Law Alumna, Associate Professor Jerneja Penca has been appointed as team leader of the Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Blue Economy, a prestigious three-years project at the Euro-Mediterranean University (EMUNI) recently funded by the Jean Monnet Actions. The Centre is expected to act as a focal point of competence and knowledge at the intersection of sustainability and blue economy.
“I was very happy,” was Penca’s first reaction upon hearing the announcement, “as any academic is happy when receiving news about successful funding applications.” The award, she explained, is a recognition for the work that EMUNI and Penca herself have been carrying out for the past years in the fields of blue economy and interdisciplinary marine science, particularly through summer schools and trainings. At the EMUNI, she added, “we have been paving the way for a new generation of interdisciplinary and intercultural-minded scholars and practitioners to work for sustainability of the oceans.”
While sharing the aspects she is looking forward to the most in this project, Penca mentioned not only feeling motivated to continue investing in capacity building activities, but also to having the opportunity to focus on expanding on the research at the science-policy interface. Receiving funding to do research, develop new teaching activities and conduct stakeholder engagement is certainly a gratifying moment, she acknowledged, especially considering how rarely that happens in the world of academia.
Penca reminisced on her experience at the EUI Law department in further contributing to the gratification she feels in being appointed. She remarks how the Institute “foremost instils a dedication to EU studies into its graduates.” Expanding on that, she noticed how the EUI, EMUNI and the Jean Monnet Actions share the fundamental belief that EU and EU studies should play an important role at higher education institutions, including in the EU’s neighbouring countries. Although her current work in the area of environmental governance and sustainability is markedly interdisciplinary, her past and present experiences all contributed to making her well-equipped to implement and support the translation of science into policy making, and vice versa.
Jerneja Penca is a scholar in environmental governance at EMUNI, where she serves also as the Head of academic affairs. Prior to that, she was a post-doctoral fellow at PluriCourts, University of Oslo. She defended her PhD thesis at the EUI Law Department in 2014 and holds LLM degrees from the EUI and the University of Nottingham. Her interest lies particularly in how social paradigms influence law-making in the areas of resource management, environment and sustainability and has published in leading international legal and interdisciplinary journals.