The potential of collective power

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The potential of collective power

Summary

In a week when the British parliament was once again struggling to find a way out of the Brexit deadlock, almost 60 of the brightest young minds in Europe gathered nearby with a more positive agenda: seeking to harness the potential of collective power and secure support for liberal values in the European Parliament elections in May.

Topics over the three-day seminar of European Young Leaders ranged from climate change to renewed superpower space rivalries; social innovation to the future of financial structures in the digital age. Brexit, unavoidably, loomed large. Speakers made clear that the sense of anger and alienation that led the British to reject the European Union is mirrored by voter dissatisfaction across Europe fuelling support for populist movements.

Young leaders stressed the need for new ideas to reverse the trend of voter indifference or irritation and inspire Europeans to reject retrograde populism. They discussed the type of leadership Europe requires and lamented the failure of established politicians to raise to the challenge of these troubled times. There was a recurring sense that everybody has to take responsibility for change; that no action is too small, either at individual or community level; and that long-term thinking is essential for a safe future.

The London seminar held from March 14- 16 was the latest under the annual EYL40 programme co-launched by Friends of Europe in 2011 to bring together 40 of Europe’s most promising talents under 40.

 

European Young Leaders (EYL40) London 2019

About

About

The first meeting of the EYL class of 2019 will take place during one of the most crucial and defining years for the European project thus far. The United Kingdom plans to leave the European Union only two weeks after this seminar is held. that will -symbolically- take place in London. The way Europe deals with that loss in the following months and years to come will be essential for its endurance. On the ubiquitous question ‘Does Europe Matter?’ the European population will voice their opinion during the European elections only eight weeks after the young leaders meet for the first time.

Against this backdrop, the seminar will be given added gravity as we examine our understanding of the European project and assess its strengths and weaknesses as well as our expectations for the future of the Union. However, this much needed debate is in danger of revolving around a narrow dichotomy: pro-Europeans versus Eurosceptics.

In an era in which we are facing global issues that demand quick and effective collective action, such as climate change, migration and growing inequalities, politicians appear to be distracted and paralysed by polarisation. The once omnipresent trust in the rational and stable middle ground of deliberative party politics is disappearing, with people instead opting for strong emotions, populistic rhetoric and big personalities.

In a fast-paced world, which is the perfect breeding ground for insecurity and anxiety, one would think people would crave stability, maturity and dignity in global affairs and public policies. Instead, antagonistic narratives seem to be the only way of conceiving the vote. The political debate has been highjacked by alt-, hard- and far right movements that instigate high-tension debates, in which more moderate voices are losing power and influence. This results in hostile debates between groups in societies, as recently shown in France with the Gilets Jaunes, where raw emotion and occasional violence are no exception.

What is the glue binding Europe together for the future?  How can we convince people of a common purpose, enabling them to be better connected in their needs and concerns? How can we convince people of the notion of a common good? How do we make sure that people ignore what needs to be ignored and keep their eye on the (common) price?

The London seminar is the first of a series of meetings which form the foundation of the 2019 edition of the European Young Leaders’ programme, and its themes have been chosen to reflect the core work of Friends of Europe for this year and into the future. Many of the ideas generated in this seminar will feed into the 2019 workstream of our Europe Matters programme and provide the basis for a series of wider follow-up debates via our online platform Debating Europe and its 3.5 million strong community of citizens.

Schedule

Schedule

Fire chat talks: BREXIT- the handmaiden of Europe's future?
Expand Fire chat talks: BREXIT- the handmaiden of Europe's future?

Lessons to be learned for the upcoming elections
It can be argued that Brexit has been one of many visible symptoms of current resentments towards the EU. It was rather easy for Brexiteers to convince the majority of the UK that the gap between EU and British day-to-day life is so unbridgeable, that letting go of the ‘bureaucracy in Brussels’ would have no effect on their lives at all. The political and economic uncertainty that accompanied the subsequent Brexit negotiations has proved that ties aren’t easily broken. Increasing numbers of British citizens are realising that they have much to lose when they exit the EU. It is a text book case of not knowing what you have ‘til it’s almost gone.

On the continent, Brexit has pushed many EU proponents in member states to reaffirm their commitment to the European project. Yet, Europeans would be remiss to think that their Union is any less capable of electing a Trump of their own or experiencing another Brexit. The upcoming European Parliament elections offer a golden opportunity for populist leaders such as Salvini and Orbán to stage protest votes aimed at tearing the heart out of the EU. How can we turn this momentum into a historic turning point that revitalises support for European values? How can we make sure that we learn our lesson from Brexit? How do we successfully communicate these learnings and ambitions to voters?

The UK- perspective

Thomas Raines

Head of the Europe Programme at Chatham House

The global economy- perspective

Zanny Minton Beddoes

Editor-in-Chief of The Economist

Moderator

Dharmendra Kanani

Chief Operating Officer and Chief Spokesperson of Friends of Europe

Coffee break
Plenary: the climate change conundrum
Expand Plenary: the climate change conundrum

The need for collective action in a time of antagonistic politics
The realities of climate change are becoming more and more visible: rising temperatures, declining Arctic sea ice, extreme weather events, heatwaves wildfires, floods, droughts, increased storms and hurricanes and so on. Biodiversity is declining at a rate of more than 100 species per million every year and is due to accelerate as rising sea levels have already submerged five islands in the South Pacific. There is a widespread scientific consensus that climate change is caused by humankind and its greenhouse gas emissions.

Experts say that we can still reverse global warming before 2050, but it will require the world to adopt solutions at an aggressive rate. Global collective action is key but, so far, the world has failed to transcend short-term national interests for the greater global good. Even though climate change mitigation is a common interest, politicians fail to address it in such a manner, instead framing the issue in free market terms.

The Gilets Jaunes in France proved that climate change policies run the risk of being put in the same corner as traditional political divisions, such as urban vs. rural, blue vs. white collar, paralysing urgently needed decision-making. How can we assure that this peril is portrayed as a collective problem rather than a partisan one? How do we push the polarised political debate towards consensus on this topic?

With

Claire Perry

UK Minister of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Edward Gardiner

Scientist and Behavioural Design Lead at Warwick Business School

Justin Mundy

Senior Fellow at the World Resources Institute

Laurence Tubiana

CEO at the European Climate Foundation

Moderated by

Dharmendra Kanani

Chief Operating Officer and Chief Spokesperson of Friends of Europe

Continue to DAY 2
In conversation with Geoff Mulgan
Expand In conversation with Geoff Mulgan

Discussing social innovation in Europe
Geoff Mulgan, Chief Executive of NESTA, former head of policy in the Prime Minister’s office under Tony Blair and Director of the Government’s Strategy Unit. Having lectured in over 30 countries, Geoff Mulgan is ranked as one of the UK’s leading public intellectuals.

During this conversation, he will reflect on the current trends in social innovation and the role of collective intelligence herein. How can we combine human and machine intelligence to develop innovative solutions to social challenges? How can we make sure Europe will play a leading role when it comes to making sure innovation is beneficial to society?

Coffee break
Plenary: the return of the space race
Expand Plenary: the return of the space race

Space exploration and the economy behind it
The history of space exploration, in particular human spaceMight, has been inseparably intertwined with politics. During the Cold War, ideological rivalry fuelled the race in order to demonstrate technological superiority. Now—besides China and Russia—Europe, India and Japan also have space programmes that can, and do, reach the moon and other heavenly bodies. But the space race is no longer only about the prestige.

Both the U.S. and Luxembourg just passed laws to legalise mining in outer space— firms that someday manage to mine asteroids would be entitled to own, process, and sell anything harvested. The predicted ‘space goldmine’ of resources that awaits us raises the question: who owns what in space? Furthermore, space technologies have huge commercial applications; satellite technology will provide most of the world’s
access to the internet, something our societies have become heavily dependent on. Given the importance of these, the space industry is projected to grow from $350bn in 2016 to $1.1trn in 2040.

As we face renewed interest in the ‘final frontier’, we must ask: what will the future of space exploration look like? What are the implications for our societies? How do we make sure space exploration doesn’t only serve private interests but becomes a collaborative venture?

With

Jordi Barrera

Technology Vice President at Open Cosmos, which provides affordable space access with all the tools necessary to develop, launch and operate satellites in orbit

Amara Graps

Founder of Baltics in Space and Head Researcher at Latvia University Institute of Astronomy

Jean-Jacques Tortora

Director of the European Space Policy Institute

Guillem Anglada-Escudé

Astrophysicist and Exoplanet Discoverer; Ramón y Cajal Research Fellow at the Institute of Space Sciences (IEEC-CISC) and 2018 European Young Leader

Moderated by

Dharmendra Kanani

Chief Operating Officer and Chief Spokesperson of Friends of Europe

Lunch
Parallel session 1: too dirty to breathe
Expand Parallel session 1: too dirty to breathe

Air pollution in big cities
Outdoor air pollution is a major environmental health problem affecting everyone in low, middle, and high-income countries. In recent years, large-scale urbanisation and industrialisation has increased the number of heavily polluted cities and areas across Europe. In Europe, nearly every single individual is affected by air pollution with over 90% of citizens being exposed to annual levels of outdoor fine particulate matter above WHO air quality guidelines. The health effects are broad and seriously increase risks of premature death. Air pollution is now considered to be the world’s largest environmental health threat, accounting annually for 7 million deaths around the world and 400,000 in Europe alone.

Though London’s air may appear clear to the naked eye, the city has suffered from illegal levels of air pollution since 2010, with particularly dangerous levels of nitrogen dioxide, coming mainly from diesel vehicles. In April 2019, the city will introduce an Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) in central London, expending the hours to 24/7 in which vehicles must pay a charge to travel within the area. Despite this initiative, air pollution has proved exceptionally stubborn. Even if vehicle emissions are curbed, issues such as aircraft and agricultural pollution could prove more challenging yet.

In building smarter cities around the world, what are the most effective policies we can enact to best tackle air pollution?

With

Polly Billington

Director of UK100 - a network of local government leaders

Rosamund Adoo Kissi-Debrah

Leads a campaign to push air pollution on to the political agenda with The Ella Roberta Family Foundation

Audrey de Nazelle

Lecturer on air pollution at Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London

Moderated by

Jane Burston

Executive Director of the Clean Air Fund and 2015-2016 European Young Leader (EYL40)

Parallel session 2: money makes the world go round
Expand Parallel session 2: money makes the world go round

Changing the future of finance
The monetary system is at the core of the economic paradigm that we know today. Almost all transactions are based on an exchange of fiat currency. But money is only valuable as long as we believe that it is valuable and accept and trust this abstract system as a valid payment method. Nowadays, the trust in money and its value is under pressure as faith in this system erodes. In the last 10 years, we have seen how relatively easy it is to defraud, cheat, and lose money in the current financial system. Banks seem to create money out of thin air and easily profit from doing so.

Today, we are closer than ever to a financial revolution that may do away with our traditional monetary system. A cashless society is within reach, diminishing the traditional necessity for banking institutions and creating an opportunity to re-think our financial systems.

How can we use new technologies to improve the system? How can we restore the trust of people? How do we make sure that the future of finance is more beneficial to society?

With

Paola Subacchi

Professor of International Economics at Queen Mary University of London, expert on international financial and monetary systems

Fran Boait

Executive Director at Positive Money and Director of the Board of Finance Watch

Marta Krupinska

Head of Google for Startups UK, Co-Founder of real time pay FinTech start-up FreeUP and 2019 European Young Leader (EYL40)

Moderator

Dharmendra Kanani

Chief Operating Officer and Chief Spokesperson of Friends of Europe

Coffee break
Co-Creation: The open space
Expand Co-Creation: The open space

Discussing what you consider important
This session is an opportunity for Young Leaders to have their say on topics or activities they would particularly like to focus on during the seminar. This open space session is dedicated to the Young Leaders and is about defining and discussing those issues that you think are important to discuss in this day and age with the other Young leaders.

For this session, we are envisioning an unconference format, an open space for peer-to-peer learning, collaboration and creativity. Feel free to think about possible subjects or activities and send over any suggestions you might have.

Evening programme: dinner at the House of St Barnabas
Expand Evening programme: dinner at the House of St Barnabas

Dinner at the House of St Barnabas – a members’ club and charity pledging to break the cycle of homelessness and social exclusion in London, located right in the heart of Soho. The history-rich Georgian building is notable for its rococo plasterwork interiors and other architectural features.

Continue to DAY 3
Conversations over breakfast: pear-learning roundtables
Expand Conversations over breakfast: pear-learning roundtables

Connecting with EYLs and alumni
Over breakfast, five 30-minute short conversations with European Young Leaders run in parallel on issues that matter to them, to gain expertise from this resourceful network.

 


Part 1

1. Feeding the Warchest - How the insurgents keep their coffers full?

Dawood Azami

Multi-Media Editor (News and Current Affairs) at BBC World Service and 2012 European Young Leader (EYL40)

2. My Olympic experience - From winning bronze to chairing the Youth Olympic Games Lausanne 2020

Danka Barteková

Olympic Athlete & chair of Youth Olympic Games Lausanne 2020 Coordination Commission, Slovak Olympic and Sports Committee and 2019 European Young Leader (EYL40)

3. Resilient Europe - Developing rural areas and a sustainable food policy

Aaron Farrugia

Maltese Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Capital Projects, and 2017 European Young Leader (EYL40)

4. How youth-led protest and grassroots activism created a progressive path for Ireland

Annalisa Camilli

Investigative journalist specialising in immigration and 2019 European Young Leader (EYL40)

5. The battle for hearts and minds - ISIS's communication post-territorial loss

Alex Loizou

Co-Founder & CEO of Trouva and 2019 European Young Leader (EYL40)


Part 2

1. The power of sounds - Does music make us better people?

Alicja Gescinska

Philosopher, writer and TV host and 2019 European Young Leader (EYL40)

2. From here to there - How will we organise transportation in 50 years?

Andreas Kunze

Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder of Konux and 2019 European Young Leader (EYL40)

3. Resilient Europe - Developing rural areas and a sustainable food policy

Tomáš Ignác Fénix

Farmer & Vice President of the European Council of Young Farmers and 2019 European Young Leader (EYL40)

4. How youth-led protest and grassroots activism created a progressive path for Ireland

Una Mullally

Writer, LGTBQ activist and 2019 European Young Leader (EYL40)

5. The battle for hearts and minds - ISIS's communication post-territorial loss

Ayman Mhanna

Executive Director of the Samir Kassir Foundation and 2017 MENA Young Leader

Coffee break
Group activity: making the vote for Europe matter
Expand Group activity: making the vote for Europe matter

The potential of the collective
Voter turnout has been dropping steadily in European Parliament elections since the first vote was held in 1979. Despite the European Parliament gaining in power and importance following each new treaty, at the last European elections in 2014, only 43% of people turned up to vote compared to 61.99% in 1979.

The motive behind the initial construction of the European project seems no longer evident, creating the opportunity for populists to use the more down-to-earth counter arguments to their benefit. Post-war rationale doesn’t seem to be cutting it for the population en large and the idea of common interests amongst Europeans seems to evaporate in a current debate dominated by identity politics.

Engaging people in the democratic process and regaining their trust is the biggest hurdle facing Europe as it redefines itself during the 2019 elections campaign.

Low voter turnout has partly to do with the language that is reverted to when describing and discussing the European collaboration. How can we develop a dialogue in which the true common interests of Europe resonate with its inhabitants? What are the benefits that we run the risk of losing if Europe were to disintegrate further?

With

Clément Beaune

Former French minister delegate for transport and 2019 European Young Leader (EYL40)

Klen Jäärats

Director for EU Affairs at the Office of the Prime Minister of Estonia and 2015-2016 European Young Leader (EYL40)

Moderated by

Dharmendra Kanani

Chief Operating Officer and Chief Spokesperson of Friends of Europe

Lunch & end of the seminar
Expand Lunch & end of the seminar

Optional activities
In addition to the official programme, you will have the option to round off your trip with an informal post-seminar programme in London.

For those interested, a trip to the Tate Modern will be arranged to enjoy its worldrenowned exhibitions and the spectacular view all over London from the 10th Moor. Afterwards, we’ll cross the Millennium Bridge to reach the St Paul Cathedral for the Even Song; an Anglican prayer, sung every evening by a child´s or adult´s choir in the church, highly recommended by EYL’s Eduardo Portal and Alexandra Dariescu.

14.30 – 15.15 Metro to Tate Modern
15.15 – 16.15 Guided tour of the Tate Modern
16.15 – 16.40 Walk to the St Pauls Cathedral
17.00 – 17.45 Choral even song – St Paul’s Catheral

17.45 – 20.00 Free time

20.30 Dinner at Mildred’s in Dalston

Speakers

Speakers

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Jordi Barrera

Technology Vice President at Open Cosmos, which provides affordable space access with all the tools necessary to develop, launch and operate satellites in orbit

Show more information on Jordi Barrera

Jordi was part of the founding team at Open Cosmos, a private-sector aerospace company which brought the first qbee satellite from concept to flight readiness in under 6 months. In his role as Vice-President of technology at Open Cosmos, he combines his expertise in satellite systems, mechanical design, systems engineering, integration and testing. Prior to joining Open Cosmos, he worked as a senior mechanical design and analysis engineer at SSTL, where he led the structural analysis of the first commercial application of a new SSTL LEO, having already been involved in the design and mechanical qualification of the avionics. During the time he spent studying aerospace engineering at university, Jordi was an active member of several organisations that pushed for a deeper collaboration between students and the aerospace industry.

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Polly Billington

Director of UK100 - a network of local government leaders

Show more information on Polly Billington

Polly is the Director of UK100 – a network of UK cities and local authorities committed to 100% clean energy. She was previously special adviser at DECC 2008-10 and Director of Communications on Sadiq Khan’s selection campaign to be Labour’s candidate for London Mayor. She devised and led the 100% London campaign, getting both Zac Goldsmith and Sadiq to commit to London adopting 100% clean energy. She has 15 years’ experience as a journalist at the BBC, working as the first ever dedicated Political Reporter for Radio 1’s Newsbeat as well as Radio 4’s Today programme, and was also Head of Communications and Campaigns at Citizens Advice. During the referendum campaign she was Campaign Director of Environmentalists for Europe.

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Fran Boait

Executive Director at Positive Money and Director of the Board of Finance Watch

Show more information on Fran Boait

As Executive Director, Fran has led the UK and international expansion of Positive Money, a non-profit think tank, which campaigns for systemic change of the money and banking system to support a fair, sustainable and democratic economy. Positive Money Europe was launched in 2018 and there are plans to set up Positive Money US in 2020. On top of her commitment to wider financial reform, she is a Director of Finance Watch and a Senior Fellow at the Finance Innovation Lab. Fran was also recognised as one of the most ‘Inspirational Women in the City’ by Brummell Magazine in 2017. Fran has a PhD in Geophysics, as awarded by Cambridge University. She has worked at various international organisations, including the UN, Greenpeace, and BP, and is currently the Labour Parliamentary candidate for Gloucester.

Photo of Geert Cami
Geert Cami

Co-Founder and Secretary General of Friends of Europe, and Co-Founder and Co-Secretary General of the Africa-Europe Foundation

Show more information on Geert Cami

Geert Cami co-founded Friends of Europe, the action-oriented think tank, in 1999. As Secretary General, Geert mainly deals with the strategic development of Friends of Europe, he coordinates the work of the high-level Boards involved in the governance of the organisation and chairs the Leadership meetings. He oversees both the financial health and the successful running of the organisation and its flagship initiatives, and focuses on the expansion and the activation of Friends of Europe’s vast network of trustees, European young leaders and other senior political, corporate, media and societal contacts and partners throughout the world.

Geert also is a founding member of the Boards of both the Africa-Europe Foundation, and of TownHall Europe (the Davignon Centre for New Leadership).

Geert headed the European conference organising, press relations and publishing company Forum Europe for more than ten years, and managed the revival of one of Belgium’s finest architectural examples of Art Nouveau, after creating La Maison de l’Europe in the prestigious 100-year-old Bibliothèque Solvay.

At the outset of his career, Geert worked for a few years in the humanitarian office (ECHO) at the European Commission, as deputy in the newly set-up information and communications unit. His focus was mainly on raising the profile of the EU’s humanitarian efforts throughout the world, through publications and media initiatives such as exhibitions, television debates or Humanitarian Days in Member States.

He also worked for two music programmes at Belgian public Radio 1, and very briefly as a teacher and TV journalist.

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Edward Gardiner

Scientist and Behavioural Design Lead at Warwick Business School

Show more information on Edward Gardiner

Ed is the Behavioural Design Lead at Warwick Business School (WBS), where he applies insights and methods from behavioural science to support the design of products and services with a social purpose. He joined WBS in the aim to set up and run the Behavioural Design Lab, a partnership with the Design Council. He now focuses on ways to support collective action, helping people work more effectively together to achieve their own common goals. Ed is also Course Director for the Behavioural Science in Practice executive education programme and teaches across a range of programmes at WBS. Additionally Ed is a Founding Member of Common, a problem-solving collective that brings a diverse suite of skills to today’s increasingly complex social issues.

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Amara Graps

Founder of Baltics in Space and Head Researcher at Latvia University Institute of Astronomy

Show more information on Amara Graps

Amara is a senior planetary scientist who has worked in the planetary science field since 1980. She also founded the Baltics in Space programme. Having accumulated 37 years of experience working with a variety of different astronomy and planetary science teams on two continents, Amara was the deserved winner of the 2018 Europlanet Public Engagement Prize. She is known for integrating space capacities from the ground up while working with policy decision-makers on initiatives like the asteroid mining community of scientists and industry for the Luxembourg Ministry of the Economy, of which developments started in 2016. Amara oversaw the initiation, development and implementation of the Asteroid Science Intersections with In-Space Mine- Engineering (ASIME) conference of 2016 and was the co-lead of the Scientific Organizing Committee, established in 2018, which included 85 participants, comprised primarily of asteroid scientists, space mission engineers, technology transfer specialists, venture capital companies and Luxembourg sponsors.

Dharmendra Kanani
Dharmendra Kanani

Chief Operating Officer and Chief Spokesperson of Friends of Europe

Show more information on Dharmendra Kanani

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.

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Rosamund Adoo Kissi-Debrah

Leads a campaign to push air pollution on to the political agenda with The Ella Roberta Family Foundation

Show more information on Rosamund Adoo Kissi-Debrah

Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah is the head and co-founder of the Ella Roberta Family Foundation. Established after the death of Rosamund’s beloved daughter, Ella, following her diagnosis with a rare form of asthma, the Foundation aims to improve the lives of children affected by asthma in South East London by campaigning both for more effective treatments to combat asthma and for cleaner air. Drawing on her experience as a teacher, her work today focuses on raising awareness of the impact of air pollution, namely through events in schools and local communities and through the representation of parents with asthmatic children. Rosamund continues to fight for public recognition of the link between her daughter’s death and London’s air pollution, having recently been granted the right to seek a new inquest at the high court.

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Zanny Minton Beddoes

Editor-in-Chief of The Economist

Show more information on Zanny Minton Beddoes

Zanny is the Editor-in-Chief at The Economist. Appointed in 2015, she is the first female to hold this title. Throughout her 24 years at the British newspaper, she has occupied a number of different roles, most notably as Economics editor and as correspondent for emerging markets. These roles have seen her write numerous analyses of Eastern European and Latin American countries, as well as surveys of the global economy and Asian and Latin American finance. Prior to joining The Economist, Zanny was an economist at the IMF and an advisor to the Polish Minister of Finance. Her articles have been published in Foreign Policy and Foreign Affairs and she has made regular appearances on the BBC, MSNBC and CNN.

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Geoff Mulgan

Chief Executive of NESTA, former head of policy in the Prime Minister's office under Tony Blair and Director of the Government’s Strategy Unit

Show more information on Geoff Mulgan

Geoff has been Chief Executive of Nesta since 2011. Under his leadership, he has helped drive the expansion of the UK’s innovation foundation and has led its move away from the public sector to become an independent foundation. He also co-chairs a World Economic Forum group looking at innovation and entrepreneurship in the fourth industrial revolution. Having previously worked in the UK government, Geoff’s former roles have included Director of the Government’s Strategy Unit, head of policy in the Prime Minister’s office and Chief Advisor to Gordon Brown MP. He has advised many governments around the world and is currently chair of an international advisory committee for the Mayor of Seoul, in addition to being a member of a number of advisory committees for the Prime Minister’s office in the UAE, the Scottish Government and SITRA, the Finnish Innovation agency.

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Justin Mundy

Senior Fellow at the World Resources Institute

Show more information on Justin Mundy

Justin is a Senior Fellow and Special Envoy for WRI’s Conflict & Natural Resources and Sustainable Ocean Initiatives. He has thirty years’ international experience of working in development, climate change, environment and energy issues, having done so at senior levels within the public, multilateral and private sectors. Prior to joining WRI, Justin was HRH the Prince of Wales’ Special Representative, the Director of the Prince’s Charities’ International Sustainability Unit (ISU) and Funding Partner of Sustainable Land Management (SLM) Partners. In addition to advising the British Government on topics such as Russia, India, China, climate change and energy issues, he was the principal architect of the 2005 G8 Energy Investment Framework. Justin has also worked for the World Bank, WWF, IUCN, IIED and was the Director of the Foundation for International Security.

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Claire Perry

UK Minister of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Show more information on Claire Perry

Claire Perry is a Conservative Party Member of Parliament and Ministery of State at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. She has pushed for more ambitious emissions reductions targets for new vehicles on the European level and has spurred the UK’s efforts to become a zero-net emitter by 2050. Throughout her political career, she has held various positions, including Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport from 2014-2016, Government Whip in 2013 and 2014, and Special Advisor to the Prime Minister on preventing the sexualisation and commercialisation of children. Prior to being elected, Perry pursued a career in business and finance and proceeded to set up her own company, an organisation specialising in offering online financial advice to women, before becoming policy advisor to the Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne, in 2007.

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Thomas Raines

Head of the Europe Programme at Chatham House

Show more information on Thomas Raines

Thomas Raines is head of the Europe Programme at Chatham House. Previously, he was manager and research fellow with the programme. Prior to joining Chatham House, he worked as an analyst in the Strategy Unit of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London. He is a regular frequent media commentator having previously contributed or been cited by the World Economic Forum, Reuters, CNBC and BBC News. He is also the author of a number of Chatham House reports and papers, including most recently, Europe’s Political Tribes: Exploring the Diversity of Views Across the EU and The Future of Europe: Comparing Public and Elite Attitudes.

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Paola Subacchi

Professor of International Economics at Queen Mary University of London, expert on international financial and monetary systems

Show more information on Paola Subacchi

Paola is Professor of International Economics at Queen Mary University of London and the Founding Director of Essential Economics (E-Economics), which provides advice on complex land use, property and policy matters. She is an expert on the functioning and governance of international monetary and financial systems. She is also a frequent advisor to governments, international organisations, non-profits, and corporations and has written several books on the subject, including her most recent work, The People’s Money: How China Is Building a Global Currency. Paola is a media commentator who regularly appears on the BBC and who frequently contributes to Foreign Policy, Project Syndicate, the Financial Times and Huffington Post Italy.

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Jean-Jacques Tortora

Director of the European Space Policy Institute

Show more information on Jean-Jacques Tortora

Jean Jacques is the Director of the European Space Policy Institute, which provides recommendations on how best to manage challenges linked to space exploration and exploitation. His notable high-level roles within the aerospace industry includes the position of Secretary General of ESD-Eurospace, Head of the French Space Agency (CNES) office of North America, during which time he was also Attaché for Space and Aeronautics at the Embassy of France in Washington, D.C. and Deputy Director for Strategy and Programmes at CNES, where he oversaw its industrial strategy. His previous responsibilities saw him fill the role of France’s representative in the ESA Industrial Policy Committee and the Joint Communication Board, as well as act as Advisor to the French Government on the new space applications and competitiveness support.

Laurence Tubiana
Laurence Tubiana

CEO at the European Climate Foundation

Show more information on Laurence Tubiana

Laurence Tubiana is CEO of the European Climate Foundation (ECF), in addition to her roles as Chair of the Board of Governors at the French Development Agency (AFD) and Professor at Sciences Po, Paris. Prior to joining the ECF, Laurence was France’s Climate Change Ambassador and Special Representative for COP21, and was therefore a key architect of the landmark Paris Agreement. Following COP21, she was appointed High Level Champion for Climate Action by the UN. Aside from founding and directing several organisations in the field of food security and sustainable development, Laurence served as Senior Advisor for the Environment to the French Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin. In 2013, she chaired the French National Debate on the Energy Transition. In 2018, President Macron appointed her to France’s High Council on Climate Change.

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