Dr Daniel Vorbach

Daniel is a PlanAdapt Fellow and independent consultant based in Geneva, Switzerland.

His work bridges research, practice, and policy by combining applied social science with experience designing and managing locally-led governance, climate change adaptation, and socio-technical co-development programs across Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, and the Pacific Islands.

As a Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) Affiliated Researcher, Daniel frequently supports the work of the Equitable Technology Laboratory (ETL) at the University of York, most recently by designing transdisciplinary methods to co-develop the social and technical dimensions of a digital twin solar installation in Zambia. As an SEI York Research Fellow, he piloted methods for equitable co-development of water safety monitoring technologies in collaboration with communities in Vanuatu.

Prior to joining SEI, Daniel was Program Director at Oxfam in Vanuatu and coordinated a climate change adaptation consortium (Oxfam, CARE, Red Cross, and Save the Children). He has also held climate change adaptation advisory roles with Practical Action Sri Lanka and World Vision Australia and played a leading role in establishing and convening Climate Action Networks in Vanuatu and Sri Lanka.

Daniel holds a PhD degree from the University of York’s Department of Environment and Geography. His thesis examined why community committees rarely work as expected and explored alternative approaches to support locally-led, sustainable and equitable community governance at scale. He speaks English, German, French and Bislama and is committed to bridging the gap between the community level and global policy through evidence-based research, policy engagement and piloting innovative community-led programs.

For more information see Daniel’s LinkedIn page.

Selected publications:

Vorbach, D. and Ensor, J., 2022. Autonomous Change Processes in Traditional Institutions: Lessons from Innovations in Village Governance in Vanuatu. International Journal of the Commons, 16(1).

Ensor, J., Johnson, S., Vorbach, D., and Moir, J., 2025. Equitable technology development: A framework and methods for scientists and engineers. Sustainable Futures, Volume 9, 2025

Vorbach, D., 2024. Moving beyond prototypes: A User Directed Approach to Equitable Technology Translation. ETL Working Paper. Equitable Technology Lab, University of York

Koutsoumpeli, E., Vorbach, D., Ensor, et al. 2025. Co-development of technology for measuring faecal contamination of drinking water. Journal of Integrated Design and Process Science, 2025;0(0).

Webb, J., Vorbach, D., Boydell, E., Mcnaught, R. and Sterrett, C., 2015. Tools for Community Based Adaptation: Lessons from NGO collaboration in Vanuatu. Coastal Management, 43(4), pp.407-423.

Vorbach, D., 2023. Community governance in Vanuatu through a critical institutionalist lens. PhD thesis. University of York.