Mobilising the European Green Recovery: Cities and Communities driving Climate Action

Elisa Ferreira is the European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms (1 December 2019 onwards). Before that, she was Vice-Governor of the Bank of Portugal (‘Banco de Portugal’). She joined the bank in June 2016, becoming Vice-Governor in September 2017. During her tenure, she was Portugal’s representative in the Supervisory Board of the Single Supervisory Mechanism. Between 2004 and 2016 she was a Member of the European Parliament. Throughout her mandate, she was the coordinator for the Group of Socialists and Democrats in the EP’s Economic and Monetary (ECON) Committee, and was rapporteur, co-rapporteur or shadow rapporteur of many key legislative files, including the Six-Pack and Two-Pack, the BRRD or the Regulation creating the Single Resolution Mechanism. She was a member of the Portuguese National Parliament between 2002 and 2004. Elisa Ferreira was Portugal’s Minister for Planning (responsible for the Portuguese EU Multiannual Framework for regional policy) between 1999 and 2002. She was Portugal’s Minister for the Environment from 1995 to 1999. Between 1992 and 1994 she was Executive Vice-President of the Porto Industrial Association. Before that, she worked at Portugal’s Northern Region Coordination Commission, a central government regional development institution of which she was the Vice-President from 1988 until 1992; in parallel, she was also a member of the Board of the Instituto Nacional de Estatística (Statistics Portugal). Elisa Ferreira has a degree in Economics from the University of Porto, and a Master’s Degree (1981) and a PhD (1985) from the University of Reading, in the UK. She is a professor at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Porto (on leave of absence).

He studied geography (German degree: ''Dip/om'') at the Universities of Mannheim and Heidelberg. In 1993 he received his doctorate 'Dr. rer. nat. Thesis on 'Comparative Case Study on Possible Influences of Noxious Agents in the Atmosphere on Mortality in Agglomerations''. Prof. Dr. Wiirzner started his professional career as an Environmental consultant at the City of Heidelberg. Then in 1988 he became the Head of the Technical Environmental Protection Division and in 2001 Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy of the City of Heidelberg. 2006 he was elected as the Mayor of the City of Heidelberg. In 2014 he was re-elected. Beside his function as a Mayor, Prof. Dr. Wiirzner is Member of the Executive Board and President of the Energy Cities network, Director of the Climate Protection an Energy Advisory Agency for Heidelberg and its neighbouring communities, Board member of the Association of Cities and Towns of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Member of the Board of the Baden-Wuerttemberg Association of Cities and Towns and Member of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. In May 2016 appointed Honorary Professor at the SRH Hochschule Heidelberg.

Jacek Majchrowski has been the Mayor (President) of Krakow since 2002. As of 4 November 2018, he is serving his 5th term. Lawyer, professor at the Jagiellonian University, he is an expert on the Second Polish Republic. He was deputy chairman of the State Tribunal (in 2001–2005) and until November 2011 a judge at the State Tribunal. As the Kraków province governor in the years 1996–1997 he contributed to the creation of the Special Economic Zone in Krakow. He has been a member of the SLD since 1999 but suspended his membership during his presidential term. In 2015 he was elected co-president of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) and since January 2017 he has been the Executive President of this organization. On June 5, 2019, he was elected president of the OWHC World Heritage City Organization. From March 2011, he is the vice president of the Association of Polish Cities. Deputy Chairman of the Social Committee for the Restoration of Historic Monuments in Krakow. Prof. Majchrowski has an honorary doctorate of the Pedagogical University of Kraków and the University of Bordeaux, is an honorary citizen of the city of Sosnowiec, a bachelor of the Order of the Legion of Honor of the French Republic.

Katarina Luhr is the Vice Mayor of the City of Stockholm. She entered the Stockholm City Council in 2010 representing the Green party. Currently, Katarina is a member of the political board of the Covenant of Mayors in Europe, representing EUROCITIES. Climate, biodiversity, air quality and water are Katarina Luhr’s main priorities, and she is dedicated to continue striving towards a greener and more environmentally friendly city with a high quality of life.

Christel Heydemann is Executive Vice President, France Operations, and Member of the Executive Committee of Schneider Electric since April 2017. Christel began her career in 1997 at the Boston Consulting Group. In 1999, she joined Alcatel where she held various executive positions, notably during the merger of Alcatel and Lucent. In 2005, she moved to the sales division of Alcatel-Lucent where she was in charge of SFR and Orange key accounts. In 2008, she was appointed Sales Director France and Member of the Executive Committee of Alcatel-Lucent France. In 2009, she negotiated a strategic alliance with HP in the United States and was then promoted, in 2011, to the position of Executive Vice President Human Resources and Transformation. Christel joined Schneider Electric in 2014 as Strategic Alliances Vice President with the mission of accelerating, launching and promoting IoT solutions through the development of strong partner network, before being appointed in 2016 Corporate Strategy & Alliances Senior Vice President. Moreover, Christel is President of the Gimelec and Board Director at Orange. Christel graduated from Ecole Polytechnique (France) and from the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (France).

Francine Lacqua is an award-winning London-based anchor for Bloomberg Television. She co-anchors the weekday 3-hour daily program “Bloomberg Surveillance” with Tom Keene, where she provides insight on foreign policy, global markets and the top business stories of the day. She also presents “Leaders with Lacqua,” a special series where she sits down with top CEOs, entrepreneurs and public figures. Since joining Bloomberg in 2000, Lacqua has covered the World Economic Forum in Davos, IMF in Washington, G20 meetings, the EU Leaders Summit and OPEC. She also led Bloomberg Television’s coverage of the Italian and French elections where she was one of the first international reporters to interview cabinet members. While at Bloomberg, Lacqua has interviewed high-profile figures such as French President Emmanuel Macron, former UK Prime Minister David Cameron, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, Billionaire financier George Soros and ECB President Mario Draghi. She has also interviewed finance ministers from South Korea, Russia, France, Mexico, Italy and Greece, as well as moderating televised debates from the World Economic Forum in Davos and the European Economic Governance package.