Gregory Davis is the President and Interim-CEO of Eviation Aircraft, a global manufacturer of all-electric aircraft. As a licensed commercial pilot and skilled engineer, Greg brings an in-depth understanding and true passion for the industry to Eviation. 

Greg has extensive experience in the aerospace industry with over 15 years of progressive leadership roles in aircraft production including manufacturing, engineering and quality in running the Twin Otter assembly plant. Prior to Eviation, Greg served as Vice President of Customer Service and Product Support for Viking Air Limited, a global leader in utility aircraft services and manufacturer of Series 400 and Guardian 400 Twin Otter aircraft. Before that, he served in an engineering role at Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group, one of the largest privately owned and independent aerospace and defense companies. Under Gregory’s leadership, Eviation is building a new category of aircraft that challenges the limits of air travel and creates new market opportunities. 

Greg holds a Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from Carleton University, and an MBA from the University of Calgary.

Malin leads Mastercard’s government engagement in the Nordics and Baltics, focusing on the intersection between digital infrastructure, economic development and sustainability to support countries, governments, and cities for sustainable growth. She also oversees the company’s global government engagement agenda as it relates to green growth; partnering with governments to support their climate transition pathway. In this, she runs Mastercard’s Global Sustainability Innovation Lab. She is also a member of Mastercard’s Divisional Leadership team for the Nordics and Baltics.

In 2021, upon joining the European Climate Pact, Mastercard launched its first innovation lab focusing on environmental sustainability. Malin led the creation and was named as the head of this sustainability R&D flagship for Mastercard – a global research & development center for innovation and execution of new sustainable business solutions in collaboration with partners and customers.

Prior to this role, she held various senior positions in the company as Head of Marketing for Nordics and Baltics and Global Retail Lead, upon having had 8 years in ICA Group, one of Europe’s largest retailers.

Malin has an international portfolio of experience, with 15 years in retail and technology; delivering business transformation, innovation and ‘strategy through execution’ to support the future of commerce and to advance sustainable economic growth and financial inclusion.

Malin has served on nonprofit boards and is today providing her internal growth experience towards nonprofits and startups, primarily focusing on organizations addressing UN’s SDGs / Agenda 2030. Currently, she sits on the Board of The Swedish Postcode Association which runs the People’s Postcode Lottery with the objective to support charitable and social initiatives worldwide. Ranked the world's 3rd largest private charity donor and the 2nd biggest in Europe. She is also a member of World Economic Forum’s Shaping the Future of Consumption Platform ‘Consumers for Climate Action’ focusing on increasing consumer awareness and shift mindsets to leverage responsible consumption as a driver for climate positivity.

Matija advocates for sustainable food systems, future of food, novel food business models, agritech, foodtech, digitalization of the agri-food industry, AI in agriculture, start-up eco-systems, entrepreneurship, and motivation through his thought leadership activities.

As a part of social responsibility activities, Matija serves as a Faculty Council Member for the International Digital Agriculture Study at University of Osijek; Advisory Board Member at European Carbon Farmers and Mentor at Women in Food and Agriculture where he supports young female talents in achieving their personal growth.

Bibop Gresta (birth name Gabriele Gresta) is an Italian entrepreneur with extensive experience in Venture Capital, finance, mergers and acquisitions, transport and media. Bibop Gresta is internationally regarded as one of the leading experts in advanced mobility and technologies of the 4th industrial revolution. He was part of the board of directors of several listed companies in the UK, Germany and Italy and has led international business development for various global companies. In 2018, the World Economic Forum declared him a Technology Pioneer.

As co-founder of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) in 2013, Gresta led a team of over 800 engineers, creatives and technology experts divided into 52 multidisciplinary teams and with 50 partners between companies and universities. Headquartered in Los Angeles (CA), HyperloopTT has offices in North and South America, the Middle East and Europe. HTT was the first company to develop Hyperloop® and is the largest company ever built on a collaborative business ecosystem. HTT, under the leadership of Gresta, has revolutionized both mobility and traditional business models.

Bibop Gresta is currently the CEO and founder of Hyperloop Italia, a highly innovative Start Up. In Italy, Bibop Gresta and his team are working on numerous projects that aim to revolutionise the transport system. Hyperloop Italia is the first company in the world that has obtained an exclusive license for the realization of the Hyperloop project in Italy.

In addition to his entrepreneurial achievements, he is a world-renowned speaker on issues ranging from impact investing to advanced mobility. Bibop has participated in major events such as the World Economic Forum, the United Nations, TedTalk, and has appeared in major media such as CNBC, CNN, Times, Forbes and MTV. He is an executive member of the Rockefeller Foundation’s closed think tank Rebooting Ethics. Bibop is a respected thought leader in ethical entrepreneurship, transhumanism and sustainability, and has lectured at some of the world’s most prestigious universities.

Stephanie E. Trpkov specialises in strategic industrial transformation. She is an Energy sector consultant at the World Bank, an entrepreneur and investor. With vast industry experience driving Green Transition and Smart City projects across the SEE region, Stephanie works with senior policy makers and SMEs to capture opportunities in new, sustainable value chains. By leading green innovation initiatives, mentoring start-ups, and holding expert workshops, Stephanie facilitates broader ecosystem development and transnational collaboration in technology driven sectors.

Dr. rer. nat. / Ph.D. in Physics and Post-Doc at Max-Planck Institute in Stuttgart. Joined Bosch Corporate Research for 15 years serving as head of NDT lab (non-destructive testing).

Since 2014 at Corporate department Sustainability & Environment, Health and Safety with multiple activities in the field, now Head of Corporate Office Sustainability & EHS – Implementation.

Roger is Powertrain Research Manager at Rimac Technology leading a team dedicated to exploring and developing the very latest innovations in EV Powertrain Technology.

After completing his Engineering Master’s Degree Roger joined Jaguar Land Rover, initially working on an electric supercharger. However, after a brief stint working on hybrids, Roger became increasingly convinced that the future was all-electric and transitioned across to work on the EV powertrain for the Jaguar IPACE, arguably the first premium EVs to come from a traditional automaker. Following JLR, he made the move across to Williams Advanced Engineering where he was Powertrain Lead for the 2000PS Lotus Evija hypercar, the Aston Martin RapidE and other projects. In June 2021 Roger relocated to Croatia to join Rimac Technology and continue pushing the limit of EV Powertrain performance.

Yousef Yousef is an entrepreneur with a mission to scale up green businesses.

After 2.5 years on the EIC Advisory Board, Yousef was selected as an EIC Ambassador focusing on Business Acceleration Services. For the European Innovation Council, Yousef is the expert on green businesses and how to help them grow. His passion has led him to the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader and a Chairman of the Groene Groeiers (Greenups) organization.

Yousef’s expertise lies in scaling start-ups with green innovative technologies – from the development of original solutions to the setup and coaching the businesses. With more than 15 years in the sector, Yousef is an experienced entrepreneur committed to sustainability.

He is the CEO of LG Sonic, a company dedicated to eliminating the use of chemicals across 12 different industries in over 96 countries.

Kai Landwehr works as head of marketing at „myclimate“, a Swiss-based NGO focusing on climate protection and sustainability measures. He is an expert in communications and sustainability with strong expertise in sports and digitalisation.

Before tapping into climate protection, Kai has worked ten years in the sporting goods industry as communications and brand manager for „Nike“. Born and raised in Germany, he holds a «Master of Arts» degree in Ancient History from the Heinrich-Heine-University in Düsseldorf. Kai is a football aficionado, a passionate hiker and in winter times a snowboarder with “great attitude and very limited skills”.

Matiasl leads Eco Wave Power’s Business Development activities, which is a leading onshore wave energy technology company that developed a patented, smart and cost-efficient technology for turning ocean and sea waves into clean electricity.

Matias works in project creation, partnership management, and sales in the implementation of new wave energy projects. Mr. Sigal established the company’s activities in the Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian and Australian markets (among others), being instrumental in launching new projects with the collaboration of ports, investors, and companies. For that endeavor, Matias participated on behalf of Eco Wave Power in 6 global accelerator programs and pitch competitions building a strong network of energy companies, landowners, and investors.

Matias is passionate about innovation and sustainability working on enabling a more sustainable future through the implementation of wave energy worldwide.

Anders Frostenson is a seasoned leader with two decades of experience in building digital experiences, products and services. He has worked in executive roles across Stockholm, London, New York and managed a fund of 10 million Euros to support entrepreneurs across the globe. In his current role as leader for the EY´s Sustainable Product and Service Innovation in the EMEIA region he brings together the best talent and companies to collaborate on pivotal innovation for a better future. He is an active angel investor and advisor to multiple start-up companies globally in the digital markets. Anders has a B.A from the University of Stockholm.

Peter Austin has been Planning Advisor in the department for Urban Development in the City of Oslo for 15 years, where he supports the Vice Mayor, currently Hanna Marcussen, Green Party, in regional and international collaboration. Peter has a varied background within strategic urban planning. He has worked for local government and consultancies, covering matters such as housing, transport, sustainability, demographics, retail and economic development, and conservation issues, as well as having in-depth knowledge of urban policy at the European level, participating in EUROCITIES, METREX and EMA.  Peter coordinated the strategic urban issues linked to Oslo being awarded European Green Capital (2019) and has coordinated collaboration projects for Oslo over two decades.

Innovation Norway is the Norwegian Governments most important instrument for innovation and development of Norwegian enterprises and industry. This also includes financing and competence building for the sustainable green transition. Ms. Anne Lise Rognlidalen, with background from finance and management, has a solid experience from management of different grant schemes in Norway as well as in other countries. Presently she is managing business development programmes, financed by EEA and Norway Grants, in Croatia and Greece.

Nataša has been serving as a Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds in the Government of Croatia since 2020. Before taking a position of a Minister, she has gained a rich professional experience in preparation and implementation of the EU funded projects at local and regional level – she was a Head of the Administrative Department for Investments, Development Projects and European Union Funds in Osijek-Baranja County, Director of the Agency for Sustainable Development of the Municipality of Antunovac – RODA for economic and rural development and the promotion of entrepreneurship, as well as a founder and president of the LAG Vuka-Dunav.

During her career, she coordinated the development of strategic plans at the local and regional government level, and was a leader of hundreds of the EU projects in the areas of entrepreneurship development, rural development, public infrastructure, energy efficiency and renewable energy sources.

Marija has been working in the field of energy, environment and climate for over 25 years. She was an Assistant Director of the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund and an Assistant Minister at the Ministry of Environment and Energy responsible for sustainable development and climate activities. Since 2017, she has been the director of the Industry and Sustainable Development Sector at the Croatian Chamber of Economy. As a leader or member of working groups for the preparation of laws and strategies in the field of energy, environment and climate, she participated in the creation of national policies and positions and represented them on behalf of the Republic of Croatia at the international and EU level. In 2015, Marija was a member of the negotiation team and led the official delegation of the Republic of Croatia when the Paris Agreement on Climate Change was adopted. In 2018, she established the CCE_SDG Accelerator Collaborative Platform through which the Chamber continually fosters partnerships between business sector, state institutions and civil society organizations to achieve the SDGs in Croatia.

Tea is an Associate Professor and a Head of Laboratory for Energy Efficiency at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Zagreb. She holds a Master of Science (2010) and Doctor of Philosophy (2013) degrees obtained from the MIT (USA), with a major in energy and a minor in business. Her work is focused on the development and implementation of emerging technologies for smart, sustainable buildings and the use of artificial intelligence in energy industry. In addition to her academic work, she also serves as an independent expert for the European Commission in the evaluation of R&D projects in the energy and defense industry, as an author and a reviewer for renowned international scientific journals and a member of the Technical Committee for Smart Grids of ASHRAE. Professor Žakula is also a member of the Board for Energy Transition at the Office of the President of Croatia. Prior to that she has served as a special adviser to the minister in the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Energy, as well as a member of several committees in the Ministry of Construction and Ministry of Science and Education.

Stjepan Sučić received Master’s and Ph.D. degree in electrical power engineering from University of Zagreb in 2008 and 2013, respectively. He works in KONČAR – Digital Ltd. as Management Board Member responsible for digital solutions and services used in critical and urban infrastructure. In 2019, he led development team responsible for implementing first cyber security certified SCADA system in the world, according to the IEC 62443 standard. He is associate lecturer at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing in Zagreb for course – Development of software solutions for industrial IoT systems. He is national representative at IEC for several TC57 working groups related to international standard IEC 61850.

Dr. Fadi Makki heads the first behavioral insights and nudge unit in the Middle East – B4Development (formerly Qatar Behavioural Insights Unit) at the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy where is also advisor to its Secretary General. He is the founder of Nudge Lebanon and has pioneered applications of behavioral insights and nudge concepts in the MENA region with more than 100 experiments in health, sustainability, compliance, inclusion, education … He has more than 25 years of experience in public policy, socio-economic development, behavioral economics and social entrepreneurship. He currently holds research positions at AUB and has served as member of the World Economic Forum Council for behavioral sciences between 2016 and 2018. He is currently member of the WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on Behavioral Insights for Public Health. He served as Director General of the ministry of economy and trade and Advisor to the Prime Minister in Lebanon. He was also Director at Booz&Co and Cisco. He serves on the board of several education and non for profit institutions in Lebanon and the Arab world. He obtained his PhD from Cambridge University, Master degrees from LSE and Hull, BAs from AUB and the Lebanese University

Ivan joined Infobip in 2021 following the acquisition of his conference company Shift. Today, as the Chief Developer Experience Officer, Ivan is at the forefront of Infobip’s path to becoming a developer-centric organization.

As a serial entrepreneur with over a decade of experience in and around startups, he has a track record in creating developer ecosystems. Alongside Shift, he co-founded Codeanywhere in 2013. Ivan is a usual suspect at numerous conferences throughout the world. He loves driving and traveling and has been to over 50 countries so far. In his spare time, he read books, mostly focused on psychology and business.

He loves all things about climate innovation and puts in his hard work to support the development of the startup ecosystem. Federico is the co-founder and CEO of Eutopia, which is an AI-powered platform to access information on over 16k climate startups in Europe, including insights on climate impact, patents, financials, traction, contacts, and much more – essentially a Crunchbase for climate. On a mission to accelerate the transition toward a more sustainable economy, Eutopia provides data, insights, and software tools to help policy-makers, investors and corporations make more informed decisions.

Laura Stäter is passionate tourism professional with a strong focus on destination management and sustainability. Her sustainability journey began during her final thesis in Tourism Management where she supported Kuoni a well-established tour operator on its mission to foster a common understanding of sustainability among its supply chain in Sri Lanka. Pre corona she supported the start-up Click a Tree to make sustainability more simple by planting trees as a Marketing and PR specialist besides her main job as a Senior PR & Marketing Manager for the Thai tourism board in the German market. With the help of her profound desk and field research, the intense course at Cambridge University in “Business Sustainability Management” she consults and supports tourism companies on their sustainability journey.

Balázs Pál Békeffy has become the head of OTP bank in 2011. After the acquisition of Splitska banka, he became the chairman in one of the top 5 largest banks in Croatia. After graduating in Economics (major: Accounting and Corporate Valuation) from the Budapest University of Economic Sciences and Public Administration (BUES), he joined the PwC before starting an ascend within the banking industry in the OTP group.

Josef Mouris is the Co-Founder and CEO of ELECTRON aviation and ELECTRON aerospace. His love of aviation is reflected in a career spanning over two decades; and most recently, his relentless commitment to addressing climate change by pioneering on-demand zero emissions air travel which is both accessible and affordable. As a professional Airline Transport Pilot (ATP), Josef has 15 years flying experience at Flybe, the largest regional airline in Europe; along with some 23 years of piloting gliders, designing aerofoils, propellers, and electric aircraft privately, he is well-equipped to lead the charge of implementing EV battery technology into next-generation aircraft design and manufacturing.

Aurora Volarević is Vice President of Corporate Affairs in Infobip, the first Croatian unicorn and global leader in omnichannel communication, with offices in 60+ countries. With over 25 years of experience in the banking and telecom industries, Volarević was previously part of Deutsche Telekom’s global audit management team and headed the Internal Control, Audit and Risk Department for HT Group and Montenegro Telekom. She also held a number of management positions in the banking industry, including in Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and UniCredit Group.

Heliodor Macko is a successful serial entrepreneur and technology enthusiast.
In 2015, he joined SEAK with the mission of developing and internationalizing the original technology of long-distance communication via power lines. SEAK has advanced this smart lighting control technology and has successfully deployed it in over 15 countries in Europe and Asia. In 2018, SEAK introduced charging stations for electric vehicles integrated with smart lighting poles, fit for efficient retrofitting and bringing EV charging possibilities everywhere, for which it received several international awards. Heliodor believes that this technology will help adopt e-mobility globally faster by bringing charging spots to people who park their cars on the streets.

Mateo is the CEO and co-founder of Profico, a digital agency that has pioneered some of the largest Smart City projects in the region. With their integration partners and telecoms, Profico designed & built two city-scale smart parking NBIoT implementations with 5000+ parking sensors installed, transforming the conservative parking industry into an environment-friendly, advanced digital platform.

Among his company’s expertise is sharing economy, e-mobility, and web3, with customers in the US, EU, Scandinavian and global markets.

Serial entrepreneur and IT engineer, vice-president of the local Croatian Employers Association executive board. Consultant on smart cities, passionate about leadership and the digital economy.

With a PhD in Business Administration from the prestigious Business School Lausanne and extensive education in Finance, Andrej is one of the leading authorities on corporate finance in Croatia. He is currently leading an investment banking boutique with 11 professionals offering advisory services in the areas of mergers & acquisitions, capital raising, business valuation, and due diligence with his company has established itself as one of the most relevant independent corporate finance firms in Croatia, with a vision of assuming such a reputation in the region. With a proven track record in corporate finance, Andrej is actively involved within the academic community, presently teaching at Zagreb School of Economics and Management and Luxembourg School of Business.

In his 20 years of international experience in the consulting and ICT industry, Daniel has structured and led complex transformation projects in the telecommunications industry and the public sector in Croatia and the CEE region. He led the business of IBM Consulting in Croatia and was responsible for the development of regional business in the telecommunications industry as a member of the IBM Consulting CEE Leadership team.

He started his career in 1999 at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing in Zagreb, then continued at Ericsson Nikola Tesla, after which he began his consulting career in the USA and Great Britain.

Ivana Biocina is an author, textile engineer, designer and founder of Institute for Sustainable Fashion. Ivana is an author of three books about textile industry and sustainable fashion. With background in theory and research, in 2021 she founded Institute for Sustainable Fashion (IOM) in northern Croatia with focus on local, hand made, zero textile waste production of sustainable clothes, education and spreading the idea of sustainable fashion. Clothes in IOM are handmade in responsible manufacturing, toxin and plastic free, made with natural dyes of local plants and with vegan, organic and biodegradable materials. IOM is focused on organic development, with strong connections to local women and businesses that want to go in the sustainable direction. Building a regional community is the key part of IOM with the core intention of empowerment and learning. Sustainability is connected to every part of IOM, from production, materials, design, sewing, packaging, end-of-life of the garment, sales, customers, business model.

Thomas is the Director of Ibex Publishing. He has a passion for media, transportation, environmental sustainability, and law. He holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Law from BPP University, an MSc in Air Transport Management from Cranfield University, and a B.A.(Mod) in Politics and Geography from Trinity College Dublin.

Mario Carini is Chief Executive Officer & Chairman of the Management Board of Generali osiguranje since December 2019.

Prior to relocating to Zagreb, he was based in Prague as Head of Global Corporate & Commercial and Reinsurance for the Generali Group in Austria and Central-Eastern Europe. From 2013 to 2019 he was a member of the Management Board of GP Reinsurance EAD in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Mario started his international career in insurance at Generali’s Head Office in Trieste. He then moved to London where he was involved in underwriting activities, before relocating to Prague, Czech Republic, where he held positions with increasing responsibilities in the P&C insurance and reinsurance areas. In the last years he has been directly involved in steering of a number of projects and activities in the areas of Sustainability, Climate Strategy, Nat Cat Portfolio Management and the development of the SME segment.  

Mario holds an Executive MBA from the HSG – University of St. Gallen, Switzerland and a degree in Economics from the University of Pisa and the St. Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa. He is also an alumnus of the United World College of the Adriatic.

Dubravka Štefanac Vinovrški began her career back in 2002, while still a student at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb, working for the largest media company at that time Europapress Holding. Upon graduation, she worked for Siemens, where she was in charge of the company’s B2B marketing communications and held the function of deputy Dompliance officer. She continued her career in the FMCG industry as head of marketing and public relations at dm-drogerie markt. In addition to her many accomplishments in brand reputation management and strategic communications, Dubravka was also responsible for some of the most successful marketing and communications projects in the retail segment, including loyalty and CRM programs, employer branding and CSR.

Since 2019, she has been at the helm of the corporate communications department at A1 Hrvatska, in charge of the internal and external communication at a company with nearly 2,000 employees in an extremely dynamic industry. With company’s strategic orientation on ESG especially in the last years, Dubravka implemented and significantly improved the sustainability agenda within A1 Croatia and Macedonia on all business fields.

Zvonimir has over 15 years of managerial experience within Splitska banka, now a part of OTP group. He has a master’s degree in International Economics and has taken part in numerous professional educations throughout his career. He is currently serving as a board member at OTP banka d.d. in charge of corporate banking and financial markets.

Peter Zaruba is currently the Managing Director of EVN Kroatien Holding and Country Manager of EVN AG. His former positions of employment include consulting engineer for water economics and water supply,  EVN AG in 2344 Maria Enzersdorf Department Grid Engineering Gas, team leader of group pipelining and plant manufacturer and chairman of the Austrian association OVGW for gas and water division pipelining. After his relocation to Croatia, he was functioning as the managing director of EVN Croatia Plin d.o.o. before his present position.

Mario is working as a CEO of company Professio Energia PLC.

Professio Energia PLC is the first Croatian public listed pure – play renewables company, focused on development, implementation, and long-term management of renewable energy projects, with a Zagreb stock exchange quotation. Company’s shareholders include largest Croatian institutional investors, pension funds and insurance companies. Mario received his MSc and PhD in in power engineering from University of Zagreb as well as MBA also from University of Zagreb.

His working experience includes University of Zagreb, Power System Department as a researcher, EPC company Dalekovod as a project manager and CEO Associate and company Professio Energia PLC as CEO. His field of work and areas of interest include renewable energy project development, structuring and operation.

He published scientific and technical papers in journals and conferences in the area of renewable energy. He is a member of IEEE, CIGRE, PMI, Croatian Chamber of Electrical Engineers.

Ivana has been leading projects and studies in the field of maritime/marine spatial planning (MSP), integrated maritime policy and ocean multi-use. As part of the EU MSP Platform (DG MARE Assistance Mechanism for the Implementation of Maritime Spatial Planning Directive), Ivana has developed several handbooks related to indicators development in MSP, maritime vision and strategy development, data in MSP, role of MSP in fostering blue growth, and cross-sectoral conflicts and synergies. More recently Ivana has focused on the ocean multi-use research. She is currently coordinating the MULTI-FRAME collaborative research project, to develop the sustainability assessment framework for ocean multi-use to be applied in Mozambique, United States, Norway, France, Sweden and Brazil. In UNITED project, Ivana has led the environmental baseline study and is currently assessing the environmental impacts of offshore wind and nature restoration options.  She has led the EU-wide Ocean Multi-Use Action Plan development, which has been a reference for many MSP processes in the EU. Some of her wide-reaching publications also include the GEF LME LEARN MSP Toolkit published by UNESCO in 2018, IOC UNESCO Policy Brief Capacity Development in MSP (2021), and the chapter in the book on Maritime Spatial Planning: past, present, future (2020). Her professional background includes work on the regional offshore renewable energy aspect of the Rhode Island Ocean Special Area Management Plan. Ivana also has extensive international experience with industry engagement as the leader of the World Ocean Council MSP Working Group and as the coordinator of the Blue Solutions project. She holds an international master diploma in MSP and quality engineering, and research experience at the Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources (Portugal)

He holds BA in interactive communications from Virginia Tech. Internet media background, various international awards and recognitions in digital marketing and communications; after several positions in digital media, from creative shops to publishing companies, co-founds S.T.A.R. Digital group – the leading regional digital marketing player, with client activities across the EU and proprietary tech platforms present in SEE markets. Active presenter and activist in the area of environmental sustainability, founder of the PlasticFreeCroatia.org initiative

Maja is a partner and the head of Banking & Finance department of the law firm CMS in Slovenia. She has been working as a lawyer for 21 years and has held senior positions in international law firms for 15 years. She particularly focuses on sustainable finance, distressed debt transactions, financial restructurings, and special situations and has a lot of experience with structuring financing transactions (acquisition financing, leveraged buy-out) and capital markets.

Maja was among other involved in some of the highest-profile transactions in the Slovenian market that set the ground for further transactions namely, the first major financial restructuring involving 20 banks and a loan debt of EUR 1b of loan debt, the first sale of the NPL portfolio, and the first largest single ticket loan sale transaction in Slovenia.

Maja is one of only four Women Leaders named by IFLR1000 in Slovenia. She has also been singled out by IFLR1000 as a leading banking and finance lawyer in Slovenia from 2016 on.

Born and raised in Croatia, studied in Italy, Switzerland and the UK, with tenure in Tanzania and, for a rather long time, Japan. Nikola has worked in the public sector for the UN which is how he originally arrived in Japan in 2011. He has worked in tech for a long time – running startups and working with Nikkei, the leading Japanese business media, in Tokyo.

Nikola is currently leading the Startup Ecosystem department at Infobip and supporting tech ecosystems around the world.

Mosor is a marine biologist and Head of Marine conservation at WWF Adria. He works on creating effective and scale solutions to tackle biodiversity loss and climate change.

Mosor is passionate about the role of technology in climate change mitigation and adaptation, but even more about Conservation 3.0, a point where business meets nature conservation and conservation becomes our business.

Through leadership beyond authority, WWF spearheads the way towards systemic change in order to make a real difference in transferring businesses and societies to economic and ecological sustainability. You are all invited to join!

With 15 years of experience in mechanical engineering, double that in diving, and a few in startup life, it was only a matter of time for Marko Brkljačić, together with startups AIR-RMLD, MIRET, Urban Oasis, NUOTWO, Modulos, VeeMee, to push and create a unique place – GBC HUB. From late 2020, this place gathers Green/Blue/Clean-tech startups (mostly hardware) from Croatia and the surrounding area and increases their possibility of success in developing ideas to save the Earth. It’s the place for startups to network and share information and experience. In 2021, GBC HUB joined Infobip’s startup tribe as a partner, and here we are today, with even more startups to gather.

After a successful career in business development, Filip is preoccupied by agricultural entrepreneurship. Prompted by new challenges and successful projects, he successfully combines his interest in agronomy in the agritech startup company Citygreens Farming Ltd.  The company is advancing from the first prototypes to a commercially available systems for aeroponic vertical cultivation of various agricultural crops.

He is currently working on creating a fully sustainable food production system using renewable energy sources, and strengthening an innovative geopolitically – climate independent future of food.

The project is also recognized by the European Union, which in 2019 subsidizes the development of the company.

Šime has been serving as a State Secretary at the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds of the Republic of Croatia since 2020. As a State Secretary, he is responsible for the directorate for strategic planning and coordination of the EU funds, as well for the directorate for European territorial cooperation. During his career in Zadar County Development Agency and City of Zadar, he has gained an extensive professional experience in strategic planning on local and regional level. He led preparation and implementation of numerous EU funded projects aimed at encouraging entrepreneurship, revitalization of cultural heritage in the function of cultural tourism, projects of energy efficiency & environment protection, as well as ones related to improvement of life and social standards in local communities.

Karla is an ESG expert and sustainability advocate with strong personal inclination towards climate change and environmental topics who is helping individuals and organisations to shift their perspectives and adopt sustainable practices. She is committed to providing advisory services focusing on sustainable business and operations, sustainable finance, sustainability funding and climate change resilience. In her current role as manager in EY Croatia she is guiding clients through their business transformation towards sustainability, helping them assess their existing situation, identify gaps, and start fulfilling their ESG potential. As a qualified lawyer, she also deals with compliance and regulatory matters on various projects for clients from the private and public sector, with a focus on sustainability. In addition, Karla represents EY Croatia in the local association of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), i.e., the Croatian Business Council for Sustainable Development (HRPSOR).

Ms Zanki graduated from the department of Process Engineering at Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture of the University of Zagreb and obtained her BSc degree in 1998. She was awarded the degree of MSc in Technical Sciences in 2002 at the international post graduate studies for “Sustainable Energy Engineering” at the Energy Department of the Royal Institute of Technology (KHT) in Stockholm, Sweden. Ms Zanki successfully completed her PhD studies at KTH in 2006 with the thesis on energy efficiency and energy management in the hotel sector. She completed a number of the professional trainings and courses. From 1998 to 2007 Ms Zanki was a Research Assistant at the Department for thermodynamics, thermal and process engineering, while from 2006 to 2012, Ms Zanki was employed in UNDP, firstly as a National Consultant for HVAC systems and later as a Project Manager for the Government Programme “Bringing your House in Order” that was implemented under national Programme “Removing barriers for energy efficiency in Croatia”. From May 2012 to April 2019 she was Managing Director and then two years Assistant Director of HEP ESCO ltd. From September 2021 she is Assistant Professor at University of Zagreb, Faculty of Geotechnical Engineering. Ms Zanki wrote a number of scientific and professional articles and papers and participated as an editor and author in six publications (books, manuals and brochures) in the area of energy efficiency and energy management. Ms Zanki is President of the Board of Croatia Green Building Council from 2020 while previously she was Vice President for 4 years. She received a number of respectable awards and recognitions and was given number of invited speeches at international and national conferences and workshops. From 2021 she is certified DGNB consultant for green building certification and from 2022 DGNB trainer. She devoted her carrier to development and implementation of efficient, green and smart innovative technologies, services and methods that contribute to sustainable development and environmental protection, particularly in the field of EE and energy management.

Maja majored in electrical engineering in 2009 from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing at the University of Zagreb. In 2016, she completed a postgraduate course in ecoengineering, waste treatment, emissions control (into air, water, and soil), and radioactive waste management at the University of Zagreb. In 2019 she completed the project management programme at the business school Institut za menadžment, and she holds a public procurement specialist certificate. In the period 2008 – 2009 she worked for the company Enconet in Zagreb, and since 2009 she has been working at the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund, where she currently holds the position of the head of the Energy Efficiency Sector.

Goran is the Director at Split Development Agency – RaST, with academic background in law and extensive experience in finance and public procurement in private sector. Working with EU funded projects since 2016, he gained valuable expertise in project management and project proposals. Within RaST, his focus is on strategic planning and local development acting as a link between public and private sector, NGOs and scientific community in developing strategic projects for the City of Split as well as in coordination of city strategic documents like City Development Strategy, Green City Action Plan, Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan and similar.

Automotive journalist and PR manager based in Zagreb, Croatia. At the beginning of his studies in 2015, he started working as a marketing manager in the „FSB Racing Team“ and as an automotive journalist in the TV show „Bez kočnica“ on Nova TV. After two years of gaining experience, he started working at the TV show „Auto Market“ on HRT as a social media manager and journalist, while at the same time he became a PR manager at Avantcar, promoting electric mobility. During 2018, he became a freelance journalist and wrote professional articles for magazines and newspapers such as the Auto klub, Auto Start, 24sata and Vozim.hr. At the end of 2020, he became the head of marketing in the Croatian National E-Mobility Association „Strujni krug“ and in a couple of monts he became the secretary general of the Association. In 2021, he graduated in journalism and strategic communication at the Faculty of Political Science in Zagreb.

Marko Babić is a responsible for Business Development in the South-East Europe Sub Region. Professional history of more than ten years in Oil & Gas Industry includes a variety of technical positions, ranging from engineering, procurement and project management in numerous large-scale projects as well as providing complete technical solutions in Sales Department.

Currently, his primary responsibility is helping the customers achieve their objectives by providing safe, reliable, and high-efficient Rotating, Electrical, Automation, and Digital products, solutions, and services that deliver sustainable value across customers’ operations.

Skilled business professional with experience in quantitative finance and programming. Co-founder of Eutopia – an AI-powered platform to access information about over 25k climate startups such as climate impact metrics, patents, financials, traction, contacts, and others.

His passion for big data and programming allowed him to develop the tech behind Eutopia. Prior to co-founding Eutopia, Andrea was working at Morgan Stanley as a Quantitative Risk Analyst; crunching data was part of his daily duties.

Karlo is Manager for New areas and strategic initiatives, at Ericsson Nikola Tesla, focusing on creating market opportunities and developing new product portfolio in the area of environment monitoring and sustainable development for smart city concepts, industry environment footprint minimization and enabling digital transformation in environmental ecosystem health estimation and monitoring.

With academic  background in business and strategic management, Karlo focuses on new and innovative business models and concepts, most suitable for digital transformation of various market niches as well as social trends and services. Now after 15 years of experience in IT industry with focus on business and strategy, he is working on  ‘greenification’ of various industry verticals focusing on behavior change all along the industry value chain targeting direct and indirect environment footprint  – addressing suppliers, production business processes, customers and local communities that industries interact with. Apart from customer and market focus, the strategic part of his work is related to driving activities that are needed for proper market positioning in targeted areas (focusing on portfolio development, cross industry offering and portfolio replication, ecosystem building, partner management and other).

I am an executive with passion and ability to identify improvement and growth opportunities, envisage what needs to be done and deliver results through leading change, building capabilities and energizing individuals and teams.  I find joy in motivating and empowering individuals to perform significantly better in their personal and professional lives. My purpose is to bring to people the inspiration to change and the energy and tools to realize it.

An Electrical & Electronics Engineer by education, I come with over 30 years of operational and consulting experience acquired at P&G, Gillette, Cisco Systems, McKinsey and Egon Zehnder International in the US, England, Turkey and Central & Eastern Europe.  I am also the co-founder of Eurasia Capital Partners, an independent private equity fund that was founded in 2010 with commitments from institutions such as IFC, EBRD, EIF and FMO to make growth investments in small-to-mid sized companies in Turkey.  My functional experience spans across sales & marketing, engineering & manufacturing, finance, strategy, business development and HR.  Experiences in these areas, through various stages of my career, have helped me develop competencies in growth strategy, channel and brand strategy, sales force effectiveness, profitability improvement, organizational change, internet entrepreneurship and e-commerce, M&A, post-merger integration, partnerships & strategic alliances and external relations.

After having worked for a decade in journalism—mostly in the (sports) editorial office of Večernji list—for the last 5 years, she has been working on the other side of the communication spectrum. Her main task is to shape the public image and narratives of clients she believes have a good story to tell. In the Croatian PR agency with the most international awards, she works with clients from various sectors, particularly with public policy makers and large companies. Together with the Vajt communication team, she has worked on a number of successful political, socially responsible and other campaigns, designed strategic communications for companies and individuals, and worked on implementation of projects, many of which have been in the field of sustainability.

Impact House is a Croatian social enterprise that makes, monitors and measures social and environmental impact.

Working internationally with clients from the Netherlands to Nepal, and Croatia to Kenya, Impact House focuses on three key areas – policy, corporate and community.

Michael’s focus is on developing idea and early stage social enterprises through mentoring and consultancy, as well as supporting companies shift from greenwashing to developing true impact in their CSR strategies.

Sébastien Pellion, Head of Social Impact and Sustainability at Glovo, leads a team that focuses on creating a socially responsible and environmentally friendly growth model for the company to ensure that its impact on society is positive.

He holds a license in Public Policy from SciencesPo in France or the University of Ottawa in Canada, is an expert in sustainable development and impact.

Detria has grown over $6 billion in brand equity for companies such as IDEO, Emirates Airlines, Discovery Channel, and Accenture, to name a few. She has been a keynote speaker for Facebook, Microsoft, Oracle and Web Summit and launched the top-rated Design Podcast in 2021, The Big Question. Check out the recent Wall Street Journal on Detria, showcasing her vision and hope for brands in the new era: https://on.wsj.com/3wHXsfQ

Furthermore, Detria established new internal behaviors amongst executives, ensuring sustainability is a primary driver for innovation and digital transformation.
Having held numerous creative and strategic posts with the world’s top brands for over 20 years, she has an established track record of success in using the power of storytelling fueled by technology to create a sense of belonging for brands – and by so doing, forming global brand communities.

Informed by her experiences living and working around the world, from the U.S. and London to Singapore and across the Middle East, Detria created ICX (inclusive customer experience) which enables visionary leaders to embrace inclusivity as an end-to-end element of their business ecosystem.

Elisabeth “Elli” Köstinger is a former Austrian politician ( ÖVP ). From 2009 to 2017 she was a member of the European Parliament and from 2014 to 2017 deputy federal party chairman. From May 2017 to January 2018 she was general secretary of her party and then briefly president of the National Council . From December 2017 to June 2019 she was Federal Minister for Sustainability and Tourism in the Kurz I and Löger Federal Governments. From January 7, 2020 to May 18, 2022, she held the office of Federal Minister for Agriculture, Regions and Tourism in the Austrian federal governments of Kurz II , Schallenberg and Nehammer.

Andrius is a seasoned FinTech expert and enthusiast. He joined Revolut almost from the very beginning and jumped through multiple positions in the company, leading business development, growth and then people department globally. On top of his partnership at the company, Andrius is currently also a deputy CEO and Board member of Revolut Bank where he’s responsible for operations expansion across Europe where the company has more than 20 million customers alone.

As a transformational leader in the field of Life Sciences and Precision Medicine, Max has a 20 years proven track record as a Commercial Executive in large European and Asian Multi-National companies. His latest corporate role, Vice President for Business Development with Konica Minolta Precision Medicine Inc. based out of Tokyo Japan.

Max holds a Masters Degree in Environmental Life Sciences from the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands, his home country.

He lived and worked in five different countries across Europe, the Middle East and Asia, out of which 7 years in Japan. Max has a strong passion for creating new businesses, leading, mentoring and coaching people with the aim to building highly performing teams across different cultures and changing environments.

In 2019 Max co-founded TeKeya, a startup which he currently leads. TeKeya is a social enterprise, aiming to do good for society and doing well as a business at the same time. Max and team created a mobile application designed to battle food waste. The company is incorporated in Cairo, Egypt and aims to expand into the wider Middle East North African Region over the next few years.

Besides overseeing TeKeya, Max is also a speaker at the Global Forum of Higher Education and Scientific Research (GFHS) in Egypt, guest at EUStartGees (startup) podcast series, a panelist at the Cairo Climate Talks community (CCT) and a mentor for a Startup & Scale-up Bootcamp organization based in Osaka Japan.

When Tijmen was backpacking in Southeast Asia in 2018, he was shocked by the beaches he found full of plastic. So he decided to clean them up. One of his cleanups was filmed in Malaysia and that video went viral on Facebook with 250.000 views in one day. In a few days his ‘The Trashpacker’ gained over 10.000 followers. Thousands of locals and travelers joined the cleanups from the Trashpacking Tours.
His initiative came all over the news and the idea grew into a global movement among travelers and locals. Trashpackers cleaned up more than 400.000 kilos and educated over 45.000 pupils so far about plastic pollution. Tijmen was one of the speakers at the LEAP Summit in Zagreb, 2022. Instead of flying to the summit, he traveled by train and made a tour from this to make impact along the way. Coming from the Netherlands he visited universities in Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Zagreb and Split to share his story and clean up together with the students.

During the presidency of the Republic of Croatia of the Council of the EU she held the position of State Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and ministre délégué. She obtained the academic degree of Doctor of Science in 2009 at the Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences. From 2017 to 2019, she held the position of State Secretary for Transport in the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure. Between 2002 and 2016, she worked as the head of the Intermodal Transport Department at the Faculty of Transport Sciences.

As  director of experiential marketing in the Global Consumer marketing team, I am in charge of designing the Global Content strategy for Priceless.com, with an emphasis on using it as an ideal platform for promoting uniqueness, tradition and culture of destinations around the world. With a passion for sustainability, I have engineered eco-friendly priceless experiences, curated ESG-led partnerships with Croatian tourism regional boards, launched campaigns with Croatian banks, presented new eco- friendly products and joint sustainable initiatives. Before joining Mastercard, I built my professional way in various roles,  learning from experts in the media environment, marketing agencies and corporations.

Karla is an ESG expert and sustainability advocate with strong personal inclination towards climate change and environmental topics who is helping individuals and organisations to shift their perspectives and adopt sustainable practices. She is committed to providing advisory services focusing on sustainable business and operations, sustainable finance, sustainability funding and climate change resilience. In her current role as manager in EY Croatia she is guiding clients through their business transformation towards sustainability, helping them assess their existing situation, identify gaps, and start fulfilling their ESG potential. As a qualified lawyer, she also deals with compliance and regulatory matters on various projects for clients from the private and public sector, with a focus on sustainability. In addition, Karla represents EY Croatia in the local association of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), i.e., the Croatian Business Council for Sustainable Development (HRPSOR).

Ivan joined Infobip in 2021 following the acquisition of his conference company Shift. Today, as the Chief Developer Experience Officer, Ivan is at the forefront of Infobip’s path to becoming a developer-centric organization.

As a serial entrepreneur with over a decade of experience in and around startups, he has a track record in creating developer ecosystems. Alongside Shift, he co-founded Codeanywhere in 2013. Ivan is a usual suspect at numerous conferences throughout the world. He loves driving and traveling and has been to over 50 countries so far. In his spare time, he read books, mostly focused on psychology and business.

Louis is the founder and CEO of Nomadic Resorts an award-winning architectural and landscape design office that delivers innovative, experiential hospitality projects  since 2011. 

Louis also founded Nomadic Escapes, a new outdoor hospitality management company creating a series of biophilic, low carbon tented camps in the Indian Ocean for guests to enjoy healthy, outdoor adventure sports. 

Following his hotel management studies in France, Louis was recruited by Six Senses Resorts and Spas in 2004 as a Permaculture consultant and became the group Director of Green Building and Sustainable Landscaping, a role in which he helped develop the group’s ground-breaking Sustainability practices. Throughout his career he has worked at the cutting edge of green building and landscaping projects including ‘Fresh in the Garden’ the pioneering Farm to Fork treetop restaurant at Soneva Fushi, the Treetop Dining Pod at Soneva Kiri and the innovative bamboo treehouses at Playa Viva.

Marko is an entrepreneur who enjoys building something from nothing. On the basic premise of broken hospitality tech, he founded Rentlio in 2014. Today, Rentlio is a product-led high-NPS (79) SaaS, a travel-tech leader in the SEE region with satisfied users in over 40 countries.

Tjaša Ficko is a city councilor on the Zoran Janković List and a Deputy Mayor of Ljubljana since 2010. Her fields of work are culture, tourism, international relations, corporate communication, economy and development projects. She is a member of the Commission for Mandate Questions, Elections and Appointments and the Commission for International Relations.

She is responsible for strengthening the international recognisability and the reputation of the city trademark. She promotes the city vision, activities and achievements at many events at home and abroad and speaks at numerous renowned international conferences (among them at Walk21 Vienna 2015, IMCL Bristol 2015, WEF New Delhi 2018, Urban Future Global Conference Vienna 2018, ICLEI World Congress Montreal 2018, Cycling Scotland Edinburgh 2019, etc.). In 2013, she was in charge of the City Organising Committee of the European Basketball Championship and then of the candidacy and the implementation of the European Green Capital 2016 project, which successfully put Ljubljana on the European map as a city committed to following the green vision while actively carrying out projects for improving the quality of life.

Sandi Fatić is an experienced technology professional who worked at major tech companies such as Google, Meta, NEAR Protocol and founded several startups during his career. He is currently the CEO at Calimero Network, an Enterprise blockchain solution that lets users protect their data while leveraging all the business benefits of open-source blockchains. They recently raised 8.5M USD from top investors including Khosla Ventures -the first investor in OpenAI and many Silicon Valley unicorns.

Hayden has a passion for the conjunction where product and marketing meet. At SET Ventures he is responsible for building on SET’s established reputation by helping it reach new audiences. After working in industries like Aviation, Music and Electric Vehicles he has returned to the world of VC, due to the belief that the climate crisis can only be solved through new innovative companies. At global VC firm Antler, he coached over 40 companies in marketing strategy, product messaging and branding. Hayden continues to help grow the Benelux tech ecosystem by operating as a continued advisor at Antler and a recurring mentor for Startup bootcamp.

Dan Špicer is the CEO of the Scout and Guide Association of Croatia (Scouts Croatia). In 2018, Dan initiated and led the Boranka project, which has since become the largest European voluntary project to re-plant trees destroyed by wildfires and the most awarded non-profit campaign in Croatia.

In 2021, Dan and a group of enthusiasts founded the HEARTH agency, the first Croatian agency specializing in non-profit CSR projects. HEARTH and Scouts have recently launched a new project, CO2MPENSATING BY PLANTING, the first Croatian program that compensates for CO2 emissions by planting trees.

Matt is one of the UK’s leading creative thinkers on cities, inclusion, invention and technology, and their impact on the environment, the economy, and people. He is chairman of the Laboratory of Thought in Amsterdam, focusing on the issue of mobility, partner of smart cities advisory firm SmartPublic, and startup mentor at Georgetown University, Washington. Matt started his career in commercial and marketing at Diageo, then founded the creative agency Brave. He combines private and public sector advisory roles and has recently led and advised several high-growth companies in smart cities, design, and mobility – including Bigbelly, Edenspiekermann, TransitScreen, EAV and Applied Wayfinding.

He loves all things about climate innovation and puts in his hard work to support the development of the startup ecosystem. Federico is the co-founder and CEO of Net Zero Insights (formerly Eutopia), which is an AI-powered platform to access information on over 16k climate startups in Europe, including insights on climate impact, patents, financials, traction, contacts, and much more – essentially a Crunchbase for climate. On a mission to accelerate the transition toward a more sustainable economy, Eutopia provides data, insights, and software tools to help policy-makers, investors and corporations make more informed decisions.

Axel joined Candela early 2022 and is managing business development and international expansion initiatives for commercial vessels. Before Candela, Axel has 12+ years in leading positions related to international business and bringing innovative solutions to global markets. Both as a management consultant as well as part of management teams at companies disrupting their respective fields. Axel has Msc in Business from the Stockholm School of Economics and a Bsc in International Business from Griffith University, Australia.

Maria Lucrezia De Marco, architect and editor, graduated in Architecture from Politecnico di Milano. Since 2016 he has been working at the Stefano Boeri Architetti studio, where he participates in projects for the regeneration and enhancement of the natural dimension in urban contexts.

In 2020 she collaborated as an external tutor in the Urban Planning Design workshop,  focused on the investigation of the relationship between cities and historic villages. She is Coordinator of the Communication department at Stefano Boeri Architetti, where she follows editorial projects; she is one of the authors of “Green Obsession: Trees Towards Cities, Humans Towards Forests ” (published by Actar in 2021).

Zoran Pejović is a seasoned hospitality executive with over 20 years of experience and numerous successful hotel and restaurant openings. As Chief Transformation Officer at Lošinj Hotels & Villas by Jadranka Turizam Ltd, Zoran drives change, strategy, and innovation. Previously, as Development Director at award winning properties Maslina Resort and Villa Nai 3.3, he led the entire process from conceptualization to global positioning, earning global recognitions for both properties. Zoran is dedicated to innovation, people development, and continuous education.

During his career, which began in Arthur Andersen in 1987, Riccardo gained experience in auditing, corporate organization and finance. He developed competences on issues of environmental management of companies and the integration of sustainability into the business. In particular, in 1998 he defined, developed and led Arthur Andersen’s environmental consulting activities in Italy, continuing his work in Deloitte since 2002. In 2003 he took over Deloitte’s entire sustainability consulting business and founded the RGA. After leading and developing this company for over 10 years, in 2014 he contributed to the merger of the RGA team with the Sustainability Team of EY, of which he is currently Partner and Manager for the Mediterranean Region. He has gained 30 years of professional experience in the field of sustainability consulting and has managed over 500 consulting projects in the field of sustainability for about 200 different clients. He concretly contributed to the definition and promotion of the “Integration of Sustainability in the Company Core Business” concept through the elaboration of several research between 2017 and 2020 and the organization of dedicated events. Numerous interventions at national and international events dedicated to sustainability including the most recent and relevant:  Forum on Sustainable Development, Baku 2018 ; “Seize the Change” second edition, EY & Fortune, Napoli 2018; Global Sustainability Forum, Luiss, Rome 2019; Towards Business 2030 by Integrating Purpose and Materiality with Innovation and Performance, Luiss, 2019; “Seize the Change” third edition, EY & Forbes, Milan 2020 and following editions until 2023

During the last 3 years he delivered several projects on sustainability strategy and its integration in the core business of the companies Founder and member of the Board of Directors of Anima (Association of the Industrial Union of Rome dedicated to the promotion of CSR). He wrote 4 books on sustainability and business management and numerous articles on sustainability and its integration in the core business of companies.

Jan de Jong moved from the Netherlands to Croatia in 2006 at age 22, where he founded his first business, M+ Group. Today, M+ Group has a listing on the Zagreb Stock Exchange, employs over 12.000 FTE and is among the largest employers in the region

In 2016, Jan made a successful exit from M+ Group, after which he founded Webpower Adria. Today, Webpower Adria is the leading Email Service Provider in the region. Webpower Adria is proud to be among the first companies in Croatia to introduce a 4-day work week.

In 2020, Jan became known as the person who initiated the introduction of a “Digital Nomad Visa” in Croatia when he wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Plenković on LinkedIn, asking him for his kind consideration to introduce such visa in Croatia.

On January 1st, 2021 – Croatia officially became the 2nd country in Europe and the 7th country in the world to welcome digital nomads, having changed both the Alien Act and the Tax law. Jan is the co-founder and President of the Digital Nomad Association Croatia. 

In 2020, Jan also co-founded the company “Crop” through which Jan aims to bring the Dutch high-tech agriculture technology to Croatia with the goal to make Croatia less dependent on importing food and ultimately to help turn Croatia into a food-exporting nation again, like it once was.

Jan is 38 years old, married and a father of 4 children. Jan is a strong believer that positive change in Croatia will not come from politics but will come from its entrepreneurs – and he is a proud member of that exciting community.

Sebastien Cazenave is Senior Director for Global Logistics and Supply Chain for International Medical Corps, a global humanitarian organization. He has spent more than 15 years in developing countries affected by natural disaster, conflict or disease implementing health commodities supply-chain operations and humanitarian programs for various humanitarian organizations. 

For the past seven years, he has led the International Medical Corps global logistics team, providing support to about 30 country programs around the world, as well as to emergency response teams. 

A transformation leader in the field of supply-chain management, he supports digital transition and innovative projects to further optimize the delivery and management of medical commodities and to ensure their quality. Throughout his career, he has witnessed of the impact of supply chain-related carbon emissions in developing countries. He and other International Medical Corps leaders are committed to reducing the impact of humanitarian operations to the environment and to making supply-chain management more sustainable every day.

Tea Blažević is the chief meteorologist at N1 TV where she focuses on covering topics such as climate change and sustainable development. Lately, Tea has increasingly moved towards journalism, hosting two of her own programmes – The Secrets of the Universe and The Future of Climate. The Future of Climate is the only programme in the Croatian media space dealing with the greatest threat humanity has ever faced. On top of that, Tea is very active on social media, where she communicates daily with her audience.

Born in the rain in Manchester, I moved to Croatia’s sunniest island of Hvar via Somaliland in 2002. Enthusiastic about all things Croatia (including the bureaucracy!). I run Total Croatia News, as well as promo channels via LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok and the book, Croatia a Survival Kit for Foreigners

Ivica Puljak was born in 1969. He finished primary and secondary technical school in Split. He went on to study at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Shipbuilding at the University of Split. He received his doctorate in 2000 at the University of Pierre and Marie Curie in Paris, and a doctorate at Ecole Polytechnique and CERN. Since 1994, he has been working at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Shipbuilding in Split. Before taking office as mayor, he was a full-time professor with a permanent position. He also worked as a visiting scientist at CERN in Geneva and visiting professor at the Ecole Polytechnique, Palaiseau, France. He was one of several thousand scientists who participated in the multi-year discovery of the Higgs boson at the European Council for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Switzerland. For his scientific work and achievements, he was awarded the Order of Danica Hrvatska with the image of Ruđer Bošković and was the winner of two awards for science from the University of Split. In addition, he was awarded state prizes for science and state prizes for the popularization of science, as well as many other prizes for science and the popularization of science. He is an active speaker of two languages – English and French.

Stipe graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Split. He obtained a position as the head of the Administrative Department for Tourism and Maritime Affairs of the Split-Dalmatia County, and from 2021 he was elected vice prefect of the Split-Dalmatia County.

Balázs Pál Békeffy has become the head of OTP bank in 2011. After the acquisition of Splitska banka, he became the chairman in one of the top 5 largest banks in Croatia. After graduating in Economics (major: Accounting and Corporate Valuation) from the Budapest University of Economic Sciences and Public Administration (BUES), he joined the PwC before starting an ascend within the banking industry in the OTP group.

Ashkan Hosseini has been working in the energy sector for more than 10 years within the E.ON group in various leadership positions, having been involved in many transformational changes within the company and energy market. 

He has worked in many different parts of the group, in multidisciplinary roles in both business and finance such as; investor relations, leading group wide digital initiatives, working with new energy solutions and managing the energy networks business. Ashkan was also leading the group wide risk management during one of the energy markets largest integrations between E.ON and Innogy and during the Covid-19 epidemic. 

For two years he worked as one of the youngest CFOs within the group responsible for the Croatian and Slovenian business. With a passion for green financing, sustainable energy solutions and a strong ESG focus, he aims to enable the energy transition for the Croatian and Slovenian customers and markets.

She is the director of the company Biovega – a pioneer of the green economy and a market leader in the niche of ecological products.

Driven by a passion for natural and sustainable lifestyles and a vision of positive changes, almost 30 years ago with her husband Zlatko Pejić, she started a series of pioneering projects whose impact is visible today on a social and economic level. As she often points out, the basic capital for business ventures was a passion for sustainable lifestyles and a desire for positive changes.

Jadranka Boban Pejić is the co-founder of Makronova, a leading institution for adult education in the field of natural lifestyles, which acts as a platform for educational programs in the field of personal ecology. Education was also the driving force behind the founding of the publishing house Planetopia, whose most successful author she is and has received numerous awards and recognitions for her books. In 2010, Biovega completed its well-rounded and unique story in our market with the purchase of the first Croatian eco-farm – Zrno, where it develops the production of organic fruits and vegetables, processed foods and bread and bakery products. All products from the estate are used in the bio bistro Zrno in the center of Zagreb, the only restaurant in our region that uses exclusively certified organic food and is the holder of the Eco Gastro certificate.

Jadranka Boban Pejić often points out that her personal mission and greatest joy in life is to inspire and motivate others to live a better life. Therefore, she often participates in B2B seminars and workshops, lectures for business and the general public, and her story continuously attracts the attention of the public.

Karlo is passionate about new and innovative business models and concepts, most suitable for digital transformation of various market niches as well as social trends and services. Now after almost 15 years of experience in the IT industry with focus on business and strategy, I am working on business development and sales activities in ”Sustainability area” focusing on IT solutions that will drive and enable growth of industry outputs while protecting nature and biodiversity by reducing industry/city environment footprint. Apart from customer and market focus, the strategic part of my work is related to driving activities that are needed for proper market positioning in targeted areas (focusing on portfolio development, cross industry offering and portfolio replication, ecosystem building, partner management and other).

Mirsada Kudrić is the general director of the Robert Bosch company for Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. She was born in Germany, where she completed primary and secondary school. She graduated from the Maritime Faculty in Rijeka in 1995, and later earned a degree in business economics at Libertas in 2010 and an Executive MBA at ZŠEM in 2020. After studying in Rijeka, she moved to Zagreb and in 1996 started working at Bosch. Over the years, she held various roles in the company, including head of logistics, HR, internal controls, deputy finance director and deputy general manager. With her work and effort, she managed to stand out and in 2014 became one of the few women in the Bosch group in the position of general director. From the middle of 2020, she led the global project of introducing controlling in the central HR department, and from the beginning of 2022, she assumed the regional function of head of executive financial directors for Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia. Mirsada has extensive experience in business associations and foundations. In addition to several mandates in the management board of AHK, she was twice appointed deputy president of the management board of AHK. He has also been participating in the work of the Knowledge in Action Foundation as a member of the Supervisory Board for several years. Mirsada actively participates in the Bosch Leadership Academy and is dedicated to improving her skills and knowledge in the business world through constant learning and participation in training programs. Outside of work, Mirsada is a married mother of two children and personally advocates for responsible behavior in terms of impact on the environment.

Prammer has been on the Linz municipal council for the SPÖ since May 18, 2017. After the municipal council elections in 2021, he became city councilor for urban planning, city real estate and buildings, schools, waste management.

Kamil Czyż – a graduate of the Jagiellonian University in Cracow (European Relations) and the University of Rzeszów (English and Russian Philology); Head of the Department of the City Brand, Economic Cooperation and Tourism, responsible for international relations, investor service, tourist promotion.

During the war crisis in Ukraine, responsible for overall cooperation with all international partners in Rzeszów, including UN agencies, NGOs, diplomats, media. Also in charge of the humanitarian aid distribution.

Participant of World Bank Housing and Urban Recovery Knowledge Exchange in Japan on Urban Crises.

Speaks fluent Polish, English and Russian.

Bojan Stojkovski  is The Recursive’s Western Balkans Editor, covering tech, innovation, and business for more than a decade. He’s currently exploring AI and blockchain and is always open to covering diverse and exciting topics in the Western Balkans countries. His work has been featured in global media outlets such as Foreign Policy, WSJ, ZDNet, and Balkan Insight.

Graduated from the school of fine arts majoring in fashion design. After that, the Faculty of Instituto Marangoni in Milan for Fashion Designer. Owner of A_A brand since 2011. Work experience abroad in Italy, Slovenia and Turkey. Participation in various fashion shows and projects. Leader of art workshops for children and adults. Illustrator of children’s stories and lecturer at the Italian fashion school Callegari.

I am passionate about Tech Recruitment and Sustainability. Having completed my studies in Sustainable Tourism, I started in Tech because I wanted to understand the world around us. I also host a podcast with founders and executives where we talk about green investments and sustainable banking and technology. I like to speak about the road to Net Zero and how technology can support a sustainable future.

Tea Pestotnik Prebeg received a master’s degree in economics from the Sorbonne (Paris) in 2004 and a master’s degree in international hotel management from Evry in Paris in 2006.

During her studies, she worked in different hotel management positions in hotels in Paris. She then successfully managed the Valamar Diamant hotel in Poreč as general manager for three years, after which she held the position of Director of revenue management in Valamar for 7 years. Today, he successfully leads the Quality and Sustainability Department responsible for service excellence, improving the guest experience, standard operating procedures with internal quality audits, external audits, certificates, environmental protection and sustainability.

Vladimir has been working in the energy sector for more than 10 years and in his rich and varied career path, over 18 years long, working in large companies, he gained a broader insight and answers to what is needed for success in business development and for the improvement of the company’s business goals.

He took management positions in companies very early, and among his responsibilities, Vladimir led projects for the development of e-mobility services on the Croatian market as well as the EV charging network. Also, major engagements were at projects for the development of energy-efficient innovative solutions according to the ESCO model, such as public lighting systems or optimization of water supply systems, then he was responsible for the efficiency of managing energy systems for the supply of eclectic energy and gas for B2C and B2B, but also for energy production solutions from renewable sources from wind farms to solar farms including solutions for both households and business customers. In last 1,5 yrs Vladimir is Director of Customer Solutions Retail in E.ON Hrvatska where with his team managed to establish E.ON as one of the leading companies in commodity business in Croatian market and continue to further develop solutions for Future Energy Home especially in the field of PV power plants for the households as well as e-mobility solutions.

Born in Oslo (Norway), degree in Landscape Planning from Technische Universität Berlin, working for the Berlin Borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf since 1990.

Martina Ferenčić is an experienced strategic marketing and branding expert with over 18 years of active career in marketing. During her career, she has developed and managed several strong international brands in the fast-moving consumer goods sector.

She is currently employed as the Head of Marketing at RASCO (one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of municipal equipment and vehicles for the maintenance of transport infrastructure).

In addition to her professional achievements, she also has a rich academic background. She obtained a Master’s degree at the Faculty of Economics in Osijek, attended the Business School Bled and is currently a PhD student at the Faculty of Economics in Rijeka. She is the author of numerous professional and scientific articles in the field of marketing and holds the status of Senior Lecturer in Economics.

Vojkan Gavrilović is the head of the business sector for local and regional self-government at GDi Ltd Zagreb. In the past 20-plus years at GDi, he has achieved exceptional results and gained extensive experience in large projects related to digitized and centralized management of cities such as Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik, as well as risk and emergency management.

Alen Šterpin has always been fascinated by natural phenomena and meteorology. He is an expert in climate change and has been intensively combining science and technology as well as research and work in the field of climatology for more than 5 years.

Alen is the founder of the popular Croatian mobile application for weather forecast Neverin. Today, he works as Chief Scientific Officer at CLIMATIG, where he leads a team of scientists who make predictions of physical climate risks in the future.

Executive Director at Croatian Artificial Intelligence Association (CroAI). Before that, Martina worked at CroAI as a Project Manager and was in charge of all projects and events regarding the Association – philosophical and tech meetups, parties, educations, conferences etc. She’s currently managing three different EU projects.

Duško Radulović is the founder and CEO of startup Altacon and the creator of CLIMATIG.com, a fintech/insurtech application for climate change risks underwriting. With over 20 years of experience as a board member, director, project management consultant, and project evaluator for several companies and organizations, he holds PhD and MBA diplomas. His area of research is climate change physical risk assessment and carbon footprint.

With 15 years of experience in mechanical engineering, double that in diving, and a few in startup life, it was only a matter of time for Marko Brkljačić, together with startups AIR-RMLD, MIRET, Urban Oasis, NUOTWO, Modulos, VeeMee, to push and create a unique place – GBC HUB. From late 2020, this place gathers Green/Blue/Clean-tech startups (mostly hardware) from Croatia and the surrounding area and increases their possibility of success in developing ideas to save the Earth. It’s the place for startups to network and share information and experience. In 2021, GBC HUB joined Infobip’s startup tribe as a partner, and here we are today, with even more startups to gather.

Impact House is a Croatian social enterprise that makes, monitors and measures social and environmental impact.

Working internationally with clients from the Netherlands to Nepal, and Croatia to Kenya, Impact House focuses on three key areas – policy, corporate and community.

Michael’s focus is on developing idea and early stage social enterprises through mentoring and consultancy, as well as supporting companies shift from greenwashing to developing true impact in their CSR strategies.