2022 Less talk, more action: turning the soil story around

Emeritus Professor Allan Buckwell is the Director of RISE's study of Nutrient Recycling and Reuse in European Agriculture and the Director of the Foundation's previous study on the Sustainable Intensification of European Agriculture. Two thirds of his career has been as an academic agricultural economist specialising in agricultural and rural policy. This has involved his work as a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for European Environmental Policy (since 2012), fourteen years at Newcastle University and then from 1984-1999 as Professor of Agricultural Economics, Wye College University of London. During 1995/6 he was seconded to the analysis and conception unit of DG Agri in the European Commission where he chaired a policy integration group who laid out a model for the evolution of the CAP. He joined the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) as Policy Director in 2000.

Leonardo Mirone is Purchasing Director for Raw Materials at Barilla G. e R. f.lli. He is responsible for setting strategies and targets globally for the purchasing of all the raw materials, moreover is responsible for the Supply Chain Sustainability Projects of the Company. He is involved in the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition (BCFN, www.barillacfn.com), a foundation born in 2009 with the goal of analyzing major global issues connected with food and nutrition. He’s also vice-president of the EAC committee in Caobisco (Chocolate, Biscuit and Confectionery of Europe). More information LinkedIn – leonardo-mirone-7397b7198 Website - www.barillagroup.com

Claudia Olazábal is holder of a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and Radiochemistry from the University of Strasbourg and a Master’s degree in Science from the University of Texas at Austin. She worked for three years in the Sustainable Resources - Consumption and Waste Unit, then became Policy Officer and Head of the Soil Sector dealing with the development of Community policy on soil protection in the Agriculture, Forests and Soil Unit. She was for 4 years the Deputy Head of the Biodiversity Unit and was appointed Head of the Agriculture, Forests and Soil Unit in 2013, which became the Land Use & Management Unit in 2016. All these positions are held in the Directorate General for the Environment of the European Commission.

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