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.
Omar Hameed has worked for Pakistan’s Mission to the European Union since 2016. He joined the civil service of Pakistan in 1995 and has diverse experience within the public and development sectors. He has worked in the prime minister’s secretariat, ministries of commerce, foreign affairs and capital administration, Trade Development Authority of Pakistan, UNDP, UNIDO and Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority. Hameed has completed multiple courses on international trade and is a certified master trainer in trade negotiations from the World Trade Institute at Berne. He holds a master’s in international economic law from Warwick University.
David Hirschler works at ERI, the largest IT Asset Disposition service provider and recycler of e-waste in the United States. He is responsible for ERI’s internal and external sustainability and circularity initiatives as well as legislative responsibilities covering the gamut of producer responsibility regulations through data protection regulations. In addition, David serves as president of the board of FABSCRAP, a nonprofit organisation focused on the recycling and reuse of commercial textile waste. He has worked in the recycling field for more than 20 years and holds a master’s in urban and environmental policy and planning from Tufts University.
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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.
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.
Paola Migliorini has been working on circular economy policies at the Commission’s Directorate-General for Environment since 2012. She has coordinated the policy development and the implementation of the two circular economy action plans adopted by the Commission in 2015 and 2020. Currently, she focuses on the circular economy for textiles and plastics and on the EU Ecolabel. Paola has great interest in best practices on sustainable consumption and production from innovative businesses and public authorities. She has experience in European institutions and the private sector. Her motto is "explain, listen and make it happen".
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Luis Armando Treviño
Strategic Management Coordinator
Monterrey Water and Drainage Services
Luis Armando has a master's in organisational psychology from the Autonomous University of Nuevo León, Mexico, with extensive experience in water sustainability, group process management and human behaviour. He was technical secretary of the Río Bravo Basin Council, accredited as facilitator of the UNESCO / WET / CONAGUA water and education programme; and was member of the board of directors of the Network of Basin Organizations of North America and the Caribbean (ROCAN) among others. He is an honorary member of the board of directors of the Mexican Hydraulic Association, Nuevo León section. He worked for more than 13 years in the Río Bravo Basin Organization as regional coordinator of emergency assistance, basin councils and water culture.
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Daniele Serra
Associate Expert
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
Daniele has worked at UNIDO as a project manager in the circular economy and resource efficiency unit since 2021. He is the focal point of the Global Alliance on Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency (GACERE) and leads a project on the uptake of eco-design practices in China. A passionate advocate of the ecological transition, he worked for the energy utility Enel before joining UNIDO (2017-2021). His background is in sustainable energy systems and he holds an MSc from the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, the Polytechnic University of Turin in Italy, and the UPC BarcelonaTech in Spain.