Dr. Bernd Manfred Gawlik is Portfolio Leader at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre and is closely involved in the EU Water Aquis where he provides scientific support Bernd, who closely interacts with all actors around “water”,has contributed to more than 100 publications. In collaborations with UNEP, the Union for the Mediterranean and other supra-national organisations his work is at the core of social engagement activities and applied sustainability diplomacy, promoted through the RENAISSANCE Concept. The forthcoming innovative mixed-reality publication GATEWAY TO THE FUTURE OF THE MEDITERRANEAN: Water, Energy, Food and the Environment is an expression of this commitment towards the interplay of water with society and its actors.

Tebaldo Vinciguerra serves the Holy See since 2011, working on ecology – chiefly mining, energy, agriculture, water and oceans – in the light of the social teaching of the Catholic Church. He worked initially as an official of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and, successively, of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, created by Pope Francis. Before that, he mainly worked as a researcher on natural disasters at the Center for Strategic Studies of the Italian Ministry of Defense (2008-2009), and as a coordinator of development projects of the Archdiocese of Lima (2008-2010). He graduated (2007) in Political Sciences and International Studies in Bordeaux and Turin.

Mr Almotaz Abadi is currently Managing Director for Water at the UFM Secretariat Responsible for Water Policies and Development closely working with the Water and Environment Division at the UfM Secretariat. Mr Abadi was Appointed to this position based on the Understanding between the UFMS and the GoP. He has a master’s degree in water resources management and another in Governance and public sector services. Mr Abadi was Acting Deputy Secretary General for the Water and Environment division from Sept 2015 until Sept 2016. Previously Mr Abadi had been the director of the Aid Coordination and Management Unit in Palestine. For the last five years, Mr Abadi had lead the process to revitalize the Water political process in the Mediterranean Region which had lead to the Water Ministerial Declaration in 2017 and the associated water agenda and its Financial Strategy. Before that he was very active in the water sector in Palestine and also in the region through his engagement with the regional dialogue, the bilateral and trilateral relations aiming to enhance regional cooperation and to enhance the way we govern our water resources, and foster cooperation on water and renewable energy issues. Mr Abadi was one of main drivers of the water sector reform and also the governance and private sector initiative for the Mediterranean including launching the first Mediterranean Water Investment Forum in Rome Dec 2019.

Following his PhD in Geography, Jan Marco Müller’s career included research management positions at the German Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), the former JRC Institute for Environment and Sustainability in Ispra (Italy), and the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. After having served as Assistant to the Director-General of the Joint Research Centre (2009-2012), he managed the office of the Chief Scientific Adviser to the President of the European Commission (2012-2015) and then joined DG Research and Innovation to help setting up the Commission’s current Scientific Advice Mechanism. 2017-2020 he worked for the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) near Vienna as Coordinator for Science Diplomacy and Acting Chief Operations Officer. Since August 2020 he serves as Science & Technology Advisor in the European External Action Service (EEAS).