Manfred Fischedick (Germany), Vice-President of the Wuppertal Institute, Director of the Research Group “Future Energy and Mobility Structures”. Professor at the Schumpeter School of Business and Economics, University of Wuppertal. Fischedick studied chemical technology with the main focus on energy and environmental technologies at the University of Dortmund. He earned a PhD at the University of Stuttgart (integration of renewable energies into the existing power generation system).

Manfred Fischedick has more than 20 years of experience in energy system analysis, he is adviser to the EU and the German government as well as the Bundesland North Rhine-Westphalia, author of numerous publications and peer reviewed articles. He is coordinating lead author for the IPCC, member of several scientific boards.

The Wuppertal Institute and Fischedick follow a transformative scientific approach. Research is not only considered to gain a better understanding of the system behavior (including socio-economic and socio-technical interactions), but to proactively support the implementation of transformation processes, with particular, but non-exclusive focus on transformation processes in cities. Fischedick is intensively working in the context of sustainable urban infrastructures. His project experience comprises among others the development of long term concepts for the German cities of Munich and Düsseldorf and the Chinese city of Wuxi. For the Innovation City Ruhr (pursuing an emission reduction by 50% between 2010 and 2020) he is heading the scientific accompaniment process. In 2014, he was appointed member of the expert panel for the European Green Capital.

From the very beginning energy efficiency has been one of the main research fields of the Wuppertal Institute. Consequently, based on the energy service idea, energy efficiency potential analyses have been conducted and structures have been analyzed in order to stimulate an energy service market and to set incentives for energy service companies. Research work has been done at national level, for the EU as well as for utilities. Currently, the Wuppertal Institutes is building up a knowledge platform at international level enabling an experience exchange and transfer of good practices (e.g. in the BigEE project: bridging the information gap to energy efficiency).