David Hanna

Overview

David Hanna is a Lecturer in Management at Ulster University, where his teaching and research focus on sustainable business models, entrepreneurship, innovation, and the circular economy. He is currently Principal Investigator for the €5.9 million PEACEPLUS-funded TRACE project (Technological Revolution towards an Agri-food Circular Economy), which is establishing a cross-border innovation hub to enhance sustainability and efficiency within the agri-food sector.

David has over a decade of experience in EU-funded research and consultancy, including projects funded through INTERREG (Northern Periphery, Atlantic Area, and North West Europe), Horizon 2020, and the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund.
His academic work bridges theory and practice, with a particular focus on helping SMEs transition to sustainable business models. He has published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at international conferences on topics such as education for sustainable development and circular economy typologies. David is actively involved in curriculum development and recently co-led the design and validation of the MSc in Sustainable Management, which launched in September 2024.

He is an alumnus of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s From Linear to Circular programme and a strong proponent of Doughnut Economics and the circular economy.