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.

At the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), Eva leads the Circular Economy team, which is active in cross-cutting policy areas which influence the transition towards a truly circular economy. The EEB is Europe’s largest network of environmental citizens’ organisations with over 180 members in more than 40 countries. 

Prior to working at the EEB, Eva spent over 10 years as an EU policy consultant, working with major companies and trade associations in the Brussels bubble. She has also worked for the European Commission and the UN in Lebanon and spent four years working in China.

She studied economics and graduated with a Master’s Degree in resources, development and growth from Tilburg University in the Netherlands.

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is a UK charity which aims to speed up the transition to the circular economy. Since it was set up, the charity has emerged as a global thought leader, putting the circular economy on the agenda of decision makers across business, government and academia.

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.

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.

SMEunited, formerly known as UEAPME, 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.