SMEunited is the association of crafts and SMEs in Europe with around 70 member organisations from over 30 European countries. SMEunited is a recognised employers’ organisation and European social partner and acts on behalf of crafts and SMEs in European social dialogue and in discussions with the EU institutions. SMEunited represents national cross-sectoral craft and SME federations, European SME branch organisations and associate members. It speaks on behalf of the 22,5 million SMEs in Europe which employ almost 82,4 million people. It is a non-profit seeking and non-partisan organisation.

Andreas Brieger works as Director Sustainable Development for SMEunited. Before, he has been working on climate, energy and economic policy for social partners in Brussels and Germany. He is keen to contributing to a green transition that works for people, planet and SMEs.

Appointed Chief Executive of the Rediscovery Centre in 2025, Claire brings over 20 years' experience in the sector to this role and is a dedicated advocate for circular living, actively contributing to national and international policy development and groundbreaking circular economy research and driving education initiatives in Ireland and beyond.

Based in Dublin, but operating nationally, the Rediscovery Centre is a creative movement connecting people, ideas and resources to support the circular economy and sustainable, low-carbon living. The centre’s work is built around the three key themes of education, demonstration and advocacy. To support the transition to a circular economy in Ireland, the centre provides training, education and events that inspire active participation and citizen engagement.

The visitor centre demonstrates good practice through social enterprise excellence, a reuse retail collective and onsite circular economy programmes and showcases. Working in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency, the centre also runs the national Circular Economy Academy, a free mentoring and support programme to help social enterprises and community organisations embrace circularity. In collaboration with the Irish government, regional and city authorities, NGOs, academic institutions and corporate partners, the Rediscovery Centre’s education, research and policy team coordinate action-based programmes which drive change and support the circular economy in Ireland.

Alberto Arroyo Schnell is responsible for policy and programmes at the European Regional Office of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). He has held leading positions on EU environmental policy for the past 15 years. His current focus is working together with the key sectors related to / impacted by / benefiting from biodiversity and nature, aiming to find ways to achieve the environmental targets jointly and to ensure ownership of these targets by all stakeholders. He is Spanish, with a background in Forestry Engineering.

Agnieszka Sznyk is chair of the Board at INNOWO, the Institute of Innovation and Responsible Development in Warsaw, Poland. She holds a PhD in Life Sciences and is an expert in the fields of sustainable production and consumption, circular economy and healthcare economics. Agnieszka has been connected with nongovernmental organisations for many years, notably as founder and manager of the Polish Circular Hotspot and the international educational campaign Circular Week.

Agnieszka serves as an economy expert at the CE Working Group under the National Smart Specializations (NSS) appointed by the Steering Committee, which consists of representatives of the Ministry of Investment and Economic Development, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy in Poland.

She is author of numerous reports including:

• Environmental aspects of eco-design, August 2020
• Development of methodology and indicators for various business sectors with regards to circular economy from the regional perspective, December 2019
• Methodology for matching circular business models to priority sector implementation, December 2019
• Plastics in circular economy, May 2020

INNOWO (the Institute of Innovation and Responsible Development) is a foundation, non-governmental organisation and a THINK-to-DO TANK established to support the development of innovation and implementation of systemic changes for the purpose of sustainable socio-economic progress. The circular economy is the main field of interest and expertise of INNOWO. The organisation supports decision-makers and different stakeholder groups in identifying effective solutions and policy instruments to engage businesses and consumers in achieving a significant and lasting change towards sustainable production and consumption.

Freek van Eijk is CEO of Holland Circular Hotspot (HCH), a private-public platform that facilitates the transition to a circular economy at international level by bringing together government authorities, knowledge institutes and especially businesses. HCH supports knowledge exchange with the aim of stimulating entrepreneurship in the field of the circular economy.

Freek van Eijk is also vice-chair of Circular Biobased Delta, an alliance of Dutch provinces, businesses and knowledge centres pioneering a sustainable circular and biobased economy. He is one of the more senior Dutch experts in the field of waste management and the circular economy. He also serves as Managing Director of Acceleratio.

Previously, Freek van Eijk worked for over a decade as Director of strategy and PA at the multinational SUEZ and as a board member of the Dutch Waste Management Association and the Society and Enterprise Foundation and acted as a Sherpa for the EU Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials.

He has a MSc. Eng. (Delft University of Technology).

Agata Meysner is a youth activist and the director of Generation Climate Europe (GCE). She holds an LLB in European Law from Maastricht University and is currently pursuing an MSc in Public Policy from University College London specialising in the circular economy and resource efficiency. Ms Meysner previously worked at the European Environmental Bureau, where she focused on the implementation of the SDGs by and in the EU.

Generation Climate Europe is the largest coalition of youth-led networks at the European level, pushing for stronger action from the EU on climate and environmental issues. GCE brings together 460 national organisations across 47 countries in Europe. It is guided by the voices of 20 million young Europeans. GCE's mission is to create a platform for the youth to advocate for a just and green transition in Europe. 

The circular economy is one of the key thematic areas for GCE, encompassing various issues such as textiles, digitalisation, energy and food systems.
 

EuroCommerce is the principal European organisation representing the retail and wholesale sector. It embraces national associations in 31 countries and 5.4 million companies, both leading global players such as Carrefour, Ikea, Metro and Tesco, and many small businesses. Retail and wholesale provide a link between producers and 500 million European consumers over a billion times a day. It generates 1 in 7 jobs, providing a varied career for 29 million Europeans, many of them young people. It also supports millions of further jobs throughout the supply chain, from small local suppliers to international businesses. EuroCommerce is the recognised European social partner for the retail and wholesale sector.

Nick Dornheim is advisor for Environment & Sustainability at EuroCommerce. He focuses on promoting retailers' and wholesalers' circular economy initiatives such as deploying more sustainable products, ensuring the right waste management infrastructure and empowering consumers.

Mercè Boy Roura is a senior researcher and EU project coordinator at the Governance for Sustainability Unit at the BETA Technological Center, based at the University of Vic – Central University of Catalonia (Spain). She is an environmental scientist with a PhD in Experimental Sciences and Sustainability. She has more than 10 years of international experience in research and knowledge transfer projects in the field of sustainability and circular economy, and in particular focusing on the agri-food systems.

She is currently coordinating the Innovative Sustainable Economy (ISE) Mission of the Interreg Euro-MED programme, enhancing the legacy of the previous Interreg MED Green Growth community. The current ISE mission has a broader scope embracing innovation capacities – technological, social, institutional – and practices conducive to more sustainable production and consumption in the region, in line with the European Green Deal and European Cohesion Policy priorities and specific objectives. The ISE Mission is a multi-stakeholder network of projects connecting 155 partners from 18 countries in the Mediterranean region, with a well representation of the 4-ple helix stakeholders. It structures its work around four focus areas: Marine resources, Agri-food systems, Industrial Transition, and Resource Valorisation. Also, it supports projects by increasing their impact at policy level and fostering potential transfer and replication of their results in other regions and by other stakeholders. The ISE Mission is labelled by the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), acknowledging its potential to advance cooperation in the transition to a green and circular economy in the Mediterranean region.

Ignacio Calleja has a Bachelor's degree in Organic Chemistry from the University of Zaragoza, an M. Sc. in Technology and Environmental Management from the University of the Basque Country, an M.Sc. in Environmental Chemistry from the University of Edinburgh, and is a postgraduate in Technology Management at the University of Sevilla.

He joined EIT Rawmaterials in September 2016 as Thematic Officer for Circular Economy and Recycling, leading the Circular Economy strategy and representing EIT RM at different European entities. He is currently involved in coordinating the Cross KIC Circular Economy Action. 

The EIT Circular Economy Community consists of five Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) – namely EIT RawMaterials, EIT Climate-KIC, EIT Food, EIT Manufacturing and EIT Urban Mobility.

The KICs carry out activities that cover the entire innovation chain: training and education programmes, reinforcing the journey from research to market, innovation projects, business incubators and accelerators. Through the KICs, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) strengthens cooperation among businesses (including SMEs), higher education institutions and research organisations, forms dynamic pan-European partnerships, and creates favourable environments in which creative thought processes and innovations can flourish. 

The Conseil Européen de Remanufacture (European Remanufacturing Council) is based in Brussels and represents multiple business sectors and trade associations that extend the life of products through remanufacture and refurbishment. A steering group made up of five member organisations advises on the annual work programme as we aim to increase sales of remanufactured products in Europe from €30 billion to €100 billion by 2030.

David Fitzsimons became Director of the European Remanufacturing Council in January 2017. He represents the Council at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, with whom he led the “BetterThanNew” project. He is currently a member of the UN working group on product life extension; a member of TC 323 for the forthcoming ISO standard (59000 series) for the circular economy; a member of the advising committee for the PLATE conference, and a member of the World Economic Forum Council for advanced manufacturing and production.

He founded the circular economy consulting firm Oakdene Hollins in 1994 and is now director of the management board.