Archives

Dr. George Zalidis

George Zalidis graduated from the Agronomy Department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, with doctoral studies at the Department of Soil Science and postdoctoral studies in Civil Engineering and Environmental Engineering Department at the State University of Michigan US.

Today, he is the  Director of the Laboratory of Remote Sensing, Spectroscopy and Geographical Information Systems, and member of the Laboratory of Applied Soil Sciences at the Department of Agriculture of the School of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He is also the  Scientific Coordinator of Interbalkan Environment Center (i-BEC) since 2007.

His research focuses on issues of quality and restoration of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, the use of Earth observation data (space and terrestrial) in the  Societal Benefit Areas, the OECD indicators of sustainable development and the use of spectral data in the monitoring of agricultural ecosystems and natural terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

 

CURRENT POSITION

  • Professor of Pollution and Soil Degradation, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Land Reclamation Soil Science and Agricultural Engineering, Laboratory of Applied Soil Science.
  • Director of the Laboratory of Remote Sensing, Spectroscopy and G.I.S., Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Faculty of Agriculture.
  • Member of the Laboratory of Applied Soil Science. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Faculty of Agriculture.
  • Scientific Director, Interbalkan Environment Center (I-BEC)
  • Member, Hellenic Quality Assurance & Accreditation Agency (HQA) Council
  • Representative of the Hellenic Republic, Ministry of Rural Development and Food at the international Group on Earth Observations Global Agricultural Monitoring Initiative (GEOGLAM) of GEO.

Mr. Geert Wilms

Geert Wilms studied Horticulture at Wageningen University and Business Administration at Open University. For more than 20 years Geert has been director of Agricultural Innovation Brabant (LIB), and he is consultant at Royal Haskoning DHV.

LIB is a partnership of Province North-Brabant and farmers organization ZLTO. Each year more than 30 innovative projects are initiated and supported, with the participation of hundreds of (agricultural) businesses. Several workshops are organized and guided. Geert is directly accountable to the President of ZLTO and regional Minister of agriculture in North-Brabant. One project he started and is very proud of: “Smart irrigation in agriculture; 3.000 farmers participating with 60.000 hectares, and 25% gain of efficiency in water use”.

 Geert Wilms also is a speaker, discussion leader and initiator of cooperation in different regions in Europe. He is/was involved in more than 15 European funded projects, for example Water management, Water conservation, Agrispin, Eurodairy, EU-PIG and STRING.

Mr. Georgios Karakatsanis

Georgios Karakatsanis is a graduate of Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB), MSc holder and PhD Candidate of National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), in the field of Natural Capital Econometrics and Ecological Finance Engineering. He has extensive professional experience in environmental banking, ecological investments, risk management and business continuity. In the period 2014-2016 he collaborated with Technische Universität München (TUM), receiving a DAAD scholarship as a Guest Lecturer and Researcher in the international research program NEXUS Energy-Water-Food on the conflict resolution for the management of water resources in the Nile Basin, as well as a Guest Scientist in the Oscar von Miller Forum (OvMF), where he coordinated several workshops and lectures on the field of Natural Resource Economics for Engineers. Since 2019, he is the co-founder and director of EVOTROPIA Ecological Finance Architectures private company. Since 2020, he serves as Director of the Special Committee for Circular Economy & Built Environment of the Sustainable Building Council Greece (SBC-GR).

Mr. Simos Kedikoglou

Simos Kedikoglou was elected member of the Hellenic Parliament for the Prefecture of Evia with New Democracy Party in the elections of 2004, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2015 and 2019.

He served as Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister and Government Spokesman from 2012 to 2014.

He was a member of the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs, of the Standing Committee on National Defense & Foreign Affairs, Special Standing Committee on European Affairs and of the Committee on Armaments Programs & Contracts.

In addition, he served as head of the Greek Delegation and Vice President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization of Black Sea Economic Cooperation.

Simos Kedikoglou is a journalist. He has been a political, parliamentary and diplomatic editor in newspapers “Kathimerini”, “Apogevmatini”, “Apofasi” and “Xora”. He also presented and participated in broadcasts of TV and radio stations (ERT, MEGA, FLASH etc.). For many years he was a contributor to CNN International’s World Report show, and on CNN’s “Q&A” show in Atlanta, USA.

He speaks English, Russian, and French.

He is married and proud father of two children

Mr. Michalis Katrinis

Michalis Katrinis is the Head of the Parliamentary Group of PASOK-Kinima Allagis.

He has been elected as a member of the Greek Parliament 3 times in 2007, 2009 and 2019, in the district of Ilia.

Prior to his current position, he was a shadow minister for Economy and Growth and a Parliamentary Representative for the party “Kinima Allagis”, as well as a member of the Standing Committee of Economics, the Standing Committee of Production and Commerce, and the South-East European Cooperation Process (PROCESS-SEECP). Additionally, he is a member of the Central Committee of the ‘’Kinima Allagis’’ and the Political Council of PASOK.  Moreover, he has served as a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the Western European Union (WEU). From April 2014 up to December 2014, he also served as the president of OKANA (Organisation Against Drugs). Finally, he was a member of the Governing Council of the Hellenic Dental Association, as his main profession is a dentist.

 

Dr. Demetrios Kouretas

Dr. Kouretas has a BSc in Pharmacy from University of Patras (Greece) 1985, PhD in Biochemistry from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki 1989 (Greece) and Post-doc at Harvard Medical School from 1990-1992. Dr. Kouretas has been staff member in the University of Thessaly since 1996 and from 2007 is Professor of ‘Animal Physiology – Toxicology’ at the Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology of the University of Thessaly (Greece).  He has co-authored 220 articles in peer-reviewed journals and about 100 invited lectures in national and international conferences. According to Google scholar Dr. Kouretas’ publications have been cited 10000 times and their ‘h-index’ is 55. In 2017 has been elected member of the European Commission Committee (Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging risks, SCHEER) and the same year (2017) President of the Hellenic Society of Toxicology and Director of the National Master Program in Toxicology.

He has founded the spin-off company FoodOxys aimed at developing bio functional nutrition. He is Associate Editor in the ‘Food & Chemical Toxicology’ (from 2015), ‘Toxicology Reports’ (from 2017) journals of Elsevier and Academic Editor in Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity (from 2017) and Antioxidants (from 2018).

Dr. Athanasios Kyriazis

Athanasios Kyriazis is a Professor at the Department of Statistics and Insurance Sciences at the University of Piraeus in the field of Applied Mathematics and New Technologies. He has graduated from the Department of Mathematics of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and holds a PhD degree from the same Department. He has been a visiting researcher in Universities and Research Centers in the U.S.A. and Europe. He has taught a significant number of courses at the undergraduate and postgraduate level, as well as in training programs. He has supervised Doctoral Dissertations and Master’s theses, and has participated in several research programs as the Project Leader. His academic work includes four monographs, eight university textbooks and a great number of scientific publications and papers in international and Greek journals and in conference proceedings. He is an active participant in International and National Conferences and Seminars while he has been the national representative in a significant number of European and international institutions and working groups. In addition, he has participated in Ministerial Councils, meetings, official visits and international collaborations. He has served for several years as the General Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs as well as the Special Secretary for Higher Education at the same Ministry. Finally, he has been a consultant in companies and Institutions in relation  to educational and training subjects.

Ms. Susanna Terstal

Since September 2021 Susanna Terstal has been the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Greece. She has previously been ambassador to Iran (2015-2018) and Angola (2012-2015). From September 2018 until April 2021 she was the EU Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process. Before becoming an ambassador she was the Deputy Head of mission in Geneva.

Susanna joined the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1994 and began her career in the legal directorate where she held different positions. Before working in the Ministry she worked in the private sector.

Susanna studied in the Netherlands, United States and Italy. She is a lawyer and has masters in Political Science, International Relations and Italian language and literature.

Mr. Nikos Papathanasis

Nikos Papathanasis is a Mechanical Engineer and member of the Technical Chamber of Greece. He received his B.A.Sc. from the University of Toronto and he continued his education by receiving two post-graduate degrees, Master in Management and Aerospace Engineering.

He commenced work in 1984 at the De Havilland Aircraft Company (now Bombardier Aerospace) in Toronto. He served as a member of the board of the Hellenic Aerospace Industry (HAI) and as a member of the board and executive vice president of the Olympic Aviation. He worked for twenty four years as a senior and C level executive at private and public companies in Greece and abroad.

His work experience includes the management of State interest companies as in public transportation companies, namely, CEO of ISAP S.A. (Urban Rail) and President and CEO of Urban Rail Transport S.A. From 2008 to 2010 he was President – elect of the National section of the European Center of Employers and Enterprises (CEEP).
Throughout his thirty five years work experience, he has demonstrated his ability in developing business action reform plans, maturing investments, restructuring and streamlining of companies that led to a significant improvement of their balance sheets.

In July 2019 he was appointed by Prime Minister, K. Mitsotakis, as Deputy Minister of Development and Investments responsible for Industry, Commerce and Consumer Protection. In August 2020 he was appointed as Alternate Minister of Development and Investments responsible for Private Investments and PPPs.