Alessandra Merlo

Liaison Officer – Europe–China Clean Energy Centre

Alessandra Merlo graduated in political sciences from the University of Turin in 1994 and gained an MSc in public policy and management at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London in 2004.

With vast experience in designing, managing, monitoring and evaluating public projects in development and transition countries, she also designs and delivers coaching and training for the staff of public administrations and civil society organisations on topics such as fundraising programmes and instruments (EU and other international donors); organisational change management; project cycle management; and monitoring and evaluation methodologies.

From 1998 to 2010 she was project manager and senior expert at SOGES SpA (Italy), a provider of professional services. She provided technical assistance and oversaw cooperation programmes —supported by, among others, the EU, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank — in developing and transition countries such as Croatia, Laos, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Romania and South Africa.

She was project evaluator for the Union of Italian Provinces between 2009 and 2010 and for the European Training Foundation between 2008 and 2009, as well as advisor at the Directorate-General for EU Policies of the Mayor’s Office of Milan City Council (2010).

Since 2004, Alessandra Merlo has been a trainer in project cycle management (PCM) at the Institute of European Studies of the University of Turin. From 2005 to 2012, she taught EU financing and PCM at the University of Valle d’Aosta; the Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI); Slow Food International; the University of Trieste; and the College of Europe in Bruges.

In June 2011, she became liaison officer at the Europe–China Clean Energy Centre in Beijing.