Invited speakers

Prof. Magdalena WDOWIN is the Head of Division of Applied Geochemistry and Environmental Engineering, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków, Poland. In 2004 she graduated from the AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków, Poland – Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection, obtaining a master’s degree in engineering in mining and geology, specialization: mineralogy and applied geochemistry. After completing her education, she began doctoral studies at the same faculty, obtaining in 2010 the title of Doctor of Earth Sciences, in field of geology, specialization: mineralogy. In 2015, at the Faculty of Environmental Engineering of the Lublin University of Technology, she obtained the academic degree of dr hab. Eng. in the field of technical sciences in the discipline of environmental engineering. Since 2007, she has been an employee of Mineral and Energy, Economy Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences in which she has been the head of the Division of Applied Geochemistry and Environmental Engineering since 2016. During her professional career, she specialized in waste management, in particular the use of combustion by-products in engineering and environmental protection. In 2020 she was awarded by Intelligent Development Center as Meritorious for Intelligent Development at scope of circular economy activities. 

Prof. Paweł ROWIŃSKI supervises the works of the 3rd Department of Exact Sciences and Earth Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences. He coordinates the affairs of scientific institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Responsible for cooperation with the Board of Directors of Scientific Units of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Doctoral Students' Council of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Sejm and the Senate of the Republic of Poland. He coordinates the activities of the interdisciplinary advisory team for the climate crisis as the President of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Paweł Rowiński is a professor of Earth sciences, hydrologist and hydrodynamicist, a real member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and vice-president of the Academy since May 2015. From 2008-2015 he was the director of the Institute of Geophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Co-founder and first chairman of the GeoPlanet Center for Earth and Planet Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Vice-president of the board of the European branch of the IAHR (International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research). Member of the board of ALLEA (European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities). His research interests include mathematical modelling of turbulent flows, pollutant dispersion processes and sediment in flowing surface waters, as well as studying the impact of climate change on the water balance in river catchments.

Mr. Ludwig HERMANN is the President of the European Sustainable Phosphorus Platform (ESPP) and specialist in Proman Management GmbH. He has over 35 years of experience as technology and business development consultant on 3 continents; co-inventor of ash decontamination and phosphorus recovery processes; co-founder CTO and CEO of ASH DEC AG; organised and supervised design, engineering and assembling of ASH DEC’s pilot plant; conceived and managed test programs and co-authored the patents EP 191803, EP 2016203, WO 20125035, WO 2013190116, WO 20135020, WO 20145029, WO 2015189333.  

Dr Klara RAMM graduated from the Faculty of Precision Mechanics at the Warsaw University of Technology. She also holds an Executive MBA diploma. She obtained a doctorate in technical sciences in the specialization of environmental engineering. She completed post-graduate studies at the Faculty of Management at the University of Warsaw, as well as studies conducted by HEC (School of Management) in Paris and the Warsaw School of Economics. For several years she has been associated with the environmental protection sector, especially water and sewage management, gaining experience in Warsaw waterworks, the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management, the National Water Management Board, Veolia. Since 2006, she has been actively cooperating with the Polish Waterworks Chamber of Commerce. She represents the Polish water and sewage industry in the EurEau federation, which brings together the European community of this sector. As a member of the EurEau General Assembly, she participates in activities to protect water resources and improve the functioning of water supply and sewage services in the EU. She is a member of the Water Supply and Sewerage Technical Committee at the Polish Committee for Standardization, a member of the Board of the Horizon Europe Mission for healthy oceans, seas, coastal and inland waters.

Rafael CASIELLES is the general coordinator of SUWANU EUROPE. Rafael is a Senior Project Manager at Bioazul with more than 13 years of experience in the coordination of Research and Innovation projects. Rafael has coordinated several European projects to promote water reuse such as SUWANU, RichWater and TREAT&USE. Rafael is a member of the Body of Knowledge of EIT Food to cope with water scarcity and co-leads the Working Group of Water and Agrifood of the Water Europe platform.

Prof. Marzena SMOL is the Head of the Division of Biogenic Raw Materials at the Mineral and Energy Economy Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences (IGSMiE PAN). She completed a master’s degree in Environmental Protection at Jan Długosz University in Częstochowa and a master’s degree in International Project Management at the Częstochowa University of Technology. She completed the PhD in technical sciences – Environmental Engineering, 2015, Częstochowa University of Technology. Manager and contractor in national and international projects in the field of biogenic raw materials management in the context of the implementation of the principles of sustainable development (SD), circular economy (CE) and the strategies for the Green Deal in the water and sewage, fertilizer and agri-food sectors. Founder of the Division of Biogenic Raw Materials at IGSMiE PAN, member of the Scientific Council of IGSMiE PAN. She participated in the work on the preparation of the Roadmap Transformation towards circular economy in Poland (Ministry of Development). Holder of the Minister’s Scholarship for Outstanding Young Scientists.

Prof. Maris KLAVINS works at the University of Latvia, Department of Environmental Sciences. He obtained his scientific degree in chemistry of biologically active compounds at the Moscow State University in 1986 but a habilitation degree at the University of Latvia in 1994. He is a member of the Academy of Sciences of Latvia, coordinator of International Humic Substances Research Society (IHSS), head of Natural Resources Reserch Centre. Research interests are related to studies of natural organic matter, wetlands and bogs, environmental pollution problems, circular economy and low carbon development.

Beata SZATKOWSKA is responsible for the activities of Aquateam in Poland. She joined Aquateam in 2009 and is the project coordinator and representative of Aquateam in Poland, with a focus on sewage sludge and organic waste. She worked with Anammox, a biological nitrogen removal process. Her experience in laboratory work includes chemical analyzes of water and wastewater, pilot installations on a laboratory and technical scale, as well as the creation of projects and constellations of cooperation. He deals with environmental protection issues interdisciplinary, both from the point of view of an engineer, company, consultant and administration.

Renata TOMCZAK-WANDZEL started working at Aquateam COWI in January 2014. Previously, she was a professor at the Department of Lubricants and Detergents Technology at the Faculty of Chemistry, Gdańsk University of Technology (2002-2013). In addition, she was Post-Doc at KTH Mark and Water Engineering in Stockholm (2011-2012). She has over 20 years of experience in wastewater treatment, including physical, chemical and biological treatment technologies. In particular, she has experience in membrane filtration of water and wastewater, as well as experience in the reuse of sludge and waste, intensification of fermentation processes, decomposition of sludge, anaerobic decomposition of waste and wastewater from the food industry, biological wastewater treatment technology with the intensification of nitrogen and phosphorus removal and recovery energy and resource use. 

Małgorzata SZLACHTA is a senior scientist at the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK). She is also affiliated with the Wrocław University of Science and Technology in Poland (WUST), where she holds the position of Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Environmental Engineering. She got her postdoctoral experience from Utrecht University in the Netherlands. During her career, she conducted research at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in France and University of Malaya and Sunway University in Malaysia. She got her master's and doctorate diplomas from WUST. Her expertise is in the physico-chemical and electrochemical treatment of water and industrial wastewater and the recovery of nutrients and valuable elements from side streams. She has more than 15 years of experience in experimental research, process design, upscaling, and pilot demonstrations. She was a principal investigator, co-investigator, and project manager of several international and national projects. Currently, in GTK, she is a project manager of the EIT Raw Materials funded project aiming at the utilisation of geothermal brines as the source of critical raw materials and energy supply and the EIT Raw Materials Academy funded project dedicated to the development of an MSc level program in Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology Integration in Mining.

Prof. Jiří Jaromír KLEMEŠ is Head of a Centre of Excellence “Sustainable Process Integration Laboratory – SPIL”, NETME Centre, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Brno University of Technology – VUT Brno, Czech Republic, and Emeritus Professor at “Centre for Process Systems Engineering and Sustainability”, Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Budapest, Hungary. Previously the Project Director, Senior Project Officer and Hon Reader at Department of Process Integration at UMIST, The University of Manchester and the University of Edinburgh, UK Founder and a long-term Head of the Centre for Process Integration and Intensification – CPI2, University of Pannonia, Veszprém, Hungary. Awarded by the EC with Marie Curie Chair of Excellence (EXC). Track record of managing and coordinating 96 major EC, NATO, bilateral and UK Know-How projects. Research funding attracted over 42 M€. Co-Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Cleaner Production and Chemical Engineering Transactions, Editor in Chief Cleaner Technologies and Engineering and Cleaner Chemical Engineering (Elsevier); Subject Editor of Energy and Emeritus Executive Editor of Applied Thermal Engineering. Managing Guest Editor of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. The founder and President for 24 y of PRES (Process Integration for Energy Saving and Pollution Reduction) conferences. Seven years Chairperson of CAPE Working Party of European Federation of Chemical Engineering, a member of WP on Process Intensification and of the EFCE. A Member of the IChemE, UK, Sargent Medal International Committee on CAPE. Invited lecturer at 62 universities worldwide. He has many years of research and industrial experience.

Bartosz ŁUSZCZEK is a graduate of the Faculty of Environmental Engineering of the Krakow University of Technology, the Faculty of Management of the University of Economics in Krakow and MBA in Public Management at the Krakow Business School. He has been working in the Waterworks of the City of Krakow for 16 years, currently as the Director of Technology and Innovation. For 3 years he has been the President of the Galician Waterworks Forum Association, which brings together representatives of the water and sewage industry in Małopolska and Podkarpacie. As a representative of the "Wodociągi Polskie" Chamber of Commerce in EurEau, he participates in consultations on European legal acts and policies relating to the water and sewage industry. Professionally, he deals with, among others water and sewage technology, innovative projects and legal and environmental issues in the water and sewage industry.

Alfonso MEJIA is an Associate Professor at Pennsylvania State University. His research area is Water Resources Engineering and his interest areas are hydrology, floods and droughts, hydrometeorology, urban-water systems, water resources sustainability, and ecohydrology.   

Prof. Sebastian WERLE is a Full Professor at the Faculty of Energy and Environmental Engineering of the Silesian University of Technology and the head of the Laboratory of the Renewable Energy Sources. He is a Faculty V-ce Dean for Cooperation and Development and the Coordinator of the Priority Research Area Climate and Environmental Protection, Modern Energy. He has participated extensively as a partner and coordinator in European and national research projects and has published over 300 papers in peer-reviewed journals. He is a Member of the Polish Section of the Combustion and Thermodynamics Committee Polish Science Academy and Polish Section of the Combustion Institute, Member of the Asia-Pacific Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering Society and World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology. He is an editorial board member of: Journal of Power Technologies, International Journal of Energy and Power Engineering and International Journal of Waste Management and Technology. His professional interests include thermal use of sewage sludge and biomass, gasification, pyrolysis, including solar process, and modern recycling techniques, including chemical processes.

Ahmad ELMOLL currently works at the Faculty of Public Health / Faculty of Science, DSST, Lebanese University. He research focuses on trace element chemical speciation, bioavailability, environmental Analytical chemistry and Ecotoxicology, at the Division of Physical Chemistry. Dr. ElMoll is the Founder and President of the International Symposium on Materials, Electrochemistry and Environment, CIMEE and associate editor in top journals. The CIMEE16 project is Advanced materials and innovative processes in Electrochemistry for the Environment. The CIMEE18 project is Novel Materials and innovative processes in electrochemistry for Environmental remediation. Member of several International Science Advisory Boards and foundations in the area of environmental Chemistry.  

Kari YLIVAINIO is a Senior Scientist at the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke). He holds on MSc in the field of agricultural chemistry and physics (University of Helsinki) and PhD in Environmental Soil Science (University of Helsinki). His working career has focused on plant nutrition and related processes in soils, especially on optimizing phosphorus fertilization in crop production and minimizing losses to the environment. Currently he is coordinating H2020-project (LEX4BIO), where the aim is to optimize the use of bio-based fertilisers in crop production while minimizing risks to the environment, ensuring food and feed safety and supply, and protecting human health.

Boris JANSEN works as Associate Professor of Soil Chemistry at the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics of the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He is fascinated by biogeochemistry in general and in particular by understanding the fate and role of natural and anthropogenic compounds in soils. How does the chemistry of soils and sediments regulate the transport, transformation and preservation/degradation of such compounds? How is this chemistry, and thereby the fate of the compounds in question, altered by natural or human-induced change? What are the implications for the functioning of ecosystems, and how can we use this knowledge to optimize the ecosystem services rendered by the soil?

Dr. Laia LIENAS is a Chemical Engineer and holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering. She is the Deputy Director of BETA Technological Centre, a growing research center located in the center of Catalonia that currently counts with a multidisciplinary team of 70 people working in the field of circular bioeconomy and rural development. From a technical point of view, her expertise is in the field of environmental technologies for waste and wastewater treatment and valorisation, mainly focused on nutrient recovery from different waste streams. Moreover, Dr. Llenas counts with an extensive knowledge and expertise in the area of EU funding and project management. She has been actively involved in different European projects and she is currently coordinating the H2020 FERTIMANURE project.

Ivona SIGURNJAK is currently working as a researcher and project manager in the Department of Green Chemistry and Technology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. She is responsible for ‘Nitrogen and Carbon recycling’ line of research at Bio-Resource laboratory. Her research experience is in the field of animal manure processing and valorisation of produced derivatives as substitutes for synthetic mineral fertilisers. Ivona holds a PhD in Applied Biological Sciences from Ghent University (2017) and is currently involved in several nutrient oriented projects, in a capacity as a work package leader for Fertimanure (Horizon 2020) and WalNUT (Horizon 2020) project, and as a coordinator of NutriBudget (Horizon Europe) project.  

Nicolas ESTOPPEY is a postdoctoral researcher at the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI), Oslo, Norway. He holds a master's degree in Forensic Science from the University of Lausanne (UNIL), Switzerland. He completed a PhD at the UNIL during which he developed passive sampling-based strategies to investigate pollution sources in surface water, in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). He was then lecturer at the UNIL and implemented large-scale monitoring campaigns of hydrophobic contaminants (PCBs, PBDEs, PAHs) in Lake Geneva basin. He has participated in acquiring a better mechanistic understanding of passive samplers for hydrophilic contaminants (pesticides, pharmaceuticals, explosives). Currently - in the frame of the LEX4BIO project - he is assessing the risk caused by the (potential) presence of microplastics and organic contaminants (e.g., PFAS) in bio-based fertilizers.

Dr. Edyta KUDLEK is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Energy and Environmental Engineering of the Silesian University of Technology and the head of the Laboratory of Advanced Oxidation Processes. She completed her master’s degree in Environmental Protection at the Silesian University of Technology. She completed her Ph.D. in technical sciences – Environmental Engineering, in 2016, Silesian University of Technology. She was the manager and main contractor in national and international projects in the field of treatment of water solutions in advanced oxidation processes, membrane processes, and hybrid systems; chromatographic and toxicological analyses; identification of decomposition by-products of various organic micropollutants. She is a Member of the Polish Membrane Society and a Member of the EURECA-PRO Lighthouse Mission 2 Environment and Water. She has published over 200 papers in peer-reviewed journals related to the subject of removing organic micropollutants from wastewater, and water (including swimming pool water) and assessing the impact of water solution treatment processes on the environment.

Joanna NAPIERALA is working as an expert in the Skills trends and intelligence team at the Department for VET and Skills of The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP). At her work she is contributing to the development of the European Web Intelligence Hub - European system for collection and analysis of online job advertisement data (WIH OJA database). She is also focusing on the analysis of the twin transition (digitalisation and greening of EU economy) impact on the labour market and skills. Joanna Napierala holds PhD in economics from the Faculty of Economic Studies University of Warsaw.  

Dr. Jolita KRUOPIENĖ is a professor and researcher at Kaunas University of Technology, Institute of Environmental Engineering. She analysed sediment – water interactions during her PhD research. The current research interests include chemical risk management, management of natural resources and waste, environmental impact assessment. She is an editor-in-chief of Environmental Research, Engineering and Management journal. A board member of municipal waste management company, a member of advisory committee for registration of plant protection products in Lithuania.

Prof. Marta GMUREK received her MSc degree in Environmental Engineering from Lodz University of Technology (TUL) and also PhD and DSc degrees in Environmental Engineering in 2014 and 2018, respectively. Since 2020, she has been Associate Professor at TUL (Department of Molecular Engineering).After PhD her scientific research concentrated on chemical engineering with elements of environmental engineering. Her scientific and research interests are focused on the effective elimination of Contaminants of Emerging Concern from the aquatic environment (wastewater and natural water) using light-based treatment technologies, especially advanced oxidation, and water reuse. Lastly, she focuses on developing new technologies of wastewater treatment in terms of the elimination of micropollutants, i.e. antibiotics, as well as antibiotic resistant bacteria, and antibiotic resistance genes.She took part in three-month internship at Charles University in Prague, Department of Inorganic Chemistry and two- and one-month DAAD internship in Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Chair of Water Chemistry and Water Technology (under Prof Harald Horn supervision, 2014, 2017). She worked as a Visiting Researcher at University of Coimbra for 20-months (2019/2020). In 2021/2022, she was working at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology  as an Alexander von Humboldt FellowShe took a part as a contractor or main contractor in several project funded from NCN (National Sience Centre) and NCBiR (National Centre for Research and Development). She was a PI of grant supported by Norway Grants in the Polish-Norwegian Research Programme (Small Grant Scheme) (2014-2016). Since 2021 she is a PI in a grant “Investigation of the synergy between ozone and novel plasma-deposited catalysts in hybrid electrochemical ozonation of micropollutants” funded by NCN.

Dr Magdalena GŁOGOWSKA is a National Contact Point  and a member of the programme committee for the Horizon Europe Programme (Cluster 5: Climate, energy, mobility, Cluster 6: Food, bioeconomy, natural resources, agriculture and environment.). She represents the country at the meetings of the committee with the European Commission, contributing to agreeing on the scope and conditions of the work programmes. Magdalena Głogowska took part in the implementation of many research and development projects financed from national and European Union funds.  

Oliver LOEBEL has been secretary general of EurEau, the European federation of water services since 2016. The federation and its 36 member organisations from 31 countries work at all levels to protect our water resources for today and for future generations. He has more than 25 years of experience in European policy making. Oliver received his university degree in Economics at the Berlin School of Economics (Germany) and an MBA in International Business at École des Ponts et Chaussées (Paris, France). He works and lives in Brussels (Belgium).

Prof. Małgorzata CIMOCHOWICZ-RYBICKA graduated from the Faculty of Sanitary and Water Engineering (currently Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Energy) at the Cracow University of Technology. She is graduated also from postgraduate studies in the field of water and wastewater treatment at the International Institute for Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering, in Delft, the Netherlands, as well as postgraduate studies: manager of scientific research and development works at the University of Economics and Innovation in Lublin. Licensed design engineer in water distribution and sewage collection systems, without restrictions (Ref. No. RP-198/94). She is a research and teaching employee at the Cracow University of Technology. Her scientific achievements include many years of cooperation with the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden.  

Prof. Maria WŁODARCZYK-MAKUŁA works at the Faculty of Infrastructure and Environment of the Częstochowa University of Technology. She graduated from the Faculty of Environmental Engineering at the Częstochowa University of Technology. She defended her PhD in technical sciences at the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice. She received the degree of doctor habilitated in technical sciences in 2008 in the field of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Environmental Protection, Częstochowa University of Technology. In 2018, she was honored with the title of professor (field: technical sciences, discipline: environmental engineering). The professor's scientific research area is closely related to the discipline of environmental engineering and deals with technological issues of water, wastewater and sewage sludge, with particular emphasis on organic micropollutants. The main group of pollutants in the area of scientific research are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).