Cristóbal REVECO, Social Scientist, German Climate Service Center (Gerics)

Dr. Cristóbal Reveco is a Social Scientist at the German Climate Service Center (Gerics). His work focuses on exploring the social dimensions underpinning the use of climate information. His background is in Development Studies and Environmental Sciences. Currently, Cristobal act as the coordinator of the EU Project VALORADA. VALORADA focuses on developing methods to facilitate the uptake and use of climate information for decision making in local governments. Previously, Cristóbal worked for more than ten years in Latin America supporting local governments planning efforts to adapt to climate change, including the articulation of municipal networks on climate action in Chile, Costa Rica and Colombia, designed and implemented capacity building programmes for urban decision makers and planners, and coordinated collaborations between local governments and universities, facilitating science-policy interactions in the frame of climate change.

CLOTILDE MAHÉ, Expert Events & Project Communications, ICLEI Europe

Clotilde is a Communication expert at ICLEI Europe – Local Governments for Sustainability, where she leads communication efforts for European projects focused on nature-based solutions, circular economy and renewable energies. With seven years of experience in project management and public communication, she supports capacity-building and advocacy in sustainability. Passionate about sustainable development, Clotilde engages diverse stakeholders in advancing urban regeneration, sustainability education, and energy transition through communication work.

SIMON RACÉ, Junior Expert - NbS & Biodiversity team, ICLEI Europe

With a background in environmental policy, Simon currently serves as Junior Expert within the Biodiversity & Nature-based Solutions (NbS) team at ICLEI Europe. Last year, he participated in the organisation of a session related to NbS and health. His contribution to EURESFO 2025 will focus on water resilience and policy, connecting local and regional cases from various European projects.

Alison De Luise, Adaptation Manager, Climate Alliance

Alison is an urban climate change adaptation specialist, applying policy, partnership & program management experience towards support city resiliency. As Manager, Adaptation to Climate Change at Climate Alliance, Alison contributes to the Covenant of Mayors for Europe's adaptation and energy poverty work, building adaptation capacity across European cities. She also manages the EEA European Topic Center on Climate Change Just Resilience Task. Prior to this, Alison led strategic initiatives aimed at supporting case-making for Green Infrastructure across US cities. As Senior Advisor at the Water Center at Penn, she co-developed integrated solutions to complex urban water resource challenges. As head of Strategic Partnerships at Bioversity International, she focused her partnership development efforts on achieving development impact and securing funding. This work built on her years working for Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in food security and in rural development policy. The foundation of all this experience was her three years establishing social enterprise initiatives in Swaziland.

Expert, Resilience and Climate Adaptation, ICLEI Europe

Elena Petsani is an Urban Resilience & Sustainability Planner (MSc & MEng.). She has a strong professional background with seven years of experience in inclusive and climate-resilient urban development, sustainability strategies, policymaking, 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, CARDIMED, RECREATE, MULTISOURCE, Pathways to Resilience and UP2030.

Erica Manuelli, Junior Expert, Resilience and Climate Adaptation, ICLEI Europe

Erica is a Junior Officer at ICLEI Europe. As part of the Resilience and Climate Adaptation team, she is currently involved in diverse European projects, supporting regions in their climate resilience-building process (Regions4Climate, Pathways2Resilience) and focusing on citizen engagement for adaptation solutions (AGORA). She holds a Bachelor in International Studies (University of Milan, Italy) and a MSc in Environmental Governance (University of Freiburg, Germany). Her mother tongue is Italian and she speaks fluent English and French, as well as good German and beginner Spanish.

Erika Palmieri, Junior Expert, Resilience and Climate Adaptation, ICLEI Europe

Erika Palmieri is a Junior Expert in Resilience and Climate Adaptation at ICLEI Europe. With over 6 years of experience ranging from architecture and urban planning to humanitarian work, with organisations like the Red Cross and UNHCR, her expertise spans between climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. Along her career, she has provided strategic territorial and infrastructure planning, recovery responses and monitoring and assessment tools to enhance resilience of local and regional governments. In parallel to her professional endeavours, Erika is actively engaged in academic research activities and she is currently pursuing a PhD in Regional Planning and Public Policy.

Currently she is supporting several EU funded projects on regional climate resilience, such as Regions4Climate and REGILIENCE, as well as multi-hazard built environment resilience (MULTICLIMACT).

Imanol Ugalde, Junior Expert, Resilience and Climate Adaptation, ICLEI Europe

Imanol is a Junior Expert in the Urban Resilience and Climate Adaptation team at ICLEI European Secretariat. He holds a bachelor’s degree on renewable energy engineering and a master’s degree on sustainable energy engineering from the University of the Basque Country. Currently he is involved in diverse European projects and initiatives, covering a wide range of topics: urban resilience and adaptation to climate change, climate-neutral cities, post-conflict recovery and resilience, and cultural heritage protection. His mother tongue is Basque, and he also speaks Spanish and English.

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.

Imanol Ugalde, Junior Officer, Urban Resilience and Climate Adaptation

Imanol is a Junior Officer in the Urban Resilience and Climate Adaptation team at ICLEI European Secretariat. He holds a bachelor’s degree on renewable energy engineering and a master’s degree on sustainable energy engineering from the University of the Basque Country. Currently he is involved in diverse European projects, covering a wide range of topics: urban resilience and adaptation to climate change; climate-neutral cities; ecological restoration, protection and preservation; and cultural heritage protection. His mother tongue is Basque, and he also speaks Spanish and English.

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

Ine leads the work on urban adaptation to climate change at the European Environment Agency, including the recent publication ‘Urban Adaptation in Europe: What works?’. She has a background in both environmental and political sciences, and has 15 years of experience in providing scientific evidence for policymaking in the fields of water management, energy, climate impacts and urban sustainability.

Jenn cote, Expert, Events and Project Communications, ICLEI Europe

Jennifer Cote is Expert in Events and Project Communications at ICLEI Europe, based in Freiburg (Germany). As an Expert, Jennifer has been a communications lead for various Horizon Europe projects, mainly focused on the topics of governance and social innovation. Due to her strong event management experience, she has also led event logistics and communications for flagship European conferences, such as the European Conference on Sustainable Cities & Towns (Aalborg2024) and several European Urban Resilience Forums. This year she is involved in the organisation of the Cities Mission Conference 2025. She holds a Master of Public Policy and Management & Organisation from the Hertie School (Berlin, Germany) as well as a BA in Politics & International Relations from the University of Greenwich (London, UK). Jennifer has previously worked for the United Nations System Staff College in Bonn (Germany), Wiley publishing company (Germany), and West Suffolk Council (UK). She is a native in English and speaks German.

Katherine Peinhardt, Senior Expert for Communications, Resilience and Climate Adaptation

Katherine Peinhardt is a Senior Expert for Communications on the Resilience and Climate Adaptation team at ICLEI Europe. Prior to this role, she was a German Chancellor Fellow supported by the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung in Germany. Her research dives into links between place and resilience, exploring the ways that communities are already building both physical and social resilience through urban design and public space planning and management. She previously worked as a Project Reporter and Communications Associate at Project for Public Spaces (PPS), during which time she focused on telling the story of placemaking. She managed written content and promoted a narrative for building cities around places.

Katja Firus, Partner, T6 Ecosystems srl

Katja is a partner of T6 and the manager of the sustainability department. Being an economist by study, she has become an experienced and specifically trained project manager for European and international projects, especially in the field of sustainability and the impacts of climate change. In this framework Katja has been co-ordinating and managing several European research projects, using a value-based approach as basis for project planning, monitoring and evaluation. Currently she is involved in the following Horizon Europe projects: LOCALISED, CircEUlar, SDGs-EYES, CASRI and PHISHES.

Laura Pirazan-Palomar, Expert, Resilience and Climate Adaptation, ICLEI Europe

Laura is an Urban Resilience and Adaptation Expert at ICLEI Europe. She is an environmental engineer with a double Master’s degree in Natural Resources Management and Development from the Technische Hochschule Köln (TH Köln) in Germany and the Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí (UASLP) in Mexico. Laura has experience in environmental consulting in Colombia and has also contributed to academia as an external tutor at TH Köln, developing project ideas related to nature-based solutions (NbS) and ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction. Currently, she is actively involved in EU-funded projects focusing on climate change adaptation, NbS, urban resilience, cultural heritage, and climate finance for adaptation.

LUCA ARBAU, Expert, RESILIENCE AND CLIMATE ADAPTATION, ICLEI EUROPE

Luca Arbau is an architect and a sustainable urban development practitioner. He is ICLEI Europe's representative in Brussels from the resilience and climate adaptation team. He is involved in the implementation of the EU Mission on Adaptation and the Covenant of Mayors - Europe's pillar on adaptation. He is a key organiser of the annual European Urban Resilience Forum. He holds a master's degree in international cooperation and emergency architecture from the International University of Catalonia (Spain) and a master's degree in architecture from the University of Ferrara (Italy).

Magnus Qvant, co-founder of Nordic Urban Resilience Institute

Magnus Qvant has more than ten years of working experience at the executive level in the field of urban resilience and is co-founder of the 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. Since 2022 Magnus Qvant has been contracted by UN as a resilience expert, supporting Ukraine cities in their effort of recovery planning, based on resilience and sustainability principles.

Nadine Burbar, Manager, Partnerships and Events, Resilient Cities Network

Nadine brings a wealth of experience as an urban resilience practitioner, having served as a Deputy Chief Resilience Officer with a proven track record in local governance. Currently working at the Resilient Cities Network, she specializes in managing partnerships and curating engagement events at both local and global levels to advance the urban resilience agenda. Nadine holds a Master's degree in Urban Management and Development from Erasmus University Rotterdam, and in Competitiveness and Innovation from Deusto University in Spain. She combines academic knowledge with practical expertise to contribute meaningfully to the field. In addition, Nadine has conducted research and developed expertise in digital inclusion and digital resilience, further enhancing her expertise to address modern urban challenges and make cities a better place for all.

Nidhi Misra, Expert Communications, Green Digital Transformation, ICLEI Europe

Sara Dorato, Communication Manager, T6 Ecosystems

Selene Angelone, Senior Expert, Resilience and Climate Adaptation, ICLEI Europe

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

Silvia Haslinger Olsson has 10 years of experience in the field of urban resilience and is co-founder of Nordic Urban Resilience Institute. Since 2013 she has been focused on collaborative projects in urban resilience, addressing societal challenges together with politicians, the private and public sector and academia. Previously she has been working with cluster strategy and innovation at the Regional Development Agency is Southern Sweden. Since 2022 Silvia has been contracted by UN as a resilience expert, supporting Ukraine cities in their effort of recovery planning, based on resilience and sustainability principles.

Vasileios Latinos, Head of Resilience and Climate Adaptation, ICLEI Europe

Vasileios Latinos, is Head of Resilience and Climate Adaptation at ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability, European Secretariat. Vasileios is a climate resilience expert and project coordinator, with 14 years experience, working with local and regional governments throughout Europe. He is responsible for the management and coordination of projects and services in the topical areas of climate change adaptation, urban resilience and disaster risk reduction and leading the programmatic development of ICLEI in this field.

Yigyeong Oh, Associate Programme Management Officer, UNDRR Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia

Yigyeong is Associate Programme Management Officer at UNDRR Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia. Since joining UNDRR in 2023, she has been monitoring UNDRR's engagement across 55 Member States, being a focal point for the Issue-based Coalition on Environment and Climate Change, as well as the Making Cities Resilient 2030 initiative.
Prior to joining UNDRR, she worked in research and project management with international organizations and government agencies, including Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and UNDP Ethiopia Country Office. Yigyeong holds a Master’s degree in Area studies from Yonsei University (Korea).