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Alex Athanassoulas is the President of the Sustainable Building Council of Greece (WGBC Chapter) and the founder and CEO of STIRIXIS Group, the globally awarded architectural consultancy firm. He holds a Masters in Civil Engineering (MCivEng) from Aristotelian University and a MBA with distinction, from Adam Smith Business School of Glasgow University, UK. He has been certified in Project management from IPMA and Prince2, in Strategy and Innovation from the International Customer Service Association and is an eminent public speaker on Future Trends, Strategic Foresight, Systems Thinking and Sustainability.

Alex is also the Vice President of CEO Clubs Greece and the President of the Hellenic Alumni Association of the University of Glasgow. He has been recognized as the “Best European CEO in Retail Development” from European CEO Awards (2015), as the “Best European CEO” from Al Global Excellence Awards (2018), as an “International Game-changer” by the ACQS Awards (2019), one of the “Most Inspiring Business Leaders to Follow in 2023” by The Inc Magazine (2023), and has been awarded for his Postgraduate Leadership by the AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards (2024).

Theodora Antonakaki, Director of Bank of Greece’s Climate Change and Sustainability Centre (CCSC), is coordinating BoG’s work on climate, sustainability and research at the Climate Change Impacts Study Committee (CCISC) and representing BoG at the Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) and at the newly established Eurosystem Climate Change Forum, where she has been appointed Chair for a two-year term (2025-2026).

She is a member of Hellenic Ministry of Finance’s working group for Sustainable Finance and Green Economy Transition and she has been an advisor on issues of sustainability and socioeconomic impact in a wide range of projects, in planning, urban and architectural design. Ηer work has gained awards from Europa Nostra and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, while she has been honored, by the French Republic, with the title of Knight of the French National Order of Merit (Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite), as an acknowledgment for her contributions to climate and sustainability issues. She is a graduate of the Polytechnic School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the University of London, where she was an Honorary Research Fellow. She has lectured at the Syracuse University, the University of Stirling, the School of Nordic Urban Design and has taught at the Hellenic Open University. Her work has been published at peer reviewed journals and she has written book chapters in edited books.

Thymis was born in Thessaloniki on 24/08/1970. In 1988 he graduated from the “German School of Thessaloniki” and in 1992 from the University of UMIST (University of Manchester, Institute of Science and Technology), England, with a Master’s Degree in “Engineering Manufacture & Management”.

He possesses excellent knowledge of English (Proficiency) and very good knowledge of German (Abitur), as well good understanding of French and Spanish.

He is the CEO of the company “Redestos – Efthymiadis Agrotechnology Group”, as well as the CEO or President of the BoD of various companies of the Efthymiadis Group, which for more than 85 years now has been actively involved in the agrotechnology and agrifood sectors (production and distribution of crop protection & plant nutrition products, plant propagation material, laboratory analyzes in food / feed / water and environmental quality, production and marketing of fresh agricultural products of high value added through contract farming. Since several years, the activities of the Group have expanded beyond the borders of Greece, extending throughout the whole Balkan region, as well as many other countries, mainly to the east of Greece.

Since 1999, he has been a member of the Board of Directors of SEPY (Greek Seed Trade Association), where from 2016 to 2022 he held the position of President. He has also been a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Greek Industries (S.V.E.) since 2005, while for more than 12 years (2010-2022) he was part of its 7-member Executive Committee.

Finally, since October 2016, he is a member of the Board of Trustees of the American Farm School of Thessaloniki (AFS) and from 2022 Chairman of the Committee for Primary and Secondary Education in AFS.

He is married to Katerina Gratziou, an active lawyer, they have two sons and live in Thessaloniki, Greece.

Efthimios Foteinos was born in Adendro, Thessaloniki in 1970. He is active in the agricultural business sector. Since 2007, he has been vice president of the Union of Agricultural Cooperatives of Thessaloniki “EAS Thessaloniki.” He has served as President and participated in the Administration of an Agricultural Cooperative and has been a member of the Administrations of OPEKEPE, PASEGES, and SASOEE. Since 2016, he has been a continuous presence in the DOV as an alternate member, while since 2021, he has been President.

He is married and father of two children.

Fanis Papathanasiou is an anchor and senior diplomatic correspondent in ERT, (Greek Public Television) with more than twenty-five years of experience covering major diplomatic and international events. A long time New York correspondent, based in Athens and he covers global crises, wars and a range of other major news events such as conflict zones in Iraq, Afghanistan, Crimea and other regions in the Middle East. He has anchored the coverage of many major international news stories including the war in Ukraine, and Syria, major developments in the Greek crises, the refugee crises, elections in USA, in Turkey, the wars in Iraq, in Afghanistan, the Israel-Lebanon conflict, the terrorist attacks in Paris, the 9/11 and many European Union and NATO Summits.

Fanis Papathanasiou has contacted exclusive one-on-one interviews with international figures including Donald Trump, George W. Bush, Secretary Mike Pompeo, Turkish leaders T. Erdogan, M. Cavusloglu A. Davutoglu, A. Gull, former French PM Dominique de Villepin, former Finish PM Sanna Marin, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and others. He is contributor commentator for CNN in Athens and has appeared on BBC, Al Jazeera and other global networks. He holds a M.A. on Digital Media, Communication and Journalism from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

2018 – 2024: Director, Deputy Secretary-General of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty (France).

2016 – 2017: Deputy Director-General of the National Authority for Agriculture and Seafood Products (AgriMer).

2013 – 2015: Regional Director for Food, Agriculture and Forestry in Languedoc-Roussillon (France).

2009 – 2013: Head of Human Resources at the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Agriculture (France).

2006 – 2009: Head of the agrifood strategy and sustainable development department at the Directorate-General for Agricultural, Agrifood and Regional Policy (DGPAAT) at the Ministry of Agriculture (France).

2005 – 2006: Deputy Director of Quality, Economic Organisation and Companies at the Directorate-General for Economic, European and International Policies (DGPEI) at the Ministry of Agriculture (France).

2002 – 2005: Counsellor for agricultural affairs for the Ministry of the Economy and Finance – Treasury Department at the French Embassy in Spain.

1998 – 2002: Head of the Fruit and Vegetable Production, Horticulture and Special Plants Office in the Directorate-General for Economic, European and International Policies (DGPEI) at the Ministry of Agriculture (France).

1996 – 1998: Head of the East/Asia Office in the Directorate-General for Economic, European and International Policy (DGPEI) at the Ministry of Agriculture (France).

1993 – 1996: Head of the market organisations office in the Directorate of Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture (DPMA) at the Ministry of Agriculture (France).

1992 – 1993: Technical advisor responsible for fisheries and aquaculture in the office of the Secretary of State for the Sea (France).

1987 – 1990: Deputy Departmental Director of Maritime Affairs in the Manche Department at the Ministry of Equipment, responsible for the sea (France).

1984 – 1987: École d’administration des affaires maritimes (Maritime Affairs Administration School) – Maritime Affairs Administrator (National Corps of Naval Officers) (France).

1980 – 1984: Graduate of the Institut d’études politiques (IEP) (Political Science) in Bordeaux, Law Degree (France).

David Lamb is Team Leader of the CAP Implementation Contact Point, part of the EU CAP Network.

David has over 20 years’ of experience which started in food & drink sector of manufacturing and marketing in 1997. From 2003, David then led the Food & Drink Team within Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), managing their specialist advisory & consultancy activity. In 2012 he helped create and then managed the Think Local programme – the Scottish Government’s first local food and drink development programme. He has also worked on European and International projects on rural entrepreneurship, market research, agritourism and on cooperation in agriculture. Since 2014 he has been based in Brussels leading networking across Member States, developing links with EU level stakeholder organizations and supporting the development and implementation of CAP Strategic Plans and developing peer to peer exchanges. David is an experienced facilitator, lecturer and trainer.