written in English. Participation in international working groups and committees as chair or member. All activities (oral and written) are in English. English language degree by the University of Cambridge.
Expertise for the design and delivery of transnational exchange and learning activities:
Summary Expertise for the design and delivery of transnational exchange and learning activities:
I participated in several international projects, where transnational exchange and learning activities were an inherent part of the work. I prepared and delivered training courses to a variety of audiences (large-sized and diverse groups of experts, in the sense of cultural, educational and ethnic differences), where I adopted my methods and the tools for the successful delivery. I provided several technical and managerial presentations. Especially within international projects involving planned, executed and managed complex meetings and discussions related to complex topics of urban mobility. I coped with differences, to alleviate barriers for successful cooperation and project delivery. I utilized several innovative ways to achieve the active engagement of participating stakeholders to use learning tools. I prepared and provided a very large number of presentations to diverse audiences, utilizing new communications means to actively engage and reach to non-native English speaking persons I gained increased exchange of experiences and knowledge for the benefit of each individual project. I produced more than 50 project meeting reports, containing detailed meeting minutes, to-do items and allocation of roles and definition of deadlines for follow-up activities as well as technical reports (including good practices and policy guidelines), synthesizing results coming from international experts’ meetings within the framework of technical and innovation projects.
Thematic expertise:
Theme / Policy:
Sustainable Urban Mobility
Summary Thematic expertise:
I hold a diploma in civil engineering and a PhD in civil and transport engineering. I currently work elected associate researcher at the Hellenic Institute of Transport, Centre for Research and Technology Hellas. I have been involved in several related national and EU research projects. I have authored several publications in high impact scientific journals and international conferences. I have developed several inputs in the form of reports, position papers and briefings within the fields of sustainable urban mobility. I have authored several reports that covered good practices and policy messages to be utilized by practitioners, decision makers and policy makers in the fields of sustainable urban mobility. Several of the project outputs, for which I was personally responsible for either as technical manager of project coordinator have been utilized for capitalization purposes and further strategies formulation.
Expertise support to local authorities and other stakeholders in designing & delivering integrated and participatory policies
E.1. Knowledge on participatory methods and tools for co-production and implementation of local polices :
Most of the projects that I have participated in either as technical manager or project coordinator, as mentioned in the previous sections, included participatory, co-creative and co-production activities, so as to establish commonly agreed and commonly beneficial results. Within these projects I have organized a large number of meetings with stakeholders and representative of various groups and interests, whom I successfully managed to collaborate and produce sustainable results. Indicative examples include: 1) Thematic group for the definition of sustainable urban mobility targets for the city of Thessaloniki, within the framework of the Thessaloniki’s urban mobility management system project, 2) Thematic group for the identification of user needs for the development of Kalamaria’s mobility centre, 3) Thematic group for the implementation of cooperative mobility systems in Thessaloniki.
All the above groups have based their activities above principles and methods of co-creation.
E.2. Knowledge on integrated approach for the design, delivering, monitoring and evaluation of urban strategies/policies:
Assisting policy makers and decision takers in selecting optimal measures and in designing and implementing sustainable urban mobility strategies has been part of my activities within several of the projects in which I have been involved in. It has become clear to me from the early stages of my career that decision and policy making is a complex process, which goes beyond the pure technical aspects, in which domain experts usually feel comfortable with. I have therefore tried to understand the actual processes of policy and decision making and tried to fit in these the activities of mine, as a technical expert in the domain of sustainable urban mobility. Most often, these are projects that are related either to the development of master plans or master studies or to the implementation of measures/strategies proposed in such studies, under the umbrella of the current local policy setting and the overall economic circumstances faced in each city individually. Indicative examples of such cases where my tools and methods have been used for policy assistance, decision making support and monitoring of these include: 1) Mobility Master Plan in Nicosia, Cyprus, 2) Thessaloniki’s integrated urban mobility management system, 3) pedestrianization studies for Thessaloniki’s city centre, 4) policy making for smart specialization by the Regional Authority of Central Macedonia.
E.3. Awareness of the main policy and funding schemes for sustainable urban development at EU and national level:
Being a transport researcher, my primary job is to remain informed (so as to be able to provide further contributions myself) both at scientific and policy level and monitor the progress at national, European and global level in all fields of sustainable urban mobility. I am regularly participating in relevant events and information workshops of EU bodies and relevant international organizations. I am an active member in major related EU organizations, such as ECTRI (the European Conference of Transport Research Institutes) and ERTICO (The pan-European ITS organization) and others. Within ECTRI, I am chairing the Thematic Group on Mobility, thus I need to remain informed on all aspects related to sustainable mobility in Europe and globally, so as to effective fulfil the obligations of managing a group comprised of globally acknowledged experts in the field. Furthermore, my 10-year active engagement in the international scene of sustainable urban mobility has provided me with the possibility to have a personal network of contacts with several experts from the scientific, industrial and policy levels in the fields of sustainable urban mobility, which allows me to receive on time information about all progresses made in the field.
E.4. Ability to understand specific local situations and adapt tools and content to different local realities:
Understanding local specificities, adopting existing knowledge and tools so as to satisfy particular local needs and peculiarities and at the end deliver high quality results is non-trivial. Throughout my career I have been always hardly trying to position myself in the seat of my collaborators when complex technical work needs to be executed or important decisions to be taken. Therefore, I have always adopted my pallet of tools, the presentation of my knowledge and the content, so as to be optimally “absorbed” by the local, case-specific context. Indicative examples include: 1) For the training seminars that I delivered to the Ministry of Transport in Turkey (TAIEX), I needed to revisit the methods and tools that I have developed for effective handling the impact of climate change on urban transport networks, so as to fit to the local context, the local transport system and the local legislation, 2) For the training seminars that I delivered in Vietnam, I needed to completely modify the methods and tools for providing meaningful learning to the participants, due to significant differences in the level of knowledge of transport analysis tools as well as in mentality.
Summary Expertise:
In the projects that I have participated in, I have utilized participatory, co-creative and co-production activities, so as to establish commonly agreed and commonly beneficial results. I have organized a large number of meetings with stakeholders and representative of various groups and interests, whom I successfully managed to collaborate and produce sustainable results. I understand the actual processes of policy and decision making and try to fit in these the activities of mine, as a technical expert in the domain of sustainable urban mobility. I remain informed both at scientific and policy level and monitor the progress at national, European and global level in all fields of sustainable urban mobility. I am regularly participating in relevant events and information workshops of EU bodies and relevant international organizations. I am an active member in major related EU organizations. Furthermore, I have a personal network of contacts with several experts from the scientific, industrial and policy levels in the fields of sustainable urban mobility, which allows me to receive on time information about all progresses made in the field. I try to position myself in the seat of my collaborators when complex technical work needs to be executed or important decisions to be taken. I adopt my pallet of tools, the presentation of my knowledge and the content, so as to be optimally “absorbed” by the local, case-specific context.
Informations
Residence location:
Greece
Languages:
Greek - Mother tongue
Foreign Languages level:
Foreign languages:
Foreign Languages level:
Foreign languages:
Email:
emit@certh.gr