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Szilvia Gyurkó – Founder and Director of On A Rocking Horse Child Rights Foundation

Szilvia Gyurkó is a freelance child rights consultant and researcher based in Hungary. She develops and implements training and research projects in several European countries and publishes articles on child rights in online and print media. Between 2012-2014 she worked as the Director of the Hungarian Committee for the Rights of the Child at UNICEF. She then worked as a consultant for the Eastern Europe regional office of the Swiss-based international children’s relief organisation Terre des Hommes. She currently heads the On A Rocking Horse Child Rights Foundation-ECPAT Hungary, which develops programmes on children’s rights, child participation and child protection. She is also a doctoral student in social innovation design at the MOME Doctoral School.

Zoltán Pogátsa – Associate Professor at the University of West Hungary

Zoltán Pogátsa is an economist, sociologist and expert in international political economy. Associate professor at the University of West Hungary, lecturer at the Central European University, ELTE and the University of Verona and Between 2005 and 2015 he was a member of the Regional Competitiveness Research Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In 2013, he was awarded a Greek State Scholarship to study the Greek crisis in Athens, and has published a book summarising the results of his work. He lectures on topics such as the economics of European integration, international political economy, the economics of Central Europe, EU policies. His research interests include European integration, with a special focus on peripheral countries.

Csaba Kőrösi – President of the United Nations General Assembly

Csaba Kőrösi joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1983 and served in various countries, including Greece, Israel and Libya. He was also the Permanent Representative of Hungary to the United Nations and served as vice-president of the General Assembly from 2011 to 2012. He was Deputy State Secretary responsible for security policy, multilateral diplomacy and human rights before being appointed Director of Environmental Sustainability in the Office of the President of Hungary. From 2022 to 2023 he served as President of the United Nations General Assembly for its 77th session. He is a recipient of the Hungarian Order of Merit. He was also awarded the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and the Greek Order of the Phoenix.

János Zlinszky – Associate Professor at the Péter Pázmány Catholic University

János Zlinszky is Senior Advisor at the Institute for the Integrity of Creation, Péter Pázmány Catholic University, and emeritus associate professor in sustainability science, environmental policy and water diplomacy with PPKE and NKE. He serves on the advisory Boards of the Equilibrium Institute, and the Ludovica College (both in Budapest). During the development of the Sustainable Development Goals, he served as senior scientific adviser for the Co-Chair of the UN Open Working Group. His earlier positions include European Parliament Delegate Member of the Board and the Bureau of the European Environment Agency (EEA); Head of Department for Strategy and Research in the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Future Generations, Hungary.

Alexandra Köves – Associate Professor at the Corvinus University of Budapest

She is an ecological economist, associate professor at the Corvinus University of Budapest, head of the Research Centre for Ecological Economics at the Corvinus Institute of Advanced Studies. In her teaching and research, she focuses on topics related to ecological economics, Degrowth and decision sciences, seeking opportunities to create a radically different, ecologically sustainable and socially just economy. She tries to popularize this research field to a wider audience. She hosts a Hungarian podcast called  „Zöld Egyenlőség” with now more than 160 episodes, and is also the founder and co-host of the English-language podcast Economics for Rebels. She is also vice-president of the European Society for Ecological Economics.

András Gelencsér – Rector of the University of Pannonia

András Gelencsér is an air chemist, professor, corresponding member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, rector of the University of Pannonia, and internationally renowned researcher on the links between air pollution and climate change. His main research interests are atmospheric chemistry related to air pollution and climate change, in particular atmospheric aerosol chemistry. He was the first to identify the process of humus formation in the atmosphere. His article with the director of the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry has become one of the most cited publications in the field. He published a monograph on carbonic aerosol in the Dutch Springer. To date, more than 4200 independent references have been made to his scientific papers.

David Korowicz – Director of Risk and Response at the Geneva Global Initiative 

For nearly 20 years David has worked as an analyst and consultant on human systems ecology, emerging large-scale systemic risk, and societal response strategies. Areas of research included societal vulnerability, de-stabilisation and collapse dynamics, integrated global risk, and preparedness and planning. As a consultant he’s worked on a range of projects including the socio-economic impacts of severe pandemics, and exercise/ simulation/ process design to investigate catastrophes and preparedness. As director of Risk and Response at the Geneva Global Initiative he explored with senior political, contingency, military and other officials from a range of countries their capacity to address mounting global challenges including catastrophic irreversible disruption. David is a physicist by training. 

Simon Michaux – Associate Professor at the Geological Survey of Finland

As an Associate Professor of geometallurgy at the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) in KTR, the Circular Economy Solutions Unit, he holds a Basic degree in Bach App. Sc in Physics and Geology and a Ph.D. in Mining Engineering from JKMRC University of Queensland. With 18 years of work experience in the Australian mining industry focusing on research and development, 12 months in the private sector at Ausenco, and 3 years in Belgium at the University of Liege researching Circular Economy and industrial recycling, he brings a wealth of knowledge. His long-term objectives involve the transformation of the Circular Economy into a more practical system for the industrial ecosystem, addressing the twin challenges of technology mineral scarcity and the transition away from fossil fuels.

Jem Bendell – Professor Emeritus at the University of Cumbria

Before the summer of 2023, he held the position of a full Professor of Sustainability Leadership and served as the Founder of the Initiative for Leadership and Sustainability (IFLAS) at the University of Cumbria. Additionally, he was the Founder of the Deep Adaptation Forum and the co-Founder of the International Scholars’ Warning on Societal Disruption and Collapse. A significant transformation in his career commenced in 2017 as he took a year out to study the latest climate science and released the Deep Adaptation paper, which gained widespread attention. His latest book, „Breaking Together,” was published in 2023 and provides a comprehensive approach to the systemic challenges humanity faces in the upcoming years.