plenarios
nuestros ponentes
TERESA GIL
Responsable del programa de agua de WWF España
Teresa Gil is a Spanish biologist with more than 20 years of professional experience in the management of Natura 2000 Protected Areas and the conservation and restoration of aquatic habitats and endemic flora of the Mediterranean. Since April 2019, he is responsible for the WWF-Spain Water Program. Teresa is a member of various NGOs such as WWF, SEO Birdlife, Territorios Vivos and SEBICOP.
EVELYN GARCÍA
Vicepresidenta del Centro Ibérico de Restauración fluvial (CIREF)
Evelyn García is a biologist with a postgraduate degree in forest management. Technician, with 18 years of experience, from the Catalan Water Agency in hydrological planning, custody and fluvial restoration. Founder of the Iberian Center for River Restoration in 2008 and vice-president of the same for 4 years.
HANS STIELSTRA
Directorate General for Environment of the European Commission
Hans Stielstra works in the Sustainable Freshwater Management unit of the Directorate General for Environment of the European Commission, as deputy head of that unit. In that capacity he was involved in the freshwater side of the nature restoration law and more specifically in the discussion on free flowing rivers, also as part of the EU’s Biodiversity Strategy. Before that, he had responsibilities for international environment policy, in particular multilateral environmental agreements like CBD and Cites, UNEP and other international bodies and processes in the Commission’s Environment DG.
TEODORO ESTRELA
Directorate General for Water of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.
Teodoro holds a PhD in Civil Engineering from the Universitat Politècnica de València. He has been combining his work in the Water Administration with his academic work since 2005 as Associate Professor at the Universitat Politècnica de València, where he has supervised 5 doctoral theses and has published numerous articles in scientific journals. He has also been Permanent Technical Secretary of the Mediterranean Network of Basin Organisations and recently, President of the Water Committee of the World Council of Civil Engineers.
JOSE CARLOS PIMIENTA
Vice-Presidente da Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente (APA).
Graduated in Environmental Engineering from the University of Aveiro, postgraduate in Environmental Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto. He holds a Master's Degree in Public Administration from the Catholic University and the Advanced Studies Course in "National Defence". He has dedicated his professional life to the environment, in matters related to water resources management. He started working in the Integrated Management Committee of the Ave River Basin, planning and coordinating decontamination actions in the Ave River Basin; he was a member of various regional environmental institutions, where he played roles in the management of water resources. Between 2008 and 2011 he was director of the Department of Water Resources of the Littoral, in the ARH do Norte, and Regional Administrator of the Administration of the North Hydrographic Region, deconcentrated department of the APA, between 2012 and 2018. Since May 2018, he has been Vice-President of the Board of Directors of APA. He has been Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sociedade Polis Litoral Norte since 2013, as well as Chairman of Sociedade Polis Ria de Aveiro since 2018. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Institute of Hydraulics and Water Resources of the Faculty of Engineering of Porto.
PAUL BROTHERTON
Freshwater Manager
Wetlands International Europe
Paul is the focal point at Wetlands International Europe seeking to accelerate implementation of EU freshwater laws, restore and protect free-flowing rivers, and deploy and upscale nature-based solutions for inland waters.
Paul has spent the past two decades at the intersection of conservation science, policy and communications in the EU, US and globally. Rivers run through his experiences – including the Hudson, Niger and Rhine. Before working at the global and European levels for Wetlands International, he spent more than a decade in Washington, DC as the Legislative Director for environmental champion and member of the US House of Representatives Maurice Hinchey, and the Research Director at the League of Conservation Voters. He has field experience researching wetland-dependent species, from the Everglades in the US to the Bolivian Amazon, and for almost 20 years as a volunteer for the Delaware Bay Shorebird Monitoring Program in the US.
YURENA LORENZO
Wetlands International Europe
Yurena is a Biologist with more than 10 years of professional experience dedicated to the development and implementation of international projects and programmes. Her interest in environmental programme management started with an internship at Fundación Biodiversidad where she had the chance to work in environmental development cooperation. After her move to Romania, where she lived for over seven years, she continued with her passion for projects and programmes especially rural development and environmental-related ones. In 2016, Yurena moved to Malta, where she had the opportunity to work for the Ministry for the Environment in the European LIFE programme’s focal point, and with BirdLife Malta where she led the Business Development department.
Since 2019, Yurena is leading the operations of Wetlands International in the European region, in close cooperation with the members of Wetlands International European Association and different networks and partnerships. She also oversees Wetlands International Europe’s programmes on biodiversity, external action, freshwater, and peatlands that aim to raise awareness of the values, status and trends of wetlands, and their importance in attaining European policy goals.
NUNO BRAVO
Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente
Engineer Nuno Bravo is representing the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), and is the Administrator of the Center's ARH (Administrations of the Hydrographic Region), is a civil engineer with extensive experience in the management of water resources and in particular of the Centro region.
DAVID GARGANTILLA
Confederación Hidrográfica del Ebro
Ingeniero Técnico de Obras Públicas por la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. Desde el año 2004 trabajando en los cauces de la cuenca del Ebro e intentando restaurarlos desde los albores de la primera Estrategia de Restauración de Ríos.
Ha participado en los proyectos LIFE Territorio Visón, recuperando territorio y hábitat fluvial en los ríos Arga y Aragón, y Creamagua, en el que se crearon humedales desnitrificadores.
Actualmente Jefe del Servicio de Actuaciones en Cauces de la Confederación Hidrográfica del Ebro. Ejerce de coordinador técnico en el desarrollo de la Estrategia Ebro Resilience y en el Proyecto LIFE Ebro Resilience P1, en los que se coordinan medias de restauración fluvial y de gestión del riesgo de inundación.
CARLOS MARCOS
Confederación Hidrográfica del Duero
Head of the water police station. He currently works as an official of the Duero Hydrographic Confederation. He has a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Valladolid and a Master's Degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of New Castle (UK) and a Master's Degree in Environmental Management and Administration from the Biodiversity Foundation.
Sobremesa
nuestros ponentes
MARIA GARCIA DE LA FUENTE
Presidenta Asociación de Periodistas de Información Ambiental
Degree in Journalism from the Complutense University of Madrid and a Degree in History from UNED. He has been practising environmental journalism for 22 years when he started at the Europa Press news agency. After 8 years, he became part of the founding team of the Público newspaper, in the Science section. She has worked in the Press Office of the Ministry of the Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs and is currently the president of the Association of Environmental Information Journalists (APIA).
José María MonterO
Director «Espacio Protegido» y «Tierra y Mar», Canal Sur
Bachelor of Information Sciences, journalist specialized in scientific and environmental information. He has worked, since 1981, in the daily press, specialized publications, radio, television and digital media. Responsible for the Environment area in the Information Services of Radio Televisión de Andalucía. Director of the programs “Espacio Protegido” and “Tierra y Mar” (Canal Sur TV).
FERNANDO VALLADARES
Biólogo, investigador en el CSIC y divulgador científico
Highly cited scientist in the field of ecology, research professor at the CSIC and associate professor at Rey Juan Carlos University. Jaume I 2020 Environmental Protection Award and active scientific disseminator. All the information on its website www.valladares.info
CRISTINA MONGE
Politóloga especialista en emergencia climática y transición ecológica
Political scientist and PhD from the University of Zaragoza, she is an expert in sustainability and democratic quality, especially in governance for the ecological transition. She works in research centres such as Globernance, BC3, itdUPM and the Ecodes board of trustees. She participates in advisory councils and government projects and chairs the "More Democracy" Association. In addition, she has published several books and collective works on political and social issues.
Talleres
nuestros ponentes
FRANCISCO J. OLIVA
Life Invasaqua, Universidad de Murcia
Professor of the Department of Zoology and Physical Anthropology of the University of Murcia. He is currently the Coordinator of the LIFE INVASAQUA project. His research includes different aspects of the ecology and biology of aquatic fauna, with a particular interest in emerging environmental problems such as biological invasions. An expert in fish from continental waters and transition zones, he has worked with invasive species from the south of the peninsula and in aquatic fauna management projects for decades.
Elena Pita
Directora de la Fundación Biodiversidad del Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico
Elena Pita is the director of the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge. She is an expert in the environment, sustainable development and climate change. She has worked as a consultant for the European Commission, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation and the Spanish Office for Climate Change. She is an agricultural engineer and has a Master of Science from the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Montpellier.
GUSTAVO GONZALEZ
Biólogo, director de Icthios Gestión Ambiental y miembro de la Junta del Ciref
He has been getting his feet wet trying to understand how rivers and fish populations work since the late 1980s.
In his professional career he has dedicated himself, after four years in the regional administration, to consultancy, combined - when possible - with teaching as an associate professor of ecology and applied limnology at the University of León.
As a consultant, he has directed and developed more than 150 projects on the study of fish population dynamics, monitoring and environmental control of rivers and wetlands, control and eradication of invasive species, evaluation of river continuity and monitoring of river restoration projects for different administrations and basin organisations.
He has been a member of the panel of experts of the national river restoration plan, of the MAGRAMA working group for the development of protocols for the hydromorphological characterisation of water bodies in the river category, as well as of different scientific committees of Life projects.
FREDERIC CASALS
Life Invasaqua – Universitat de Lleida (UdL)
PhD in Biology from the University of Barcelona (UB), has been dedicated since the 1980s to research on the distribution and evolution of inland water fish communities; the ecology of invasive aquatic species and the restoration of aquatic ecosystems. He is currently Collaborating Professor in the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Lleida and Associate Researcher in the Landscape Dynamics and Biodiversity Programme of the Forestry Science and Technology Centre of Catalonia (CTFC). He is responsible for the LIFE INVASAQUA project on behalf of the Iberian Society of Ichthyology (SIBIC), one of the 9 partners in the project, of which he is a founding member and member of its Board of Directors.
Cinta Luengo
Jefa del Área de Ciudades, encargada de los proyectos de restauración fluvial en entornos urbanos
Cinta Luengo is head of the Cities Area at Fundación Biodiversidad and is dedicated to river restoration projects in urban environments. He has worked mainly in the management and technical coordination of hydrological and fluvial space planning projects, management of extreme events and climate change adaptation plans. She is an agricultural engineer with a Master's in Management of Environmental Services and Infrastructures.
Victoria Pérez
Responsable de la coordinación del Área de Ciudades de la Fundación Biodiversidad
Victoria Pérez is responsible for coordinating the Cities Area at the Biodiversity Foundation. Previously, he was in charge of managing the Emplenaverde Program and the Emprendeverde Network of the Foundation. His professional activity has focused on the management of public calls for aid and projects for the conservation of biodiversity, climate change and sustainable development. She has a degree in Environmental Sciences.
Francisco Durán
Técnico Área de Renaturalización Urbana y Resiliencia Fundación Biodiversidad
Francisco Durán works in the Urban Renaturation and Resilience Area of the Biodiversity Foundation, with a special dedication to projects for the renaturation of fluvial environments and flood risk reduction. He has experience in river space planning and management and is an active member of the Young Water Professionals Network. He has a degree in Environmental Sciences with a Master's in Biodiversity and a PhD in Geography from the University of Navarra.
CATARINA MIRANDA
GEOTA
Catarina Miranda has a degree in Biology from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (2005), a Master's degree in Mathematics Applied to Biological Sciences from the Instituto Superior de Agronomía (2008) and a PhD in Natural Sciences from the Instituto Max- Planck Center for Ornithology at the University of Konstanz, Germany (2014). She has been a professor and researcher in postgraduate programs in Biodiversity and Conservation at the Federal University of Maranhão, Brazil (2014-2018) and in Neurosciences and Behavior at the Federal University of Pará, Brazil (2018-present). In 2021, she joined GEOTA as coordinator of the Rios Livres project. He is passionate about nature conservation and ecosystem preservation strategies in the face of human impacts.
PETER RUDBERG
Geoviable
Peter (PhD water governance) investigates the interaction between legislation, administration and stakeholder processes surrounding hydroelectric production and river restoration in EU countries. He focuses on at what scale, to what extent and why governance processes lead to more or less effective and coherent results. He is WP leader and reference group coordinator of a three-year project focused on the implementation of the Swedish National Modern Environmental Arrangements Plan for Hydropower (NAP). In addition, he carries out research and consultancy work with GeoViable.
PEDRO BRUFAO CURIEL
Universidad de Extremadura
Doctor in Administrative Law from the Carlos III University of Madrid and Law Degree from the Complutense University of Madrid. Professor of Administrative Law at the Faculty of Law (Cáceres) of the University of Extremadura. Master of Laws in Energy and Environmental Law from the Tulane Law School in New Orleans (USA). Granted by the Fulbright Commission. Master of Laws en Derecho de la Energía y Ambiental por la Tulane Law School de Nueva Orleans (EE. UU.). Becado por la Comisión Fulbright.
NIKO SOININEN
(University of Eastern Finland
Niko Soininen (LL.D) is a Professor of Environmental Law at the University of Eastern Finland School of Law, Center for Climate, Energy and Environmental Law (CCEEL), co-director of CCEEL and co-director of the interdisciplinary UEF Water Research Programme. His research focuses on the law and governance of complex social-ecological systems, particularly on freshwater, marine and urban systems. Outside academia, he has worked as a consultant for HELCOM, the World Bank, and several Finnish ministries.
JORGE MARQUINEZ
Universidad de Oviedo
PhD in Geology and Professor of External Geodynamics at the University of Oviedo, from where he has developed his research activity, with numerous scientific publications, direction of research projects, doctoral theses, etc. He was Director of the Institute of Natural Resources and Territorial Planning (INDUROT) of the University of Oviedo for years. Director of Natural Resources in the Administration of the Principality of Asturias (1993-1995). President of the Northern (2004-2008) and Cantabrian (2008-2012) Hydrographic Confederations. Chairman of the Board of Directors in the public company: Aguas de las Cuencas del Norte. Coordinator of the National Flood Commission (2005-2011). General Director of Biodiversity, Forests and Desertification at the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (2020-2022) He is an Emeritus Professor and coordinator of the Natural Resources and Raw Materials Hub at the University of Oviedo.
MARC GARCIA
Confederación Hidrográfica del Júcar
Marc García Manzana is a Civil Engineer from the Polytechnic University of Valencia. In addition, he has a law degree from UNED and a career civil servant in the State Civil Engineering Corps. Currently, he is the Water Commissioner of the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation and the management of the public hydraulic domain depends on him, including concessions for the use of water, authorizations for discharges and works that affect the public hydraulic domain. control of water quality, carrying out conservation and restoration works in riverbeds and the sanctioning regime in water matters. It also directs the water police, made up of 65 agents for a territory of 43,000 km2 and more than 45,000 km of channels. At the international level, he is the Secretary General of the Mediterranean Water Institute, an international organization recognized by the United Nations and founded in 1982 in Rabat, Morocco. Lastly, in 2023 he received the "Young Engineer" award from the College of Roads, Canals and Ports for his professional career.
PEDRO TEIGA
E.Río
PhD in Environmental Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, he founded more than 10 years ago E.RIO, a Portuguese company dedicated to rehabilitating rivers and streams, through Nature-Based Solutions and public participation processes. Coordinator of a multidisciplinary team specialised in the execution of plans, projects and interventions for fluvial rehabilitation. He is also a Mentor of the RIOS+ brand, of the Rios+ Laboratories implemented in more than 60 Portuguese municipalities, of the “Guardiões dos Rios” movement and of the Strategic Plan for the Rehabilitation of the Water Line, with an application at the municipal and interurban level.
PABLO COROMINAS
Experto en restauración fluvial
Pablo Corominas Ortiz, graduated in Chemistry from the University of Seville. I have developed my professional career in the world of water where I have been able to participate in different facets: water quality, hydrological planning, distribution system management, hydraulic engineering and river restoration. It is in this last field where I have specialised, being able to participate in different projects as well as in the evaluation and synthesis of the application of the fluvial restoration concept in the programs of measures in Spain throughout the three planning cycles.
Alexandra Aragão
Universidad de Coimbra
Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra, Portugal. PhD in Public Law, specializing in environmental law and waste, and researcher at the Legal Institute of the same Faculty, the Center for Environmental Law, Urbanism and Environment Studies, the Center for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra and of the SDG Observatory of the University of Coimbra. Member of the European Legal Observatory of the Natura 2000 and Water Network. Focal point of CIDCE in Portugal. Trustee of the group of experts on European Environmental Law 'Avosetta'. Member of the Advisory Board of the European Environmental Law Forum. Coordinator of the Ibero-American Network "Just Side" since 2018. Member of the IPBES Conflicts of Interest Committee. Ambassador for SDG 16 of the Portuguese Alliance for the Global Compact.
MERCEDES ECHEGARAY
Confederación Hidrográfica del Tajo
Degree in Geological Sciences from the Complutense University of Madrid. He joined the Autonomous Administration of Madrid, where he worked for two years in matters of Environmental Assessment related to the Water environment. In the year 2000, she joined the Ministry of the Environment as a Higher Graduate in Hydrogeology, carrying out work and management of the Hydraulic Public Domain for the Water Commission of the Guadalquivir Hydrographic Confederation in Seville. From 2004 to 2008, she held the position of Director of the Regional Hydraulic Infrastructure Service of the Junta de Castilla-La Mancha, where she was in charge of the direction, coordination and management of projects and hydraulic works of autonomous competence. Since 2008, he has been responsible for the Public Participation Area in the Hydrological Planning Office of the Tagus Hydrographic Confederation. She has been a teacher in undergraduate and master's programs, has given conferences at universities and foundations, and has collaborated as a co-author in books and publications. In addition, he is a member of various scientific societies, of the board of trustees of the Imdea-Agua Foundation and of the Teaching Committee of the Master's Degree in Hydrology and Water Resources Management at the University of Alcalá.
HELENA ALVES
Agencia Portuguesa de Ambiente
Graduated in Chemical Engineering from the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of Coimbra. Currently, she works as Administrator of the Tagus and West Hydrographic Region, being responsible for the planning and management of water resources in the region. He has held various positions in the field of water supply and sanitation, supervising infrastructures and treatment systems, preparing monitoring plans and collaborating in the implementation of work procedures. In addition, he has participated in the preparation of security and contingency plans, coordinating licensing processes and work teams.
SUSANA FERNANDES
Agencia Portuguesa de Ambiente
Chemical Engineer. Since 2019 she has been working in the Administration of the Tagus and Western Hydrographic Region, integrated in the Portuguese Environment Agency, and member of the National Water Council. She started her professional activity as a senior technician in the Municipality of Idanha-a-Nova, being responsible for the Water and Sanitation Service. In 2001 she joined the Águas de Portugal Group (AdP), having held several positions since then, namely supervisor of the Raia de Águas de Lisboa e Vale do Tejo Operational Centre (between 2015 and 2016) and coordinator of the Médio Zêzere Operational Centre (between 2010 and 2015). During this period she collaborated in the development of the Corporate Responsibility Systems (SER), in the elaboration of the Safety Plan and Contingency Plan of Águas do Centro, S. A. In 2016 she joined the Portuguese Environment Agency, as Head of the Tagus Interior Division, of the Administration of the Tagus and West Hydrographic Region.
OLSI NIKA
EcoAlbania
Olsi Nika is a biologist with an MSc in Environmental Biology and a PhD in process on Conservation Biology. He has 10+ years of working experience in the field of environment, Environment Policy, Civil Society and Nature Conservation. His working experience started in 2010 when he has been engaged in projects on Environmental monitoring in Albania as part of the Faculty of Natural Sciences. Since 2013 he is part of the Civil Society sector, working on different projects that deal with environmental protection, advocacy and policy. Thus, he has extensive experience in support of civil society, managing, project evaluation; Knowledge on legislation on the environment, climate change and nature conservation the approximation process and the transposition of the EU acquis into the national legislation, project development and knowledge on local governance policies and legislation.
ANDERS IVERSEN
Norwegian Environment Agency
Anders Iversen, biologist, since 2007 working as National Water Coordinator at the Norwegian Environment Agency (NEA). Represents Norway in the WFD Strategic Coordination Group (SCG), OECD Water Governance Initiative (WGI), and European Centre for River Restoration (ECRR).