Center on Finance, Law and Policy: Peter Adriaens, PhD, University of Michigan

Abstract: The seminar will discuss my three year program on Sustainability Finance for Green Transitioning in Finland, which is now exported to Switzerland, Taiwan, Canada, and the US. The program is sponsored by the Finnish Fund for Innovation, the Research Institute for the Finnish Economy, the Global CleanTech Cluster Association, the Swiss Federal Office for Energy, the GLOBE Capital Series, the American Jobs Project, and the Conference for Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers. The talk will be held in the Center on Finance, Law and Policy.

Bio: Dr. Adriaens is Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Professor of Entrepreneurship and Strategy in the Ross School of Business, where he is affiliated with the Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies. He is past-President of the Association of Environmental Science and Engineering Professors, a member-by-eminence of the American Academy of Environmental Engineering (AAEE), and Member of the Belgian Royal Academy of Applied Sciences, where he was recognized for bridging engineering and business entrepreneurship in academia and practice. Most recently, he was awarded a Finnish Distinguished Professorship, focused on portfolio financing models for CleanTech.

Following a 20-year career in in technology development (environmental sensing, green buildings) and validation, his current work focuses on CleanTech innovation and entrepreneurship. Specific interests include business water risk models focused on financial risk assessment, reverse innovation strategies for new mobility strategies, and the development of indexes and investment portfolios in emerging cleantech clusters. He teaches courses on Business Models, Entrepreneurial Business Fundamentals, CleanTech Venture Assessment, and Sustainability Finance. He is co-developer of the KeyStone Compact™, a data-driven analytical and strategic positioning tool for that has been used by more than 1,000 global early and later stage companies in a wide range of investment domains (CleanTech, BioTech, ITC, space sciences), used by economic development organizations in the US, Europe and Asia.

He is co-founder and CEO of Water Risk Analytics, a big data and software analytics financial technology firm addressing equity and portfolio risk and performance issues related to ESG investments. He is CEO at The KeyStone Compact Group (www.keystonecompact.com), built around the KeyStone suite of tools addressing investment strategies across the business lifecycle. As co-Founder/Head Judge of the Global CleanTech Custer Association (GCCA), his interest is in building out value chains for industrial renewal by screening, repositioning and connecting Cleantech clusters and companies (www.globalcleantech.org). With 56 clusters in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, representing nearly 10,000 companies, and $3.5 bn. under management, the GCCA catalyzes global value system development. For more information, see www.linkedin.com/in/peteradriaens/.