Rosita Zilli and Ganna Gladkykh, Senior Policy Officer and Energy Expert respectively, are the new additions to the EERA team whose reinforcement started in 2020 as part of the implementation of EERA’s “Blue Scenario”, the strategy steering the Alliance work. As EERA strives to become the authoritative advisor to the EU on pathways to climate neutrality, these two new team members will further strengthen its unique position in the European energy and climate arena.  

Prior to joining EERA at the beginning of January 2021, Rosita Zilli served as Deputy Secretary-General at EuroCoop, the European Community of Consumer Co-operatives, and worked in the co-operation field in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She holds a master’s degree in International Affairs and Diplomacy from the University of Trieste (Italy). Bringing more than 15 years of experience in EU affairs, at EERA she will oversee the definition of strategies about EU and international legislation linked to the energy transition, providing policy analysis to the EERA community, and fostering a strategic dialogue with EU institutions and relevant stakeholders active in the energy and climate domain. As a Senior Policy Officer, Rosita Zilli will support EERA in building a strong political intelligence and lead advocacy initiatives to ensure a proper role is given to R&I related initiatives at European level.  

For its part, Ganna Gladkykh joined EERA as a Clean Energy Transition Expert. She holds a master’s degree in Applied Economics and System Dynamics and a PhD in Energy Economics. With more than eight years of experience in sustainability research and policy consulting, she has a strong interdisciplinary background in designing energy and sustainable economy transitions. Before joining EERA, she run her own consultancy on sustainability transitions and worked as a consultant at the Stockholm Environment Institute and the Ministry of Environment in Ukraine. As an energy expert, she has a deep expertise which will be fundamental in supporting EERA to materialize its mission of catalysing European energy research for a carbon-neutral society. Through the development of internal intelligence, EERA’s energy expert will foster cross-collaboration among the 18 EERA Joint Programmes, providing quality input to the entire EERA community in relevant areas of interest, such as the Clean Energy Transition Partnership (CETP).  

In sum, the onboarding of Rosita Zilli and Ganna Gladkykh represents an important milestone for the entire EERA community. Supported by their leading-edge expertise in their respective fields, EERA aims at reinforcing its position to provide high-value, unbiased, and science-based advice to the EU on achieving the objective of climate neutrality by 2050.