The Advisory Board, or advisory committee, is a voluntary body for consulting and supporting management. Its opinions are not binding because they are not formal. The AB does not act in the name and on behalf of the organization and therefore has no responsibility towards third parties; it represent a support to those who, within the company, are responsible for making decisions.

Mario Bonaccorso
Director of SPRING, the Italian
CIrcular Bioeconomy Cluster
He is a journalist. He collaborated with the newspaper il manifesto and with Affaritaliani.it. In 2012 he founded the blog Il Bioeconomista, The First Bioeconomy Blog, and he is also a regular contributor to the international magazine Matter Renewable, specialized in Bioeconomy and Circular Economy. He contributed as expert to the publication Urban BioCycle, by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, in March 2017. Since 2017, he has coordinated the Industry Panel set up within the BBI JU Grace demo project, “GRowing Advanced industrial Crops on marginal lands for biorEfineries”. He is the creator and the organizer of IFIB, International Forum on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioeconomy. He has lectured in various Italian universities and master courses. He has participated as a speaker at many international conferences on the subject of Bioeconomy. Among these: CLIB International Conference, International Conference on Biomaterials, IEA Conference, Bioeconomy Investment Summit, World Circular Bioeconomy Forum, Greek Bioeconomy Forum.

Santiago
Fernandez de Cordoba
Chief, VSS Programme, UNFSS Coordinator, UNCTAD
He is currently leading the United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards (UNFSS). He is an experienced economist and author of trade policy publications of over 20 years, particularly on market access issues, standards, and structural adjustment. With reference to his economics academic background and over two decades of serving the United Nations, he provided public policy advisory on international affairs that aspires to achieve inclusive trade, sustainable development, and opportunities for developing countries. Under his leadership, the UNFSS has been steered to practice inclusive development model to foster fair opportunities in trade negotiations and economic development on sustainability standards.

Mr. Bernard
de Galembert
Sector Group Manager, Specialty Chemicals, CEFIC: European Chemical Industry Council
Bernard de Galembert holds a degree in Economics and, more recently, in Human resources management. He spent most of his career in European public affairs, first for the Confederation of European Sugar Manufacturers (CEFS) as chief economic adviser, then at the European farmers’ union COPA-COGECA, where he notably managed the forestry working party. After six months in Paris as President’s adviser at the French landowers’s association (FNPA) and as director of a trade magazine (La propriété agricole), he joined the European Landowners’ Organisation (ELO). In 2002, he became Forest Director at the Confederation of European Paper Industries. Within CEPI, he also took over the responsibility of Innovation, of the Bioeconomy and of Social Affairs. In his role, he was part of the FAO advisory committee for sustainable forest products and active member of the international Council of Forest and Paper Associations (ICFPA). Since 2020, first as senior manager and now as director at the European Council of Chemical Industries (Cefic), he deals with dossiers related to the bioeconomy, biomass-derived and biobased chemicals. In that capacity, he manages and coordinates a sector group devoted to biomass-derived chemicals, BioChem Europe.
Next to his professional curriculum, Bernard de Galembert also manages two family companies involved in farming and forestry.

Mr. Martin Greimel
Head of the Centre for Bioeconomy, coordination of all bioeconomy related research, University of Natural Resources and Life Science Vienna
Martin Greimel is head of the Centre for Bioeconomy at the University of Natural Resources and Life Science Vienna (BOKU). The Centre is coordinating all relevant activities of BOKU related to bioeconomy.
He chairs the European Bioeconomy University Alliance (EBU). He has been a civil servant at the Austrian Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management where he was responsible for international cooperation in the field of forestry research and member of a group that developed the Austrian Bioeconomy RTI Strategy.
He was coordinator, deputy coordinator and partner in several ERA-NET and other EU Framework Programme initiatives related to bioeconomy and forestry research.
From 2004 till 2006 he was a National Expert at the European Commission in the DG Research; Dir Biotechnology, Agriculture and Food Research.
He was Vice Chair of the COST Domain Forest, Products and Services and member of the Forest Technology Platform management group.He

Mr. Marco Rupp
Public Affairs & Sustainability Manager. Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC)
Marco Rupp manages public affairs and sustainability activities at BIC. He graduated as economist. Marco has over 20 years of private and public sector expertise in various management functions. He is a member of several expert groups and advisory boards in the field of the bioeconomy.

Dr. Audrun Utskarpen
Senior Environmental Advisor, among others knowledge on ecolabels and their role in reducing the environmental impact of products.
Ecolabelling Norway
Audrun Utskarpen works as a Senior Environmental Adviser for the Nordic Swan Ecolabel, the official ecolabel for the Nordic countries. She is a member of its expert group for sustainable raw materials and works with developing certification criteria that contribute to the protection of biodiversity for a wide range of products and services. Other areas of expertise include circular economy, bioeconomy, microplastics and textile industry.
She holds a PhD in molecular biology from the University of Oslo and a Master of Science in chemical engineering and biotechnology from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
Previously she has worked as a research scientist at the Norwegian Radium Hospital, and as a senior adviser for the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board, where she covered topics such as GMOs (genetically modified organisms), genetic resources and sustainable agriculture.

Ms. Jenny Walther-Thoss
Senior Consultant Sustainability, expertise in sustainability standards and certification, sustainable biomass and supply chains.
Berndt+Partner Consultants
Jenny Walthher-Thoss graduated from Humboldt University with a Master’s degree in Agriculture Science, specializing in Resource Economics.
From 2006-2013, she worked as an inspector and certifier for Peterson Control Union Certification in the area of organic agriculture and biomass supply chains.
She then spent several years as Senior Policy Officer Sustainable Biomass & Standards for WWF working on agricultural and forestry supply chains and implementing projects in collaboration with companies. For WWF, she served as Global Lead Sustainable Biomass, which included participation in various committees and representing WWF’s positioning between industry, NGOs and policy makers in the debate around bioplastics, bioenergy and other bioeconomic applications.
Since December 2020, she is a senior consultant at B+P Consultants in Berlin, with a focus on building sustainability management, EcoVadis and other ESG ratings and climate strategies in the packaging industry. Jenny is involved in the DIN working group on ISO 14001-3 climate management and leads the working group on sustainability rating in the Circular Economy Roadmap.

Textile Exchange
Textile Exchange is a global non-profit driving positive action on climate change across the fashion, textile, and apparel industry. We guide and support a growing community of brands, retailers, manufacturers, farmers, and others committed to climate action toward more purposeful production, right from the start of the supply chain.
For more info visit: www.textileexchange.org