Heather Bond

Wetlands International Europe

Claire Baffert

WWF European Policy Office

Claire works as a Senior Policy Officer on freshwater for the WWF European Policy Office. Her background is in EU Politics and Administration. Before joining WWF, Claire has worked for several Brussels-based organisations on environmental policies and project management. She is French and has been living in Belgium for twelve years. Follow me on LinkedIn or Twitter.

Vera Knook

The River Collective

Vera finished her master’s in Hydraulic Engineering in 2017 and since has become active in the protection of rivers in the Balkans and the rest of the world. She co-founded the NGO River Collective with whom she organizes the yearly Students for Rivers Camp, bringing together university students from various disciplines, experts, river defenders, and artists. Currently, she also coordinates the Scientists for Balkan Rivers Network that is part of the Save the Blue Heart of Europe Campaign. This network recently met for a Science Week on the Neretva River in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Sampsa Vilhunen

Director, Marine and freshwater environments, WWF Finland

Dr. Sampsa Vilhunen is leading a team of conservation officers that are among the most productive in Europe when it comes to river restoration and dam removals. In the last five years, WWF Finland has been involved already in the removal of 43 migration barriers, which has alone opened over 1000km of new free running rivers. These barrier removals have included everything from culverts to old mill dams, to active hydropower plants. Furthermore, the successful advocacy by WWF in Finland, resulted in historical entry in the national plan for Finland to remove dams from its rivers, to bring back migratory fish stocks.

This has meant that dam removal as a restoration measure has penetrated widely in the Finnish society, with more and more organizations now working for this common goal. Last year some 137 barrier removals were counted from Finland. Sampsa Vilhunen is not resting assured that the current pace is enough though but feels that there is still room for accelerating the removals of all ‘unnecessary dams’, as he likes to frame them.

Sampsa Vilhunen thinks that the challenge is immense, but so are also the opportunities. Bringing back aquatic environment that was once lost all across Europe because of unsustainable human development will be crucial not only from biodiversity perspective, but also for humankind.

Dr. Vilhunen studied ecology and aquatic sciences in Helsinki University as well Imperial College in London. His PhD concentrated on fish behavior. Sampsa is also a passionate fly-fisherman and spends a lot of his free time with rivers.

Andrea Goltara

Italian Centre for River Restoration (CIRF)

Environmental engineer, he has worked as a researcher, in Canada and in Spain, in the field of advanced water treatment technologies. He has then concentrated his activity on topics related to sustainable water resources, river basin planning and management, freshwater ecology and in particular river restoration. Since 2007 he has been the managing director of the Italian Centre for River Restoration (CIRF), technical non-profit association advocating for a more nature-based approach in managing rivers in Italy and working at EU level in networks such as Wetlands International Europe.
His current activities, in Italy and abroad, are mainly focused on river hydromorphology, conservation of freshwater ecosystems, restoration of connectivity, development of synergies between Water Framework, Floods and Habitats directives.

Besjana Guri

EcoAlbania

Besjana Guri, is the communication officer at the environmental NGO EcoAlbania and coordinator of the “Save the Blue Heart of Europe Campaign” in Albania. Since 2014, she has been engaged in the protection of one of the last wild rivers in Europe – the Vjosa river. She was graduated in Social Science in 2012 and has a long experience (more than 9 years) in environmental projects.

Marie Toussaint

Member, European Parliament, founder of Notre Affaire à tous

Marie Toussaint is a French environmental activist, jurist in international environmental law, and a co-founder of the association Notre affaire à tous, dedicated to promoting and reinforcing the international movement for the rights of the living and climate justice. Her association was at the origin of the l’Affaire du siècle campaign initiated in 2018 that successfully sued the French State for inaction in the fight against climate change. The associated petition gathered two million signatures in one month, the most-signed petition in the history of France.

She was first elected to the European Parliament in the Greens/EFA group in May 2019 and sits on the ITRE (energy, industry), ENVI (environment) and JURI (legal affairs) committees. She is the founder of the International Parliamentary Alliance for the recognition of ecocide, which aims to recognise ecocide at the international level to criminalise threats to the planet and human rights. She also advocates for a European Environmental Treaty to make climate, biodiversity and planetary limits the cornerstones of the European Union. This would ensure that no laws contrary to the environment could be adopted as all would be subject to the imperative of preserving the planet.

Gary Wockner

Save the Poudre, Save the Colorado and Save the World’s Rivers

Dr. Gary Wockner is a scientist, writer, and activist specializing in dam fighting and river protection. He directs and founded Save The Poudre, Save The Colorado, and Save The World’s Rivers which fight dams in his local watershed in Colorado, throughout the Southwest U.S., and across the planet. Gary has traveled to, and written stories about, water and river protection in over 25 countries. He’s been named a “River Hero”, a “Guardian of the River”, and an “Eco-Rockstar Impacting the Planet” by various organizations and publications. Gary is currently co-leading an international campaign to highlight how dams and reservoirs make climate change worse. More at GaryWockner.com

Bettina Urbanek

WWF Austria

Bettina is the team leader of the hydropower work in WWF Austria. She works on the link between river protection, negative impacts of hydropower and nature-friendly energy transition. Currently, she is working on the campaign against the mega-project Kaunertal in the Austrian Alps – https://www.fluessevollerleben.at/kaunertal/declaration/ – that project would not just cause huge ecological damage but is also a symbol of wrong energy-policy in the climate crisis.
She is convinced that with the actual energy crisis it is very important to bring the importance of river ecology, biodiversity loss, and the role of intact ecosystems in the climate crisis back and high on the Brussels agenda and on the national level.

Her educational background is in water engineering, specialised in river ecology at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU).

Alessandro Caretto

Youth for the Rhine

Alessandro Caretto is a Civil Engineer, recently graduated from Polytechnic of Milan in the Masters’s CERM Programme (Civil Engineering for Risk Mitigation) and oriented toward the theme of Hydrogeological Risk Mitigation. Currently he is working in the laboratory ICube-SERTIT from University of Strasbourg, where he applies remote sensing techniques to monitor the extension of the water basins in the Grand-Est region of France. He is part of the Implementation Committee of Youth for the Rhine, a youth-led initiative intended to motivate younger generations across the Rhine Basin in thinking about and addressing one of Europe’s major societal issues:climate adaptation and the diverse issues of water, food, and energy.

Ivana Korn Varga

WWF Adria

Ivana Korn Varga, Mura-Drava-Danube Biosphere Reserve Coordinator in WWF Adria, Eco-engineer by profession, highly motivated to create opportunities for holistic management of the first world’s 5-country UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Mura-Drava-Danube, the so-called Amazon of Europe. During 13 years in an international nature conservation setting, she contributed to the sustainable management of protected areas in the Western Balkans and for the last eight years, she is dedicated to Mura-Drava-Danube Initiative. Works on preparation and implementation of different projects while also working on the policy level, and advocates for sustainable management, restoration, and implementation of nature-based solutions. Aims toward a climate-resilient future where people live in harmony with nature.

César Luena

Member, European Parliament

César Luena is a Spanish member of the Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament since July 2019 and Vice-Chairman of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. He is currently the rapporteur for the proposed Nature Restoration Law which is critical for Europe’s rivers. Previously, he was the Social Democrat representative for the Parliament’s resolution on the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, where he advocated for a just ecological transition and environmental taxation as a solution to the current climate and environmental emergency. He was the rapporteur for the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030, where he advocated joint action to combat climate change and biodiversity loss, and he is responsible for the European Parliament resolution on the creation of Marine Protected Areas in the Antarctic Ocean.

He holds a PhD from the University of La Rioja in Spain and is an Associate Professor in the Department of Social Sciences at the University Carlos III in Madrid.

Alexandra Pappa

MedINA

With an academic background in Environment and Resource Management (MSc) from the Vrije University Amsterdam and in Law (LL.B.) from the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Alexandra has extensive experience in project management on environmental and social projects as well as expertise in environmental education. She has been collaborating with MedINA since 2019, running the ‘Saving Europe’s last free-flowing river: Vjosa/Aoos’ project, supporting project implementation and development and acting as a focal point for policy issues.

Danijel Lonĉar

Independent Storyteller

An anthropologist by training and environmentalist by calling, Danijel is an experienced communications expert behind some of the most successful river-protection campaigns in the Balkans. He has been leading WWF Adria’s freshwater communications for four years, where he produced several documentaries and story features, including the film Luma, a poetic exploration of the relationship between the Valbona River and the people who live beside it.

Now working as an independent consultant, Danijel is exploring new ways of connecting people to rivers through storytelling.

Nina Pantović

Save Kormanica

Jelena Popović

Save Komarnica

She works at the NGO Montenegrin Ecologists Society, in areas of biodiversity research and conservation. She spends a lot of time in the field, especially in the Montenegrin mountains where she researches Montenegrin flora and habitats. She first started thorough dendrochronology research in Montenegro, focusing on the Bosnian pine species. A big part of her work goes to translating the importance of nature to the people by using educational approaches and art.

Giulia Testa

Global Youth Biodiversity Network Europe

Giulia Testa is a young environmentalist from Italy. She is part of the Policy Team in the Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN) Europe and Coordinator of the Nordic chapter of the organization. Among other activities, in GYBN Europe she co-authored a policy brief on freshwater ecosystems. Giulia is also Coordinator of the European Young Rewilders Network at Rewilding Europe and Coordinator of the Biodiversity Working Group of Generation Climate Europe (GCE), where she has led the youth advocacy project on the new EU Nature Restoration Law. She holds a master’s in environmental law and policy, with a specialization in biodiversity law and a master’s thesis on the integration of rewilding into EU law.

Maja Pravuljac

ClientEarth

Maja works as a Legal Expert at ClientEarth Wildlife and Habitats Programme, where she focuses on hydro-energy projects and their impacts on rivers, species and habitats. In her work, she focuses on the protection of rivers in the Mediterranean basin (including Balkans) and works closely with other legal experts across Europe in ensuring compliance with the EU and international environmental law. Apart from her post at ClientEarth, Maja is also a member of the Grant Selection Panel at Open River Programme that supports projects that lead to the removal of small dams and the restoration of river flow and biodiversity across Europe.

Maja acquired her law degree in 2014 from the Faculty of Law, University of Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina), and in 2016, she graduated with distinction from the University of Strathclyde Law School, where she obtained her LLM degree in International Economic Law.

Gaëlle Haut

Surfrider Foundation Europe

Camila Kuncar

Iberian Centre For River Restoration (CIREF) and Caminar El Agua

Camila is an architect and holds an MSc in Smart and Sustainable Cities. She is the Project Coordinator of the Iberian Centre for River Restoration and the Codirector of Caminar El Agua, an initiative that aims to reconnect citizens with their rivers using walking methodologies, technology and artistic performance while providing expert knowledge. She is also co-author of a podcast about the Manzanares river from Madrid (Caminar El Agua Podcast) and also works as a consultant in communication and education for the Spanish Tagus Basin Administration and the Botín Foundation. She has been a visiting professor at the University of Chile and the Metropolitan Technological University in Santiago de Chile where she taught urban planning using walking methodologies and cartographic data collection.

Christer Borg

River Saver’s Association

Christer Borg is the president of Älvräddarna (River Saver’s association) since 2009 and now the Älvräddarnas Waterkeeper. He has worked exclusively with hydro power concerns since 2008. Älvräddarna acts as a unified voice for its 53 member associations on rivers throughout Sweden, lobbying at the parliament, meeting with cabinets in government, writing debate articles, hosting lectures, representing at national meetings, and much more. Christer is an expert in biological, electrical (both micro and macro scale knowledge of national electrical grid systems) and jurisdictional issues linked to hydropower operations. Christer, who lives by the river Ångermanälven in the middle of Sweden, spends a considerable amount of his time visiting members on rivers throughout Sweden. Christer is an avid angler and is very passionate about keeping Sweden’s waters fishable.

Älvräddarna is a member of the International Waterkeeper Alliance.

Nils Harley Boisen

The Norwegian Biodiversity Network (Sabima)

Together with my colleague Åsa Renman I work as a water coordinator for The Norwegian Biodiversity Network (Sabima), The Norwegian Association for Outdoor Organisations, The Norwegian Association of Hunters and Anglers, WWF Norway, The Norwegian Trekking Association, and The Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature. We work on behalf of our organisations to ensure their effective public participation towards the EU water framework directive in Norwegian water management. I am currently investigating how Norway can improve its riparian zone management. I have a master’s degree (MSc) in ecology and nature management from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences with a major in tropical ecology, focusing mainly on nature friendly agriculture. The fieldwork for my master’s thesis was carried out in East Africa’s largest flood plain, in the Kilombero Valley in Tanzania. There, I studied how seasonal variations in food and financial security affected people’s dependence on wild resources. From 2012 to 2021, I worked for WWF as an Arctic advisor and as program coordinator for sustainable fisheries in the south-eastern Indian Ocean.

Vlastimil Karlík

Arnika Association

Vlastimil Karlík works for environmental NGOs since 1997. He focuses on issues of river and river landscape protection and restoration, and also biodiversity, including Natura 2000 network. He is a founding member and former chair of Arnika association, where he still works as a senior expert for river-related campaigns and projects. He also represents Arnika in Czech “Coalition for Rivers”, Czech “Coalition of NGOs for Natura 2000” and Czech-Polish-German coalition “Time to Oder”.

Beth Thoren

Patagonia

Beth Thoren is the Environmental Action & Initiatives Director, EMEA, Patagonia.

Beth is a respected environmental leader.  Most recently, she has been instrumental in working with a coalition of NGOs to save the last wild rivers of Europe. In June 2022, the Albanian government took the historic step of signing a commitment to collaborate with Patagonia on the establishment of a Vjosa Wild River National Park.

Prior to ClientEarth, Beth spent four years at the UK’s largest nature conservation charity, the RSPB, as Director of Fundraising & Communications. A passionate defender of nature, she came to the NGO sector following a sabbatical spent as a crew member of the Sea Shepherd campaign ship, confronting trawlers and whale fisheries in Antarctica.

Beth grew up in Tokyo and, as a teenager, her love of oceans drove her to study marine engineering.  She then went on to study a Masters in Business Administration and worked as a marketing director for nearly 10 years before moving into the environmental sector.

Marilena D’Auria

EuroNatur

Marilena D’auria works at EuroNatur office in Brussels as a policy and advocacy assistant. She has a master’s degree in International Relations and European Studies obtained at Cesare Alfieri University of Florence with a thesis on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action. Thanks to her studies and work experience in environmental non-governmental organisations, she has developed a deep interest in environmental and energy policies and the interconnection between the two fields.

Ewa Dąbrowska

ClientEarth

Ewa Dąbrowska is a Polish qualified lawyer (adwokat), working in Environmental Democracy Programme at ClientEarth. Her work includes strategic litigation and advocacy work in Eastern Europe in a broad scope of environmental matters, from clean air cases through wildlife to fossil fuels infrastructure. She focuses on procedural environmental rights under Aarhus Convention, ensuring transparency, access to information, public participation and access to justice, as well as enforcing EU law in this regard. She has experience as a litigating lawyer also in other areas of law, like criminal law and human rights at national and international level. In addition to her law studies, she holds also Master in Social Anthropology.

Dan Yates

Save our Rivers

Dan is a passionate snowboarder, splitboarder, mountain biker, climber, and a poor but enthusiastic surfer. But most of his adult life has been spent as a whitewater kayaker & athlete.

He has paddled some of the remotest and hardest rivers across Europe, North and South America, Africa, and Asia over the last 25 years, with kayaking defining his love of the environment and his desire to protect it.

Dan has spent the last decade as an environmental ambassador for several outdoor brands and has been involved in the creation of 2 environmental NGOs. His activism has focused on engaging the outdoor community in the preservation of our last wild places, be they in the heart of the Himalayas or behind the local village

Małgorzata Górska

OTOP (Polish Society for the Protection of Birds)

Małgorzata Górska has been professionally involved in nature conservation for more than 20 years working with non-governmental environmental organisations, and has also served as vice-director of the Biebrza National Park. She currently coordinates nature conservation campaigns at the Polish Society for the Protection of Birds (BirdLife Poland), also in cooperation with Save Polesia partnership and Save Rivers Coalition. She is co-founder of the Greenmind Foundation and the Foundation for Biebrza. She is the European winner of the Goldman Prize (2010), known as the “ecological Nobel”. Her main focus is the protection of wetland habitats, mainly those of international importance.

Federico De Felippi

(CINEA) European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency

Federico De Filippi works as Project Advisor for the LIFE Programme managed by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA).

In particular, he is part of the Circular Economy and Quality of life Sector and his Thematic Area is “Water quality and quantity”.

He has a Master degree in Environmental Science. Before joining the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME) in 2019, he has worked as a consultant for the formulation and management of projects in the fields of climate change adaptation (in particular flood risk management), climate change mitigation, waste management and rural development. He also worked for three years as Project Officer in the Agriculture Sector for an NGO in Tanzania.

Roberto Epple

European Rivers Network

Rivers have been Roberto’s passion since childhood. So, nothing was more logical than to turn his passion into a professional activity. For decades, he has initiated and coordinated long-term river basin-related campaigns to save the Danube, Ebro, Guadalquivir, Loire, Elbe, and Rhine in partnership with international NGOs, in particular, the WWF international.

He mainly uses his experience and expertise as a river expert and communicator to create an efficient interface between politics, science and civil society.

As a result of a 10-year campaign, “Living Loire“ for the preservation of the wild River Loire, he was able to play a key role in the realization of the first Europe-wide removals of large dams.

To promote international cooperation among NGOs, he founded the European Rivers Network (ERN), which today is linked to many stakeholders in the 50 most important river basins on the European continent.

Annette Spangenberg

EuroNatur

Annette Spangenberg is the Head of Conservation at EuroNatur Foundation, Germany. Her focus is the protection of the last free-flowing rivers on the Balkan Peninsula and of primary and old-growth forests in Romania. Annette has been co-coordinating the campaign “Save the Blue Heart of Europe” since its start in 2011.

Teresa Zuna

Wetlands International Europe

Teresa joined Wetlands International Europe in 2021 where she is leading a partnership focused on protecting river basins and minimising the threats to wetlands, in order to achieve a resilient society in the Mediterranean. Since 2012, she has had several positions in Wetlands International headquarters in which she used her experience in GIS and project management, offering solutions in order to guarantee sustainable development and resilient communities across Wetlands International programmes.

Prior to that, she was a Project Manager at the World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO), a global network and verifier of social enterprises and cooperatives practising Fair Trade.

Previously, she worked as a GIS consultant developing land modelling solutions and several regional and municipal emergency management plans, promoting community resilience to natural hazards and collaborative emergency management planning, to different Portuguese authorities.

She is certified in Project Management and she holds a Master’s in GIS and Land Modelling from the University of Lisbon and a degree in Geography and Planning from the University of Minho, in Portugal.