The following themes are central to the research and teaching of Ellen van Bueren:

• Governance and management of integrated urban and infrastructure (re)development,
• Multi-stakeholder collaboration, coordination and decision-making (private-public-people partnerships)
• Institutional drivers and barriers for decision-making
• Transdisciplinary learning, living labs, urban experimentation

In particular she focuses on the following topics: 

• Sustainable development, urban resilience
• Circular economy, resource management
• Energy transition, climate adaptation
• Technological and infastructure innovation

 Ellen teaches in the following programmes:

• Architecture (BSc.)
• Management in the Built Environment (MSc. track in Architecture)
• Industrial Ecology (joint MSc. TUDelft-Leiden University)
• Master City Developer (MSc. for urban professionals, joint programme with Erasmus University)
• MSc. MADE (Metropolitan Analysis, Design and Engineering

Elllen is involved in the following research and valorisation initiatives:

• AMS - Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions, Amsterdam, Principal Investigator
• LDE Centre for Sustainability - Leiden-Delft-Erasmus collaboration focusing on circular economy and resource efficiency (daily board member)
• DIMI - Delft Institute for Infrastructure and Mobility (board member)
• Master City Developer (academic committee, board member)
• Stichting Kennis Gebiedsontwikkeling (board member, member scientific committee)

Publications (selection): 

• Ersoy, A., & van Bueren, E. (2020). Challenges of urban living labs towards the future of local innovation. Urban Planning, 5(4), 89-100.

• Van den Berghe, K., Bucci Ancapi, F., & van Bueren, E. (2020). When a Fire Starts to Burn. The Relation Between an (Inter) nationally Oriented Incinerator Capacity and the Port Cities’ Local Circular Ambitions. Sustainability, 12(12), 4889.

• Uyttebrouck, C., van Bueren, E., & Teller, J. (2020). Shared housing for students and young professionals: evolution of a market in need of regulation. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 35(4), 1017-1035.

• Ersoy, A., Bryson, J., & Van Bueren, E. (2020). Unlocking values through infrastructure interdependencies. Infrastructure Asset Management, 1-10.

• Leclercq, E., Pojani, D., & Van Bueren, E. (2020). Is public space privatization always bad for the public? Mixed evidence from the United Kingdom. Cities, 100, 102649.

• Bekebrede, G., van Bueren, E., & Wenzler, I. (2018). Towards a joint local energy transition process in urban districts: The go2zero simulation game. Sustainability, 10(8), 2602.

  Koutamanis, A., van Reijn, B., & van Bueren, E. (2018). Urban mining and buildings: A review of possibilities and limitations. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 138, 32-39.

• Pesch, U., Vernay, A. L., van Bueren, E., & Pandis Iverot, S. (2017). Niche entrepreneurs in urban systems integration: On the role of individuals in niche formation. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 49(8), 1922-1942.

• Steen, K., & van Bueren, E. (2017). The defining characteristics of urban living labs. Technology Innovation Management Review, 7(7).

• Hoppe, T., & van Bueren, E. (2015). Guest editorial: governing the challenges of climate change and energy transition in cities. Energy, sustainability and society, 5(1), 1-9.

• Van Bueren, E., Lammerts van Bueren, E., & Van der Zijp, A. (2014) Understanding wicked problems and organized irresponsibility. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, DOI 10.1016/j.cosust.2014.06.002

• Bueren, E. van, H. van Bohemen, L. Itard and H. Visscher (eds.) (2012). Sustainable urban environments: an ecosystem approach, Dordrecht: Springer 

• Bueren,  E. van, and Jong, J. de (2007). Establishing Sustainability: Policy Successes and Failures, Building Research & Information, 35(5), 543–556. 

Past editorial positions:

• Smart and Sustainable Built Environment
• Infrastructure Complexity
• Bestuurskunde (Dutch Journal of Public Administration)

Recent research projects (2019-2020):

• TransCiBo - Transitioning Behaviour in Construction for a Circular Transition (NWO)
• Circular Urban Area Development (ACCEZ) 
• CircuMat - Supporting the development of a regional circular economy (EIT Raw Materials)
• World Bank Group - Developing a urban resilience evaluation framework 
• City-zen - development of GO2Zero - serious game supporting the local energy transition / urban retrofitting (EU-FP7 project)
• Development of a living lab methodology (in collaboration with AMS)