Empowering Zero Waste Cities through data

Speakers

• 
  Jaka Kranjc

  Secretary-General, EBM


Jaka Kranjc

Secretary-General, EBM

Jaka Kranjc has been a full-time environmentalist since 2009 in one of the most successful Slovenian environmental NGOs, Ecologists without Borders Association, which is also the national Zero Waste organisation for Slovenia. He works on various waste prevention projects, Zero Waste strategies and the historic problem of illegally dumped waste. Realising passive action is not enough, the association organised two massive cleanup projects that both activated about every seventh inhabitant of Slovenia to come clean with them on a single day. That in turn enabled the long term work on prevention.

• 
  Leona Silberstein

  Environmental Inspector, City of Helsinki


Leona Silberstein

Environmental Inspector, City of Helsinki

Leona Silberstein works as an environmental inspector in the city of Helsinki. Her main task is to promote circular economy in the city. She was in charge of the creation of the City of Helsinki’s Roadmap for Circular and Sharing Economy in year 2020 and is now coordinating its implementation. She also contributes to various circular economy projects and participates in training the city’s employees in climate issues and circular economy. Leona’s passion lies in how to make the world more circular and how to transform sustainability into a new normal for everyone. She tries to act as an example for others and is not afraid to put herself at stake for her goals.

• 
  Aristide Athanassiadis

  Senior scientist at HERUS and co-founder of Metabolism of Cities


Aristide Athanassiadis

Senior scientist at HERUS and co-founder of Metabolism of Cities

Aristide is a senior scientist at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (HERUS) and co-founder of the non-profit organisation Metabolism of Cities. From 2018 to 2020 he was Chair of Circular Economy and Urban Metabolism at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. During the last years, he has collaborated and worked with/for several universities, research centres, environmental administrations, NGOs, youth organisations and consultancy firms on a great variety of projects trying to reduce the environmental footprint of territories. Aristide is the co-founder of Metabolism of Cities, a global network of people working together on systemically reducing net environmental impacts of cities and territories in a socially just manner and context-specific way. He also hosts the Circular Metabolism Podcast.

• 
  Arnout Sabbe

  Co-founder and CEO of geoFluxus and program developer of ‘Circularity in Urban Regions’


Arnout Sabbe

Co-founder and CEO of geoFluxus and program developer of ‘Circularity in Urban Regions’

Arnout Sabbe is the co-founder and CEO of geoFluxus and program developer ‘Circularity in Urban Regions’ at the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions, a collaboration between MIT, TUDelft and Wageningen University. With a background in urban planning and architecture, Sabbe has worked on some of the largest infrastructural projects around the world (Singapore, Zurich, Antwerp,…). Together with co-founder and CTO Rusne Sileryte, he spearheads the development of geoFluxus: an open-source platform which maps, analyses and predicts how materials move through cities. In 2020, the company won the prize by European Commission as ‘the most promising platform to deliver the EU Green Deal’. Currently, he is finishing his PhD at the Delft University of Technology, within the chair of Environmental Technology & Design. He is a frequently asked speaker and advisor to various public and private organisations in Europe.

• 
  Jack McQuibban - Moderator

  Cities & Communities Programme Coordinator


Jack McQuibban - Moderator

Cities & Communities Programme Coordinator

Jack is a young professional leader working in the field of environmental campaigning and movement building. Jack is currently the Zero Waste Cities Programme Coordinator at Zero Waste Europe (ZWE), responsible for supporting local municipalities across Europe, via the network of ZWE’s members, to design and implement effective zero waste strategies in their community. Currently, the programme works with nearly 400 municipalities who have committed to go zero waste, and Jack has been behind the creation of Europe’s first ever Zero Waste Cities Certification. Previously, Jack has over 5 years experience working for organisations in the field of sustainability and youth-led development, successfully building campaigns and movements to influence policies at the United Nations, European Union and British Government level. In his spare time, Jack is a keen environmentalist and sportsman – ideally combining the two. He volunteers for the UK Green Party and represents Europe on the Zero Waste International Alliance Board.