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Meet the team!
Jan Kleine Büning (Head of Project), GIZ
Jan is with GIZ and in charge of coordinating the Blue Solutions Initiative. Over the last years his core area of work has been Marine Spatial Planning. Together with colleagues he developed the Blue Planning in Practice Approach and further educational material, and worked mainly on trainings and international policy dialogue.
His academic background is in Social Sciences and Environmental Politics (MA). He also holds a postgraduate degree in International Development Cooperation from Humboldt University Berlin.
Jan thinks it is a great pleasure and privilege to be with Blue Solutions and he very much enjoys the passion, dedication and excellent collaboration among the partners and colleagues.
Marie Fischborn, IUCN
Marie is with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), where she coordinates the multi-partner learning initiative PANORAMA – Solutions for a Healthy Planet, jointly with colleagues at GIZ.
She has been part of the Blue Solutions team since the early days in 2013, focusing on the development of the “solutioning approach”. Her thematic focus is on marine protected areas, and she mainly supports the coordination between the marine and coastal thematic community and the wider PANORAMA partnership.
Marie is based at IUCN headquarters in Switzerland. She holds a master’s degree in Biodiversity and Ecology and an Executive Certificate in Environmental Governance and Policy-Making.
Mario Cana, GRID-Arendal
Mario is a member of the Blue Solutions project from GRID-Arendal. His work is mainly focused on supporting Marine Spatial Planning processes in case countries, particularly in West Africa. This includes, among other things, building capacities though the Blue Planning in Practice training course and facilitating the uptake of Blue Solutions by national and regional organisations.
He has previously worked as a researcher on several MSP-related projects in Europe, primarily in Portugal and Spain. Mario holds a BSc. in Geography and MSc. in Geographic Information Systems from the University of Sevilla (Spain), as well as an Erasmus Mundus master’s degree in Marine Spatial Planning (MSP).
Mario is very pleased to be a part of the Blue Solutions team and believes it is a great initiative in promoting healthy and productive oceans.
Cécile Fattebert, IUCN
Cécile works with the IUCN as a Programme Officer for Blue Solutions. Her main focus is to source, document and value good practices around the world that can inspire others, and be adapted and implemented along conservation journeys somewhere else.
As part of the team, she supports exchanges and replication processes through the PANORAMA – Solutions for a Healthy Planet web platform, through solutioning events, exchange visits, debates and discussions live or online, as well as the organization of trainings that have been developed by Blue Solutions team.
Cécile is dedicated in matching all the puzzle pieces to form a colourful image of collective intelligence and actions driven by the will to preserve the planet for people and biodiversity.
Christian Neumann, GRID-Arendal
Christian works with GRID-Arendal, leading the Blue Economy Programme. This includes GRID-Arendal’s work in the Blue Solutions project, where he oversees all GRID-Arendal’s contributions. Personally, he is most involved in the Blue Economy solutions portfolio, and shaping the capacity development activities in that field.
He leads the Integrated Ocean Management project Mami Wata project in West, Central and Southern Africa, where both the Blue Solutions and the Blue Planning in Practice Training have been used a lot. Before joining GRID-Arendal, Christian worked with WWF Germany, mostly on Marine Protected Areas in Europe, and later in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction. Christian holds a Master of Science in Aquatic Tropical Ecology from the University of Bremen.
He has been with Blue Solutions since its early inception in 2012, and has a lot of love for it.
Tanya Bryan, GRID-Arendal
Tanya is a member of the Blue Solutions project working at GRID-Arendal. Her work is mainly focused on supporting the sustainable finance work within Blue Solutions, as well as supporting in-case countries, particularly in West Africa.
Tanya has over 15 years of experience in marine conservation in both academic and NGO environments on both the east and west coasts of Canada before coming to work at GRID-Arendal.
Tanya is very excited to be a part of the Blue Solutions team.
Katrin Münch, GIZ
Katrin has been part of the Blue Solutions Team as GIZ staff member since November 2019. She is a landscape ecologist by training and passionate about organisational development. Within the team, Katrins tasks are allocated around the continuous development of PANORAMA, sustainable ocean economy, uptake facilitation and capacity building.
To carry out these tasks she can rely on her experience in international cooperation in the field of biodiversity, policy advice, capacity development, sustainable use of resources and cooperation with the private sector.
Katrin has been working at GIZ for about 10 years, mainly in Latin America, and from headquarters in Bonn since 2017 where she is currently based.
Dorothée Herr, IUCN
Dorothée is the Manager for Oceans and Climate Change at the Global Marine and Polar Programme (GMPP) at IUCN. She joined IUCN in 2009 and is now leading the IUCN’s international policy engagement on marine climate change issues including ocean acidification and Blue Carbon, especially within the context of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
She is bringing her policy expertise into the Blue Solutions team to connect the practical on-the-ground solutions with international policy and finance opportunities. Dorothée is also working on developing new innovative financing tools for coastal and marine conservation efforts, and has developed the Blue Natural Capital Financing Facility (BNCFF) with a team of financial experts.
Dorothée received her master’s degree in Environmental Change and Management from Oxford University, UK and her diploma in Geography from the University of Heidelberg in Germany.
Erick Ross Salazar, GIZ
Erick works with GIZ as an advisor on marine issues. His responsibilities include coordinating capacity building with partner countries and organizations, developing workshops to enhance local knowledge of marine spatial planning, and helping drive forth marine planning processes.
His working experience has been focused on developing marine spatial planning initiatives, promoting sustainable seafood value chains and working with artisanal fishing communities. Erick has a doctorate degree in Ecology and Management of Living Marine Resources from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and an undergraduate degree in Marine and Freshwater Biology from the National University of Costa Rica.
Erick is very pleased with the opportunity to work with Blue Solutions and work closely with professionals that are trying to have a positive impact on the environment and the development of their countries.
Kaya Asdal, GRID-Arendal
Kaya is a recent addition to the Blue Solutions team. She is a marine biologist working with communications at GRID-Arendal. She brings her communications capacity into both Blue Solutions and the PANORAMA – Solutions for a Healthy Planet web platform.
Kaya has a B.Sc. in Environmental Management from James Cook University in Australia, and a M.Sc. in Coastal Ecology from the University of Agder in Norway. Her interests lie in increasing awareness and engaging the community, particularly on marine topics.
Together with her colleagues, she aims to engage, increase uptake, and promote the wonderful work of Blue Solutions which she very much enjoys.
Ole Vestergaard, UNEP
Ole Vestergaard works as Programme Officer in the Marine, Coastal & Freshwater Ecosystems Branch of Division for Environmental Policy Implementation at UN Environment, based in Nairobi, Kenya. Within Blue Solutions, his work is mainly focused on sustainable ocean economy, marine and coastal ecosystem-based management and policy advice. He has co-developed the Blue Planning in Practice Approach and additional training materials with his colleagues from Blue Solutions.
Ole holds a master’s degree in Ecological Sciences from University of Copenhagen. He has worked three years at the Danish Institute for Fisheries Research of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture & Fisheries, coordinating EU policy-oriented research on marine spatial planning and marine resource management. Before that he worked five years at the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO in Paris, where he developed international research and capacity building projects coupling science to ocean policy and management.
Thilanka Seneviratne, GIZ
Thilanka has been part of the Blue Solutions team since December 2019. Her work within the team is mainly focused on climate change related topics, sustainable ocean economy and communications, with a focus on Asia.
Thilanka has a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and a M.Sc. in Ecological Economics from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Coming from an interdisciplinary background, she has experience in climate vulnerability assessments and natural resource management, often incorporating a socio-economic, gender lens to these topics.
She is passionate about facilitating the uptake of best practices and capacity building tools through communicating, documenting and promoting the meaningful work of Blue Solutions within the ocean community and beyond.
Katharina Zasada, GIZ
Katharina hasbeen working at GIZ since 2018. Within Blue Solutions, she works as a financial manager and project controller. The wide spectrum of her responsibilities allows her to work with all members of the team and partners abroad, which she enjoys very much as it makes the job particularly exciting.
Prior to joining GIZ, Katharina worked at Deutsche Welle in the field of international media development. Most recently, she was responsible for project administration in the project accounting and funds transfer team, including the accounting of partner projects.
The Blue Solutions team very much appreciates Katharina and her love for numbers!
Rob Barnes, GRID-Arendal
Rob has been working at GRID-Arendal since 2001. He is the Head of Programme for Technology & Innovation.
Within Blue Solutions, he has been responsible for the communication and outreach products since Blue Solutions early inception.
Working behind the camera Rob has captured some of the most memorable moments from previous workshops and is looking forward to continuing to be part of a great team.
