After a varied employment career, Linda van Duivenbode took the opportunity to start her own consultancy following her move to Germany: The Extremely Useful Company.  Over the years she has built an extensive network of people and organisations, with whom she partners depending on the scope and size of your project.

Linda van Duivenbode holds a Master of Science in Environmental Policy and Society and has a diploma in Economics. She has 15+ years of relevant experience in strategy, policy and consultancy. Most recently she worked as senior advisor on EU research and innovation policy. She was responsible for the Ministry’s position in the council working party and Competitiveness Council during the negotiation of Horizon 2020.  Before that she was senior advisor EU Space policy. This included responsibility for the Ministry’s space budget, in the order of € 50-60 million per annum and securing the budget for GMES (now Copernicus) as part of the Multiannual Financial Framework (the EU budget).

Before joining the Ministry, Linda worked as proposal and project manager in the space department of TNO, a public research and technology organisation, as consultant on the development of the coastal zone in Bulgaria and as space technology consultant for a small privately owned company.  She therefore offers extensive experience working for and with public and private sector organisations in a range of domains: R&D, innovation, space, climate, water, environment and high-tech.

She was a member of:

• High Level Group on Innovation Policy Management (www.highlevelgroup.eu/en),
• Horizon 2020 Programme Committee Horizontal and Strategic issues
• High-level Space Policy Group
• ESA Council
• Management Committee of the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP)
• EPG sub-group on Innovation
• European Network of Environmental Professionals