Croatia

Morena Galesic
Research and Teaching Assistant in Civil Engineering

I am Croatian and I live in Mediterranean city of Split where I finished my studies in the field of Civil Engineering. Inside those studies I was oriented in environmental issues with emphasis on everything connected to the water and sea.
At the moment I teach subjects in the field of coastal engineering, and my PhD research is focused on pollution risk assessment in estuaries and coastal zones.

During my graduate year I had an opportunity to work on project of Rapid Assessment of Pollution Hotspots for the Adriatic Sea within Adriatic Sea Environment Program considering very wide areas and different sources of pressure to the recipient. That was my breakthrough in the world of interdisciplinary problems and solution methods, brainstorming activities, working with experts and adjusting myself to the holistic approach. Therefore a new passion for research and finding optimal solutions to complex problems was born, and involved in all my works afterwards.

Inside the project about the optimization of the potable water distribution network at Split, I was encountered to the concept of change management and coaching attitude being applied in technical problems. Although I am an engineer, this relatively new approach took my attention, and I found this very applicable in all areas where we meet clash of environmental, technical, political, economic and social interests. During that project which took place here in Split I actively participated in interviews and group coaching sessions in a way of tailored service where I translated between the coach, François Kaisin, and the water company employees. Experiencing one to one (plus me), and group sessions within workshop on teambuilding, I saw how big is potential of change management, and how powerful influence it has on people and project efficiency itself. I used some principles I’ve seen there in my teaching work and they have shown satisfying results.

I’m honored to join Morena Coaching International, as I see here an enormous opportunity to learn more about this fascinating power of coaching attitude and improvement of general wellbeing. In this sense, raising awareness in my country, which is stuck in recession but has great potentials, is something I hope we can bring with this team.