Meet the speakers of the CEESEU-DIGIT conference 2025

The closing conference of the LIFE CEESEU-DIGIT project will be held on 7-8 May 2025 in Zagreb.
The conference will bring together regional leaders, policymakers, energy experts, and civil society representatives to explore innovative approaches to energy and climate planning in Central and Eastern Europe on local, regional and national level.

Please find below the introduction of the Speakers of the conference and get familiar with their expertise.

Pathways to Successful Energy and Climate Planning:
Regional Leadership and Innovation in Central and Eastern Europe

7-8 May
Zagreb, Croatia

Registration, agenda and more information: https://ceesen.org/conference/

Anna Wieczorek

Anna Wieczorek holds a Master’s degree in Psychology from the University of Warsaw, specializing in Environmental and Organizational Psychology. She completed postgraduate studies in Environmental Psychology at Université René Descartes Paris V and gained research and teaching experience at the Institut d’Urbanisme in Grenoble and the University of Warsaw.
She works as environmental psychologist, collaborating with cities and institutions on people-environment relations. She designs, conducts, and evaluates participatory processes, including participatory budgeting, public consultations, stakeholder analysis, and dialogue workshops.
At Think Tank Miasto, she is a Vice President of the Management Board, working as a researcher and facilitator.

Danijela Vrtarić

Danijela Vrtarić has an educational background in computer technology and acts as assistant director of Medjimurje Energy Agency located in northernmost part of Croatia. She has over 10-year experience in applying and managing various transnational and cross-border projects mainly dealing with sustainable energy and climate planning, energy poverty, just transition, energy refurbishment and RES usage. She is also engaged in policy advocacy activities in mentioned topics and maintains continuous communication with relevant stakeholders at local and regional level which is crucial for their engagement in energy and climate related projects.

Elis Vollmer

Elis Vollmer is a project manager at the Institute of Ecology, University of Tartu, and works as the head of the Centre of Renewable Energy at the Estonian University of Life Sciences (EMU). She has MSc in environmental protection. She is the board member of the international Central and Eastern European Sustainable Energy Network (CEESEN). She leads the UN SDG workgroup as part of the Green University initiative at EMU. In 2018-2019, she was Estonian representative in the International Energy Agency. She has extensive experience in leading renewable energy projects (both national and EU level), project coordination, trainings and communication. She is currently coordinator of the CEESEU-DIGIT project at UTARTU.

Ewa Szulc

Ewa Szulc is an Energy Specialist at the Mazovia Energy Agency (Poland), where she coordinates international projects focused on energy efficiency, climate resilience, and sustainable development. With a degree in Bioeconomy Engineering and Sustainable Development, she specializes in advancing green solutions, tackling energy poverty, supporting the regional/local planning and financing a just energy transition. Ewa collaborates with a diverse range of stakeholders—including municipalities, regional authorities, housing cooperatives, academic institutions, NGOs, and private sector partners—to foster cross-sectoral cooperation and systemic change. Her core competencies include strategic project management, stakeholder engagement, methodological development, capacity building, event organization, and integrated communication.

Hector C. Pagan

Hector C. Pagan is the CEO of the CEESEN NGO. He has over twenty years of experience on developing and leading projects and working with civil society /third sector organizations in the United States and Estonia from various fields including energy management, environmental science and social services. He also has also conducted workshops and trainings for adult learners in a wide range of fields, including project management, fundraising and policy analysis. He has worked on numerous international research projects, including the H2020 Projects PANEL2050 – Partnership for New Energy Leadership 2050, CEESEU – Central and Eastern Europe Sustainable Energy Union, and LIFE project CEESEU-DIGIT – Design and Implementation of regional Government Initiatives for a just energy Transition in CEE, all that helped build up the CEESEN network. These projects work on improving the capacity of local level actors to implement sustainable and just energy transition and improve multi-level governance.

Jiří Jeřábek

Jiří Jeřábek works at the Czech Ministry of Environment in Prague within the newly established Department of Decarbonization Strategy. His work contributes to shaping national strategies focused on the deployment of renewable heating, the promotion of biogas and biomethane development, and industrial decarbonization. Prior to joining the Ministry, Jiří was involved in energy planning and EU climate and energy projcts for private consulting company and spent over a decade leading energy and climate advocacy campaigns for national and international environmental NGOs.

Katarzyna Brawiak

Katarzyna Brawiak holds an MSc in Ecological Energy Sources from the AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków, Poland. She is a Senior Project Assistant at the Association of Municipalities Polish Network “Energie Cités” involved in international and national climate-oriented projects. Her work include assistance in the preparation of publications, translations and the organisation of trainings, seminars and workshops with a focus on mitigation and adaptation to climate change.

Kristīna Maļčukova

Kristīna Maļčukova is working in a largest apartment block house maintanance company in Latvia as a head of manager and customer Service department. She has been working in the company for five years. The departments’ task is organizing apartment owners’ decision making, including explaining needs for renovating their houses.

Maja Bratko

Maja Bratko, mag.geol., spec.oec., is a senior expert in DOOR. She graduated from the Faculty of Science in Zagreb, and completed her postgraduate degree in Economy of Energy Sector at the Faculty of Economics in Rijeka. She began her professional career in field geophysical research in the private sector, and continued it in a regional energy agency. In more than 15 years of work in the energy and climate sector, she has acquired key competencies in the field of energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, and encouraging citizens to get involved in energy and climate projects in their communities. Her main areas of work are renewable energy sources, citizen energy communities, and energy and climate policies at the EU, national, regional, and local levels.

Martin Kikas

Martin Kikas, Board member of Tartu Regional Energy Agency. Martin graduated from the Estonian University of Life Sciences, specializing in energy applications. He is a certified technical expert in the renovation of apartment buildings and has developed multiple heat economy development plans for municipalities. Martin advises stakeholders at various levels on energy management and renewable energy, focusing on both municipal and building-scale projects. He has served as the lead consultant in developing local energy and climate plans for multiple municipalities, as well as preparing national-level reports and studies on local energy management. His work has contributed to recommendations for improving energy management policies and has emphasized the role and needs of local governments in this area.

Max Beijneveld

Max Beijneveld thrives on finding solutions that challenge the status quo and drive the transition from a linear economy to a more just, circular one. As Policy Coordinator at Climate Alliance, I amplify cities’ needs and challenges on the European stage while helping them accelerate their climate resilience strategies. With expertise in design and systems thinking, environmental innovation, and EU policy, I help shape sustainable strategies across diverse sectors. Currently, I coordinate the Twinning Learning Programme at NetZeroCities, support cities in transforming public spaces into vibrant, green neighborhoods through the Horizon project Urbreath, and drive policy at CEESEN.

Miljenka Kuhar

Miljenka Kuhar holds a degree in philosophy and sociology. Through her career in public sector, she worked on many projects with European Commission. During her time as Head of Service for Science and innovation Policy she was national member of EC Policy support Facility Group for ESIF EU Programme synergies for the new programming period. She has extensive knowledge in public policy, mainly related to the European research system but also recently in climate and energy policies. Having in mind her background, recently she focuses more on social and gender issues in the process of just and inclusive energy transition, among which especially on topics of climate justice and energy poverty. She has extensive experience in programming and planning project funding from EU funds both including European Structural and investment funds and Framework programme for the period 2014-2020; preparation of the project documentation and evaluation of projects funded under European Structural and Investment Funds and drafting and implementing different programs

Dr. Slavica Robić

Dr. Slavica Robić is the Assistant Director of the North-West Croatia Regional Energy and Climate Agency (REGEA). Dr. Robić received her PhD on the topic of energy poverty from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Zagreb, and her Master’s degree from the Institute for Environmental Change, University of Oxford. She is the author and co-author of numerous professional and scientific papers, studies, analyses, and background papers for policy proposals and strategic documents from the broader context of energy transition. She has published a number of professional, scientific and educational papers on the topic of energy poverty, which she has been actively engaged in for over 15 years and is one of the leading experts in the field. She built her professional career by collaborating with representatives of all key sectors, while continuously advocating for innovative approaches that lead to an energy transformation that is inclusive and just.