European sustainability is strongly influenced by urbanization and production systems. Nowadays, 3 out of 4 Europeans live in urban areas, where 75% of greenhouse gases
are generated and 80% of material and energy resources
are consumed. It’s fundamental to adopt the new Circular
Economy production models instead of the linear ones.
Our model is no longer sustainable: the idea of the end life
of a product has to be changed. Today’s knowledge allows
to accelerate the development of circular economy: we
have technologies to track the life of the materials, lack of
resources and an increasing demand by consumers for a
new approach to consumption.
"Smart cities" have to become the new model of urban
development. Amsterdam, Barcelona, Milan and more
cities are already following it. The role of businesses will
be essential to accelerate the process, both in terms of
research and innovation and to spread new consumption
patterns and lifestyles.
Among the new “smart” models, sharing economy is
growing. It means activation, co-production and cogeneration of products and services, with an overlapping
of producers’ and consumers’ roles. In 2013 the sharing
economy has generated revenues of $ 3.5 billion worldwide, and 3 out of 4 Italians state that they are ready to
experience it.
Working at Frost & Sullivan since 1988, Followwill became a Partner in 2003 and is now director for
Europe, Israel and Africa.
With 25 years of organizational leadership and management consulting experience, he worked on
hundreds of consulting projects across all major regions and across multiple industry sectors, each
project focused around the strategic imperative of growth.
Particular expertise in driving business success and growth in multi-cultural environments, and driving
sales performance through maximum focus on key sales strategies and their tactical implications
Passion for leadership and mentoring to help drive individual teams and team members to peak performance.
Thomas has been with Lexmark for 18 years serving various business positions in marketing and communication, environmental programmes and has served in her current position since 2010. She also
serves as the chair of the Lexmark Corporate CSR communication cross-functional team. She has spoken at numerous conferences and seminars about the importance of sustainability as a key business
strategy. The core representative for Lexmark membership to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, she is
also the Digital sector Circular economy representative to the French National Industry Council. She
sits at the Environmental Commission of the TIC National Trade association. She has more than 12
years of experience in the sustainability & environmental field.
Marini holds a degree in Economics from Bocconi University, Milan.
At ABB since 1991, he held several position as a manager in Italy, China and UK. In 2006 he is worldwide responsible of the Sales and Marketing, Power Products and Power Systems Sales Network divisions. In 2009 he is Division Manager of Power Products in Italy and Mediterranean Region; he holds
this position for all Europe since 2013, when he becomes CEO of ABB spa. In 2015 he is Chairman of
the Board.
President of Anie Energia since 2012, he is board member of Assolombarda and Fondazione Sodalitas.
Degree in Biomechanical Engineering from Politecnico of Milan and Master in Business Administration
from Bocconi University of Milan. He entered Pirelli in 2008 to manage some of the non-core activities
of the Group while actively cooperating in company portfolio reshaping. Current role since 2010.
From 2001 to 2008 he worked in Telecom Italia Group covering roles with increasing responsibility in
innovation management until being appointed Chief Strategy Officer. From 1985 to 2001 he worked in
biomedical and biotechnology field both in multinational companies and academic research centers.
Board Member of CSR Europe, he sits in several European Commission working groups addressing
sustainable mobility programs.
From 2014 he is Chairman of Federazione Gomma Plastica.
Harmen van Sprang is the co-founder of shareNL, the Dutch knowledge and network platform for the
sharing (or: collaborative) economy. His organization is a hub, connecting consumers, entrepreneurs,
corporations, cities, governments and knowledge institutions, in order to further develop the sharing
economy. ShareNL collaborates with organizations like ABN AMRO, Achmea, Accenture, Amsterdam
Economic Board, Rabobank, Schiphol, but also with several ministries, the European Union and the
OECD. Furthermore, shareNL is the initiator of “Amsterdam Sharing City”.
Harmen is an advisor for entrepreneurs and companies, a public international speaker, and together
with Pieter van de Glind he’s the author of the business book “Share - Why the sharing economy is the
future”, to be published this Summer.
Renoldi Bracco holds a degree in Economics from “Bocconi” University in Milan where he graduated
with a final dissertation based on US and EU regulations on Mergers and Acquisitions. He subsequently
spent four years in Corporate and Investment Banking with Citibank in London, New York and Milan.
Since 1996, he joined his family in the management of Bracco SpA. In 2002 he became Chairman and
CEO of Acist, the US based medical device arm of the Bracco Group. In April 2009 he became the head
of the Global Business Unit Imaging of Bracco Imaging S.p.A., one of the World's leading companies in
the diagnostic imaging business.
He is a member of the Executive Council of Federchimica - the Italian Federation of the chemical industry -, a member of Confindustria and of CEFIC (European Chemical Industry Council).
After postgraduate studies in international relations at the Vienna Diplomatic Academy he held jobs
with UNDP, the Austrian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna. He joined the European Commission in 1998 and has been Head
of Unit in the Directorates General “External relations”, “Development” and "Environment".
In his current function he is entrusted with the formulation of the overall approach to the development and implementation of EU policies and instruments in support of the transition to a circular
economy.
Rachel Sanderson has been the Financial Times correspondent in Milan covering Italian business and
finance, politics, the economy and culture since September 2010. She also leads corporate coverage
of the European luxury goods industry for the paper. She was awarded the Jones-Mauthner runner-up
prize for best reporter under 40 at the paper in 2014, and was part of the winning business reporting
team of the year at the UK press awards 2015. Rachel was previously City and Accountancy correspondent for the FT, a correspondent at Breakingviews and a senior correspondent for Reuters where
she reported from London, Paris, Rome, Milan, Barcelona, New York and Los Angeles. She is a graduate of Cambridge University.