Xiao-Shan Yap

Dr. Xiao-Shan Yap is Assistant Professor of Innovation and Global Governance at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Yap is the Principal Investigator of the project ‘Planetary stewardship in view of Earth-Space sustainability’ (PlanetStewards), supported by the European Research Council (ERC). She pioneered the concept of ‘Earth-Space sustainability’, which calls for addressing challenges on Earth and in space in an integrative way as anthropogenic activities expand to outer space. Yap is also Co/Vice-Chair of the EU COST Action ‘Futures-oriented Governance of Outer Space: Towards Peace, Equity, and Environmental Integrity’ (FOGOS), funded by the European Union. Additionally, she is Lead Scientist in the project ‘Equitable access to outer space: New regulatory needs for radio spectrum management’, supported by the Geneva Science-Policy Interface (GSPI), in collaboration with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Among others, Yap is also Co-Lead of the Working Group on Earth-Space Governance at the Earth System Governance Project, Chair of the ‘2024 Earth-Space Symposium’, and Senior Policy Advisor to the EPFL Space Center. She is also the lead author of Chapter 8 in the recently published 2024 OECD Report on ‘The Economics of Space Sustainability: Delivering Economic Evidence to Guide Government Action’.