Jonatan Pinkse is Professor of strategy, innovation, and entrepreneurship and the Executive Director of the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research (MIoIR), Alliance Manchester Business School, The University of Manchester. His passion is innovation and sustainability. He is a regular speaker on topics related to strategy and innovation for net-zero and sustainability, business model innovation for disruption, managing the green transition, and sharing platforms. In his research, Jonatan analyses how firms make strategic decisions to create a sustainable economy and deal with tensions between issues and actors. He investigates opportunities and barriers for firm adoption of disruptive and sustainable technologies from cognitive, organizational, and institutional perspectives.

As the Executive Director of Urban Planing at NEOM, Giovanna Carnevali leads the development and implementation of NEOM’s core urban development plan. This first-of its-kind model puts communities and nature at its heart and supports NEOM’s ambition to be a beacon for new ways of living and working. At beginning of 2021 Carnevali settled Architecture Department inside NEOM as the Guardianship of the Architecture Design quality across all the Regions and all the Assets Design. Carnevali has more than 20 years’ experience in the fields of urban design and architecture and a track record of designing, managing and delivering award-winning projects. During her career, she has worked in Europe and the Middle East across all stages of the design process, from concept through to detailed design, leading large multidisciplinary teams on projects of varying sizes and building typologies. Prior to joining NEOM, Carnevali was Director of International Projects at Strelka KB, a leading think tank in the urban design space in Russia, specializing in urban planning, urban anthropology and economics. In this role, she developed and implemented master plans, architecture projects and urban standards. Carnevali has held numerous senior management and director roles as part of her long career in the industry, including at the Mies van der Rohe Foundation, and co-founded her own consultancy, Self Arquitectura SLP, which undertook projects across numerous locations in Europe. An architecture consultant at the European Commission, Carnevali is a guest lecturer at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Venice Biennale, the Shenzhen Biennale, Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia in Barcelona and the Moscow Urban Forum, Sci-Arch, Los Angeles. She holds a Ph.D. in Urban Development and Planning from the Universitá degli Studi di Genova, a Master’s in Architectural Projects from ETSAB, Barcelona Polytechnic, and a dual Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from Genoa and Barcelona universities.

Multilingual professional with 15 years experience in an international, intergovernmental and intercultural environment managing and implementing national and international projects. Strong interpersonal and diplomatic skills working with 193 countries and a network of partners in actualizing projects in UNESCO’s fields of competence namely: Education, Sciences, Culture, Communication and Information. Experienced in strategic planning and implementation of results-based programmes. Proficient in writing analytical briefs, reports and presentation of recommendations based on in-depth research

I am a Teaching Associate Professor at Laboratory for Research-informed ECEC and School Development (LSP), Department of Culture and Learning, Aalborg University, Denmark. I am especially interested in how partnerships between research, policy and practice can contribute to equity and inclusive learning environments in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) and Schools.