Co-hosted by 

MEP Matjaž Nemec

(Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament)

&

MEP Ana Catarina Mendes

(Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament)

Ana Catarina Mendes holds a degree in Law from the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon. She began her political career as a Member of the Portuguese Parliament. During her term, she served as President of the Socialist Party Parliamentary Group in the Assembly of the Republic. From March 2022 to April 2024, Ana Catarina Mendes held the position of Minister for Parliamentary Affairs in the Portuguese government led by former PM António Costa. She is Member of the European Parliament since July 2024, S&D Vice-President for “the Rule of Law and Strong Democracy” and Full Member of the Committees on Justice, Liberties and Home Affairs;  ecurity and Defence and the European Democracy Shield.

Matjaž Nemec is a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) with the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), where he also serves as a member of the PES Presidency as well as a Vice-President of the Social Democrats in Slovenia. Before entering the European Parliament in 2022, he served as a member of the Slovenian National Assembly (2014–2022), including terms as Deputy Speaker and Chair of several key committees. He previously worked as Secretary to the Prime Minister and Assistant to the President of Slovenia, gaining extensive experience in national politics and governance. Re-elected to the European Parliament in 2024, Nemec is a full member of the Committees on Budgets (BUDG) and Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), and plays an active role in EU foreign policy and enlargement. He is the first Slovenian MEP appointed as Rapporteur for the EU’s €200 billion budget for 2026. He also serves as Vice-President of the EP Delegation for relations with Palestine, reflecting his commitment to peace, democracy, and human rights. Nemec advocates for cross-border cooperation, solidarity, the rule of law, and the fight against intolerance. He holds a degree and master’s in International Business and Sustainable Development from the International Business School in Ljubljana.

Inês Campos holds a PhD in Climate Change and Sustainable Development Policies and works at the intersection of Environmental Sociology and Science and Technology Studies. Her research explores how knowledge, technologies, and communities shape just and sustainable futures, with a particular focus on sustainability transitions and democratic post-growth imaginaries. Combining qualitative and quantitative methods—including computational social science—and participatory methods—i.e., Democracy Labs—she has authored peer-reviewed publications and contributed to European policy reports. Inês has coordinated and participated in multiple international research projects and is currently investigating how citizens’ participation in democratic innovations and alternative narratives can reconfigure sustainability governance from the ground up.

Francesc Cots is the Energy and Climate Manager at eco-union and a lawyer admitted to the bar in the U.S. and Spain. With a PhD in Environmental Policy and Law, he has over 20 years of experience bridging academia, the public and the private sector to advance the ecological transition. Previously a lawyer for the energy cooperative Som Energia, he has extensive expertise in community participation and energy democracy. Currently, he is an Ambassador for the European Commission’s Just Transition Platform and a Professor at Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC).

Doris Fuchs has been Director at the Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS), which is part of the Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam, Germany, since 2023. She is also Professor of Sustainable Development at the University of Münster. Her research concentrates on the relationship between democracy, social justice and sustainability, and especially on sustainable consumption, with interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaborations being a mainstay. Doris Fuchs received her doctorate in Politics & Economics from the Claremont Graduate University in California in 1997. During her career, she has held positions at several universities in the United States as well as in Germany.

Petteri Repo is Research Director at the Centre for Consumer Society Research at the University of Helsinki and Adjunct Professor (Docent) at Aalto University, Finland. His research focuses on citizen visions, consumer perspectives, and sustainability politics, and he is currently exploring advances in natural language processing. He holds a PhD from Hanken School of Economics.

Mara Almeida has a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Porto and a PhD in Developmental Biology from the University of Cambridge. She has also worked at Oxford University as a postdoctoral research scientist. After her academic work in life sciences, she worked as a Scientific Adviser for Biological Sciences & Health in the UK Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST). She later worked as a lecturer and researcher at the Centre of Philosophy of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (CFCUL), where she carried out interdisciplinary studies of the impact of science and technology in society. She currently works at the European Commission’s science and knowledge service, the Joint Research Centre (JRC), where she leads the “Future of Democracy” research project.

Patrizia Heidegger is Deputy Secretary General of the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) and Director for Environmental Governance, Sustainability and Global Policies. She leads EEB’s work on sustainable development and environmental justice and represents the organisation in regional and global intergovernmental processes, including the UN Environment Assembly. She is an elected Regional Facilitator for Europe for stakeholder engagement with UN Environment. With over 20 years of experience, Patrizia has worked extensively on environmental justice, human rights and sustainable development, primarily with NGOs in Europe and Asia. She is a board member of European Movement International and Vice President of Civil Society Europe. Patrizia holds an M.A. in Comparative Literature, Political Science and American Studies, and an LL.M in International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law.

Constantin Schäfer works as Director of EU Relations & Projects at ifok, focusing on citizen participation, open government and deliberative democracy, as well as issues related to digitalisation and artificial intelligence. He leads and contributes to EU-level deliberative processes for the European Commission, including European Citizens’ Panels and thematic citizens’ assemblies, and designs innovative participation formats such as those under the EU Climate Pact. He is a Senior Researcher involved in EU-funded research projects on democratic innovation and climate assemblies. He has a strong academic background in EU politics and democratic participation, with previous positions at KU Leuven, the University of Münster, and the University of Mannheim, where he completed a PhD on attitudes towards European integration and European Parliament elections. He co-founded BETA e.V., an association dedicated to empowering young people as active EU citizens.

Janez Potočnik, PhD graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Ljubljana. After a successful career starting as a researcher at the Institute of Economic Research and later as Director of the Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development in Slovenia, he was appointed Head of the Negotiating Team for Accession of Slovenia to the EU. He subsequently held several senior government roles, including Director of the Government Office for European Affairs, Minister Counsellor at the Office of the Prime Minister, and Minister responsible for European Affairs. In 2004, he joined the European Commission, first as Shadow Commissioner for Enlargement and later as Commissioner for Science and Research. In 2010, Dr Potočnik became Commissioner for Environment. 

In recent years, he has served as Co-Chair of the UN Environment International Resource Panel, Chairman of the Forum for the Future of Agriculture and the RISE Foundation, and President of ThinkForest. He has received numerous international awards and honorary doctorates, including from Imperial College London, Ghent University, and Aalto University, in recognition of his leadership in science, sustainability, and resource efficiency, as well as major international awards for his contributions to environmental sustainability and the circular economy.