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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Patrick Schröder specialises in research on the global transition to an inclusive circular economy with a focus on international policy coordination, closing the investment gap, the role of global trade and the contribution of the circular economy to the Sustainable Development Goals. Prior to joining Chatham House, he was Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex. From 2008–15 he was based in Beijing where he worked extensively in development cooperation programmes of the European Union and climate change programmes with GIZ. He is currently coordinating lead author for UNEP’s Global Environmental Outlook 7. Patrick holds a BA in Chinese from the University of Westminster and received his MA in international relations and PhD in environmental studies from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
Prior to joining Sitra, Jussi held senior marketing leadership roles at Nokia, Microsoft and Qualcomm. Currently he looks after Sitra's lifestyle test and its future evolution.
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Yisong Guan
Chief Representative of the Beijing Office
Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Yisong Guan has rich experience in consulting governments and enterprises for the green transition. In his over ten years’ career on climate change, he founded Easy Carbon, a consultancy firm which supported its clients to develop low carbon transition strategies and achieve carbon financing under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of UNFCCC. The company secured over RMB5 billion carbon emission reduction financing for its clients through the international carbon market, and has successfully developed the largest number of CDM projects in China. He was the chief operations officer of the UNEP – International Ecosystem Management Partnership (UNEP-IEMP), responsible for organisation management and project execution to protect biodiversity while promoting international cooperation on ecosystem management. Now, he is leading the foundation’s programme to accelerate the circular economy transition of China through high-level cooperation, industry transition dialogue and capacity building to unlock the country’s potentials and achieve the social and environmental benefits from the circular economy.
Xiaoting Chen brings a wealth of expertise to her role at the foundation’s Beijing office, where she leads their plastic initiative and the policy and climate workstream in China. With a PhD in sustainability economy from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Chen possesses over 16 years’ invaluable experience in the field of sustainability. Prior to her current position, Chen served as the global coordinator for Greening the Belt and Road Initiative at WWF China, and senior manager of the strategic corridor programme at KPMG China’s Global China Practice, where she played a pivotal role in shaping environmental strategies on a global scale and demonstrating her proficiency in crafting sustainable business solutions.
