In this episode Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen talks to process facilitator and peacebuilding practitioner Michelle Parlevliet of REOS Partners about the transforming effects of asking a broad cross-section of Cypriots with differing views to take the time to imagine four plausible but very different scenarios for the future of Cyprus. The Cyprus Futures project was the […] The post Figure It – Episode 16: Scenarios for the future of Cyprus (4/11/2024) first appeared on Island Talks.

Cyprus is more innovative than you think. In this episode Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen talks to Cyprus Seeds Managing Director Maria Georgiadou, and Innovation Programme Manager Margarita Kyprianou about the wide sectoral range of innovators in universities, research institutions, and Centres of Excellence in the Republic of Cyprus who have been supported by Cyprus […] The post Figure It – Episode 15: from research to market with Cyprus Seeds (16/10/2024) first appeared on Island...

In this 14th episode of Figure It, Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen talks to Mete Hatay, Senior Research Consultant at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) Cyprus Centre, about the delicate question of the number of people who live in northern Cyprus. There has been no census since 2011, when the population (de jure) was counted […] The post Figure It – Episode 14: How big is the population of northern Cyprus? (6/9/2024) first appeared on Island Talks.

In this 13th episode of Figure It  Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen talks to James Ker-Lindsay, Visiting Professor at the University of Kent, Research Associate at LSE and producer of the popular conflict/international relations YouTube channel called “Prof James Ker-Lindsay”, to discuss some little known facts about UNFICYP – the UN peacekeeping mission in Cyprus that […] The post Figure It – Episode 13: Things you didn’t know about UNFICYP (7/3/2024) first appeared on Island Talks.

In this 12th episode of Figure It and the third in a series of episodes devoted to energy, Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen talks to Peter Stevenson, East Mediterranean Editor at the specialist oil and gas publication, Middle East Economic Survey (MEES). They discuss the announcement made on 15 February by the Italian oil and gas company, […] The post Figure It – Episode 12 (Energy Series 3) What does ENI’s latest gas discovery offshore Cyprus actually mean? (22/2/2024) first appeared...

In this 11th episode of Figure It and the second in a series of episodes devoted to energy, Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen talks to Ahmet Sözen, a Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) and a veritable ‘ideas factory’ when it comes to new approaches to the Cyprus problem. Prof Sözen […] The post Figure It – Episode 11 (Energy Series 2): East Med Energy and the Cyprus problem: why it is in the EU’s strategic security...

In this episode of Figure It and the first in a series of episodes devoted to energy, Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen and analyst Andromachi Sophocleous put on their professional energy hats to analyse the regional energy workshop of oil and gas companies on 29-30 May. The post Figure It – Episode 10 (Energy Series 1): What happened at the government’s regional energy gathering on 29-30 May? (5/6/2023) first appeared on Island Talks.

In this episode of Figure It, Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen talks to Dr Mustafa Besim, Professor of Economics at Eastern Mediterranean University and Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics, about the economy of northern Cyprus, in particular the latest economic and financial protocol worth around 240 million euro signed between the Turkish Cypriot administration and Turkey. What are the protocol’s strengths, what are its weaknesses and what should be the priority for Turkish...

In this episode of Figure It, Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen talks to Dr Nasia Hadjigeorgiou, Assistant Professor in Human Rights and Transitional Justice at the Cyprus campus of the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), about the many and often confusing figures cited by Republic of Cyprus officials about various categories of non-Cypriots: regular migrants, […]

In this seventh episode of Figure It, Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen discusses recent geopolitical developments in the region with independent analyst Madalina Vicari. How significant is the EU’s application to become an observer member of the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMFG)? With the Republic of Cyprus will holding the presidency of the EMGF and EMGF-member France holding the EU’s rotating presidency of the European Council in the first half of 2022, what can we expect from...

In this sixth episode of Figure It, Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen discusses the famous squeaky cheese of Cyprus, known as hellim in Turkish and halloumi in Greek, with the former president of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce and current MP with the Republican Turkish Party (CTP), Fikri Toros. In April of this year the European Commission “registered Χαλλούμι/Halloumi/Hellim as a protected designation of origin (PDO)”. This means that only hellim/halloumi produced in Cyprus...

In this week’s episode, Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen talks about the commercial aspects of natural gas with the East Mediterranean Editor of Middle East Economic Survey (MEES), Peter Stevenson. The recent bid by US energy giant Chevron to buy out Noble Energy – the lead company in the Cyprus Aphrodite and Israeli Leviathan and Tamar fields – has been challenged by the activist investor, Elliott Management. What is the difference between the two companies and what would either...

In this episode of Figure It, Fiona Mullen of Sapienta Economics hosts international student Femi Obasa to discuss the large contribution of universities in northern Cyprus to the economy and to hear tips on what universities globally can do to attract and retain students in the Covid-19 age. 

In this week’s episode Sapienta Economics Director Fiona Mullen and gender technical specialist Sophia Papastavrou discuss why gender equality is good for profits, why pandemics are always so tough on women, and what research says about finding a peace agreement that will actually stick. Dr. Sophia Papastavrou is a citizen of Canada and Cyprus and spent her formative years in Dominican Republic and Ghana before immigrating to Canada. She holds the role of Gender Technical Specialist...

In this week’s episode I talk to fellow economist Professor Mustafa Besim about economic issues in Cyprus. With the lockdown hitting small business and households, we compare notes about the economic policy response on both sides of the island and discuss how effective they can be.

As new Covid-19 virus cases hit zero in the northern part of Cyprus and single digits in the south, I talk to Rüştü Yücel and Christoforos Christoforos how this compares with elsewhere, what it means for tourism and whether life can really ever get back to normal.