Elisa Gambuzzi
R&D technician and R&D project manager, Centro Tecnológico de la Energía y Medio Ambiente CETENMA, Spain
Chemist and Ph.D. in Materials Modelling of silicate glasses for nuclear waste confinement and biomedical applications. After academia, she transitioned to interdisciplinary approaches, focusing on the shift to a circular economy model, particularly in territorial bioeconomy and circular fertilizers. Her expertise spans from project development assistance to cities/region, enabling technologies, business models, and stakeholder engagement strategies. She is one of the promoters of the GreennoMed Living Lab.
Yannis Eustathopoulos
Head of the Sustainable Development Observatory, ENA Institute, Greece
He is an economist with 25 years of experience and high-level expertise in sustainable development, having worked with all levels of public administration, the corporate sector, social partner organisations, and the social economy in Greece, Cyprus, and at the EU level. He led the drafting of Greece’s National Strategy for Sustainable Development 2030 and currently heads the Sustainable Development Observatory at the ENA Institute.
Gorka Altuna Fernandez
Forest Engineer at HAZi Foundation, Spain
Advisory work for public bodies and private companies, always around forest sector and forest-based bioeconomy sector.
Great experience as project coordinator and developing European project’s tasks in multi-actor partnerships related to, climate change adaptation and mitigation, forest-based bioeconomy, sustainable forest management and new technologies.
Involved in different European forest related networks, for cooperation, knowledge exchange and policies assessment.
Enthusiastic about sustainable forest management and the potential of the forest-based circular bioeconomy as an sustainable economic, social and environmental model for the present and future.
Andreea-Raluca Leru
Expert – Brussels Representation Office, North-East Romania Regional Development Agency
An enthusiastic and seasoned expert, boasting a proven track-record of successfully evaluating project proposals and steering internationally funded research and mobility projects in vibrant multicultural settings. With a knack for research valorization and innovation, Andreea am not only well-versed in academic pursuits but also passionately committed to crafting and executing programmes aimed at propelling regional development and convergence.
Prof. Vladislav Popov
Agricultural University of Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Prof. Vladislav Popov, PhD is an acting Professor at the Dept. of Agroecology, Vice-rector of the Agricultural University of Plovdiv, (AUP), Bulgaria. Internationally recognised researcher, expert and adviser, experienced in leading high-profile (inter)national R&D projects in agroecology, organic agriculture and bioeconomy in the EU-27, Balkans, Caucasus, Central Asia and East Africa. Member of the Standing Committee of Agricultural Research (SCAR) at the European Commission (EC). Member of the Advisory Board of the 2nd FOOD 2030 High-Level Event of the European Commission “Research and Innovation for Food and Nutrition Security: Transforming our food systems”, and Viice-Chairman of the LifeWatch ERIC. A National Coordinator and Chairman of the Executive Board of the National Scientific Programme (NSP) of the Ministry of Education and Science (MES) of Bulgaria “Healthy Foods for Strong Bioeconomy and Quality of Life” (2018-2023) and NCP “Smart crop production” (2021-2024). Leader of the AUP expert group for the execution of the Ministry of Agriculture Technical study “SWOT Analysys of the impact of agriculture on environment and climate”2019-2020 for the Strategic Plan for development of agriculture 2021-2027. Member of scientific teams in Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe projects and evaluator at the Research and Executive Agency of the European Commission (EC), expert of the European Training Foundation, the EIT-Food and the FAO and a MES delegate in the EC ‘Shadow committee” for Cluster 6 of the Horizon Europe and the Expert Group for preparation of National Bioeconomy strategy of Bulgaria. A member of the Editorial Boards and the Scientific Committees of Bulgarian and foreign journals, author of 100+ scientific publications, books, manuals, etc.
