About Us:

The Founding Team

OINS is co-created by Hannes Flatz and Philip Gerstel, who both met during their MSc. at Lund University in ‘Innovation and Global Sustainable Development’. Both have worked on research with local communities in South Africa, Rwanda and Costa Rica. Thus, they gained experience working with diverse institutions, organizations, and actors such as the European Commission, government, research institutes, the United Nations, advocacy organizations, and in consultancy. Through these experiences, they both developed various practical skills, networks with local, regional, and national actors, and connected to different local communities worldwide. It was also during their master’s and the practical experiences that they identified the urgent need for an increased focus on connectivity, learning, and empowerment to reach the UN SDGs and beyond. Being literate with regards to development challenges and the planetary boundaries as well as being aware about their own comparatively privileged backgrounds, they wanted to devote their professional lives towards a healthy planet and prospering, peaceful societies in Europe and beyond.

Hannes Flatz

Hannes grew up in a small village in the Austrian Alps, giving him practical experiences with climate change, agriculture, and rural development stemming from his childhood background. He holds a BA in German Philology from the University of Vienna, and a BSc in Business and Economics from WU Vienna (including an exchange semester in Singapore), where he learned business administration skills and gained broad knowledge in economics, political science, history, and literature. All of these will help OINS in its administrative processes as well as with regards to the organization’s operations in different areas and contexts, and its advisory work on various topics. Afterwards, he went on to study “Innovation and Global Sustainable Development” at Lund University, which focussed on climate change mitigation and adaptation, the energy transition, inequality, economic growth, and on how innovations can be utilized or directed towards development objectives. It also provided the theoretical background and toolset to analyze policies, and to help design sustainable policies in various areas. The MSc included a five-months research stay for his master thesis in South Africa on climate change adaptation policies and inequality. 

Hannes has gained various practical experiences through internships, traineeships, and other placements. These include a traineeship on climate and trade policy for the European Commission, an internship in the field of sustainable energy for the United Nations, a research assistant position in economics, a rural development project on the impacts of climate change, and his work as a civil servant in the field of refugee aid. Currently, he works as a climate change expert for the Austrian government.

In addition to his German native tongue, he speaks fluent English, is proficient in French, has intermediate knowledge in Italian and Swedish, and is currently learning isiXhosa. And as he likes to conduct research and to write, he will be able to perform excellent analytical work and draft targeted communication pieces and project reports. 

Philip Gerstel

Philip brings a diverse background in sustainability, renewable energy with a focus on heat pump systems and the German political landscape, and community engagement through digital communication to the OINS. His academic and professional skills equipped him to address global environmental challenges and foster meaningful connections between communities and nature. 

Through the Change Maker Future Track at Lund University in Sweden, he developed expertise in system change, leadership and solving complex, interconnected (wicked) challenges. Philips knowledge and expertise drives the mission of OINS approaching sustainability issues strategically with an innovative mindset. For his master thesis he conducted fieldwork in Costa Rica where he lived for six months in a small village called Hojancha on the Nicoya Peninsula. Hojancha is a small community known for a reforestation program and its ecosystem protection. While living there and conducting research he learned about the importance of grassroot initiative and community efforts for sustainable development. 

In his work at the German National Heat pump association and the renewable energy sector he focused on climate change adaptation and carbon emission reduction. He has expert knowledge in renewable heating systems and energy efficient approaches for limiting carbon emissions. Besides that he gained knowledge in the German political landscape and political communication.

Before that he worked in Kigali, Rwanda on community and cultural heritage exchange projects at the Rwandan Cultural Heritage Academy. The Academy was established by the academic decree No.082/01 in 2020. Philip worked closely with the Director General Robert Masozera during the initiation phase and supported the organization with a communication plan and new logo development.

As a trainee at EUROCONTROL in Brussels, Philip developed strong communication and organisational skills managing international stakeholder collaboration and organising webinars and conferences. These skills are critical for future marketing and networking efforts of OINS and to connect with global communities and stakeholders.

With his experience Philip will focus on connecting communities, facilitating the exchange of best practices and nature based solutions to foster actionable solutions for environmental and societal challenges. As a Co-Founder he will also be part of the managing board of the organisation and is responsible for projects and financing. He closely works with the web-developers, graphic designer and marketing team on the community platform.