As a youth nature delegate for Finland, Sara makes sure Finnish youth perspectives are heard at international arenas and negotiations. With a background in international sustainability and development topics, she aims to highlight global solidarity and justice as a basis for inspiring and ambitious action for nature.
Loredana Capone was born on 14 February 1964, in Lecce, where she still lives. She has a law degree and has worked in administrative law, education and regional government. In 2020, she was re-elected as regional councillor of Puglia, where she has led tourism, culture, energy, industry, innovation and material management endeavours. Previously she was on the management board of Nereus, the network of European regions that use space technologies. In the province of Lecce, Capone has been responsible for economic planning, technological innovation, institutional communication, general affairs, educational policies, social security and equal opportunities.
Read full bio
Garam Bel
Circular Economy Coordinator
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Garam Bel works for the Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) of the ITU based in Geneva. He coordinates the electronic waste projects in BDT covering regulatory development and data collection. Prior to joining ITU, he worked for the Environment Management Group, which is a UN system-wide coordination body on environment and human settlements. In this position, he ran activities towards streamlining the various electronic waste-related initiatives of UN agencies and programmes. Before moving to Geneva, Garam worked for the local government in Scotland with municipal solid waste. He holds a master’s in standardization, social regulation and sustainable development from the University of Geneva.
Daniela Sani is on the staff of the sustainability area manager for sustainable innovation at ART-ER, where she represents the group in many organisations and projects. She is responsible for KIC EIT Raw Materials, EIT Manufacturing, EIT Health, EIT Climate and EIT Culture & Creativity. She works as an expert evaluator for the European Commission and other European partnerships and institutions. Daniela is a certified mediator for civil and commercial disputes accredited to the Anacona Chaber of Commerce. She has a PhD in geotechnical engineering and an MBA in civil engineering. She has 10 years’ research history in topics related to the environment and materials and has contributed to over 80 publications.
Read full bio
Emily Barran
Green Industrialisation Lead
Climate Action Platform Africa (CAP-A)
Emily leads the green industrialisation team at CAP-A. Her work focuses on creating an enabling environment for “climate competitiveness” in specific sectors across Africa. This means engaging with public and private sectors and investors to identify and unlock barriers of hard and soft infrastructure, both in specific countries and regionally. She is deeply engaged in industrial policy and strategies for several countries, including proactive and reactive approaches to evolving geopolitics of the energy transition. Emily holds a BA Hons from University of Leeds and an MBA from Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.
Atte has over 25 years’ experience of leading change and innovation in media, education and policy. Prior to Sitra, he was the director general of higher education and research policy at the Ministry of Education and Culture, Finland (2020-2023). Atte worked for 20 years as senior editor and CEO of three major Finnish news organisations. He initially completed a law degree at the University of Helsinki and trained on the bench. In 2023, he completed his dissertation and is now a Doctor of Science in economics and business administration.
Read full bio
Nicola Pochettino
Director of Environment and Natural Resources Department
European Investment Bank (EIB)
Nicola Pochettino’s work at EIB in Luxembourg covers water, the bioeconomy and the circular economy. Prior to joining EIB, he worked at the International Energy Agency in Paris and in various positions in the financial sector and the energy industry, both in Italy and the UK. Nicola is a CFA charterholder; he holds a master of science in nuclear engineering from the Polytechnic of Turin and a master's in economics and management of energy and the environment.
Riku is a dedicated circular economist with a passion for developing business models which are more circular. Throughout his career, Riku has worked with numerous circular economy initiatives, such as circular economy road maps and industry-specific playbooks. Riku's expertise lies in developing circular solutions that drive innovation and growth and at the same time reduce the need for resources. He is especially interested in the nexus between the circular economy and nature. Nature and biodiversity are featuring more and more in the business agendas, and the circular economy is a key delivery mechanism in halting and reversing biodiversity loss.
María has been working on circular economy policies for the past 6 years and currently leads the unit in charge of implementing Europe’s circular economy action plan. She also works on the circular economy of textiles. After finishing her master’s at the College of Europe in European political and administrative studies, Maria worked in the representation of Andalucía to the EU in Brussels, in charge of policy areas including digitalisation, the economy, finance and the circular economy. At the Directorate-General Environment in the European Commission, Maria has discovered best practices in sustainable consumption and production, disseminated among eco-innovative businesses and public authorities. She is keen on learning more about new business models in markets for secondary raw materials. Maria also holds a degree in law and a master’s in diplomacy and international relations.
Aurel Ciobanu-Dordea joined the Commission’s Directorate-General for Environment in 2014. Before his current role, he was director of enforcement, cohesion and the European Semester until April 2022. He joined the Commission in 2009 and served as director for equality and director for fundamental rights and EU citizenship. He holds an LLM from the University of Illinois, US, and a PhD from the University of Bucharest, Romania.