Since 2014, Chiara Canestrini has been the Communications Specialist of the Florence School of Regulation with a strong focus on communication strategy and tools to enhance online learning.

She holds a Master’s degree in Philosophy and she has been working as a Copywriter, Web Editor and Social Media Manager since 2011. Chiara has more than seven years of experience in online training and live events (course facilitation, design of new online formats, community engagement).

Elena is an Executive Training Officer at the Florence School of Regulation. She works on the design, organisation, and implementation of executive training programmes, collaborating with academic experts and international partners to deliver high-quality learning experiences. She also contributes to stakeholder engagement and strategic communication initiatives to enhance the visibility and impact of FSR training activities.

She holds a Master’s degree in International Relations and European Studies from the University of Florence. During her academic career, she specialised in subjects related to energy and environmental policies. The passion for this field led her to work as a communication officer and event coordinator in the energy consultancy sector. Her previous professional experience includes working in journalism in Brussels, as well as in event and training management in Vienna and Florence.

From 1982 until 1994 Sergio Ascari was research assistant, research director and lecturer in Energy and Environmental Economics at the Institute of Energy Economics at Bocconi University, Milan and at the University of Pavia.

Between 1997 and 2006 he worked at the Italian Regulatory Authority for Electricity where he was in charge of Gas Tariffs, Environmental Affairs and later of International Co-operation. He has worked extensively for the promotion and harmonisation of Energy Regulation, notably in the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Turkey, and Ukraine.

From 2007 to 2009 he was Gas Expert in the Regulatory Section of the Energy Community Secretariat in Vienna. Since January 2009 he is a Senior Consultant with REF (Ricerche per l’Economia e la Finanza), Milan, Italy and collaborates on several national and international research and assistance projects, mainly in the gas sector.

Sergio graduated in Economics at the University of Pavia and holds a M.Sc. (Econ.) from the University of York.

Sofia Nicolai is research associate in the FSR energy research team in electricity regulation and policy. Currently, her main research interests are Regulation (EU) No 1227/2011 on wholesale energy market integrity and transparency (REMIT) and energy consumers’ data sharing for flexibility services in the context of project EDDIE (European Distributed Data Infrastructure for Energy). She is also a PhD candidate in EU law at the University of Bologna. Before joining FSR in January 2022, she was a trainee in the electricity department at the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER), working in the electricity wholesale market monitoring team. She graduated in law from Bologna University, Italy and completed the Master in Sustainability and Energy Management at Bocconi University.