The World Challenges Programme (WCP)

Michael Gibbert is a Professor of Marketing at USI’s Institute of Marketing and Communication Management (IMCA). He earned his PhD from the University of St. Gallen, holds an MSc from the University of Stellenbosch (South Africa) and did his post-doctoral fellowship at Yale University. He also worked as a research assistant at INSEAD, Fontainebleau and as associate professor at Bocconi University (2003-2010) in Milan and is the author or co-author of numerous journal articles and books on innovation, strategic marketing, organizational theory and research methodology.

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Lisa Märcz is a doctoral student and teaching assistant at the Faculty of Communication, Culture and Society. As coordinator of the World Challenges Programme (WCP) since 2020, she is contact person for all associates, departments, and partner organizations. Within our educational realm, Lisa is responsible for the development of the master elective course Tackling World Challenges (TWC) and is research consultant to the interdisciplinary structured exchange programn Intercultural Communication and Sustainable Economics (ICSE).

Lisa's research focuses on human-nonhuman relations, wildlife management, and sustainability. She is a professional zookeeper and studied biosciences, cultural anthropology, and American studies in Germany and Switzerland. Her published (2018) bachelor thesis discussed the borders between humans and other animals by looking at documented cases of feral (animal-raised) human children, her master thesis reflected on human-wolf conflicts in Germany. The current doctoral research project at USI concerns human-cattle relations in the context of on-farm-slaughter in Switzerland.

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Nele Langebraun is a Ph.D. student and teaching assistant at the Institute of Marketing and Communication Management (IMCA) at USI. She holds a BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from the University of Oxford and a MA in Environmental and Food Economics from the University of Milan. She previously also worked as a policy advisor at the European Parliament.

Nele’s research interests include sustainability and climate change, energy and natural resources, and environmental policy. Her MA thesis researched the effects of extreme weather events on market outcomes in the Sahel and her doctoral research focuses on sustainability transitions.

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Sonja Schönberg holds an MSc in Food, Nutrition and Health. In her qualitative research, she explores theories of social practices on sustainable meat consumption.

At Bern University of Applied Sciences BFH, she teaches and researches at the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics on the role of Dieticians in Sustainable Food Systems and on Planetary Health. She is a member of the SDSN Expert Panel 'Future of Food Switzerland', of the Stakeholder Group on the Transformation of Meat Consumption in Switzerland, of the Association of Dietitians of Switzerland SVDE/ASDD and of the German Alliance on Climate Change and Health KLUG.

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Liisa was a professor at the Department of Management and Organisation at Hanken School of Economics (Helsinki, Finland) and is now professor at the Department of Technology, Management and Economics Innovation DTU in Lyngby, Denmark. She holds a Doctor of Science in Economics and Business Administration and her current projects include "Uncertainty Management in Engineering¿Service Development" and "Robust Decision Making for the Management of Large Engineering Projects".

Since the launch of The World Challenges Programme in 2017, Liisa coordinates and supervises students from Helsinki, and teaches during WCP Scandinavia how to "spit in the salad" in order to make changes for a sustainable world: Minor Rebellion as Institutional Agency (2019). Together with Michael Gibbert and Marijane Luistro-Jonsson she published "The Sustainability Grand Challenge. A Wicked Learning Workbook" (2020).

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Marijane is an affiliated researcher at the SSE's House of Innovation (HOI), as well as SSE's Center for Sustainability Research (CSR), where she joins interdisciplinary research of creating and nurturing new ventures, as well as transforming and renewing existing organizations is crucial for societal prosperity. Within this education and outreach environment Marijane focuses on innovation, digitalization and entrepreneurship.

Since the launch of The World Challenges Programme in 2017, Marijane coordinates and supervises students from Stockholm, and teaches during WCP Scandinavia about the technology, policy and cognition that could create "wicked solutions" to global wicked problems. Together with Michael Gibbert and Liisa Välikangas she published "The Sustainability Grand Challenge. A Wicked Learning Workbook" (2020).

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Dr. Monika Maślikowska is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Zurich and a lecturer at Zurich University of Applied Sciences. She was responsible for the development of the World Challenges Programme during the years 2017-2021 and remained a development consultant since. Monika currently continues working on one of the WCP-based research projects on boundary spanning coordination in dynamic virtual teams for sustainable innovation.

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Gizem Kadıoğlu is a Ph.D. student at the Faculty of Communication, Culture, and Society and currently working as a teaching assistant at the Institute of Marketing and Communication Management at USI. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Food Engineering from Middle East Technical University and a Master of Science in Environmental and Food Economics from Università degli Studi di Milano. Prior to pursuing an academic career, she worked as a Process Development Engineer at a starch production plant owned by a multinational corporation.
Her master’s thesis is on assessing the impacts of climate change on agricultural productivity at a global level. Gizem’s current area of research is centered around research methodology, with a specific emphasis on engaging with counterfactuals in management and entrepreneurship studies. Her research focuses include qualitative research methods in management literature, climate change, sustainability, and agrifood systems.

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Alessandra Pozzan is research assistant at the Faculty of Communication, Culture, and Society and is currently working at the Institute of Marketing and Communication Management at USI. She holds a Bachelor of Linguistic Sciences in Languages, media and digital cultures in German and Russian from Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano and a Master of Science in International Tourism with a minor in eTourism from Università della Svizzera italiana.

Her master’s thesis unveils the role of context in reviving a mountain route ecotourism experience. Alessandra’s current area of research focuses on qualitative research in tourism, with a specific emphasis on the role of context in qualitative case studies and ICTs as a new context for research. Her interests span qualitative research methods in tourism, ICTs in tourism, mountain tourism, and sustainability.

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Jean-Patrick Villeneuve is associate professor of Public Administration and Management at the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) since January 2014. He is Director of the Institute of Communication and Public Policy, Head of the GRIP (Public Integrity Research Group) and Co-Director of the Master programme Public Management and Policy (offered in collaboration with the University of Lausanne and the University of Berne). He is Director of the Governance Stream of the Middle East Mediterranean Summer Summit (MEM). He is also Adjunct Professor of Public Management at the Ecole nationale d’Administration publique (Québec, Canada), Visiting Professor at the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE - 对外经济贸易大学 Beijing, China) and member of the Independent Transparency Mediation Commission of Ticino (Bellinzona, Switzerland). He is member of the International Executive Committee of the Global Conference on Transparency Research (Newark, USA) and, until recently, Member of the Independent Expert Panel of the Open Government Partnership (Washington D.C., USA).

He holds a Ph.D. in Public Administration from the Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration IDHEAP/HEC Lausanne (Switzerland), an M.Phil. from Cambridge University (United Kingdom), an M.A/M.P.A. from Concordia University (Canada) and a B.A. from McGill University (Canada).

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Marlen Heide is a post-doctoral researcher at the Institute for Public Communication (ICP) at the Università della Svizzera italiana. Her research interest is in the field of transparency studies, security and defense policy, and anti-corruption. Besides her academic activities, she works as an international consultant in the field of anti-corruption, e.g. for the European Commission LRRC Network for Corruption Expertise; or the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

Prior to joining USI, she worked at the Transparency International Secretariat and the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She conducted survey research in Tbilisi, Georgia and was a consultant for the German Armed Forces. She studied at Erfurt University, Boĝaziçi University, Istanbul, and holds an MA in War Studies from King's College, London.

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Stefano Giacomelli holds a Ph.D. in Communication Sciences from USI (summa cum laude), and a Master of Law from Catholic University, in Milan, Italy (103/110).

Stefano research examines the connection between humans and nature from an interdisciplinary perspective, at the interface of the social and natural sciences. His current research interests are Environmental science, Environmental policy and governance, Rural studies. In his research, he mainly uses qualitative methodologies, especially case-study, ethnography and comparative approaches.

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Roberto Manzi has an established and recognised expertise in startup programs with a high innovative content. His job is to translate research programs into a business, and generate a competitive business through innovation and research. His humanistic education (he studied Philosophy and Theology, and currently is a researcher in Communication Sciences), combined with specialized skills acquired in various professional experiences allow him to have an open mind and a strategic vision in the business. He has experience both in the industrial, commercial and service industries; he works in top management of Multinational Corporations, Family Companies, start-ups, and sits on different boards of directors.