Team

Rym Ayadi is the Founder and President of the Euro – Mediterranean Economists Association (EMEA). She is Founder and Director of the Euro-Mediterranean and African Network for Economic Studies (EMANES). She is Senior Advisor at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS); Professor at the Bayes Business School, City University of London and Member of the Centre for Banking Research (CBR); Chair of the European Banking Authority – Banking Stakeholders Group (EBA- BSG). She is also Associated Scholar at the Centre for Relationship Banking and Economics (CERBE) at LUMSA University in Rome. Rym Ayadi’s fields of expertise include inclusive and sustainable economic models, international financial systems, sustainable finance, financial markets and institutions, global financial regulation, governance and consumer protection, and socio-economic development and foresight in economies in transition. Her current research focuses on the redesign of a global stable, sustainable and inclusive financial system that better serves economic and societal long-term objectives and with a particular emphasis on the diversity of corporate and business models, private-public partnerships and financing models and the conditions for their success, SME financing and the role of financial markets to achieve developmental objectives and the impacts on business models in finance and role of financial regulation and resolution and impacts on incentives in the financial market. She also works on economies in transition, policy developments and foresight. Rym Ayadi is international academic expert in several international high-level academic and advisory Committees and Boards. She is Academic Member of the European Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee (ESFRC), a shadow academic group of professors of law, finance and economics working on international financial regulation and financial stability, the European Commission’s Financial Services Users Group (FSUG), the European Parliament – Economic and Financial Committee and Committee on Foreign Affairs (EP Think Tank), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) and the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), and an invited expert in international organisations including OECD and IMF, among others. She is also member of Finance Watch (FW) a Brussels-based NGO that strives to make finance serve the society since its set-up. She is also the Founder and Co-chair of International Workshop on Financial System Architecture and Stability (IWFSAS), an Annual Conference that provides a forum for academic researchers, practitioners and policy makers to discuss current issues related to the structure and design of financial systems and their impact on macro-financial stability and sustainable and inclusive economic growth. Previously, 2013-2018, Rym served as Professor of International Business and Finance at the Department of International Business, as Director and Board Member of the Alphonse and Dorimène Desjardins Institute for Cooperatives, and Founding Director of the International Research Centre on Cooperative Finance (IRCCF) at HEC Montreal, Canada; as Senior Research Advisor at the Euro-Mediterranean University (EMUNI) (2015-2019) in Piran, Slovenia; and 2001-2013 as Senior Research Fellow and Head of Research of the Financial Institutions Unit at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), a policy think tank in Brussels. She served as an academic senior expert member of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) Stakeholder Group (Between 2011 and 2013). She was the promoter and director of the Mediterranean Prospects Research Network (MEDPRO) an international research network for foresight analysis in the Euro-Mediterranean region (Between 2009 and 2013) funded by the Seventh Framework Program of the EU. She was also Vice President of the European Financial Inclusion Network (EFIN), a European network that promotes mutual learning on financial inclusion which currently part of Finance Watch. She authors several books and scholarly articles on her areas of expertise and is member of several editorial and scientific boards. Rym Ayadi holds a Ph.D. in Economics and Finance from University Paris Dauphine.  

Abdessalem Abbassi is an economist in the Strategic Policy Branch at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). Before joining AAFC, he served as the Economic Advisor to the Tunisian Prime Minister and held the position of Associate Professor at Carthage University in Tunisia. Additionally, he worked as a Senior Economist at the Quebec Ministry of Finance. He earned his Ph.D. from Laval University in 2009. Areas of Expertise: Agriculture

Hala ABOU-ALI is an Associate Professor and the director of the French Section at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University, Egypt, and a Research Fellow at the ERF, with a B.Sc. (with first honor) in Statistics from Cairo University and a Ph.D. in Economics from Gothenburg University, Sweden. She recently edited Economic incentives and environmental regulation: evidence from the MENA region (Edward Elgar 2012). She joined the ERF in 2008 on a part time basis to take the lead on the work carried out on environmental economics in the MENA region. Starting 2014, Abou-Ali is leading the Open Acess Mico Data Initiative (OAMDI). Her fields of specialization are in the areas of environmental and development economics. She has accumulated experience in the economic value and modelling of environmental resources in developing countries, with a particular focus on water and air pollution and agricultural land degradation. She has also worked on issues such as impact evaluation of investments, poverty assessment and the Millennium Development Goals for the World Bank and the UNDP.

Roger Albinyana is director of the Mediterranean Regional Policies and Human Development department at the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed). He is also associate professor at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Barcelona where he teaches international economic policy. He holds a MA in Economic History from the University of Barcelona and the Autonomous University of Barcelona. He is also a board member at CIDOB, Barcelona Centre for International Affairs.From 2013 to 2016, he served as secretary general for Foreign and EU Affairs of the Government of Catalonia. During that period, he was also a member of the EU Committee of the Regions. From 2010 to 2013 he served as advisor and expert on private sector development at the Secretariat of Union for the Mediterranean.

Dr. Cinzia Alcidi is Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Economic Policy Unit at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels and LUISS- School of European Political Economy- research fellow.Prior to joining CEPS, she worked at International Labour Office in Geneva and she taught International Economics at University of Perugia (Italy). Her research activity includes international economics, macroeconomics, central banking and EU governance.Since 2015 she is the coordinator of CEPS Academy Activities. She has experience in coordinating research projects and networks. She has published extensively on the economics and governance of the Euro area crisis and participates regularly in international conferences.She holds a Ph.D. degree in International Economics from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva (Switzerland).

Salvador Simó Algado PhD, MsC, MBA, is an international consultant in themes related to mental health, arts&culture, and social entrepreneurship. Lecturer, researcher, Adjunct Director of the Mental Health Chair, and Coordinator of the Mental Health and Social Innovation Research group at UVIC-UCC. Lecturer of Entrepreneurship at the European Business School. He has been visiting lecturer at more than 24 international universities (in Canada, Sweden, France, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Portugal, The Netherlands, Ireland, England,  Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Latvia, Turkey, Chile, Argentina,  Costa Rica, and Guatemala). He was responsible for mental health and social entrepreneurship projects working with refugee communities in Bosnia, Guatemala, and Kosovo with NGO’s as Medecins sans Frontiers. His main experience is designing and implementing European projects, integrating health, social participation, and economic development. He has been national IP for 4 Erasmus +, 1 H2020, 1 AMIF, 3 EU Intensive Programs and he has been recognized as European expert by Cost Action. At a national level he has co-leaded almost 50 projects relted to art, social determinants of mental health, social entrepreneurship, etc. Salvador Simó holds a Ph.D. in Inclusive Education (UVic-UCC); a Master’s in Business Administration (ENAC BS); Postgraduates in Social Entrepreneurship (IESE Business School), Writing and design projects (Hogeschool Van Amsterdam) and Narrative Research (Karolinska Instituted). He also holds a bachelor’s in occupational therapy and in Translation Studies. He has directed 3 Ph. D. thesis , 6 Ph. D. thesis more in process. Author of 12 books, 24 chapters of book and around 60 articles. Member of the international Think-tanks, Social transformation through occupation; WFOT Sustainability group. Areas of Expertise: Entrepreneurship, Mental Health, Creativity

Raja Almarzoqi is former IMF advisor. Faculty member in economics Division at Institute of Diplomatic Studies, and also, was adjunct professor at Thunderbird Global Business School and King Saud University. He has a teaching/lecturing experience of 16 years at (Institute of Diplomatic Studies; King Saud University; MIT; IMF; Thunderbird Global Business School) in several subjects in economics. He was a president of Gulf Monetary Council. In addition, Raja worked as a consultant to many government and private organizations (World Bank, ARAMCO, Ministry of Economics & Planning, Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), Supreme Commission for Tourism, Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) and KACST…etc). Also, he was a board member in several organizations and Funds. Mr.Almarzoqi is specialized in policy modeling for impact assessment and scenario analysis, Money and Banking, international finance, and Finance. He presented research papers at major international conferences and published papers in major Middle East journals. Mr. Almarzoqi holds a BA from King Saud University in economics, M.A. from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in economics, and Ph.D. from Oklahoma State University, Stillwater in economics and finance.

Dr. Nooh Alshyab is Associate Professor of Economics at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration of Yarmouk University in Jordan. He is scientific coordinator of the Euro Mediterranean Network for Economic Studies (EMNES) in Jordan and a member of its steering committee.He is expert member of the Euro Mediterranean Economists Association (EMEA).Between 2013 and 2015 he served as Head of Economic Department ay Yarmouk university. From 2004 to 2012, he worked at the Jordanian Foreign Ministry, where he was appointed Head of Economic and Investment Desk at the Jordan Embassy in Berlin.He obtained his Doctoral title (Dr. rer. pol.) in Economics at the University of Potsdam (Germany), School of Economics in 2011 and in 2003, a Master Degree in Economics at Dresden University of Technology (Germany). His fields of expertise are economic development, economic reform policies, trade policy, economic integration and applied econometrics.

Sergio Arzeni is the President of INSME a Rome-based International Network for SMEs promoted by the OECD and the Italian Ministry of Economic Development. He is also Senior Advisor of the Friends of Europe, a Brussels based Think-Thank focusing on issues related to the functioning and perspectives of the European Union. Also: Executive Member, GCEL – Global Coalition for Efficient Logistics, a Geneva-based public-private partnership building a global digital platform to facilitate international trade among SMEs. Member of the Advisory Board of SR-M, the Research Centre on the Mediterranean of Intesa San Paolo Bank, in Naples. Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Entrepreneurship and Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies (published by Sage Publishing in London, New York and New Delhi). Chief Economist, IREFI, Institut des Relations Économiques France-Italie, Paris- Rome. Board member GEI – Group of Industrial Economists, Milan. For 33 years at the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) in Paris, created and led the OECD Centre on Entrepreneurship, Small and Medium- sized Enterprises (SMEs), Local Economic and Employment Development and Tourism. In the meantime Has been also: Visiting Professor at the Business School of the University of Essex, UK; President of the Scientific Committee for Research and Innovation of the Piedmont Region, in Turin; • Member of the Strategic Committee of the Banque Publique d’Investissement (BPI France) in Paris; • Member of the Scientific Committee of Formaper, Milan Chamber of Commerce Agency on Skills for Entrepreneurship and Management in SMEs; As economic journalist contributed to several Italian and international newspapers. Before joining the OECD as a Senior Economist, he served as a policy analyst both in the European Commission in Brussels, in the Italian Parliament and the Italian Trade Unions (CISL) national economic research department in Rome, was member of the Council for Southern Italy of the National Research Center (CNR) and was Co-founder of the Italy-Japan friendship Association. He holds First Class Honors Degree in Political Science from the University of Rome and specialized in Industrial Economics at the International University Institute of Luxembourg and in International Economic Relations at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C., USA.

In a career spanning 30 years as a professionally qualified award winning newspaper journalist, PR writer and copyeditor, Rob has extensive experience in producing or fine-tuning content for both online and offline platforms. Commercially, Rob has assisted a wide-range of private and public sector organisations and has worked extensively with the current team on the editing of numerous academic papers and the associated preparation of media-related material.

Leila is Senior Economist (ETC) at the MENA Chief Economist Office, World Bank. Prior to that, Leila was a Professor of Economics (on leave) at ESSECT, University of Tunis, where she held the World Trade Organization Chair. She was an executive board member of the Central Bank of Tunisia from August 2019 to June 2023. She was appointed as a member of the Tunisian Council of Economic Analysis reporting to the Chief of Government from November 2017 to February 2021. Leila is a Research Fellow and a  member of the Board of Trustees of the Economic Research Forum, and a resource person to the African Economic Research Consortium.  She was an Associate Editor of the Middle East Development Journal. Her research interests focus on international and development economics. Leila received her PhD from University Paris 1, Pantheon Sorbonne in 2008. In 2006, she was a WTO PhD fellow. She joined University of Rome Tor Vergata as a Marie Curie Researcher in September 2007. Areas of Expertise: International and Development Economics

Kwame Sarpong Barnieh (CPA, CGMA) is a Partner, in charge of Governance, Risk and Compliance Services (GRCS) in KPMG’s Risk Consulting practice in Ghana with more than 21 years of audit and advisory experience. As a Partner, he provides leadership in a wide range of advisory services spanning Financial, operational, and Performance Audits; Enterprise Risk Management Assessment and Implementation; Fraud Risk Management; Forensic Investigation; Board and Governance Review; Contract Compliance; Governance, Risk and Compliance Strategy Development; Environmental, Social and Governance(ESG) Strategy Development and Implementation; and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. He has facilitated leadership trainings for the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana, and newly promoted managers in KPMG Ghana. Kwame’s ESG and sustainability experience involves serving as an Engagement Partner for Environmental and Social Risks Assessments, as well as Sustainability Assurance engagements. He has facilitated sessions on ESG and related topics to the Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association(EMEA), Ghana Chamber of Mines, UN Global Compact, and the Africa Real Estate Conference and Expo. He is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Global Management Accountant. He holds an Executive MBA from the Penn State University, Smeal School of Business, and an undergraduate degree in Administration from Fox School of Business & Management

Nektar is a Founder and Entrepreneur, with more than 20 years experience in International Business Development, IT Project Management, IT Business Consulting, E-Learning, and Artificial Intelligence. Successfully delivered IT products and services for the UN, European Commission, European Parliament, organizations, companies, and startups in several countries. With formal education in Maths (AUTH), International Business (Wharton), MBA (Sheffield) and AI (MIT). Started his career in 1998 and promoted after internship to team leader, with a long experience in Project Management and Business Consulting in the area of IT, web and apps. Co-Founder of Apogee Information Systems in 2005 with the main focus of websites, custom web applications, and e-learning. He has managed and successfully delivered to various institutes and organizations, several projects and products in the EU countries and the USA, for public and private sector partners and clients. Previously, he has been the director, team leader and project manager in international companies as well as for EU’s governmental agencies. Strong communicator and dealing successfully with challenges. Researching cutting-edge technologies and methods on E-Learning, AI, and VR.

Marwa is a Professor of Economics, and the Vice Dean for Postgraduate Studies and Research, Faculty of Economics and Political Science (FEPS), Cairo University, Egypt and the former Head of the International Relations Office (2018-2022), FEPS. She has won the Scientific Excellence Award in Social Science from Cairo University in 2022, she was honored this prestigious award by his excellency the Minister of Higher Education of Egypt, Prof. Dr. Ayman Ashour at the Science Day Ceremony on 27 December 2023. She received State Incentive Award for Women in the field of Social Sciences in 2020. She has got the Encouragement Prize from Cairo University in the field of Humanities and Educational Sciences in 2016. Furthermore, she received the prize of Best M.Sc. and Ph.D. theses in Cairo University in 2005 and 2010. She won many awards from Cairo University for Outstanding Scientific Publishing in 2012 until 2022 respectively. Moreover, she won a Literati Award: Outstanding Reviewer, Emerald Awards Literati in 2021. She is a member in several professional Associations and she has many publications in prestigious international journals. Areas of Expertise: Economics and Political Science

Abdelkader Boudriga is a prominent figure in the field of economics and finance and co-director of the UNESCO Chair in Foresight and Strategic Planning at University of Carthage. With a career spanning over two decades, he has established himself as a leading expert in banking consultancy, specializing in governance issues with work experience with the Tunisian government and international instutitions such as the World Bank, GIZ, JICA, Expertise France, IOM. His expertise covers a wide range of areas including governance, risk management, internal audits, valuations, and business plans. Notably, Abdelkader has made significant contributions to the development of corporate and bank governance frameworks in Tunisia. He has been instrumental in shaping key regulations within the banking sector and has actively participated in the formulation of the Tunisia corporate governance Code. Abdelkader Boudriga’s influence extends beyond his consultancy work. He is actively engaged in various committees and boards related to risk management, monetary policy, and financial markets in Tunisia. His insights and recommendations are highly sought after due to his deep understanding of economic dynamics and financial systems. In addition to his practical involvement in governance and risk management, Abdelkader is also a prolific writer and speaker. He has authored academic papers on topics such as banking regulation and performance, further solidifying his reputation as an authority in his field. Furthermore, he is involved in supervising Ph.D. dissertations, nurturing the next generation of experts in economics and finance. Abdelkader Boudriga’s contributions to the field have not gone unnoticed. His expertise is valued both locally and internationally, making him a key figure in discussions surrounding economic policy, banking practices, and financial stability. His dedication to advancing governance standards and promoting sound financial practices underscores his commitment to driving positive change within the economic landscape of Tunisia. Areas of Expertise: Money, Banking and Finance

Bertrand Candelon, French/Belgian, is a professor of finance and head of research of Louvain Finance at Université Catholique de Louvain. He is also scientific director of research initiative “Risk Management and Investment Strategies” at Institut Louis Bachelier (Paris). He earned a Ph.D. from Université Catholique de Louvain in 1998, was a Pierre and Marie Curie postdoctoral fellow at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and held the International Monetary Economics chair at University Maastricht from 2001 to 2014, where he is still an honorary professor. He has been invited to lecture in numerous universities including the University of Orleans, Macquarie University in Sydney and City University of Hong Kong and served as a consultant for the European Commission and for the Institute for Capacity Development at the IMF. His research topic covers a large spectrum in macro-econometrics, e.g. macroeconomics (money demand, fiscal policy, raw commodities) and international finance (financial crisis early warning systems, the financial markets co-movements). He has published in top tier journals as Journal of Econometrics, Journal of Business Economics and statistics and International Economic Review.

Prof. Pantelis Capros heads the E3MLab of ICCS. He is a Professor of Energy Economics and Operation Research at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of National Technical University of Athens. He has built and used a variety of large-scale mathematical models and has more than 20 years professional experience of consultancy in the domain of energy and economic policy.For the MEDPRO project, E3MLAB will use and apply the GEM-E3 general equilibrium model. In particular, the model version developed already for the integrated FP6 research project CIRCE studying impacts of climate change on the Mediterranean economic and ecological system.

Dr. Sandra Challita is an Associate Professor in Finance at Emlyon Business School, a research fellow at the Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association (EMEA) and the coordinator of the Euro-Mediterranean and African Network for Economic Studies (EMANES). She received her Ph.D. in Finance at the University of Montpellier. Her research focuses on financial institutions, more specifically different types of banks, their performance and impact on the real economy. She also collaborates on projects aiming to support job creation and development in the Euro-Mediterranean area.

Ralph Chami PhD, is an Assistant Director at the IMF. He is currently on sabbatical from the IMF working on tackling the two risks to humanity – climate change and biodiversity loss. He has developed a model for valuing natural capital, including blue and green nature as well as flora and fauna, and a framework for developing the natural capital markets for ecosystem services. He has co-founded two entities working on bringing this new paradigm to life – Blue Green World and Rebalance Earth that are engaged in realizing the value of the natural world to our well-being and integrating it into our economic system. He has co-authored a number of peer reviewed publications that value the carbon sequestration service of keystone species such as the Great Whales and Elephants. His work on valuing natural capital has been featured at TED2022, and in National Geographic, Financial Times, Washington Post, WEF, among others. He provides thought leadership and engages with stakeholders across sectors – governmental, financial, private sector, NGOs – communicating this new vision. His approach has been widely heralded, and he is in great demand as a speaker and visionary at this critical time of transition. During his 23-year career at the IMF, he has been known as an expert on fragile states and low and middle income countries (LMICs); and also as innovative thinker for his research and training. He has served in some of the most fragile and troubled regions, showing his dedication to helping those most in need, and receiving the IMF 2014 Operational Excellence Award for his field work on fragile and LMICs. He oversaw surveillance and program work in Egypt, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, and Yemen, and was Mission Chief for Libya and Somalia. His book on “Macroeconomic Policy in Fragile State,” has was published by Oxford University Press in 2021. He also served the Assistant Director in the Institute for Capacity Development (ICD), in the Financial Policies Division. During his time in ICD he oversaw the development and implementation of the internal economics training program for all IMF economists as well as the revamping of the Institute’s external training program for officials from member countries. Prior to joining the IMF, he was on the faculty of finance at the Mendoza School of Business, University of Notre Dame, IN, USA. Ralph has PhD in Economics from the Johns Hopkins University, MBA from University of Kansas, and BS from the American University of Beirut. His areas of expertise also include: banking, remittances climate change and natural capital. He is a semi-professional musician https://youtu.be/C-1f0UiT8Gg

George Christopoulos specialises in intelligence & communications strategy. He has over 20 years of experience as a geostrategic intelligence analyst, and communications & marketing manager, in various companies and organizations. He currently serves as Intelligence & Communication Officer at the Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association (EMEA), a Barcelona based regional think tank, supported by 35 Universities & Research Institutions from 17 countries. He is responsible for intelligence and reporting of important socio-economic developments, dissemination of deliverables and social media communication. He also holds the position of Marketing Director of Apogee Information Systems, an IT company specializing in e-learning, web applications and content management systems. George also serves as a member at the Board of Directors of the Italian-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce of Athens, elected for the period 2022 – 2026. The Italian-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce of Athens is the 2nd largest bilateral Chamber of Commerce in Greece. On February 2022 George received the Gold Cross of Sabbas the Sanctified, of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa. Previous to that, George worked as a senior consultant in geostrategic intelligence, communication, and crisis management. He was responsible for threat-monitoring, corporate intelligence, competition monitoring, political trends and actors monitor, general communications and positioning strategy for large corporations and organizations. He has participated to EU IT projects such as the Icarus AI enhanced e-learning, the OpenTEA e-learning platform, the European Observatory for Sustainable Agriculture – OPERA and WP7 NOMAD – Policy Formulation and Validation through non-moderated crowdsourcing. He has also worked in the energy sector, specializing in business intelligence and marketing of renewable energy projects, and as Marketing Manager in the IT sector, specializing in Document and Knowledge Management. George studied Business Administration – Marketing at the University of Bath.

Javier is an independent consultant specialising in Mediterranean economies and affairs with more than 25 years of experience. He was the Director of Socioeconomic Development Department at the think tank European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed) for 10 years. He also worked for 10 years at the Consortium for Foreign Trade Promotion of Catalonia (COPCA), belonging to the Catalan Ministry of Innovation, Universities and Enterprise, covering the Middle East and North African region with direct responsibility the Moroccan, Egyptian, Turkish, United Arab Emirates and Iranian offices and with operations in the rest of the countries of the MENA region. Between 1998-99, he worked for the Spanish Foreign Trade Institute (ICEX) in the Spanish Commercial Office of the Spanish Embassy in Istanbul (Turkey). He is also a professor of International Relations and International Economy at the Blanquerna University of Barcelona. He has a Degree in Political Science and Public Administration and Master in International Relations by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). Areas of Expertise: Euro-Mediterranean relations and partnerships, geopolitics, trade promotion policies and institutional cooperation.

Maria Ruiz de Cossío is an experienced Project Manager with a degree in International Business from the University of Barcelona. She brings extensive experience in managing international projects, particularly in the cultural and creative industries, as well as the life sciences and healthcare value chain. With transversal expertise in legal, technical, financial, reporting, and communication aspects of EU project management, Maria joined our team in 2021 as Project Manager for CREACT4MED. Currently serving as a Senior Project Manager, she leads initiatives that foster entrepreneurship and enhance cooperation in the Southern Mediterranean region.

Leonor Coutinho is Deputy Head of Unit at the European Commission, DG Economics and Finance, dealing with the macroeconomics of the euro area, monetary policy and euro convergence. Previously was a senior researcher in economics at Europrism (Cyprus) and a Special Scientist at the University of Cyprus, remaining a member of the expert panel of the Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association (EMEA). Holds a Ph.D. from the European University Institute (Florence). Her research interests include international economics, fiscal and monetary policy and economic convergence. Has been engaged in a number of research projects, including projects financed by the EU and by the Cyprus Research Foundation. Has published in professional journals, including the Journal of International Money and Finance, Economic Modelling, the Open Economies Review, the Review of Economic Surveys, and International Finance as well as in the European Commissions’ Quarterly Report on the Euro Area (QREA). Previously a research fellow of the Portuguese Science Foundation, at Georgetown University (Washington D.C.). Was also a Marie Currie Research Fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies (Brussels), and worked also for the World Bank. Areas of Expertise: Macroeconomics of the euro area, Monetary Policy and Euro Convergence.

Doriana Cucinelli is Research Fellow and Adjunct Professor of Financial Intermediaries at University of Milano Bicocca, Italy. She is also SDA Fellow in Banking and Insurance at SDA Bocconi School of Management and associate researcher at the International Research Centre on Cooperative Finance (IRCCF) of HEC Montréal. Her main research interests are risk management in banking, bank business models, financial education and financial behavior. Doriana is author of national and international publications and has presented at many national and international conferences. She holds a Ph.D. in Banking and Finance at University of Roma Tor Vergata and a Laurea cum laude in Finance and Risk Management at University of Parma. She was visiting fellow at Cass Business School in 2017.

Dr. Marek Dabrowski is a Non-Resident Scholar at Bruegel, Brussels, Professor of the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, Co-founder and Fellow at CASE – Center for Social and Economic Research in Warsaw. He was a co-founder of CASE (1991), former Chairman of its Supervisory Council and President of Management Board (1991-2011), Chairman of the Supervisory Board of CASE Ukraine in Kyiv (1999-2009 and 2013-2015), and Member of the Board of Trustees and Scientific Council of the E.T. Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy in Moscow (1996-2016). He also held positions of the First Deputy Minister of Finance of Poland (1989-1990), Member of Parliament (1991-1993) and Member of the Monetary Policy Council of the National Bank of Poland (1998-2004). Since the end of 1980s he has been involved in policy advising and policy research in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Egypt, Georgia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Somalia, Syria, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Yemen, and in a number of international research projects related to monetary and fiscal policies, growth and poverty, currency crises, international financial architecture, perspectives of European integration, European Neighborhood Policy and political economy of transition. He has also worked as consultant in a number of EU, World Bank, IMF, UNDP, UNICEF, OECD, GIZ and USAID projects. Fellow under the 2014-2015 Fellowship Initiative of the European Commission – Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs. Author of several academic and policy papers, and editor of several book publications.

Christine Devisser is a recent graduate from the Master’s program in International Development offered by the Institut of Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals. She completed her undergraduate in the School of Business Economics at Maastricht University in International Business. She has experience working in the private sector developing new business units and monitoring their evolution. She has also worked with local NGOs in Colombia to fight child malnutrition. Christine is interested in sustainability, development economics, and public policy to enhance human well-being. At EMEA, she will support the Project Officer in the management, implementation, and monitoring of EMEA’s activities and European Projects.

JD,MHA,MFA (He/They) Theo is a skilled, energetic Culture Futurist™ and innovator with 25 years of senior-level strategic national and international leadership experience spanning the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. A seasoned communicator, Theo’s unconventional background traverses and connects scholarly research with pop culture across scientific disciplines, data analytics, creativity, and cultural well-being in the places we work, learn, heal, and explore. As Directing co-founder of CU Denver’s Imaginator Academy – a cultural analytics, strategy, and futurist innovation hub, Theo is a weaver of ideas who scouts global networks of entrepreneurs, companies, scientists, artists, creative innovators, and change-makers of all kinds in order to find hidden opportunities that others miss. Theo serves on the national board of directors for Americans for the Arts, the advisory board for Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association, co-leads the creativity sciences work group for the global Brain Capital Alliance, is lead culture strategist for Energize Colorado’s Small Business Resiliency Index. An experienced builder of industry-university collaborations, Theo and collaborators have been recognized across many areas – from “Trailblazer” awards in research for culture analytics innovation inside a National Science Foundation-sponsored lab to many national grants and vision awards in arts and creative economy. An artist, poet, and entrepreneur, Theo grew up in a nine-generation Appalachian family in southeastern Kentucky. Before moving to Denver, Colorado in 2021, Theo lived many professional lives in France, New York, Hawaii, Louisville, and New Orleans. In 2015, Southern Living Magazine named Theo one of “50 People Changing the Face of the South” for the futurist leadership demonstrated in launching the arts and culture innovation non-profit IDEAS xLab, with husband Josh Miller. Today, Theo is the cultural well-being and creativity sciences lead for a diverse range of international initiatives operating at the intersection of creative industries, public health, neuroscience, and economics. Having served 2021-2022 academic year as Associate Dean for Transdisciplinary Research & Innovation in CU Denver College of Arts & Media, Theo returned to a hands-on innovation role as a research faculty team member in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences’ Master of Humanities and Master of Social Science programs (MHMSS). Theo Edmonds website

Mr. Habib El Andaloussi is an international freelance energy consultant. Long experienced engineer skilled on technical EE & RE, energy transition and climate change issues to policy guidance on conceptual strategy development and sustainable energy policies including green electrons and molecules roadmaps. He has extensive experience in MENA region, where he led interesting EU and UN projects as the “Paving the Way for the Mediterranean Solar Plan” (PWMSP) project as well as the Technical Assistance -RE & EE project in Arab countries (Jordan, Algeria). Indeed, he coordinated the works and deliverables on the National Energy Efficiency Action Plan (NEEAP 2017-2020) and National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP), as well the state of the Power Sector in Mediterranean countries. The tasks he has been dealing with comprise: definition of infrastructure needs, harmonisation of legislative & regulatory framework, support to the Implementation of Sustainable Energy Policy, and implementation of interconnections and related reinforcements of internal grids planned at short-term. He intervenes as teacher on courses on “Scientific & Technical Bases: Fundamentals of Energy” and ‘’Value Chain and International Hydrocarbon Markets’’ for a Specialized Master’s in Energy & Strategy from the ESAA School in Algiers. He has been Chief of Energy Section from 2013 to 2015 for UN-ESCWA Sustainable Development Policies Division in Lebanon, in charge of the surveys, energy project impact assessments, outreach and networking activities related to key energy issues: energy security and accessibility, climate change, clean fossil fuels, renewables, EE in transportation, waste to energy zones, energy saving. In France he was Energy Programme Officer for UNEP Plan Bleu from 2009 to 2011 and was in charge of the Coordination of the Plan Bleu/EIB energy program with case studies of some southern & eastern Mediterranean countries as Water-Energy Nexus project. He drafted the ToR of the ongoing EU funded project Med-GEM (Green Electrons & Molecules) in South-Med countries which covered green hydrogen: 40 meetings were completed with institutions, stakeholders, EU Delegations & Regional organisations. The Med-GEM (Mediterranean Green Electrons & Molecules) is an EU-funded project that aims to create & operate a MED-GEM Network in the Southern Neighbourhood region. This project, based at Amman leading by GIZ, will be implemented during the 2023-2025 period. Even more recently in November 2021, he was Peer reviewer and contributed to the IEA’s Africa Energy Outlook 2022’’, published in June 2022 as a key input to the African COP hosted by Egypt. As well as, Peer reviewer for the IEA report on ‘’Financing Clean Energy in Africa’’ edited on September 2023. The report includes an overview of the current clean energy investment on the African continent, and an analysis on how to mobilise enough finance to support the continent’s clean energy development. Since 2023 and during 2024, he’s involving as International Hydrocarbon Expert in the ongoing project on the H2 and PtX infrastructure by 2050 in Tunisia, project leading by GIZ. Areas of Expertise: Energy Transition and Climate Finance

Dr. ElGarf has more than 30 years of professional experience working with governments, private sector, NGOs as well as several international organizations, on areas related to trade facilitation, trade policy & promotion, trade agreements as well as competition regulations & policies. Dr. El Garf has been serving as the Chairman of the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) during the period from May 2012-May 2018. Prior to her role as the Chairman of the ECA, Dr. ElGarf has served – for six years – as a Lead Economist & Trade Agreements Advisor at the Egyptian Ministry of Trade & Industry. Dr Mona El Garf was a board member in different authorities and committees of which ; Consulting Committee on Anti- Dumping Duties, Ministry of Trade &Industry, May 2012 – May 2018 (Egyptera), Egypt’s Electricity regulations Authority, Ministry of Electricity, 2016 – May 2018 Supreme Council for Media Regulations, 2017 – May 2018 Egypt Gas regulations Authority, Ministry of Petroleum, February 2018 -May 2018. El Garf has been selected as one of the Top 50 Influential Women in Egypt, 2015. Moreover, she was selected by Forbes Magazine, for two consecutive years, as one of the Top 20 influential women in the Middle East, 2016&2017.

Alia El-Mahdi, Ph.D. is currently Professor of Economics in Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences, Cairo University, and CEO of Egypols.El Mahdi was the previous-Dean of FEPS, director of the Center of Economic and Financial Research and Studies (2005- 2008) and the Vice president of MSA University (2004-2005).Area of specialization is in the fields of labor market studies, especially the informal labor, and the Micro and Small Enterprises dynamics and performance, as well as several research studies on the macroeconomic policies, FDI, industrial policies, education, social protection in Egypt and the Arab countries.Professor El Mahdi has published numerous papers and chapters in books published internationally as well as regionally and in Egypt. She also led numerous research projects in various fields of socio-economic research. In the last fifteen to twenty years, she led teams of researchers and conducted over 30 socioeconomic surveys for different domestic agencies/ ministries and research centers as well international organizations. She was in charge of leading a team, which undertook over 2000 political polls during the last 15 years. She acted as consultant and policy advisor to several ministries and international organization such as ILO, UNDP, UNICEF, WB, ADB, UNIDO, Brookings Institute, ESCWA, JAICA, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, GIZ, Arab Labor Organization, WFP, MSMEDA, etc.

Pr. Abdelkader Ait El Mekki is agro-economist with more than 40 years of scientific experience in agriculture and food policy analysis, including 30 years of lecturing and research. Before his retirement in September 2022, he was a full professor at the department of Agricultural economics, National School of Agriculture in Meknes, Morocco. He has an extensive knowledge and understanding of Mediterranean and African agriculture with a strong expertise in value chain quantitative analysis, international trade and agriculture and food policy. He also has conducted and coordinated numerous research projects and field studies and carried out a large number of consulting assignments for organizations including the World Bank, FAO, USAID, IFAD, UNDP and public and private institutions in Morocco. Pr. Ait El Mekki holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics from Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, and a Master’s Degree in Agricultural Economics from Laval University, Quebec, Canada. He speaks Berber, Arabic, French and English. Areas of Expertise: Agricultural Economics

Najat El Mekkaoui is a senior economist and professor in economics at the University Paris Dauphine. Her research focuses on the economics of aging, demographic changes in developing countries and social security programs. She was distinguished visiting research fellow at Oxford University (Smith school of Enterprise and the Environment) and research fellow at the Economic Research Forum (ERF). She published and took part in the publication of several works, chapters or papers in her research fields. In addition to teaching and research, she has been involved with the World Bank, the ESCWA, the Moroccan (CNDH, CDG) and the French institutions (Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment Center) in studies about households savings, pension reforms and the expansion of social protection programs. She was engaged with the National Council of Human Rights (Morocco) to study the elderly situation in Morocco, to work closely with the institutions dedicated to old-age people (public, private and Ministry) to promote and to protect the rights of older persons. She is currently board member at the Moroccan Central bank and Chairman of the Social Funds Steering Committee, board member at the CDG Prévoyance and at the Scientific council at the Moroccan Capital Market Authority. In EMEA, she works on social and financial inclusion, social protection, social business and ageing.

Mrs. Isabel Lorenzo Sánchez obtained a degree in Human Biology and a Master in Research and Innovation management (Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona). Isabel also graduated as a master in Clinical Nutrition (Barcelona University). She is currently pursuing a PhD in Biomedicine, regarding the impact of dehydration in muscle quality and other frailty parameters (Vic University, Barcelona) Isabel has developed a strong background in Public Health Management as Controller. Since 2005 she worked with several Health Consortia, in the Public Sector (Consorci Sanitari del Maresme, Barcelona), as well as Public-Private Partnership Model (Hospital de Dènia PPP). Since 2014 she belongs to GRESFD (a Sarcopenia, Frailty and Dependence Research Group), an AGAUR certified Group by Generalitat de Catalunya. Isabel published several papers regarding her doctoral thesis: https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11081857 https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm9051580 https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11030661 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-018-1129-y

Nermine El-Tahri, joined Egypt’s Ministry of International Cooperation (MoIC) in September 2020 as Assistant Minister for micro, small, medium enterprises (MSMEs). Before MoIC, since May 2016, Ms. El Tahri was leading the Central Bank of Egypt’s MSME’s initiative with private & public sector banks, local and international organizations, governmental entities and ministries. Nermine returned to Egypt from the United Kingdom in 2007, shortly thereafter, she joined Banque du Caire as General Manager of Business Development. During her tenure she has successfully contributed to the banks unsurpassed portfolio growth and profitability by revitalizing and launching new pioneering products, optimizing the existing infrastructure, maximizing employee effectiveness and enhancing customer satisfaction. The previous decade, Nermine worked for American Express in the United Kingdom as Vice President Franchise Markets responsible for Business Development across the EMEA for the Global Network Services group, where she managed Joint Venture partnerships in Switzerland, Belgium and the Middle East, Independent Operator relationships in Denmark, Norway, Turkey, Greece and South Africa, also, Network Partnerships in France and Ireland. During 1990-1995 Nermine worked for Citibank Canada, from 1986 – 1990 the Financial and Marketing Analyst for Xerox Egypt and 1983-1986 Financial Analyst for The Egyptian Financial Group (EFG) in Egypt. Throughout her career Ms. El Tahri‘s achievements have consistently been appreciated and recognized. She is the recipient of numerous diverse Global & European Awards by American Express for Business Development & Transformation, Outstanding Performance, Innovation and Customer Commitment. Nermine was granted the CitiTops Excellence Award in 1991 for Citibank Canada and Excellence Award in 1986 from Xerox Egypt. Nermine holds a BA in accounting and business administration from the Cairo University, equated from the University of Toronto.

Ekkehard Ernst is Chief of the Macroeconomic Policies and Jobs unit at the International Labour Organization, where he analyses monetary, fiscal and trade policies and their impact on global employment, social and wage developments. His current focus lies on understanding trends in the Future of Work, where he develops scenarios on how technological innovations, demographic shifts and political vagaries might unfold in the world of work. His work is widely published in both policy reports and academic studies. His most recent work discusses different policy options to address the socio-economic crisis resulting from the Covid‑19 pandemic. He has also researched on the implications of artificial intelligence, robots and blockchain applications on the future of job, inequality and the transition to a sustainable society. In 2017, Ekkehard co-founded Geneva Macro Labs to offer a platform to identify, develop and implement solutions to address global challenges and existential risks. Together with his team he brings together international thought leaders and practitioners to promote and advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda. Previously, he worked at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the European Central Bank. Ekkehard Ernst has studied in Mannheim, Saarbrücken and Paris and holds a PhD from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales. He became an IZA Policy Fellow in July 2011.

Harris Eyre MD PhD leads the Neuro-Policy Program and is the Harry Z. Yan and Weiman Gao Senior Fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. Harris is a scholar and entrepreneur dedicated to fostering awareness, data, tools and leadership for the brain-positive economic transformation aka the brain economy. To do this, he works across public, non-profit, and private sectors. The brain economy represents an objective to halt and reverse the depletion of brain capital (encompassing social, emotional, and cognitive brain resources). Harris serves as a senior fellow at Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute and provides advisory expertise to organizations such as the Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association, the MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Cancer Neuroscience Program, the Business Collaborative for Brain Health, the Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat), and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. He is an adjunct with the University of California San Francisco. Harris also assumes a leadership position at the Brain Capital Alliance and is a member of the Champion’s Cabinet of the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative. Eyre has had a career in health care business where he has held senior positions in sales, product development, and dilutive and non-dilutive capital-raising efforts. Eyre is an alumnus of the Forbes 30 Under 30 and the Fulbright Scholar program. He has garnered recognition with the prestigious EB1A Green Card, an honor typically reserved for Nobel and Pulitzer prize winners. He has authored over 200 papers in journals such as The Lancet Neurology, Neuron, World Psychiatry, The Brookings Institutions Policy Paper Series, and served as the lead editor of the book ‘Convergence Mental Health’ (Oxford Press). Harris Eyre LinkedIn account

Kirsty joined EMEA in October 2022 after completing her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in law. She carried out the role of Assistant Project Officer and Communications and Research Officer until July 2024. Kirsty led the communication activities of several EU-funded projects such as Green Living Areas, INVESTMED and CREACT4MED, as well as providing support to project management and EMEA communication overall. Kirsty is currently studying the Diploma in Legal Practice at the University of Edinburgh to complete her legal training as a solicitor.

Born in Madrid with Spanish –Finnish Nationality Permanent residence in Barcelona-Spain Lawyer, specializing in Corporate Labor Law. CURRENT INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES Active member of the EUROPEAN ECONOMIC SOCIAL COMMITTEE, and member of the SOC, REX and Chair of the EUROMED follow up Committee (E.E.S.C)-October 2015-present. (www.eesc.europe.eu). Vice-President of SMEunited (Confederation of European Crafts and SMEs)- Dec2014-present. (www.smeunited.com) and President of the Committee of Legal Affairs. June 2015-present. Vice-President of CEPYME (Confederation of Spanish SMEs) September 2014-present. (www.cepyme.es). President of FEPIME-CATALUNYA (Catalonian Federation of SMEs) July 2014-present. (www.fepime.cat) Vice-President of FOMENT DEL TREBALL (Catalonian Employers Confederation) July 2014-present. (www.foment.com). Member of the Board of C.E.O.E (Spanish Employers Confederation). Oct.2014-present. (www.ceoe.es.) Set up and current President AFAEMME in 2002 (Association of Federations and Associations of Women Entrepreneurs from the Mediterranean) which currently has 63 Member Associations of Businesswomen from 23 Mediterranean countries (Albania, Algeria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Slovenia, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon ,Libya, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey).(www.afaemme.org/boardofdirectors.php). Co-President of Women Commission in ASCAME (Federation of Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce) -November 2019-present and Member of the Advisory Board of ASCAME October 2014-present CURRENT PROFESIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES Co-founder of FES BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL CONSULTING SL, International Business Consultancy, providing corporate legal services for SMEs companies and consultancy specialized in project management in Business Gender Equality and Opportunities addressed to SMEs, organizations and public institutions at regional, national and Euro- Mediterranean level ,Headquarter in Barcelona. March 1991-present. Linkedin in/mariahelenadefelipe Facebook: in/mariahelenadefelipe Tweeter: @mhelenadefelipe Blog: mariahelenadefelipe.wordpress.com  TF: 932.005.851  hdefelipe@afaemme.org

Professor Giovanni Ferri received his BSc in economics from the University of Siena and his Ph.D. in Economics from New York University. Since 2012 he is full professor of economics at the Department of Law, Economics, Politics & Modern Languages at LUMSA University in Rome where, from 2014 to 2018, he was Deputy Rector for Academic Affairs and chaired the Quality Assurance and Library Committees. He also co-founded and chairs the Center for Relationship Banking & Economics (https://sites.google.com/site/cerbelumsa/home) to foster research for a better understanding of relational goods to promote society wellbeing. He founded and chairs the Master in Management of Sustainable Development Goals (http://mastermsdg.lumsa.it). He previously served at the University of Bari, World Bank, Banca d’Italia. He visited: ADB Institute, HKMA, NBER, Princeton University, Tokyo University. He consulted for EU Commission/Parliament, Italy’s Treasury and partook in EBA’s Banking Stakeholder Group. He is editor-in-chief of Economic Notes and led (or consulted for) policy/research projects in many countries, including Albania, China, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Serbia, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam. He has published extensively on/for several world recognized journals/publishers on various fields: financial shocks, banking structure, rating agencies, corporate governance, migration, firm internationalization, Chinese economy, family firms, inequality, sustainability. To support the sustainable transition by providing innovative consulting and knowledge building to both public and private sector organizations through an ethically sound business model, he has co-founded (and is scientific chair) of Sustinentes (https://sustinentes.it/).

Currently the President of IEMed (European Institute of the Mediterranean). A diplomat and ambassador, he holds a degree in Economic Science (1971) and in Law (1972) from the Universitat de Barcelona. He studied for his doctorate in Economics at the Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne (1973-1974); as a Fullbright scholarship holder at New York University, Ph. D. Program (1974-1976), and at the Universidad Complutensede Madrid, where he presented his doctoral thesis in 1979. Diploma in International Studies from the Diplomatic School of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. He has also been Director of Studies at the Diplomatic School of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and Professor of International Economics and Development at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

Yeganeh Forouheshfar, is an economist and a researcher at EMEA, she holds a PhD in economics from Université Paris-Dauphine. Her research interests are economic modeling, entrepreneurship, digitalization, sustainable transition and demographic change. She is also an affiliate researcher at DIAL and a Member of EMANES network. Yeganeh is involved in the implementation of EMEA’s EU-funded projects: CREACT4MED and INVESTMED and in charge of mapping of the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) as well as blue and green economy in the South Mediterranean countries. In parallel, Yeganeh is currently working on several research projects and development of data observatories.

Paolo Garonna is Professor of Political Economy at the LUISS Guido Carli University of Rome. He has worked in the financial sector since 2009, first as Director General of the Association of Italian Insurers (ANIA) and then as Secretary General of the Italian Banking, Insurance and Finance Federation (FeBAF). Before that he was Chief Economist of Confindustria (the main industrial employers’ organization in Italy), and Director General of the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT, from 1992 to 1999). From 1999 to 2009 he was Deputy Executive Secretary, and Executive Secretary ad interim, of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in Geneva, and, from 1989 to 1992, Deputy Director for Labour, Social Affairs and Education at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris. He carried out research in America as Fulbright scholar, and in Cambridge, Great Britain, and taught in several Universities in Italy and abroad. He has published a considerable number of books and essays in Finance, Statistics and Applied Economics.

Mariano is a corporate/commercial and a tax Lawyer with vast experience (+20 years) in private and company law and tax matters. He advises on many areas including M&A transactions, tax,  corporate restructuring, Real Estate investments, family business, private wealth management & expatriation issues. He advised companies in several industries such as telecommunications, IT, manufacturing, food, automotive, aeronautical, Finance & Insurance, fashion, Real Estate, educational and research institutions.. He has founded a law and tax firm (UTN Tax & Legal) since 2019 that provides specialised services in corporate and commercial law, employment tax and accounting matters. Before that he worked in several law firms in Spain as a Partner. He holds an LLM in tax law from DePaul University in Chicago in the USA after graduating from University of Barcelona and Centro de Estudios Garrigues of Madrid in law and taxation. He contributes widely in specialised magazines on private and tax law and speaks regularly at conferences. Mariano speaks Spanish, Catalan, English and French.

Joanna Grodzka, Bachelor’s degree in business administration and management, MSc in International Economic and Political Relations from the Warsaw School of Economics. She also holds a Master’s in IT management from Université Paris Dauphine. Joanna has experience in administration and management, from planning and economic monitoring to reporting, gained in several public and private institutions in Poland, France and Spain. She was engaged in projects related to entrepreneurship, communication, and SME development, as well as management of the EU projects.

Dr. Adel Guitouni is a distinguished associate professor at the Gustavson School of Business, where his expertise spans management sciences, decision support systems, and international business. His approach to academia and professional engagements is deeply interdisciplinary, shaped by fourteen years of directing scientific teams within the Canadian government on high-profile projects like the Vancouver 2010 Olympics and the 2010 G8/G20 summits. With over a hundred contributions in fields such as multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA), supply chain management, value chain modelling, information systems, and distributed resource management, Dr. Guitouni has significantly expanded his focus to include sustainability, social responsibility, and regenerative business models. His work emphasizes collaborative research and consulting with industries, governments, and NGOs, leading international committees to explore regenerative business practices and their intersection with the One Health concept. Dr. Guitouni’s vision for a sustainable and inclusive future inspired the creation of the Victoria Forum in 2017 alongside Ambassador Beaulieu and Dean Klein. The Forum is a dynamic platform for diverse voices to converge, debate, and innovate solutions for pressing global challenges, fostering a culture of collaboration and breakthrough thinking. A passionate advocate for socio-economic development and democratic transition, especially in the MENA region, Dr. Guitouni has played a pivotal role in capacity-building initiatives in Tunisia and Libya. His efforts include: Hosting policy workshops with Nobel Laureates Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Romer, facilitating crucial political negotiations, and spearheading leadership programs in collaboration with the African Development Bank. In 2015, he founded the Mediterranean Entrepreneurship Development and Innovation NGO, empowering Tunisian youth through e-commerce education and entrepreneurship. Residing in Victoria, BC, with his family, Dr. Guitouni’s personal and professional life is a testament to his commitment to fostering sustainable, regenerative growth and nurturing the next generation of leaders and innovators. Areas of Expertise: Socio-economic development and regenerative business

Dr. Manfred Hafner is Professor of international energy studies at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS-Europe) Bologna Center, Sciences Po Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA). He also teaches regularly at the Geneva Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, the Florence School of Regulation, the College of Europe and the Skolkovo Moscow School of Management. As far as Dr. Hafner’s research activities are concerned, he is a Fellow and coordinates energy markets and policy activities at the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM), is research fellow at IEFE (Centre for Research on Energy and Environment Economics and Policy) of Bocconi University; and is Senior Scientist at the Euro-Mediterranean Center for Climate Change.Moreover, Prof. Hafner is President for Europe, MENA, Russia and CIS at International Energy Consultants (IEC). Prof. Hafner has a special interest in Euro-Mediterranean energy prospects and challenges, and was for many years the Scientific Director of the Observatoire Mediterraéen de l’Energie, a think-tank and an association of (at the time when he was working there) some 35 Euro-Mediterranean major energy companies from North and South of the Mediterranean see..Prof. Hafner has over his 28 year professional carrier, extensively consulted on energy issues for governments, international organizations (EC, WB, IEA…) and industry, and has in particular coordinated several major interdisciplinary research projects for the European Commission.Moreover, he is presently Member of the high-level EU-Russia Gas Advisory Council set up by former EC Commissioner Oettinger and former Russian Energy Minister Shmatko to provide input into the EU-Russia Energy Dialogue, and he is a Member of the EU-GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) Clean Energy Network. He also consulted for the Minister of Economics and Planning of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in view to set up the latest five-year plan of the Kingdom and is presently advising the German Government on energy issues during the German Presidency of the G7.Dr. Hafner holds master degrees in energy engineering, economics and policy from the Technische Universität München (Germany), the Institut Français du Pétrole (France), the Université Paris2/Panthéon Assas (France) and the University of Pennsylvania (USA). He also holds a PhD (summa cum laude) from Mines Paris-Tech (Ecole des Mines de Paris).He speaks fluently English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Russian.

Hakim Ben Hammouda was the Minister of economy and finance of Tunisia. Before being appointed Minister in January 2014, he has performed senior managerial positions with various international organisations. He was appointed special adviser of the President of the African Development Bank from 2011 to 2014, Director of the Institute of Training and Technical Cooperation with the World Trade Organization (2008-2011). Previously, he performed various directors’ position with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, as director of sub regional office in Central Africa and then director of the Trade and regional integration division and Chief Economist. For many years, he has dealt with Africa’s development and has contributed to the implementation of major programme of actions such as NEPAD. During his career, he has directly supervised key continental publications such as Economic Report on Africa, African Economic Outlook (Afdb, OECD and UN), Assessing regional Integration in Africa Hakim Ben Hammouda has a PhD in international economics and teaches regularly economic development with several universities. He is the author of over 20 books, several articles in international scientific journals in the field of international trade and economic development and weekly chronicles in different newspapers.

Ivan Hajdukovic is an economist with a strong background in quantitative methods and data analysis. His main areas of interest are macroeconomic policies, international economics, environmental economics, humanitarian and sustainable development. He obtained his PhD in Economics (Summa Cum Laude) at the University of Barcelona in July 2021. He holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Lausanne and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Geneva. From May 2020 to July 2022, he worked as a data analyst and consultant at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. He has previous experience with a research internship at the World Trade Organization and as a research assistant at the Institute for New Economic Thinking of the University of Oxford. He has produced academic research and policy work, both independently and in conjunction with research teams, on issues ranging from macroeconomic policies, international trade to energy resources and environmental quality, and has worked on operational and data collection exercises in a humanitarian context. He joined EMEA as a researcher and will support the implementation of EMEA projects and activities by carrying out data collection, data analysis and economic policy research on sustainability and environment.

Dr Nathalie Hilmi is an expert in Macroeconomics and International Finance. After doing research and giving lectures at the CEMAFI (Centre d’études en Macroeconomie et Finance Internationale), University of Nice-Sophia-Antipolis (UNSA), France, she obtained her PhD thesis with honours in 2000. She then joined Allergan, a pharmaceutical American group, as a financial analyst and continued giving lectures in economics and management in private business schools. Subsequently she taught at EDHEC Business School and continued her research work with EDHEC Risk and Asset Management Research Centre. In 2006, she was employed at the International University of Monaco as Professor of Macroeconomics and Finance. Her research work encompassed academic studies and conference presentations to develop the network of the Hedge Funds Research Institute (HFRI), and applied researches on investment strategies in Alpstar, a hedge fund in Geneva. She continued to teach in executive programs in EDHEC and a national training centre for banking executives. Concomitantly, she continued working at the CEMAFI as an associate researcher. She organized conferences for HFRI and UNSA: on “Bridging Mathematics, Social Sciences and Finance” and the “8th MEEA International Conference”. She is a member of several international associations in economics and finance (elected board member of the Middle East Economic Association) and she actively participates in the reviewing and editing of specialized publications. In 2010, she joined the Centre Scientifique de Monaco as section head of environmental economics and collaborated with IAEA’s Environment Laboratories to initiate correlation studies between environmental sciences and economics to better evaluate the socioeconomic extent of impacts and costs of action versus inaction with regard to carbon emissions. She is in charge of the coordination for the preparation and organization of the workshop series “Bridging the gap between ocean acidification impacts and economic valuation” held in Monaco every two years. She passed her post-doctoral degree (HDR) in 2011 about “a muldisciplinary approach of sustainable development”. She is lead author for IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC) in the chapter 5 on “Changing oceans, marine ecosystems and dependent communities” and the cross-chapter box on “low lying islands and coasts” and for the WGII AR6 (Sixth assessment report) in chapter 18 on “climate-resilient development pathways” and cross-chapter paper on the Mediterranean. She was reviewer for the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C and for the Special Report on Climate Change and Land and IPBES reports.

Sahar Mechri Kharrat holds a PhD in Economics from Paris 1 Sorbonne University. She teaches microeconomics of uncertainty and macroeconomics at IHEC Carthage. She is interested in the issues of international trade and the role that governance can play in developing countries. In addition, Sahar Mechri Kharrat is the executive director of the magazine “le Manager”, a monthly business manager of the leading media group, “Promedia”. She runs annual survey on employability of tunisian universities. She is mainly committed to the issue of women’s empowerment and leads the Women Entrepreneuer annual Awards.

William Hynes is Co-ordinator of New Approaches to Economic Challenges (NAEC) In the Office of the Chief Economist which provides a space to question traditional economic ideas and offer new economic narratives, new tools, methods and policy approaches. He has led the NAEC work since 2016. He previously worked as a Senior Advisor to the Secretary General, Advisor in the Sherpa and Global Governance Unit, Senior Economist at NAEC, Economist in the Development Co-operation Directorate and an Economic Affairs Officer at the World Trade Organisation. William is an Honorary Professor of UCL and a Fellow at the Santa Fe Institute, has a doctorate from Oxford University and was a Marie Curie Fellow at the London School of Economics.

Dr. Moritz Kraemer is Chief Economist and Head of Research at LBBW Bank, based in Stuttgart, Germany. He is also a Senior Fellow at SOAS University of London’s Center for Sustainable Finance and teaches graduate courses at Goethe-University Frankfurt’s House of Finance and Centre International de Formation Européenne (CIFE, Nice). Before joining LBBW in November 2021, Moritz was Chief Economist of CountryRisk.io, a country- and ESG-risk platform. He also served as the Chair of Economic Advisory Panel at R.J. Fleming & Co. and Independent Non-Executive Director of Scope Ratings, the largest Europe-headquartered Credit Rating Agency. Until 2018 he was at S&P Global as the Sovereign Ratings Group’ Global Chief Ratings Officer, overseeing the analytical work on assessing the creditworthiness of over 130 national governments worldwide. Moritz started his professional career as an Economist at the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, D.C. and Tegucigalpa/Honduras. Moritz holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Göttingen (Germany). He studied Economics, Latin American Studies, and Literature at the Universities of Frankfurt, Southampton and San Diego.

Nicola holds an MSc in Hydraulic Engineer at Polytechnic of Bari (Italy) and a PhD in Irrigation Engineering at the Technical University of Lisbon (Portugal), Mr Lamaddalena has been working for more than 30 years on agricultural engineering and water resources management, with a focus of design, performance analysis and management of large-scale distribution systems, new delivery technologies with associate modelling development under water scarcity conditions, governance models of Water Users Associations. Scientific and technical activities have been conjugated with the management of many water-related development projects in Southern Europe, North Africa and Near East, in cooperation with International Research Centres and Universities. Author of over 100 publications in scientific journals and books, reviewer for several scientific journals, he is the author, among others, of the FAO Irrigation and Drainage paper n. 59. Past-Vice-President of the International Section Board on Land and Water – CIGR (International Commission of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering). Chairman of the Task Team for the preparation of the Policy workshop on “Water for Food Security and Nutrition” (FAO-CFS) and Special Rapporteur at Policy workshop on “Water for Food Security and Nutrition” – FAO-CFS 42. Board member of the Ital-ICID and the Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean session. He joined CIHEAM Bari Institute in 1986 where he was the Head of the Engineering Sector since 2005, the Head of the Land & Water Dept. from 2005 to 2019, the Deputy Director from 2019 to 2023. In addition, he served as University Contract Professor at the Polytechnic of Bari (Italy) from 2009 to 2015 and provided consulting services to public and private sectors. Since 2018 Nicola Lamaddalena is qualified as University Full Professor by the National Scientific Habilitation Committee (ASN) for the “Agricultural Engineering, Forestry and Biosystems” Sector. He is currently Professor Emeritus at CIHEAM Bari. Areas of Expertise: Agricultural Engineering and Water Resources Management

Riccardo holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and a Master’s degree in Development Economics from the University of Florence. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Economics within the “Sustainability and Wellbeing” program at the same institution. His work combines qualitative and quantitative research methods, including empirical analysis, GIS tools, and data software, with a focus on natural resource management, sustainability, small-scale agriculture, and land abandonment phenomena. Through involvement in various research projects, he is gaining professional and academic experience in understanding the complex nexus between economic, social, institutional, and environmental sustainability objectives. In addition to his primary research areas, he is also interested in ecological economics, sustainable development, and non-market goods valuation methods.

Robert Lanquar (robert.lanquar@gmail.com). Doctor in Economics and Tourism Law from Aix – Marseille III University, obtained a PhD. in “Recreation Resources Organizational Development” at Texas A&M University (United States); as well as a Doctorate from the University of Cordoba with a thesis on the future of tourism (2023) in Philosophy and Letters with the mention Cum Laude. Former international civil servant of the UNWTO, he was and is an advisor and expert to several international organizations such as the UNWTO, UNDP, UNEP, World Bank, European Commission, Commonwealth, etc. A specialist in the Mediterranean, he led several networks in favor of Mediterranean cooperation including MED-DEV – trade, tourism, environment. Author of more than 20 books (including chapters) and 300 reports and articles on tourism and the environment in French, English and Spanish, has been translated into English, Chinese, Spanish, Turkish, Arabic, Vietnamese. During his career, he worked as a university professor in Canada, France, Belgium, Poland, Switzerland and Spain. President of Cordoba Horizontes and Research Director of Swiss UMEF Geneva, he is currently collaborator of the University of Cordoba and was appointed by the Paradigm Cordoba Foundation for Convivence, Commissioner of its second World Forum. He published in 2022-2023 in French and Spanish a book on The Jews of the Silk Roads, in the 12th century, during the Medieval Climatic Optimum,  according to the Travel of Benjamin of Tudela (Spain), showing the convivence condition of this time between the different religions and cultures. French Order of National Merit. Areas of Expertise: Economics, Tourism, Environment

Former Special Advisor to the Prime Minister, Senegal. President of the Emergence Institute, specializing in economic and statistical studies and strategic planning. He is also Director General of the Economic Foresight Bureau. Previously, he was Deputy Director in the Cabinet of Macky Sall, President of Senegal. He also served as an economic advisor to several Prime Ministers. He is an expert for the UN, the African Development Bank, the World Bank and the African Union. He has served as associate lecturer at the National School of Administration of Senegal and the University Gaston Berger of St. Louis.

Professor Barbara Casu is the Director of the Centre for Banking Research at Bayes Business School, where she is Professor of Banking and Finance. She is also the Director of the Bayes Executive PhD Programme. Her main research interests are in empirical banking, financial regulation, financial innovation, and corporate governance. Barbara has published widely, with over 50 publications in peer reviewed Journals. She has also written the popular textbook “Introduction to Banking” (Pearson FT), which is widely adopted for banking courses across the world. She has recently co-edited the Palgrave Handbook of European Banking.

Dr. Basma Majerbi is a finance professor and UVic Scholar at the the Gustavson School of Business, University of Victoria, Canada. She teaches international and corporate finance with an underlying foundation of economics and sustainability to undergraduate and graduate students. Basma’s teaching interests also include investments, financial markets and institutions and risk management. Dr. Majerbi is also the Chair of Operations at the Centre for Social and Sustainable Innovation (CSSI) at University of Victoria. Since 2011, Dr Majerbi also works as a consultant with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Institute for Capacity Development, where she acts as a Technical Advisor delivering macroeconomics and finance courses to mid- and senior level staff from central banks and ministries of finance (mainly in Africa and Eastern and Central Europe). Courses taught with the IMF institute cover a wide range of topics related to macroeconomic policy, financial sector issues and macro-prudential supervision, managing external vulnerabilities (such as exposure to commodity prices volatility, external debt in foreign currency, etc.), and financial markets analysis for policy making, etc. Dr Majerbi’s research interests are mainly in international finance with a focus on emerging markets. Her research examines the importance of currency risk in international stock markets, financial liberalization and its impact on systemic banking crises, the role of financial systems in economic development and growth, the importance of financial cooperative institutions in the development process, etc. Dr Majerbi’s research has been published in leading business journals such as the Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Journal of Empirical Finance, among others. Before joining the Gustavson School of Business, Dr Majerbi taught various finance courses at McGill University and participated in executive education programs while working for a consulting and management training company in Tunisia.

Inmaculada Buendia-Martinez holds a PhD in Business Administration from the Complutense University of Madrid (Spain), she is associate professor at the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Spain and associate researcher at the Dorimène Desjardins International Institute for Cooperatives at HEC Montreal (Canada). Author of numerous scientific articles, books, and other publications on cooperative management, she is a member of various networks and international research projects. Her international expertise in cooperative management both in America and in Europe allowed her to collaborate directly with several research centers in Brazil, Colombia, Ireland, and Canada. Her current interests focus on the contribution of cooperatives in local/rural development, the generational change in cooperatives, the relationship between social economy and circular economy, the policies for financial inclusion, the role of financial cooperatives in the international arena and corporate social responsibility in the banking industry. Areas of Expertise: Business, Circular Economy, Financial Inclusion

Walid is a Senior Data Scientist Consultant. He holds a Ph.D. in Data Science from HEC Montreal. He was researcher at the International Research Centre on Cooperative Finance (IRCCF) at HEC Montreal & a Senior Consultant at Deloitte Canada. He is an expert in Python, R, and SAS, and he has a deep knowledge of Machine Learning and Applied Statistics.

Professor Chukwumerije Okereke is the Director of the Centre for Climate Change and Development at Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike and a Visiting Professor at the Universities of Reading and Oxford, UK respectively. He is a globally recognized leading scholar on global climate governance and international development with expertise in climate justice, national green growth transition in Africa, climate adaptation and business climate strategies. Professor Okereke was previously the Co-Director of the Center for Climate and Justice and Co-Director of the Reading University Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarship Programme. He was also Director of the Center for Climate Change and Development at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford. Over the last 20 years, Professor Okereke has maintained an extensive high-impact engagement with national governments, businesses, and NGOs in Africa and led on several high-profile international projects on climate change policy, mainstreaming, and green economy transition in Africa including the UNDP funded Africa Adaptation Initiative (AAI) commissioned by the Committee of African Heads of State on Climate Change (CAHOSCC), the Analysis of the Adaptation Components in Africa’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDCs) commissioned by the African Development Bank and and the Rwandan Green Growth and Climate Resilience Project, which was the first-ever national low-carbon plan in Africa. Professor Okereke is the Coordinating Lead Author of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report. He has served as Lead Author on other major global scientific assessment projects including the IPCC Special Report on 1.5degree global warming and the Fifth Assessment Report of the IPCC; the United Nations Environment Programme’s Urbanization, Biodiversity, and Ecosystem Services Assessment. Professor Okereke is a member of the Steering Committee of the Earths Systems Governance Project and a leading member of the Global Earth Commission’s Safe and Just Transformation Working Group. Professor Okereke is a member of the editorial board of several highly reputed journals in the field including, Global Environmental Politics, Business and Sustainable Development, Earth Systems Governance, and International Studies Review. Professor Okereke has published widely in the field, given a countless number of keynote speeches, and been interviewed by leading media houses in the world including BBC News, BBC World Services, France24, China Global Television Network, Channels TV, AriseTV, and several others.

Professor of Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics. She is also member of the recently created Research Centre for the Management of Agricultural and Environmental Risk (CEIGRAM). She has been involved, during the past 25 years in research in Spanish, European Union and International networks in the fields of agricultural policy and the environment, water resources management and institutions. Professor Varela-Ortega is the country representative for Spain in the International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE) and has taken part in the scientific committee and advisory panels of several international institutions, such as the Global and National Food and Water System for the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food and the CIRAD (International center for agricultural development research) in France.

Magali Outters is an international consultant on sustainability issues, continuously looking for concrete solutions to improve the health of our planet and create positive impact. She has +15 years of international experience in the Mediterranean Region advocating for approaches like circular economy, blue economy, green economy, sustainable consumption and production (SCP), pollution prevention. She has been actively coordinating policy processes under UN framework, capacity building projects, technical studies, developed specific tools and pilot initiatives with governments, experts, Mediterranean organizations, Universities, business organizations and CSOs. During the last 8 years, she has been coordinating the policy department of MedWaves, a Regional Activity Center based in Barcelona and supporting the implementation of 2 UN treaties: the Barcelona Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean and the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). She is passionate and always eager to think of and discover innovative approaches, in particular to reduce plastic pollution, toxic chemicals, impact on the marine environment  but also about enhancing linkages between human health and health of the planet. She holds an Engineering degree in “Materials: Economics and Environment”, a Master on Environmental Management and Sustainable Development (Major in industrial ecology) from the University of Technology of Troyes (France), as well as a postgraduate degree of Officer of International Development from the UPC Foundation (Polytechnical University of Catalonia).

Dr. Leonidas Paroussos is an Economist and currently managing director of E3-Modelling (E3-Modelling specializes in the development and use of large scale applied models and performs applied research focusing in the fields of economy, energy and the environment). He holds a BSc in Economics an MSc in Finance and a Phd on “Energy and Climate Change: An Economic Analysis in the Context of Computable General Equilibrium”. He is a senior researcher and coordinates the research activities in the general equilibrium modelling team of E3-Modelling. He has 15 years of experience in modelling particularly in the development of the GEM-E3 model and he has participated in several research and policy oriented projects. He is a main contributor in introducing bottom-up modules in the global version of the GEM-E3 model and he is experienced in climate change policy assessment using general equilibrium models, environmental economics, energy economics and transport analysis. He is publishing regularly in a variety of journals including Energy Economics, Energy Policy, Complexity Economics and Economic Letters.

Paula Pazos Puig is a recent graduate of the International Master in Security, Intelligence and Strategic Studies from the University of Glasgow, specialising in peace and conflict management studies. She completed her undegraduate degree in Global Studies at Pompeu Fabra University. Paula has participated in collaborative projects with local think tanks and NGOs, where she gained experience as a research assistant. Her main areas of interest include geopolitics, human security and sustainable development. She’s now joining the team as an intern, where she’ll be supporting EMEA’s activities by conducting research and data analysis tasks.

Tiago Zibecchi is an economist dedicated to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals through a holistic mindset. He recently completed a Master’s degree in Economics, specializing in International Trade, Finance, and Development Economics at the Barcelona School of Economics (BSE) – where he has also refined his skills in quantitative methods and data analysis. He finished his undergrad, with honors, in Finance from the Albers School of Business and Economics at Seattle University, receiving both academic and athletic scholarships. A lifelong student-athlete, Tiago represented Brasil’s U17 national basketball team and played professionally for one season with Botafogo. Before joining EMEA, Tiago served as an Impact Investing Analyst at Sitawi Finance for Good – an NGO pioneering Brazil’s collective crowdlending landscape. There, he helped design innovative financial solutions for positive impact-driven organizations, including several agri-food cooperatives and small businesses in the Amazon and rural Northeast regions of Brasil. At EMEA, Tiago is involved in economic policy research for the ReForest, Brain Capital Alliance and Sports Adherence projects, as well as other topics related to regional integration and global value chain. He is also dedicated to updating and enhancing EMEA’s interactive dashboards and the Open Knowledge Platform on the EMEA website.

Xavier Mallofré Pujadó is EMEA Financial Officer. He is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Barcelona since 2008. He has extensive professional experience as an economic, financial and accounting advising national and international companies and law and accounting firms. Xavier has a degree in Economics and Business Sciences from the University of Barcelona, and a Master’s degree in Financial Management from CEF.

Raul Ramos is Full Professor at the Department of Econometrics, Statistics and Applied Economics of the University of Barcelona, researcher at the Grup d’Analisi Quantitativa Regional (AQR-IREA), IZA Research Fellow and GLO Fellow. Currently, he is the Vice-Rector of Internationalisation Policy at the University of Barcelona. His research interests include labour market analysis from both regional and international perspectives, with a specific focus on the impacts of globalisation, European integration and migration on wage inequality and unemployment. He is Co-Director of the Revista de Economía Laboral and Associate Editor of Regional Studies, Regional Science. Areas of Expertise: Econometrics, Statistics and Applied Economics

Ms Ronco has over three years of experience in performing qualitative and quantitative research which she gained during several missions undertaken abroad, mostly as volunteering activities (i.e. Kenya, Costa Rica, Italy). She has a BA in International Relations from the University of Turin and a master’s degree in Development Economics from the University of Florence. In 2017 she won an extra-EU competitive grant awarded by the University of Florence for a four-month study period at the University of Costa Rica. There, she collaborated with the academic multidisciplinary program CadenAgro in a project investigating the economic and social role of some typical national staple food compared to the imported ones. Recently she has been involved in data collection and editing activities of the IEMed, in the Euro-Mediterranean Policies and EuroMeSCO department, and she has relevant experience in supporting international projects. Her main research interests are: Development Economics, International Trade and Sustainable Global Value Chains, Food Security and Agricultural Economics, Poverty and Inequality.

Serena Sandri is Professor at the Business School of German Jordanian University, department of Logistics. She is member of the Euro Mediterranean and African Network for Economic Studies (EMANES) and expert member of the Euro Mediterranean Economists Association (EMEA). She is currently the scientific coordinator for Jordan for the PRIMA funded project “Boosting the Nexus Framework Implementation in the Mediterranean” (BONEX). Before joining German Jordanian University in 2012, she worked at the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management of Humboldt Universität zu Berlin. She received her PhD from the Technische Universität Dresden in 2007. Areas of Expertise: Behavioural and Institutional economics, Environmental and Development Issues

Anna Santamaria has more than 25 years of experience in management in the private sector. She holds a Bachelor’s degree and master in business administration from University Ramon Liull in Spain. In EMEA, Anna is responsible of the office administrative management.

Mais Sha’ban is an Associate Professor of Banking and Finance at Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan and a Research Fellow at the Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association (EMEA). Her research interests include financial inclusion, digital financial services, MSMEs’ access to finance, sustainable finance, and bank stability and performance. She holds a PhD in Finance (University of Essex, United Kingdom), MSc in Finance (Swansea University, United Kingdom).

Carlo Sessa, former President and Research Director at the Institute of Studies for the Integration of Systems (ISINNOVA) and Member of the Executive Board of the Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association (EMEA) is currently self-employed in the field of socio-economic research and system analysis. Before joining ISINNOVA (formerly ISIS) in 1983, he was invited as Visiting Scholar at NYU, where he worked with Nobel Prize winner Wassily Leontieff. While working as ISINNOVA partner, Carlo was the Coordinator of several EU research projects, in the 5th, 6th, 7th and H2020 Framework Programmes, and tenders, mostly in the fields of participatory foresight, interdisciplinary urban, transport, energy and environment studies. In this context, he led several participatory projects, involving panels of experts and citizens and aiming to raise the citizens awareness of science and technology prospects in the field of sustainable urban development (EU project RAISE), transport (EU project MOVE TOGETHER) coastal ecosystems (EU project AWARE) and governance (EU Project PASSO). Amongst several projects dealing with foresight issues, Carlo was involved as leading researcher in some EU funded Social Sciences and Humanities research projects: PASHMINA (Paradigm shifts modelling and innovative approaches); GLOBAL-IQ, aiming to enhance the ability to understand and manage global changes by means of a new generation of models and qualitative foresight tools; MEDPRO – Prospective analysis for the Mediterranean region; FLAGSHIP – Forward Looking Analysis of Grand Societal Challenges and Innovative Policies; and TRIGGER – Trends in Global Governance and Europe’s role. In the context of the European ESPON programme, he contributed to territorial foresight studies, and recently was the Coordinator of the Applied Research Project Quality of Life measurement and methodology, delivering a concept and dashboard of Territorial Quality of Life (TQOL) indicators. In association with EMEA, Carlo led several strategic foresight exercises in EMNES – Euro-Mediterranean Network for Economic (ENPI project) and for the IEMED/EMEA Study for the Union for the Mediterranean, building youth employment friendly scenarios for the Euro-Mediterranean region. Carlo was involved as Italian representative in the COST Action 332 on Land Use and Transport Planning in the ‘90s, and more recently as Italian representative in the COST Action TD 1408 on Interdisciplinarity in research programming and funding cycles (INTREPID).

Fathallah Sijilmassi was appointed Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean on 1 March, 2012. He was re-elected Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean on December 4, 2014. A career Diplomat for the Moroccan Government, he specialises in the field of economic international relations, in particular with regard to Euro-Mediterranean issues. He started working in the banking sector as representative of the Banque Commerciale du Maroc in Milan (Italy). His career within the Moroccan administration was then marked by his active role in the negotiations of free trade agreements with the European Union, the United States, and several Arab and African countries. From 1999 onwards, he has held senior positions within the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Director of Multilateral Cooperation (1999-2001), Director of European Affairs and Ambassador to the Barcelona Euro-Mediterranean Process (2001-2003). In 2003, he was appointed Ambassador to the European Union (2003-2004) and later to France (2005-2009). In 2009, he becomes CEO of the Moroccan Investment Development Agency, leading its launch and subsequent growth. Fathallah Sijilmassi is an officer of the Légion d´honneur and grand officer in the Ordre National du Mérite of the Republic of France.He is a graduate in Political Science, holds a PhD in Economics and speaks five languages: Arabic, French, English, Italian and Spanish. He is married with two children.

Elena is a recent graduate from the Economics of Public Policy program, a Master’s in Specialized Economic Analysis offered by the Barcelona School of Economics. She completed her undergraduate with honours at Trinity College Dublin in Philosophy, Politics, Economics, and Sociology (PPES). Elena brings a diverse set of skills and experience to the EMEA team. In addition to acting as a research assistant at Trinity and Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, she has worked for several NGOs providing direct service to migrant and refugee communities. Elena is interested in researching the effect of climate change on the social and economic lives of people around the globe. At EMEA, Elena is focused on contributing to the Open Knowledge Platform. She has collected data for and created several dashboards for the monitoring of the TRIS (transparent, responsible, inclusive, and sustainable) Development Model, the Brain Capital Initiative, and the Regional Integration Matrix.

Pawel Swieboda has just completed his tenure as Director General of the Human Brain Project and CEO of EBRAINS, the Research Infrastructure for brain studies. He is a Member of the Strategic Council of the European Policy Centre and of the Steering Board, Brain Capital Alliance, a public-private-people partnership advancing brain capital activities in policy, economics and investing. Prior to this, Pawel Świeboda was Deputy Head and Head of Research of the European Political Strategy Centre and later IDEA at the European Commission. He had served on the European Commission’s Sounding Board on the EU’s Science, Research and Innovation Performance and the Global Agenda Council on Europe of the World Economic Forum. In the first ten years of his career, he held important positions in the Polish government, including as head of department responsible for EU accession negotiations and EU Advisor to the President. Pawel graduated in economics from the London School of Economics in 1994, and in international relations from the University of London in 1995.

Daniel Luque is currently in his final year of Business Administration and Management in English from the University of Zaragoza. He also has international experience through the Erasmus+ program in Poland. Daniel has experience in events management with different companies and working in customer support. He enters EMEA as an intern. He will support EMEA’s activities by working on the Project Management and Administrative team.

Sübidey Togan is Professor of Economics and the Director of the Centre for International Economics at Bilkent University. He has received his Ph.D. in Economics from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Prior to joining Bilkent University he taught at Texas A&M University, Clarkson University and Middle East Technical University. His publications include Foreign Trade Regime and Trade Liberalization in Turkey during the 1980’s published in 1994 by Avebury,  The Economy of Turkey since Liberalization published in 1996 by Macmillan Press Ltd (co-editor V. N. Balasubramanyam), Turkey and Central and Eastern European Countries in Transition: Towards Membership of the EU published by Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. in 2001 (co-editor V.N. Balasubramanyam), Turkey: Economic Reform & Accession to the European Union published by the World Bank and Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) in 2005 (co-editor B. Hoekman), “Macroeconomic Policies for EU Accession” published by Edward Elgar Publishing  in 2007 (co-editors E. Ba?ç? ve J. von Hagen), and “Economic Liberalization and Turkey” published  by Routledge in 2010. His area of interest is International Economics.

Torsten Thiele, MPA (Harvard), MPhil (Cantab), FLS is a thought-leader in ocean conservation, focusing on governance and sustainable finance approaches to promote blue solutions to planetary challenges. He founded the not-for-profit Global Ocean Trust in 2014 and has since been advising international alliances, governments and the private sector on key ocean issues such as how to deliver large-scale marine protection, counter marine pollution and address ocean-climate opportunities using innovative finance mechanisms. Following a career in finance in the City of London which included inter alia time at JPMorgan, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Investec plc where he led the global telecoms project finance effort Torsten Thiele returned to academia to research ocean issues. Roles at Harvard, Oxford, the London School of Economics and the Potsdam Sustainability Institute led to a wide range of publications, conference speeches and other work, including advice on blue bonds and impact funding. Over the last decade Torsten Thiele provided expertise, support and advisory/ board roles for major alliances, including the Coalition for Private Investment into Conservation, the Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative, the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, the High Seas Alliance, the International Partnership for Blue Carbon, Nekton Foundation, the Ocean Panel and the Ocean-Climate Platform. This work linked to the Paris Agreement, the UN High Seas Treaty negotiations and issues such as ocean plastics, blue economy principles and blue natural capital finance. Torsten Thiele is an Affiliate Scholar at the Research Institute for Sustainability – Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, Honorary Fellow of Plymouth Marine Laboratory, a Strategic Advisor to the Ocean Team of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Senior Advisor, Blue Finance, to the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance. He holds graduate degrees in economics, law, public administration and in conservation leadership from the universities of Cambridge, Bonn and Harvard.

Benoît Tremblay is Honorary Professor at HEC Montréal, where he teaches since 1976. He holds an MBA from HEC Montréal and a Doctorate from the École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris. One of the founders of the Study Centre for the Management of Co-operatives in 1975, he has been active as a researcher for many years and has served on the board of different cooperative organisations. In 1984, he was appointed Deputy Minister responsible for cooperative development in Quebec. He has been active in public life as a Member of the City of Montreal Council and a Member of the Executive Committee of the Montreal Urban Community and Finance and Economic Development Commission’s President. In 1988, he has been elected Member of the Canadian Federal Parliament and nominated as Parliamentary Secretary for Industry, Science and Technology.Back to HEC Montréal in 1997, he focused his research on two main topics: the manager’s craft and the development of the financial services cooperatives in the world. From 2001 to 2010, he was Director of the Desjardins Centre for Studies in Management of Financial Services Cooperatives. His research has led to the creation of the International Observatory on Financial Services Cooperatives, which includes a Database on the Institutions, a Virtual Library and a Simulation.

Stella Tsani is Associate Professor at the Department of Economics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. She holds a PhD in Economics and Business from the University of Reading, UK. She is one of the 39 new members, first in Greece, selected on the grounds of the excellence of their scientific research and the demonstrated societal engagement that joined the Global Young Academy in June 2022. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the  Euro-Mediterranean Forum of Institutes of Economic Sciences (FEMISE). Stella is an invited expert member of the foresight group, coordinated by Plan Bleu, on the Mediterranean basin “MED 2050” project and an expert contributor to the International Science Council delegation to the UN2023 Water Conference and policy brief. She is the lead editor of the Handbook of Sustainable Politics and Economics of Natural Resources. Stella acts as scientific director and  advisory board member in several European and international projects and has been selected as expert member of the Body of Knowledge as well as start-up mentor and trainer for the Cross-KIC (EIT Food, EIT Manufacturing, EIT Climate, EIT Raw Materials) initiative “Finding innovative solutions for water scarcity in Southern Europe”. Her work applies economic methods and tools at micro- and macro- level to address questions related to sustainable development, policy assessment, sovereign wealth management (Sovereign Wealth Funds), natural resources with focus on renewables, hydrocarbons and water, Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems Nexus, institutions, labour markets, technology innovation, economy energy and environmental modelling and scenario analysis.  See her Personal web page with detailed CV. Areas of Expertise: Economics and Sustainable Develoment

Chahir Zaki is a chaired professor of economics at the University of Orléans and a research fellow at Laboratoire d’Economie d’Orléans. In this position, Chahir holds the Chair on Environmental and Mineral Economics (CEME) where he teaches and conducts research on trade, environment, natural resources and macroeconomics. He is also a professor of economics at Cairo University (on leave). Previously, he was the director of the French section at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science. He was also the Chair Holder of the World Trade Organization Chair Program at Cairo University. Currently, Chahir is also a research fellow at the Economic Research Forum (Cairo, Egypt) and a consultant for several international organizations (the World Bank, IFPRI and the International Trade Center). He is also the director of Egypt’s pole of the Euro-Mediterranean and African Network for Economic Studies (EMANES), a member of the experts’ panel of the Euro-Mediterranean Economic Association, and an elected-board member of the Middle East Economic Association. He holds a B.A. in Economics from the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University, an M.A. in Economics from Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne, and a Ph.D. in Economics from Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne. He has written numerous studies published in refereed journals on international trade, environment, trade policy, trade in services, applied economics, and macroeconomic modeling.