Virginia is a dedicated finance professional with a passion for fostering sustainable investment practices in the Nordics. Her expertise has supported the growth of over 100 emerging fund managers in the region and she has played a key role in guiding dozens of emerging funds towards environmentally conscious strategies.
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Cillian Lohan
NAT Vice President
European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)
Cillian Lohan has been an active member of the EESC since 2015 and was vice president for communications from October 2020 to 2023. He has worked extensively in the corporate and environmental sectors. He is a leader in the field of the circular economy and was the inaugural chair of the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform, which he helped to establish. Cillian Lohan is CEO of the Green Economy Foundation, formerly known as Irish Natural Forestry Foundation.
Susanne van Berkum’s background is in chemistry. She has experience in chemical recycling of PET as well as working for a producer responsibility organisation responsible for the recycling of end-of-life vehicles. Currently Susanne is working for TNO in the field of circular value chains for critical raw materials, using practical experience to bridge the gap between knowing where to find these materials and recovering them from different waste streams to get the most out of them.
Ambroise Fayolle was appointed to his current position in February 2015. He is responsible for climate action and environment, development policy and the European Guarantee Fund. He is also a board member of the European Investment Fund. He oversees EIB’s activities in France, Germany and many countries in Africa and the Pacific. A graduate of the Ecole Nationale d’Administration, he spent most of his career in various positions at the French Treasury Department and in the IMF and the World Bank, including as a board member of the two latter institutions for 8 years.
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Françoise Bonnet
Secretary General
Association of Cities and Regions for Sustainable Resource Management (ACR+)
Françoise Bonnet joined ACR+ in 2013. She holds a degree in law from Liège University, complemented by a diploma in European law from the College of Europe and in specialised studies in environmental law from Brussels University. She has more than 25 years’ experience in legislative issues and in material resource management and policy, regularly offering policy advice, technical assistance and capacity development. During her professional life, she has worked for public authorities such as Brussels Region Administration, the UN and the European Commission, as well as for private companies. Thanks to this, she is familiar with local administration systems and North-South cooperation with the countries in the Mediterranean region.
Marc leads the Amsterdam-based impact consulting firm Circle Economy Consulting. He is a seasoned consultant with more than 15 years’ experience helping clients implement circular solutions. Marc is a recognised thought-leader on the circular economy. He is regularly invited to speak at global fora and is featured in media. He holds several external advisory roles including at WEF and the UN. He initiated the Circularity Gap Report, a global scorecard for circularity launched yearly at Davos. Marc holds a PhD in sustainable resource use.
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Jonas Dreger
Senior Manager, Environmental Initiatives, EMEIA
Apple
Jonas has been managing environmental regulatory compliance and sustainability programmes and facilitating stakeholder conversations across Europe, Middle East, India and Africa at Apple’s environmental initiatives team since 2014. He has a background in European environmental policy and a focus on the circular economy, having previously represented Siemens on these topics in Brussels. Jonas holds a PhD on European climate and energy policy.
Futurist and strategist Sharon leverages two decades of experience anticipating consumer behaviour shifts for global organisations. As a co-founder and director of the strategy consultancy Alice Labs, she merges her expertise with a passion for circularity, advocating for sustainable consumption. Her insights into evolving consumer motivations and behaviours enable Sharon to navigate complex dialogues on circular economies effectively.
Sarah Miller is founder of Ireland's national centre for the circular economy. Based in Europe's first circular economy demonstration centre, the Rediscovery Centre acts as an innovation hub, delivering education, providing research and enabling policy and collaboration to support a just transition to the circular economy. Sarah has a PhD in environmental science, a master’s in business administration and an honours degree in biotechnology. With over 30 years’ professional experience in the UK, Ireland and Australia, she has worked primarily with commercial and social enterprise start-ups, ranging from large-scale mechanical and biological waste treatment plants to community development projects. Sarah is a member of the coordinating group for the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform, where she also sits on the leadership group for citizen engagement and circular behaviour. She is active in several circular economy networks, technical committees and support initiatives.
Thomas Van Oppens is Leuven's deputy mayor for waste management or, as he prefers to call it, material management. Leuven is one of the 100 European cities on a mission to become climate neutral. But what about all the materials that are needed to accomplish that? And what about the materials that are already in the city? How can we connect the dots? Thomas takes you from the high-level plans and translates them into local policies and realisations.
