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Studied Business Administration (Management- Organizational Behavior and Marketing-Marketing Management) (Bachelor), International Relations (Post Graduate Diploma) and Public Administration (MPA)

Working for more than two decades as a Political and Diplomatic Editor/Analyst in Newspapers, TV Stations, Radio Stations, Magazines and News Websites, as Broadcaster. Served as Managing Editor in Political – Diplomatic Magazines & Radio Stations and as Editor in Chief in Radio, Magazines, Newspapers.

The last 7 years hosts as Radio Broadcaster a daily two hours radio program in Parapolitika 90,1 Radio Station, (diplomacy, politics, security issues, economy, international relations), also editor in the newspaper Parapolitika for strategic and security issues

Participating in TV programs as commentator/analyst for political, diplomatic, defense and economic issues. Has covered political/diplomatic/economic summits, meetings and events (EU, NATO, UN) and participated in media missions and assignments in Europe, the Balkans, the Middle East and the US.

Appointed Deputy Mayor (elected municipal councilor) in Zografou City, Athens, for Public and International Relations, and Citizens’ Service.

George N. Skaracis is Professor Emeritus of the Agricultural University of Athens, former Dean of the School of Agriculture, Engineering and Environmental Sciences, Head of the Dpt. of Crop Science, and Head of the Laboratory of Plant Breeding & Biometry at AUA. He organized, taught and continues teaching topics in Plant Breeding, Applied Genomics Experimental Design & Biometry

He earned his MSc in Cytogenetics-Chromosome Engineering and his PhD in Quantitative Genetics-Plant Breeding, both from Colorado State University, while also working as an Associate Research Geneticist at the  USDA-ARS, USA, and followed a short postdoctoral program at the universities of Urbana, Illinois and Purdue, Indiana. Prior to his academic carrier, he worked as a Research Agronomist, at Hellenic Sugar Industry S.A. (1976-1978 & 1978-1982), Director of Plant Breeding & Biotechnology, HSI S.A. (1987-2005), Director of Strategic Planning & Development, HSI S.A. (1999-2002).

He has authored (or co-authored) numerous research and technical papers in international and national journals and has authored and/or edited several books/ book chapters. Throughout the years, he has been serving as administrator and consultant in many national and international R&D and Agricultural Policy related Organizations, such as the National Council for Research and Technology, the National Agricultural Research Foundation, the European Plant Science Organization, the International Sugar Beet Research Institute, the Joint Research Center of the EC, the General Secretariat of Research and Technology, etc.

Dr. Ilias Kalfas is an Agronomist with a specialty in Plant Protection, having a degree from the Faculty of Agriculture of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He holds PhD from the University of London, Diploma of Imperial College and MSc in Production Organization and Quality Management in the Food Industry. Currently, he is doing his PostDoc research on the effects of climate change in olive cultivation.

He has worked at the National Agricultural Research Foundation, ELGA, Certification Organizations, assuming positions of responsibility in the Region of Central Macedonia, National and European funded projects (both pure and applied research) and the American Agricultural School. He is a member of the European Commission’s ENV Panel (Research Executive Agency) and a reviewer in scientific journals.

He also is the Project Leader regarding plant production projects of Strategic Programs Management Office of the American Farm School. He participates in many research projects and his research interests include the implementation of high technology to Greek agriculture, the circular economy, the sustainability of Greek farmers and the environmental impact of agriculture.

Evangelos Lytras was born in Greece. After graduating with a Bachelor degree in Economics from the University of Piraeus, he continued his studies and obtained a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the Athens University of Economics and Business, Greece. He has a professional career with over 20 years of experience in the banking sector. Mr Lytras was appointed Country Manager of Alpha Bank Bulgaria in September 2010, while previously he held leadership positions in Alpha Bank Group. Ηe is currently the CEO of GRP Ventures, a fund which plans strategic investments in Greek small and medium-sized enterprises that are active mainly in the agri-food sector.

Mr. Konstantinos Chatzifotis is Manager of European Affairs of MΟΗ Group since June 2021 and registered lawyer in Athens Bar Association (2005). He has served as Member of Cabinet of EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship (Brussels, 2016-2018), Head of Cabinet of a Vice President of European Parliament (Brussels, 2005-2014), as well as coordinator of the Greek Ministry of Development during the Greek Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2014 and senior advisor of International and EU Affairs and Funding for various Ministers of the Greek Government (Ministry of Development, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food). He has also advised and supported as external EU funding expert numerous Greek Ministries, Regional and Local Authorities in strategic planning, developing, promoting and managing EU co-funded programs and he has participated as legal expert in international ICT projects. He holds a DES in EU Law (ULB – Belgium), an LLM in ICT Law (KULeuven – Belgium), and a Bachelor of Laws (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki –Greece). He has received scholarships from the Alexandros Onassis Foundation and the Church of Greece.

Apostolis Koutinas is Chemical Engineer (University of Patras, Greece) with PhD in Biochemical Engineering (UMIST, UK). He is currently Associate Professor at the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the Agricultural University of Athens (Greece).

His research focuses on bioprocess and biorefinery development within a circular economy context. Emphasis is given on process development combined with process design, techno-economic evaluation and life cycle assessment for the sustainable production of bio-based chemicals, polymers and various value-added products (e.g. active and biodegradable packaging materials, solvents, coatings, polyurethanes, advanced biofuels, bacterial nanocellulose) using crude renewable resources.

Since 2011, he has participated in 32 research and development projects funded by national and international funding agencies and the industry. He has published 145 papers in peer-reviewed international scientific journals (h-index 40, scopus database) and 19 book chapters. He currently serves as co-Editor in the Biochemical Engineering Journal (Elsevier).

Charalambos Kasimis is a Professor at the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development of the Agricultural University of Athens. In March 2015, he was appointed as Secretary General of Agricultural Policy and Management of European Funds of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food, in charge of CAP, Rural Development and Fisheries Development Programmes of Greece as well as International Relations. He completed his term in office in July 2019.

He has served as the Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development (2013-2014) and as the Director of the Postgraduate Studies MSc. Programme “Integrated Rural Development and Management of Rural Space” (2010-2014). Between September 2014 and March 2015, he was appointed as Deputy Rector of the Agricultural University of Athens. In the period 1986-2003 he served as a member of staff at the Department of Economics of the University of Patras and between 1995 and 2000 as the Director of the Institute of Urban and Rural Sociology at the National Centre for Social Research. For a number of years, he served as a member of the Executive Committee of the European Society for Rural Sociology and between 2013 and 2015 as President.

His academic interests focus on issues of rural transformation and development in Greece, the Balkans and the Mediterranean region and more particularly on family farming, employment and rural community change. Migration and, more precisely, the implications of international migration on rural regions have become one of his main research topics in the past years. In the crisis years he dealt with the study of the implications of the economic crisis upon the rural areas and the ‘return to the land’ movement in Greece.

Since 2016 Charalampos Kasimis is Vice President and member of the Governing Board of the International Center for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM).

Between 2018 -2019 he served as Executive Board member of the Organisation “Enterprise Greece”.