Programme

In September 2023, Liene Gatere started working with the progressive Minister of Defense of Latvia as his Advisor and Head of the Office. Previously, Liene was Secretary General of the Progressives. Liene has more than 10 years of professional experience in crime prevention and has worked in NGOs and consulted international organizations. From 2017 to 2020, she was Head of the Latvian chapter of Transparency International. In parallel, since 2021, Liene has been teaching anti-corruption and good governance at the Riga Graduate School of Law.

Prof. dr. Luiza Bialasiewicz is a political geographer and Professor of European Governance at the University of Amsterdam, where she directs the Amsterdam Centre for European Studies (ACES). Since 2013, she is permanent Visiting Professor at the College of Europe, Natolin where she teaches the College’s required introductory course on geopolitics. Her research focuses on EU foreign policy and geopolitics, with current work exploring how geopolitical concerns 'touch down' in domestic politics and are taken up by far-right movements and parties. She co-edits Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, an international journal of critical interdisciplinary research into the relations between the political and the spatial. Her most recent books include Spaces of Tolerance: Changing Geographies and Philosophies of Religion in Today's Europe (2019) and Europe in the World: EU Geopolitics and the Making of European Space (2011; paperback edition 2016).

Laëtitia Sédou has been working since 2016 as the EU project manager at the European Network Against Arms Trade (ENAAT), an informal network of 20 national and international peace movements across 14 European countries. Prior to joining ENAAT, Laëtitia worked for many years as an advocacy officer in civil society organisations in the fields of human rights, democracy and transparency, including eight years at the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) Brussels’ office. She holds master's degrees in history, in European politics and in human rights.

Vladimir Prebilič holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Ljubljana and serves as an associate professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences. In the realm of local politics, he has made significant contributions as the Mayor of Kočevje Municipality since 2010. He currently serves as the president of the Association of Municipalities and Towns of Slovenia. Beyond his academic and political endeavours, Dr Prebilič actively engages in international affairs. He is the head of the Slovenian delegation to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe and presides the political group of Socialists, Greens and Progressive Democrats.

Roderick Kefferpütz is the Director of the European Union office of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung. He has over 15 years’ experience working in think tanks, foundations, and government institutions. His expertise lies in the role of the EU in a changing world order. Prior to joining the foundation, Roderick was a senior analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) and Deputy Head of Unit for Strategy at the State Ministry of Baden-Württemberg. Before that, he spent ten years working in Brussels, amongst others as chief of staff to MEP Reinhard Bütikofer. He began his professional career with research positions at the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung offices in Brussels, Moscow, and Warsaw. Roderick is a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council and holds an MPhil in Russian Studies from the University of Oxford.