Director General of ICCROM-International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property

Mounir Bouchenaki is the director general of ICCROM-International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property. He was the Director of the UNESCO Division of Cultural Heritage of the Culture Sector and served as acting Director of the World Heritage Centre. He also was Assistant Director-General for Culture of UNESCO. He has been awarded of several titles by the French Republic
and the Italian Republic. Mr. Bouchenaki has written several books and articles on cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue.

Former Ambassador of the European Union

Lucio Guerrato is a former ambassador of the European Union. He was the head of the delegation of the European Commission in the Kingdom of Morocco and in the Republic of Algeria. Ambassador Guerrato was also the executive director of the Anna Lindh Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures. Mr. Guerrato has written several books and articles on Middle Age history, mediterranean relations and literature.

Director of the Economic and Social Cohesion Laboratory at the London School of Economics and Political Science

Robert Leonardi is currently Director of the Economic and Social Cohesion Laboratory at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Besides, he is member of the UK Academy of the Social Sciences and since 2010 he is Visiting Professor at the School of Government at the LUISS University in Rome. Mr. Leonardi is also Director General of Regional Planning and Extra-regional Affairs of the Sicilian Regional Government and President of the Conference Group on Italian Politics and Society of the American Political Science Association. His fields of interest are European Integration and Italian Politics, Comparative Politics, Cohesion Policy as well as for Political Parties and Regional Policies.

Professor of International Relations and Director of the Centre for Syrian Studies at the University of St. Andrews

Raymond Hinnebusch is Professor of International Relations and Director of the Centre for Syrian Studies at the University of St. Andrews. He is a member of the Institute of Middle East, Central Asian and Caucasus Studies at the same University and of the National Advisory Committee, Middle East Policy Council. Professor Hinnebush has held grants from bodies such as the Leverhulme Trust and the US Institute of Peace (USIP) for research on Syria and Jordan, is regularly invited to lecture by both governments and international organisations, and has published several key texts on Middle Eastern politics as well as has published in most major Middle East Studies and International Relations journals.

President of the Robert Schuman Foundation

Alain Lancelot is the president of the Robert Schuman Foundation in Paris, France. After having taught political science, he is now Professor emeritus at Institute of Political Studies of Paris of which he has also been director. Mr. Lancelot was visiting professor at the universities of Montreal, Algiers, Ottawa, New York and Florence. He was a member of the council of the democratic elections of the Council of Europe and of the Constitutional Council of France.

Former Lieutenant-General of the Italian Army

Fabio Mini is a a former Lieutenant-General of the Italian Army. He was Air and Defense Attaché in Beijing, People’s Republic of China, chief of the staff of the NATO Allied Forces Southern Europe and commander of the Kosovo-Force. As Major General, he was Director of the Joint Services Senior Staff College (ISSMI). General Mini has written extensively on military, strategic and geopolitical issues and is a member of Pugwash Conferences on Sciences and World Affairs and Limes Italian Review of Geopolitics scientific board.

Minister Plenipotentiary at the Italian Foreign Affairs Ministry, now Deputy Ambassador in the UK

Stefano Pontecorvo, Minister Plenipotentiary at the Italian Foreign Affairs Ministry, is now Deputy Ambassador in the UK. He has been Vicedirector of the Directorate General for Sub-Saharan Africa. Previously he worked at the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe as Head of Cabinet to the Italian State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and at the Permanent Representation of Italy to the European Union as responsible for the External Relations. Mr. Pontecorvo was also Director of the Stability Pact for Southern Eastern Europe and adjunct professor of International Relations at the Faculty of International and Diplomatic Studies, University of Trieste.

Minister Plenipotentiary at the Italian Foreign Affairs Ministry

Cosimo Risi is Minister Plenipotentiary at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He worked as Head of Unit for the External Relations to EU and WTO at the Directorate General for Multilateral Economic and Financial Cooperation of the Italian MFA, as responsible for the European Neighborhood Policy at the Permanent Representation of Italy to the EU and lately as Italian Coordinator of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. Mr. Risi is adjunct professor of International Relations at University of Salerno and at the European College of Parma and teaches International Cooperation at the University of Trieste. He is also Coordinator of the editorial board of “Europae”, Quarterly of European Affairs.

President of the Italian Geographical Society

Franco Salvatori is the President of the Italian Geographical Society in Rome, Italy. Mr. Salvatori is full professor of Geography at the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy of the Second University of Rome “Tor Vergata” where he is also pro-rector. Professor Salvatori held and holds posts in various academic and scientific Italian and international institutions. He is member of the technical-scientific committee of the Research and Development Centre on the E-Content and of the Culture Committee of UNESCO Italian Commission. Besides, Professor Salvatori is part of the scientific committee of Emigration Studies” and “Sviluppo Locale” (“Local Development”) magazines.