MSc in Mechanical Engineering
Specialized in:
Coordinates our work on Energy and Systems modelling.
Environmental Engineer
Coordinates our work on Environment, Climate, Economy and Finance.
We provide advisory services to support organizations and communities in implementing sustainable solutions, achieving high-impact results and managing local transformational processes towards:
In many instances, carrying out our mission entails supporting highly innovative and transformational concepts and processes, geared towards:
An important component of our work is to translate scientific and technical knowledge and state-of-the-art practices into readily accessible information that non-experts can understand and use in their daily decision-making processes.
Understanding and addressing the clients' needs, our orientation towards achieving results, competence and independence are the core values that guide our activities.
Visit our Services webpage for theme-specific information.
Our team gathers highly qualified independent consultants from engineering, science, economy and finance, specialized on the fields of sustainable energy, environment and climate change.
We support stakeholder engagement and dialogue processes towards the co-development of locally-adequate and locally-owned strategies, solutions and processes. Our differentiated value proposition consists of a holistic approach to energy, climate and environment, supported by extensive international experience and the unbiased use of existing data sources and resources, including modelling programs. Our clients also benefit from our international network, which covers different stakeholder groups such as local and regional governments, agencies, industry associations, academia and international organizations.
Our advisory services are independent from equipment suppliers, political parties and other interest groups.
We are based in Bonn, Germany, and operate worldwide.
Examples of organizations that have hired our services as independent consultants include the European Commission's Research Executive Agency, the UNFCCC and several operational units of the UNCCD, namely the Science, Technology and Innovation Unit and the Capacity Development and Innovations Office. The services provided as independent experts to our most distinguished clients include:
Supported the GEO-LDN Leadership Group and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in the management of the GEO-LDN technology-innovation international competition for the development of a software tool to support mainstreaming of the Land Degradation Neutrality scientific-framework into planning processes (July 2020 - March 2021).
Evaluation of proposals under several calls of the European Union's Horizon2020 Programme for Research and Innovation, on behalf of the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME) and of the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), European Commission (February 2018 - December 2022). The call topics covered included clean energy, energy efficiency and innovation.
Co-organized and facilitated the International Clean Energy Workshop, hosted by Taiwan ICDF 2017 - the Workshop's report is available here.
Co-organized and facilitated the Workshop for development of a shared vision for the local transition to sustainable energy, hosted by Pingtung County - a Workshop's photo-story is available here.
The services provided as independent experts to our most distinguished clients include:
Additional information about ongoing and past cooperations can be found at the Resources webpage.
We work towards our clients’ success, through close cooperation and dialogue in every step of the way. Our first task in every assignment is to comprehensively identify the expectations and requirements of the client and, where applicable, relevant stakeholders. We proactively carry-out a risk assessment and propose alternative measures to address any significant risks that might compromise the achievement of the objectives, both at the beginning of the assignment and throughout implementation. For the purpose of coordination and monitoring of the progress, we usually hold weekly meetings with our client, and relevant partners where applicable, making adjustments as adequate to stay on track.
Hiring an independent consultant can bring multiple advantages to your company, in particular:
As described in the previous section, hiring an independent consultant can bring multiple benefits to your company.
On the other hand, depending on assignment and agreed conditions, it may be your responsibility to mobilize and instruct your staff - for example, Production, Maintenance, Communications, IT and/or other teams as relavant - to cooperate with the independent consultant in order to enable the successful completion of the assignment.
We are typically hired by organizations that do not have in-house expertise or staff availability to carry-out specific short- to medium-term assignments such as independent audits, coordination of complex stakeholder engagement processes, development of software-tools, programme development and project management of initiatives that go beyond their core business or mission, particularly in the fields of Clean Energy, Energy Efficiency, Energy Management systems, Climate change mitigation, Carbon neutrality, Sustainability and Environmental Management.
Our working languages are English and Portuguese.
We are currently based in Bonn, Germany. We are registered as independent consultants by the Tax Office of the City of Bonn and operate worldwide. We work remotly, thanks to the use of multiple digital tools for remote collaboration and video-conference.
We work remotely. Smart, essential, simple.
We work remotely, with great efficiency and effectiveness, thanks to the use of multiple digital tools for remote collaboration and video-conference.
Our experience with remote collaboration and work processes dates back to 2012. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, we have been providing our consultancy and advisory services exclusively in this format. For this purpose, we have been using several platforms and tools for remote work and collaboration, depending on the clients’ needs and preferences. Examples include the Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Google Meet and Google Drive.
While working remotely, we have successfully completed a wide range of assignments, including evaluation of project proposals, programme development and implementation, coordination of international multi-stakeholder initiatives, project management, development of software tools and co-organization and delivery of online conference series and web meetings.
We are available to travel to travel on assignments, when necessary and safe.
When in the absence of public-health related restrictions or impediments, we are available to travel.
Our fees and contracts are simple, transparent and accountable.
The payment is agreed jointly with the client to cover the expenses necessary for the successful completion of the assignment, including honorarium, mandatory health insurance, and office expenses (in the case of remote work) or other costs specifically required to carry-out the work.
The honorarium depends on the nature and duration of the assignment. The longer the assignment, the lower the value charged per day. The higher the complexity of the foreseen tasks, the higher the daily value. After understanding the assignment, we will present you our financial proposal for your consideration and approval, unless you begin by specifying a lump sum for the assignment – more below, under initiating contact and collaboration.
The payment schedule is jointly agreed with the client in connection with the assignment’s kick-off, scoping and delivery milestones.
An independent consultant is hired as an external service provider. An individual contract is signed, specifying the agreed timeline, payment and payment schedule, and nay other relevant information.
If you are considering engaging an independent consultant, feel free contact us at any time. There are typically two alternative processes to explore possible cooperation:
We look forward to hearing from you.
We will be glad to support you in finding the best strategy and solutions to achieve your objectives.
MSc in Mechanical Engineering
Coordinates our work on Energy and Systems modelling.
Robert has over 13 years of experience in international research projects, developing his work at top research institutions in Portugal (University of Lisbon, IST/IN+), France (École Centrale Paris/ EM2c, CERFACS), UK (University of Cambridge, Energy Group) and Germany (Technical University of Munich, Thermodynamics Department), within consortiums that include both academia and industry partners. His degree in Mechanical Engineering, with emphasis on thermodynamics and energy conversion, enables him to tackle new technologies and challenges related to applied thermodynamics.
While advancing the state of the art on the subjects that he was researching, he gained know-how on combustion systems ranging from domestic heating appliances to high power Gas-turbine flames, typical of power production and aircraft propulsion systems.
As fellow of the Marie Curie Actions, Robert had access to a European-wide training network. He acquired a broad understanding of the overall combustion and aero/ thermo-acoustic topic, taking part in workshops that included, for example, “Bio-fuels in combustion systems” or “Control techniques on combustion instabilities”.
He has extensive experience in developing and running experimental set-ups, with diagnostic techniques that include, e.g. laser velocimetry, high speed imaging and pressure sensors. He has done computational fluid dynamics simulations and advanced data processing, using commercial, in-house and original code on large Super-computing facilities.
Robert participated in the development and release of a low-order, thermo-acoustic model software and manual within a European network. This entailed, besides legal and logistic aspects of proprietary software deployment, workshop organization and lecturing.
Robert also has experience in writing and reviewing of scientific publications, developing proposals for research grants, preparing technical and financial reports, budgeting for EU projects, negotiating with project partners, representation and participating in international project consortia.
Environmental Engineer
Coordinates our work on Environment, Climate, Economy and Finance.
Ana has over 15 years of professional experience supporting the development of sustainability plans, policies and projects.
Since June 2023, Ana is supporting the European Climate Pact secretariat - an initiative of the European Commission. Ana's role includes supporting the set-up and coordination of in-country structures and the development of processes, partnerships and resources to support citizen engagement.
Previously, Ana supported the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat, Means of Implementation Division, Climate Finance subdivision (2022-2023) in the coordination and management of the Needs-Based Finance (NBF) project. In this role, she provided organizational support to several events, policy dialogues and workshops on climate finance access and mobilization as part of the intergovernmental processes, particularly during the COP27 and CMA4 at Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
Ana has supported the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and partners in the coordination of the GEO-LDN international technology-innovation competition for development of a tool to mainstream the Land Degradation Neutrality scientific-framework into urban and territorial planning processes (2020-2021). Previously, she had provided advisory to the UNCCD's Capacity Development and Innovations Office (2020).
For more than three years (2018-2020), Ana has also supported the European Commission in the evaluation of grant applications under several funding programmes in the fields of Environment, Energy and Innovation.
Ana's experience in international cooperation include also contributions to initiatives led by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), UN-Habitat, ICLEI, GIZ, and the Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund. She has also participated as an expert in international workshops and meetings hosted by the World Bank, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the European Union’s Joint Research Center (JRC), and the LEDS Global Partnership.
Ana actively contributed to the development of the SuRe® Standard for Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure, a process led by the Global Infrastructure Basel, and the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories, led by the World Resources Institute.
Her areas of expertise include topics such as low-emission development strategies, sustainable energy action planning and stakeholder engagement, greenhouse gas emission inventories, energy management systems according to ISO 50001, environmental systems according to ISO 14001, environmental impact assessment of projects, strategic assessment of urban plans, evaluation of projects and business plans, and life-cycle assessment of energy and commodities.