Ruth Mourik is the founder of DuneWorks.

Ruth specializes in sustainability projects, with a focus on individual and collective behavior and behavioral change, sustainable system transitions, demand side management, stakeholder participation, innovation management, user practices, risk perception, societal acceptance of new technologies and future studies.
She has a Masters Degree in Anthropology and Sociology, a Cum Laude Masters Degree in Society and Technology Studies (STS), and holds a PhD in systemic technological and social transitions and the role and impact of uncertainty and participatory processes in the division of risk, responsibility and accountability in such change processes. She has been an Assistant Professor of "Strategic Niche Management" at Eindhoven Technical University and a senior researcher and theme leader at the Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN). Previous work at the Technical University and ECN includes research commissioned by the European Commission, the Dutch Ministries of Environment and Economic Affairs, local governments and companies. She was project coordinator of the FP6 project CREATE ACCEPTANCE, that developed a tool for industry decision-makers to increase societal acceptance of new energy technologies and projects (www.createacceptance.net). Ruth also was a main partner in the FP7 CHANGING BEHAVIOUR action research project that identified all factors conducive to the success of (energy) Demand Side Management projects aimed at changing the behavior of citizens, and translated them into a practical toolkit for DSM practitioners (www.energychange.info). Different practitioners globally are using this toolkit. Presently Ruth is operating agent for the IEA task XXIV of the DSM implementing agreement. This task will focus on identifying relevant policy strategies to facilitate behavioural change on the energy demand side.

Sylvia Breukers
Sylvia works on research projects that address political-institutional contexts of energy innovation, social acceptance of new and renewable energy technologies, stakeholder participation, end-user behavior, sustainable lifestyles and practices, and methodologies that improve our understanding of these issues (e.g. dialogue methods, action research). She has a Master’s Degree in Political Science, International Relations (politics of developmental issues in relation to environmental disputes in Southeast Asia). Her PhD research (2001-2006) addressed the social, political and institutional conditions for onshore wind power deployment - comparing the Netherlands, North-Rhine Westphalia and England (University of Amsterdam, 2007). As a post-doc at Utrecht University (2006-2008), she conducted research on the use of stakeholder dialogue methodology in highly controversial debates. The actual dialogue was about sustainability of biomass for energy generation. The Rathenau Institute recently published an edited volume on the current and future dilemmas for the Dutch energy system, for which Sylvia wrote three essays focusing on onshore and offshore wind and biomass. ECN worked several years at the Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN), where she performed research for the FP7 CHANGING BEHAVIOUR action research project that identified factors conducive to the success of (energy) Demand Side Management projects and translated them into a practical toolkit for DSM practitioners (www.energychange.info). Sylvia furthermore worked on the FP7 project NearCO2 (www.communicationnearco2.eu/home/) that evaluated and proposed strategies for effective communication and engagement in the preparation of CCS project.
In 2011, Sylvia coordinated several tasks in the FP7 SPREAD project (2010-2012; www.sustainable-lifestyles.eu), a social platform process addressing current and future challenges for more sustainable lifestyles. Sylvia has been actively involved in several successful acquisition trajectories, e.g. for a Smart Grid demonstration project on the Danish island Bornholm (www.eu-ecogrid.net), the aforementioned SPREAD project and a collaborative project with the TU Delft and the Dutch Gasunie on societal acceptance of gas-related technologies (www.edgar-program.com/nl/projects/A12). Sylvia publishes in peer-reviewed journals and acts as peer reviewer for several journals. She has editorial experience and has taught bachelor students at the Department of Planning, Geography and International Development Studies, University of Amsterdam (course on environment, planning and geography) (2001-2004).