Speakers

Meet our Event Speakers

Sophia Eriksson Waterschoot - Director for Youth, Education and Erasmus+ at the European Commission's Directorate General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture

She is in charge of European cooperation on higher education, schools and youth policy, including Europe's flagship programmes Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps. She has previously held various positions within the European Commission in the field of strategy and investment in education, labour market policy, European Semester and European cohesion funds. She studied economics, business, political science and EU affairs in Sweden, France and Belgium, including an Erasmus student exchange. She is an Eisenhower Fellow. Twitter: @sophiabrussel

Sandrine Valentin - Programme Manager – Youth Policy and Programmes - European Commission

Sandrine Valentin is Programme manager for Erasmus+ Youth at the European Commission's Directorate General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture. She is charge of the preparation of youth content for programme implementation and reporting documents within the programming sector and of the follow-up of the SALTO-Youth Inclusion and Diversity. She has previously held a position within the European Commission in the field of the prevention of the radicalisation with the management of the Radicalisation Awareness Network. She studied applied sciences in France and UK.

Hanna Schüßler - German National Agency for Erasmus+ Youth and the European Solidarity Corps

Advisor on Inclusion & Diversity at the German National Agency for Erasmus+ Youth and the European Solidarity Corps since June 2019, Hanna Schüßler profits from work experience in different fields related to international youth work and social inclusion. She worked as a teacher and project manager at an inclusive elementary-school within a programme for educational equity, supported refugees and youth with labour market integration and qualification and was a counsellor and coordinator in international school exchange.

Leo Kaserer - CUBIC, Tirol, Austria

He is an experienced social worker, trainer and lectures at the University of applied science in the department of social work in Innsbruck. Training and consultancy work brought him over the years to cooperate in almost all European countries. Volunteering, empowerment and inclusion are at the heart of his interest. He is the initiator of the Rückenwind strategy, which supports since 2006 young people with fewer opportunities to unfold their potential for a happier and healthier life. He published the film „Last Fisherman“ and started the “cycling cinema” in European social work projects.

Niklas Larsen - Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies, Denmark

Nicklas is heading CIFS' Arts & Culture initiatives and is democratising futures thinking through education

Life towards 2100: This presentation departures in selected megatrends and points to possible futures towards year 2100 as an introduction for how to work with futures thinking in your organisations.

Presentation slides available for download

Hina Bhatti - Alderman of Civil Affairs and Inclusion, Ostend, Belgium

2013-2017 City Councilor
2017-2018 Chairman City Council
From 2019 Alderman of Civil Affairs and Inclusion

Koen Lambert - Director - JINT - Flemish National Agency of the Erasmus + :Youth in Action programme and the European Solidarity Corps

Koen LAMBERT (°1960) graduated at the Ghent University as a master in modern history. During a 3-year period he worked as a civil servant at the Ministry of the Flemish Community, on local youth policy in Flanders. From 1990 on, he became the director of JINT, the co-ordination agency for international youth work of the Flemish Community, Belgium. Koen LAMBERT is Head of the National Agency and involved in the European Commission Consultation Group of Youth NA’s, the network of National Agencies, the Steering group on the European Training Strategy and the Youth Pass Advisory Group.

Marta Gutiérrez Benet - Programme Manager - European Commission

Marta is a Programme Manager in the team in charge of the design, implementation and coordination of the Erasmus+ Programme. In particular, she is responsible for the priority of Inclusion and Diversity, and heavily involved in the efforts to improve the Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps programmes in this regard. In her daily work, Marta is in close contact with the Erasmus+ National Agencies, the Executive Agency and the stakeholders involved in the implementation of the Programmes. Previously to working in the coordination of Erasmus+, she has also worked in the Erasmus+ Youth Unit, always within the Directorate General for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport.

Jan Vanhee - European and International Youth Policy advisor – EU Youth affairs attaché

Jan Vanhee works as a European and international Youth Policy advisor in the Division Knowledge & Policy at the Department for Culture, Youth and Media in the Flemish Community of Belgium. He is EU Youth affairs attaché in the Permanent Representation of Belgium to the EU (Representation of the Government of Flanders). He represents Belgium (Flanders) in the EU Youth Working Party and on the Council of Europe’s Intergovernmental Steering Committee for Youth (CDEJ) and follows all major political developments and debates on youth (work) issues in Europe and beyond.

Ricardo Borges de Castro - Associate Director and Head of the Europe in the World Programme at the European Policy Centre

He will talk about global trends, ‘anticipatory democracy,’ and policymaking.

Presentation slides available for download

Meet our Workshop Speakers

Rahel Aschwanden - Co-founder Instituto NOW, Portugal

Rahel works as a learning designer and consultant for NOW’s sister organisation Instituto NOW with a strong focus on promoting the development of 21st Century Competences.

Building a Culture of ID in Our Organisations beyond Mobility Projects: The workshop focuses on the importance of mainstreaming the culture of inclusion and diversity in our organization, beyond individual (mobility) projets. Through shared practices and tips, it will give chance to talk about benefits of such organizational culture for any organisation, its impact on our teams and beneficiaries, as well as the challenges we might face along the way

Agoritsa Mandraki

Agoritsa is active in the NGO CET Platform Greece and has extensive experience in projects on mental health, emotional wellbeing, mental health first aid and social inclusion.

Addressing Mental Health and Wellbeing of Young People though ID Projects: The workshop addresses the essentials on how participants with fewer opportunities mental health improves through participation in EU projects. It will provide a space to share mental Health Issues and pre-existing conditions in general and to share examples of different issues that arose during past/current projects and the way they were tackled.

Amel Yacef - National Youth Council of Ireland

Amel presently works in the National Youth Council of Ireland. She describes her practice as transformative and compassionate justice.

Intersectional Approach to ID in the Youth Field: The workshop addresses the current societal trends and challenges that impact the youth field and are particularly important for the inclusion of marginalised youth. It will touch upon intersectionality as the approach to ensure that the experiences and needs of those affected by racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, ableism and other forms of oppression are at the center of any inclusive practice.

Pascal Debruyne - Odisee University College Brussels, Belgium

Pascal Debruyne is a PhD in political and social sciences. He is currently a researcher at Odisee University College, focusing on migration

I&D in times of crisis: During the COVID-19-crisis a range of vulnerable populations are confronted with rising needs for care. Especially groups with migration background with precarious status. An array of volunteer organisations step up, to bring relief and give these "shadow populations" a voice. The presentation will focus on solidarity practices from below. To ask the question: "What can we learn from them?"

Ülly Enn - Tallinn Technical University - TalTech, Estonia

A youth field enthusiast and expert who has been active in the field since the 1990-ies. She has worked for many years for the EU youth programmes, for the SALTO-YOUTH Social Inclusion Resource Centre in Brussels and served as a diplomat, chairing the EU member states negotiations on European youth policy during the Estonian Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2017. Ülly is currently mainly focusing on research on educational commons in Tallinn Technical University Ragnar Nurkse Department of Innovation and Governance/interdisciplinary P-2-P Research
For more info: LinkedIn

International ID Projects in the Age of Digitalization: The workshop will provide some reflections on ID Strategy & beyond, to further clarify and question what do we think of social inequalities - in relation to digitalisation but not only. Also, how could new practices be built up for more fair and cohesive communities in relation to youth. Ülly will also share some ideas of potential of ’educational commons’ that is an emerging alternative value and action system, hoping to provide some inspiration for further positive social change.