Speakers at the OECD International Conference "Competitive Cities and Climate Change"

Ángel Gurría
Secretary-General
OECD

Born on May 8th, 1950, in Tampico, Mexico, Angel Gurría took up the post of Secretary-General of the OECD on 1 June 2006 following a distinguished career in Mexico's public service, including two ministerial posts: Minister of foreign affairs from December 1994 to January 1998 and Minister of finance and public credit from January 1998 to December 2000. Mr. Gurría developed a close relationship with the OECD, overseeing the initial years of Mexico’s membership and chairing the OECD’s Ministerial Council Meeting in 1999. Mr. Gurría holds a B.A. degree in Economics from UNAM (Mexico), and a M.A. degree in Economics from Leeds University (United Kingdom). He served as Mexico’s Permanent Representative to the International Coffee Organisation, based in London, from 1976 to 1978, and held various roles in the financial area of Mexico’s Federal Electricity Commission, National Development Bank (Nafinsa), Rural Development Fund, and the Office of the Mayor of Mexico City. Following a 14-year tenure at Mexico’s Finance Ministry from 1978 to 1992, he became President and CEO of Mexico’s export-import bank, Bancomext in 1992. In 1993, Mr. Gurría was appointed President and CEO of Mexico’s national development bank, Nacional Financiera, specialised in supporting small and medium-sized enterprises.

• Click here to see the Secretary-General's speech

Letizia Moratti
Mayor of Milan

Ms. Letizia Moratti was born in Milan and appointed Mayor of her home town in May 2006, following five years as Minister for Education, University and Scientific Research (2001-2006). Mayor Moratti has held senior level positions at the Italian Insurance and Reinsurance Brokers Association, the Federation of Advanced Services and the Italian National Unification Body. She also has considerable experience in media affairs, having been President of Radio Televisone Italiana (RAI), President and Managing Director of News Corp Europe and Chairman of Syntek Capital Group, an investment company active in the communication and media sectors. She is now Honarary Chairman of the Advisory Board of Syntek and a member of the Advisory Group of Carlyle Group Europe. Ms. Moratti holds degrees in Political Science and Educational and Training Sciences. She is a member of the Advisory Committee of the World Intellectual Property Organization, an Ambassador of the United Nations Againt Drug and Crime ,and has recently been appointed President of the Expo2015 Co-ordinating Committee.

Filippo Penati
President
Province of Milan

Filipppo Penati was elected President of the Province of Milan in June 2004. He was also a professor and Regional Vice-president of the Association of Cooperatives.  From 1985 to 1993 he was Councillor for Budget and Urban Affairs for the City Council of Sesto San Giovanni and he was elected Major in 1994 and in 1998 to 2001. In 1999 he was a candidate for the European Election in the Circoscrizione Nord-ovest, and from 1999 to 2004 he has been Secretary of the Metropolitan Federation of Democratici di Sinistra and Member of its National Board of Directors.

Nicola Zingaretti
President
Province of Rome

Nicola Zingaretti's carreer has developed in the political realm. After reaching top positions at the national level where he was elected in 1991 head of the Young Left (national association of Socialist Youth) and member of the Rome city council in 1992 he moved to international responsibilities. From 1995 to 1997 he has been secretary of the World organization International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) and deputy President of the Socialist International.  He has been member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2008 where he was President of Socialist delegation and participated in the works of the consumers' protection and internal market commitees. Since May 2008 he has been President of the Province of Rome. His term expires in 2013. Nicola's areas of expertise are international relations and human rights.

Jiri Cunek
First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Regional Development
Czech Republic

Jiri Cunek became Head of Labour Safety Department  in Zbrojovka Vsetín Indet in 1993.  He held the position Mayor of Vsetin bewteen 1998 and 2006 when he moved into the the role of Chairman of KDU-ÈSL (Christian-democratic party).  In 2007 he was appointed Minister for Regional Development.  His memberships include Chief Executive of Technical Services Ltd., Chairman - Supervisory Board of Baťa Hospital in Zlín and Chairman of the National Network of Health and Safety.

Rui Nuno Baleiras
Secretary of State for Regional Development
Portugal

Born in Lisbon 1963, Rui Nuno Baleiras is Portugal’s Secretary of State for Regional Development. He is an academic economist with experience in policy advising. He has advised Portugal’s Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities on the reform of local financing rules, and has co-ordinated a research group to design a strategic development plan for a major Portuguese municipality. Besides regular chairs at Universidade Nova of Lisbon, Mr. Baleiras has trained many post-graduates through academic and professional programmes, ranging from public finance principles to prospective senior officials of the (then) future East Timor administration to spatial economics and policy to graduate students and monetary economics to bankers. Mr. Baleiras is Associate Professor, School of Economics and Business Administration, Universidade do Minho (Braga) and has also taught in China, East Timor and Angola. He holds a PhD in Economics from the Universidade Nova of Lisbon and wrote his thesis on political economy in local governments. Mr. Baleiras also holds a Graduate Diploma of Advanced European Studies in Economics from the College of Europe and was awarded the “Grande-Oficial da Ordem do Infante Dom Henrique” by President Sampaio in 2005.

David Miller
Mayor of Toronto
&
Chair of the C40 Large Cities Climate Leadership Group

Like most Torontonians, David Miller immigrated to Toronto. Before running for public office, he was a partner at the Toronto law firm Aird & Berlis, where he specialized in employment and immigration law and shareholder rights. He became a Metro councillor in 1994, and in 1997 he was elected to the new City of Toronto council where he served two terms.  In November 2003, Torontonians chose David Miller as their new mayor and in November, 2006 he was re-elected for a second four-year term. Among his many accomplishments as mayor, securing a New Deal for Cities with senior orders of government is one of his proudest. Under his leadership Toronto has become the only city in Canada with a direct agreement with the federal government on transit funding. In addition to advocating for the city of Toronto, David Miller has also become one of the dominant voices for the national urban agenda. Mayor Miller has also worked to make Toronto a world-leading city on environmental issues and on June 4, 2008 he was appointed chair of the influential C40 Group of World Cities leading the fight against Climate Change. David Miller received a degree in economics from Harvard University and a law degree from the University of Toronto.

Teresa Ribera Rodríguez
Secretary of State for Climate Change
Spain

From 2004 to 2008, Teresa Ribera Rodríguez held the position of Director of the Spanish Climate Change Bureau. From 2001 to 2004 she was Head of Unit for Compliance and Development at the Spanish Climate Change Bureau. In parallel, she was also Associated Professor of Law, in the Department of Public Law and Philosophy of Law, at the Universidad Autónoma of Madrid.  Prior to this position, she worked from January 1997 to 2001 as a Technical Adviser at the Cabinet of the Deputy Secretary of Environment, and as Head of Service of Legal issues at the Technical General Secretariat of the Ministry of Public Works. She obtained her degree in Law by the Complutense University in Madrid, in 1992, and, later on, she became diplomat in Constitutional and Public Law and Political Sciences by the Centro de Estudios Constitucionales.

Takeshi Abe
Advisor
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
Japan
&
Vice-chair
OECD Territorial Development Policy Committee

Mr. Abe is Advisor to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT). He was born in Tokyo in 1950. In 1974 he graduated from the University of Tokyo Faculty of Law and entered the Ministry of Construction(MOC), where he served in a number of important posts, including Director of International Planning Office, Economic Affairs Bureau; Director of the General Affairs Division, City and Regional Development Bureau;   Director of Aerodrome Department, Civil Aviation Bureau, MLIT; Deputy Director-General, City and Regional Development Bureau, MLIT; and Director-General, Land and Water Resource Bureau, MLIT. After serving as the Senior Executive Director of Development Bank of Japan, he is the Senior Executive Director of Real Estate Transaction Improvement Organization at present. He has been active internationally, and today, he serves as vice chair of the OECD Territorial Development Policy Committee (TDPC) and vice chair of the Urban Working Party of TDPC.

Gotelind Alber
 Freelance Consultant

Ms. Alber is a freelance consultant and has 25 years of work experience in the field of energy and climate policy. Her areas of expertise include local and regional climate policy, renewable energies and energy efficiency, multi-level governance, and gender and climate policy. She is currently undertaking consultancy work for Austria’s Federal Minsitry for Transport, Innovation and Technology on the ‘Energy Regions’ programme, for the German Ministry for the Economy on the ‘Renewable Energies Export Initiative’ programme, and for the Women for Climate Justice initiative. She recently completed work for the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe and for the Climate Alliance on its Climate Compass methodology. Ms. Alber was Managing Director of the Climate Alliance of European Cities between 1997 and 2006, where she worked previously as a Project Manager. She has also worked for the Oeko-Institut (Institute for Applied Ecology) and eboek, a consultancy on energy and environment. Ms. Alber studied at the University of Tuebingen and the Free University of Berlin and holds an advanced university degree in Physics.

Antonio Armellini
Ambassador
Permanent Delegation of Italy to the OECD

Antonio Armellini is Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Italy to the OECD. He was born in 1943 and joined the Italian diplomatic service in 1969. His postings have included Brussels, Warsaw, Addis Abeba, Vienna, Helsinki, London, Algiers, Baghdad and New Delhi. In Rome, he has worked in the Foreign Minister’s and Prime Minister’s Private Office, and in the Foreign Ministry’s Secretariat General, Political, Economic, Development Aid, Europe and Middle East Directorates. He also worked for the Council of Europe in 1968-1969.Mr. Armellini graduated in Law from the University of Rome, “La Sapienza”, in 1967, with a dissertation on international economics. He also studied at Stanford University in 1962-63 as an “ASSU Scholar” and “Fulbright Scholar”. Mr. Armellini was Adjunct Professor of Comparative Politics, Faculty of Political Sciences, LUISS University, Rome (2003-04) and has been a Director of SAVE-Venice Airport (1986-1989) and of the “Venezia 2000” foundation.

 Pedro Ballesteros Torres
Principal Administrator
DG Energy and Transport
European Commission

Pedro Ballesteros Torres is principal administrator at DG Energy and Transport the European Commission. Among his duties, he is in charge of the launch and management of the Covenant of Mayors, the EU initiative to have the cities leading the fight against climate change, the Sustainable Energy Europe Campaign, the European Commission programme for communication on clean energy, the ManagEnergy initiative, to foster local action on sustainable energy and transport, the co-ordination at DG TREN of the Intelligent Energy Europe programme and the initiative Islands for Sustainable Energy. He is Engineer in Food Industry at the Universidad Politécnica of Madrid, and has a MBA in Energy Business. From 1984 to 1994 worked as consultant in energy and environment topics for European institutions and United Nations. He's working at the European Commission since 1995.

Renato Boreato
Director:Urban Mobility
Brazilian Institute of Energy and Environment

Renato Boareto is an Environmental Manager, with emphasis on urban environment. He is currently the Director of urban mobility at the Brazilian Institute of Energy and Environment, an NGO that provides technical support to Brazil's federal, state and municipal governments. Between 2003 and 2008, he was the Director for Urban Mobility at the SeMob, the National Secretariat of Transport and Urban Mobility within the Ministry of Cities. As Director, he worked on the formulation and implementation of the “Urban Mobility Policy for Sustainable Cities” programme. He also epresented the Ministry of Cities on the Inter-Ministerial Committee for Global Climate Change, where he was responsible for approving the Brazilians Clean Development Mechanism Projects, and also sat on the Inter-Ministerial Management Committee of Cleaner Production. Renato Boreato was a member of the Brazilian official delegation at the XIV Meeting of the United Nations Commission for Sustainable Development (New York, 2006) and represented the Ministry of Cities in numerous other events. He has also been responsible for: drafting "Pro-Transport" and "ProMob," funding programmes for urban mobility infrastructure; coordinating the "Bicycle Brazil" programme for the development of non-motorized means of transportation and cycling networks and the "Brazil Accessible" programme for promoting accessibility for people with disabilities and mobility restrictions; and for developing the "PlanMob" which draws up master plans of urban mobility articulated with urban planning and reduction of environmental impacts.

 Joan Boer
Ambassador
Permanent Delegation of the Netherlands to the OECD

Mr Joan Boer is Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the OECD since June 2004.  Since January 2007 he is chairing OECD’s External Relations Committee. He is leader of the OECD-India reflection group and co-chair of the joint venture on Management for Development Results of DAC.  At the OECD he also served as a member of the working group on evaluation. He has been on several boards of research institutes and was chair of a private education foundation in the Netherlands.  He presently serves on an advisory committee to Oxfam/Novib and is a member of World Connectors, a round table for people and the planet. His previous assignments were Deputy Director-General International Co-operation of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Director Rural and Urban Development and Director Special Programs and Sector Assistance. Ambassador Boer has travelled extensively and has hands-on development experience in Kenya and Rwanda.

  Bernardo Bortolleti
Executive Director
Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei

Bernardo Bortolotti is Associate Professor in economics at the University of Turin and Executive Director of Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM), Milan. His research interests are in privatization, regulation, and corporate finance. His work appeared in major academic journals and he has published two  books with Oxford University Press. He has served as consultant for the World Bank and as secretary of the Italian Global Advisory Committee on Privatization. He is the founder of the Privatization Barometer ( www.privatizationbarometer.net). He holds a PhD in economics from the Université Catholique de Louvain.

Katrina Bull
Portfolio Holder for Environment and Climate Change
Nottingham City Council

Katrina Bull has served on the Cabinet of Nottingham City Council since 2006. From 2007 she has had responsibility for Environment and Sustainability, which includes Climate Change, Cleansing, Waste Management and Public Health. A Councillor since 2000, she has performed roles in policy areas including Neighbourhoods and Communities, Culture, Leisure and Young People. Previously she was a Regional Director for the pro-European campaign group Britain in Europe. She sits on the European Union Committee of the Regions. Katrina holds an honours degree in Politics from Sussex University and also studied at Aberdeen University and Uppsala University in Sweden.

Abel Caballero
Mayor of Vigo

Abel Caballero was born in 1946 and is the mayor of Vigo. Mr. Caballero has been a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) since 1980 and was Minister of Transport, Tourism and Communications from 1985 to 1988. He was a Member of Parliament between 1982 and 1994, and has also been a Member of the European Parliament. Mr. Caballero holds a PhD in Economics from the universities of Santiago de Compostela and Cambridge. He taught at the University of Santiago de Compostela and is Professor of Economic Theory at the Faculty of Economic and Business Sciences at the University of Vigo. Mr. Caballero chaired the Spanish Association for Regional Sciences between 1982 and 1985 and was President of the Port Authority of Vigo between 2005 and 2007.

David Cadman
President
ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability

Mr. David Cadman is President and board chair of ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability. He is Councillor in Vancouver City Council, Canada. In Geneva, he achieved an MA in Interdisciplinary and International Development. He studied adult education at the Sorbonne in Paris. Mr. Cadman spent several years in Tanzania and Kenya developing literacy programs. In 1976 he came back to Canada and settled in British Columbia. He worked for the Social Planning and Research Council in establishing a community development institute. In 1978 he began working for the Metro Greater Vancouver Regional District and spent the better part of the next 20 years with them working in public consultation, communications and education. Prior to his election success, David was working as a private consultant. Mr. Cadman has served as the President of the Society Promoting Environmental Conservation (SPEC). He also served at the national and international level of the United Nations Association, and was awarded the UN Peace medal and UN 50th Anniversary medal.

Jan Corfee-Morlot
Principal Administrator
Climate Change Division
Environment Directorate
OECD

Jan Corfee-Morlot is a climate change expert and senior policy advisor with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.  The OECD is an inter-governmental organisation representing 30 member countries based in Paris.  She has dedicated a large part of her career to work in the intergovernmental sector to transforming policies & institutions to limit global warming, also having written numerous academic articles and contributed to several books on these topics.  Her most recent research interests are on the interaction between science and policy on climate change and multilevel governance and politics of climate change.  She is a member of the Nobel Prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, having served most recently as a Lead Author and Contributing Author in the Fourth Assessment, Working Groups II on Impacts & Adaptation, and Working Group III on Mitigation.  Ms Corfee-Morlot is a native Californian, and naturalised French citizen, having lived and worked in France since 1986. She has held previous positions with the International Energy Agency (also in Paris), Pacific Gas and Electric Company in California and state and local governments in other states.  She has a BSc from University of California, Berkeley and MSc from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and recently completed her PhD at University College London.

Wade Crowfoot
Director
Climate Protection
Government of San Fransisco

Wade Crowfoot directs climate protection intiatives for the government of San Francisco, California. In this role, he advances landmark energy and transportation policy for San Francisco's Mayor Gavin Newsom. Under Mayor Newsom's leadership, San Francisco has achieved a five percent reduction in carbon emmission levels below 1990 levels. This progress has been acheived through landmark policies such as the strongest green building standards in the United States, an unprecedented local rebate for solar installations, and the conversion of the entire muncipal vehicle fleet to biodeisel fuel.

Mary Crass
Principal Administrator
Transport Policy Division
International Transport Forum

Mary Crass is a Principal Administrator and senior policy analyst for the Paris-based International Transport Forum, an intergovernmental organisation within the OECD. She is responsible for the organisation’s work on sustainable urban travel, accessible transport and social inclusion, and crime and terrorism in transport, as well as for programme development for the International Transport Forum, the next of which will be held in Leipzig in May 2009 on Transport for a Global Economy. Prior to joining the OECD, Ms. Crass worked as a private consultant focusing on transport and environment issues for among others the UN Environment Programme, the European Commission and OECD, as well as private enterprise. She was previously with a U.S.-based environmental consulting firm specialising in environmental technical assistance work in developing countries and economies in transition. Ms. Crass has a Masters Degree in international economics and energy and environment policy from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and a B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin.

Romain Diederich heads the Directorate for Spatial Development and Planning in Luxembourg’s Ministry of the Interior and for Spatial Development. He is responsible for spatial and urban development and planning matters from the local to the European level. In 1996, he started working for the Ministry of National Education. Responsible for spatial planning and analysis, he collaborated, among others projects, in the setting up of the unit Geography and Development (GEODE) of the CEPS-INSTEAD. His long experience in teaching geography and spatial planning spans from secondary education to teaching positions at the Universities of Metz and Luxembourg as associate professor. He also organised and coordinated the Master in European Sustainable Spatial Development and Analysis at the University of Luxembourg from 2003 to 2006. Romain Diederich completed his studies in geography and planning at the universities of Luxembourg and Strasbourg with a PhD thesis on the ‘Accessibility and Flows in Luxembourg-City; Multi-modal Simulation of the Motorized Traffic’.

Peter Dormand
City Energy and Resource Manager
Newcastle City Council

Peter Dormand is the City Energy and Resource Manager for the City of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. Newcastle is a coastal surf city two hours north of Sydney. It is the capital of the Hunter Region that is renowned for world class wines and for being the world’s largest coal exporting port. Peter spent the first decade of his working career in the electricity supply industry before moving into local government. His technical studies and qualifications include electrical engineering, industrial electronics, refrigeration, air conditioning and lighting design. His passion however is connecting people and their communities to new ideas and new ways of doing things. He believes the best way to do this is to show people how to do something rather than telling them what they should do. Peter and his team have worked for the past decade developing and refining the ClimateCam® system of action based programs. ClimateCam® is essentially the world’s first greenhouse gas speedometer and has been designed to engage and mobilise entire communities to achieve deep and sustainable cuts in greenhouse gas emissions at the local level. Peter suggests that without ClimateCam® it would be like trying to stop people from speeding in a world where motor vehicles have no speedometers.

Mark Drabenstott
Director
RUPRI Center for Regional Competitiveness
University of Missouri-Columbia
&
Chair
OECD Territorial Development Policy Committee

Mark Drabenstott is a seasoned observer of regional development and policy issues whose insights have gained national and international recognition. Mark, a native of Markle, Indiana, was named founding director of RUPRI’s national Center for Regional Competitiveness at the University of Missouri-Columbia in September 2006. The Center is an interdisciplinary public policy institute that helps regions craft world-class development strategies for competing in the global economic race. Mark has engaged leading topics related to regional development and related policies throughout his career. He spent 25 years in the Federal Reserve System, and led the creation and development of the Center for the Study of Rural America.  He has been a prolific researcher, writing more than 150 articles and editing 10 books. He has shared his economic and policy insights very widely and has been invited to share his policy insights with Congress on numerous occasions. Mark is actively involved in global efforts to understand the new frontier of regional competitiveness. He is chairman of the OECD’s Territorial Development Policy Committee, the premier global forum on regional development policy, and in 2005 was selected to chair a U.S. Department of Commerce advisory panel that conducted the first major review of federal economic development in 40 years. He has also advised the World Bank. Mark earned his bachelor’s degree from Earlham College and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Iowa State University.

Joan Fitzgerald
Director
Law, Policy and Society Programme
Northeasten University

Joan Fitzgerald is professor and director of the Law, Policy, and Society program at Northeastern University (and currently a visiting scholar at New York University). She is completing her third book, Emerald Cities: Linking Climate Change and Economic Development, which addresses the link between greenhouse gas reduction strategies and economic development. It will be published by Oxford University Press. Emerald Cities builds on her 2002 book, Economic Revitalization: Strategies and Cases for City and Suburb, which identifies strategies for incorporating sustainability and social justice goals into urban economic development planning. Fitzgerald has published in academic journals such as Economic Development Quarterly, Urban Affairs Quarterly, Urban Affairs and the political journal, The American Prospect. Her academic and consulting work has been supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur, Annie E. Casey, Rockefeller Brothers, Century, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundations. She has also conducted research for the U.S. Department of Labor, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, the Boston Housing Authority and other government agencies. Fitzgerald received her BA and MA in sociology and Ph.D. in Community Systems Planning and Development from the Pennsylvania State University.

Bryan Glascock
Director of Environment
City of Boston

In 2004, Bryan Glascock was appointed Director of the Environment Department for the City of Boston by Mayor Thomas M. Menino after serving as the Executive Director of the Boston Air Pollution Control Commission for a number of years.  He holds a Bachelors degree in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts/Boston, a Juris Doctor from New England School of Law and a Masters in Public Administration from the JFK School of Government at Harvard where he was a Rappaport Urban Scholar Fellow.  Prior to coming to the City of Boston, Bryan worked for several environmental engineering consultants doing stationary source air emissions sampling.  While with the City, Mr. Glascock has developed programs on household hazardous waste collection, multi-media environmental enforcement, air and noise pollution control, abrasive blasting/chemical cleaning, integrated pest management, environmental impact assessment review, parking supply and transportation-demand management, energy conservation and sustainable development.

Sara Topelson de Grinberg
Undersecretary for Urban and Regional Development
Mexico

Ms. Grinberg is Undersecretary for Urban and Regional Development for the Federal Government in Mexico. During her career as a partner in the architectural firm Grinberg & Topelson, she has developed projects in the fields of housing, industry, education, culture and low-income housing. In addition to her work in private practice, Sara has been a professor at the Universidad Anahuac, conducting workshops in urban and architectural design and teaching history of architecture for 25 years. She received in May 2000 the Academic’s Merit Medal, for 28 years of Excellency in academic work. Mrs. Grinberg was President of the International Union of Architects (UIA) 1996 – 1999. Named Mexico’s Woman of the Year 1996.
A Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, the Japan Institute of Architects, and the Royal Institute of Australian Architects, recently became honorary member of the Royal Institute of British Architects and of the Spanish Council of Architects. From 2001 to 2003, she was Director of Architecture of the National Institute of Fine Arts of Mexico; She was General Director of Urban Development for the municipality of Huixquilucan, State of Mexico - MEXICO, 2003 – 2004. Currently she is Coordinating the Housing Documentation and Research Center (CIDOC), Mexico, founded in 2000 where she has promoted research projects, among them the annual Study “The State of Mexico’s Housing”.

Hanna Jahns
State Secretary
Ministry of Regional Development
Poland

Hanna Jahns was appointed Secretary of State in Poland’s Ministry of Regional Development in December 2007. She was born on 3 June 1973 in Poznan. Ms. Hanna Jahns holds a degree from the International Economics and Politics Faculty of the Academy of Economics in Poznan and a PhD in Economics from the Warsaw School of Economics. She also studied at the University of Aalborg in Denmark with a scholarship from the EU. She worked at the Economic Trends Research Institute (IKCHZ) from 1998 to 2006 and is the author of several dozen publications and scientific articles. From 2000 to 2003 she worked at the Ministry of Regional Development as Chief of the EU Accession Negotiation Section in the Department of Structural Policy Coordination. She also gained expertise of regional development programming through work experience at the Government Office for Yorkshire and Humberside in the UK and at the DG REGIO in 2002. From 2003 to 2007, Hanna Jahns was Chief of the Regional and Cohesion Policy Department at the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Poland to the European Union, where she was in charge of monitoring and analysis of policy and legislative work of European institutions dealing with Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund. In March 2007, she started working at the European Commission’s Directorate General for Regional Policy (DG REGIO), where she led the budget team. She was responsible for annual programming, managing the Directorate’s resources to conduct structural policy, and reporting on financial advancements in implementing funds granted to member states. She suspended her work at DG REGIO following her appointment as Secretary of State.

Nigel Jollands
Principal Administrator
Energy Efficiency & Environment Division
International Energy Agency

Dr. Nigel Jollands's career spans 15 years in energy, resource management and economic analysis fields.  In November 2006 he took up a post with the International Energy Agency where he is the Principal Administrator in the Energy Efficiency and Environment Division. This role includes leading the IEA’s energy efficiency policy analysis, coordinating the IEA’s energy efficiency advice to the G8 under the Gleneagles Plan of Action, co-ordinating the Agency’s Energy Efficiency Working Party and participating in In-depth Reviews of member country energy policies. Nigel is currently also leading the IEA’s work on energy in cities and a project on energy efficiency and governance.  Nigel was previously Principal Ecological Economist in the New Zealand Centre for Ecological Economics (NZCEE) at Landcare Research.  He has also held posts in New Zealand as Senior Lecturer at Massey University, as a policy analyst in Wellington at various Ministries (Ministry of Commerce; Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority and Ministry for the Environment). He has published numerous journal articles and contributed to several books in the area of energy efficiency and ecological economics.

Lamia Kamal-Chaoui
Head
Urban Development Programme
Regional Competitiveness and Governance Division
OECD

In her current position, Mrs. Kamal-Chaoui is conducting an extensive programme of work, including a series of 20 OECD metropolitan reviews (e.g. Milan, Madrid, Cape Town, Toronto, Stockholm, Seoul, Istanbul, Montreal, Mexico City) and assessment of national urban policies in OECD member countries. This programme focuses on issues related to city competitiveness, urban governance and local finance, urban infrastructure and environment, social cohesion and distressed areas. Mrs. Kamal-Chaoui also regularly organizes OECD international conferences in collaboration with City Mayors. She is the main author of the recently published OECD book "Competitive Cities in the Global Economy" that includes a unique statistical international database of 78 functional metro-regions with 1.5 and more inhabitants. She also animates the work of the OECD Working Party on Urban Areas, which is presently the main international forum for discussion and exchange of experience in the field of urban policy among senior public officials. Mrs Kamal-Chaoui had also worked on regional development policies, multi-level governance and fiscal federalism, social and labour market policies. Previously, she had worked in other OECD departments, where she was involved in the reviews on regulatory reform of Korea and Japan, as well as in a study on Foreign Direct Investment in China. Before joining the OECD in 1997, Lamia worked as a consultant for the Office of the French Prime Minister’s Commissariat General du Plan where she produced the report «Trade Policy under Imperfect Competition ». She has also had experience as a journalist for several print and broadcast media.

Nancy Kete
Director
EMBARQ
The WRI Center for Sustainable Development

Nancy Kete is the director of EMBARQ, the WRI Center for Sustainable Transport. Although she has been with the World Resources Institute since 1992, she had an extensive role in the 1990 Clear Air Act Amendments during her experience with the US government and international agencies. She was the principal architect of the acid rain control provisions of that law, which represent the first large-scale practical application of a tradable emissions program. She has been part of numerous US delegations to international environmental negotiations and having served as the Science Advisor for Environmental Affairs for the US Mission to the OECD, where she co-chaired the Joint Experts Group on Trade and Environment.  Nancy left the government to join the World Resources Institute in 1997, where she directed the Climate, Energy and Pollution program for five years until she launched and became managing director of EMBARQ, the WRI Center for Transport and the Environment.  At present, she is serving on the National Transportation Policy Project of the Bipartisan Policy Commission and is in the board of directors of the Centro de Transporte Sustentable-México and Centro de Transporte Sustentável-Brasil.

Kenji Kitahashi
Mayor of Kitakyushu

Mayor Kitahashi holds a law degree from Tokyo University. He was first elected as a House of Representatives member in 1986. In 1994 he became Parliamentary Vice Minister of Finance and in 1996 he went on to become Senior Director of Committee on Transportation. He became Chairperson of the House of Representatives Committee on Environment in 1998.1999 saw him move in to the position of Senior Director of Finance Committee followed by Local Government System Research Council member and 2005 and Senior Director of the Special Committee on Administrative Reform in 2006.  He has been Mayor of Mayor, City of Kitakyushu since early 2007.

Alexander Likhotal
President and CEO
Green Cross

Alexander Likhotal holds a PhD in Political Science and History. In addition to academic career Alexander Likhotal served as a European Security analyst for  the Soviet Union leadership. In 1991, he was appointed Deputy Spokesman and Advisor to the President of the USSR. He remained with President Gorbachev (after his resignation) as his advisor and spokesman and worked at the Gorbachev Foundation as the International and Media Director.  As President of Green Cross International he is actively involved in furthering sustainable development principles in the international agenda.

David Lunsford
Policy Leader: Emissions Trading
International Emissions Trading Association

David works in Geneva on greenhouse gas trading policy for the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA). He also analyzes the global growth in carbon capture and storage development and deployment, focusing on its recognition in emissions trading systems. In his current role, David interacts with governments and the private sector on varying levels, encouraging climate change strategies that make sense for business and policy-makers alike. He has several years of experience in the capital markets, including as an investment analyst, and possesses an MBA focusing on International Organizations from the University of Geneva.

Imma Mayol Beltran
Deputy Mayor
Barcelona City Council

Born in Palma de Mallorca in 1958, Imma Mayol Beltran currently resides in Barcelona. She holds a Degree in Psychology from the University of Barcelona and is a member of the Professional College of Psychologists of Catalonia. Before entering politics she worked in the local authorities sphere, in Barcelona City Council -firstly in the Social Services Department (1981) and then in the Youth Department (1982-1987)- and in IGIA -professional consultants in research, training and guidance in social psychology, drug addiction and health promotion, as director (1984-1989). From 1992 to 1999 she was a Parliamentary Deputy in the Catalan Parliament. In 1999 she was candidate for Barcelona for the first time, and since then has been President of the Municipal Group of ICV-EUiA, until May 2008. She is currently Deputy Mayor and Chair of the Sustainability, Urban Services and Environment Commission. She is also President the Local Institute of Parks and Gardens, and the Local Energy Agency.

Ira C. Magaziner
Chairman
Clinton Climate Initiative

Ira C. Magaziner currently serves as the Chairman of the Clinton Climate Initiative and the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative. He is also on the board of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation and the Clinton Hunter Development Initiative. From 1993 through 1998, he served as Senior Advisor to President Clinton for Policy Development at the White House. In this capacity, he supervised the development and implementation of the administration's policy for commercialization of the Internet and worked with First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton on the development of the President's Health Reform Initiative. Mr. Magaziner also chaired a joint National Economic Council/National Security Council Initiative to increase US exports and served as a member of the National Domestic Policy Council. Prior to his White House appointment, Mr. Magazine earned respect as one of America's most successful corporate strategists, building two successful corporate strategy consulting firms and assisting major corporations in developing their business strategies. Prior to forming his own companies, he worked for the Boston Consulting Group. Mr. Magaziner graduated in 1969 from Brown University and attended Balliol College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. Mr. Magaziner has served on the boards of numerous charitable and educational organizations nationally and his home state of Rhode Island.

Lajos Oláh
Secretary of State
Ministry of Environment and Water
Hungary

Lajos Oláh is Secretary of State in Hungary’s Ministry of Environment and Water. He is also Chairman of the South Great Plain Regional Development Council. Mr. Oláh has been on the board of directors of various bodies, including the Land Credit and Mortgage Bank, the Hungarian Privatization and State Property Agency, and the Hungarian Oil & Gas Company. He has also been Vice-President of the Regional Energy Exchange Association, Chairman of the Stock Exchange Issuers Advisory Council, and a member of the Council of the Budapest Stock Exchange. Mr. Oláh is a member of the Hungarian Socialist Party and held various positions within the party before becoming Secretary of State: Deputy for the Environment, Vice-president of the Hungarian Progressive Association Platform, member of the National Executive Committee and National Headquarters Director.Mr. Oláh has worked for Primagáz Hungaria, the Central Depository and Clearing House and as a business consultant. He graduated from the Budapest Eötvös Loránd Science University (Faculty of Law) and also trained/was educated at the Korean Stock Exchange, the European Manager School and the universities of Stellenbosch and Witwatersrand in South Africa.

Adam Knelman Ostry
Chair
OECD Working Party on Urban Areas

Adam Knelman Ostry is currently responsible for policy issues relating to cities and communities at Infrastructure Canada. In 2003, the Government announced the creation of the Cities Secretariat within the Privy Council Office.  Mr. Ostry was appointed its Deputy Head, responsible for policy, after having led the Privy Council Office’s Working Group on Canada’s Urban Communities, which focussed on developing horizontal, cross-cutting policy proposals to address issues of relevance to the Government of Canada in urban communities across the country.  In July 2004, the Cities Secretariat was moved to the Office of Infrastructure to create Infrastructure Canada. In 2005, in addition to his policy responsibilities, Mr. Ostry was appointed one of the Department’s negotiators on the transfer of a portion of the Federal Excise Tax on gasoline, successfully concluding negotiations with the governments of the three Territories. He is the Chair of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Working Party on Urban Issues, having been elected to that position in June 2007. In addition, he currently co-chairs the Canada-Ontario-Toronto Steering Committee overseeing the Territorial Review of Greater Toronto being conducted by the OECD, launched in July 2007. Mr. Ostry is a career public servant with experience both in the federal and provincial orders of government.  Prior to his work on urban issues, Mr. Ostry was President of the Ontario Media Development Corporation (1999-2002), Director general, Strategy and Plans, in the Intergovernmental Affairs Secretariat at the Privy Council Office (PCO), (1996-1999), Director General of Sport Canada (1994-1996), and Director General of the Cultural Industries Policy Branch at the Department of Canadian Heritage (1991-1994).  Mr. Ostry joined the public service of Canada in 1982. Mr. Ostry was educated at the University of Toronto and the Université Laval, and is a graduate of France’s École nationale d’administration.

Gianmarco I.P. Ottaviano
Professor of Economics
University of Bologna
&
Fonazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM)

Gianmarco I.P. Ottaviano received his BA in Economics at Bocconi University Milan, his M.Sc. in Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and his Ph.D. in Economics at the Université Catholique de Louvain. He was Associate Professor of Economics at Bocconi University Milan before moving to the University of Bologna to serve as Professor of Economics since 2002. He is research fellow of CEPR London in the International Trade Program, non-resident senior fellow of Bruegel Brussels and coordinator of the Knowledge, Technology and Human Capital Program at FEEM Milan. He is the co-author of many works in international trade, urban economics and economic geography, including “Economic Geography and Public Policy” (Princeton University Press, 2003) “Agglomeration and economic geography” (Handbook of Regional Science and Urban Economics, 2004), “Cities and cultures” (Journal of Urban Economics, 2005), “The economic value of cultural diversity: Evidence from US cities” (Journal of Economic Geography, 2006), “Rethinking the gains of immigration on wages” (NBER Working Paper No. 12497, 2006). He is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Economic Geography, the Journal of Urban Economics, and Regional Science and Urban Economics.

P.J. Partington
Climate Change Programs Manager
TakingITGlobal

A native of Toronto, Ontario, P.J. Partington is passionate about engaging youth in issues of domestic and international climate policy. After receiving his BSc in Environmental Policy at the London School of Economics at the age of 20, P.J. became a founding member of the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition. Serving as its Policy Co-ordinator he has helped organise two highly-successful Canadian Youth Delegations to the UN climate change negotiations in Nairobi (COP-12 / CMP-2) and Bali (COP13 / CMP-4), as well as smaller teams to talks in Bonn and New York. As Climate Change Programs Manager at TakingITGlobal he is now working to organise the 28-member Canadian Youth Delegation to this year's negotiations in Poznan. This spring PJ managed a global e-consultation on Climate Change and Youth Action for the OECD.

Mario Pezzini
Deputy Director
Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate
OECD

Mario Pezzini is in charge of the OECD activities that promote regional competitiveness and effectiveness of regional policies. In order to advise national governments and sub-national authorities, Mario Pezzini coordinates the work of the OECD Territorial Development Policy Committee, the main international forum for debate in the field of regional policy. Twice a year this forum brings together officials from prime minister’s offices or national economic ministries from the 30 OECD member countries to discuss within three working parties: Territorial Indicators, Territorial Policies in Urban Areas, and Territorial Policies in Rural Areas. In his work, Mario Pezzini liaises between the OECD and ministers, cabinet’s members, and high level policy makers. More recently, he has been increasingly engaged in promoting dialogue with non-member countries and has developed high-level cooperation with International Organisations such as the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Council of Europe. Before joining the OECD, Mario Pezzini was Professor in Industrial Economics at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Mines de Paris as well as in US and Italian Universities. On several occasions Mr. Pezzini has served as an advisor for international organisations (UNIDO, UNDP, and ILO) and think tanks in the fields of economic development, industrial organization and regional economics such as the Italian economics research institute, Nomisa. A member of several governmental advisory boards, Mr. Pezzini was also manager in the Regional Government of the Emilia-Romagna Region in Italy.

Lars Reuterswärd
Director
Global Division
UN-Habitat

A Swedish national, Dr. Lars Reuterswärd is Director of Global Division, UN-HABITAT, since 2003. Current focus is on Land, Housing, Decentralization, Urban Disaster Prevention, Local Economic Development, and in particular on the development of the new global Sustainable Urban Development Network, including the Cities in Climate Change Initiative. Dr. Reuterswärd was the Overall Coordinator of  the World Urban Forum 2004 in Barcelona, and in Vancouver 2006. Dr. Reutersward is Coordinator for the UN Exhibition and Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo 2010, theme ”Better City, Better Life”. Dr. Reuterswärd earned a Ph.D. in Architecture from Lund University in 1984, and is there Professor of Architecture since 1986 (on leave). In 1979 Dr. Reuterswärd founded the Lund Committee on Habitat Studies. In 1977-82 he was Research Officer at SAREC/Sida, Stockholm. In 1977 and 1978 he served as Construction Co-coordinator (Vietnam) for UNICEF and 1974-75 he was Construction Adviser in Vietnam for the International Red Cross for an Emergency Housing Program. Other works include Vinh Phu Housing Area, Vietnam, the World Bank Gilgel Gibe Resettlement Project, Ethiopia, and noteworthy architectural competition entries. He is Lifetime Member of the Swedish Royal Physiographic Society, founded in 1772, Associate Editor of Ambio, Guest Professor at Tongji University, Shanghai, author of dozens of publications, and has tutored several dissertations.

Javier Rubio de Urquia
Director General: Sustainability
City of Madrid

Javier Rubio de Urquía is Director General for Sustainability at the Municipality of Madrid and is responsible for the coordination of the city’s Energy and Climate Change Strategy. He has been a senior official in the Spanish national administration since 1985. Between 1998 and 2004, he was Senior Counselor for European and International Relations of Spanish Environment Ministers, First Director of the Spanish Climate Change Office, and Secretary of the National Climate Council. He has represented Spain for more than twenty years in international organisations, EU negotiations and environmental multilateral negotiations (GATT, WTO, Environmental Conventions). He headed the Spanish Technical Delegation to seven Conferences of the Parties (COPs) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and Chaired the EU Heads of Delegation Group under the Spanish Presidency. He teaches the Master on Technologies for Energy Efficiency and Climate Change at the Environmental Sciences Institute of the Complutense University of Madrid and has been Associate Professor at the University Carlos III. He holds a BA in Biological Sciences and is the author of various publications, including “Climate Change Beyond Kyoto; Elements for Debate”.

Cristina Narbona Ruiz
Ambassador
Permanent Delegation of Spain to the OECD

Ambassador Cristina Narbona Ruiz took up her duties as Permanent Representative of Spain to the OECD on 6 May 2008.  Ms. Narbona Ruiz was born in Madrid on 29 July 1951. She holds a doctorate in Economics from the University of Rome, which she received in 1973.  From 1985 to 1991, Ms. Narbona Ruiz was the Director-General of the Mortgage Bank of Spain. In 1991, she was appointed Director-General of housing and architecture at the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Environment. Then, in 1993, she was named Secretary of State for Environment and Housing at the Ministry. From 1993 to 1999, Ms. Narbona Ruiz was appointed Deputy of Almería at the Chamber of Deputies. She also held the position of deputy spokesperson for the Socialist Group at the Environmental Commission. From 1999 to 2003 she was councillor to the Mayor of Madrid and deputy spokesperson for the Municipal Group of the Spanish Socialist Worker’s Party and socialist responsible for the environment. In 2000, she was named member of the Federal Executive Commission of the Spanish Socialist Worker’s Party and Secretary of the Environment and Territorial Development. In March 2004, she was elected to Congress as Deputy for Madrid. Ms. Narbona Ruiz is a professor of international economics at the University of Seville.  From April 2004 until her nomination as Permanent Representative of Spain to the OECD, Ms. Narbona Ruiz was Minister of Environment. Ambassador Narbona Ruiz will be accompanied by Mr. José Borrell. 

Matthias Ruth
Director
Center for Integrative Environmental Research
University of Maryland

Matthias Ruth is Roy F. Weston Chair in Natural Economics, Director of the Center for Integrative Environmental Research at the Division of Research, Director of the Environmental Policy Program at the School of Public Policy, and Co-Director of the Engineering and Public Policy Program at the University of Maryland.  His research focuses on dynamic modeling of natural resource use, industrial and infrastructure systems analysis, and environmental economics and policy. His theoretical work heavily draws on concepts from engineering, economics and ecology, while his applied research utilizes methods of non-linear dynamic modeling as well as adaptive and anticipatory management. Applications of his work cover the full spectrum from local to regional, to national and global environmental challenges, as well as the investment and policy opportunities these challenges present. Professor Ruth has published 12 books and over 100 papers and book chapters in the scientific literature. He collaborates extensively with scientists and policy makers in the USA, Canada, Europe, Oceania, Asia and Africa.

Odile Sallard
Director
Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate
OECD

Mrs. Sallard has had an extensive career at the OECD and occupied senior positions in a number of OECD Directorates: Head of a Country Studies Division in the Economics Department; Director of the Territorial Development Service; Head of the Private Office of the Secretary-General; Deputy Director, Directorate for Education, Employment, Labour and Social Affairs; and Director of the Public Management Service.  Since 1 September 2002, Mrs Sallard is Director of the Directorate for Public Governance and Territorial Development, following the merger of the Territorial Development Service and the Public Management Service.  Prior to joining the OECD in 1974, Mrs Sallard worked in the French Ministry of Finance (Direction de la Prévision). Mrs Sallard is a French national. She holds degrees in economics, business administration and accounting from Paris University and the Institut d'Etudes Politiques.

Paolo Scaroni
Chief Executive Officer
ENI

Paolo Scaroni has been Chief Executive Officer of Eni, one of the world’s leading energy companies, since June 2005.  After graduating in Economics & Commerce in 1969 from the Bocconi University, Milan, he worked for three years at Chevron, before obtaining an MBA from Columbia University, New York, and continuing his career at McKinsey.  In 1973 he joined the Saint Gobain Group, where he held a number of managerial posts in Italy and abroad, until his appointment as head of the Glass Division in Paris in 1984.  From 1985 to 1996 he was Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Techint and oversaw the privatizations of the SIV, Italimpianti and Dalmine subsidiaries.  In 1996 he moved to the UK and was Chief Executive Officer of Pilkington until May 2002.   From May 2002 to May 2005 he was Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Enel.  Paolo Scaroni is currently a Director of Assicurazioni Generali, LSEG plc (London Stock Exchange Group), Veolia Environnement (Paris), the Board of Overseers of Columbia Business School, New York, and a Director of the Fondazione Teatro alla Scala.  From 2005 to July 2006 he was Chairman of Alliance Unichem (UK).  In November 2007 he was decorated as an Officer of the French Légion d'honneur.

Rudolf Schiker
Executive City Councillor: Regional Planning, Traffic and Transport
City of Vienna

Mr Schicker went to primary and secondary school in Vienna. He acquired the Austrian secondary school leaving certificate in 1970 and subsequently went on to study at the Vienna University of Technology, focusing on surveying during the first half of his studies and on regional planning and spatial development during the second half. In 1976 he graduated from the Institute of Financial Sciences and InfrastructurePolicy. From 1976 to 1978, Rudolf Schicker worked as a scientific assistant at the Austrian Regional Planning Conference. From 1978 to 1987 he was an administrative officer in the Regional Planning and Policies department of the Austrian Federal Chancellery. Since 1988, Mr Schicker has been Managing Director of the Austrian Regional Planning Conference (ÖROK) he headed the Austrian delegation to the European Commission's Advisory Committee for Regional Development and Conversion. During the Austrian Council Presidency he served as head of the Austrian delegation to the Council Working Group on Structural Measures, which was in charge of negotiations for the reform of the Structural Funds. In 1994 Mr Schicker became a member of the Vienna City Council and Provincial Diet, representing the interests of Vienna's third district. In April 2001 he was appointed Executive City Councillor for Urban Development, Traffic and Transport.

Wolfang Schuster
Mayor of Stuttgart

Wolfgang Schuster is the Mayor of Stuttgart. He was first elected in 1997 and was re-elected for a second 8-year term in 2004. He was Deputy Mayor for Culture, Education and Sports between 1993 and 1996 and Executive Director to the Mayor between 1980 and 1986. Mr. Schuster has also been Mayor of Schwäbisch Gmünd (1986-1993), Assistant Head of Division in the Badden-Württemberg State Ministry (1978-1980) and a member of the Ulm City Council (1975-1980). Mr. Schuster's non-political functions include the Vice-Presidency of the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), the Chairmanship of the UCLG Committee on Urban Mobility, and the Vice-Presidency of the European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR). He has also been a member of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe and a member of the board of the Deutscher Städtetag (the German Association of Cities and Towns). Mr. Schuster holds a PhD in Law and studied at the universities of Tübingen, Geneva and Freiburg. He also completed post-graduate studies at the Ecole Nationale d'Administration (ENA) in Paris.

Karoline Amalie Steen
Head of Division
Finance Administration
City of Copenhagen

Karoline Amalie Steen is Head of Division in the Finance Administration, City of Copenhagen. Karoline coordinates the City's activities in preparation for the UN Climate Change Conference to be held in Copenhagen in in 2009. Karoline is also responsible for coordinating Copenhagen's international relations (membership of international city organisations, international events, visits from other cities, etc). Karoline holds a Master Degree in Political Science from the University of Copenhagen, and started her carreer in the Danish Ministry of Finance.

Umberto Vattani
President
Italian Agency for Foreign Trade

Umberto Vattani was born in Skopje, Macedonia, on 5 December 1938. He studied in France, Great Britain and the United States (with a Fulbright Scholarship). He is a Doctor in Law (1960) and Political Sciences (1962) - Rome University, summa cum laude. Through a national competitive exam he entered the “Banca d’Italia” – Department for Research and International Economics in 1961.  Mr Vattani entered the Diplomatic Service in 1962: Italian Mission to the U.N., New York, 1963-1965; Italian Mission to the OECD in Paris, 1966-1969; Counsellor at the Italian Embassy in London, 1969-1974; Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, 1975-1978; Principal Private Secretary of the Prime Minister, 1980-1981; Deputy Head of Mission at the Italian Embassy in London, 1982-1987; Diplomatic Advisor to the Prime Minister and Personal Representative for the G7 Summits, 1988-1992; Ambassador to Germany, 1992-1996; Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1997-2001; Permanent Representative to the European Union in Brussels, 2001-2004; appointed for the second time Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, January 2004.  Mr Vattani has been President of the Italian Trade Commission – ICE, since July 2005.  Other roles include: Ehrenbürger of the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, 1993; Honorary Member of the Academic Senate of the Freie Universität Berlin, 1998; Professor at the LUISS University (European Integration) Rome, 1999-2001; President of Venice International University (VIU), Island of San Servolo, since 2000; Member of the Board of Trustees and Honorary Professor of Tongji University, Shanghai, 2007; President of the Fondazione Italia-Giappone, 2007.

Joost P. van Iersel
Chair
Consultative Committee on Industrial Change
European Economic and Social Committee

Joost P. van Iersel (1940) studied law at the University of Nijmegen. After the military service he started his professional career in 1967 as a civil servant in the EEC department of the Ministry of Economic Affairs in The Hague. After a few years he became secretary EEC-matters in the Dutch Association of Christian Employers. From 1979 till 1994 van Iersel was  Member of Parliament for the christian-democratic party (CDA),  in particular responsible for trade and industry and for EEC-matters. In that function he deepened many contacts across Europe as well as during his presidency of the European Movement in The Netherlands from 1985 till 1995. Van Iersel left Parliament by 1994. In 1992 he was elected chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of The Hague with special responsibilities as regards spatial development, infrastructure and the economic developments in the region and in the Randstad (the densely populated West of the country). He held that function till 2002. Van Iersel acted and acts as commissioner in several companies as he is active in social organisations. Since the autumn of 2002 van Iersel is Member of the European Economic and Social Committee, a consultative body to the European Institutions. He regularly acts as rapporteur of EESC-Opinions on various aspects of European industrial and sectoral policies, on European metropolitan areas, and on good EU governance (better lawmaking/implementation). Since June 2007 van Iersel chairs the Consultative Committee on Industrial Change of the EESC. Van Iersel writes articles on political economy and Europe, he is giving lectures and participates in conferences and seminars.

Otto Zimmerman
Secretary General
ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability

Mr Konrad Otto-Zimmermann is the Secretary General of ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability. He has an Engineering Diploma (Dipl.-Ing.) Degree in Architecture and Urban Planning, Technical University of Hannover, Germany and obtained a Magister Degree (Magister rerum publicarum) in Public Administration, University of Public Administration, Speyer, Germany. Mr. Otto-Zimmermann is member of the World Economic Forum´s Global Agenda Council on Urban Management and alumni of HRH The Prince of Wales's Business & the Environment Programme, Cambridge, UK. He also has several advisory functions such as board member of the International Green Purchasing Network and the International Centre for Sustainable Cities. He is author, editor, or co-editor of 11 books and hundreds of articles in various magazines on local environmental planning & management and non-motorized urban transport. Besides that, he was lecturer at over 200 congresses, conferences, symposia and training sessions and initiator and Scientific Director of congresses on sustainable cities, Local Agenda 21, local environmental management, environmental impact assessment, non-motorized urban transport and ecoprocurement.ous magazines on local environmental planning & management and non-motorized urban transport.