Bio

After studying philosophy and theology at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas (Lithuania) Elena Šiaudvytienė earned her Bachelor’s and Licentiate degrees in Social Sciences from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas – Angelicum in Rome, Italy. The role of the third sector in creating new jobs in Europe was the focus of her Licentiate thesis research. In 2008, Elena Šiaudvytienė completed a Master’s degree in European Studies at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science (IIRPS) at Vilnius University (Lithuania). In her Master's thesis, she compared the concepts of subsidiarity in Catholic Social Teaching and EU law. In 2021, she began a Ph.D. program in Social Sciences at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum). Her Ph.D. was part of the CREATE (Catholic Social Teaching Rome Exchange: Advanced Training Experience) Initiative, and she was a holder of the Laudato Si’ Scholarship. In June 2024, Elena Šiaudvytienė defended her Ph.D. thesis, titled Just Transition in Lithuania: A Blue Marble Evaluation of the Policy Framework in the Light of Integral Ecology. Since February 2025, she has continued her studies at Angelicum as a postdoctoral researcher with CREATE. Elena Šiaudvytienė has been appointed as a Research Fellow for the Economy of Francesco Academy for 2023/2024. In October 2023, she was officially selected by the European Commission (DG REGIO) as a JTPeers Expert for Lithuania to be included in the digital expert database provided under the Just Transition Platform, which catalogues and showcases the profiles and expertise of professionals in the just transition field across the EU.