Inéz Labucay is an Adjunct Research Fellow at UNU-FLORES. Her work focuses on socio-technical transitions and innovativeness especially of mature sectors which she analyses using mixed-method approaches. Further research interests include the resilience-circularity interface, standards, and Education for Sustainable Development in the context of the Resource Nexus.
Inéz Labucay is an economist and a graduate in business studies and holds a Doctoral degree from University of Halle-Wittenberg for which she received the Luther charter (summa cum laude). Following her habilitation (postdoctoral lecturer qualification) in economics, she has been a Private Lecturer in economics at University of Halle-Wittenberg.
Inéz is also a Guest Researcher at TU Dresden where she has been offering lectures since 2016. She joined UNU-FLORES as a Senior Expert in Education for Sustainable Development in 2024 to support the successful establishment of the Knowledge Academy for the Resource Nexus (KARE). She has been convenor of the session Advancing a Curriculum for the Resource Nexus at Dresden Nexus Conference 2025 (together with Floor Brouwer).
Inéz has been a Project Researcher at TU Dresden in a project on the sustainability competence of consumers in the Circular Economy with a focus on sustainable mobility for which she obtained funding from two ministries of the German Federal Government (https://doi.org/10.1080/15487733.2025.2478693). Prior to this, she collected project experience and contributed her expertise to two ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) projects at University of Halle-Wittenberg on standardization, substitution and design strategies for critical materials and on the Circular plastics economy as well as further cooperation projects with industry. She has counselled numerous Bachelor and Master theses.
Together with an international group of researchers led by the University of Cologne, she has been successful in establishing a DFG Priority Programme on Sustainability and Resilience of Agri-Food Chains (https://doi.org/10.12854/erde-2024-692) . Inéz has been a Substitute Professor in business studies at University of Halle-Wittenberg and a Visiting Researcher at Copenhagen Business School.
Research interests
• Socio-technical transitions and innovativeness, especially of mature sectors such as machine tools, mapped by case studies and patent indicators
• Resilience, circularity and competitiveness
• Standards’ interrelation with innovation and industry 4.0/5.0
• Education for Sustainable Development and Resource Nexus competencies
Appointments
- Adjunct Research Fellow, UNU-FLORES (from 08/2025)
Senior Expert in Education for Sustainable Development, UNU-FLORES (until 07/2025) - Private Lecturer (habilitation, postdoctoral lecturer qualification) in Economics, University of Halle-Wittenberg
- Doctoral degree Dr. rer. pol. (summa cum laude), University of Halle-Wittenberg
- Guest Researcher, TU Dresden
- Member of Working Group Education for Sustainable Development of the Environment Commission of TU Dresden