Nora Bateson, is an award-winning filmmaker, writer and educator, as well as President of the International Bateson Institute based in Sweden. Her work asks the question “How we can improve our perception of the complexity we live within, so we may improve our interaction with the world?”. An international lecturer, researcher and writer, Nora wrote, directed and produced the award-winning documentary, An Ecology of Mind, a portrait of her father, Gregory Bateson. Her work brings the fields of biology, cognition, art, anthropology, psychology, and information technology together into a study of the patterns in ecology of living systems. Her book, Small Arcs of Larger Circles released by Triarchy Press, UK, 2016 is a revolutionary personal approach to the study of systems and complexity.

Graduated as Social Pedagogue, Anja started her career as streetcornerworker with male prostitutes in Ghent. After this five-years-lasting exciting challenge, she became lector of didactical management and later Programme Coordinator at the Teachers Training Academy in Alost. In 2007, she returned to Ghent, directing the Integration Service of the City. She further specialised in Diversity Management and European Studies, whereby she is now responsible for European Policy on Social Inclusion and Welfare within the city. Through her accumulated work experience, I'm always focused on supporting the most vulnerable groups in society. Removing barriers to make policy and social participation of ALL possible is at the top of her to do list, which is demonstrated in some published articles.

An ecologist and environmentalist by training (9 years at Madrid University as research fellow and assistant professor in Ecology), he has worked since 1985 for the Council of Europe mainly on environment and disaster risk reduction issues, first as Secretary of a European Wildlife Convention (the Bern Convention), as Head of the Environment Division and also as Executive Secretary of the European and Mediterranean Major Hazards Agreement (EUR-OPA), a platform of cooperation between European and Southern Mediterranean states in major natural and technological hazards. In the framework of his responsibilities in the environment sector he was in charge from 1998 until 2012 of the Unit of Biological Diversity. Since January 2013 he is in charge of a number of other varied programmes, including Intercultural Cities, Civil Society, the World Forum of Democracy and Cultural Routes. Among the instruments he helped prepare were the European Landscape Convention, over a hundred recommendations and policy documents on risk management and environment, and was responsible for the preparation of Ministerial Conferences in Biodiversity and Major Risks. Main field of competence:, biological diversity risk management and other environment / sustainable development issues.