Marlene Damerau is since 2022 Head of the Smart City Division in Gelsenkirchen (DE), where she supervises innovation projects that demonstrate how strategic use of ICT and data can benefit sustainable urban planning and development. She also worked as a research associate and project coordinator with industries and the public sector at Rupprecht Consult, Cologne, in the field of sustainable urban mobility, renewable energies, energy-efficiency, and circular economy. Other stations in her life include the research group for everyday mobility and transportation systems at the Institute for Regional and Urban Development Research, Dortmund, where her research focused on energy and mobility transition, accessibility and walkability research, and the City of Kassel, where she worked as a project manager in sustainable urban regeneration projects. She holds a master's degree in Geography from Humboldt-University, Berlin.