His fields of expertise are climate change adaptation in agriculture, integrated farming systems, agroforestry, agroecology, bioenergy crops, short-rotation woody crops, European Innovation Partnership, EU Common Agricultural Policy, greenhouse gas emission from agriculture, crops growth modelling, water balance of cropping systems, biodiversity and CAP policy.

A professor in the Faculty of Economics and Business Management at the University of Almería (UAL), Spain and the director of the Cátedra (Chair) of Agriculture, Cooperative Studies and Sustainable Development UAL-Coexphal. She is President of the Global Board of the International Cooperative Alliance Committee on Cooperative Research, board member of the International Cooperative Alliance European research board, and member of CIRIEC International Scientific Commission Social & Cooperative Economy. Her research focuses on sustainable food and agricultural systems, including transitions to agro-ecological-technical systems, exploring the intersection of organisational, technical, social, economic and institutional innovation, with an emphasis on cooperatives, innovative business models and social enterprise. She has led numerous European and international projects on sustainable business models, innovative knowledge systems, entrepreneurship, agri-food supply chains, and the application of new technologies and digitalisation processes from a socio-economic perspective.

She is also an experienced Barrister, Solicitor and Attorney qualified in Canada (Ontario), England and Wales and New York State. She has worked in both London and Madrid for the global law firm Clifford Chance LLP in structured finance and banking groups, advising leading European and global banks and corporate entities. Before relocating to Europe, she worked in Toronto, Canada at the international law firm of Davies, Ward, Phillips & Vineberg in the areas of corporate, banking and securities law and also as legal counsel for the Ontario Clean Water Agency.

Sofia Mannelli has chosen to live on the wild island of Capraia (LI) where she is the creator and coordinator of the Capraia Smart Island Project. She has a degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Florence. She worked for 10 years at the soil microbiology laboratory of ENEA Casaccia in Rome.

For the past 25 years, she has been working on bioenergy and green chemistry. Since 2012, she has been President of Chimica Verde Bionet, the association whose aim is to promote and develop research and industrial application of raw materials of plant origin and the decarbonisation of the economy. She has been Councillor for Green Chemistry and Bioenergy to three Ministers of Agriculture and on one of these occasions she was Coordinator of the working group 'Legislation and Regulatory Simplification' and drafted the internal sector plan for the national bioenergy supply chain table promoted by Ministry of Agriculture. She promotes, organises and participates in Training Courses and Masters and Conferences on Smart Island, bioenergy and green chemistry.

Forester, born in Madrid (Spain) in 1961, working as Deputy Director for innovation in forest policies at CESEFOR foundation. He previously worked for 38 years as official of the regional forest administration of Castilla y León. Until December 2023, he was Technical Adviser to the General Direction in Natural Heritage and Forest Policy of the regional government Junta de Castilla y León (Spain). His main activities included participation in the drafting of the Castilla y León Forestry Law and in the main forest policy instruments of the region, such as the Forestry Plan, the Bioenergy Plan, the Forest Resources Mobilization Program or the Habitat Plan (to promote wood construction and green cities and villages).

He has also developed his activity in the international arena, within the framework of the Standing Forestry Committee of the European Commission, the International Model Forest Network and various forestry cooperation and innovation projects, in collaboration with the CESEFOR foundation, of which he was President between 2015 and 2018. He has taken part in several H2020 projects, like ROSEWOOD and INCREDIBLE, with a large involvement in the promotion of Non Timber Forest Products, like resin, wild mushrooms, pine nuts and others, as well as pastoralism in forests and other wooded land, for the prevention of forest fires. Fighting forest fires and designing prevention activities, through bioeconomy and generation of value, economic activity and employment in rural areas has been a key pillar of his entire professional career, that also included extensive reforestation and the design of forest subsidy lines for reforestation, forest planning and fire prevention.

Between 2000 and 2004, he was Head of the Forest Management Service of Junta de Castilla y León and before that date I worked as district forester in charge of public forests management for 12 years, in the provinces of Burgos and León. He has a Forestry Degree from Polytechnic University of Madrid (1985) and a Master of Sciences degree on Natural Resources from the University of California at Berkeley (1988).

María Cristina Cabeza has a degree in Industrial Chemistry, Diploma of Advanced Studies on Chemical Engineering and University Expert in Technology Management and Foresight (University of Seville, Spain). She works as senior advisor for Agencia Empresarial para la Transformación y el Desarrollo Económico, with her main tasks related to knowledge transfer and promotion, technology internationalisation and financing assessment for R&D projects (regional and national Programmes and European Programmes) as well as innovation support services targeted to Andalusian companies and RTDs in the Agrofood and Bioeconomy areas. As member of the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) she has organised and co-organised several International Brokerage events and company missions. At the EEN, she holds the role of Sustainability Workpackage co-leader at the Agrofood Sector Group.

Furthermore, she has managed the participation of her organisation as partner at Framework Programme projects focused on the bioeconomy and agrifood sector (H2020, FP7, Interreg…), such as AGRIFORVALOR, TRAFOON and FoodSME-HOP.

Expert evaluator at international calls: Eurostars 3 Programme, IFD Innovation Fund Denmark - "Grand Solutions programme", Cost Action programme and project monitoring at EIC Transition programme.

Patrick Barrett (IE) is an Agricultural Inspector with the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine with responsibility for bioeconomy as outlined on gov.ie - The Bioeconomy (www.gov.ie). He has responsibility for developing and implementing the national bioeconomy action plan 2023-2025).

He is also part of the States Representative Group for the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU) (europa.eu), participates in the European Bioeconomy Policy Forum technical group and attends the International Working Group | Sustainable and circular bioeconomy for food systems transformation | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (fao.org). He previously was a co-author of the Deploying the bioeconomy in the EU: A framework approach for bioeconomy strategy development: 10 policy recommendations for building national bioeconomies toward a fair and just climate neutral Europe as part of the Policy Support Facility established by the EU Commission to support the implementation of the EU Bioeconomy Strategy.

Senior researcher at OSEVA Development and Research Ltd since 2012, leading the Grassland Research Station in Zubří. OSEVA specialises in agricultural, environmental, and renewable energy resource research and consulting. The company undertakes numerous research projects supported by the Czech Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Education, collaborating with various research institutes, universities, and companies both domestically and internationally.

A graduate of the Bydgoszcz University of Science and Technology, field of studies in biotechnology, he completed postgraduate management studies at the Faculty of Finance and Management of the WSB Merito University in Bydgoszcz. Author of a doctoral thesis in the field of economics and advisory in agribusiness at the Bydgoszcz University of Science and Technology. A graduate of the Master of Business Administration MBA studies at the Jagiellonian University in Toruń. Author of national and international research articles and publications in the field of innovation, knowledge transfer, brokerage process and creating multi-actor approach (MAA) project structures in the agri-food industry. Academic lecturer at the Department of Economics at the WSG University in Bydgoszcz. Head of the Department of Innovation in Agriculture at the Agricultural Advisory Centre in Brwinów. Coordinator of several national and international projects implemented under the Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe, National Centre for Research and Development and EIP Operational Groups.

Acting as the National Innovation Broker, he conducted over 200 training courses, consultations, workshops and conferences for entrepreneurs, scientists, agricultural producers and advisors throughout the country and abroad. Member of the board of the European Agricultural Advisory Forum (EUFRAS) from 2020. He served as Knowledge and Innovation Officer in the structures of the European Commission as part of the European Innovation Network EIP-AGRI in Brussels. Representative of national advisory entities in expert teams operating at the European Commission. Expert of grant committees at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences - SGGW.

Head of the Agricultural Development and Control Services Office of Regione Piemonte since 2022. In the last 15 years he has been involved in regional coordination of services for agricultural development, technical assistance, agricultural demonstration and dissemination; information and training for farmers and agricultural advisors; agricultural research; innovation transfer; interventions regarding genetically modified organisms.

Previously, he has also worked at the University of Turin dealing with forage farming and mountain pastoralism. He has a degree in Forestry Science from the University of Turin and also obtained a PhD from the University of Florence in forage farming and mountain pastoralism with a thesis on the relationships between wildlife, cattle breeding and pastures.

Experienced Quality Assurance Specialist with a demonstrated history of working in the dairy industry. She is a strong quality assurance professional that has graduated from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH) with an MSc in Food Science and Technology.

Co-director and Principal Investigator (PI) of the CircBio Group at Munster Technology University (MTU), formerly Institute of Technology Tralee. He manages a portfolio of research projects spanning biorefineries, sustainability, agriculture, supply chain development and market uptake. These include RIA, DEMO and CSA projects. He co-leads a team of approximately 20 researchers within the CircBio Group and lectures at postgraduate level. He is an academic collaborator in the SFI BiOrbic Bioeconomy Centre and has been awarded almost €40 million in total project funding between 2018-2022, including €9 million in funding for MTU.