Sarah Hafner has obtained a Master’s in System Dynamics from the University of Bergen, Norway, where her work focused on the role of technological change on the cost of greenhouse has mitigation for businesses. To do so, Sarah built and compared two system dynamic models, one representing technological change and one excluding it. Sarah has also obtained a Master’s in Economics from the University of Konstanz, Germany, and a Certificate in Sustainable Finance from the University of Cambridge.
In Sarah’s doctorate, with the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity at Anglia Ruskin University, UK, she focused on the UK energy supply sector – investigating the economic impacts of the UK’s energy transition, analysing the implication of key assumptions in neoclassical economic theory on policy formation (e.g., rational agents, the notion of equilibrium), and solutions to increase the necessary infrastructure financing, creating a system dynamics model of the UK economy to consider the macroeconomic and socioeconomic implications of ‘green’ policies.
Sarah has been employed as a Policy Advisor / Economist at Switzerland’s Federal Office for the Environment, where she both led and coordinated a range of projects in the areas of sustainable finance and the circular economy. Prior, Sarah has conducted energy and economic research at the ZHAW School of Engineering, such as investigating the barriers and drivers of industrial decarbonisation, business model innovation for energy companies, and energy-economy models.
Currently, Sarah works as a Senior Project Manager at Ecoplan (Economic Research and Policy Consultancy) where her work focuses on energy and circular economy questions.