Knowledge Into Action Forum - "Futures of Business Education"

Cédric Bachellerie

Co-founder of Sustainamics®, Cedric Bachellerie has over 25 years of experience as a Business practitioner in large multinationals.

In particular, Cedric has led numerous leadership and organizational development programmes within the corporate university of a large multinational, with a focus on Human Capital development – Engagement, Team Productivity, Design Thinking, etc. For the past few years, he has become an expert in Sustainable Performance Management (SPM), who consults and trains on the sustainable transformation of Business.

Cedric is the co-author of the book “Virtuel Vertueux Virtuose” (in French) that explores the future of business management, post COVID.

Laurent Bontoux

Dr. Laurent Bontoux holds a food technology engineering degree from ENSIA (Paris) and a DEA from the Technological University in Compiègne as well as a MS and PhD in environmental engineering from the University of California at Berkeley (USA).
Laurent started his professional career ensuring the environmental safety of household products at Procter & Gamble in Brussels. After joining the European Commission, he was mostly dealing with science to inform policy making, especially regarding risk assessment. At DG JRC he worked on issues such as environmental technologies foresight, environment & health issues (e.g. wastewater reuse, endocrine disruptors) and life-cycle assessment. At DG SANCO he managed the independent Scientific Committee for Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) and dealt with nanotechnologies, antimicrobial resistance and the health effects of electromagnetic fields. He also worked at DG RTD in the Environment & Health area. Laurent is now heavily involved in bringing future oriented systemic thinking into EU policy making in a pragmatic way.

Katarina Haluskova

Katarina works as a Project Communication Specialist at ABIS, where she oversees the development of communication strategy with the network and its implementation. Her role also includes planning and execution of research and education projects. She also assists in design of collaborative projects and event management that empower change and foster sustainable development and innovation.

Before joining ABIS she worked in a marketing agency as a Project Manager, where she was involved in carrying out marketing strategies, event management and administered an educational platform for CEE countries. Katarina graduated from her studies at University of Economics in Prague in International Trade with a specialization in Commercial Communication. During her studies she had the opportunity to be part of two exchange programs in Germany and USA.

Ivo Matser

Ivo Matser is a specialist in managing and leading organizational change in the corporate world and private academic institutions. He continuously pursues to increase the organizational value bringing internal and external perspectives into the process. He executes his profession from three different roles: as a senior executive manager, as board member and as consultant.

Ivo is an economist, a leadership expert and certified Expert Marketing Professional (EMP). He started his career in sports business and managed real estate, publishing and professional services companies. Since 2001, he has been in the position of CEO/President/Dean of private higher education institutions: SWOT Business School (NL), TSM Business School (NL), ISM University of Management and Economics (LT), GISMA Business School (D, UK). Ivo is also assessor for international institutional accreditations in several countries. Regularly he is a speaker at conferences and board room consultant at companies for designing and implementing strategies.

He has represented for more than 10 year academic institutions as member of ABIS and he was member of the Board of Directors of ABIS from 2017-2019.

Petra Molthan-Hill

Prof Dr Petra Molthan-Hill, PhD, MBA, MDiv, PFHEA, is Professor of Sustainable Management and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) at Nottingham Business School and Co-Chair of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) working group on climate change and environment.

Professor Molthan-Hill is an international multi-award-winning expert for Climate Change Mitigation Tools in Business, Climate Change Education and Carbon Literacy. She leads the ‘Carbon Literacy Training for Business Schools, Universities and beyond’ (CLT4BS), a training programme developed by her team at Nottingham Business School in collaboration with the UN PRME Champions, the international student organisation ‘oikos International’ and The Carbon Literacy Project and distributed worldwide in collaboration with UN PRME, for example as part of a global social movement to coincide with the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference Train the Millions - The Carbon Literacy Chain .

Njeri Mwagiru

Njeri is Senior Futurist at the Institute for Futures Research (IFR), University of Stellenbosch Business School. She has worked with a range of organisations in several capacities and contexts including research; executive management training; policy, strategy and programme development. Her work focuses on strengthening capabilities of individuals, organisations, communities and governments, to navigate complexity and uncertainty, to realise long-term goals and visions. Her research interests include leadership, organisational performance, knowledge, gender and diversity, inclusivity and transformation. 

Natalia Olynec

Natalia Olynec is the Head of Sustainability at IMD, where her work focuses on program development, strategy, governance, research, reporting and advisory. She has worked in sustainability management, consulting and education for more than 15 years.

Having worked with senior executives in rapidly changing markets in Asia and Europe, Natalia Olynec brings a global perspective to communications, reputation management, and stakeholder engagement. As a former journalist, she leverages her strong communication skills to influence change through consulting, publishing, education, and curriculum design.

Natalia most recently explored how leadership influences cultural change as Global Head of Sustainability at Damco, a unit of Maersk Group, and as Adjunct Professor of Sustainability at SP Jain School of Global Management’s graduate program. She has collaborated in global teams to increase supply chain transparency and accountability in areas such as responsible procurement, energy efficiency, CSR, and safety.

Ulrike Pisiotis

Ulrike Pisiotis is a policy officer in the schools unit of the Commission’s Directorate General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, where she works on education for environmental sustainability as well as on teacher and school leader policies. Having joined the Commission in 2009, she has held various positions and gained extensive experience in education and research policies and systems within the EU and beyond. Ulrike Pisiotis has a PhD in German literature and has previously worked in research, publishing and teaching.

Karolina Sobczak

Karolina Sobczak is Knowledge Manager at ABIS – The Academy of Business in Society, where she is responsible for identifying the most relevant sustainability themes and developing related projects, events and trainings. Passionate about leadership development, she is currently exploring holistic approaches to change, including coaching and awareness-based systems change. Prior to joining ABIS, she worked in a change management consultancy. Karolina holds a M.Sc. in Economics and Management of Innovation and Technology from Bocconi University.

Peter Wells

Since 2016, Peter has lead UNESCO’s priority area of quality higher education with an emphasis on widening access, quality assurance and academic mobility, the latter reinforced by the Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education adopted in 2019. Dr. Wells’ current priority is UNESCO’s 3^rd World Conference on Higher Education which will take place in Barcelona in May 2022 – a key landmark event which takes place once every 10 years and which will set the roadmap agenda for higher education for HE and the 2030 SDG Agenda. He also co-leads on the UNESCO Qualifications Passport for Refugees and Vulnerable Migrants initiative that aims to support access to learning and employment opportunities for displaced persons. Prior to taking up his current post, Peter was a Higher Education Specialist and Director of the UNESCO’s European Centre for Higher Education for ten years. He is author of policy papers, articles and monographs on the topic of higher education reforms, quality assurance, internationalization and equity and inclusion in national HE systems. Originally from the UK, Peter has taught at the HE and TVET levels in the USA, Poland, the UAE and Romania. He holds a Master’s degree in International Relations and a PhD in Quality Enhancement of Higher Education Systems.

Baback Yazdani

Baback Yazdani is Professor of Product Development and the Executive Dean of Nottingham Business School (NBS) at Nottingham Trent University (NTU). During his Deanship since 2007, NBS has gone through purposeful transformation and continuous growth to develop an international reputation for Personalisation and Experiential Learning. NBS is amongst the 1% of business schools globally that are accredited by AACSB and EQUIS. NBS is also a global PRME Champion, holds Small Business Charter (SBC) by Chartered ABS and EFMD’s Business School Impact System (BSIS) marque.

Baback plays an active role in the development of business school community and is a Council Member and Treasurer of the Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS). He is also a Board Member of European Foundation for Management Development's (EFDM), and Chair of the Board of Trustees of Academy of Business in Society (ABIS).

As Professor of Product Development, with special expertise in the Auto industry, he continues to research and work with global automakers. His has over 20 years of experience as a senior leader at the University of Warwick and Nottingham Trent University, as well as extensive senior leadership roles in industry and international business (US and Europe), including Director of Product Development at Jaguar Land Rover, and Director of Business and Operations at Premier Automotive Group: JLR, Volvo, Aston Martin and Lincoln Mercury in the USA. He is also a past Chair of CBI in East Midlands.