Chrysi Laspidou
Chrysi Laspidou is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Thessaly in Greece. She comes from a diverse Engineering background, including mechanical, industrial, civil and environmental, with her research interests lying at the intersection of various disciplines, including engineering, urban planning, hydrology, energy, biology, ecology, agriculture, economics and informatics. Having taught at various departments, representing many of these disciplines, she has developed the ability to “speak the language” of many of these specialists and communicate with them effectively. In addition to being involved in various networks, namely WssTP, EIP-Water, EIP-Agri and NetwercH2O, she is also the Vice-Chairperson of the International Conference on Environmental Management, Engineering, Planning and Economics (CEMEPE) and member of the Organizing Committee and/or Scientific Committee of two other international conferences, including the International Water Systems conference (EWaS). Recently, Chrysi’s team was awarded funding by the European Commission for the exciting “Sustainable Integrated Management FOR the NEXUS of water-land-food-energy-climate for a resource efficient Europe” (SIM4NEXUS) project (www.sim4nexus.eu). The project develops a serious game for decision- and policy-makers, assisting them to better understand and visualise policies holistically and at various spatial scales, thereby allowing them to better understand the science behind the nexus.Furthermore, she leads a Work Package on the Science of the Nexus. As part of this role, she studies and explores the interlinkages, synergies and trade-offs between natural resources within the nexus. She is passionate about the nexus concept and is determined to promote it to the scientific and policy-making communities, to ensure that its importance is recognised. As a national case study leader in SIM4NEXUS and in other projects, she is used to organizing and running workshops with stakeholders, authorities and ministries, interviewing key people on the nexus, and successfully supporting the nexus concept in their strategic planning.