Agenda
DAY 1
2 OCTOBER 2025
09:00 - 09:30
Registration
09:30 - 10:00
Welcome address
George Kremlis
Ambassador of the EPLO to Bulgaria, Director of the Circular Economy and Climate Institute of the EPLO
Professor Spyros Flogaitis
Director of the EPLO and President of its Board of Directors
10:00 - 10:10
Opening speaker
Rumen Radev
President of the Republic of Bulgaria
10:10 - 11:00
Opening session speakers
Stavros N. Papastavrou
Minister of Environment & Energy, Hellenic Republic
Olga Kefalogianni
Minister of Tourism, Hellenic Republic
Harry Theoharis
Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hellenic Republic
Apostolos Tzitzikostas
European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism
Costas Kadis
European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans
Ekaterina Zaharieva
EU Commissioner Startups, Research and Innovation at European Commission
Dr. Alexandra-Sophia Togia
Chief Executive Officer, Hellenic Recycling Agency
Konstantinos Zervas
Head of the Delegation of the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece (KEDE) to the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) and f. Mayor of Thessaloniki
11:00- 12:00
PANEL 1 - Circular economy: national, EU and International framework
SPEAKERS:
Uroš Vajgl
State Secretery at the Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy of the Republic of Slovenia
Aurel Ciobanu-Dordea
Director of Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Prof. Konstantinos Aravosis
NTUA, Vice President and Waste Management BoD Chairman at Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water – RAAEY
Konstantinos Zervas
Head of the Delegation of the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece (KEDE) to the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) and f. Mayor of Thessaloniki
Ermis Panagiotopoulos
Head of Sustainability Advocacy EMEA at Indorama Ventures PCL
MODERATOR:
George Kremlis
Ambassador of the EPLO to Bulgaria, Director of the Circular Economy and Climate Institute of the EPLO
12:00 - 13:00
PANEL 2 - Circular economy and extended producer responsibility
SPEAKERS:
Dr. Dionissis Boudouvas
Managing Director, COMBATT S.A.
Eleni Providi
VP Legal & Public Affairs Head of Corporate Communication/Quality/Sustainability AΒ Vassilopoulos
Dr Efthymia (Efi) Tritopoulou
General Manager of FILTRA S.A
Marios Skarvelakis
General Manager of CYCLOS S.A. - Container Management System for Crop Protection Products in Greece
MODERATOR:
George Konstantinopoulos
Lawyer at the Supreme Court, Head of Scientific Committee ECOCITY, Member of EEB Law
13:00 - 14:00
PANEL 3 - Green Financing & ESG
SPEAKERS:
Ivan Ivanov
Minister of Regional Development and Public Works of the Republic of Bulgaria
Ioannis Tsakiris
Vice President at the European Investment Bank (EIB)
Theodora Antonakaki
Director of Climate Change and Sustainability Centre (CCSC), Bank of Greece
Georgios Antoniadis
Director, Sustainable and Development Banking, Piraeus
Marios A. Klitou
Chief Executive Officer of Baker Tilly South East Europe
Constantine Tsolakidis
Senior Underwriter at Interamerican Hellenic Insurance Company SA
MODERATOR:
Prof. Rym Ayadi
Founder and President of the Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association - EMEA
14:00 - 14:45
Lunch Break
14:45 - 16:00
PANEL 4 - Circular Diplomacy: Building Partnerships for a Sustainable Future
SPEAKERS:
H.E. Matthew James Lodge
Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the Hellenic Republic
H.E. Omar Youssef
Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt to the Hellenic Republic
H.E. Laurence Auer
Ambassador of the French Republic to the Hellenic Republic
H.E. Stavros Avgoustides
Ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus to the Hellenic Republic
H.E Arif Mammadov
Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Hellenic Republic
MODERATOR:
George Kremlis
Ambassador of the EPLO to Bulgaria, Director of the Circular Economy and Climate Institute of the EPLO
16:00 - 17:00
PANEL 5 - Waste & Water Management
SPEAKERS:
Dr Ioannis N. Tzortzis
BoD Member, Regulatory Authority for Energy, Waste & Water (RAEEY)
Prof. Maria Loizidou
School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens
Ilias Dimitriadis
President & CEO of the Collective System for Alternative Waste Management of Excavation, Construction, and Demolition Waste, ANAKEM S.A.
Charalambos Papachristos
Director of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs at CHITOS S.A.
MODERATOR:
Yiannis Liaros
Public & Social Affairs Director of theaddcases
17:00 - 18:00
PANEL 6 - Sustainable Infrastructure
SPEAKERS:
Christos Dimas
Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Hellenic Republic
Grozdan Karadjov
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications, Republic of Bulgaria
Panagiotis Tsonis
Deputy CEO at Piraeus Port Authority
Dr. Georgia Lykou
Head of Environmental Protection Regulation and Oversight Section at Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority (HCAA)
MODERATOR:
George Kremlis
Ambassador of the EPLO to Bulgaria, Director of the Circular Economy and Climate Institute of the EPLO
18:00-18:10
Presentation and acknowledgement of The Athens Declaration culture based climate actions - TMMCH2025 & ΕΥΛΟΓΟΝ
Professor Tonia Moropoulou
National Technical University of Athens, Vice President of the Technical Chamber of Greece
18:10 - 18:25
Interview
Professor Harris A. Eyre
Executive Director of the Brain Capital Alliance and Professor at Rice University and The University of Texas Medical Branch
George Kremlis
Ambassador of the EPLO to Bulgaria, Director of the Circular Economy and Climate Institute of the EPLO
18:25 - 19:15
Circular Gaia awards
Panagiotis Theodorikakos
Minister of Development, Hellenic Republic
Professor Spyros Flogaitis
Director of the EPLO and President of its Board of Directors
19:15
Cocktail Reception
DAY 2
3 OCTOBER 2025
08:30 - 09:00
Registration
09:00 - 10:00
PANEL 1 - Preserving the Past, Protecting the Future: Cultural Heritage and Climate Action
SPEAKERS:
H.R.H. Princess Dana Firas
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, President of ICOMOS-Jordan
Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailovic
Secretary-general of Europa Nostra
Antonio Jesús Antequera Delgado
General Subdirectorate of Management and Coordination of Cultural Assets, Ministry of Culture and Sports, Spain
Christiana Pirasmaki
Vice President of the Board of ECOCITY
MODERATOR:
Professor Tonia Moropoulou
National Technical University of Athens, Vice President of the Technical Chamber of Greece
10:00 - 11:00
PANEL 2 - Alternative Fuels
SPEAKERS:
George Govatzidakis
Sustainability Manager, AEGEAN AIRLINES
Antonis Kokossis
National Technical University of Athens, School of Chemical Engineering
Nikolaos Michas
Key Account Manager for Tanker Segment in RINA
Georgios Mitkidis
Head of Alternative and Renewable Fuels within the Strategic Planning and Development Department of the Motor Oil Group
Dr. Kostas Rokkos
Chairman and CEO of TST International S.A.
Dimitris Theodossiou
Co-founder, Managing Director and MoB of Danaos Management Consultants S.A.
MODERATOR:
Stelios Bikos
Management Consultant
11:00 - 12:15
PANEL 3 - Circular Economy at the Crossroads of Cities, Islands & Tourism
SPEAKERS:
Dr. Kostas Bakoyannis
Chair, Environment, Climate Change and Energy Commission, European Committee of the Regions, former Mayor of Athens City
George Chatzimarkos
Regional Governor of the South Aegean
Gianni Chianetta
Founder & Chair at Greening the Islands Foundation
Dr. Eng. Antonis Peppas
Professor at the National Technical University of Athens
Dr. Ioannis Katsogiannis
Professor at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Dimitris Kollias
Strategic Advisor for the Green Transition, Advisor to the Deputy Minister of Environment & Energy, EU Climate Pact Ambassador
Veselin Todorov
Chief Executive Officer at VVT Engineering LTD
Dr. Sofia-Natalia Boemi
Senior Energy Efficiency and Energy Policies Expert Institute for European Energy and Climate Policy (IEECP), Netherlands
MODERATOR:
George Kremlis
Ambassador of the EPLO to Bulgaria, Director of the Circular Economy and Climate Institute of the EPLO
12:15 - 13:30
PANEL 4 - Energy transition & carbon neutrality
SPEAKERS:
Sanja Bozinovska
Minister in Ministry of Energy, Mining and Mineral Resources, Republic of North Macedonia
Tsvetelina Penkova
Member of the European Parliament, S&D Group
Lukasz Kolinski
Director for "Green Transition and Energy System Integration" in DG ENERGY
Monika Stanisheva
Founder of the Green Transition Forum, Chair of the Board of dir.bg
Nikolaos Rigas
Head of Carbon Storage, EnEarth & Energean
Jorgo Chatzimarkakis
CEO of the European Hydrogen Association "Hydrogen Europe"
MODERATOR:
Sergei Stanishev
Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria (2005-2009), President of PES (2011-2022), Member of the European Parliament (2014-2024)
13:30- 14:15
Lunch Break
14:15 - 15:15
PANEL 5 - Role of Women in promoting circularity and SDGs - co-organized by the UNEP MAP
SPEAKERS:
Maša Kociper
State Secretary in the Cabinet of Prime Minister, Republic of Slovenia
Hon. Joana Lima (Portugal)
President of the PAM Women Parliamentary Forum
Tatjana Hema
Coordinator of the UN Environment Programme/ Mediterranean Action Plan
Eng. Samah Saleh
General Director of Environmental Development, Head of Sustainable Development Unit, Head of Gender Equality Unit , Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs, Arab Republic of Egypt
Prof. Rym Ayadi
Founder and President of the Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association - EMEA
MODERATOR:
Dr. Senem Elcin Berber
Gender Specialist UNEP/MAP Med Programme Coordination Unit
15:15 - 16:15
PANEL 6 - Belem COP30: Brazil Leading the Way in Circular Economy and Climate Action
SPEAKERS:
Honorable Chief Justice Antonio Herman Benjamin
President of the Global Judicial Institute on the Environment, Federative Republic of Brazil
Pedro Escosteguy Cardoso
Minister-Counsellor of the Embassy of the Federative Republic of Brazil to the Hellenic Republic
Jan Dusik
Deputy Director- General, Directorate-General for Climate Action, European Commission
Carlo Buontempo
Director of Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) at ECMWF
MODERATOR:
MODERATOR:
George Kremlis
Ambassador of the EPLO to Bulgaria, Director of the Circular Economy and Climate Institute of the EPLO
16:15 - 17:15
PANEL 7 - Circular Blue economy in memoriam of the Ambassador Sotiris Varouxakis
SPEAKERS:
Charlina Vitcheva
Director General, Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (MARE), European Commission
Grammenos Mastrojeni
Diplomat -Senior Deputy Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean
Dr Dionysia Theodora Avgerinopoulou
Greek Prime Minister’s Envoy for the Ocean and Member of the Hellenic Parliament
Dr Nathalie Hilmi
Section Head of Environmental Economics chez Centre Scientifique de Monaco
Tatjana Hema
Coordinator of the UN Environment Programme/ Mediterranean Action Plan-Barcelona Convention Secretariat
MODERATOR:
George Kremlis
Ambassador of the EPLO to Bulgaria, Director of the Circular Economy and Climate Institute of the EPLO
17:15 - 17:30
Coffee break
17:30 - 18:30
PANEL 8 - Accelerating the Circular Economy through Digital Innovation & AI
SPEAKERS:
Dimitris Papastergiou
Minister of Digital Governance, Hellenic Republic
Vassilis Koutsoumpas
Digital Policy & AI Adviser, Office of the Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic
Spyros Mazarakis
Co Founder and Managing Director at Pleiades IoT Innovation Cluster
Kyriakos Tsitouridis
Co-founder of Wastecloud, ThessCompost and Mellon Labs, Development lead of Compost Systems in Greece and Cyprus
MODERATOR:
George Behrakis
Co-Founder, AXIOS Project & Co-Founder, Climate Solutions Fund
18:30 - 19:30
PANEL 9 - The power of she: Circular leadership in action
SPEAKERS:
Alexia Machera
Sustainability and Corporate Communication Manager, AB Vassilopoulos
Athanasia Ioannidou
Director of the Greek Association of Women Entrepreneurs (SEGE)
Evelina Tsileva
President of More Women in Power
MODERATOR:
Irene Christodoulou
Editor in Chief in Science Media PC and Executive Director at RAWMATHUB.GR
19:30
Conclusion Remarks
George Kremlis
Ambassador of the EPLO to Bulgaria, Director of the Circular Economy and Climate Institute of the EPLO
Join us in transforming ideas into action!
Join us at the forefront of the circular economy revolution. Together, we can build climate-resilient societies, create thriving circular economies, and inspire the world to achieve effectively climate neutrality.