Kirsten's career spans academia, consulting, banking, insurance, strategy, design, innovation and leadership, across three continents. She joined Climate-KIC in February 2017 from an Australian financial services conglomerate, Suncorp. She is committed to shaping and placing innovation to catalyse profound systemic change. Her vision for Climate-KIC is to co-create a multi-sided marketplace for transformation and the generation of innovation options to achieve a zero-carbon economy and a climate resilient society. In her role at Suncorp, Kirsten founded and led a bespoke division focused on managing and responding to strategic risk through innovation, transforming core business and industry models from within. Prior to roles in Second Road, KPMG and Suncorp in Australia, Kirsten led the Generali Group Innovation Academy for Assicurazioni Generali in Italy, pioneering proprietary thinking in the areas of Strategic Risk management, strategic innovation, strategic leadership development and cultural change. Kirsten holds a Ph.D. in cultural history.

Angela Schindler-Daniels is head of the DLR-PT Representation in Brussels, her thematic focus lies on issues revolving around the EU Missions, Science Diplomacy, Strategic Foresight, the EU Green Deal and Regional Development. She is Work Package leader in the TRAMI project and responsible for setting up the European Mission Network (EMiN).

 Previously, Angela has worked for the European Liaison Office of German Research Organisations (KoWi) and head of its Bonn Office as well as serving as the coordinator of the Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) Programme at the DLR Project Management Agency. As delegate, national expert and NCP herself, she coordinated the German SSH Programme and the EU funded NCP-Network, Net4Society.

 Prior to her involvement in EU research policy and management, Angela worked as an "Economic" and "Global Affairs" specialist with the US Embassy in Bonn, Germany. She holds a master’s degree in Political Science, American Literature and Business Administration.

Julien Guerrier has been working for more than 25 years at the European Commission, mainly on industrial and research policy, international trade negotiations and corporate management issues.
He is currently in charge of the Directorate developing the overall policy for the EU funding programme for research and innovation, Horizon Europe.

As a representative of the Commission, he also headed the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation in Tokyo (2008-2011) and the European Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (2017-2020), which manages the COSME Programme for the competitiveness of SMEs, parts of HORIZON such as the pilot European Innovation Council, LIFE and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund.

Before joining the Commission, he was at the French Ministry of Public Works and participated in an exchange of officials with the Japanese administration, where he worked for one year.
Julien Guerrier graduated from Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées in France and holds an MBA.

Professor Dan Hill is a designer, urbanist, educator and experienced leader at the intersection of design, technology and cities. His previous leadership positions have produced innovative, influential teams and projects, ranging across built environment and architecture (two stints at Arup, Future Cities Catapult), education and research (Fabrica, AHO, UCL), government and social innovation (SITRA, Vinnova), and media (BBC, Domus, Monocle). He was one of the Mayor of London’s inaugural Design Advocates, and a Trustee of Participatory City Foundation, and is a founding member of the UN HABITAT Council for Urban Initiatives. Dan’s projects take a holistic approach to multidisciplinary research and design combined with an acute reading of everyday technologies and social infrastructures. Dan has lived and worked in UK, Australia, Finland, Italy, and Sweden, and developed and delivered city strategy and urban development projects for city governments in Amsterdam, Melbourne, Stockholm, Manchester, Sydney and London, as well as for Alphabet and Lendlease. He has devised and delivered place-based approaches to Swedish and Finnish national innovation strategies. Dan has particular expertise in designing social and cultural infrastructures, in urban contexts such as Melbourne Innovation District, Manchester’s Northern Quarter, Google’s global campuses, and the University of Melbourne campus, and on buildings such as the Victoria & Albert Museum, British Library, UAE Museum of the Future, State Library of Queensland, ACMI, Collingwood Yards, and central library strategies for Melbourne and Sheffield. Dan has held roles as Professor at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design, Visiting Professor of Practice at UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, Visiting Professor at Design Academy Eindhoven, and Adjunct Professor at RMIT University. He has taught studios and courses at other colleges all over the world. Amidst much published work, in academic journals, books and media, Dan authored the influential book “Dark Matter & Trojan Horses: A Strategic Design Vocabulary” for Strelka Press in 2012 and has been writing about design, technology, cities and culture for over 20 years.

Download Dan Hills book "Designing missions" about mission-oriented innovation - a handbook from Vinnova here.

Master in Political Science, University of Vienna, Doctoral degree in Political Science, University of Vienna, Master of Business Administration, University of Salzburg. 2000 – 2001 Science Attaché at the Permanent Representation of Austria to the EU since 2002 Head of Department for EU and OECD Research Policy at the Austrian Ministry of Science, Research and Economy. Current assignments Co-Chair of ERAC (European Research and Innovation Area Committee). Austrian representative to CSTP (Committee for Science and Technology Policy) of the OECD.

Johan Schot is Professor of Global History and Sustainability Transitions at the Utrecht University Centre for Global Challenges. He is the founder and Academic Director of the Deep Transitions research project and the Transformative Innovation Policy Consortium (TIPC) as well as former Director of the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at the University of Sussex Business School. Professor Schot’s interests orientate around impact-driven interdisciplinary research that strives to accelerate long-term system change and a just transition towards sustainability. Schot is a network-builder that brings together interdisciplinary research teams, policy-makers, investors, governments, NGOs, the media and the corporate world. In his most recent project, Deep Transitions Futures, Schot initiated a unique collaboration between historians, sustainability transitions scholars, futurists and a cohort of 16 public and private investors from around the world. In November 2022, as a result of their 2-year co-creation process, the group published a Transformative Investment Philosophy proposing new principles, tools and metrics for financing long-term system change and a deep transition towards sustainability.

He also regularly leads or contributes to OECD Innovation Policy Reviews (Malaysia, Sweden, Kazakhstan, Norway, Portugal, Kuwait, Korea). He joined OECD in 2011 as internal evaluator. He has led and implemented several evaluations of OECD committees and horizontal initiatives and contributed to revise the organisation’s methodology and process. Prior to joining OECD, he was Director of the French office of Technopolis Group, a leading consulting and evaluation company in the area of research, innovation and economic development policy. After his PhD in economics, Philippe led research positions at the University of Bordeaux, INSEAD Business School (Fontainebleau) and Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI, Tokyo).

Economist and PhD in European Integration and International Relations. She works at the Catalan Governmentas Head of economic strategy, coordinating Catalonia's smart specialisation strategy and promotingtransformative innovation policies. She collaborates with TIPC, Eu-SPRI, the European Commission, OECD andother initiatives at European level.

Yousef Yousef is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of LG Sonic, whose mission is to eliminate the use of chemicals in the water treatment industry by offering environmentally friendly solutions. Yousef is an innovator with an out-of-the box vision on water-quality management, big data-driven technologies and environmental monitoring. He is the winner of several water innovation and entrepreneurial awards such as Aquatech Innovation Award and Shell LiveWIRE. Yousef holds two patents on ultrasound technology combined with big data and membranes. He is also Chairman of the Dutch entrepreneurs’ community Green Growers, which invests in the development of circular products and sustainable technologies.

Cristina Robledano (Madrid, 1977) is a Grant Manager at Porticus and since 2021 she co-leads the Portic Transition Programme. Cristina works alongside global and local partners in Europe and Asia, but also clo urban partners in the city of Madrid, where she is based.

She began her career in the building sector working for several architecture firms before deciding to dire philanthropy, back in 2011. Through her work at Porticus, she has managed projects

addressing several of the varied challenges faced by cities today: homelessness, unemployment, poverty human trafficking, early child education, youngsters education, vocational training, and pastoral and spir children and young people. Establishing partnerships for the dissemination and institutionalization of se methodology has been an important part of her work. In the last years she has focused on Porticus initia Fair Transition by ensuring that urban policy and practice plays a key role in it. Cristina holds a Degree in Architecture and a Master Degree on Efficient Buildings and Energy and Environmental Rehabilitation.

Prof.dr.ir Eveline van Leeuwen, expert in urban economics, is Scientific Director at Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS Institute). In addition to her role at AMS Institute, Eveline is Chair of Urban Economics at Wageningen University & Research. Furthermore, she is Vice President of the European Regional Science Association (ERSA), a member of the OECD Expert Advisory Committee on Rural Innovation and a member of the International Advisory Board (IAB) of the Amsterdam Economic Board. In various other committees she advices both national and regional policymakers. Eveline van Leeuwen graduated in Land Use Planning (MSc) at the Wageningen University in 2002 and obtained a PhD in Spatial Economics at VU Amsterdam on the topic of ‘Urban-Rural Interactions’ in 2008. From 2001 to 2017, in various positions at VU University Amsterdam, Eveline developed herself as an expert in the field of Spatial Economics. Within the fields of research and education, the topics that particularly spark her interest are the relations between city and countryside, interactions in space and time, differences between people and regions, and broad prosperity focused on themes such as circularity, energy transition and regional food systems.

UNIV.PROF. DI DR. HELMUT HABERSACK

E-mail: helmut.habersack@boku.ac.at

http://linkedin.com/in/helmut-habersack-5239a52b

Xosé Ramil is journalist specialized in climate change, Xosé is the coordinator of #FundacionesporelClima (Foundations for Climate), an initiative of the Spanish Association of Foundations to foster a movement for change by mobilizing the foundations sector to address climate change as a cross-cutting, societal issue.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/xoseramil/

Enrico is Project Officer of ECSA, the European Citizen Science Association, of which he was Vice-Chair until 2022. Before joining ECSA he was Chief Communications Officer of EPOS ERIC and Chief Executive Officer of Sissa MediaLab.

He has served on the Boards of several European Innovation Networks (UNILHC, NETADIS, GATIS) and was Board Director of EUSEA, the European Science Engagement Association, from 2016 to 2020.

Vanesa Abón studied biology in the Complutense University of Madrid and then she obtained her PhD in Biomedical Sciences at the KU Leuven University in Belgium. In 2019 she joined the Scientific Foundation of the Spanish Association Against Cancer as a Project Manager, the largest cancer research charity in Spain. Among other functions, Vanesa is head of the patient advocacy initiative to engage patients in cancer research.

Aureo Diaz-Carrasco is the Executive Director of the Spanish Federation of Technology Centers (FEDIT). Since 2008, he is working in R&D&I public policies, promoting the activities of the Spanish Technology Centers, and fostering the cooperation with other research and innovation stakeholders. He is also member of the Executive Board of EARTO (the European Association of RTOs) where he works to promote the role and participation of the RTOs in the different European R&D Programmes.

Lucia Otero works at the Research Unit of the Spanish Foundation of Rheumatology. In her role as scientific coordinator, she is responsible for several nationwide registries that allow to assess the disease management and pharmacoepidemiology among patients with rheumatic inflammatory diseases.

Christine Chomienne is Professor Emeritus in Cell Biology & Hematology at the Université de Paris Cité, Inserm Research Unit 1131, in France.

 At the European Commission she has recently been appointed as vice-chair of the new Horizon Europe Cancer Mission Board (2022-2025) where she previously held the position of Vice-Chair (2019-2021).

 She was Director of Research and Innovation at the French National Cancer Institute (INCa) and Director of the Cancer Institute of France Research Organisations (Inserm & AVIESAN). She is past president of the European Hematology Association. She was head of the Cell Biology Department at the Hôpital Saint Louis, Paris and Director of the University Inserm Research Laboratory at the Institut Universitaire d’Hématologie for the last 25 years and consultant in myeloproliferative neoplasms. Dr. Chomienne is author of more than 270 peer-reviewed publications and has received several scientific (Academia of Science) and French governmental awards (Chevalier and Officier de la Legion d’Honneur) and the Jean Bernard Lifetime Achievement Award from the European Hematology Association.

Alice Vadrot is Associate Professor for International Relations and the Environment at the Department of Political Science of the University of Vienna and Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Science and Policy (CSaP) of the University of Cambridge. She is the PI of the ERC Starting Grant project MARIPOLDATA (2018-2023) investigating science-policy interrelations in marine biodiversity governance and since 2019 member of the board of the Austrian Biodiversity Council and the Young Academy of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Niels Halberg, M.Sc. Agronomy, PhD Ecological Economics
Director, Danish Centre for Food and Agriculture, (DCA), Aarhus University (AU)

Overall responsible for coordination and organisation of science based policy advice to Ministry of Food and Agriculture. +25 years of research into organic agriculture, agroecology, environmental assessment of farming and food systems, LCA, in DK, Europe and abroad.

Chair of Board of Program Managers in EJP Soil, coordinator of Soil Mission support projects (NAti00ns and Prepsoil). 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalia-martin-palenzuela-18b8378b/?originalSubdomain=fr

https://www.linkedin.com/in/chlo%C3%A9-jego-phd-379244153/?locale=en_US

Elena SIMION, Internati onal Projects Expert at UEFISCDI, Romania, has a master’s degree in internati onamanagement and an MBA in Technology Management. For the past ten years, she has been working as aand implementati on expert in internati onal projects. Her experience covers initi ati ves funded under HorHorizon 2020, FP7, Interreg Europe, Danube Transnati onal Programme and ERA-NETs such as Smart EneSmart Grids Plus, acti ng as a delegate for UEFISCDI to the Joint Programming Initi ati ve Urban Europe Maand to the Driving Urban Transiti ons Partnership Management Board. Elena is part of a development teain the design of policy recommendati ons, innovati on funding instruments and new policy development pCurrently, she is the coordinator of the Horizon Europe CSA CapaCITIES - "Building Capaciti es for the ClimSmart Citi es Mission", leading a consorti um of more than 60 partners and associated partners from Eurotwo years.

Richard Smithers is Ricardo Energy Environment’s Technical Director and International Lead on Climate Adaptation. He is Project Director for building the Implementation Platform for the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change. He has worked in the environmental sector for almost 40 years and led or provided expert input to projects regarding all aspects of the climate adaptation planning cycle at national, subnational and city scales in the EU and for more than 40 countries globally. For the European Commission, he led analytical reports informing the impact assessment for the new EU Adaptation Strategy, support for the evaluation of the first EU Adaptation Strategy (including finalisation of the Adaptation Preparedness Scoreboard), and support for development of implementing acts for the Energy Union Governance Regulation regarding adaptation reporting.