Zahar Koretsky

Zahar Koretsky (Corețchii) is post-doctoral researcher in transition studies at TIS leading the action research project on Transformative Education for Sustainability at TU/e (TES@TU/e). Zahar had previously worked as post-doctoral researcher at the French Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE) and Gustave Eiffel University in Paris, where he investigated regional impacts of the end of coal mining.

Zahar works on sustainability transitions, focusing on mobilisation and governance pathways, having published on the history of various declined technologies across the world. His research is most notable for his contributions to the studies of innovations with investigating their flipsides – phase-out, decline and destabilisation.

Zahar employs a constructivist perspective, a critical theory of technology perspective, and a systems perspective to understand power structures that support regimes and practices. He focuses on conducting policy- and society-relevant studies by starting from a societal challenge (e.g. regime lock-ins, fossil fuel dependency, regional de-industrialisation) and translating the findings into actionable knowledge. In the latter his experience in professional written press journalism helps a lot.

Zahar holds a PhD in STS and transition studies form Maastricht University. In his doctoral dissertation he investigated epistemologies, practice and governance of transitions.