Patrizia Bianconi is senior expert for development and coordination of projects at regional, national and international level particularly on issues of sustainable development, low carbon economy, climate change, promoting local economic and territorial cooperation, promotion and protection of cultural heritage. Programme manager of the “Joint Programming Initiative on Cultural Heritage and Global Change: a new challenge for Europe” leading by Italian Ministry of Activities, Cultural Heritage and Tourism, with the participation of 19 European countries. Project manager of JHEP2 project (Coordination and Support Action for the implementation of the JPICH) and Heritage Plus project (ERA NET Cofund for JPICH call). Involved into the development of the Vision document, Strategic Research Agenda, launch and management of the joint transnational calls, internationalization activities.

Alessandra Bonazza Coordinator of the Research Unit “Natural, environmental and anthropic hazards of cultural heritage (RICH)" of ISAC-CNR, she is Professor of Environmental impact on materials, deterioration and ageing at the University of Bologna and Member of the PhD Board of Earth and Marine Sciences (EMAS) of the University of Ferrara (Italy). Her academic background is geology, though she has worked in the field of heritage science for her entire career. She is particularly interested in resilience and adaptation of cultural heritage to climate changes and environmental compatibility and durability of materials in restoration. Principal investigator in several national and international projects (FP7 TeACH, FP7 NANOMATCH, FP7 SYDDARTA, JPI-CH EMERISDA), she is currently coordinating the “Study on Safeguarding Cultural Heritage from Natural and Man-made Disasters (EAC-2016-0248)” and the Interreg Central Europe “Risk assessment and sustainable protection of Cultural Heritage in changing environment-ProteCHt2save”.

Łukasz Bratasz graduated in physics from the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland in 1996, and received a PhD in 2002 from the same university. In the same year, he joined the staff of the Jerzy Haber Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences. For many years, he headed the Laboratory of Analysis and Non-Destructive Testing of Artefacts in the National Museum in Krakow. Today, he is the head of the Sustainable Conservation Lab, at the Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, Yale University.  His research and work as a consultant focuses on the environmentally induced degradation of cultural heritage materials, risk assessment and design of sustainable methods of collection care, especially energy efficient strategies for climate control. He took part or coordinated 27 national and international research projects in the field of cultural heritage.

Peter Brimblecombe, born in Australia, went to university in Auckland, New Zealand, where he studied atmospheric chemistry. For almost 40 years, following graduation, he was on the faculty of the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia in the UK.  This was one of the earliest schools of its type founded on the inspiration of Solly Zuckermann so he was involved with the earliest years of environmental science as a discipline.  There were important issues to confront. He did research on both acid rain and the ozone hole while in the UK, but also became interested in long term changes in air pollution.  In recent decades he has studied the effects of air pollution and climate change on cultural heritage and continues this at City University of Hong Kong. 

Dario Camuffo, Physicist, emeritus Research Director at the National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (ISAC) Padua, Italy. Lecturer of Atmospheric Physic, Environmental Physics and Physics for Conservation at the University of Padua, the Polytechnic of Milan, the Cignaroli Academy, Verona and other Universities. His professional experience is mainly focused in climate change and environmental factors related to cultural heritage preservation. He has been a member of several working commissions established by the European Commission, UNESCO, Italian Authorities concerning meteorology and atmospheric pollution. He led several national and international research projects, 15 of them funded by the European Commission or the European Science Foundation. He has studied several monuments of the UNESCO List of Cultural Heritage.

Leonardo Cascini is full professor of Geotechnical Engineering since 1990. The research activity has been systematically devoted to test advanced experimental techniques and numerical methods to analyse complex geotechnical systems. For several years his efforts are devoted to conveying a new vision of Geotechnics aimed to scientifically approach the risk assessment and mitigation of natural phenomena at different topographic scales. He published several monographs and about 200 scientific publications, including more than 60 peer-reviewed papers in national and international journals. He coordinated two National Projects of Relevant Interest (PRIN 2007 and PRIN 2010-2011) and participated in the FP7 SafeLand project. He was the main promoter of several research centres or initiatives being the Head of the Department of Civil Engineering from 2012 to 2015 and the Director of the LARAM School (LAndslide Risk Assessment and Mitigation) since its foundation in 2005.

Carolina Collaro is an architect and Art History teacher, Ph.D student until 2014 at the University of Nova Gorica in Venice and now studying in Germany Global Change Ecology a M.Sc. Program at the University of Bayreuth. Master in Territorial Planning and Real Estate at Turin Polytechnic, Italy, since more than 10 years involved in research and education’s field for sustainable development at the global and local scale. Visiting scholar at the Institute for advanced studies on science technology and society in Graz Austria.

Cathy Daly is a Lecturer in Conservation in the School of History and Heritage at the University of Lincoln and has a research interest in conservation management. In 2010 Cathy was lead author on Monitoring Impacts of Climate Change on Built Heritage, a report commissioned from ICOMOS Ireland by the Department of Environment Heritage and Local Government. In 2013 she completed her PhD with the Dublin Institute of Technology. In this research transferable methodologies for the site level assessment and measurement of climate change vulnerabilities were developed and applied in practice at Ireland’s two World Heritage sites.

Emanuela De Menna, is Policy Officer on Cultural Heritage at the European Commission, DG Research & Innovation. In charge of various files on cultural heritage R&I policy agenda in the Directorate for 'Climate Action and Resource Efficiency', including H2020 programming, R&I contribution to the European Year for Cultural Heritage 2018 and the promotion of coordinated EU and national research agendas through the Joint Programming Initiative in the field (JPI CH). Architect by training and with a Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Economics and Development, for more than 10 years collaborated with University research centres in Europe and Latin America. Areas of expertise include: urban heritage and cultural landscapes, urban regeneration, increasing resilience of historic areas to crisis and/or natural and human-induced disasters and /or afterward reconstruction.

Maurizio Di Stefano Engineer, Architect specialised in Restoration of Monuments at the University Federico II of Naples, Professional of Great Renown (by Ministerial Decree 29/9/2005). Lecturer of the Faculty of Architecture of the Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Emeritus President of ICOMOS - International Council on Monuments and Sites - Italian National Committee. Past President of SCABEC SpA – Società Campana Beni Culturali - controlled by the Campania Region. Honorary Consul of Chile in Naples and Campania. His business activity covers several areas: from the economic and environmental planning to civil engineering and major infrastructure, from architectural recovery and restoration of monuments to assistance, coordination and management of major works, in various multiple positions as a design and construction manager.

Eladio Fernandez-Galiano is Head of the Democratic Initiatives Department, Council of Europe.  An ecologist and environmentalist by training, he has worked since 1985 for the Council of Europe mainly on environment and disaster risk reduction issues, first as Secretary of a European Wildlife Convention (the Bern Convention), and also as Executive Secretary of the European and Mediterranean Major Hazards Agreement (EUR-OPA), a platform of cooperation between European and Southern Mediterranean states in major natural and technological hazards. His main field of competence is risk management, biological diversity and other environment / sustainable development issues.

Mechthilde Fuhrer is Deputy Executive Secretary of the European and Mediterranean Major Hazards Agreement of the Council of Europe. She is active in the field of educational, cultural and environmental issues and holds a Doctorate degree in Human Sciences and a Master’s degree in Social and Cultural Anthropology. As part of her functions, she is working on the promotion and organisation of relief, through appropriate common initiatives with other organisations, in the field of major hazards prevention.

Antonio Gómez-Bolea Doctor in Biology. Lichenologist and mycologist. Since 1988 is has been assistant professor of the University of Barcelona. His research focuses on taxonomy and ecology of Lichens and micromycetes, and their applications as bioindicators. Since 1992 he work on biodeterioration by organisms colonizing the stone monuments, mainly but not exclusively lichens. He has written about 180 papers for journals, congresses and workshops.

Casimir Iwaszkiewicz is director of the consultancy Solutions Within Reach Ltd. He has over 25 years experience in advising clients in the private and public sectors on mitigating climate change with low environmental impact solutions. He has advised government, corporate organisations in the built, cultural, pharmaceutical, educational and health sectors. It includes working with professional members of development teams and their clients on projects whose scale ranges from national to building scale. Solutions Within Reach provides Strategic, Technical and Management solutions. He is a long standing invited lecturer to UCL's MSc and MRes postgraduate courses in Sustainable Heritage. His voluntary community work includes his role as deputy chairman of the board of governors of a London school.

Elena Korka graduated from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Department of History and Archaeology), obtained an MA degree from the University of Laverne in California, and a PhD thesis from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She has participated in many excavations following extensive experience as a field archaeologist, and is currently conducting: a) the  Greek-American excavation in Rachi Koutsoghila, Kenchreai, Korinthia, b) in Faneromeni Chiliomodiou, Korinthia, she entered the archaeological service in 1979 and in 2014 she was appointed Director General of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports.

Roger-Alexandre Lefèvre is Professor emeritus at the Paris-Est Créteil University. He was Vice-President of his University in charge of Research policy (1985-1994); Director of the Research Group "Interactions Materials - Atmospheres" in the Interuniversity Laboratory for Atmospheric Systems (LISA) and Director of the Master "Materials of Cultural Heritage in the Environment". He was President of the Scientific Committee of the French National Programme on Cultural Heritage (Ministry of Culture) (2003-2007). He is member of the Working Group in charge of Cultural Heritage in the 2^nd National French Adaptation Plan to Climate Change (2017-2020). He was Director of the annual European Doctoral Course "Sciences and Materials of Cultural Heritage" at the European University Centre of Ravello (CUEBC) from 1993 to 2015, focused since 2009 on Climate Change. He is member of the Scientific Council of the CUEBC.

Johanna Leissner trained as chemist in Germany and USA. She is working in cultural heritage research for over 20 years with a focus on climate change, environmental pollution, sensor development and sustainability. Coordinator of EU project Climate for Culture (2009-2014; www.climateforculture.eu). German delegate for the Council of Europe Strategy "European Cultural Heritage in the 21^st century". Since 2005 scientific representative for Fraunhofer Gesellschaft at the European Union in Brussels. Co-founder of the German Research Alliance for the Protection of Cultural Heritage in 2008 and of the Fraunhofer Sustainability Network. From 2001 till 2005 National Expert of the Federal Republic of Germany responsible for “Technologies for the Protection of the European Cultural Heritage” at the European Commission in Brussels.

Tuija Mikkonen (Finland) is Senior Environmental Adviser in the Ministry of the Environment at the Department of the Built Environment. She is responsible for the implementation of the national Cultural Environment Strategy (2014-2020) and the development of built heritage and cultural environment sectors. She is Doctor in Art History and has a master in Business Administration. She has been working with built heritage issues in different research projects and as an expert at the National Heritage Board. She is a member of the Steering Committee for Culture, Heritage and Landscape (CDCPP) of the Council of Europe. She has been engaged in the Nordic cooperation concerning landscape and the cultural environment in the Terrestrial Ecosystem Group (TEG) of the Nordic Council of Ministers.

Filipa Neto (Portugal) is an archaeologist at the Department of Cultural Assets of the Directorate General for Cultural Heritage, with a Master in Human Evolution. She is Coordinator of the Archaeological Information Unity since 2012 and responsible for the management of national Archaeological Heritage Database and Archive, run by DGPC. Also coordinates funded projects for the enhancement and protection of Archaeological Heritage, namely STORM project - financed by the European Commission, through Program Horizon2020, “Topic 3: Mitigating the impacts of climate change and natural hazards on cultural heritage, sites, structures and artefacts” da convocatória “DRS-11-2015: Disaster Resilience & Climate Change”. 

Elena Rossoni-Notter, ancien professeur de Lettres Classiques et docteur en Archéologie, spécialité-Préhistoire, est chercheur-archéologue au Musée d’Anthropologie préhistorique de Monaco. Ses activités et problématiques de recherche intéressent l’évolution des comportements et modes de vies de l’Homme au Paléolithique aussi bien que le Patrimoine local monégasque. Les missions conduites dans le monde entier sous forme de chantiers de fouilles, activités de terrain, études en laboratoire, analyses de matériel et exploitations d’archives font l’objet de présentations (colloques, congrès) et de publications internationales, en parallèle de vulgarisations scientifiques (articles/ouvrages, conférences, expositions).  

Cristina Sabbioni is Director of the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate –CNR ISAC).  Her main scientific interest is damage to Cultural Heritage due to atmospheric interaction, and the research results obtained have been presented at international conferences and published in international scientific reviews (180 papers). She has been project leader in national CNR projects and EU projects on damage to Cultural Heritage since 1984, including the Noah’ Ark Project. She has been Chairperson of the Expert Advisory Group (EAG) of the Key Action ‘The City of Tomorrow and Cultural Heritage’ within the 5th EU FP.  Since 1999 she is Professor of ‘Environmental impact on Cultural Heriatge’ at the University of Bologna. Since 2010 is part of the Coordination of the Joint Programme Initiative (JPI) Cultural Heritage and Global Change: a new challenge for Europe.

Jean-Michel Sainsard, expert parcs et jardins, ministère de la culture et de la communication, direction générale des Patrimoines Jardinier des Domaines de l’État, Jean-Michel Sainsard a été affecté de 1978 à 2004 aux domaines de Matignon, Champs-sur-Marne, Malmaison et Compiègne. En 2004, il rejoint la direction de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine comme chargé de mission. Depuis 2010, il exerce les fonctions d’expert pour les parcs et jardins protégés au titre des monuments historiques à la direction générale des Patrimoines. Dernier article publié avec Stéphanie de Courtois et Denis Mirallié : « Le jardinier et le projet, pour une adaptation aux changements climatiques », Actes du colloque Historic Gardens and Climate Change Recommendations for Preservation, Potsdam, 2014. Il anime un blog, « L’année du Jardinier » http://anneedujardinier.blogspot.fr/

Erminia Sciacchitano is Policy officer at the European Commission - DG Education and Culture - Culture policy Unit, as Seconded National Expert, where she works at Cultural Heritage policy development and Economy of Culture, and is member of the Team for the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018. Architect, trained in heritage conservation, since 2000 she has being active in the intergovernmental cooperation on a broad spectrum of policies: artists mobility, contemporary creation, sustainable architecture, digitization, creative economy and promotion of a wider access and participation to museums and heritage sites. The fil rouge of her work is to promote culture-based development for the social quality of life in Europe. She formerly held positions in the Italian Ministry for Heritage, Culture and Tourism of Head of Unit for International Relations of the DG for Contemporary Art, Architecture and Landscape, and Head Unit for Research and Inter-institutional cooperation of the DG for the Valorisation of Cultural Heritage, and managed several EU funded research projects of research applied to cultural heritage and the Regional Management Support Unit for the Euromed Heritage II Programme and International Negotiations.