2023 Annual Conference

The Forum for the Future of Agriculture (ForumforAg) Annual Conference was held on March 28, 2023, consisting of live broadcasts, moderated panel discussions and dialogues, interactive interventions, networking opportunities and exhibitions, all live in Brussels and online. The image above is a visual representation of the discussion during the day and videos of the dialogue sessions plus exclusive interviews.

Click on the image below to watch how the visual summary was made during the day.

During the ForumforAg Annual Conference we asked delegates to add their comments to our visual wall on the key areas addressed in the Forum’s Call to Action and the visual below shows the contributions we received.

During the Annual Conference we asked delegates to complete a visual drawing and the result can be seen below. You can also download a copy to complete at home if you wish.

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2023 Annual Conference – Introduction

Stephen Sackur, Rose O’Donovan

2023 Annual Conference – Welcome address

Janez Potočnik

2023 Annual Conference – Keynote address Frans Timmermans

Frans Timmermans

Confirmed speakers (in alphabetical order)

Tasso Azevedo

Coordinator MapBiomas & SEEG initiatives, forester, former Chief of Brazilian Forest Service

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Tasso Azevedo

Coordinator MapBiomas & SEEG initiatives, forester, former Chief of Brazilian Forest Service

Tasso Azevedo is founder and General Coordinator of MapBiomas, a collaborative network of more than 70 organisations in Brazil and 14 other countries that monitors land use to promote conservation and sustainable management of natural resources.

Stefanie Beck

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC)

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Stefanie Beck

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC)

On February 20, 2023, Stefanie Beck was appointed Deputy Minister (DM) of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC).

Prior to joining AAFC, Stefanie Beck held the position of Associate Deputy Minister for the Department of National Defence for 13 months. Between October 2020 and January 2022, DM Beck served as Deputy High Commissioner to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Alternate Representative to the International Maritime Organization. Prior to that, she was the Assistant Secretary to Cabinet, Priorities and Planning at the Privy Council Office, where she led work on Whole of Government priority setting and policy development, including through transitions to new mandates, and most recently, through the COVID crisis. Previously, DM Beck held leadership roles at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and Global Affairs Canada, as well as several senior positions responsible for common services at Canada’s diplomatic missions abroad, including cross-government governance.

DM Beck joined the Government of Canada in 1990 with the Department of External Affairs, working abroad as a political officer and an ambassador in various missions. She served in Dakar, Senegal, Canberra, Australia, and in Cambodia and Croatia. DM Beck grew up on several continents, attended high school in Singapore and St. Catharine’s, Ontario, and has a Bachelor of Arts in German and Italian from McGill University.

Professor Tim Benton

Research Director, Emerging Risks; Director, Environment and Society Programme, Chatham House

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Professor Tim Benton

Research Director, Emerging Risks; Director, Environment and Society Programme, Chatham House

Professor Tim G. Benton leads the Environment and Society Programme at Chatham House. He joined Chatham House in 2016 as a distinguished visiting fellow, at which time he was also dean of strategic research initiatives at the University of Leeds. From 2011-2016 he was the ‘champion’ of the UK’s Global Food Security programme which was a multi-agency partnership of the UK’s public bodies (government departments, devolved governments and research councils) with interests in food and food security. As a leading advocate on food systems transformation, he has worked with many governments, the G20 and UN, as well as leading businesses and civil society organisations. He has been a global agenda steward of the World Economic Forum, and was an author of the IPCC’s Special Report on Food, Land and Climate (2019), and the UK’s Climate Change Risk Assessment (2017, 2022). He has published more than 200 academic papers, many tackling how systems respond to environmental change. His work on sustainability leadership has been recognized with an honorary fellowship of the UK’s Society for the Environment, and a doctorate honoris causa from the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium. He also remains a (part time) Research Professor at the University of Leeds. 

Ted Bilyea

Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI) Distinguished Fellow

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Ted Bilyea

Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI) Distinguished Fellow

Ted Bilyea is a Distinguished Fellow in Strategic Trade at CAPI and former Chair of the Board. As the previous President of Maple Leaf Foods International, Ted Bilyea led the largest exporter of food in Canada. Mr. Bilyea has served as a board member for several global food companies and was inducted into the Canadian Agriculture Hall of Fame in 2018.

Ranveer Chandra

Managing Director for Research for Industry, and CTO of Agri-Food, Microsoft

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Ranveer Chandra

Managing Director for Research for Industry, and CTO of Agri-Food, Microsoft

Ranveer Chandra is the Managing Director for Research for Industry, and the CTO of Agri-Food at Microsoft. He also leads the Networking Research Group at Microsoft Research, Redmond. Previously, Ranveer was the Chief Scientist of Microsoft Azure Global. His research has shipped as part of multiple Microsoft products, including VirtualWiFi in Windows 7 onwards, low power Wi-Fi in Windows 8, Energy Profiler in Visual Studio, Software Defined Batteries in Windows 10, and the Wireless Controller Protocol in XBOX One. His research also led to a new product. Ranveer is active in the networking and systems research community, and has served as the Program Committee Chair of IEEE DySPAN 2012, ACM MobiCom 2013, and ACM HotNets 2022.

Ranveer started Project FarmBeats at Microsoft in 2015. He also led the battery research project, and the white space networking project at Microsoft Research. He was invited to the USDA to present his research to the US Secretary of Agriculture, and this work was featured by Bill Gates in GatesNotes, and was selected by Satya Nadella as one of 10 projects that inspired him in 2017. Ranveer has also been invited to the FCC to present his work on TV white spaces, and spectrum regulators from India, China, Brazil, Singapore and US (including the FCC chairman) have visited the Microsoft campus to see his deployment of the world’s first urban white space network. As part of his doctoral dissertation, Ranveer developed VirtualWiFi. The software has over a million downloads and was among the top 5 downloaded software released by Microsoft Research. It is shipping as a feature in Windows since 2009.

Ranveer has published more than 100 papers, and holds over 150 patents granted by the USPTO. His research has been cited by the popular press, such as the Economist, MIT Technology Review, BBC, Scientific American, New York Times, WSJ, among others. He is a Fellow of the ACM and the IEEE, and has won several awards, including award papers at ACM CoNext 2008, ACM SIGCOMM 2009, IEEE RTSS 2014, USENIX ATC 2015, Runtime Verification 2016 (RV’16), ACM COMPASS 2019, and ACM MobiCom 2019, the Microsoft Research Graduate Fellowship, the Microsoft Gold Star Award, the MIT Technology Review’s Top Innovators Under 35, TR35 (2010) and Fellow in Communications, World Technology Network (2012). He was recently recognized by the Newsweek magazine as America’s 50 most Disruptive Innovators (2021). Ranveer has an undergraduate degree from IIT Kharagpur, India and a PhD from Cornell University.

Sean de Cleene

International Food Systems Partnership Expert

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Sean de Cleene

International Food Systems Partnership Expert

Sean is a former Member of the Executive Committee of the World Economic Forum - Head of Food Systems where at different times he additionally had executive management oversight and responsibility for the Nature portfolio, Climate Governance, Finance for SDGs, Tech for SDGs, Hoffman Fellows, Diversified Protein and Civil Society Engagement. Sean recently chaired the UN Food Systems Summit Innovation Lever of Change and was previously a special advisor to the UN Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Food Security and Nutrition. He sits on the Board of IDH - the Sustainable Trade Initiative and The Partnering Initiative. Previously he held positions as Senior Vice President Global Initiatives, Strategy and Business Development for Yara International and Vice President of Business Development, Inclusive Finance and Strategic Partnerships at AGRA. Sean also has an extensive background in social entrepreneurship, sustainable financing and innovation.

Boris Erg

Director, IUCN European Regional Office

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Boris Erg

Director, IUCN European Regional Office

Boris Erg is Director of the IUCN European Regional Office. He is a trained expert in environmental management with core expertise in nature policy, protected and conserved areas, and nature-based solutions. Boris has 25 years of professional experience of which most in an international setting. Throughout his career, he has cooperated with numerous international organizations, UN agencies, national authorities, NGOs, research organisations, businesses and financial institutions. He is an active member of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas where he serves on the Executive Committee of the Transboundary Conservation Specialist Group. Boris has continuously promoted the concepts of fair and equitable governance of natural resource as a response to growing societal and environmental challenges.

Andrea Erickson-Quiroz

Global Director for Water Security, Deputy Managing Director for the Food and Water Systems Priority,...

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Andrea Erickson-Quiroz

Global Director for Water Security, Deputy Managing Director for the Food and Water Systems Priority, The Nature Conservancy

Andrea Erickson-Quiroz, is Global Director for Water Security and is the Deputy Managing Director for the Food and Water Systems Priority for The Nature Conservancy. She is working to scale solutions that address water scarcity and watershed degradation that impact nature and people, working with over 200 water professionals in over 15 countries. Andrea works with global private and public partnerships to change practices and policies that lead to improved water security by deploying nature-based solutions and increasing the health of ecological systems. She is a governor for the World Water Council, and serves in an advisory capacity to ABI and the CEO Water Mandate. Andrea has over 25 years of experience in designing conservation strategies, organizational development and leadership at a field level in Latin America and the US, as well as now as a senior global executive at The Nature Conservancy. Her projects have included watershed scale implementation, policy reform and sector engagements in water, agriculture and energy development. She completed her undergraduate degree at Cornell University and has a Masters degree from the University of Cambridge in Environmental Policy and Economic Development.

Martin Frick

Director, World Food Programme Global Office Berlin

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Martin Frick

Director, World Food Programme Global Office Berlin

Dr. Martin Frick has been the Director of the WFP Office for Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein since November 2021. Previously, he was the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Food Systems Summit 2021 and Executive Director of the UNFCCC Secretariat, which oversees the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement. Also as climate chief of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and later as program director of the Kofi Annan Foundation, he helped develop the climate justice narrative. As German Ambassador to the United Nations in Bonn, Frick was involved in founding the UN's "Sustainability Hub". Frick has a doctorate in law.

Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle

Director Strategy and Policy Analysis, DG AGRI, European Commission

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Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle

Director Strategy and Policy Analysis, DG AGRI, European Commission

Since 1 January 2023, Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle has been Director Strategy and policy analysis at DG AGRI (European Commission). From 1 September 2020 to 31 December 2022, she was Director at the General Secretariat of the Council, responsible for Veterinary and Plant Health Questions, Food and Forestry. Between December 2019 and August 2020, she was Deputy Head of Cabinet of the EU Commissioner responsible for agriculture and rural development. Between 2013 and 2018, she was responsible for the implementation of the CAP in France, in her capacity as Director general for Economic and Environmental Performance of Enterprises. Between 2006 and 2013, she was Executive Director of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Prior to that, she was Director General of the Food Department within the French Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. She also worked at the European Commission from 1991 to 1993.

Jane Goodall

UN Messenger of Peace, Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute

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Jane Goodall

UN Messenger of Peace, Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute

Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) and UN Messenger of Peace, is
a world-renowned ethologist and activist inspiring greater understanding and action on behalf of the
natural world.

Dr. Goodall is known for groundbreaking studies of wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National
Park, Tanzania, which forever changed our understanding of our relationship to the rest of the animal
kingdom. This transformative research continues today as the longest running wild chimpanzee study
in the world. Jane’s work builds on scientific innovations, growing a lifetime of advocacy including
trailblazing efforts through her international organization the Jane Goodall Institute which advances
community-led conservation, animal welfare, science, and youth empowerment through JGI’s Roots
& Shoots program.

Today, Jane continues to connect with worldwide audiences, despite the challenges of the pandemic,
through ‘Virtual Jane’ including remote lectures, recordings, and her podcast, the “Jane Goodall
Hopecast.” In 2021, Jane was the recipient of the Templeton Prize, and her newest book, “The Book
of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times,” was published.

Jane is a global icon spreading hope and turning it into meaningful positive impact to create a better
world for people, other animals, and the planet we share.

Mark Hall

Head of Sustainable Farming, Europe, Africa & Middle East, Syngenta

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Mark Hall

Head of Sustainable Farming, Europe, Africa & Middle East, Syngenta

Mark is Head of Sustainable Farming for Syngenta's Europe, Africa & Middle East business. The Sustainable Farming Team work on measures to help growers use crop protection products in a more sustainable way than traditional techniques. The team also develops new sustainable farming offers and services, helping growers adopt more sustainable farming approaches through new technologies. Interra® Scan is the first soil health service introduced last year. Mark has worked for Syngenta for 15 years, mainly in marketing and business strategy roles. He has a background in agronomy and farm management. In 2020 he started a new farming business, MKH Farming, with his wife on a farm in Bedfordshire, UK. MKH Farming has grown since then to a 320 hectare arable cropping farm growing wheat, oats, beans and spring barley in a regenerative system.

Richard Heath

Executive Director, Australian Farm Institute

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Richard Heath

Executive Director, Australian Farm Institute

Prior to joining the Australian Farm Institute (AFI), Richard was Associate Professor of Agronomy and Farm Management at the University of Sydney and before that was involved in a large family farming business in North West NSW. Richard is a director of the Grains Research and Development Corporation and sits on the Advisory Committee for CSIRO Agriculture and Food. He is a Nuffield scholar and was a director of Nuffield Australia.

Angelika Hilbeck

Institute for Integrative Biology in the Department of Environmental Systems Science at ETH Zurich

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Angelika Hilbeck

Institute for Integrative Biology in the Department of Environmental Systems Science at ETH Zurich

Angelika Hilbeck is a German/ Swiss agroecologist. She researches and teaches at the Institute for Integrative Biology in the Department of Environmental Systems Science at ETH Zurich. Her work focuses on the environmental biosafety of genetically modified plants in ecosystems. Hilbeck graduated in agricultural biology from the University of Hohenheim. She received her doctorate in entomology from North Carolina State University in 1994. Since 2000, she has worked at the Institute for Integrative Biology at ETH Zurich, where she heads the Environmental Biosafety & Agroecology Research Group. Hilbeck’s teaching and research focuses on environmental risk assessment, ecological biosafety of genetically modified plants and farmer-participatory agroecology research in Eastern and Southern Africa. Through her international work with UN, governmental and non-governmental organisations, she became increasingly involved in broader issues of technology development (GE and digitialization) towards a democratically legitimated, sustainable global future and actively contributes to the debate on biosafety, international agriculture, hunger and poverty alleviation.Hilbeck Is involved in the negotiations around the implementation of the UN Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. Because of her experience in international agriculture and in the local situation of small farmers, she was appointed to contribute to the World Agricultural Report (IAASTD 2008). Hilbeck serves on the board of directors of Bread for All. She was a co-founder of the European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility (ENSSER) and Critical Scientists Switzerland (CSS), on whose boards she continues to serve. She is a member of the advisory board of the Association of German Scientists.

Janez Potočnik

Chair ForumforAg and Chairman RISE Foundation

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Janez Potočnik

Chair ForumforAg and Chairman RISE Foundation

Dr Janez Potočnik graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. After a successful career starting in 1989 in Slovenia as a researcher at the Institute of Economic Research, Director of the Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development (1994), he was appointed Head of the Negotiating Team for the Accession of Slovenia to the EU (1998). He was also Director of Government Office for European Affairs (2000), Minister Councillor at the Office of the Prime Minister (2001) and Minister responsible for European Affairs (2002). In 2004 he joined the European Commission, first as "shadow Commissioner for Enlargement and then as Commissioner responsible for Science and Research. In 2010 Dr Potočnik became Commissioner for Environment. His term ended in November 2014 and he was appointed as a Co-Chair of UN Environment International Resource Panel and was also appointed as a Chairman of The Forum for the Future of Agriculture and RISE Foundation and a Member of the European Policy Centre's Advisory Council. From April 2016 he is also the Partner in SYSTEMIQ. More information Twitter – @JanezPotocnik22 Facebook – potocnikjanez LinkedIn - janez-potocnik-872470a7

Shari Rogge-Fidler

President and CEO, Farm Foundation

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Shari Rogge-Fidler

President and CEO, Farm Foundation

Shari is president and CEO of Farm Foundation with over 25 years of global leadership and executive experience. She has a unique perspective, developed through her experience as a fifth-generation farm owner and operator, entrepreneur in the organic branded food industry, founder of an agribusiness consulting firm and leader of a soil health technology firm. Shari also served as CEO for a suite of service companies for 1,000 farms across the US. She began her career in London in financial services and continued in Europe with the Boston Consulting Group. Shari has served on several corporate boards, including Farm Credit Mid America and Coastal Pet. She currently serves as a trustee for The Nature Conservancy, and advisory boards of the St. Louis Federal Reserve, and Lewis & Clark Agrifood Fund.

Claudia Sadoff

Executive Managing Director, CGIAR

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Claudia Sadoff

Executive Managing Director, CGIAR

Dr. Claudia Sadoff is Executive Managing Director of CGIAR, the world’s largest network of agrifood-focused research centers. She served as the Director General of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), a CGIAR Center headquartered in Sri Lanka, working globally to find water solutions for sustainable, climate-resilient development. Prior to joining IWMI, she spent over 20 years at the World Bank where she held multiple positions, including Lead Economist and Global Lead for Water Security and Integrated Water Resource Management. She served as a Member of the Scientific Group of the 2021 United Nations Food Systems Summit and was recently named an Honorary Member of the International Water Resources Association. She also served as a member of the CGIAR System Management Board, acting as CGIAR Gender Champion. She holds a PhD in Economics.

Virginijus Sinkevičius

Commissioner for Environment, European Commission

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Virginijus Sinkevičius

Commissioner for Environment, European Commission

Virginijus Sinkevičius is the Commissioner for Environment, ensuring the environment, oceans and fisheries remain at the core of the European Green Deal, a position he has held since December 2019 . Previously, he was minister of economy in Lithuania from 2017 to 2019. Prior to that, he was a member of the Lithuanian Parliament since October 2016 where he headed the committee of economy. Before that, he was a team lead for regulatory affairs at Invest Lithuania. Virginijus Sinkevičius holds a BA in international relations from Aberystwyth University, U.K., and a Master’s degree in European international affairs from Maastricht University, Netherlands.

Truke Smoor

Global Water Lead, Cargill

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Truke Smoor

Global Water Lead, Cargill

Truke Smoor is Global Water Lead at Cargill where she leads the development and implementation of the global water strategy. Truke has a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and has held positions in the chemicals and consulting industry before joining Cargill. At Cargill, Truke has led the development of global water policies and requirements for operations and has been the architect of its water targets. The first of its kind addressing water availability, quality and access to safe drinking water across the value chain. Before joining Cargill, Truke has supported the development of corporate water stewardship programs for various companies and has held roles in Research and Development and Manufacturing. She has worked across different cultures and countries – the U.S., France, Netherlands, China and the Philippines and is passionate about supporting others to bring the best of themselves.016 he was the ‘champion’ of the UK’s Global Food Security programme which was a multi-agency partnership of the UK’s public bodies (government departments, devolved governments and research councils) with interests in food and food security. As a leading advocate on food systems transformation, he has worked with many governments, the G20 and UN, as well as leading businesses and civil society organisations. He has been a global agenda steward of the World Economic Forum, and was an author of the IPCC’s Special Report on Food, Land and Climate (2019), and the UK’s Climate Change Risk Assessment (2017, 2022). He has published more than 200 academic papers, many tackling how systems respond to environmental change. His work on sustainability leadership has been recognized with an honorary fellowship of the UK’s Society for the Environment, and a doctorate honoris causa from the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium. He also remains a (part time) Research Professor at the University of Leeds. 

Katharina Stenholm

SVP, Chief Sustainability Officer Europe, PepsiCo

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Katharina Stenholm

SVP, Chief Sustainability Officer Europe, PepsiCo

Katharina Stenholm is SVP, Chief Sustainability Officer Europe at PepsiCo and member of the PepsiCo Europe leadership team. She also works as Executive Coach. Katharina is passionate about transformation towards a more sustainable food system and resilient, responsible leadership.

Katharina Stenholm was as SVP, Chief Cycles & Procurement Officer responsible for the Global Procurement function and the Nature Sustainability team at Danone 2017-2021.

Prior to Danone, Katharina was Global CPO at SABMiller where she built and led the SABMiller global procurement organization and oversaw the successful transition of a major part of the business to AB InBev.

Katharina has a strong background in research, business development, marketing & sales and leadership including previous roles as Commercial Director for Viking Malt Ltd and Group CEO of Polttimo Group Ltd.

Originally from Finland, Katharina holds a Doctorate of Technology in Biotechnology and a Masters in Chemical Engineering from Helsinki University of Technology.

Johan Swinnen

Managing Director, Systems Transformation, Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), and Director General, International...

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Johan Swinnen

Managing Director, Systems Transformation, Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), and Director General, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

Dr. Johan Swinnen is Managing Director, Systems Transformation, CGIAR and Director General, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

From 2005 to 2019, he was professor of economics & director of the LICOS Centre for Institutions & Economic Performance at KU Leuven (Belgium) and senior research fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels. Earlier he was lead economist at the World Bank (2003-2004) and economic adviser to the European Commission (1998-2001). He has been a visiting professor at various universities and a frequent adviser to institutions such as the World Bank, OECD, FAO and EBRD.

Dr. Swinnen earned his PhD from Cornell University and holds honorary doctorates from the University of Göttingen and the Slovak University of Agriculture. He is a fellow of the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA) and of the European Association of Agricultural Economists (EAAE). He served as president of the International Association of Agricultural Economists (2012-2015).
Dr. Swinnen has published extensively on agricultural & food policies, international development, political economy, institutional reforms, trade, & global value chains. His recent books The Political Economy of Agricultural and Food Policies (2018) and COVID-19 and Global Food Security (2020) received awards from the AAEA and EAAE.

Jurgen Tack

Secretary General, European Landowners' Organization

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Jurgen Tack

Secretary General, European Landowners' Organization

Jurgen Tack studied biology (marine ecology) at Brussels Free University where he also obtained his PhD in Sciences. Within the Framework of the Kenya Belgium Project in Marine Sciences (Coastal Farms Kenya) he developed a number of oyster farms along the Kenyan coast.

In 2000 he joined the team of the Belgian Biodiversity Platform (Belgian Science Policy Office) where he was responsible for European and international science policy in the field of biodiversity and biodiversity related research. In 2007 he became the CEO of the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (a research organization under the umbrella of the Flemish Authority). In 2015 he became Secretary-General of the National Science Foundation (Flanders). In 2016 he took the position of Scientific Director at the European Landowners’ Organization (ELO), CEO at Landelijk Vlaanderen (Flemish Landowners’ Organisation) and CEO of the Aanspreekpunt Privaat Beheer Natuur en Bos (an advisory organ for private landowners on the management of nature and forest).

In 2023 he became Secretary-General of the European Landowners Organisation (ELO). He coordinates several EU projects on private land conservation. On behalf of ELO he chairs the European Commission’s Large Carnivore Platform and acts as expert for the EU Biodiversity Platform and the EU Expert Group on Cultural Heritage.

Frans Timmermans

Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, responsible for the Green Deal

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Frans Timmermans

Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, responsible for the Green Deal

Frans Timmermans began his career with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1987. After taking part in the junior diplomat training programme, he worked at the European Integration Department of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and at the Embassy of the Netherlands in Moscow. He later worked for Hans van den Broek, European Commissioner for External Relations, and Max van der Stoel, High Commissioner on National Minorities for the OSCE. In 1998, Frans Timmermans was elected as a member of the House of Representatives for the Dutch Labour Party (PvdA), where he dealt principally with foreign affairs. In the fourth Balkenende government, from February 2007 to February 2010, Mr Timmermans was Minister for European Affairs. In 2010, Mr Timmermans returned to Parliament as the Labour Party's spokesperson on foreign policy. On 5 November 2012, Mr Timmermans became Minister of Foreign Affairs in the second Rutte government. Two years later, on 1 November 2014, he became First Vice-President of the European Commission, responsible for better regulation, interinstitutional relations, sustainable development, the rule of law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Since 1 December 2019, he is the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, responsible for the Green Deal.

Mark Titterington

Co-Founder & Director, Forum for the Future of Agriculture

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Mark Titterington

Co-Founder & Director, Forum for the Future of Agriculture

Mark has enjoyed a long career in the agri-food sector having previously worked at the United Nations and for Syngenta where he held a number of senior leadership positions in corporate affairs and business sustainability in the EAME region and globally. After leaving Syngenta in 2017, Mark became Chief Executive of EngineeringUK, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to inspiring and nurturing STEM skills in young people. Mark later became Head of Marketing and Public Affairs for Indigo Agriculture Europe GmbH. Mark is a co-founder and senior adviser to the Forum for the Future of Agriculture and a Senior Fellow at the Transatlantic Policy Network.

Žiga Vavpotič

Director of Partnerships LoginEko

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Žiga Vavpotič

Director of Partnerships LoginEko

Žiga Vavpotič is an experienced international manager and leader with a demonstrated history of successful projects, organizations and companies. He is the former Chairman of Outfit7 Limited (Talking Tom and Friends), one of the fastest-growing multinational family entertainment companies. Passionately connecting knowledge from business and non-profit, expertise on empowering best talents, cross-cultural cooperation (focus on China-Europe), digital transformation and creating projects and organizations for social changes. He is currently serving as Director of Partnerships at LoginEko and is Senior Advisor at Login5 Foundation. He is a responsible, goal oriented change maker.

Eva Weijber

Farmer and Landowner, Sweden

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Eva Weijber

Farmer and Landowner, Sweden

Eva studied economics at Lund University and International trade at University of Santa Barbara followed by working at Väderstad Verken (farm machinery) and some years in Stockholm in the broadcast and streaming industry. She decided to move back to the countryside, studied agriculture and became a farmer, she says "it was my best decision!" She is now landowner and 6th generation farmer of 400 hectare science based agriculture. Also working part time as a secretary for the Swedish Landowners Organisation. Fascinated about photosynthesis.

Confirmed Moderators (in alphabetical order)

Rose O’Donovan

Journalist & Editor AgraFacts

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Rose O’Donovan

Journalist & Editor AgraFacts

Rose O’Donovan has been Editor of AGRA FACTS since March 2010, having previously served as Deputy Editor on the agricultural publication for nearly three years. Prior to working as a journalist, she dealt with international relations on the EU satellite navigation programme at the Galileo Joint Undertaking. Following the completion of a Master of Science at University College Cork (Ireland), Rose moved to Brussels in 2004 to work as an intern in the Cabinet of former European Parliament President, Pat Cox. Hailing from a farming background in West Cork, Rose is also the Brussels correspondent for The Southern Star - a regional newspaper based in Skibbereen. More information Twitter – @agrafacts LinkedIn - rose-o-donovan-91927517

Stephen Sackur

Journalist

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Stephen Sackur

Journalist

Stephen Sackur has been a journalist with BBC News since 1986. Since becoming presenter of HARDtalk in 2004, he has interviewed prominent international personalities, cultural figures, leaders and politicians from around the world. Before taking over on the BBC News Channel and BBC World flagship current affairs interview programme, he was based in Brussels for three years as the BBC's Europe Correspondent.

Agenda

Mar 28, 2023

09:00 - 17:00 (CET)

Fixing tomorrow, today

09:00 - 09:05 (CET)

Introduction and housekeeping

• Rose O’Donovan, Moderator
• Stephen Sackur, Moderator

09:05 - 09:15 (CET)

Welcome address

• Dr. Janez Potočnik, Chair ForumforAg 2023 and Chairman RISE Foundation

Session moderator:

• Stephen Sackur, Moderator

09:15 - 10:15 (CET)

Can we afford not to pay the price of change in today’s geo-political and economic reality?

Keynote

• Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice President, European Commission

Dialogue session

• Dr. Martin Frick, Director, World Food Programme Global Office Berlin
• Sean de Cleene, International Food Systems Partnership Expert

Inspirational speech

• Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, UN Messenger of Peace, Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute

Session moderator:

• Stephen Sackur, Moderator

10:15 - 11:00 (CET)

Networking break

11:00 - 12:00 (CET)

How to build a more resilient & sustainable food and agriculture system: what have we learnt from the energy crisis that enables us to overcome the challenges and exploit the opportunities?

Introduction to session by the moderator

• Rose O’Donovan, Moderator

Panel debate

• Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle, Director Strategy and policy analysis, DG AGRI, European Commission
• Shari Rogge-Fidler, President and CEO, Farm Foundation
• Professor Tim Benton, Research Director, Emerging Risks; Director, Environment and Society Programme, Chatham House
• Eva Weijber, Farmer & Landowner, Sweden

12:00 - 13:00 (CET)

How can Nature Based Solutions drive resilience and sustainability in the AGRI-food system and how do we better align incentives to accelerate change?

Introduction to session by the moderator

• Rose O’Donovan, Moderator

Panel debate

• Dr. Jurgen Tack, Scientific Director, European Landowners’ Organization
• Dr. Angelika Hilbeck, Institute for Integrative Biology in the Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich
• Dr. Boris Erg, Director, IUCN European Regional Office
• Dr. Johan Swinnen, Managing Director, Systems Transformation, Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), and Director General, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

13:00 - 14:00 (CET)

Networking lunch break

14:00 - 14:10 (CET)

Inspirational talk: How we can use technology to better serve biodiversity?

• Ranveer Chandra, Managing Director for Research for Industry, and CTO of Agri-Food, Microsoft

Session moderator

• Stephen Sackur, Moderator

14:10 - 15:20 (CET)

How can we act better: the case for improving biodiversity, soil health and water resilience?

Introduction to session by the moderator

• Stephen Sackur, Moderator

Keynote speeches

• Virginijus Sinkevičius, Commissioner for Environment, European Commission
• Tasso Azevedo, Coordinator MapBiomas & SEEG initiatives, forester & former Chief of Brazilian Forest Service

Panel debate

• Truke Smoor, Global Water Lead, Cargill
• Mark Hall, Head of Sustainable Farming EAME, Syngenta
• Andrea Erickson-Quiroz, Global Director for Water Security, Deputy Managing Director for the Food and Water Systems Priority, The Nature Conservancy

15:20 - 17:00 (CET)

How can we help better: food, migration, climate change?

Introduction to session by the moderator

• Rose O’Donovan, Moderator

Opening speech

• Stefanie Beck, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC)

Panel debate

• Dr. Claudia Sadoff, Executive Managing Director, CGIAR
• Katharina Stenholm, Senior Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer, PepsiCo Europe
• Richard Heath, Executive Director, Australian Farm Institute
• Žiga Vavpotič, Director of Partnerships LoginEko
• Ted Bilyea, Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI) Distinguished Fellow

Call to action

• Mark Titterington, Senior Adviser, Strategy & Partnerships, Forum for the Future of Agriculture

Moderator signoff

• Rose O’Donovan

Close of the day

• Dr. Janez Potočnik, Chair ForumforAg 2023 and Chairman RISE Foundation

Founding and Strategic Partners

International and Tech partners

Supporting Partners

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