INTERNATIONAL JURY
The Award International Jury is composed of 7 members coming from academia, companies, and public institutions working to support cities towards social inclusion,
climate-neutrality and health.
About the Jury
Daniela Melandri
Prof. Daniela Melandri is the President and Executive Director of UniverCities, an Italian no-profit association that celebrates innovation through diversity as a driver to universal cities. She has also been the Content and Vision Chair for the H2020 project DivAirCity. She has 20+ years’ experience in leading European and international R&D projects, and she has headed 6 major R&I Projects, with a combined portfolio of over €60mill across Europe and internationally in the past 15 years. She is a Senior International Research and Innovation Expert, designing inclusive solutions and services for citizens in complex urban areas, and an Honorary Professor in Climate Neutral Cities at Brunel University.
Cristiana Croitoru
Dr. Cristiana Croitoru is Associate Professor at the Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest (UTCB) and director of the Doctoral School, where she coordinates research and doctoral programs focused on sustainable buildings and cities, energy efficiency and digital technologies for the built environment. She is actively involved in several projects which promote innovation in energy sharing, climate-neutral design and urban regeneration. With a strong background in sustainability and building systems engineering, she works at the intersection of technology, building design and policy to help cities transition toward more resilient and inclusive urban futures.
Grigoris K. Papagiannis
Prof. Grigoris K. Papagiannis is currently Professor of Power System Analysis at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH). He has more than 40 years of experience as researcher and instructor. His research interests are power system modelling, computation of electromagnetic transients, distributed generation, power-line communications and smart grids, having 180 publications in these fields. He also collaborated as consultant in the Greek Ministries of Development, Energy and Environment, Finance as well as with the Greek DSO and TSO. He has been Dean of the Faculty of Engineering (2024), Head of the School of Electrical & Computer Engineering of the AUTH (2017-2020), Deputy Head of the same School, Head of the Department of Electrical Energy and Director of the Laboratory of Power Systems.
Elisa Peñalvo López
Dr. Elisa Peñalvo López is an Industrial and Electrical Engineer with a PhD in Industrial Engineering from the Universitat Politècnica de València (2017). She has over 20 years of experience in energy research project management, in renewable energy integration, energy efficiency, sustainable energy strategies, and climate adaptation and mitigation. She has held international research fellowships (Rome, San Francisco, Brussels), participating in 48 research projects, published 59 scientific articles, and contributed to 68 conferences in sustainable energy.
Ruba Saleh
Dr. Ruba Saleh is an associated professor at ICHEC Brussels Management School. She is an architect and urban planner by training. Her work is dedicated to the intersection of cultural heritage, economics, and cultural entrepreneurship. She is passionate about fostering participatory and co-design processes that bring new ideas to life and developing lifelong learning trainings for cultural and creative professionals. In addition to her role as head of department and lecturer she is an experienced mentor and educator. She manages C-SHIP (Cultural Entrepreneurship) professional training program at ICHEC and she is currently leading the Working Group on entrepreneurial skills of the Creative Pact for Skills.
Maria Kolokotroni
Prof. Maria Kolokotroni is Professor of Energy in the Built Environment at Brunel University of London. She is a Chartered Engineer (CEng), Fellow of CIBSE (Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers) and a member of ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers). She is a member of International Energy Agency Air Infiltration and Ventilation Centre Board. She has co-ordinated and participated to a number of projects on Energy Efficient Technologies for nuildings, nearly zero energy building (NZEB) retrofit, low energy cooling and ventilation, Urban Heat Island and mitigation strategies.
Valerio Paolini
Valerio Paolini is a Senior Researcher at the National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research. He holds an MSc and a PhD in Analytical Chemistry from Sapienza University of Rome. His work focuses on environmental pollution assessment within the circular bioeconomy, with particular attention to air pollutants, trace contaminants, and the environmental performance of bio-based systems. He has contributed to the development and validation of analytical methods for pollutant monitoring and to life cycle assessment studies supporting sustainable innovation. His research also explores the integration of environmental and socio-economic assessment to inform more robust sustainability evaluations.
Ugo Guarnacci
Ugo Guarnacci is Team Leader for Non-Communicable Diseases at the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) of the European Commission, where he leads a broad portfolio of work, including topics such health inequalities, mental health, and stigma, while also coordinating HaDEA’s staff community on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. He previously worked as Assistant to HaDEA Director Marina Zanchi, supporting the coordination of EU funding programmes for public health. An applied economist by training, Ugo holds a PhD focused on resilience and subjective wellbeing in post-disaster and post-conflict regions, with a particular focus on gender issues and power dynamics shaped by gendered social norms. Prior to joining HaDEA, he worked across several European Commission Executive Agencies and the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation. During a sabbatical from the Commission in 2019, he served as Lead for Inclusive Business at the World Economic Forum in Geneva, advancing global initiatives on gender equality, LGBTQI+ and disability inclusion. He remains a Visiting Scholar at the London School of Economics (LSE), where he gives seminars on innovation policy and sustainability.