INTERNATIONAL JURY
The Award International Jury is composed of 6 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.
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.