Albert Gassull, Director of Public Space Services at the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona

Architect from the Polytechnical University of Catalonia. Until 2008 he worked as a free-lance architect and made more than 70 projects and works (reform and new construction) of industrial, healthcare and educational buildings, single-family and multi-family homes, as well as public space. Director of Technical Services and Environment at Corbera de Llobregat from 2005 to 2008. Since 2008 he works in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, where he has assumed different rolls related to projects and works. Since 2019 he is de Director of public space services.

Hear him speak in the session Future-proofing Europe’s Building Stock: Climate, Social & Material Resilience.

Aleksandra Kazmierczak, Expert in climate change and human health, European Environment Agency

Aleksandra is an expert in climate change and human health at the European Environment Agency. Her main task is managing the recently launched European Climate and Health Observatory. Aleksandra worked for over a decade on urban adaptation to climate change. She was the lead author of the 2020 EEA report ‘Urban adaptation in Europe: how cities and towns respond to climate change’. She has background in geography and environmental sciences. Prior to joining the EEA in 2017, she was a researcher at the University of Manchester and Cardiff University, UK.

Hear her speak in the session Boosting the Impact of Nature-Based Solutions for Resilient Cities and Ecosystems.

Alice Reeves, Deputy Chief Resilience Office, Greater London Authority

Alice is a resilience leader and strategist. She delivered London's first city-wide resilience strategy and set up the first cross-organisational data-sharing capability to develop intelligence and risk-management across the capital in response to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Hear her speak in the session Towards a resilient recovery.

Anat Eizik Caspi, Head of Cities Partnerships & Deputy CRO - The Resilience & Social Equality Authority, Tel-Aviv Yafo Municipality

Head of Cities Partnerships specializing in building partnerships between local authorities. Leads strategic collaborations with governmental offices, NGOs and civil society, on local, national and global level. Municipal Social Engagement Coordinator, The municipal education administration, Tel-Aviv- Yafo Municipality.

Hear her speak in the session Towards a resilient recovery.

Andrew Bower, Programme Manager at the UNDRR Regional Office for Europe

Andrew is in charge of Sendai Framework monitoring by national authorities across the region as well as local level engagement and urban resilience. Prior to joining UNDRR, Andrew 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. He builds also on experience both in academia working on EU international relations and diplomacy for the College of Europe and the non-profit sector influencing EU external policies and instruments. Andrew holds a Master degree in middle eastern studies from King's College London, where he has been affiliated as a Visiting Research Fellow, and graduated with Bachelor degree in Political Sciences from the University of Birmingham.

Hear him speak in the session Disaster Risk Reduction: Thinking about Present and Dreaming about Future.

ANGELIKA TAMÁSOVÁ, CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION EXPERT, EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT AGENCY

Angelika Tamásová joined the European Environment Agency’s Climate Change Adaptation and LULUCF Group in 2021, after performing tasks as a policy advisor on climate change adaptation at the Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic. In her current position Angelika is contributing to the European Environment Information and Observation Network’s (EIONET) work on climate change impacts, vulnerability and adaptation, and to the EEA’s developments of adaptation monitoring approaches, including adaptation indicators. She has extensive experience in national adaptation policy processes, stakeholder engagement, capacity-building and international climate negotiations. She is a graduate of Comenius University in Bratislava in environmental planning and management.’

She will give the Opening Statement.

Andreas Jaeger, MSc MEng - Officer, Built Infrastructure & 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. His buildings expertise is currently being applied in the context of multiple Horizon 2020 projects and, further, he is contributing to the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC) as well as the Coalition of the Willing on Buildings of the Covenant of Mayors. 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.

Andreas will facilitate the session Future-proofing Europe’s Building Stock: Climate, Social & Material Resilience.

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.

Alis-Daniela will facilitate the The revolution of data in integrated climate strategies.

Arthur Hinsch, Officer, Covenant of Mayors Office

Arthur is part of the Covenant of Mayors Office bringing together signatory cities to engage in peer-learning and capacity building around climate change mitigation and adaptation measures.

He will facilitate the session A holistic approach towards climate neutrality: Integrating climate change mitigation & adaptation.

Belma Pasic, Programme Manager, Sarajevo Economic Region Development Agency SERDA

Belma Pasic is Coordinator of the Department for Transnational Cooperation Projects - Programme Manager in Sarajevo Economic Region Development Agency SERDA. She has extensive experience in preparation and implementation of projects funded by the EU and other international donors. She focuses on projects aimed at environmental protection, sustainable tourism development, economic growth and support to SMEs.

Hear her speak in the session Boosting the Impact of Nature-Based Solutions for Resilient Cities and Ecosystems.

Bernd Decker, Senior Advisor, LIFE Programme, European Commission

Bernd coordinates the sub-programme climate action of LIFE and specialises particularly on urban adaptation and mitigation strategies within the sub-programme. Before joining CINEA, Bernd managed urban transport projects at Rupprecht Consult and worked on urban environmental management programmes at UNHABITAT.

Hear him speak at the session Innovative financing solutions for green and resilient cities.

Bettina Wilk, senior project officer,  nature-based solutions and biodiversity, ICLEI Europe

Bettina Wilk is a senior project officer for nature-based solutions and biodiversity at ICLEI Europe. She is involved in several pertinent H2020 projects and coordinating NetworkNature, the one-stop-resource and exchange platform for nature-based solutions across science, policy and practice. She was a researcher at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University. Ms. Wilk holds a master in Environmental Governance from Utrecht University and in Social and Cultural Anthropology from the University of Vienna.
Bettina Wilk will facilitate the session Ecosystem restoration - nexus biodiversity and climate resilience.

Birgit Georgi, Director, Strong in a Changing Climate

Birgit Georgi supports cities across Europe and businesses to adapt to the challenges of climate change. She is a landscape architect and has worked specifically on urban adaptation to climate change since 2010, when the first city initiatives came up with the topic. As project manager at the European Environment Agency, she has led numerous urban adaptation assessment reports, like the series „Urban Adaptation to Climate Change in Europe“. Thereby, she has worked intensively with cities and city networks on one side and with national governments, the European Commission, other European stakeholders and experts on the other side in a multi-level approach. She has been one of the co-founders of the European Urban Resilience Forum. Since 2017, she continued working as an independent expert with her company Strong in a Changing Climate (https://www.birgitgeorgi.eu/) helping cities and businesses even more directly - individually or as expert of Urban Innovative Actions and the European Urban Initiative.

Christopher Bian, Senior Software Engineer - Google, Environmental Insights Explorer team

Christopher is a Senior Software Engineer on Google's Environmental Insights Explorer team. As one of the initial technical team members, Christopher led the development and validation of EIE’s transportation emissions global model among other elements of EIE's data infrastructure. The culmination of this work was the launch of EIE at the Global Climate Action Summit 2018. Christopher is passionate about addressing climate change through creative solutions and global collaboration.

Hear him speak in the session The revolution of data in integrated climate strategies.

Cinzia Losenno, Lead climate change adaptation expert, European Investment Bank

Dr Cinzia Losenno has over 15 years of experience in financing for climate change adaptation and resilience. Dr Losenno joined EIB in 2016 and is responsible for EIB’s strategic and operational approaches on adaptation financing in all sectors and regions of EIB operation. She co-chaired the development of an adaptation taxonomy under the EU Technical Expert Group on Sustainable Finance, and is currently the co-chair of the Multilateral Development Banks’ Working Group on Adaptation Finance. Before joining EIB, Dr Losenno was the climate change adaptation focal point at the Asian Development Bank. Dr Losenno also served as policy advisor for climate change in the UK government, where she worked at the interface between international policymaking and science for climate change adaptation in developing countries. She holds a PhD in Clean Energy Technology from The University of Edinburgh.

Hear her speak in the Opening Plenary.

DANIEL LÜCKERATH, PROJECT MANAGER, FRAUNHOFER IAIS

Daniel is project manager at Fraunhofer IAIS. His main research interests cover climate change adaptation, resilience, and sustainability of urban systems with special focus on co-creation of decision support methods. In 2016 he completed his PhD in Computer Science at University of Cologne, investigating discrete simulation, optimization, and modelling techniques for public transit systems. Currently, he is coordinating the EU H2020 project ARCH, investigating resilience assessment methods for historic areas. Daniel is also active in European and national research projects investigating the economic effects of adapting infrastructure to climate change and the resource intensity of digital change in Germany.

Hear him in the workshop Building resilience in historic areas – a disaster risk management framework.

DANIELA RIZZI, SENIOR OFFICER, ICLEI EUROPE

Daniela Rizzi is a Senior Officer for Nature-Based Solutions and Biodiversity at ICLEI Europe. An architect and urban planner (University of São Paulo), she holds a PhD in landscape planning (Technical University of Munich). Daniela engages in urban living labs and applied research to raise NBS impact, foster the nature-based economy and contribute to mainstreaming, awareness-raising and capacity-building for local governments, practitioners, civil society organisations, academia and nature-based enterprises.

Hear her in the session Boosting the Impact of Nature-Based Solutions for Resilient Cities and Ecosystems.

Daniele Capitani, Head of Territory Management and Programming Department

Principal projects: SECAP; General Urban Plan; Interreg Italy - Croatia "Adriadapt"; Competition for the design of Cervia Urban Park.

You can hear him in the workshop Adaptation planning for smaller and medium-sized cities.

Eddy Deruwe, coordinator of the Belgium BE REEL! LIFE IP project at the Flemish Energy and Climate Agency

Prior he was consultant in the sustainable building and community assessments (BREEAM) and involved into several EU Energy educational projects. He has been working in several Brussels based agencies for urban development, and was director of the Brussels (local) Energy Agency (Le Centre Urbain) for a decade. He has a degree in adult education and is specialized into urban sustainable policy and energy education.

Hear him speak in the session Future-proofing Europe’s Building Stock: Climate, Social & Material Resilience.

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

Elena Višnar Malinovská is currently a Head of the climate adaptation unit in DG Climate Action of the European Commission. She has worked for 13 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. She holds a law degree from the Comenius and Thyrnaviens universities ("JUDr.")  in Slovakia and diplomas from European studies (SciencePo in Paris, College of Europe in Poland).

Hear her speak in the Opening Plenary.

Eleni Myrivili, Senior Advisor, Resilience and Sustainability, City of Athens

Eleni Myrivili is currently Advisor to the Mayor of Athens and the city's liaison to Urban Resilience and Sustainability international city networks and institutions. She is also an Advisor and Senior Fellow for Resilience at the Atlantic Council Arsht-Rockefeller Resilience Center. Prior to this she served as Deputy Mayor of Athens for Urban Nature and Climate Change Resilience were she introduced and championed policies on Climate Change, Resilience and Sustainability, and effectively moved the city's agenda towards Nature-Based Solutions and the promotion of Blue and Green Infrastructure.

Hear her speak in the session Towards a resilient recovery.

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.

Hear her speak in the Closing Plenary.

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.

Emmy will speak in the session Future-proofing Europe’s Building Stock: Climate, Social & Material Resilience.

Ephrat Yovel, International consultant and Principal of CounterPoint

Ephrat Yovel is an international consultant and a principal of CounterPoint. In this role, she works with country governments across Africa, Asia and the EECA region on climate resilience, disaster risk reduction, and urban development. She is supporting the EU4 Climate project (funded by the European Union  and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme) in the EU Eastern Partner countries, specifically Ukraine and Belarus, with their work on their National Adaptation Plans.

She will speak in the session Desaster Risk Reduction: Thinking about Present and Dreaming about Future.

Evi Tzanakaki, Project Manager,  CRES-Centre for Renewable Energy Sources and Saving

Architect, MSc, Senior Energy Expert with 30 years experience in CRES on sustainable energy in buildings and the urban environment.  She has managed numerous European projects on integrated energy design and has participated in several relevant legislative initiatives. Since 2012 she is Covenant of Mayors National Coordinator Contact and has supported Greek municipalities in developing and implementing SEAPs. She is also instructor for the e-learning post-graduate program of the University of Athens ‘Sustainable Energy Design of Buildings and the Built Environment’, a reviewer of the Journal ‘Energy in Buildings’ and ‘Solar Energy’ a trainer of building energy inspectors.

Hear her speak in the session A holistic approach towards climate neutrality: Integrating climate change mitigation & adaptation.

Fernando Louro Alves, Senior Adviser in the City Council of Lisboa

Senior Adviser in the City Council of Lisbon and Coordinator of the Local Action Plan for Biodiversity in Lisbon 2020 (prolonged to 2022). Before that he was Head of Division of Projects in Environment and Green Spaces and Responsible of the Sector of Isolated Trees in Lisbon. He has a background in forestry engineering and landscape architecture, and holds a master in Urban and Regional Planning. Fernando is the focal point of the LIFE Preliminary Project: Urban Greening Plans and collaborator of the LIFE Project: Life Lungs which promotes the development of a blue-green, resilient and biodiverse city. He is also President of the Portuguese Society for the Promotion of Environmental Education and Ecotourism.

Hear him speak in the session Stepping up integrated action on ecosystem and climate resilience.

Gabriella Westheim, head of emergency preparedness, resilience, and security in the Municipalities of Simrishamn, SjÖbo, Tomelilla and Ystad

Gabriela is an experienced Security Coordinator with a demonstrated history of working in the government administration industry. Skilled in Crisis Management, Sustainable Development, Analytical Skills, Coaching, and Government, she is currently responsible for the development of the four Swedish municipalities towards a more resilient connected local region.

Hear her speak in the Workshop: Adaptation planning for smaller and medium-sized cities.

Gillian Dick, Spatial Planning Manager – Research & Development, Glasgow City Council (UK)

Gillian is the Spatial Planning Manager of the Research & Development team within the Development Plan Group at Glasgow City Council. She leads the Council's participation in the Horizon 2020 'Connecting Nature' project, where Glasgow is one of the front runner cities. She is a chartered member of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and currently sits as the vice chair on their Partnership and Accreditation Panel. She is currently the RTPI-nominated practitioner representative on the Technical University Dublin Planning school partnership Board. Gillian has a BSc (Hons) in Town Planning from Heriot-Watt University and BSc (Hons) in Human Geography from the Open University.

Hear her in the session Boosting the Impact of Nature-Based Solutions for Resilient Cities and Ecosystems.

Giorgia Rambelli, Coordinator, International Dimension, Covenant of Mayors Office

Giorgia coordinates the International Dimension of the EU Covenant of Mayors and also works with the Secretariat of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy.

She will facilitate the session A holistic approach towards climate neutrality: Integrating climate change mitigation & adaptation.

Giovanni Fini

Head of department for environment and territory protection

Giovanni Fini is a civil engineer and PhD in engineering and planning. Has been adjunct professor of design at the University of Bologna.
He has worked for the City of Bologna since 1998 in various roles on environmental issues and urban planning. He coordinated the works for the definition of Local Adaptation Plan approved in 2015 and supported the coordination of the European Urban Agenda partnership about Sustainable Land Use and Nature Based Solutions.
Since 2020 he is working for the City of Cesena, the first Italian city to enter the Green City Accord european initiative.

Hear him in the workshop Adaptation planning for smaller and medium-sized cities.

HarriËt Tiemens, director of the Green Metropolitan Region Arnhem-Nijmegen

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.

Hear her speak in the Opening Plenary.

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’.

Hear him speak at the session The revolution of data in integrated climate strategies.

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.

Hear her in the session Place-based action for more equitable climate resilience.

Jānis Ikaunieks, Director, Riga Energy Agency

Janis Ikaunieks is a certified energy auditor. As a director of the Riga Energy Agency, Janis is leading the implementation of building renovation wave, development of Riga City Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan and decarbonization of district heating systems. Janis is also a member of the Riga City Council Heat Supply Commission. Throughout his career, Janis has gained experience in different Horizon 2020 and Interreg projects related to energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, circular economy, district heating and other topics. Janis graduated Riga Technical University with a master’s degree in environmental science. Over the last three years, he focused on developing new financial instruments for energy efficiency.

Hear him speak in the session A holistic approach towards climate neutrality: Integrating climate change mitigation & adaptation.

Johan Folkesson, Representative of International Federation of Landscape Architects Europe (IFLA Europe)

Johan Folkesson is the head architect of the Swedish Transport Administration -responsible for planning, building and maintenance of all state owned roads and railroads but also the long-term planning of sea and air transport in Sweden. Educated as a landscape architect, Johan is also the president of the landscape architecture chapter of Swedish Architects, representing Sweden in the International Federation of Landscape Architects. 

Hear him speak in the session Stepping up integrated action on ecosystem and climate resilience.

Jurre de Vries, sr. advisor coasts and estuaries, Rijkswaterstaat

Jurre has a background in Earth Sciences/Physical Geography and has done a PhD in physical oceanography at the NIOZ. Afterwards he worked 5 years for Van Oord as environmental engineer, where he was also the lead for EcoShape’s Building with Nature guidelines development project and co-lead of the Systems chapter in the international Natural and Nature-Based Feature handbook. At Rijkswaterstaat, Jurre works on system knowledge development in the Dutch Wadden Sea, linking new knowledge to existing management & maintenance questions. He is also involved in a new research initiative to upscale and mainstream NBS in coastal systems.

Hear him speak in the session Stepping up integrated action on ecosystem and climate resilience.

Katharina Milde, Researcher and Project Manager, Fraunhofer IAIS

Katharina is senior researcher at Fraunhofer IAIS. Her research interests focus on climate change adaptation, sustainability, and resilience of (urban) systems as well as corresponding tool design and system analysis. She holds a master’s degree in Physics from the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, Germany. At Fraunhofer she is currently work package leader for a national project investigating the resource intensity of digital change and for the EU H2020 project ARCH, investigating resilience assessment methods for historic areas. Katharina also contributes to a European research project that investigates the economic effects of adapting infrastructure to climate change

You can hear her in the workshop Building resilience in historic areas – a disaster risk management framework.

Katharina Schrot, Researcher and coordination team of LIFE project Evolving Regions, TU Dortmund University

Katharina’s work focuses on climate change adaptation on a regional level in rather rural areas, social innovation and transformative governance

Hear her speak in the session A holistic approach towards climate neutrality: Integrating climate change mitigation & adaptation.

Katherine Peinhardt, Communications Officer, ICLEI European Secretariat

Katherine is a Communications Officer at ICLEI Europe, focusing on projects that center on cultural heritage and urban resilience. She previously held a German Chancellor Fellowship through the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung, and conducted research into links between place and resilience. Before that, Katherine worked as a Project Reporter and Communications Associate at Project for Public Spaces (PPS). Prior to joining PPS, Katherine worked at World Resources Institute Ross Center for Sustainable Cities, coordinating digital communications and producing written content to promote a vision of more sustainable urban development. Previously, Katherine pursued her Master of Arts in Columbia University's Climate and Society program, focusing on a combination of atmospheric dynamics, urban sustainability, and environmental policy.

Katherine will facilitate the workshop Building resilience in historic areas – a disaster risk management framework.

Leszek Drogosz, Deputy Director of Infrastructure Department, City of Warsaw

Leszek is responsible for energy, water and wastewater management. He has spent his career working for Warsaw, particularly in supervising and managing of city-owned enterprises. He is also member of the supervisory board of the Municipal Water and Sewerage Company. He is involved in the implementation of several large and medium-sized European Union financed investment projects and is the Warsaw representative in cooperation with the C40, ICLEI and EUROCITIES, Deputy Chairman of Warsaw Climate Protection Team and President of Management Board of Association of Municipalities Polish Network „Energie Cités”.

Hear him speak in the Closing Plenary.

Lin O’Grady, Associate Director in EBRD’s Sustainable Infrastructure Group

Lin O’Grady has more than 30 years of experience, working internationally in the transport and municipal infrastructure sectors, for both the public and private sectors.  She is an Associate Director in EBRD’s Sustainable Infrastructure Group (SIG).  Lin started her career as an ODI (Overseas Development Institute) fellow in Southern Africa and went after this to work for the Department for International Development (DFID).  She then worked in the private sector, in transport consultancy in both South and East Africa, followed by the European Commissions’ TACIS (Technical Assistance to the Commonwealth of Independent States) programme. Lin has a BA in Economics and an MSc in Transport Planning and Engineering.

Hear her speak in the session Innovative FinancingInnovative financing solutions for green and resilient cities.

Lina Liakou, Managing Director for Europe and the Middle East, Global Resilient Cities Network pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation

LUCA C. ARBAU, URBAN RESILIENCE AND CLIMATE ADAPTATION, ICLEI EUROPE

Luca C. Arbau is an architect and a sustainable urban development practitioner. He works at ICLEI Europe in the field of urban resilience and adaptation to climate change. Previously, he was Research and Communication Officer at Metropolis (Barcelona). Luca worked in the experimental centre for social housing in Cordoba (Argentina), and in the Recetas Urbanas architecture studio in Seville (Spain). He holds a master degree in architecture from the University of Ferrara (Italy) and a master degree in international cooperation and emergency architecture from UIC (Barcelona).

Luca Arbau will facilitate the workshop Building resilience in historic areas – a disaster risk management framework.

Luis Tejero, Coordinator of Climate Change Programs, Madrid City Council (Spain)

Luis has been working for the Municipality of Madrid since 2005, where he is responsible for the coordination of climate change policies which can be adapted to city programming. His work has been implemented across different city departments, including Parks and Gardens, Environmental Education, and Energy and Climate Change. As a speaker at Mannheim2020, he intends to highlight the city's 'Madrid + Natural' programme, which aims to increase urban nature spaces and mitigate climate change impacts through the implementation nature-based solutions (NBS).

You can hear him in the session Boosting the Impact of Nature-Based Solutions for Resilient Cities and Ecosystems.

Marcin Grądzki, Head of Climate Policy Unit - Warsaw city hall

Head of Climate Policy Division at Warsaw City Hall with business consulting background, responsible for the overseeing and implementation of projects that implement the city's reduction commitments in the short and long term, as well as activities that increase Warsaw's resilience to the effects of climate change. He also implements activities related to climate diplomacy and partnerships as well as seeking funds and resources for international and national projects in the area of sustainable development and climate education.

Hear him speak in the session The revolution of data in integrated climate strategies.

Magnus Qvant, co-founder of Nordic Urban Resilience Institute

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.

Magnus Qvant will facilitate the workshopAdaptation planning for smaller and medium-sized cities.

Margaretha Breil, Senior Researcher on urban sustainability and climate change adaptation, CMCC

Margareta WahlstrÖm, Expert, Disaster Risk Reduction (former UNDRR Head and Swedish Red Cross Head)

Margareta Wahlström is formerly the President of the Swedish Red Cross from May, 2017-May 2021. From 2008 including 2015, Ms. Wahlström was the Special Representative of the United Nations’ Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction, and simultaneously Head of the United Nations’ Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR). Ms Wahlström served as the Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs  (OCHA) 2002-2008.
Ms Wahlström spent 2002 -2004 in Afghanistan as the Deputy Special Representative of the UN SG at UNAMA, in charge of  the coordination of humanitarian and rehabilitation planning and cooperation. In 1989 she joined the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies  in Geneva as Desk Officer for Southern Africa 1989–1991, Deputy Director of Operations 1991–1994 and finally as Under Secretary – General, 1995–2000.

Ms Wahlström will moderate the opening plenary and will speak in the closing plenary.  

Maria Sitzoglou, Architect – Urban Designer, Participatory Planning Expert

Maria Sitzoglou is the co-founder of Design Clips, Architect & Urban Designer with expertise in resilient urban planning, stakeholder engagement, participatory strategies. She has extensive experience in city-scale projects with a portfolio ranging from policy design to hands-on community projects. She has worked as a Deputy CRO for Thessaloniki, Greece within the frame of the 100 Resilient Cities network and currently as a European Commission Urban Expert for the Urban Innovative Action(UIA) -  OASIS Schoolyards project, Paris, France, Expert to support the UIA capitalisation activity “Just Transitions” and Short term Consultant for Inclusive and Resilient Urban Planning for the World Bank. Furthermore, she is involved in large scale projects.

 Hear her speak in the session Place-based action for more equitable climate resilience.

Matt Ellis, Greater Manchester Climate Resilience Lead

With over 20 years’ experience as a qualified planner, it is Matt’s belief that the critical ecosystem services our natural environment provide need protecting and planning for, just as we would for any other piece critical infrastructure. And now, with the climate and ecological emergency more visible than ever, Matt is convinced that we must capture the value and climate resilience services flowing from our natural environment. And this must support us in protecting these assets as well as massively increase our investment in them. This has all led to Matt’s involvement in Greater Manchester’s efforts to stimulate new investment into its natural environment. And most recently participation in the UIA funded innovative nature-based financing  IGNITIONGM project.

Hear him speak in the session Innovative financing solutions for green and resilient cities.

Matija Vuger, Head of Department for preparation and implementation of regional and international projects - CITY OF ZAGREB, City Office of Strategic Planning and Development

Matija Vuger is mag. ing. traff., actively work on implementation of projects which are of city development interest. He was local coordinator for many projects funded by various EU programme in the field of sustainable mobility, strategic urban development, natural based solutions, green infrastructure, inter-institutional cooperation and participation of citizens including currently running proGIreg, which focuses on implementing nature-based solutions in post-industrial city areas.

Hear him speak in the session Place-based action for more equitable climate resilience.

Monica Altamirano, Public-Private Partnerships Practice Lead, NOW Partners

Public-Private Partnerships Specialist and systems thinker. Climate and water finance thought leader. With 18 years of global experience in PPPs, she is a multidisciplinary leader who has advised governments worldwide on how to catalyse private sector investments in infrastructure, water, and climate adaptation. She is Chair of the Water and Natural Infrastructure Chapter of WAPPP, member of the WEF Infrastructure 4.0 Initiative, and the OECD Roundtable on Financing Water.

Hear her speak in the session Stepping up integrated action on ecosystem and climate resilience.

Nermina Suljevic, Head of Department for Project Management, City of Sarajevo

Head of Department for Project Management at the City of Sarajevo, working on projects from different fields, but with the same goal- to make Sarajevo the best city to live, work and visit and to improve the quality of life for all residents of Sarajevo.

Hear her speak in the session A holistic approach towards climate neutrality: Integrating climate change mitigation & adaptation.

Nigel Jollands, co-lead of ebrd green cities

Dr Jollands is a sustainable energy, climate finance and policy professional with 29 years’ experience leading innovation across multiple sectors and levels of government. He has spent the last 15 years as a climate finance practitioner delivering investment and policy outcomes in 30+ countries. He is currently co-Lead of EBRD Green Cities, the Bank’s flagship EUR3 billion investment programme supporting cities to address their environmental and climate challenges.

Hear him speak in the Opening Plenary.and the session Disaster Risk Reduction: Thinking about Present and Dreaming about Future.

Nicola Murphy-Evans, CLEVER Cities Coordinator, Greater London Authority

Nicola has been working at the Greater London Authority for over ten years.  She has primarily been focused on urban greening projects, such as creation of 100 Pocket Parks. She has been part of CLEVER Cities since its inception and is passionate about working collaboratively with local residents to create great project outcomes.

Hear her speak in the session Boosting the Impact of Nature-Based Solutions for Resilient Cities and Ecosystems.

Oksana Udovyk, Head of experimentation, UNDP Accelerator Lab, Ukraine

Oksana has a Doctoral Degree in Environmental Governance and Master’s Degree in Sustainable Development from Linkoping University in Sweden, as well as a BSc in Natural Science from Kyiv- Mohyla Academy in Ukraine. Oksana is an environmental activist in spirit, a researcher by profession and social designer by calling. Now she is the Head of experimentation in the UNDP Accelerator Lab Ukraine. Previously she worked with companies, NGOs, research institutions, public authorities and International Organizations in Sweden, Spain, Canada, and Ukraine, making documentaries, volunteering, joining grassroots movements, exploring and learning from the wider global community, and from nature.

Hear her speak in the session Disaster Risk Reduction: Thinking about Present and Dreaming about Future.

Oleksandr Sushchenko, Team Leader, Energy and Environmental Portfolio, UNDP Ukraine

For over 10 years, Oleksandr has been providing top notch expertise and strategic planning advice on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues to the private-sector and governmental organizations, including the European Commission, the Office of the President of Ukraine and the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative Germany. In 2016, Oleksandr founded the Center for Blended Value Studies (CBVS) at Kyiv National Economic University. Oleksandr worked as an Associate Professor of Finance at Kyiv National Economic University, as well as a Research Associate at the Helmholtz-Center for Environmental Research (Leipzig, Germany).

Hear him speak in the session Towards a resilient recovery.

Oleksiy PyrikoV, Environmental Specialist at UN RPP

Oleksiy Pyrikov has graduated from Donetsk National University of Economics and Trade, Donbas National Academy of Civil Engineering and Architecture of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, and State Ecological Academy of Post-Graduate Education and Management (Kiev) and has been working as an Environmental Specialist at UN RPP from 2019.

Hear her speak in the session Disaster Risk Reduction: Thinking about Present and Dreaming about Future.

Olena Tarasova-Krasiieva, Project Manager on Nature-based Solution for Sustainable Cities, UNDP Ukraine

Oliver Moran, Chair, Climate Action
Committee, Cork City Council

Oliver Moran is a Green Party councillor for the north east ward of Cork City Council. He was elected in 2019 and is chair of the city’s Climate Action Committee.

Hear him speak in the session A holistic approach towards climate neutrality: Integrating climate change mitigation & adaptation.

Per-Arne Nilsson, Senior Environmental Strategist, City of Malmö

Per-Arne Nilsson is a Senior Strategist with long experience of local work in Malmö and international cooperation for Sustainable development.

Hear him speak in the session Stepping up integrated action on ecosystem and climate resilience.

Rasmus Reeh, Senior Advisor, Copenhagen Solutions Lab, City of Copenhagen and owner of UrbanDigital

Rasmus Reeh has more than ten years experience in developing solutions for the green transition. A trained sociologist and economist his efforts evolve around to support the green transitioning from a combined perspective of improving social conditions while spurring efficiency in public service delivery. For five years he has lead development in Copenhagen Solutions Lab, a development arm of City of Copenhagen, to implement new digital technology to city services. He is also the owner of UrbanDigital, a start-up focusing on developing digital data insights across municipalities and sectors to support the large scale transition towards a fossil free economy. He has been a leading force in the Google led Copenhagen Air View project where every street in Copenhagen and neighbouring municipalities have been measured for air quality.

Hear him speak in the session The revolution of data in integrated climate strategies.

Reimund Schwarze, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ

Prof. Schwarze is coordinating socio-economic research on climate change at UFZ ― the largest multi-disciplinary environmental research institute of its kind in Germany. He is the coordinating lead author of the Chapter “Economics, Finance, and the Role of the Private Sector” in the 2nd Assessment Report Climate Change in Cities (ARC3.2) of the Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN). Pertinent to this panel, he is seconded representative of the German Committee for Disaster Reduction (DKKV) at the European Science and Technology Advisory Group (E-STAG) of UNDRR.

Hear him speak in the session Towards a resilient recovery.

Roman Mendle, Coordinator, Climate Policy, Circular Economy and Sustainable Urban Development

Roman Mendle is a Sustainability Scientist and System Analyst by training and has an eight years track record of team leadership and project management in sustainable urban development with a focus on circular economy, smart cities and digital resilience, city-business collaboration and nature based solutions. He currently leads a portfolio of projects on building data, building energy efficiency and circularity in the construction sector within the Sustainable Resources, Climate and Resilience Team at the ICLEI European Secretariat Brussels Office. Previously, Roman Mendle served as Smart Cities Program Manager, Global Coordinator and later as Head of Circular Development at the ICLEI World Secretariat in Bonn. He also served as China Liaison for the ICLEI World Secretariat due to his regional expertise and language skills. Roman Mendle worked at PwC Middle East as Manager in the Cities Team of the Government and Public Sector consultancy practice of the firm, as well as with the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) on the setup of their Economic and Social Development Department, where he served as seconded portfolio manager for sustainable construction materials and local food and agriculture systems.

Roman will speak in the session Future-proofing Europe’s Building Stock: Climate, Social & Material Resilience.

Ruth Wolstenholme, Managing Director, Sniffer

Ruth is Managing Director of Sniffer, a Scottish charity working for a fairer and flourishing future in a changing climate. Ruth has led the charity for over 25 years, working across the boundaries of different sectors and policy interests. She believes that a collaborative approach to understanding and responding to environmental change has the greatest benefit for people and places. She has been instrumental in the formation and delivery of the Adaptation Scotland Programme and Climate Ready Clyde. As well as building on a scientific and policy evidence base, she has interest in the role of cultural practice in changemaking.

Her her speak in the session Place-based action for more equitable climate resilience.

Saioa Zorita Castresana, Senior Researcher, TECNALIA

Saioa Zorita, received her PhD in Chemistry in 2008 (Lund University, Sweden). She has been working in Tecnalia since 2010 at the Environment and Energy Division. Her work focused on water related issues and more recently on adaptation strategies. Her work is devoted to advance on methodologies for the identification, assessment and selection of adaptation options, mainly in the urban systems. Furthermore, she is involved in the development of tools dedicated to integrate adaptation management within the framework of local policies. Since 2018 she is also involved in ISO standardization processes within adaptation to climate change.

Hear her speak in the workshop Building resilience in historic areas – a disaster risk management framework.

SANNA MERILÄINEN, ARCHITECT AND Development Manager for Housing Production at the Helsinki Urban Environment Division

Sanna has been working on questions of urban resilience, climate change mitigation and adaptation in detailed planning, urban regeneration and housing design around Helsinki since 2018. Prior to that, she worked for 10 years as an architect and project leader in multiple projects, specializing in housing design. Graduated as an architect in 2007, she is currently a doctoral candidate at Aalto University, Espoo. Her focus is on flexibility and whole life cycle approaches as tools for rethinking future building.

Hear him speak in the session Future-proofing Europe’s Building Stock: Climate, Social & Material Resilience.

Sebastien Penzini, Deputy Chief, Europe and Central Asia, UNDRR

Sebastien Penzini joined UNDRR in 2011 to work on the preparation of the 3rd Global Platform for DRR. In addition, he continued to work on the organisation of other global conferences, including the 3rd UN World Conference on DRR held in Sendai in March 2015. Since his arrival at the Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, he has been working on various programmes related to risk assessment, disaster loss databases and knowledge sharing. Sebastien holds a master’s degree in International Relations and Political Science from the Institute of Political Studies (Sc-Po, France) and speaks French, English, and Spanish.

Hear him speak at the Opening Plenary.

Simon Chrisander, Deputy Mayor, City of Malmö

Simon Chrisander (Liberal party) is deputy mayor in the city of Malmö, Sweden. He is also chairman of the Environmental Committee and have the overall political responsibility for city planning and environmental issues in Malmö.

Hear him speak in the Opening Plenary.

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.

Silvia Olsson will facilitate the workshop Adaptation planning for smaller and medium-sized cities.

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

Hear her speak in the session Innovative financing solutions for green and resilient cities.

Stella Psarropoulou, Deputy Chief Resilience Officer, Thessaloniki

She has been working on the development and implementation of the city’s Resilient Strategy “Thessaloniki 2030”, holding the portfolio of Financial Planning and Administrative Affairs and just recently became the Project Manager of the city’s Urban
Resilience Observatory, a newly established Municipal Office launched in October 2019. She is the Project Coordinator of the European Investment Bank Finance Contract for the Municipality of Thessaloniki and project team member of a number of European funded projects relevant to her expertise. Her background is in Financial Studies, she holds a Master’s degree in “European Integration & Governance”, University of Macedonia, Greece and a second Master’s degree in “Spatial Planning for Sustainable and Resilient Urban Development”, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), Faculty School, Greece.

Hear her speak in the Opening Plenary and in the session Innovative financing solutions for green and resilient cities.

stine casparij kondrup, founder and director of intugreen

Stine is the founder and director of the Copenhagen-based agency, Intugreen, specialized in visual storytelling and advisory on sustainability. Stine holds a Cand.it. from IT University of Copenhagen, specialized in Green Society and Technology. Stine  has worked at the Danish Architecture Center as Teacher in ‘Sustainable Cities’ and hosted guided tours in Copenhagen with focus on nature-based solutions and urban planning. Stine worked as Project Leader at the Nordic Council of Ministers (2015-2016), co-organising the Nordic Product Environmental Footprint conference in Oslo, 2016. Stine is the General Manager of Greencubator, Copenhagen (since 2015-); an innovation hub and co-office space for sustainable entrepreneurship, SMEs and NGOs. She is the Founder and Director of Intugreen (since 2015-); which is part of the EU Horizon2020 project, REGREEN, that aims to foster sustainable urban development through nature-based solutions.

Hear her speak in the session Innovative financing solutions for green and resilient cities.

Uta K. Mense, EU-project coordinator, Department of Heritage Preservation, Ministry of Culture and Media

Starting with an apprenticeship as a carpenter and a degree in architecture, Uta worked for several years in the Netherlands as an architect and urban planner until she decided to pursue international postgraduate studies in "World Heritage Studies" at the Technical University in Cottbus, Germany. In the following years, she worked as a researcher at the university in Cottbus, mainly responsible for a Conservation Management Plan for the former military rocket inventory site in Peenemünde/Usedom, Germany, on which she also wrote her doctoral thesis.

Hear her speak in the workshop Building resilience in historic areas – a disaster risk management framework.

Vasileios Latinos, Coordinator, Sustainable Resources, Climate and Resilience, ICLEI Europe

Vasileios Latinos is responsible for implementing projects and services in the topical areas of climate change adaptation, urban resilience and green infrastructure, as well as supporting the strategic and programmatic development of ICLEI Europe in this field. Vasileios has extensive experience in stakeholder engagement, co-creation, capacity building, climate assessment methodologies and urban resilience planning and monitoring. He is also involved in standardization activities at EU and ISO level.

Vasileios Latinos will facilitate the session Innovative financing solutions for green and resilient cities.