V.C. Bitzer

Verena Bitzer (PhD) is Assistant Professor at the Maastricht Sustainability Institute of Maastricht University, combining research and teaching on global sustainability and development issues. Her research focuses on transnational and local governance forms for sustainable global value chains, including multi-stakeholder initiatives and voluntary sustainability standards. In particular, she investigates the implications of these governance forms at production level, such as inclusion and empowerment of smallholder farmers and other small-scale actors.

Verena also holds a position at the KIT Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam, a private knowledge institute on sustainable international development. Among others, she is part of a transdisciplinary research consortium on “Education and Training for Sustainable Agriculture and Nutrition in East Africa” (Uganda and Kenya) and an action research project on “Gender-transformative approaches in the Bale eco-region in Ethiopia: combining forest conservation and livelihoods objectives”.

Verena lived and worked in Malawi and South Africa, and has extensive work experience in many sub-Saharan African countries.

In Maastricht, she teaches in the “Sustainability Science, Policy and Society” master programme.