Meet Our Speakers

Anna Brussa

  • Anna Brussa is systems innovation orchestrator as well as Management Team member at EIT Climate-KIC - Europe’s foremost climate innovation initiative – leading the dedicated team of professionals who spearhead the organisation’s efforts on transforming industry value chains towards just and circular change. For nearly 20 years, Anna has been working at the intersection of sustainability and innovation across multiple sectors. She is passionate about the power of experimentation to achieve meaningful social change and has dedicated her career to turning complex concepts into simple solutions. Anna is mentoring innovative and impact-driven ventures and startups.

    Prior to her role at EIT Climate-KIC, Anna spent several years working in government and business support organizations, influencing how European innovation agencies shaped their agendas as well as supporting the innovation transformation of the economy.

Aurel Ciobanu Dordea

  • Aurel Ciobanu Dordea leads the Directorate responsible for Circular Economy in the European Commission's Directorate General for Environment since 1st May 2022. Before that, he was in charge of the Directorate ‘Compliance, Governance and Support to Member States’ in the same Directorate General. Before joining DG Environment in 2014, he was Director for ‘Equality’ in charge of fight against discrimination in DG Justice between 2011 and 2014.

    He joined the European Commission in 2009 as Director for ‘Fundamental Rights and EU Citizenship’ in DG Justice, Freedom and Security, later DG Justice. Aurel Ciobanu-Dordea holds an LL.M. from the University of Illinois (US) and a Ph.D. from the University of Bucharest (RO).

Owen Keegan

  • Owen P Keegan was appointed as Dublin City Council Chief Executive, in September 2013 having served as County Manager of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council from February 2006. Before joining DLRCC he worked for Dublin City Council, where he was Assistant City Manager and then Director of Traffic.

    Prior to October 1993 he worked as an economist for DKM Economic Consultants/Davy Stockbrokers. He has also worked in the Department of Finance, the ESRI and for two periods in the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.

    Mr Keegan is from Dublin. He holds degrees in public administration, economics and civil engineering.

Ossian Smyth TD

  • Ossian Smyth is Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform with special responsibility for Public Procurement and eGovernment; and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications with special responsibility for Communications and Circular Economy. He was appointed to these roles in July 2020.

    He has been a TD for the Dún Laoghaire constituency since the 2020 general election.

    Following the 2014 Irish local elections, Smyth was elected to Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council for the Dún Laoghaire local electoral area. He served as Cathaoirleach of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council from 2018 to 2019.

    Smyth holds a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science from Trinity College Dublin.

Marion Briggs

  • Marion Briggs is the Sustainability Manager for HealthBeacon, a health technology company based in Dublin that makes smart tools for managing medication. A passionate environmentalist and sustainability advocate, she joined the HealthBeacon team in 2020 to help them launch their Green Labs facility, which processes injection waste in a more circular and sustainable manner.

    She also oversees the implementation of HealthBeacon’s sustainability goals and represents them as the Vice President of the injection supply chain group, Alliance to Zero. In addition, she volunteers as Chair of the board of Friends of the Earth, Ireland, which allows her to contribute to the NGO community while keeping her finger on the pulse of what is happening in sustainability more broadly.

Kevin Cronin

  • Kevin Cronin has over 19 years’ experience with Freefoam Building Products.

    A qualified management accountant, he is currently the Chief Operating Officer at Freefoam.

    Kevin is responsible for the strategic development and deployment of Operational Excellence and Sustainability at Freefoam and has headed up many innovative and transformative circular projects at Freefoam.

Hugh Coughlan

  • Hugh is the Regional Waste Management Coordinator for the Eastern-Midlands Region and heads up the (EMRWMPO), which oversees the implementation of the Regional Waste Management Plan for the Eastern-Midlands Region, which consists of 12 local authorities.

    Hugh has been working in Local Government for the over 30 years and is now in his 3rd cycle of Waste Plans. He has also specialised in areas such as Housing and Corporate Services.

    Hugh is also serving as Vice President of ACR+ which is an international network of cities and regions promoting sustainable resource management and acceleration of the transition to a circular economy.

Zoe Rush

  • Zoe R Rush is the Education and Outreach Manager for Ireland's Knowledge Centre for Carbon, Climate and Community Action at Munster Technological University. In this role she explores skill gaps to transitioning towards low carbon futures, and supports citizens to codesign creative and innovative solutions for sustainable lifestyles. Her interest is the role of education and community participation in imagining place-based, sustainable futures. She is a co-founder of Patio International, a collective of designers from Europe and Latin America that explore how design as a discipline can foster creative collaboration and solidarity with people from different communities and backgrounds.

Jean René Skjelbred

  • Jean René Skjelbred is the CEO of Norsk Ombruk, based in Copenhagen, Denmark.  Jean leads a dynamic and ambitious team who are committed to remanufacturing, focusing on extending the life of household electrical goods: saving resources, preventing waste, reducing carbon & energy, and saving people money. .

Mike Townsend

  • Mike is CEO with Earthshine Group – an international consultancy and training provider, focused on circular and sustainability transformations – unleashing the capability within people and their organisations.

    Mike is an influential business and economic transformation leader, speaker, teacher, advisory board member and writer – with thirty-eight years of experience in business, supply chain, sustainability, consultancy, education and engineering.

    Mike has worked with a wide range of businesses, large and small, in all sectors in UK, Europe and North America. He enjoys helping people and organisations join-up-the-dots to develop new, more sustainable solutions that deliver impact and work commercially; enhancing value to the customer, while reducing risk and cost.

    Mike is author of The Quiet Revolution (Routledge, forthcoming), Editor of Reframing the Game (2015), Lead author of A Journey in Search of Capitalism 2.0 (2013). He is also a regular contributor for Edie.net, Sustainable Brands, Huffington Post, The Guardian, Medium, and others.

    Mike also enjoys family life, hiking, swimming, reading, listening to music, practicing mindfulness, and is an avid drummer.

Catherine Cleary

  • Catherine Cleary is an award-winning journalist, author and environmental activist. In 2020 with co-founder Ashe Conrad-Jones they set up Pocket Forests, a Dublin social enterprise connecting communities and making space for nature in urban areas. She writes the weekly Game Changers column for The Irish Times highlighting climate and biodiversity actions. She has written two books, Life Sentence and A month of Somedays. She was the co-author of The Sheridans Guide to Cheese and The Stars are our Only Warmth, a memoir by Dublin homeless activist Alice Leahy. 

Janet Lynch

Janet Lynch

  • Janet Lynch is the Circular Economy Lead for Arup Europe and a Chartered Engineer. She specialises in built environment decarbonisation, circular and regenerative design. She leads teams across Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany. She chairs the NSAI Technical Committee, Circular Economy in the Construction Sector and her projects include the TII Circular Economy Plan, Crossrail and the London 2012 Olympics.

Mary Mac Sweeney

  • Mary Mac Sweeney is Executive Manager Acting of the Culture, Recreation and Economic Services Department in Dublin City Council. She works with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders to develop and implement policy, research, events and projects that deliver on strategic objectives designed to promote Dublin as a great city to live, work, study and invest in. Mary has previously worked in a variety of roles within Dublin City Council where she enjoys working for the city and contributing to improving the way the city works. Mary holds a degree in Fine Art from the Dublin Institute of Technology and has completed training in executive and business coaching, mentoring and mediation.

Michael Kelly

  • Mick is founder of GIY, a social entrepreneur, author, TV presenter and hacker grower. He worked in the IT industry for 10 years before starting GIY in 2008 after a chance encounter with a bulb of Chinese garlic in a supermarket. He co-presented/produced 3 series of Grow Cook Eat for RTE which is now watched around the world on Amazon Prime. He also presents and co-produced the 6-part series Food Matters on RTE 1.

    Mick is an Ashoka Fellow, a member of The Irish Food Writers Guild and a board member at Common Knowledge. He has written 5 books, the latest of which The GIY Diaries was nominated for an Irish Book Award in 2022. He has written columns on food for The Irish Times, The Irish Independent and Food & Wine Magazine. He was Local Food Hero in the Food & Wine Awards. He lives in Dunmore East with his wife Eilish and two teenage GIYers.

Mireia Cañellas Grifoll

  • Mireia is a member of the Catalonia Waste Agency - ARC. She has a PhD in Biology and is the head of Unit for Sustainable Development (Ministry of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda). Her main responsibility is to formulate strategies and actions on sustainability and circular economy for the Catalan Government, Circular Economy Hotspot, the Circular Fashion Agreement, and the Circular Route Map of Catalonia.

Joël Mestres Lobez

  • Joël Mestres Lobez joined the CINEA Financial Engineering team in 2023, where he is responsible for economic and financial evaluation of projects applying to Programmes under CINEA’s management.

    In addition, Joël is part of the CINEA team of implementing Green Assist, the Advisory Initiative entrusted to CINEA to help public and private promoters improving the environmental performances of their projects.

    Joël has a Master’s degree in Business Engineering. His past professional experience includes working as a Financial Analyst and a Senior Private Equity Analyst, dealing with investment projects, business modelling and budgeting. He has also worked as a consultant in Strategy and Financial Transactions with various Belgium and Luxembourg funds and advisory boutiques.

Patrick Barrett

  • Patrick Barrett is an Agricultural Inspector with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. He has a B.SC in Biochemistry and a Master of Science Degree in Biological Sciences. He also has extensive experience working both in private industry and for the government of Ireland and the EU Commission.

    Throughout his career, Patrick has shown a deep interest in sustainability pathways, particularly those related to food and biobased production. He believes that these practices can be restorative and regenerative for natural capital, while also being complementary for social and bioeconomy development.

Claire Downey

  • Claire Downey is Policy and Research Director at The Rediscovery Centre. In this role since 2021, she is responsible for leading the research team on providing an evidence base for policy development and supporting circular living models within Ireland and internationally.

    With a background in Chemical Engineering, and over 20 years of experience in the sector, she sits on a number of National Advisory Groups, is a fellow with the Chartered Institute of Waste Management, and is also a board member of Green Foundation Ireland.

Cllr Caroline Conroy

  • Cllr Conroy is a member of the Green Party, having been elected to Dublin City Council (DCC) in 2019, representing the Ballymun/Finglas local electoral area. She also serves on the Executive Committee of the Green Party.  

    She is a member of the DCC Strategic Policy Committee (SPC) on Transport, Animal Welfare Committee and is involved in the move by DCC to take on direct responsibility for dog welfare. 

    Councillor Conroy graduated with a degree in Business Studies from Dublin City University (DCU). She worked in a range of Irish and multinational companies, serving as Human Resources Manager. She has been actively involved in her community since she was a teenager: leading youth groups, supporting people who live alone, serving on the committees of local community groups and campaigning on local issues.

Freek van Eijk

  • Freek van Eijk is CEO of Holland Circular Hotspot, a private-public platform that facilitates the transition to a circular economy at the international level by bringing together government authorities, knowledge institutes and especially businesses. HCH supports knowledge exchange with the aim to stimulate entrepreneurship in the field of circular economy.

    He is co-chair of the Coordination Group of the EU Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform.

    Freek van Eijk is also vice-chair of the Circular Biobased Delta, an alliance of Dutch provinces, businesses and knowledge centres pioneering a sustainable circular and biobased economy. Furthermore he is an adjunct professor at the LUISS Business School.

    He is one of the more senior EU experts in the field of Waste Management and Circular Economy and has been described as a “mover and a shaker’.

    Previously, he served for over a decade as Director of strategy and PA at multinational SUEZ and as a board member at the Dutch Waste Management Association, the Society and Enterprise Foundation and acted as a Sherpa of the EU Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials.

    He is and MSc. Eng. (Delft University of Technology).

Nick Holden

  • Nick Holden is the Deputy Director of BiOrbic Bioeconomy, SFI Research Centre, and co-leader of its Sustainability Platform. He is Professor of Biosystems Engineering at University College Dublin, where he has used his expertise in life cycle assessment and other system modelling approaches in the context of collaborative national, European and international research for over 20 years.

    His interests are the impact, adaptation and sustainability of food and bioeconomy systems. He published the first life cycle assessments of Irish dairy and beef products, and hos work has led to collaborations with over 50 industry partnersand co-founding two companies, the most recent of which is Proveye Ltd.

FELISPEAKS

  • FELISPEAKS is a Nigerian-Irish Poet, Performer, Playwright from Co. Longford; currently based in Dublin City. FELISPEAKS has been nominated ‘Best Performer’ by Dublin Fringe Festival September 2018 and went on to win ‘Best Performer’ in 2022. As well as being a Member of the Poetry Ireland Board of Directors appointed June 2020, Felicia is a member of the Poetry Collective, WeAreGriot. FELISPEAKS is an Artist-in-Residence with Axis Ballymun and Visual Carlow, in addition to being an Associate Artist with THISISPOPBABY. FELISPEAKS’ poem: ‘For Our Mothers’ is in the English Ordinary Level Leaving Cert Curriculum for examination year 2023 and 2025, as is their poem “Rainbow Blood” for 2025. In 2020, FELISPEAKS was commissioned a new piece for RTÉ’s The Big Picture on the theme of ‘the New Normal’ - this poem, entitled Still captured the minds of the nation and has been performed to audiences all over the country.

    Of late, FELISPEAKS has been commissioned by the Irish Repertory Theatre and Fishamble: The New Play Company for the Transatlantic Commission for Black Irish Artists. FELISPEAKS ended 2021 as an Irish Tatler Woman of the Year with a win in the Catalyst Category - which recognises a woman who has affected change in Irish society in a pivotal way. FELISPEAKS became an ambassador for Laya Health Care’s Beats TV and Media Campaign.

Philip Nugent

  • Philip Nugent is an Assistant Secretary the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. His functions include Waste Policy, the Geoscience Regulation Office, Geoscience Policy, the Geological Survey, Inland Fisheries, and Environment Policy, and the Circular Economy. A significant focus of Ireland’s work on the Circular Economy transition is around embedding circularity principals across other functions of Government, including climate action and decarbonisation of energy systems.

     Before joining the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications in 2019, Philip worked for 18 years in the Department of Housing, serving in a number of roles across planning, marine planning and housing.

Derek O'Brien

  • Derek has been Executive Director at BiOrbic since its foundation in 2017, driving its development as Ireland’s national bioeconomy research centre, connecting excellent research and innovation with industry, policy and societal stakeholders to establish a vibrant sustainable circular bioeconomy. 

    Derek’s background is in public policy and in particular developing public private partnerships for good. Prior to BiOrbic, Derek worked in senior roles supporting the development of the Irish research and innovation ecosystem. 

Richard Brennan

  • Richard a successful business owner/ consultant  with 20 years experience in the Automotive, Insurance Claim and recycling industry.

     A qualified Black Belt in Lean Six sigma, in recent years Richard has successfully transformed business thinking, specialising in diversification, growth, culture through effective systems and processes. Reducing waste in all areas of the business, focusing on the opportunity that presents itself in the circular economy, the bottom line and empowerment of the people.

     Richard holds a Bachelor of Arts Honour’s degree in International business Management, accredited in Carbon literacy, providing training to SME’s and Government agencies.

    Richard believes: “With every challenge comes an opportunity and behavioural change amongst a focused team can create and produce the biggest impact for the business growth and carbon footprint”.

Chris Gordon

  • Chris MM Gordon is the CEO of the Irish Social Enterprise Network (SocEnt.ie) national body for social enterprise in Ireland. Chris works on local, national and European social economy projects including the BuySocial.ie project #BuySocialIRL. Chris has hosted important social and green events including the EIB Social Innovation Tournament in Luxembourg, SoCircular event in Dublin, European Social Economy Summit in Mannheim and the European Social Economy Awards in Ljubljana.

    Chris is also Managing Partner of Collaboration Ireland, Project Director of Social Enterprise Exchange and an Adjunct Teaching Fellow of Trinity Business School. Chris volunteers as Chair of Far and Wild and Chair of EnergyCloud Foundation social enterprises. Chris sits on the National Social Enterprise Policy Implementation Group with the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Dublin City Social Enterprise Committee amongst others. 

Bronagh Loughlin

  • Bronagh Loughlin is the CEO and Lead Journalist of Irish social enterprise Purpose Content Studio, which provides meaningful and thought-provoking content for purpose-driven publications, businesses, and organisations. She has been working in the media industry for the past six years across journalism and content creation.

    Bronagh is very passionate about humanitarian issues, mental health, sustainability, and climate action, and as a result, the vast majority of her work has centred around these issues. Some of her best-known work is in The Irish Times, where she writes about her own experience with mentally ill health. Bronagh also writes for smaller, more niche publications such as Profit With Purpose Magazine, Utopia The Edit, and Business Spirit News. For the past few months, she has been crafting content for the Irish start-up ed-tech business, The Institute of Sustainability Studies, about the important role businesses have to play in mitigating the climate crisis. 

Dr. John Schaill

  • Dr. John Scahill is a lecturer and researcher in the Galway-Mayo School of Engineering at the Atlantic Technological University. John is a chartered engineer who specialises in low energy and low impact building technologies. He teaches on a range of undergraduate and post graduate programmes on the Circular Economy, BIM and Digital Leadership, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).

    His research interests are focussed on sustainability in higher education (SHE), the circular economy, innovative pedagogy, micro-credentials and the potential of the SDGs in delivering transformative ESD. John has a particular interest in the role of interdisciplinary collaboration in the enhancement of SHE and the promotion of ESD in higher education.

    John is currently working as an academic developer on the development of a Sustainable Curriculum Framework as part of the “NTUTORR” project. He is the ATU project manager for the HCI funded Digital Academy for a Sustainable Built Environment (DASBE) project, and he is also leading a multi-disciplinary education/research project focussed on the UN SDGs.

Steve O’Reilly

  • Steve O'Reilly, is the Rediscovery Centre's Policy & Research Communicator. Steve works on a host of communication, digital innovation and research initiatives which aim to demonstrate, educate and advocate for a circular transition across Irish society. Steve studied Digital Communications and E-Business at the London School of Economics. He is particularly passionate about design heritage, urban design and initiatives that bring creativity and the circular economy together.

Kate Barlow

  • Kate Barlow is the Communications Manager at Positive Carbon, where she brings experience in project management, fundraising, and strategic partnership development gained from working with some of the world’s largest NGOs across the EU, US, and Africa.

    In her current role, Kate is responsible for strategic partnership development, supporting customer success through case studies, and navigating the company's press relations. Kate helped to develop the company’s first white paper 'The Real Cost of Food,' which determined the carbon cost to help people understand the damaging impacts of certain food products.

    Kate's dedication to promoting sustainable practices and reducing carbon emissions is evident in her work, and she is passionate about using her skills and experience to support Positive Carbon's mission to create a more sustainable future.

Eileen O'Leary

  • Eileen O’Leary is a senior environmental consultant with the Clean Technology Centre at Munster Technological University, who has been working in the areas of the environment and sustainability for over 25 years. Eileen’s work in relation to textiles includes leading a report on behalf of the EPA into the nature and extent of post consumer textiles in Ireland, as well as involvement in a circular textiles EPA Green Enterprise research project.

Ciara Eustace

  • Ciara is a Communications Manager in the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. Ciara's areas of focus in this role are Climate Action, and Environment including Circular Economy. Ciara has a range of experience in Government communications, having previously worked in communications and engagement for Sláintecare in the Department of Health. Prior to joining the Civil Service Ciara worked on communications for EU funded research projects, as well as in a number of communications positions in the European Commission.

Laura Burke

  • Laura Burke is the Director General of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), appointed in 2011 and served as a Director within the EPA since 2004.

    As Director General she has the responsibility to lead and strategically manage the EPA. Laura is the Chair of the European Environment Agency (EEA) Management Board. Laura is a member of the Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) and a member of the High Level Implementation Committee of ‘Food Vision 2030’, the Irish Agri-Food Sector Strategy.

    Prior to joining the EPA, she worked in the private sector. Laura is a graduate chemical engineer of University College Dublin (UCD), holds an MSc from Trinity College, Dublin, is a Fellow and is a Vice- President of Engineers Ireland and is a Chartered Director. In 2016 Laura was awarded the UCD Engineering Graduates Association (EGA) Distinguished Graduate Award.

Iain Guilland

  • Iain Gulland is Chief Executive of Zero Waste Scotland and previously led its predecessor programme, WRAP Scotland. Zero Waste Scotland leads on the delivery of the Scottish Government’s Circular Economy strategy and other low carbon policy priorities, and is at the forefront of efforts to create a resource efficient, circular economy.

    Iain has more than 25 years’ experience in sustainable resource management, including initiating recycling systems in the public and third sectors. He is the current President of the Association of Cities and Regions for Sustainable Resource Management (ACR+) and he is a member of a number of Scottish Government strategic groups including the Economy and Environment Leaders Group, the Board of the Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme and the Expert Panel on Environmental Charges. He was voted the ‘most influential person in the UK waste and resource efficiency sector’ in 2014 by Resource Magazine, and he was granted Fellowship of Chartered Institution of Wastes Management in 2016.

Andre Martinuzzi

  • André Martinuzzi is the founding director of the Institute for Managing Sustainability and associate professor at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. For 20 years he has coordinated projects funded by the EU Framework Programmes, on behalf of six different EU DGs, Eurostat, UN organizations and for several national ministries.

    His current research activities focus on Responsible Innovation, Sustainability Management and Circular Economy. He holds a doctoral degree in Business Administration and a postdoctoral lecture qualification (venia docendi) in environmental management and sustainable development policy. Between 2001 and 2010 he designed and implemented the UNESCO awarded international training programme “EASY-ECO – Evaluation of Sustainability” that consisted of a comprehensive eLearning platform, ten on-site training and seven major conferences. Since 2006 his teams coordinates the European Sustainable Development Network, a Europe-wide policy learning centre in the area of sustainable development

Dr Sarah Miller

  • Dr Sarah Miller is the CEO of The Rediscovery Centre, the National Centre for the Circular Economy in Ireland. She is an environmental scientist and business development manager, with over 20 years professional experience in the UK, Ireland and Australia. Sarah has worked on wide-ranging sustainability initiatives for the public, private and community sector ranging from large scale mechanical and biological waste treatment plants to experiential education programmes and social enterprise start-ups.

    In her current role, she has overseen the development of Europe’s first circular economy demonstration centre, which acts as an innovation hub, delivering education, providing research and enabling policy and collaboration to support citizen engagement.

Helen Carroll

  • A journalist with over 25 years experience, Helen Carroll is best known as a presenter on Ear to the Ground, RTE Television’s Farming and Food programme. She has produced, presented, reported and researched on national radio and television for both RTE and TV3. Her work in the print media has seen her write news, features, reviews and a weekly column for both local and national publications.

Prof. Micheal A. Morris

  • Prof. Morris leads the SFI funded research centre AMBER. His work has focused on self-assembly and phase separation in polymers and polymer solutions. Prof. Morris work also centres on the sustainability of materials. He leads a grant on looking at wood as a sustainable source of materials and particularly the use of forest waste. He also leads efforts in measuring the impact of circular solutions to new material technologies. He is a member of the ISO TC 323 technical committee developing standards for the circular economy. Prof. Morris has authored over 400 peer reviewed papers and more than 20 patents.

    Prof. Morris has worked closely with industry throughout his career. He leads the AMBER interaction with Merck in developing novel membrane materials and processes and works several other collaborating AMBER companies

Ali Grehan

  • Ali Grehan has been the Dublin City Architect since 2008. In this role she leads a multi-disciplinary team responsible for developing a broad urban design agenda including delivery of projects in relation to housing, public realm, community and cultural infrastructure. Her career has spanned private practice in Dublin, London and Bilbao, and in the Public Sector; where her particular focus has been on large-scale urban regeneration. Prior to becoming City Architect, Ali worked with Ballymun Regeneration Ltd, Fingal County Council and with the RPA (now TII) delivering Dublin’s first LUAS Light Rail system. She has an MSc in Climate Change: Policy, Media and Society from Dublin City University.

Trevor Anderson

  • Trevor Anderson is the Trading Director for Oxfam Ireland. Trevor joined Oxfam in 1984 and is a member of Oxfam Irelands Senior leadership Team, based in Oxfam Ireland’s distribution centre in Belfast. He is responsible for the trading operation consisting of 47 shops across the island and is passionate about the important role that Oxfam plays in reducing the damage the fashion industry is doing to the planet. “We are all part of the problem so we need to work together in finding a solution”

Peter Corcoran

  • Peter Corcoran is the CEO of MBio which is the innovation arm of the Monaghan Group.  Peter leads a team of mushroom evangelists, passionate about creating amazing new ways to help people lead healthier, happier lives. MBio uses natural science to enhance and unlock whole food nutrient ingredients (D and B12) from the mushroom, natural meat free products and finding solutions to drive the sustainability credentials of the wider business.

    We believe in time the consumer will understand the true potential of the mushroom including its phenomenal bioeconomy credentials. Peter also sits on the Board of the BioConnect Innovation Centre which will offer innovative solutions in the areas of fermentation and waste stream valorization to its members

Caitríona Collins

  • Caitríona is a Senior Manager in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Circular Economy Programme, based at EPA Headquarters in Wexford.

    She has responsibility for the management of circular economy regulation, including provisions such as by-products and end-of-waste, as well as the implementation of the National Hazardous Waste Management Plan.

    Caitríona previously managed competent authority roles for ozone depleting substances and fluorinated greenhouse gases, in addition to the management of producer responsibility for WEEE and batteries. She has also previously worked in various roles relating to waste and industrial licensing, historic landfill authorisations and waste data reporting.

    Caitríona has worked for the EPA for over 20 years and her qualifications include a first class honours degree in Environmental Science from the University of Limerick, a Masters in Environmental Resource Management from University College Dublin, a Higher Diploma in Business Management from the South East Technological University and a Diploma in Planning and Environmental Law from the Law Society of Ireland.

Denise Brennan

  • Denise holds a BSc in Human Nutrition from University College Dublin and has more than ten years experience in the food & beverage industry across beverage, meat and food sectors. Denise is a senior research & development manager with Kerry with specific emphasis on driving the circular economy strategy in Kerry.

    At Kerry we have a clear ambition to halve our food waste across our 147 manufacturing facilities by 2030, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Where we do create waste through our production processes, we will ensure that by 2025 this is diverted towards other productive uses and that none of this waste ends up in landfill. Through the ingenuity of our research & development expertise, we will also look at innovative ways to valorise these waste streams in a circular way.

    We will also amplify our positive impact on waste reduction by working with our customers to support them as they tackle these same issues. For example, Kerry has the broadest portfolio of preservation technologies that allows our customers to meet the changing consumer demands for natural ingredients while ensuring they can continue to maintain or improve shelf-life thereby preventing waste.

Diarmuid Hayes

  • Diarmuid Hayes is a Project Manager with Limerick Twenty Thirty DAC, responsible for the delivery of the Opera Square Project, the largest mixed-use development in construction in Ireland outside of Dublin.

    Limerick Twenty Thirty DAC are a special purpose vehicle set up by Limerick City and County Council to plan and develop key strategic sites in Limerick City and County.

    Diarmuid is responsible for leading Limerick Twenty Thirty’s sustainability initiatives including the development of their ESG Strategy and driving the implementation of sustainability focused practices throughout the company portfolio.

Dr. Shane Timmons

  • Dr Shane Timmons is a Senior Research Officer in Behavioural Science at the Economic and Social Research Institute and Adjunct Professor of Psychology at Trinity College Dublin. His research uses the scientific method to test how insights from psychology and behavioural economics can help policy work better for people. He has led programmes of research covering multiple policy problems spanning environmental behaviour, consumer finance and health, mostly using lab and online experiments and randomised controlled trials. He has worked closely with multiple government departments and state agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Transport Authority, the Department of the Taoiseach, and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. His research has been published widely in academic journals and appears frequently appear in national broadcast media. He is a regular invited contributor to workshops and conference panels on environmental issues (e.g. Science Advice for Policy by European Academics, Ireland’s Climate Change Assessment). He received his PhD in Cognitive Psychology from Trinity College Dublin, where he was a member of the Reasoning and Imagination Lab at Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience.

Sabrina Dekker

  • Sabrina is Dublin City Council’s Climate Action Coordinator. She has over 10 years of experience specialising in climate policy with a focus on resilience in urban areas. She is the author of the book “Cities Leading Climate Action: Urban Planning and Policy”. She holds a PhD in Environmental Policy, an MPA in Human Security, and an MPP in Urban Development and Public Health

Aran Murphy

Stephen Nolan

  • Dr Stephen Nolan is an anaerobic digestion (AD) operations and & professional, with particular expertise in optimisation of AD systems for maximising renewable natural gas (RNG/biomethane) and organic fertiliser production.

    Since completing his PhD in AD microbiology, Stephen has worked with several Irish and European AD plants to improve resource utilisation, taking agricultural and food processing residues and unusable food waste, and converting them into usable renewable fuel and a high value organic fertiliser.

    This work has included several research projects with leading Irish researchers examining various aspects of resource recovery and increasing value and circularity of typically low-value/unusable waste fractions. Current work includes mitigation of GHG emissions from agriculture (GlasPort Bio), utilisation of food-contaminated plastics, production of high-value intermediates and downstream CO 2 -capture and conversion to usable biomass via microalgae (EirAlgae project with UCD, funded by SEAI). These methods will increasingly see AD become a complete circular biorefinery model.

Prof Anna Davies

  • Anna Davies is Professor of Geography, Environment and Society at Trinity College Dublin where she leads the Environmental Governance Research Group. A founding member of Future Earth’s Knowledge Action Network on Systems of Sustainable Consumption and Production and Future Earth Ireland, Anna examines whose voices, values and visions count when shaping policy and practice in matters of sustainability and how this impacts people and the planet.

    She is a member of the Royal Irish Academy, a Fellow of the International Science Council and currently chairs The Rediscovery Centre in Dublin; Ireland’s national centre for the circular economy.

Áine Kerr

  • Áine Kerr is co-founder and COO of Kinzen, a regular on broadcast media, a Fellow of Columbia University’s Sulzberger Leadership Programme and an award-winning journalist. At the age of 12, as a curious yet introverted child, she knew she had something to contribute if only she had the courage to find her voice. Today she uses her voice to encourage other women to recognise and reach for their potential. Fast becoming one of the most recognised speakers in this area, Áine believes change can only happen collectively, and that men play as much of a part in change happening as women.

    Earlier in her career Aine led global journalism partnerships at Facebook in New York. She was instrumental in creating the Facebook Journalism Project and the News Integrity Initiative (NII). She was also a key part of the leadership team at successful news agency Storyful for the five years before the company’s acquisition by News Corporation.

    As a journalist Áine spent over seven years working as a political correspondent and news reporter with The Irish Times, The Irish Independent and The Irish Examiner. As of March 2021, she sits on the President’s Gaisce Council (Gaisce is the President of Ireland’s award).

    She is also on the board of the NII, an advisor to the Institute for Future of Media and Journalism (Fujo), and co-founder of Online News Association (ONA) Ireland.

    In 2018, Áine won in the media category at the Women of the Year Awards. In summer 2020, she brought her consummate skills to the radio waves as host of Reignite on Ireland’s national radio station RTÉ Radio 1, where she interviewed the likes of Gina Miller, Arianna Huffington, Jim Gavin, and Jamie Heaslip. Áine is also a regular guest host on The Business on RTE Radio 1.

    Áine, who is a fully accredited Executive Coach, is a seasoned speaker with a fresh approach and broad appeal. Her career in business, journalism and life’s lessons makes for stimulating, content-rich talks. Some of the events she has spoken at include Web Summit, Collision and the Women in Tech Summit, as well as Inspirefest, LEO Entreprise, BUILA (British Universities International Liaison Association), CES, and IE Domain Registry CLG. As a popular and agile MC, she has also played a key role in some of the biggest media industry events in the world.

Josh Newton

  • Josh is responsible for advancing ambitious circular economy policy and demonstration activities in cities across Europe. He provides advice and enables knowledge sharing to help city actors implement circular systemic solutions that tackle global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. Previously, Josh was a sustainability/ CSR consultant working with leading FMCG, science and utilities companies. He was also a researcher to a UK Member of Parliament and shadow minister for transport & infrastructure.

Dr Geraldine Brennan

  • Dr Geraldine Brennan is the Head of Circular Economy at Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) an Enterprise Ireland and IDA supported Technology Centre. Within IMR’s Sustainable Manufacturing Division, Geraldine leads the Circular Economy Unit and leads the national flagship circular economy initiative - CIRCULÉIRE which is Ireland's first industry-led public-private partnership dedicated to scaling circular innovation.

    Geraldine has spent over a decade exploring the barriers and enablers of industry adoption of circular and sustainable business models. Dr Brennan holds a PhD in Strategic Management & Sustainable Development from Imperial College London and has lectured, authored, and edited a range of thought leadership on scaling circular economy.

Donal Healion

  • Donal Healion is Assistant Lecturer in the Product Design Department of the National College of Art & Design, Dublin, and Principal Investigator of the NCAD component of EyeVu, a Disruptive Technology Innovation Fund project in collaboration with Tympany Medical to develop a circular economy business model for a medical device.

Szilvia Szabó

  • Szilvia co-founded the Purpose Content Studio, an Irish social enterprise that provides journalistic content for purpose-driven organisations to increase their visibility and engagement while empowering aspiring journalists to work in climate reporting. Besides, she is the managing editor of the Business Spirit News online site, which aims to inspire innovators to build a sustainable and just economy.

    Szilvia also manages the Profit with Purpose Magazine, a seasonal print publication that gives voice to changemakers and puts value-driven innovation in the spotlight. As a writer and editor, she believes that every piece of content is an opportunity to spark change.

    For five years, she hosted the Responsible Innovation Summit in Dublin, an international event that annually brought together policymakers, business leaders and researchers. She holds a BSc in Marketing Strategy and MSc in Agricultural Engineering and is regularly invited as a guest lecturer at universities and workshops.

Aoibheann O’Brien

  • Aoibheann O’Brien is co-founder and Director of Development and Innovation at FoodCloud, an Irish non-profit social enterprise that creates solutions to redistribute surplus food, tackling the twin issues of food waste and food insecurity. Launched in 2013, FoodCloud connects food businesses with surplus food to charities and community groups via a technology platform and three warehouses in Dublin, Galway and Cork. FoodCloud’s technology platform is used by Food Redistribution NGOs in the UK, Czech Republic and Slovakia. To date, FoodCloud has facilitated the rescue and redistribution of 200 million meals.

    Aoibheann has a degree in Law and Accounting from the University of Limerick and an MSc in Environmental Science from Trinity College Dublin. Aoibheann completed her MSc Thesis “Surplus food redistribution: a potential solution to food waste and food poverty in Ireland”. Her thesis laid the research foundation for the establishment of FoodCloud. As a co-founder of FoodCloud, Aoibheann has been pivotal in the establishment of the food redistribution sector in Ireland over the last 10 years and has contributed to the evolution and digitisation of the food redistribution sector across Europe. Aoibheann is a also a director of social enterprise GIY (Grow It Yourself) that supports people around the world to live happier, healthier and more sustainable lives by growing some of their own food. Aoibheann, alongside co-founder Iseult Ward, was awarded the Irish Red Cross Humanitarian Award 2018, Image Business Woman of the Year 2017, Green Entrepreneur of the Year at The 2014 Green Awards and EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 - Special Recognition Award.

Claire Munro

  • Claire Munro is Communications Lead at Zero Waste Scotland, where she has led on high-profile, award-winning campaigns including, Scotland is Stunning – Let’s Keep it that Way, the Deposit Return Scheme and the introduction of Scotland’s Carrier Bag Charge. She is Chartered PR and a Chartered Marketer with over 15 years’ experience in Scotland’s environment and housing sectors.

    Claire is on the Committee of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations Scotland and holds the CIPR Diploma in Internal Communications and the AMEC International Certificate in Measurement and Evaluation.

Edoardo Bodo

  • Edoardo was born and raised in Rome, but after finishing high school he studied European politics at the universities of Maastricht and Brussels. He joined RREUSE after an internship in the Energy and Transport units of the Council of the European Union and now works on various pieces of legislation related to European circular economy, while also coordinating RREUSE's involvement in NGO coalitions (such as the Right to Repair Europe campaign) and several expert groups on environmental legislation.

Gwen Cunningham

  • Gwen is originally a designer by trade, but for the past decade she has been focussed on driving the practical implementation of circularity across the textiles and apparel industry, by developing new infrastructure, knowledge and capacity across industry and education. 

    Since 2014, Gwen is the Lead of the Textiles Programme at Amsterdam Based impact organisation Circle Economy, where she manages a team of circular textiles specialists and designs and leads various international multi-stakeholder research and innovation projects with stakeholders across the textiles value chain.

    Since 2021, she is also the Lead for Circular Economy and Sustainability at NCAD,  where her role is to support staff to integrate the topic into existing BA programmes, as well as lead the development of new educational national provisions on sustainability and circularity. 

Sabine Rau - Oberhuber

  • Sabine Rau-Oberhuber is one of the early pioneers of the circular economy and Co-Founder of Turntoo, a Dutch service company focused on achieving a circular economy. She developed some of the first business models and circularity strategies and contributed to shaping the thinking around the circular economy transition.

    Turntoo works with manufacturers and consults with clients to help facilitate new processes and methods that reduce or eliminate material waste. The company also assists municipalities on circular city strategies and area development.

    Turntoo regards the necessary transformation taking place on four levels: the design of products and supply chains; the financial and business models involved; the data and IT infrastructure supporting the transition and the mental transformation leading to a new way of thinking. With a multidisciplinary team, Turntoo is working with clients that wish to transform to a regenerative model.

    Together with her husband, internationally recognized architect and sustainable pioneer Thomas Rau, Rau-Oberhuber co-authored the book Material Matters, which dissects and critiques our current linear systems of production, consumption and waste, proposing a new economic paradigm to radically change the status quo. One of the ideas proposed in the book is that buildings should be given a raw materials “passport” and material rights to keep them out of the landfill and instead in a constant cycle of use.

Rachel Loughrey

  • Rachel has 12 years of experience in the construction sector with a degree in architectural design, a master’s in architecture and a higher diploma in retrofitting, sustainability and conservation. She has a lot of experience working on a vast range of projects from large scale developments to one-off houses in several architecture and planning offices. She currently works in the Irish Green Building Council and she is working in the area of circularity in buildings. She is the project leader for the Construction Material Marketplace (CMEx) project which is being run with Excess Material Exchange in the Netherlands. She also is working on a sustainable infill house as an architectural designer. Rachel is passionate about mitigating climate change and is a founder of a number of environmental groups such as ACAN Ireland, is the co-founder of Act Now Collective and is on the steering committee for Architects Declare.

Bernie Kiely

  • Bernie leads the Circular Economy - Materials Management division and is responsible for driving the circular management of material resources, including:

    -Developing circularity in textiles

    -National policy on plastics waste, including deposit return scheme and single use levies

    -Extended Producer Responsibility schemes

    -Regulation of End-of-Waste and By-Products approvals

Philippa King

  • Philippa King has eighteen years’ experience in Local Government working as a Regional Co-ordinator. The post involves the development, implementation, monitoring and review of the waste management plans for the region and now the development of the new “National Waste Management Plan for a Circular Economy”. The post also involves project managing circular economy projects funded by other agencies and currently specialising in resource efficiency in construction projects.

    Prior to working in Local Government Philippa worked for sixteen years in the private sector as member of the management team dealing with the treatment & export of hazardous waste.

Annmarie Tuohy

  • Annmarie Tuohy, EPA Circular Economy Programme (CEP) - EPA lead for the CEP behavioural insights research to inform policy, national awareness communications, and wider national discussions on Circular Economy. Recent research studies on textiles include a national baseline survey on people’s attitudes and behaviours towards textiles; and qualitative research on buying second hand clothes.