Rencontrez nos ambassadeurs

Ioana Petrescu is President of Pur si Simplu Verde, an environmental NGO, and a European Climate Pact Ambassador in Romania. She directs the Center for Leadership and Innovation at SNSPA, Bucharest, where her research spans space economics and AI regulation. Previously Romania's first female finance minister, Ioana has been a Research Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center, Mosavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, and Taubman Center for State and Local Government. With a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard, she contributes to academic journals and newspapers, including her 2017 book on taxation and international relations. Her forthcoming book explores policymaking in adolescent democracies. She currently writes about how firms navigate Just Transition in various countries, the roles of unions in this transition, and about the preparedness of public bodies to implement Just Transition in EU states.
 

I work at Taurage district municipality administration (Lithuania) as an advisor for climate neutral cities.  My thinking is that we all create a city together and therefore we all take collective responsibility for shifting the system towards climate neutrality, for us  today and for future generations. It is an opportunity to co-create the future of the city together. Therefore, my planned activities include creation of a climate neutral city strategy with a focus on stakeholder and citizen engagement as well as creating networks of green city ambassadors, also involving educational institutions as one of the primary role models. 

The urgency for climate friendly behavior is needed today. 

I work for protection of the soil and responsible organic wastes management on site since many years, because of my deep connection and respect towards the soil and nature. 

The compassion of the people towards the climate change is what we need today. The real transformation for action starts from within. 

I am a passionate advocate for climate education and social inclusion. I specialize in using my knowledge of non-formal education and game design to develop alternative methods for teaching people about climate change. By creating interactive tools and serious games, I aim to engage diverse audiences in learning about the impact of environmental issues and encourage them to take meaningful action. My approach blends education with hands-on experiences that make complex topics more accessible.

As an Ambassador, I am on a mission to get everyone involved in taking action against climate change. My plans involve teaming up with local stakeholders to make our communities more eco-friendly, expanding our educational activities at the community garden, and pushing ahead with my project, REPLASTICO2, where I turn plastic waste into cool stuff. I will keep visiting schools and events to share my experiences and insights, and I will be running fun workshops to show people how to reuse plastic in creative ways.

My main goal is to inspire, educate, and ignite a passion for a more environmentally friendly future.

Dr. Maria Chiara Pettenati is the Research Director at Indire (National Institute for Documentation, Innovation, and Educational Research), a public research body supervised by the Italian Ministry of Education and Merit where she coordinates several national teacher training projects and national induction and continuous professional development plans.

Maria Chiara Pettenati is a dedicated professional with a rich background in the domain of teachers training and sustainable development. Since 2017, she has played an active role in the Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development (ASviS), beginning as a delegate from their institute and rising to the role of co-coordinator for thematic working groups on Quality Education in 2022.

As an Italian national expert, Maria Chiara has made significant contributions to the "Italy and the Sustainable Development Goals: ASviS 2023" annual report, focusing on Goal 4 and Target 4.7, which addresses the quality of education. Their expertise is further exemplified through their involvement in the Eurydice report "Education for Sustainability in Europe: Building Competences and Supporting Teachers and Schools," set to be published in March 2024.

Awareness of sustainability and the urgency of climate action remain underrepresented in the business sector. As a sustainability consultant and speaker at the think tank Critical Friends, I help professionals understand both the risks of inaction and the opportunities that sustainable practices offer—fostering a genuine bottom-up movement.

I am a very active person in developmental activities, a leader and trainer, and a strong advocate for Climate actions and youth inclusion. I believe that empowering the youth to advance in their climate leadership and pro-environmental decision-making and developing youth green skills for green jobs is a powerful tool to achieve great results in a world where the climate is changing rapidly. At least 97% of published climate experts agree that global warming is real and caused by humans.

I am a proud promoter of initiatives to increase the awareness about environmental issues and risk of climate change. As a researcher, my activities include the study of “greenwashing”, i.e. false corporate communications aimed at conveying a sustainable self-image, and “sustainable tourism”, aimed at containing the environmental impact of the tourism. Results of researches allow to define guidelines for institutional actors, as well as are disseminated to raise awarenessin the community.

Daniela Piršelová, former tv reporter, and tv news presenter, founder and organizer of the CLIMATE CONFERENCE SLOVAKIA, Spokesperson, Climate Crisis Communication and Advisory at THE UNION OF TOWNS AND CITIES OF SLOVAKIA

 

CLIMATE CONFERENCE SLOVAKIA as a platform is organized by the civic association CLIMATE COMMUNICATIONS SLOVAKIA and is the first Climate Conference for a public audience in Slovakia founded in 2017 with the main goal -  addressing the Climate Crisis humanly and understandably in the language of the general public audience. Founder and organizer is Daniela Piršelová, a former television reporter who deals with this topic at work and in her personal life, and Peter Krajčík, a Climate Leader trained by Former Vice president USA Al Gore, who has been working on the issue for more than 10 years. 

Other activities of CLIMATE CONFERENCE and CLIMATE COMMUNICATIONS SLOVAKIA as Civic Assocation (NGO):

• Pushing climate crises topics  to the Slovak media in the language of the general public audience.
• Cooperating with The Union of Towns and Cities Slovakia (ÚMS) to prepare municipalities and take appropriate steps to fight climate crises and to officially declare a climate emergency.
• Mission Australia, helping to replant corals on the most damaged sections of the reefs caused by global warming and climate change.
• Bringing exclusively An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth To Power documentary movie back in 2017 to most of the Slovak Cinemas to raise awareness on climate crises in Slovakia

As a young climate activist, passionate volunteer and youth worker, I focus on working with children and young people to raise awareness and the ability of the young generation to take action. I am actively involved at the school level and in NGOs that provide informal education in the field of climate and sustainability. I co-organize community and public events as a member of the Klíma ťa potrebuje organization, where I want to continue to be active and develop my skills and abilities.

As a Climate Pact Ambassador, I aim to bring and simplify the topics of climate policies, renewable energy, and green modernization into schools, drawing on my experience in energy and climate program management, awareness-rising project implementation on effective waste management and environmental protection, development work focused on climate-resilient WASH. Through workshops, local partnerships, and lectures, I plan to advocate, inspire and educate those who represent our future.

My work will focus on advocating the vulnerable people, groups and communities about climate change in the context of Human Rights. Encourage, support and inspire active participation, collaboration and synergies for joint initiatives and actions. Promoting social dialogue and engaging civil society. Disseminate knowledge, information and good practices so that any efforts on fighting climate change can be perceived as commonplace and become an everyday-life attitude.

I am a climate activist, physicist, and energy engineer with a strong focus on sustainable transport. I have significant experience working on low-carbon energy solutions and have a good understanding of how we can reduce emissions in the transport sector. I am really passionate about getting people excited about cleaner, more sustainable ways to get around. I would love to bring my experience to events and projects that raise awareness and inspire others to embrace greener transport options.

My first priority is to build bridges between the European Climate Pact and global multi-stakeholder climate action efforts in the context of the United Nations system (link to a UN event that I have organized in June 2020 http://webtv.un.org/watch/un75-webinar-all-of-society-digital-cooperation-for-global-goals-climate-action/6168132430001).

My second priority is to connect digital innovation solution providers with the climate action community to develop concrete climate action apps & tools.

At the moment I am a student in the final year of highschool that is truly interested in International Relations. More specifically, starting with volunteering and becoming really passionate about the change the young generation can make if correctly informed, I have begun to find solutions and to understand diplomacy. As a European Climate Pact Ambassador, I see two main goals that have to be achieved: growing more local communities throughout the country and unite them on a greater movement.

Climate action is dependent upon education. I have been active in this field, and have initiated and coordinated a wide range of activities aiming at raising awareness and comprehension on how people can effect change. More people need to experience and learn about the significance of conservation, the value of a sustainable future, and the need to make responsible decisions. Environmental education must be promoted in our libraries, which are suitable spaces for lifelong learning.

I am an agronomist, manager of the ecological transition and professor of geopedology and I have been a consultant for the Covenant of Mayors. I work with municipalities, regions, schools, associations, companies  directly or indirectly with my association "SAVE YOUR GLOBE" and others. I lead many activities annually about the environment, climate change, circular economy, urban forestry, biodiversity, sustainability and sustainability agriculture. I use also social netwotks, tv and radio programs. I will encourage citizens, schools, companies, organisations, and regional and national governments to get involved in climate action and carbon neutrality efforts.

As a Climate Ambassador, I will work at different levels (regional, national, EU) to help find solutions to as well as the necessary funding for the climate challenges we are currently facing, specifically solutions coming from the environmental, circular economy and new energies fields. In this role I would like to improve dialogue and awareness between all players to facilitating putting these solutions into practice, also sharing experiences with other Climate Ambassadors so we all learn from one another.