Sergio Castellari
Senior Scientist at the INGV (National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology), Italy
Working on impacts, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change. In recent years Sergio has been seconded at the EEA (European Environment Agency) in Copenhagen. Previously, he was seconded to CMCC (Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change), where he was the Head of the ‘Institutional Relations and Adaptation Policies Group’. He was the National Focal Point for Italy of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). He also worked as climate science/policy expert for the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea. He joined the Italian delegations to IPCC, UNFCCC (UN Framework Convention on Climate Change), UNCCD (UN Convention to Combat Desertification), GEO (Group on Earth Observations) and UNEP (UN Environment Programme) sessions.
Alessia Lefebure
Dean, Agrocampus Ouest (French School of Agriculture, Food, Horticultural and Landscape Sciences)
Responsible for the education activities and strategy. She also oversees the school’s policy for advancing equity, sustainability, diversity, and inclusion. Binational and multilingual, she previously served as Director of the Alliance at Columbia University. Between 2001 and 2006, she worked in China, where she founded and ran the first Sciences Po Representative Office Abroad. A sociologist by training, and an internationally recognized expert in global affairs, education and public policies. She is the author of Les mandarins 2.0. – Presses de Sciences Po, Paris, 2020, and is currently part of two research projects on anti-poverty policies and refugees integration in France.
Stefano Manservisi
Chair of the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF) and Special Advisor to European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni
He has held different roles in the European Union: Head of Cabinet to Monti (Commissioner for Internal Market, taxation, customs and competition), to Prodi (President of the European Commission) and lastly to Mogherini (High Representative for Foreign Policy/Vice President of the Commission). Director-General for Development and political relations with Africa, Caribbean and Pacific, then Director-General for Migration and Home affairs and finally EU Ambassador to Turkey. Manservisi last position was Director-General for International Cooperation and Development. He is Scientific Advisor at IAI and a distinguished Fellow with various think tanks. He also lectures at universities (Sciences-Po/Paris School for International Affairs, European University Institute) and advises several UN specialized agencies.
Elisa Magnani, Associate Professor of Human Geography at the Department of History and Cultures of the University of Bologna.
Since 2018 she has been coordinating the Master degree in Geography and territorial processes.
Her research focuses on two topics: cultural tourism and the nexus between climate change and mobility (both tourism and migration).
Pierluigi Musarò
Associate Professor of Sociology at the Department of Sociology and Business Law – University of Bologna, Honorary Professor – Melbourne University, Research Fellow – London School of Economics and Political Science and IPK – New York University.
He is the author of several books and papers in the field of media and migration, borders and human rights, performing arts and active citizenship. He is President of the Italian NGO YODA (www.gruppoyoda.org) and founding Director of IT.A.CÀ migrants and travellers: Festival of Responsible Tourism (www.festivalitaca.net).
Paola Parmiggiani
Deputy Head of the Department of Sociology and Business Law, Director of the Second Cycle Degree in “Sociology and Social Work”, University of Bologna
Full-time professor at the University of Bologna where she is deputy head of the Department of Sociology and Business Law, Director of the Second Cycle Degree in “Sociology and Social Work”, and she teaches Sociology of Culture and Social Communication. Her main fields of study and research are media and migration, social and humanitarian communication.
Andrea Marchesini Reggiani, President of coop. Lai-momo, member of the Committee of Experts for Support the G20 Environment in Italy
In 1995, he founded Lai-momo social cooperative, a third sector organization active in the fields of immigration, social and intercultural communication. He is part of the editorial board of the Africa e Mediterraneo Journal and he has managed several cultural cooperation projects with Africa, in particular in the communication and comics sectors. In 2012 he co-founded Abantu, a social cooperative specialized in job inclusion services for migrants and cultural and linguistic mediations. In 2017, he founded Cartiera Laboratory, an ethical fashion project born from the collaboration between EFI-Ethical Fashion Initiative – International Trade Center UN, which creates connections between small artisanal realities in South Countries and high fashion brands. Cartiera is focused on environment and social sustainability and on international cooperation.
Elena Paglialunga
Assistant Professor – Applied Economics at the Department of Economics, Society and Politics of University of Urbino ‘Carlo Bo’ (Italy), Research affiliate SEEDS, the Italian interuniversity research centre on Sustainability Environmental Economics and Dynamics Studies.
She has been involved in national and EU projects on energy markets and climate policy, analysis of climate-related socio-economic impacts, sustainable energy transition and the evolution of green technologies. She is a member of the research group assisting the European Commission DG-Trade in implementing the dynamic energy-economy model for the impact assessment of trade and climate policy linkages.
Faculty
Giovanni Bettini
Lecturer in International Development and Climate Politics at Lancaster University, UK
He is Lecturer in International Development and Climate Politics at Lancaster University, UK. In his research Giovanni investigates how environmental change – in its planetary but uneven character, and entangled with a series of contemporary ‘crises’ and historical legacies – is generating new spaces, modes of governance, subjectivities and forms of resistance. He has published extensively on the links between climate change and human mobility, and more recently on the role of ‘the digital’ in reshaping climate adaptation, resilience and justice.
Anna Lisa Boni
Secretary general of EUROCITIES.
She has been secretary general of EUROCITIES since June 2014. She has 25 years of professional experience in EU public affairs in the field of local and regional government and has successfully worked for a stronger recognition of cities’ challenges within the European agenda.
Her aim is to act in a way that best serves European cities as key players in the European project and centres for generating renewal and growth. Anna Lisa has a Masters degree from the University of Bologna in political science, and from the University of Leuven in European studies.
Bezawit Eshetu
Circular Economy Expert, member of the Executive Team and Ethiopia’s Country Representative at the African Circular Economy Network (ACEN)
She has over 10 years of experience of specializing in environmental management, sustainable development, climate change mitigation and adaptation, green growth, policy dialogue and the SDGs. Prior to joining the ACEN, she has worked as Circular Economy Expert for the FAO and in various positions and organizations as Green Growth Advisor and Environmental Engineer. She has experience in creating synergies, coordinating and forging partnerships. She holds Master of Science in Botany/Plant Biology and Bachelor of Science in Biology and Chemistry, both from Addis Ababa University. She is a Ellen MacArthur Foundation Circular Economy Pioneer and Cofounder at Circular Alternatives.
Alessandra Bonoli
Full Professor in Raw Material Engineering at the University of Bologna
Delegate of the University of Bologna at UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and Member of the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials, she has created the Department Research Center for international Cooperation and Development on Engineering, Environment and Emergency (CODE^3). Her research activities are on the Engineering of Transition and Circular Economy, aiming to build a sustainable world, from environmental, social and economic points of view.
François Gemenne
FNRS researcher at the University of Liège, Belgium and head of Observatoire Hugo
A specialist in geopolitical issues related to environment and migration, his research is mainly devoted to the international governance of migration and climate change.
He is a qualified FNRS researcher at the University of Liège (Belgium), where he heads the Observatoire Hugo. He is also the co-director (with Julia Tasse) of the Observatoire Défense et Climat du Ministère des Armées (France), established at IRIS. He is a principal author for the IPCC, and also teaches climate policies and international migration at several universities, notably at Sciences Po Paris and at the Sorbonne.
Piergiuseppe Morone
Full Professor of Economic Policy at UnitelmaSapienza
He as a strong interest in green innovation and sustainable development pushing his research at the interface between innovation economics and sustainability transitions, an area of enquiry that has attracted growing attention over the last decade. His work regularly appears in prestigious innovation and environmental economics journals. He is the coordinator of the Bioeconomy in Transition Research Group (BiT-RG) and the director of the School of Sustainability Studies and Circular Economy (SUSTAIN). Moreover, he was Scientific Coordinator of the H2020 project STAR-ProBio, vice-chair of the COST Action TD1203 on Food waste valorisation for sustainable chemicals, materials & fuels, and acted as WP Leader in various European and national research projects. He was Economic advisor to the Italian Minister of the Environment, Land and Sea Protection, till February 2021. He is now Local Unit Scientific Coordinator in the LIFE EBP project (2020-2024), Scientific Committee member of BIOVOICES and Biobridges projects (BBI JU CSAs).
Enrica Picarelli
Independent fashion scholar, writer, and media consultant
She works with African and Afro-Italian designers across the African continent and in Italy. She has conducted research on cultural sustainability in African fashion for the University of Bologna and she is research consultant of the association B&W: Black and White – The Migrant Trend. Her work has appeared in international scholarly journals and anthologies, as well as on art&culture magazines including Something we Africans Got, The Art Momentum, and Griot Magazine. She blogs at http://www.afrosartorialism.net/
Soeren Bauer
Communication strategist, knowledge manager and journalist
With twenty years of experience in multi-stakeholder communication, he has worked across Europe and in over 25 Sub-Saharan African countries, on environmental and resource issues for non-profits and development banks such as the World Bank, the African Development Bank, GIZ and others. He is Senior Advisor at the sustainability communication agency REVOLVE and President of the non-profit REVOLVE Circular advocating a systemic shift from a linear economy to a circular society. Sören holds an MSc in Sustainability Management, an MA in Development Studies, a diploma in Knowledge Management and a certificate in strategic communication for governance reform.
Marco Frey
Chairman of Global Compact Network Italy Foundation
He is Full Professor of Economics and Business Management and leader of the Sustainability Management Research Lab (SuM) at Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, involving +35 researchers, with +50 ongoing research projects on sustainability management.
Marco Frey is chairman of Global Compact Network Italy Foundation, and President of the Scientific Committee of Symbola, Foundation for the Italian Qualities.
He holds a degree in Economic and Social Sciences from the Bocconi University, Milan, in 1986 and in 2000 he was awarded the Eisenhower Exchange Fellowship. He has published more then 100 articles on major international journals on sustainability topics.
Gemma Pinyol
Head of Migration and Mobility Policies at Instrategies
She is associate researcher at GRITIM-Pompeu Fabra University. She is also an expert for Intercultural Cities-Council of Europe and coordinator of theRECI-Spanish Network of Intercultural Cities.
She has been involved in several European projects such the C4i-Communication for Integration project lead by the Council of Europe, or the AwArtMali project. She has been appointed as an expert for the Committee of the Regions and the Economic and Social Committee in different opinions.
Her main areas of interest are the EU and Spanish migration instruments, integration policies and the external dimension of migration policies, as well as Spanish migration policies and multilevel governance of migration, asylum, and integration issues.
Matthew Bach
EU Climate Pact Ambassador at ICLEI Europe
He leads efforts to foster a just transition in Europe at ICLEI – a global network of more than 2500 local and regional governments committed to sustainability. In this role, he supports cities in integrating justice into their environmental policies and plans, and serves as a Climate Pact Ambassador for the European Commission. He coordinates the Horizon 2020 Urban Arenas for Sustainable and Just Cities project and has over a decade of experience sustainability governance and social innovation. He holds degrees from the Universities of Freiburg and Cambridge.
Nisreen Elsaim
Environmental and climate activist
She started activism in 2012, with a Bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Khartoum, Sudan. She pursued her master’s degree in renewable energy from the same University.
General coordinator for Youth and Environment – Sudan (YES) platform to give all environment working youth the networking they need.
She is the Chair of Sudan Youth Organization on Climate Change (SYOCC) which youth-led organization.
As part of many regional and international platforms Nisreen Led and mentored large number of young people with in YOUNGO, PACJA, Abu Dhabi youth Voices, and others
She is also a junior negotiator with the African Group of Negotiators in technology transfer. focusing on the policies of countries regarding climate change and renewable energies.
She wrote several policy papers in climate change, renewable energy, gender and youth empowerment.
She was recently chosen to chair the UN Secretary General youth adviser on climate change along with 6 other young climate activists.
Marta Foresti
Director of ODI Europe
Marta is Director of ODI Europe and leads the Institute’s work in the region as well as ODI’s migration portfolio. Her interests include the political economy of development and reform, migration and human mobility, urban development and the future of cities, data and design.
Before joining ODI Europe, she worked as a Senior Policy Adviser at the Italian Ministry of Finance where she advised the ministerial team on local development policies and programmes. She has over 20 years of research, policy formulation and delivery, as well as management experience and has an interest in applied social research methodologies and policy evaluation. She holds a Master degree in Logic and Philosophy of Science from the London School of Economics and from the Milan State University.
Toloue Miandar
Assistant Professor at University of Bologna and Bologna Business School
Toloue Miandar is an Assistant Professor in Organization and HRM at the Department of Management of University of Bologna and Bologna Business School where she currently teaches at the BBS Centre for Sustainability and Climate Change. Prior to this position she won two Postdoctoral Research Fellow positions at the Department of Economics and Management of University of Padova and at the Politecnico di Milano School of Management. She received the PhD degree of Economic Sociology and Labour Studies from University of Milan. Her research interests are: Organizational Behavior, Corporate Sustainability, Sustainable Development and Supply Chain Sustainability.
Luigi Di Marco
Policy analyst – ASviS Secretariat
Formerly Director of Technical services for local authorities in province of Milan starting from 1997, he specialised on sustainable development policies at local level since 2009. He joined ASviS (Italian Alliance for Sustainable development) in 2016, participating to the drafting of reports on UN 2030 Agenda and Italian policies and as coordinator and referee of WGs. He is author of the book “SDGs and European policies” (2020), co-author of the report “Digital transition for SDGs” (2021) and editor of the ASviS weekly web column on EU policies.
Francesco Quatraro
full professor of Economics at the University of Torino and Fellow at the Collegio Carlo Alberto
He is co-editor of the journal Spatial Economic Analysis. At the University of Torino he is Director of the ICxT Innovation Center, and Director of the PhD Programme in Innovation for the Circular Economy. His research focuses on the economic determinants and impacts of technological innovation at the firm and regional level, with specific focus on new technological challenges and sustainable development. His research has been published on highly reputed journals like Economic Geography, Research Policy, Industrial and Corporate Change, Regional Studies, Ecological Economics, Economics of Innovation and New Technology. He has recently co-edited the Research Handbook on Innovation for a Circular Economy, published by Routledge.
Salvatore Pascale
Junior Assistant Professor at the Department of Physics and Astrophysics, University of Bologna.
He is also Junior Assistant Professor of Climate Dynamics and Climate Change at the Bologna Business School, where he teaches “Introduction to Climate Change” for the Sustainability Transition Management master. His research activity focuses on understanding the impact of climate change and variability on weather and climate extreme events, with a particular emphasis on climate dynamics, monsoons and Mediterranean climates. In his research, he combines observations, statistical techniques, and comprehensive and idealized climate models. He holds a M.Sc. in Physics from the University of Naples “Federico II” and a Ph.D. in Meteorology awarded by the University of Reading, UK. Before joining the University of Bologna and the Bologna Business School, he was research fellow at the Hamburg University, Germany (2011-2014), the California Institute of Technology (2015-2017), associate research scholar at Princeton University and NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (2017-2019) and research scientist at Stanford University (2019-2021).
Maria Alessandra Ancona
Junior Assistant Professor of Energy Systems and Power Generation at the Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Bologna
She is also Junior Assistant Professor at the Centre for Sustainability and Climate Change of the Bologna Business School, where she teaches “Energy systems for sustainability and Industry 4.0” at the Master in Sustainability Transition Management. She holds a PhD in Mechanics and Advanced Engineering Sciences at the University of Bologna in 2018. Her research activities focus on smart energy production and distribution, cogeneration, storage systems, power-to-X technologies and green hydrogen.
Gramennos Mastojeni
Deputy Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean
Diplomat, Professor and writer, has pioneered research and action on societal, geo-strategic and economic impacts of environmental degradation. Until August 2019, Coordinator for the Environment and Head of the Science-Policy Interface with Italian Development Cooperation; MFA head negotiator on water, lands, and oceans, and member of the Delegations to UNFCCC, UNCBD. Co Chair of the G7 Group on Climate and Fragility, Chair of the Global Mountains Alliance – Mountain Partnership, Member of the BoaCo-Chair of the Global Islands Partnership. Currently, Senior Deputy Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean, in charge of Energy and Climate Action.
Professor of Environment and Geo-strategy at various think-tanks and universities, and member of various scientific boards, Grammenos authored numerous articles, official reports, and six books about human impacts of environmental degradation.
Alessandra Vaccari
Associate Professor of Fashion History and Theory at the Università Iuav di Venezia
She has a background in contemporary art history and works at the interface between visual studies and design history. From 2019, she has been undergoing the research “Fashion Futuring”, which intends to investigate the present-day fashion cultures and their implications on environmental sustainability and social change. Her recent books include “Time in Fashion” (Bloomsbury, 2020) and “Remanufacturing Italy” (Mimesis, 2020).
Cristian Vasile
Constanta City Hall, Romania
A Foreign Languages graduate, involved in various cross-border projects and activities. Currently holds the position of Specialist within the Foreign Affairs and Communication Bureau, responsible for various activities and tasks associated with the representation of the municipality on external matters.
Fátima Fernández
Project and Policy officer in charge of human mobility at United Cities and Local Governments.
UCLF is the largest world network of local and regional governments that fosters city-to-city cooperation and amplifies the voices of cities and territories in global processes. She is the focal point for the Mediterranean City to City Migration (MC2CM) project and coordinates local and regional participation in global processes tackling migration and displacement, particularly the Global Compacts for Migration and Refugees. Prior to joining UCLG, Fátima worked at the Department of Human Development and Regional Integration at the European Institute for the Mediterranean (IEMed). Fátima holds a PhD in Regional Development and Economic Integration with a focus on the Political Economy of post-colonial Euro-Mediterranean relations.
Norbert Ciperle
City Councilor of Traiskirchen, Responsible for Diversity, Integration & Sport.
He is activist in case of Refugees, Solidarity, Fridays4Future, Sustainability. Trained Geographer and Cartographer. Database and IT operating system expert. Trainer in Sports for Tchoukball. Nightrider with a rainbow bike. Working as a teacher in a variety of fields through the years on this great planet.
Special Guests
Sofia Arena
Compliance Specialist Fendi Roma
She is an Environmental Engineer. Her studies focus on understanding of environmental processes with consideration of the interaction between humans, water, soil and atmosphere. She presented her results on phytoremediation to Sardinia Symposium 2014, then she did researches on climate change. Starting from 2016, she has focused on Sustainability in the fashion sector; in 2017 she joined Fendi contributing to implement and coordinate Socio-Environmental projects inside the Brand in line with LVMH – LIFE 360 program.
Simone Cipriani
Head and Founder of Ethical Fashion Initiative at the International Trade Centre
He has made it his mission to build a more responsible and sustainable fashion industry, by transforming it into a vehicle of poverty reduction and of empowerment of women, throughout the developing world. The Ethical Fashion Initiative enables artisans who live in marginalised conditions, in Africa (Burkina Faso, Mali, Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda), the Caribbean (Haiti) and Asia (Afghanistan and Nepal, soon also in Iran, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan), to become regular suppliers of international fashion and lifestyle brands, thus reducing poverty and empowering large numbers of women artisans. Since its inception, the initiative has also evolved to work with emerging African designers to promote their talent at an international level and thus to support more forms of Made in Africa production.
Byron and Dexter Peart
Cofounders of Goodee
After founding the globally recognized accessories brand WANT les Essentiels in 2007, the acclaimed twin designers and curators Byron and Dexter Peart set out on their new mission to help build a kinder, smarter, more beautiful world. Launched in Summer 2019, GOODEE is a certified B Corp, home & lifestyle company that empower creators, makers, and consumers to make a social impact through an inclusive global marketplace that fosters transparent sourcing, upcycling, diverse representation, and ethical treatment of its employees. In 2020, GOODEE joined 1% For The Planet, and were most recently recognized by Fast Company’s 2021 World’s Most Innovative Companies.
Roberta Marsi
Head of Corporate PR & General Services, DHL Express Italy
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Foreign Languages and Literatures awarded by Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and an Executive Master in Sustainability and Business Innovation awarded by Bologna Business School.
At DHL Express Italy she is responsible for Internal Communications as well as General Services. In her role she also takes care of developing sustainable projects with her Team as well as supporting employees in their volunteering activities. Her Department is moreover reference and support for the other Functions in the Company in conceiving and implementing sustainable projects and initiatives in line with Deutsche Post DHL Group’s Strategy and Sustainability Roadmap, according to ESG approach.