Bringing over 20 years of industry and social enterprise experience, Claire Downey is responsible for leading the Rediscovery Centre’s research team in providing an evidence base for policy development and supporting circular living models. She has delivered multiple national and international projects including research related to circular metrics and targets, circular textiles, reuse quality marks, citizen and community engagement. Claire also leads the education team in delivering excellence in circular economy education and driving curriculum change. Claire is an active member of the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform’s leadership group on circular behaviour, the RREUSE network, the Irish National Waste Advisory Group, the Irish National Textiles Advisory Group, the Irish EPA’s National Reuse and Repair Network and is a fellow with the Chartered Institute of Waste Management. She is also a board member of Green Foundation Ireland.
A lawyer by training, Astrid Schomaker is director for green diplomacy and multilateralism in the European Commission's Directorate General for Environment. Since joining the Commission in 1992, she has held a variety of posts in the areas of international relations and environment policy, amongst them leading the work on chemical policy, marine issues and the EU's environment policy strategy to 2030.
Pau is an accomplished professional with a master's from the College of Europe. With over four years of dedicated service at the European association for industrial battery companies EUROBAT, he led significant policy initiatives related to the batteries regulation. Recently, Pau has embarked on a new chapter in his career as the policy director at the energy technology company CATL, where he continues to leverage his expertise in shaping the future of energy policies.
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Virginijus Sinkevičius
EU Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries
European Commission
Prior to joining the European Commission, Virginijus Sinkevičius was the minister of economy of Lithuania from 2017 to 2019. He led the committee of economy at the parliament of Lithuania, to which he was elected in October 2016. Sinkevičius holds a bachelor’s in international relations and affairs from Aberystwyth University and a master’s in European international affairs from Maastricht University.
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Sandra Dokic
State Secretary
Ministry of Environmental Protection of the Republic of Serbia
Sandra Dokic represents Serbia in many international environmental organisations and agreements. These include the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), the global methane pledge, low emissions and climate-resilient economy in the Western Balkans and Türkiye, the EU’s 4GREEN project, the green agenda for the Western Balkans, and various United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) entities. She is a lawyer holding a bachelor’s in law, master’s in economics and master’s in economic policy and development, all from the University of Belgrade.
Hans Bruyninckx is professor of environmental governance at the University of Antwerp and fellow at the Institute for Environment and Sustainability of the National University of Singapore. Between 2013 and 2023 he was the executive director of the European Environment Agency. Bruyninckx is an expert in European and international environmental policy, the effects of globalisation on the governance of environmental issues and sustainable development.
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Jutta Urpilainen
European Commissioner for International Partnerships (DG INTPA)
European Commission
Jutta Urpilainen oversees the European Commission’s work on international cooperation and sustainable development. Before joining the Commission, she served as a member of the Finnish Parliament from 2003 to 2019. In 2008, she became the first woman leader of the Social Democratic Party of Finland. From 2011 to 2014, she served as Finland’s deputy prime minister and finance minister. During that time, she became closely involved in development issues, joining the Development Committee of the World Bank Group and IMF and chairing the Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development. She served as the foreign minister’s special representative on mediation (2017-2019) and chaired the Finnish National Commission for UNESCO (2015-2018). Urpilainen was born in 1975. She is married and has two children.
Francesca is a public policy professional with 25 years’ experience in building partnerships between the public and private sectors. Prior to joining GS1, she worked at the European Commission and European Parliament, as well as for Ferrero as advocacy and sustainability lead. Among her biggest achievements are: the corporate social responsibility programme launched and developed to the highest public recognition for Ferrero, the convergence of environmental protection and chemical impacts in the framework of the EU chemical reform, and the fight against illicit trade through open non-proprietary standards for GS1. Francesca studied corporate social responsibility at the Harvard Business School and she holds a master’s in European law.
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Martin Seychell
Deputy Director-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA)
European Commission
Martin Seychell is a graduate in chemistry and pharmaceutical technology. He occupied the post of head of directorate for foodstuffs and chemicals at the Malta Standards Authority between 2001 and 2006, and that of director of environment protection at the Malta Environment and Planning Authority between 2006 and 2011. He was appointed deputy director general for health and consumers at the European Commission in March 2011. Between 2014 and 2020 he was deputy director-general for health in the Health and Food Safety Directorate-General (SANTE), responsible for directorates dealing with public health and health systems and products. These covered a number of policy areas including health security, health systems, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, tobacco control and digital health. He also represented the Commission on the management board of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) between 2011 and 2020. He was appointed deputy director general responsible for human development, migration, governance and peace, and resources in DG INTPA in June 2020.
In an almost two decade-long career, Sarah Negro worked across Europe and Asia as a diplomat. She has successfully developed public affairs strategies, advocated for legislation changes and engaged with both public and private actors. In 2018 Sarah moved back into the corporate world and joined H&M Group. In her current role, she leads public affairs teams in production countries by advocating for policy developments needed for the most impactful ecosystem and meaningful business growth.
