We are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Anet Weterings to the special chair Regional and Circular Economic Development. This chair is a joint initiative of the Faculty of Economics and Business, the Faculty of Spatial Sciences of the University of Groningen and the three Northern Provinces. The chair will be established at the C.R. Rao Foundation.
Dr. Anet Weterings holds a PhD in regional economics from Utrecht University and has continued her career at the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (Dutch: Planbureau voor Leefomgeving, PBL) at the 'Regional Economics' cluster of the Urbanization & Mobility sector. Through her research, she contributes to the quality of political and administrative decision-making of national and regional governments.
Since the start of her career, Anet has focused on better understanding regional differences in economic development. Over the past fifteen years, she has broadened her research horizons in a number of ways. First, by shifting her focus from regional economic growth to regional economic resilience. Second, by examining the regional economy not only from the perspective of the company, but also from the perspective of (potential) working people. For example, regional-economic conditions also influence the chances of job-seekers finding and keeping employment. Thirdly, Anet is focusing more and more on regional aspects of energy transitions.
In her role as special chair Anet will conduct scientific research into regional development, including the North, with a focus on the circular economy, sustainable agriculture and the energy transition. The goal is to contribute to the quality of political-administrative deliberation within national and regional policy. This will be done by transferring knowledge about regional development and resilience and a more sustainable economy to regional governments, the business community and society. Next to her role as special chair, Anet will continue to work as a researcher at PBL and will build a bridge between research at the University of Groningen and PBL.