Ad Jeuken, Expert advisor climate change adaptation, Deltares

Ad Jeuken is a climate change adaptation expert at Deltares since 2008 holding a PhD in climate modelling (KNMI and technical university Eindhoven) and a professional background in water management. Now 14 years with Deltares he has developed as an international expert on climate change adaptation and has worked for international organizations like the European commission, Asian Development Bank, World Bank, FAO and UNFCCC and for governments worldwide on climate change risk analysis, adaptation planning, training and capacity building. He is an author of the Climate Risk Informed Decision Analysis (CRIDA) guide for water resources management as well as many other publications in the field of water, DRR and climate. He is currently coordinating the REACHOUT research and innovation project under the EU Green deal in which user-oriented climate services are developed with and for cities to progress from climate risk analysis to climate resilient urban development.

Adam Estefányi, Data Analyst, Brno City Municipality

Adam works as a data analyst at the Municipality of Brno, the second largest city in the Czech Republic. He has several years of experience working in the private and public sector, in project management, urban strategy and planning.

He graduated in Regional Development and International Studies. After graduation (2015) he worked as a consultant in the field of EU-funded projects, mainly focusing on industry and transportation, but also focused on the Industry 4.0 topics (production automation, artificial intelligence, digital twin or cyber security).

In 2019, he moved to the public sector and started working for the City of Brno. First at the Strategic Department, as a brownfields specialist. Since 2021, he has been working in the Data Department. Currently, he is mainly involved in the operation of the web data portal data.Brno.cz, which is aimed at three different types of users: the general public (who can learn more about their city through data), professionals or students (the website offers them a number of interactive long-term statistics about the city or applications) and developers and IT professionals (working with machine-processable datasets).

Akshay Sriprasad, Product Manager, Google

Akshay Sriprasad is a Product Manager for Environmental Insights Explorer (EIE) at Google, focused on helping cities mitigate their climate impact through applied geospatial data/insights. He’s dedicated his career to the development and commercialization of transformative ClimateTech, having supported business development/go-to-market efforts at X, The Moonshot Factory, led energy systems AI research projects as an NSF IGERT Fellow while at UT Austin and consulted for the Austin Technology Incubator and Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (Mexico). Akshay loves connecting with mission-driven, cross-disciplinary change-makers who want to leave a positive mark through their work (like he does!) and tries to spend his free-time immersed in a variety of mental/physical flow states.

Akshay holds an MBA from Columbia Business School (where he graduated with Dean’s Honors with Distinction), an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin and a B.S.in Chemical Engineering (Honors) from The University of Arizona, where he received a full-ride merit scholarship.

Alis-Daniela Torres, Senior Officer Sustainable Resources, Climate and Resilience, ICLEI Europe

Alis-Daniela Torres' work is focused on helping cities advance on sustainable energy and climate action planning processes, smart city services development and business models creation for urban sustainability projects. Daniela’s work draws on more than 15 years of diverse experience in energy and environmental management, climate change studies, public policy and sustainable innovation practices. Daniela is an Environmental Engineer and holds Master’s Degrees in Sustainable Energy Development and City Sciences.  Daniela supports ICLEI as a technical expert in the Sustainable Resources, Climate and Resilience team since 2018.

Anacleto Rizzo, Partner, IRIDRA Srl

Anacleto Rizzo is M.Sc. in Civil Engineering, PhD in Engineering for Natural and Built Environment in 2013. He is an expert in water sustainable management (saving, reuse, recycling); nature-based solutions for wastewater treatment (constructed wetland); water management and climate change adaptation policy; ecosystem services; green and blue infrastructure; sustainable drainage systems (SuDS), co-design of Nature-based Solutions with citizens and stakeholders.

From January 2015 in-house consultant in Research, Development, Dissemination and Design for Iridra Srl; from April 2018 he became partner of Iridra Srl. He worked on more than 50 among feasibility studies and design projects on his specific topics (e.g., constructed wetland wastewater treatment plant or SuDS components). He worked since 2018 and is currently involved in several R&D EC Funded projects (H2020: HYDROUSA, PAVITR; MULTISOURCE, NICE; ENI CBC MED: NAWAMED; PRIMA: AGREEMed). He is author of several paper and book chapters, including has being  Editor of “Nature-Based Solutions for Wastewater Treatment” (2021, IWA Publishing). He is currently co-chairin the IWA Working Group on Nature-Based Solutions.

Anatolii Kutsevol, Deputy State Secretary of the Government of Ukraine

For more than 16 years Anatolii has been working in Governmental structures and has extensive expertise in public administration project management, European integration of Ukraine and effective interaction with international partners within the framework of technical assistance projects. 

Started his career at the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine Anatolii has been working in the Office of the President of Ukraine, where his area of responsibility was focused on the foreign economic policy of Ukraine, customs legislation reform, Ukraine's cooperation with international financial organizations, in particular, the World Bank Group, EBRD, EIB, OECD and other international partnerships on technical assistance.  Anatolii is a devoted supporter of the European integration of Ukraine, Deputy Director of the Government Office for Coordination on European Integration (2014-2016) during a critical time for Ukraine just after the Revolution of Dignity.

Andreas Jaeger, Officer, Built Infrastructure and Sustainable Energy, ICLEI EUrope

Andreas joined the Sustainable Resources, Climate and Resilience team at the ICLEI European Secretariat as a Project Officer in January 2020. At the Secretariat the primary focus of his work lies on projects seeking to catalyse energy positive / low carbon built infrastructure and sustainable energy development.

Building on his background in architecture and urban planning, Andreas worked in sustainable urban development policy research in Europe and Asia for over six years.To better understand processes that shape our built environment Andreas worked in the private real estate sector, just prior to joining ICLEI. In the course of his career Andreas has been engaged in research and capacity building in the fields of green buildings, multi-level governance and subnational climate-smart strategy making. In this context he has also contributed to international policy processes, such as Habitat III and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Andrew Bower, Programme Management Officer, UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction

Andrew is Team Leader for Risk Governance at UNDRR Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, and the Regional Coordinator of the Making Cities Resilient 2030 Initiative. He has worked for UNDRR since 2018, covering both engagement on national and local resilience through Sendai Framework implementation and monitoring across the 55 member countries of the Europe and Central Asia Region.

He previously worked for the European Commission’s Directorate General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO), in charge of DRR and urban resilience. Andrew builds on experience in academia as Visiting Research Fellow working on EU external relations and in the non-profit sector influencing EU external policies and instruments.

Andrew holds a Master’s degree from King's College London and a Bachelor degree from the University of Birmingham. He is married and has two sons.

Anna Studilko, Project Support and Technical Assistance Attraction Expert, Municipal Enterprise "Institute for Urban Development"

Anna works in the international cooperation division of the Municipal Enterprise "Institute for Urban Development" - Vinnytsia, Ukraine. She has been researching the landscape of international partnerships and organizations for her city to be a part of the European community. Under Anna`s lead in the process of developing its own Green Deal 2030, Vinnytsia has become the first community in Ukraine to join the efforts of the European countries in green transition.

Ares Gabàs Masip, Head of Urban Resilience, Barcelona City Council

Head of the Urban Resilience Department of Barcelona City Council since 2014. Currently working for the development of risk reduction assessment and implementation projects and tools, as well as the city’s resilience strategy.

With a background in architecture and public space, has been working for the Barcelona municipality since 2006 and was previously engaged to the urban regeneration project of the District 22 @ through the coordination and development of public space projects and urbanization works.

Argyro Paraskevopoulou, Head of the General Directorate of Sustainable Development and Climate Change, Region of Attica

Environmental Physicist, General Director for Sustainable Development & Climate Change of Attica Region. She holds a PhD in the field of Diffusion Models for Atmospheric Pollutants at the Department of Geophysics of Pierre-and-Marie-Curie University (Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie), also known as the University of Paris VI (Paris 6). Till 2018 was the director of the Environment & Climate Change and among her duties was to express and/or adopt opinion over Environmental Impact Studies, environmental monitoring, and inspection of implementation and enforcement of environment legislation. She is, also, the scientific coordinator in European projects concerning environmental issues as well as climate change adaptation and mitigation. She has been a member of Advisory Boards in European projects and participates in meetings of CPMR’s Task Force for the Climate representing Region of Attica.

Arnoud Molenaar, Chief Resilience Officer, City of Rotterdam

After graduating in Physical Geography, Arnoud started his career with ambitious trainee posts and jobs abroad. As deputy head of the Rotterdam Water Management Department, he was responsible for the Waterplan2Rotterdam. In 2008, he was appointed Manager of the Rotterdam Climate Proof program. Arnoud is first editor of the book “Resilient Cities and Climate Adaptation Strategies” (2014). He was responsible for Rotterdam’s first Resilience Strategy (2016) and joined the Global Center on Adaptation as lead Cities (2018). In 2019 he hosted the Global Urban Resilience Summit in Rotterdam and joined the Global Steering Committee at the Resilient Cities Network. Recently (2022) he coordinated the development of the ‘Resilient Rotterdam Strategy 2022-2027’.

Bettina Tratz-Ryan, Research Vice President, Gartner Inc.

Bettina Tratz-Ryan is a Vice President Research and responsible for intelligent urban ecosystem research that includes smart city and industry stakeholders. Ms. Tratz-Ryan analyzes the strategic citizen impact and business value of data and information analytics, data exchanges and the development of digital society and their industrial environment. Her expertise integrates technology models with services and business measures creating urban subsystems. such as smart districts or buildings. She developed the Gartner Annual Digital Citizen Equity Index describing digital empowerment and digital trust of citizens.  She is building environmental sustainability roadmaps compliant to DIN EN ISO 14001 (1221-2009). With Gartner for 25 years, she has more than 30 years of experience in digitalization for utilities, transportation or local governments. She received four Gartner Thought Leadership awards for her smart city research, smart machines as well as for digital sustainability. She was named by StateTech Magazine as one of 30 must-read state and local government IT influencers in 2019 and one of the Top 50 Female IT Influencers in Germany in 2021.

Camille Magnan, Project Manager, Air Pays de la Loire

After graduating from a French engineering school and obtaining a master's degree in innovations, I started working in the digital sector before joining Air Pays de la Loire 2 years ago to set up and implement innovation projects for the citizens of the Nantes area ("Pays de la Loire" territory) on the subject of air quality. We are considering how best to educate citizens about air quality to help them change their habits. The goal is to reduce pollution and improve the air that people breathe.

Carme Machi Castaner, Officer, Sustainable Resources and Climate and Resilience, ICLEI EUROPE

Carme Machi Castaner is an ICLEI Europe Officer in Resilient Water Infrastructures since beginning of 2022, acting in targeted advice on green & blue solutions, analysis and application of methodologies, project development, international water experts’ partnerships in projects. Previously, she worked as a Specialist in Green Infrastructure at Typsa Engineering in Lima (Perú), for the Peruvian’s Authority coastal watershed restoration programs, collaborating in several projects in Brazil, highlighting consultancy service with Toyota Foundation of Brazil on nature-based strategies (nbs) for sanitation and local stream restoration, and Fluxus Ecological Design company, to conduct storm-water modelling and Green Stormwater Infrastructure design, and collaborating in the North Lakes Program co-founded by the World Bank for a lakes systems restoration in north-east Brazil.

She holds a Masters in Architecture Engineering, Post-Graduate Master in Urbanism and Strategic Planning (EMU), and PhD in Environmental Sciences, with one-year research at Cornell University in the United States. She is a native Spanish and Catalan speaker, fluent in English and Portuguese, intermediate in French and Italian.

Chrysi Laspidou, Professor / ARSINOE Coordinator, University of Thessaly

Chrysi Laspidou is a Professor at the Civil Engineering Department, University of Thessaly in Greece. She is the Vice-President of Research and Technology at Water Europe and a member of the Steering Committee of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus Knowledge Action Network at Future Earth. She is the Chair of the COST Action NEXUSNET and the coordinator of the H2020 project ARSINOE. She has spent 15 years in the USA, where she conducted all her studies and obtained her degrees from reputable institutions. She has published over 70 articles in scientific journals and conference proceedings and her work is widely recognized with currently over 3380 citations, according to Google Scholar.

Dimitrios Karnavos, Mayor of the Municipality of Kallithea

Dimitrios Karnavos, holds an MSc in Sustainable and Local Development and he is an Economics BSc graduate. He has a license on Category 27 (Environmental Studies).  He has been the Mayor of Kallithea, Attica Region, Greece, since 2014. He also is the second Vice-President of the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece, Vice President of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), which is the "official voice" of Local Governments in the European Union, a Member of the Commission for Environment, Climate Change and Energy (ENVE), as well as a Member of the Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget (COTER).  He was the rapporteur general on the 8th Environment Action Plan of the European Union, which was approved by an overwhelming majority. This Program, like all the previous ones, will guide the formulation of the EU environmental policy.

Efrén Feliu, Climate Change Adaptation Manager, TECNALIA Research and Innovation

Holds a Building Engineering Degree as well as different postgraduates including spatial planning and territorial development. Has a relevant professional background in consultancy and capacity development for public administrations and utilities. Worked in Central America for over 4 years and is involved in international and European initiatives for more than 20 years. He is currently Climate Change Manager at the City Territory and Environment Area of Tecnalia, coordinating applied research projects for the development of Decision Support Systems in the fields of sustainable spatial development, nature-based solutions, regional-urban resilience and sectoral climate change adaptation. Has a long trajectory using climate projections data in climate proofing analysis. Is actively involved in standardisation activities, having participated in ISO Working Groups related to Climate Adaptation Framework (ISO 14090 and 14092) as well as Climate and risks Analysis (ISO 14091), being currently appointed as national expert in CEN TC465 and TC467, CEN-CENELEC SF-SCC TG on Nature Based Solutions, as well as ISO/TC 207/SC 7.

Eftychia Kalogianni, Consultant, Future Insight

Eftychia Kalogianni is Rural, Surveyor & Geoinformation Engineer from NTUA and holds MSc in Geoinformatics from NTUA and MSc in Geomatics from TU Delft. Currently she is PhD candidate at TU Delft, working on developing a holistic approach to treat 3D Land Administration Systems within the Spatial Development Lifecycle. She is involved in the standardization of the revision of the Land Administration Domain Model (ISO 19152:2012 www.iso.org/standard/51206.html) as member of ISO TC211 committee (https://www.iso.org/committee/54904.html).

For the past 7 years she has been involved in various infrastructure, strategic urban planning and sustainable urban mobility projects, EU-funded research programs (Horizon 2020, Interreg). From January 2022 she collaborates with Future Insight as a Consultant in BIM, 3D and 3D Cadastre related projects. Eftychia participates in the education at Master level at TUDelft as MSc thesis supervisor and guest lecturer and is author and co-author of publications at the area of land administration & management, 3D city models, digital twins, circular economy & Sustainable Development Goals for the built environment.

Elena Petsani, Junior Officer, Urban Resilience and Climate Adaptation, Sustainable Resources, Climate and Resilience, ICLEI Europe

Elena Petsani is an Urban Resilience & Sustainability Planner (MSc & MEng.). She has professional background with over five years of experience in inclusive and climate-resilient urban development, sustainability strategies, policy-making, and academic research at the national and local government level. She has supported strategic urban planning and territorial development, climate adaptation policies, and spatial tools for multi-stakeholder engagement in the decision-making process. Elena is involved in EU funded projects focused on adaptation to climate change and Nature Based Solutions such as REGREEN, proGIreg, REGILIENCE, and MULTISOURCE.

Elena Visnar-Malinovska, Head of Climate Adaptation & Resilience Unit - DG Clima, European Commission

Elena Višnar Malinovská is currently a Head of the climate adaptation & resilience unit in DG Climate Action of the European Commission leading on the new Strategy for climate adaptation (2021) and the Horizon Europe Mission on Adaptation. She was also responsible for the European Climate Pact as a new major citizen engagement on climate action. She works for 17 years in the European Commission in different positions. As a policy officer in the Secretariat General, she dealt with environment, energy, mobility and climate policies (2005-2010, 2014-2016). In the Cabinet of Commissioner responsible for environment (2010-2014), she spearheaded the review of the air quality legislation as well as oversaw the infringements policy in the environment field. During the Slovak Presidency (2016), she acted as a spokesperson for the Council. She holds a law degree from the Comenius and Thyrnaviens universities in Slovakia and diplomas from European studies (SciencePo in Paris, College of Europe in Poland). An enthusiast cyclist (female winner of VéloMai competition in the Commission in 2018, 2019 and 2022, longest distance in 2020, in 2021 and in 2022), runner, mother of three hockey players, a scout leader and supporter of participatory leadership.

Eleni Mougiakou, Co-founder of commonspace and coordinator of 'participatory LAB', commonspace coop

Eleni Mougiakou is an Agricultural Engineer with a Diploma from Agricultural University of Athens, and a Master's Degree in Geoinformatics (NTUA). She is currently a PhD researcher in the subject of Landscape Planning. Her research focuses on Urban Green-Areas’ Strategic Planning, and the assessment of vulnerability of Mediterranean Cities to UHI effect and Climate Change.

She is working in the area of Urban Green-Space Planning, GIS and participatory planning for many years. She has a particular interest in Climate Change Adaptation of urban green-spaces and the built environment. She had the opportunity to implement her knowledge in complicated, ‘real-life’ projects, including EU strategies and linked funding opportunities.

She develops methodologies, methods, and digital tools (ppWebGIS) of participatory planning and design for the last ten years. She is a founding member of COMMONSPACE coop {https://en.commonspace.gr/about}, a leading organization on the issues of participatory planning and design of public space. She is leading the initiative “Participatory Lab for Climate Change adaptation” {https://en.participatorylab.org/}.

Eleni Myrivili, Global Chief Heat Officer, Arsht Rock Resilience Center

Eleni Myrivili wants cities to prepare for extreme heat by developing and adopting climate adaptation and mitigation strategies. For her, this work starts in her home city of Athens, where she was appointed Europe’s first Chief Heat Officer in 2021.  She's been using the position to raise awareness of the dangers of extreme heat and co-create and co-design a greener, cooler future for all.

In June 2022, through her role as a senior advisor at Arsht Rock Resilience Center and following an MoU Arsht Rock signed with the UN-Habitat, she was named the first-ever Global Chief Heat Officer to work in promoting a heat resilience agenda at UN-Habitat, the United Nations' program for human settlements and sustainable urban development.

Myrivili has advocated for an environmental, nature-positive, and climate-neutral agenda for more than two decades. A tenured assistant professor at the University of the Aegean, she was elected and has served as Deputy Mayor for the City of Athens where she designed the "Athens Resilience Strategy for 2030” with the collaboration of hundreds of Athens residents.

Elisa Muzzini, Senior Technical Advisor, Council of Europe Development Bank

Elisa Muzzini is currently Senior Technical Advisor for Urban and Regional Development at the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB). Prior to joining the CEB,  she was a Senior Economist at the World Bank where she managed lending, analytical and policy advisory services in the field of urban development and water supply, with a focus on the South Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean regions. Early in her career, Elisa worked for the economic consulting firm OXERA in the UK. She received a graduate degree in Economics with a concentration in public financial policy from the London School of Economics and a BA in Economics from Bocconi University in Italy.

Elisa Valía Cotanda, Deputy Mayor in the Valencia City Council and councilor of Integral Water Cycle, Transparency and Citizen Participation Councillorships, Valencia City Council and EMSHI

Elisa Valía Cotanda is an architecture and has a Master's Degree in European Law. She has worked for almost a decade in the definition and study of European Public policies. Nowadays, she is deputy mayor in the Valencia City Council and she is the councilor of Integral Water Cycle, Transparency and Citizen Participation Councillorships.

Moreover, she is the president of the metropolitan public entity responsible for the supply of drinking water in Valencia and its metropolitan area (EMSHI) for 1,7 inhabitants.

Elissavet Bargianni, Landscape Architect

Elissavet Bargianni is a Landscape Architect, trained both in Greece and in the UK (MLA). She has been working for a London-based landscape practice before moving on to the public sector in Athens in 2003, working for the National Garden. Scientific associate and editor of the Greek Academy awarded book about the National Garden (2016) and the Garden’s Management Plan. Elissavet initiated feasibility and landscape studies of various public spaces of Athens, introduced methodology for new tree avenues, initiated GIS mapping and tree inventory for the National Garden and the city while at the Design Department of the Municipality’s Urban Nature Directorate. Since 2018, she works for the Resilience and Sustainability Department. She is the Coordinator of the Athens Climate Adaptation Working Group  and a representative of the C40 CoolCities Network while actively collaborating with several climate networks and institutions. She participates in EU and other technical and financing programmes on climate adaptation and urban resilience. She is currently involved in the update of the Athens Climate Action Plan and the EIB Natural Capital Financing Facility (NCFF) programme for 4 high-impact green & blue infrastructure city projects.

EmmY Papazoglous, Director of Division of Strategic Planning, Resilience, Innovation and Documentation - Municipality of Athens

Grammatiki (Emmy) Papazoglou is the Director of Division of Strategic Planning, Resilience, Innovation and Documentation of the Municipality of Athens. She works as charge for the green transition of the City of Athens and as charge of the European Programs. She has been carried out further training in France, while from 2005 to 2009 she worked for the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece (KEDE). The main fields of her research work are cultural management, local government, City Resilience. She is doctoral candidate of the Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences. She has authored books and articles in scientific journals. She has worked in positions of responsibility, in particular as Director of Education and Lifelong Learning of the Municipality of Athens. She participates in EU programs since 1998 like the Program of twinned towns “Europe for Citizens, the Program “Creative Europe “(2014-2020) etc. She also participates in international conferences of the Ministry of Interior in cooperation with local associations of municipalities and regions.

Estefania Lahera, Software Engineer, Google

Estefania Lahera is a software engineer for Google's Environmental Insights Explorer. Google's Environmental Insights Explorer provides transportation and buildings carbon emissions estimates at the city scale, as well as estimated rooftop solar energy potential. While on EIE, Estefania has primarily worked on the buildings emissions estimates, including EIE's latest refresh - you can find details in this blog post.

Folayinka Dania, Chief Resilience Officer, Lagos State Resilience Office

Dr Folayinka Dania is the Chief Resilience Officer for Lagos State and the Chief Executive Officer of the Lagos State Resilience Office (LASRO). She coordinates the implementation of the Lagos Resilience Strategy in collaboration with other State Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies with the goal of ensuring that the State continues to thrive, adapt and grow sustainably. She was previously the State’s Deputy CRO and during her tenure she supervised the development of the Lagos Resilience Strategy by the multi-disciplinary LASRO team. Prior to joining LASRO, she served at the State Ministry of Health in various capacities, leading and developing State health programmes.

Dr Dania holds a bachelor’s degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Lagos and a master’s degree in Public Health from Imperial College London.

Giulia Galluccio, Research Division Director, Euro-Mediterranean Centre on Climate Change Foundation (CMCC)

Giulia Galluccio got her PhD on Science and Management of Climate Change at Cà Foscari University of Venice and she pursues at CMCC her research interest on climate finance and project financing mechanisms.

At CMCC she is the Head of CMCC ISCD Division – Information Systems for Climate Change and Decision-making and she is the Manager of the EEA European Topic Centre on Climate Change Adaptation and LULUCF.

Giulia has been responsible of the Scientific Coordination of Research Divisions at the Euro-Mediterranean Center for Climate Change (CMCC) supporting the efficient and effective implementation of planned research activities of the Center. From 2007 till 2021, she has been the Head of the CMCC Fund Raising office building strong cooperation within international networks and facilitating research proposals preparation in a number of climate change research field.

She coordinates and participates in various national, EU and international research projects on climate change adaptation and mitigation decision-making and policies and climate finance. She is the author and coordinator of the Italian National Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change.

Grzegorz Synowiec, Deputy Director of Climate and Energy Office, City of Wrocław

Grzegorz is a geographer, a graduate of the University of Wroclaw, a doctor of natural sciences, for 17 years, working at the Wroclaw City Hall, first at the Department of Spatial Planning, and currently he is the Deputy Director of Climate and Energy Office in the Department of Sustainable Development. Professionally related to: spatial planning and environmental impact assessment, planning of urban greenery, flood protection, nature protection and the development of blue and green infrastructure. On behalf of the city, he participated in the project of City adaptation plan to climate change in the city of Wroclaw, realized in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment. He is the co-author of the greenery policy in the current strategic Study of spatial development of Wroclaw. He is the co-author of the "Study of functional cohesion in the Wrocław Functional Area" carried out with the support of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development. Currently, he is a member of the team dealing with the implementation of the Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission in cooperation with the European Commission and Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR2030) initiative.

HarriËt Tiemens, Director, Arnhem-Nijmegen Green Metropolitan Region

Harriët Tiemens is director of the Green Metropolitan Region Arnhem-Nijmegen. The Green Metropolitan Region is growing towards 800.000 inhabitants and represents eighteen municipalities. The region faces the challenge of dealing with growing housing, working and mobility by finding the balance between metropolitan power and a relaxed quality of life: green growth. The region is also famous for its fast bike path network and hosting Velo-city, Nijmegen European Green Capital and the 2020 Polis Conference. Harriët Tiemens has served as Deputy Mayor for the City of Nijmegen for seven years until September 2021. She was responsible for Sustainability, Housing and Mobility. Heading the campaign to become European Green Capital 2018, she has represented Nijmegen in a number of international and European conferences and meetings, such as the COP, the EU Urban Agenda, the Austrian World Summit, GlobeEU, EcoProcura, Polis and meetings with the European Parliament and European Commission. Tiemens studied Environmental Science and Public Administration.

Holger Robrecht, Deputy Regional Director - Sustainable Resources, Climate & Resilience, ICLEI European Secretariat

Holger joined ICLEI in 1997. He holds a Diploma in spatial planning and is member of ICLEI’s Board of Directors, and leads ICLEI´s Sustainable Resources, Climate & Resilience team. Holger holds more than 25 years of experience in local environmental and sustainability management and planning, project development and co-ordination, team supervision as well as guidance and training. He developed, supervised and coordinated international and European projects including on urban resilience, climate adaptation, nature-based solutions and green infrastructures through various research projects and engaged with studies such as the European Environment Agency’s report on ‘Urban adaptation to climate change in Europe 2016’ and the ‘EKLIPSE Impact Evaluation Framework’.

Ilia Christantoni, Head of EU Projects Sector, DAEM - IT Company of the City of Athens

Ilia Christantoni is a National and Kapodistrian University of Athens graduate and holds a BSc Degree in Computer Science and Telecommunications (2004) and two post graduate degrees (MSc) in: Radioelectrology and Electronics (2012), as well as in Neurosciences, Socio-biology and Education (2014). She has been working in the IT sector (System Administration, Education) and since 2014 is a freelance Scientific Collaborator in the National Hellenic Research Foundation. Her professional skills were further enriched in the field of project management as a financial and project officer in EACEA (Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency), European Commission. Since 2017 is the Head of EU Projects Sector in DAEM S.A. and has been involved in the projects City4Age, CHARGED, VisiOn, CO3, EXTREMA, DUET, MESOC, CODE(EEA Grants), PRELUDE, FUSILLI, AI4PublicPolicy, ASSURED, CompAIR etc.

Ine Vandecasteele, Expert - Urban Climate Adaptation, European EnviroNment Agency

Ine is an expert in Urban Climate Adaptation at the European Environment Agency. She is responsible for the Agency’s Urban Adaptation Report, published every 4 years, which aims at supporting and inspiring the much-needed process of adaptation to climate change at the local level. Ine has a background in both environmental and political sciences, and has 12 years of experience in providing scientific evidence for policymaking in the fields of water management, energy, climate impacts and urban sustainability.

Iva Bedenko, Senior advisor for preparation and  implementation of regional and international projects - CITY OF ZAGREB, City Office of Strategic Planning and Development of the City

MA from the Zagreb School of Architecture in 1998. Worked at architectural design offices from 1995 to 2001. Currently working in Zagreb City government and as secretary of Europan Croatia. Worked on implementation of many EU-funded projects including currently running proGIreg, which focuses on implementing nature based solutions in post-industrial city areas, and as part of the team that produced the City of Zagreb Master Plan 2000+, and the Strategies of development of the City of Zagreb and Zagreb Urban Agglomeration. Speaks fluent English and good French.

Johannes Klumpers, Head of Secretariat Mission Adaptation to Climate Change, European Commission

Head of Secretariat for Climate Adaption Mission at DG CLIMA (appointed in April 2021). He previously worked as Head of Unit in Research and Industrial Infrastructures at DG Research and Innovation (European Commission). Johannes Klumpers has been occupying management posts in the European Commission for more than fifteen years under various roles and responsibilities. He notably established and led the “Group of Chief Scientific Advisors – SAM, EGE” Unit that provided science advice to all Commission departments. A German National, born in Geneva in 1964, he studied forestry and wood technology and obtained a PhD from the French Ecole Nationale du Génie Rural, des Eaux et Forêts (ENGREF). After several years of industrial research in Sweden, he joined the European Commission's Directorate-General for Research & Innovation in 1998 and has worked there since, on a variety of topics, from renewable raw materials and industrial processes to gender, science in society, finance and budget.

Jole Lutzu, Junior Officer, Urban Resilience and Climate Adaptation, ICLEI Europe

Jole is Junior Officer at ICLEI Europe in Sustainable Resources, Climate and Resilience, supporting local governments facing urbanization challenges, assisting them building a vision that allows them and their communities to consolidate resilient and sustainable transformation pathways. She is an architect from Italy with experience in strategic resilience planning, infrastructure and governance. She has conducted key research in Rome and Barcelona on community led transition processes and public space regeneration.

Jole currently supports a number of different European funded projects on urban resilience and climate adaptation, such as ARCH (cultural heritage), REGILIENCE (regional resilience), and CoCliCo (coastal cities), and directly involved in global advocacy initiatives, such as Making Cities Resilient 2030.

Josip Beber, Project Manager, Green energy cooperative (ZEZ)

Josip Beber, (Male), has a background in Environmental science and a master’s degree on Environmental management. Currently he is working as professional associate on different projects in Green energy cooperative that include: nature-based solutions and platform management . His work includes working with municipalities and cities in Croatia where they fuse technological, social, and environmental innovation. In Regreen H2020 project Josip contributes with business model development and decision support to WP8 (Innovation and impact creation).  

Judith Moreno, Senior Technician, Office of Strategy-Donostia City Council

Judith Moreno is technical assistance to the management of the Strategic Planning Office of Donostia/San Sebastián. She deals with the drafting and management of the strategic plan, and also works on the implementation and coordination of projects related to the current Strategic plan E2030DSS. She is in charge of research studies, basic indicators, monitoring and evaluation of the city's E2030 Strategy.

Previously, she worked as a senior technician in the same Strategic Planning Office and as a researcher at the Autonomous University of Madrid-UAM.  She holds a doctorate in Geography, a bachelor's degree in History and Geography, as well as postgraduate studies in Urban and Environmental Planning; Local Development & Social Economy and Strategic Management of Cities, and more recent additional training in sustainability or the development of the Agenda2030-SDGs.

Kathryn Oldham, Chief Resilience Officer, Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA)

Kathryn currently heads up a specialist unit delivering disaster risk reduction and emergency response services for Greater Manchester’s ten local authorities. She has led the development of Greater Manchester’s Resilience Strategy and provides a strategic advice function to the multi-agency Greater Manchester Resilience Forum partnership.

Kathryn heads up Greater Manchester’s participation in the international Resilient Cities Network, UNDRR’s Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR2030) initiative, within which Greater Manchester has been recognised as a Resilience Hub, and also the Counter Terrorism Preparedness Network (CTPN).

With over 15 years’ experience in resilience, Kathryn has been engaged in drafting national, British, European and International Standards on resilience.

Kathryn holds a medical degree and has previously held a wide range of positions in local government.

Konstantina Karydi, Senior Advisor and EU Representative; Urban Innovative Actions, Resilient Cities Catalyst; Deputy Head, Climate Change Hub Greece

Konstantina Karydi is an impact oriented professional with global level experience on urban resilience, climate transformation and change management leading transformative change in systems and organisations to address 21st century risks and challenges. Her recent work is on Global Urban Development and Resilience working as Senior Advisor and Europe Representative to Resilient Cities Catalyst (RCC) and EU Urban Innovative Actions Expert. In these capacities, she is co-founder and Deputy Head of the Climate Change Hub, an ambitious initiative to accelerate climate transformation through knowledge development, ecosystem building and capacity in Greece and SE Europe. Among others, she currently sits at the MCR2030 UNDRR Regional Coordinating Committee for Europe and Central Asia and serves as adhoc European Commission Urban policy and Climate Transformation advisor while she offers expert support to other national and international entities globally.

She has held positions as Associate Director for Europe & Middle East and Climate Transformation Lead for the global 100 Resilient Cities Initiative of the Rockefeller Foundation as well as Special Advisor on Resilience and Social Security at the Greek Prime Minister’s office Alexis Tsipras and Advisor to the Mayor of Athens, Giorgos Kaminis, with a focus on the EU Urban Agenda. Prior, she worked for 10 years in the areas of civic engagement and civil society growth in the Balkans and the Black Sea. She is co-founder of the regional organisation Balkans Beyond Borders (BBB) focusing on Balkan integration and peace-building through culture.

For her work she has been co-recipient of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) civil society prize promoting "Identities, European values and cultural heritage in Europe" and the European Youth Charlemagne Award. She is holder of the international Executive Masters Innovative Governance of Large Urban Systems from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland and the MSc on European Public Policy from University College London (UCL), UK.

Kostas Bakoyannis, Mayor, City of Athens

Kostas Bakoyannis is Mayor of Athens. He served as Governor of Central Greece from 2014 to 2019 and as Mayor of Karpenissi, from 2011 to 2014.

Βorn in 1978 in Athens, he graduated from Millfield School (UK) in 1996 before going to Brown University (USA) to study History and International Relations. He continued with postgraduate studies in Public Policy, with a specialization in Macroeconomics, at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government (USA). He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science and International Relations, from the University of Oxford (2019).

He has worked at the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as executive manager in the private sector in Athens. He has also held positions in the European Parliament in Brussels and the World Bank in Kosovo.

He is a council member of the European Council on Foreign Relations and a Greek Leadership Council member of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN).

He has served in Greek Special Forces as a Paratrooper.

He speaks English and German.

Laura Guaita, Project Manager - Specialist in Urban and Landscape Design, KEAN - Cell of Alternative Youth Activities

Laura Guaita is a graduate of the Polytechnic University of Milan and holds a BSc Degree in Architecture, as well as a post-graduate degree (MSc) in Sustainable Architecture and Landscape Design.

She is currently working as a Project Manager for KEAN – Cell of Alternative Youth Activities, an NGO based in Athens, Greece, active on multiple projects regarding non-formal education and creativity, social inclusion and human rights, sustainability and environmental awareness.

In KEAN, Laura is coordinating, supervising, and implementing the activities of multiple EU-funded projects, including the H2020 proGIreg project, aiming at promoting the use of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) for the urban regeneration of postindustrial districts, through participative co-design and co-creation processes.

She believes in education and awareness as key factors for change, and she advocates for holistic and trans-disciplinary approaches to explore ways to create more sustainable communities and environment.

Leon Kapetas, Lead for Programs, Climate Resilience, Global Resilient Cities Network

A hydrologist by training, Leon is a Senior Climate Resilience Specialist leading the implementation of programs for the Resilience Cities Network. He has a strong interest on Nature-based Solutions as a vehicle for adapting to climate change, protecting natural capital, and meeting development objectives.

Leon has experience in research and consulting environments across high- and low-income countries. He has worked as consultant for the World Bank on the development of ‘climate resilience toolkits for PPPs’ and has developed climate risk assessments for African cities. His work in South America focused on water resources development in Andean catchments. Leon also worked as expert for the Urban Innovative Actions (ERDF) to support Amsterdam’s program of smart Blue-Green roofs. As Research Associate at the University of Cambridge, Leon developed NBS assessment methods in the context of adaptation planning. Over the years, he has engaged in numerous capacity building schemes on climate resilience & NBS mainstreaming.

Lina liakou, Regional director eme, resilient cities network 

Lina Liakou leads the resilience practice in Europe and the Middle East for the Resilient Cities Network, working with member cities across the region in developing their resilience thinking through long term City Resilience Strategies and actionable initiatives. Before joining the Network, Lina was Deputy Mayor and Chief Resilience Officer for the City of Thessaloniki, Greece. As a Deputy Mayor, Lina Liakou initiated collaborations with the European Commission, the EIB and the World Bank.

Lorenzo Chelleri, Chair, Urban Resilience Research Network (URNet)

Lorenzo Chelleri is the Chair of the Urban Resilience research Network (URNet), director of the Int. Msc. in City Resilience Design and Management at the International University of Catalonia (UIC Barcelona) and senior researcher at the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST). He worked at the European Environment Agency (EEA) and pursuing his PhD on urban resilience theories before conducting in the last 10 years empirical research in Mexico, Bolivia, Morocco, Europe and Asia, authoring more than 50 scientific papers and co-leading with URNet colleagues the urban resilience international research agenda. He is currently principal investigator of different European projects, executive board member of the International Forum of Urbanism (IFoU), and co-leading the creation of the Educational platform of Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRNet-EDU). In Barcelona, he founded the Urban Resilience Lab, while advising and supporting local and regional authorities in the framing and implementation of urban climate resilience strategies.

Luis Tejero, Officer Department of Climate Change, Madrid City Council

Agricultural engineer and Master in City Science. He has been working for Municipality of Madrid since 2005. His activity has been developed at different departments, Parks & Gardens, Environmental Education and since last years at Energy and Climate Change Dept. Currently he is working on Climate Change policies, focusing on coordination of Adaptation to Climate Change city programs

LUCA ARBAU, OFFICER, URBAN RESILIENCE AND CLIMATE ADAPTATION, ICLEI EUROPE

Luca Arbau is an architect and a sustainable urban development practitioner. He works as an Officer at ICLEI Europe and at the Covenant of Mayors - Europe in the field of urban resilience and adaptation to climate change. Previously, he was Research and Communication Officer at Metropolis (Barcelona). Luca also worked in sustainability research and as an architect, focusing on co-design and co-creation of urban spaces. He holds a master degree in international cooperation and emergency architecture from the International University of Catalonia (Barcelona) and a master degree in architecture from the University of Ferrara (Italy). Luca is a native Italian speaker, is fluent in English and Spanish, and has good knowledge of Catalan.

Magnus Qvant, Senior Strategist Climate Adaptation and Resilience, City of Malmö

Magnus Qvant has ten years of working experience at executive level in the field of urban resilience and is co-founder of Nordic Urban Resilience Institute. He has also more than 20 years of experience in training and practice in civil security and emergency management, both nationally and internationally. Magnus Qvant is also the Secretary- General of Resilient Regions Association, a neutral and independent arena for collaboration on Urban Resilience, addressing societal challenges involving politicians, the industry, the private and public sector as well as the academia.

Maria Teresa Ribeiro, SLandscape Architecht, Cascais Municipality

Maria Wirth, Researcher & Project Manager, alchemia-nova GmbH

Marianne Zandersen, Senior researcher, Aarhus University

Marnie McGregor, Strategic Communications and Advocacy Lead, Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy

Marianne Zandersen, Senior researcher, Aarhus University

Max Beijneveld, EU Policy Coordinator, Climate Alliance

Miguel Vega, Project Manager, Royal Botanic Garden - Spanish National Research Council

Noemie Fompeyrine, HEAD OF RESILIENCE, STRATEGIC FORESIGHT, RESEARCH & INNOVATION, CITY OF PARIS

Nuha Eltinay, Senior Officer, Urban Resilience and Climate Adaptation, ICLEI Europe

Oksana Nechytailo, Deputy, Irpin city council

Rens de Boer, Researcher nature-based adaptation, Wageningen University & Research

Olena Tarasova-Krasiieva, Project Manager, UNDP

Paul Sayers, Associate Adviser to WWF-UK, Senior Research Fellow at ECI, and founding Partner of Sayers and Partners LLP

Piero Pelizzaro, Director Europe and International Department, City of Bologna

Régine Resbeut-Montanella, Special Advisor to the Mayor of Cannes, City of Cannes

Rim Khamis, Project Manager – Climate Governance, Resilience & Innovation, Acterra

Silvia Haslinger Olsson, co-founder of Nordic Urban Resilience Institute

Silvia has several years of experience in the field of urban resilience and is co-founder of Nordic Urban Resilience Institute. Since 2013 she has been working as COO for Resilient Regions Association, a neutral and independent arena for collaboration on urban resilience, addressing societal challenges involving politicians, the industry, the private and public sector as well as the academia. Previously she has been working with cluster strategy and innovation at the Regional Development Agency is Southern Sweden.

Stefanie Lindenberg, Coordinator, Natural Capital Finance Facility, European Investment Bank

Stefanie is a Coordinator for the Natural Capital Finance Facility (NCFF) which aims to provide finance to projects investing into biodiversity and nature-based adaptation with the European Investment Bank (EIB). Before being appointed to coordinate work on the NCFF, Stefanie was part of the EIB’s Climate, Environment and Social team where she mainly worked on climate-related issues, the Bank’s climate lending standards and the Climate Strategy in particular. Stefanie has also gained experience with the European Commission’s Directorate for Environment, the environment team of a private consultancy company and the city network ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability. Stefanie holds a Master in Political Science from the London School of Economics.

Stella Psarropoulou, Deputy Chief Resilience Officer, City of Thessaloniki

She works as an officer at the Municipality of Thessaloniki (Greece) for  17 years, and in the recent years as a strategic planning and funding management officer at the Department of Operational Planning and development programs monitoring. Since 2016, she has been team member of the Resilient Thessaloniki office, contributed on the launch and implementation of the city’s Resilient Strategy “Thessaloniki 2030”, while since 2019 is appointed as the Deputy Chief Resilience officer. She is also the Municipality's Project Coordinator for the Finance Contract with the European Investment Bank and project team member of a number of European funded projects (Project Manager of Horizon project Food Trails) relevant to her expertise on urban resilience and sustainable development.

Her background is in Financial Studies, she hold a Master’s degree in “European Integration & Governance”, University of Macedonia (GR) and a second Master’s degree in “Spatial Planning for Sustainable and Resilient Urban Development”, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), Faculty School (GR) where she has started  in 2021 her PHD research on SDGs.

Susana Gonçalves, Director, Civil Protection Department

Susana Gonçalves concluded her degree in Environmental Health at Health School of the Polytechnic Institute of Oporto in 2001.

Below are her credentials:

• Municipal Operational Coordinator of Matosinhos;

• Director of the Municipal Civil Protection;

• Operacional Director for resilience in Matosinhos;

• Senior technician in Health and Safety at Work, by IDICT since 2004.

• Teacher in the Advanced Specialization in Civil Protection at Instituto CRIAP;

• Guest assistant teacher at the Polytechnic’s Institute of Oporto Health School, in the Environmental Health Course;

• Teacher in the Post-Graduate Project and Leadership in Prevention, Safety and Civil Protection Emergency Actions at Lusófona‘s University of Oporto.

• Trainer of several courses and in several institutions, in areas such as ergonomics, prevention and safety against fire and toxicity; fire safety and first aid; environment, hygiene and safety at work; health and safety at work; rescue swimming techniques.

Tamsin Faragher, Principal Resilience Officer, City of Cape Town

Tamsin Faragher is a built environment specialist with experience both locally (Cape Town) and internationally (London, Dubai and Abu Dhabi). She has worked across disciplines in the private and public sector (provincial and local government) within the planning, built environment, landscape architecture, infrastructure planning, environment, water and most recently - food “spaces”.

Tamsin is interested in the nexus between policy, practice and implementation, particularly as it relates to water resilience, food systems and public space in city-making and the contrasting, competing demands between the environment and development.

Tereza Hnátková, Principal investigator & Senior Researcher, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CZU Prague)

Dr Hnátková is a bioengineer specialized in the management and bioremediation of soil, water and sludge. She is responsible for research for commercial projects focused on the treatment of (waste)water thought esp. natural based solutions. She has 15 years of experience in contaminated water related services, from characterization and risk assessment, over design of treatment strategies, to coordination of both innovative and large-scale preparation of design documentation and construction of technological units. She is Project Manager for the ongoing innovative activities of Dekonta and CZU, which includes both operational and structural R&D projects. In this capacity he has successfully obtained funding for various R&D projects on national and European level. The main task within the projects was to specify – supplement – critique and verify the methodological approaches used to monitoring, design and implement the technical solutions - this was done in the form of theoretical approaches and practical instructions for applications.

Tetyana Simchuk, Principal Officer, Department for International Cooperation and European Integration, Rivne Regional Military (State) Administration

Tetyana Simchuk is an experienced public servant, project manager and interpreter. She works in the Department for International Cooperation and European Integration (Rivne Regional Military/State Administration) based in Rivne, Ukraine. She brings her vast education and experience obtained in both US and Europe to her current role where she is dedicated to make her region and, therefore, her country more successful, transparent, and sustainable. Tetyana is a spiritual fast learning professional with a passion for travelling, choreography, yoga, and ecology.

Vasileios-Foivos Axiotis, Vice Mayor for Urban and Buildings' Infrastructure and City Planning, City of Athens

Vasileios-Foivos Axiotis is Vice Mayor for Urban and Buildings' Infrastructure and City Planning of the City of Athens.

At the same time he is active in the construction industry.

He is a graduate of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) School of Civil Engineering and holds a Master's degree from Columbia University The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science in New York and the Harvard Business School in Boston.

Vasileios Latinos, Coordinator, Urban resilience and climate adaption, ICLEI Europe

Vasileios is a climate adaptation and resilience expert, with 13+ years experience, working with local and regional governments throughout Europe. He is coordinating the resilience portfolio of ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability for Europe, responsible for development, management and coordination of projects and services in the topical areas of climate change adaptation, urban resilience and disaster risk reduction and supporting the programmatic development of ICLEI in this field. Vasileios is also involved in standardisation activities and manages the European Urban Resilience Forum since 2016.

Zoi Vrontisi, Senior Researcher, E3Modelling

Zoi Vrontisi has more than 15 years of professional and academic experience in energy and climate policy and climate risk assessment. She contributes as a senior researcher and project coordinator for several EU funded research projects focusing on the interlinkages between sustainable development and climate policy, the socioeconomic implications of climate risks, and just transition issues. She has a strong know-how in quantitative economic assessments with the application of sophisticated modelling tools, such as the large-scale CGE GEM-E3 model. In addition to her experience in E3-Modelling, she has worked for the European Commission (JRC), the Greek Ministry of Development, research institutes (E3MLab, NTUA) and the private sector. She was a member of the BoD of the Independent Power Transmission Operator of Greece and the Chairwoman of the National Center for the Environment and Sustainable Development of Greece. Zoi holds an Electrical and Computer Engineering 5-year degree from NTUA and a M.Sc. in Environmental Technology and Energy Policy from Imperial College and regularly publishes her research in high impact journals.