Frederic Ximeno: Commissioner of Ecology at Barcelona City Council has worked in the fields of environment, urban and environmental planning, and climate management for twenty-five years. As a consultant, his work has focused on strategic environmental, climate, territorial, and urban strategies for programs and projects in urban, regional, and national. Ximeno was the general director of Environmental Policies and Sustainability of the Government of Catalonia for four years and promoted the architecture of climate change policies and strategic environmental evaluation. Among other jobs he has been a consultant for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
Maren Siemers: Official of the European Commission since 1995. Maren was a University teacher for 7 years in the field of Applied Linguistics and Philology at La Laguna University of Tenerife and Polytechnic University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Until 2016 Conference interpreter of DG SCIC in the German and the Spanish booth, she is now responsible for Communication and Information for Citizens within the Representation of the European Commission in Barcelona, focussing on publications, Conference organization and EU Communication Networks.
Jérémie Fosse: Founder and director of the Global Eco Forum, co-founder and president of eco-union – an international environmental non-profit association. J. Fosse advises public and private institutions around corporate responsability and the green economy. He holds an Msc in Industrial Engineering at INSA Lyon and an Executive MBA at ESADE Business School.
Najib Saab: although an architect by training, is founder and Editor-in-Chief of Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia (Environment & Development), a leading pan-Arab magazine on sustainable development. Saab, has varied experience, ranging from designing for General Motors and lecturing on corporate architecture, to advising various governments and agencies on environment, sustainable development, and technology and is the Secretary General of Arab Forum for Environment & Development (AFED). In 2003 he was a laureate of the United Nations Environment Programme’s Global 500 Award for environmental achievement, and in 2011 was awarded Zayed International Prize for the Environment.
Miguel García-Herraiz: Deputy Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean in charge of Water and Environment. García-Herraiz is a Spanish career diplomat who has served the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the past twenty years, holding positions as Deputy Director General for International Affairs of Terrorism and Disarmament, and, lately, as Counsellor in charge of the relations between the European Union and Southern Mediterranean countries. Mr. García-Herraiz has a wide experience in negotiations and has been involved in the drafting of all recent UfM Ministerial declarations as well the revision of the European Neighbourhood Policy prior to his appointment as Deputy Secretary General of the UfM.
Ellen Lemaitre-Curri: Plan Bleu’s Chairman, with a background in agricultural & rural development economics and environmental policies. Lemaitre-Curri was stationed in Burkina Faso from 1998 to 2000 working on land policies and then worked for FAO Investment Center in Roma as an economist. In 2006, she joined the Commissioner-General for Sustainable Development (CGDD) within the French Ministry. Here Lemaitre-Curri was in charge of themes such as, land policies, urbanism and environment the deputy as head of unit for environmental economics and financial instruments. She later became the head of unit for global public goods themes such as, climate, biodiversity, forests, and oceans. Thereafter, she undertook doctoral training on public policies, before joining Plan Bleu in September 2017.
Rafael Sardá Borroy: Senior scientist at the National Council of Scientific Research (CSIC), Associate lecturer at the Department of Innovation and Operations of the upper ESADE school, and co-founder of the business group and environment Global Business Business Alliance (CEMS ). Sardá has been researching the CEAB’s Marine and Coastal Socio-Ecological Systems Unit. He is the author of over 150 research articles, principal or co-principal investigator in more than 20 national and international research projects. Sardá focuses on how these systems work and interact, exploring how to deal with current and emerging environmental, local, and global issues and the role, if any, that science and regulations play. His main fields of research include the integrated management of the coastal zone (in the GIZC) and the administration of the oceans, benthonic ecology of the submarine bottom, and sustainability.
Antonio Troya: Licensed in Biological Sciences, specialized in Environmental Biology, from the Autonomous University of Madrid. Antonio has carried out diverse senior positions in the Spanish State Administration and 9 years in the European Institutions, first in the European Commission and in the European Council. In June 2010, Antonio was appointed as Director of the Center of Mediterranean Cooperation of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN-Med).
Carmen Morales: is a Research Scientist at the Marine Plastic Pollution Lab at the Faculty of Marine and Environmental Sciences in the Universidad de Cádiz (UCA, Spain) where she is working with Professor Andres Cózar’s team on understanding the inputs, distribution and fate of micro and macroplastics in the Mediterranean and the Global Ocean. Carmen holds a PhD in Marine Sciences specialized in marine pollution and ecotoxicology, in addition to an Erasmus Mundus Master’s degree in Water and Coastal Management.
Emma Priestland: Marine litter policy officer at Seas At Risk, she works to strengthen the implementation of existing legislation, and call for new policies to tackle the input of waste to the oceans. Focus areas include: the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, Circular Economy, waste and packaging legislation, and the Port Reception Facilities Directive. Member of expert groups: EU Technical Group on Marine Litter, the OSPAR Intersessional Correspondence Group on Marine Litter and the European Sustainable Shipping Forum PRF subgroup.
Mamoun Ghallab: is the founder of “Zero Zbel” and “MakeSense Consulting”. “Zero Zbel” (www.zerozbel.ma) is a Moroccan non-profit which aims at making people conscious of their ability to impulse impactful positive changes, and seeks to promote zero waste models at individual and collective levels. Zero Zbel is part of the “Break Free From Plastic Movement”. “MakeSense Consulting” is a consulting company specialized in sustainable development issues (www.makesense.ma).
Ignasi Mateo Rodriguez: Project Manager of the Interreg Med ACT4LITTER project at the Regional Activity Center for Consumer and Sustainable Production (SCP / RAC) works to develop effective and specific measures to fight against Marine Litter in Marine Protected Areas (AMP) of the Mediterranean. Rodriguez has been involved in different issues related to Marine Litter as a technician of the Waste Agency of Catalonia. He was worked on projects to collect and value fishing networks in Catalan ports and projects focusing on the collection and characterization of marine litter by the fishermen of Barcelona.
Sara Güemes Santos: Started her professional career more than 15 years ago, linked to communication, protocol and organization of events, she helds a degree in Advertising and Public Relations, with a Master’s in Corporate Communication, and a Master’s Degree in Education. She develops her career in communication agencies where she is linked to educational, cultural and tourism issues fundamentally. After 3 years at Fundación Telefónica where she developed educational projects, she began her career in the environmental field with LIBERA, SEOBirdLife and Ecoembes, where she coordinates the project, joining efforts among the different actors involved.
Participative Workshop facing marine Litter issues in the Mediterranean area: Barcelona Commitment
Vanessa Sarah Salvo: Is a PhD in Environmental Sciences with a specialization in Marine Science from the University of Genoa Studies (Italy) and Master in Project Management from the University of Barcelona. Since 2014 she has been in charge of the offices of the Spanish Delegation of the European Surfrider Foundation. She has worked nationally and internationally for public environmental management agencies, universities. and NGOs, always within the framework of environmental protection and management of coastal areas and inland waters.
Presentation of the book “Nature & Sustainability in the Mediterranean” (IEMed & e-u)
Maria-Àngels Roque: director for Mediterranean cultures, European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMED). Editor-in-Chief of the journal Quaderns de la Mediterrània. She holds a PhD in Cultural and Social Anthropology and a degree in Modern History from the University of Barcelona. She has undertaken forward-looking and anthropological research in the Iberian Peninsula and the western Mediterranean, especially in Morocco. She was Technical Director of the 1st Euromed Civil Forum (1995) and Technical Advisor to the Euromed Women’s Conference Barcelona+10 (Barcelona, 2005) and the 1st Euromed Ministerial Conference “Strengthening the Role of Women in Society” (Istanbul, 2007). She currently works with the Euro-Mediterranean civil society networks.
Exchange of experiences and best practices
Borja Lafuente: Social Corporative Responsibility Manager at Danone Iberia and responsible of ReNueva, a project based on Circular Economy that seeks to promote the recycling of packaging in the consumption channel outside the home environment through social inclusion. Borja holds a degree in Law, a degree in Political Science & Administration. Also in 2016 finalized a Executive MBA at EADA (Barcelona).
Antonio Guillem: 14 years of professional experience dedicated to the conservation of the environment and to the execution and management of hydraulic works, both in the field of the public and private sectors. He is currently the projects coordinator of the Global Nature Foundation.