Chair – Dr. Orr Karassin

Dr. Orr Karassin is an Associate Professor and Founding Chair of the Environment and Sustainability Research Center, the Open University of Israel. Formerly, she was chair of the public policy program at the Open University, a research fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a visiting research fellow at the London School of Economics, Grantham Institute for Climate Change. She holds a LL.M magnum cum laude from Tel Aviv University Law Faculty and a PhD in Environmental Policy from Bar-Ilan University.  Her main research interests include environmental regulation and policy, local and global sustainability governance, corporate sustainability and circular economy. Dr. Karassin's research has won awards and a variety of research grants including the best article award at the Corporate Responsibility Research Conference, the best article award by the Israeli Political Science Association and the doctoral award for excellence from the Wolf Foundation. "Maariv" daily newspaper recognized her as one of the ten most influential leaders in the field of environmental protection in Israel. In addition, Dr. Karassin has been an active advocate and voice for environmental protection in Israel with many years of experience in key roles in Israeli public organizations and international committees, and regularly advises government ministries on regulatory governance and environmental policy.