Annual Conference 2020 – Speakers

Programme / Speakers / Register

The first part of the Annual Conference 2020 will be counting on high-level speakers, representatives of the Croatian Presidency and of the EU institutions, as well as civil society organisations active both in the world of citizenship education, development and of course education and training! Stay tuned, for we will unveil the speakers little by little.

Jonathan Michie is Professor of Innovation and Knowledge Exchange, Director of the Department for Continuing Education, and President of Kellogg, University of Oxford. He is a member of various University committees including the Education Committee, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Committee, and the Social Sciences Divisional Board. Prior to moving back to Oxford in 2008, he was Dean of the Business School at the University of Birmingham, held the Sainsbury Chair of Management at Birkbeck, University of London, and was at the Judge Business School, Cambridge. Jonathan is Chair of the Board of Governors of UWC Atlantic College and Chair of the Universities Association for Lifelong Learning (UALL). He is a Visiting Professor at the European University Institute in Florence; Honorary Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa; and Senior Fellow of Rutgers University, USA. He is Managing Editor of the International Review of Applied Economics and was joint secretary of the 2019 Centenary Commission on Adult Education.

Ms Daria Arlavi is currently the chair of the Education Committee in the Council of the EU. She has been working as an education attaché in the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Croatia in Bruxelles for seven years; now, she is also a coordinator for the education, youth, culture and sports policies during the Croatian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Daria studied at Sussex University and holds a Master degree in Contemporary European Studies. She has two Master degrees from the University of Zagreb – in Marketing and in Sociology. Before joining the Permanent Representation in Bruxelles she was involved in higher education policies and held a position of head of Croatian Qualifications Framework Unit in the Ministry of Science and Education. Prior to that, she has worked in several policy areas in the Ministry, including international cooperation.

Ms Dace Melbarde is a newly elected Member of European Parliament and 2nd Vice-Chair of Culture and Education committee at the EP. Previously she was a long-serving Minister of Culture at her native Latvia. She received numerous awards, such as the Spidola Award by the National Cultural Foundation for the Excellence in the Management of Culture in 2005 and the Award by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia for the Achievements in Building the Latvian State in 2002. Ms Melbarde holds a BA in History, an MA in Theory of Culture and MA in Public Management. She is also currently pursuing a PhD in Theory of Culture at the Latvian Academy of Culture, and was the host of the LLLWeek 2019. 

Borhene Chakroun is an engineer and has a PhD in Education Sciences from Bourgogne University in France and is currently Director of Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems Division at UNESCO-HQ. In the past, he worked at the European Training Foundation and was a consultant for the EU, World Bank and other international organisations. He has authored and co-authored numerous articles and books in the field of skills development and lifelong learning. His recent work focuses on global trends in reforming education and training systems and global agenda for skills development in the context of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

Rilli Lappalainen is the Director of Advocacy and policy in Finnish national platform of Development NGOs – Fingo. In meanwhile he is the founder and chair of the steering group of Bridge 47 – global network to promote value-based educations. Previously Rilli has been actively involved in CONCORD’s (European confederation for development and relief) work including serving in many roles like a board member, Chair of CONCORD’s policy coherence for the development group, chair of  Development education and awareness-raising forum etc.