What have we learned from the industrial reconversions in the Basque Country to better face the transition to decarbonization?

Sociologist. Co-founder and Executive Director of Fundación Ecología y Desarrollo (ECODES). Vice president of the Spanish UN Global Compact Network. Mr. Viñuales is a member of the Advisory Boards of the Biodiversity Foundation; Inditex; and Triodos Bank; and a member of the Panel of Experts in Sustainability for Sol Meliá. Since 2007 Mr. Viñuales is associate professor of the Executive Management Programme in Corporate Social Responsibility of the Instituto de Empresa (IE) Business School. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of Hazloposible Foundation; and also of CREAS, an organization that uses social venture capital as an investment instrument that guarantees economic returns and a positive social impact. Mr Viñuales is a member of the Spanish Cooperation Fund for Water and Sanitation created by the Government of Spain. He is a member of the Board of Greenpeace Spain; a member of the Council of Experts of Finresp, the Spanish Centre for Responsible and Sustainable Finance.

He was Lehendakari (President) of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country between 1999 and 2009. He graduated in Economics and has completed his doctoral thesis: ethical principle, democratic and sustainable principle of human development: bases of a democratic model. Since March 2013, he has directed the Agirre Lehendakaria Center for Social and Political Studies. He has been a visiting professor for 9 courses at the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico. He has also been the director of the research project in collaboration with Columbia University in New York, George Mason University in Washington and Euclid University in London, "The Basque Case: a Comprehensive Model for Sustainable Human Development". Honoris Causa was appointed doctor by the University of Rosario, National University of La Plata, Public University "Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi", University of Córdoba, Autonomous University of Santo Domingo and Inter-American University of Puerto Rico.

Cristina Oyon is Director of Technology, Innovation and Sustainability at SPRI (www.spri.eus), the Business Development Agency of the Basque Country. She is in charge of the design, implementation, communication, monitoring and evaluation of technology and business development strategies within the framework of regional competitiveness policies, including the RIS3 Smart Specialization Regional Strategy. She has a degree in Physics from the University of the Basque Country UPV / EHU. She was a member of the High Level Industrial Roundtable 'Industry 2030' of the European Commission and has recently been appointed a member of the Industrial Forum, which will support the European Commission in its analysis of the different industrial ecosystems and will assess the risks and industry needs in the double sustainable and digital transition. Leads the group of experts Women in Manufacturing of the World Manufacturing Forum.

Jose Ignacio Hormaeche, is a Civil, Hydraulic and Energetic, Engineer. He is currently the General Director of the Energy Cluster of the Basque Country. The Energy Cluster Association (ACE) is a non-profit association established at the end of 1996 within the framework of the Basque Government's policy to promote the competitiveness of the industrial fabric. It currently integrates 172 companies and entities: energy operators, equipment and component manufacturers, engineering companies, service companies, as well as agents of the Basque Science, Technology and Innovation Network and public agencies of the Basque Government. competitiveness of the Basque energy sector, with special attention to SMEs, through inter-business cooperation and public-private collaboration. Previously, José Ignacio has been Director of Operations of Gamesa and General Director of EVE (Basque Energy Agency), among others.

Sara de la Rica, is Professor of Economics at the University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU) and since its constitution in 2018, Director of the ISEAK Foundation. His area of specialty is the Labor Market, and in particular, labor inequalities caused by socioeconomic factors, sex, origin or age. She also deals with the analysis of poverty and the challenges of digitalization, and currently holds other positions such as Member of the Board of Iberdrola, Associate Researcher at IZA (Institute of Labor Economics) and Member of the Reflection Forum of AMETIC (Multisectorial Association of Spanish Electronics and Communications Companies). In 2018 Sara received the Award for «Basque Economist 2018, Ekonomistak Saria 2018«, awarded by the Basque College of Economists.