Navigating the EU’s sustainability transitions in a polycrisis world

Claire Dupont is a research professor of European and international governance at Ghent University, whose research interests focus on climate policy and governance in the EU. She specifically explores the governance challenges associated with transitioning to sustainability, as well as the integration and mainstreaming of policies across different sectors. Dupont’s research significantly contributes to knowledge and scholarship on sustainability, public policy, governance of complex issues at the European and international level, multi-level governance, democratic governance and European studies. Additionally, she serves on the editorial board of ‘Politics and Governance,’ chairs the Scientific Committee of the European Environment Agency (EEA) and is a member of Luxembourg’s Climate Policy Observatory.

Alexandr Hobza is the Chief Economist at the Directorate-General for Research & Innovation of the European Commission. Together with his team, he aims to enhance the evidence base in support of science, technology, and innovation policies for the European Commission. He also serves as the Vice-Chair of the OECD Committee for Scientific and Technological Policy. In his previous roles, he led teams working on assessments of structural reforms and advised the Director-General of DG ECFIN of the European Commission. Prior to joining the European Commission, he was a Research Fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels.

Prior to joining Friends of Europe, Dharmendra Kanani was director of policy at the European Foundation Centre (EFC). He was the England director at the Big Lottery Fund, the largest independent funder in the UK and fourth largest in the world. Dharmendra has held senior positions in the public and voluntary sectors and advisor to numerous ministerial policy initiatives across the UK.

Eero Yrjö-Koskinen is the Executive Director of the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP), an independent think tank based in Brussels. Before taking on this role, he held positions as the Director of the Finnish Institute in Hungary, Sustainability Adviser at the Finnish Chamber of Commerce, Secretary General of the Finnish Network for Sustainable Mining, and the Executive Director of the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, the largest environmental NGO in Finland. Additionally, he has extensive experience working for international organisations, having spent seven years at the European Parliament and four years at the United Nations.

Leena Ylä-Mononen has worked with national, European and international environmental policy and administration for over 30 years. Before joining the EEA, Ylä-Mononen was director general at the Finnish Ministry of the Environment, where she was in charge of the Ministry’s Climate and Environmental Protection Department, dealing with environmental policy issues and EU files. Prior to joining the Ministry Ylä-Mononen worked in management positions at the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) in Helsinki, first as a head of unit and then as one of the directors. She also worked at the European Commission, Directorate-General for Environment, on policy files related to chemicals, pesticides and multilateral environmental agreements related to chemicals.

Dzhordzhio Naldzhiev currently serves as Head of Science at Plan A, Europe’s leading corporate carbon accounting, decarbonisation and CSRD reporting software provider. Naldzhiev holds a PhD in Environmental Engineering and Air Quality from UCL and is responsible for the scientific credibility underpinning Plan A’s platform and client-facing sustainability advice. As a Chartered Engineer, he is an honourary research fellow and guest lecturer for Architecture and the Built Environment at Bartlett University.