Nicolas Befort
Associate Professor of Economics, Director of the Chair in Bioeconomy and Sustainable Development
NEOMA Business School
Nicolas Befort is a researcher in the economics and management of the ecological transition. His work aims to redefine both what sustainable innovations are and what sustainable transformation strategies organizations and ecosystems can follow to fit within planetary limits. To this end, he is studying the development of the bioeconomy, agricultural models for sustainability, the transformation of the wine sector and the status of waste in the bioeconomy. His work has led to the publication of books and articles in numerous academic journals.
Alberto Bezama
(a) Researcher / Working Group Leader / Deputy of Head of Department (b) Professor for Bioeconomy System AnalysisHelmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ
Prof. Dr.Alberto Bezama is a Chemical Engineer from the University of Concepcion (Chile), carrying out his doctoral studies in Industrial Environmental Protection at the Institute for Waste Management and Technology of the University of Leoben (Austria). From 2006 to 2010 he worked at the Environmental Sciences Center EULA-Chile of the University of Concepcion, where he was appointed as a tenured Assistant Professor in Environmental Engineering. Since 2012 he is a Researcher at the Department of Bioenergy at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Leipzig (Germany), leading the Working Group on “Systems Analysis of the Bioeconomy” since 2015. Moreover, since 2015 he acts as Deputy to the Head of the Department of Bioenergy. Main focus of his current research is the development and application of life cycle-based tools to assess the effects of implementing bio-based technologies in a regional perspective, under the framework of the bioeconomy and circular economy strategies. Finally, in August 2022 he received the Joint Appointment as a W2-Professor in “Bioeconomy Systems Analysis” at the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Rostock, Germany.
Fabrizio Fabbri
Sustainability and Food Policy Manager
Euro Coop
Graduated in Natural Sciences, over 30 year long experience in environmental sciences and policies, professional experiences with international NGOs, Italian Government, Italian Senate, European Council and European Parliament.
Alberto Fragapane
External Relations and Study Center
Novamont
After a double master’s degree in economics and political science, he pursued the Master’s degree “Bioeconomy in the Circular Economy (BIOCIRCE),” Europe’s first master’s degree in bioeconomy in the circular economy, sponsored by four Italian universities in collaboration with business and finance.
He works in Novamont since 2017, firstly in the Corporate Communication and study center division, and then since 2023 in the External Relations and Study Center.
Barna Kovacs
Secretary General
BIOEAST Intiative
Mr Barna Kovacs is currently working as counsellor at the Permanent Representation of Hungary to the EU. He has been appointed as the Secretary General of the BIOEAST Initiative, as vice-chair of the FACCE JPI, and as SCAR member on behalf of Hungary. His responsibilities covers the follow up of the Council discussion with regard to the research and innovation in the field of bioeconomy.
John Vos
Senior consultant
BTG Biomass Technology Group BV
John Vos is senior consultant with a background in business management who worked all his life in the bioenergy and bioeconomy sectors. He gained extensive experience developing, managing and/or contributing to international collaboration projects, including EU-funded projects. John has a track record working on assignments that seek to explore techno-economic viability of bio-based solutions, inform a range of (chemical industry, public procurers, brand owners, citizens, youngsters etc) about the opportunities offered by the bioeconomy and/or otherwise support the market uptake of fuels, materials and products derived from biomass. He coordinated the recently completed Horizon 2020 project MUSIC (facilitating the market uptake of intermediate bioenergy carriers) and the BBI JU project Tech4BioWaste (developing a database on emerging bio-waste valorisation technologies). Currently he works -in different capacities- on various projects, including 3-CO (addressing consumer communication on bio-based projects), GenB (on educating the younger generations on bioeconomy) and BioGov.Net (on innovative governance models for bioeconomy education).