'From Fragmentation to Integration: Systems Thinking in Sustainability Transitions' Leadership, Organisations, Behaviour and Reputation Research Seminar

Using her expertise in the fields of energy and natural resource economics, sustainable development and economic policy, Dr Tsani applies systems-based and quantitative approaches to sustainability transitions, with her research featured in leading journals such as Energy Economics, Resources Policy, Environmental Science and Policy and Economic Modelling. She has extensive professional experience with multi-sectoral networks across the knowledge triangle and her interdisciplinary research applies economic modelling, systems thinking and scenario analysis to sustainability, energy transitions and natural resource governance, particularly water, hydrocarbons and renewables.

Dr Tsani is highly active at the science-policy interface, contributing to major international assessment and advisory processes. She serves as a member of the Multidisciplinary Expert Panel of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, representing the Western European and Others Group, and is the 2025 European Sustainable Energy Week Women in Energy Award winner, having been recognised by the European Commission for her outstanding contributions to Europe's energy transition.

She is a lead author of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Global Environment Outlook, the UN's flagship environmental assessment, contributing to pathways for economic and financial transformation toward sustainability. She contributes as lead author to the 8th edition of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation Science Report, the leading global assessment of science, technology and innovation systems and their role in sustainable development, and is also a contributor to the International Energy Agency report on Clean Energy Innovation Policies in Emerging and Developing Economies.

Dr Tsani has supported the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as an expert contributor to the IPCC 7th Assessment Report scoping process and as a reviewer for the IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere. She is the Scientific Lead of the Resilience Economics and Sustainable Transitions International Centre of Excellence of the Integrated Research on Disaster Risk Programme within the International Science Council, United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and China Association for Science and Technology.

An elected member of the InterAcademy Partnership Policy Advisory Committee and the Young Academy of Europe, Dr Tsani is also a Young Academies Science Advice Structure delegate and an expert member of the International Science Council Initiative on Science Advice for Public Policy in the Latin America and the Caribbean Region. In 2022, she became the first scholar based in Greece to join the Global Young Academy, where she co-ordinates activities on sustainable development, foresight and innovation.

Her expert service includes advisory and governance roles with the European Commission. Groups that she has held advisory or mentoring positions with include the Cohesion for Transitions Community of Practice Just Transition Platform, the Water4All Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda update, the UNEP and Mediterranean Action Plan Working Group on Ocean Economy and Sustainable Finance, the MED 2050 foresight group, the Euro-Mediterranean Forum of Institutes of Economic Sciences Board of Directors, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID Researcher Advisory Council, the International Science Council water expert delegate to the United Nations Water conference and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology Body of Knowledge.

Dr Tsani is a Smithsonian Science Education Center Scientist Ambassador for the Network for Emergent Socio-Scientific Thinking and has supported the development of the 'Ocean' youth guide, along with leading Generation Youth Energy, a youth and early-career initiative on energy awareness and participation, and being a member of STEM Women Global and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network. She has co-ordinated, advised, or contributed to over 40 international research projects within the European Union, the UNEP, the European Economic Area, the World Bank and the Bank of Greece and serves as an expert evaluator for major funding agencies, such as the Norwegian Research Council, the Kazakhstan National Center of Science and Technology Evaluation, the French National Research Agency and the Onassis Foundation.

The topic of this presentation is 'From Fragmentation to Integration: Systems Thinking in Sustainability Transitions'. This seminar will explore sustainability transitions and the requirement of a fundamental rethinking of how natural resources are governed, how sectoral systems interact and how policy frameworks can support long-term environmental, economic and social resilience. Contemporary challenges increasingly demand integrated approaches that account for complex interdependencies.

Drawing on a body of research in sustainable development economics and resource governance to examine how systems-level thinking can inform more coherent and effective sustainability policies, Dr Tsani highlights the importance of understanding trade-offs and synergies in the design of climate and development strategies, particularly under conditions of resource scarcity and increasing environmental stress. Her research argues that achieving sustainable development requires moving beyond siloed policy thinking toward integrated frameworks that align environmental limits, economic development and societal well-being within a unified systems approach.

The seminar is for an internal audience and will be held on 5 June 2026, 1:00pm, in room 201 of the Henley Business School building, Whiteknights campus. For those unable to attend in person there is also the option to dial in remotely via Microsoft Teams. If you are interested in joining, please contact Alex Baker on a.j.baker@henley.ac.uk

Members of LOBR faculty may also request to book a one to one meeting with Dr Tsani. Each appointment will last 30 minutes, between 10:30am to 12:00pm. Slots are limited and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. To arrange an appointment, please contact Alex Baker on a.j.baker@henley.ac.uk

LOBR research seminars are co-ordinated by Professor Bernd Vogel and Dr Anastasiya Saraeva.