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.

EIT Climate-KIC is Europe’s leading climate innovation agency and community, supporting cities, regions, countries and industries as they work to meet their climate ambitions through systems innovation and place-based transformations.

Anna Brassa is part of EIT Climate-KIC's leadership team as a Deep Demonstrations Teams Orchestrator. The Deep Demonstrations project, launched in 2019, serves as a testbed for large-scale, place-based demonstrations of sustainable, regenerative living. She also oversees the work performed by Climate-KIC with the Government of Slovenia on the Deep Demonstration of a Circular, Regenerative and Low-Carbon Economy in Slovenia, developing pathways for a more radical transition to climate neutrality through a circular economy, using a systems innovation approach.

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. 

FEAD represents the private waste and resource management industry across Europe. Its members, national waste management associations and companies, operate across the entire value chain, including collection, sorting, recycling, recovery and disposal. FEAD brings together around 3 000 private waste management companies, which operate in 60% of Europe’s municipal waste markets and 75% of industrial and commercial waste, supporting over 500 000 local jobs. FEAD’s vision is to shift Europe's overall material use towards recycled materials, promoting sustainable waste management as a cornerstone of the circular economy, contributing to environmental protection, resource efficiency and climate goals.

Paolo Campanella is Secretary-General of FEAD, leading the organisation’s advocacy for a stronger and more coherent European legislative framework to support the circular economy. With over ten years of experience across multiple areas of the waste sector, including plant design, operational management, consultancy and public affairs, he brings a comprehensive understanding of the industry's challenges and opportunities. Trained as an environmental engineer, he has managed the design and permitting of waste treatment facilities and assessed project proposals within the public administration of the Province of Bari (Italy). He previously served as a board member of the Italian Association of Environmental Engineers. 

ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability is a global network of more than 1 750 local and regional governments committed to sustainable urban development. Active in over 100 countries, ICLEI influences sustainability policy and drives local action for low emission, nature-based, equitable, resilient and circular development.

Simon Clement joined ICLEI Europe in 2002. As Head of Circular Economy, he is responsible for ICLEI's activities in this field, including managing the European Circular Cities Declaration. For over 20 years he has worked for, and on behalf of, local, regional and national governments in project, policy and strategy development on sustainability issues such as circular economy, procurement, transport and smart cities.

Lieze works as the head of the international policy unit at OVAM, the Public Waste Agency of Flanders, which ensures that Flanders deals with waste, materials and soil in a well thought out and environmentally sound manner. Since 1981, OVAM has been developing a balanced mix of economic and regulatory instruments on waste, materials and soil that has made the Region of Flanders one of the frontrunners in Europe in this field.

We are joining forces with our partners in business, civil society, research and government to develop a circular economy, taking a multi-stakeholder participatory approach. Circular Flanders, which was initiated by OVAM, serves as hub, inspiration and matchmaker for the transition to a circular economy in Flanders. We implement measures that go beyond sorting and recycling waste to make a systemic shift from take-make-waste to a new economic model that factors in the scarcity of raw materials and the ecological limits of our planet.

In her role as Director of Programmes, Hatty leads Circle Economy’s thematic and sector-focused portfolio (textiles, finance and built environment). Having worked for over 14 years in democratic strengthening and sustainable development, Hatty has extensive international experience of working with governments and parliamentary systems to enhance their capacity for effective oversight, scrutiny and representation in the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Hatty is an experienced portfolio manager, delivering a wide range of multi-year, multi-stakeholder international development programmes in South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean. She has taken the lead on projects as wide ranging as enhancing the representation of women in public life in Pakistan to institutional strengthening in Sierra Leone during the Ebola crisis.

Hatty has a background in project management and strategic organisational planning, with strong links across government and multilateral organisations. 

Key objectives at Circle Economy

- Build a comprehensive portfolio of sector + cross-sector programmes; working with government + industry  

- Develop multi-stakeholder projects, across government + industry, to support the circular transition at national level 

- Expand the profile and viability of Circle Economy in the Global South.

At Zero Waste Europe (ZWE), Larissa Copello is the Consumption and Production Campaigner working on upstream solutions for packaging and single-use plastic products, such as waste-free business models and reuse systems. 

Zero Waste Europe (ZWE) is the European network of communities, local leaders, experts and change agents working towards the elimination of waste in our society. ZWE advocates for sustainable systems and the redesign of our relationship with resources to accelerate a just transition towards zero waste for the benefit of people and the planet. 

ZWE is also part of Rethink Plastic, an alliance of +10 European NGOs working with European policy-makers to design and deliver policy solutions to tackle plastic pollution, in which Larissa Copello follows policy developments on single-use plastic and packaging.

Marine Courmont Lelieur works as the head of European and International Affairs at the National Institute for Circular Economy (INEC).

INEC is a French multi-stakeholder association made up of more than 200 public and private organisations: businesses, local authorities, associations, professional federations and universities. Founded in 2013, INEC is now recognised as the leading think tank in France on resource preservation. It aims to promote the circular economy, link up the key issues of the green transition and identify achievable trajectories for making production and consumption models sustainable.

INEC has three main activities :

• Produce and publish studies to meet the need for objective data on the circular economy;
• Shape proposals and work with public authorities to ensure that the legislative framework is geared to the circular economy;
• Support public and private actors as they implement circular strategies.

Marine Courmont Lelieur is in charge of INEC's activities in Europe and around the world. Advocating for resource preservation, she covers topics related to circular economy policies, international partnerships and EU-funded projects. She has a Master's degree in European environmental policies and expertise in the circular economy.

Generation Climate Europe (GCE) is the largest coalition of youth-led networks at European level on climate and environmental issues. Uniting the largest youth-led networks in Europe, they bring together 381 national organisations across 46 countries in Europe.

Arianna Crosera is Coordinator of the Circular Economy Working Group at GCE. She has a background in European and international law. In GCE, she has worked to advocate for a more circular economy with a focus on intergenerational justice, in particular in relation to the digital economy. She has represented GCE in high-level venues such as the EU Industrial Forum, EU Raw Materials Week, the ECESP and the International Energy Agency's 8th Annual Global Conference on Energy Efficiency. Across these roles, she has worked to ensure that youth voices shape the environmental and energy transition at every step of the legislative process. She is currently a Ph.D. researcher in Law at the European University Institute. As an academic in EU environmental and energy law, she regularly contributes to international conferences with her work on regulating the environmental impact of the data-centre industry.