The Final Conference

Hayley Edmonds is a British journalist and presenter, with a degree in English literature, French and Journalism from the University of Brighton, Sussex and a DEUG in Arts and language, from the University of Pau, France. Alongside working as a sports journalist, Hayley has extensive experience in both hosting and writing for corporate events.

Benoit Hellings was born in 1978 and he has lived in Brussels since 1996. It was love at first sight because he was fascinated by the diversity, dynamics and opportunities of the city!

Benoit Hellings studied political science at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and joined Ecolo in 2000. After four years of research at the ULB he became press officer at Visit Brussels, where he introduced the city to foreign journalists who passed through the capital. In 2007, he participated for the first time in an election and he became the first successor in the Senate. From 2009 he became a Senator.

In 2011 he was chairman of the Board of Directors of the Port of Brussels, in parallel with tasks in various regional ministerial cabinets. In 2014 he was directly elected to the Chamber of Representatives for Brussels and he became vice-chairman of the National Defense Commission.

In 2017 he was appointed as the leader of the Ecolo-Groen list for the municipal elections for the City of Brussels. On 3 December 2018, he took the oath as First Alderman, Alderman of Climate and Sports of the City.
Benoit Hellings believes that the fight against climate change and the preservation of biodiversity is the political issue of his generation. He now exercises powers at the municipal level that enable people in Brussels to move (sports), and to eat and breathe well (environment and climate).

Ms Floor van Houdt works in the European Commission since more than 25 years. She is currently active as Head of Unit in charge of EU Sport Policy. Prior to this, she worked on several EU policies, including youth, maritime affairs, entrepreneurship and research.

Originally from the Netherlands, she studied law and European Studies in the Netherlands, Spain and Belgium before moving to Brussels to start her career in European policy.

After her degree in philosophy, she worked as a journalist. She entered Belgian and then European political life following a meeting with Louis Michel in 2003. She worked for 15 years within the European institutions.
In May 2019 she joined on the European list of MR, where she was elected first substitute. On September 17, I was sworn in as Minister in charge of Higher Education, Social Advancement Education, University Hospitals, Scientific Research, Youth Assistance, Houses of Justice , Promotion of Brussels, Youth and Sport within the government of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.

With more than 20 years of experience in the education and sport system in France and at the international level, Laurent Petrynka is the President of the International School Sport Federation since 2014 and a Member of the IOC Olympic Education Commission (International Olympic Committee) since 2018. Between 2010 and 2018 he was the National Director of the UNSS (Union Nationale du Sport Scolaire). In 2018 he was nominated by the President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron, as Inspector General of Education in France (IGEN). In 2019-2020 he was the inter-ministerial coordinator of the SNU (Service National Universel) under the authority of the Ministry of Education in France. From 2020 to May 2022, Mr Petrynka was the Ministerial advisor to the Minister of Education, Youth and Sports – Mr Jean Michel Blanquer and the Minister in charge of Sports – Ms Roxana Mărăcineanu. On a personal sporting note, Laurent Petrynka is a former footballer from the French 3rd division at the club of Viry Châtillon (Département Essonne) and is now a very active runner. The focus of his missions has always been on health and empowerment of youth through school sport.

Yves Le Lostecque is currently Head of the Erasmus Mundus and Sport Unit in the EACEA (European Education and Culture Executive Agency) in charge of the implementation of the Erasmus+ budget. He studied public, international and European law at the University of Rennes. He started his career in the French national Ministry responsible for Youth and Sport. He joined the Commission in 1993 where he worked as a lawyer in DG Internal market. He was then responsible for inter-institutional relations in DG Education and Culture and served as the assistant of two directors general, Odile Quintin and Jan Truszczyński. He also spent two years as a member of the cabinet of the Romanian Commissioner, Leonard Orban. He was also from 2013 to 2021 Head of the Sport Unit in the European Commission.

Brigitte is Managing Director of VinylPlus®, the European PVC industry’s commitment to sustainable development. Gathering 200 companies, VinylPlus creates a long-term sustainability framework for the entire PVC value chain, improving PVC products’ sustainability and circularity and their contribution to a sustainable society. Brigitte holds a PhD in Sciences (Molecular Biology) from the University of Brussels. Her main interests are in science and sustainability, women in sports and education. She supports the ‘Women in Green industry chapter’ of UNIDO/UNEP

Emma is a double Olympic Bronze medallist in Ice Hockey (1998 and 2010. Emma was elected by athletes to the IOC Athletes’ Commission at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 and elected as Chair of the Commission at the Beijing Games 2022. Emma has a BBA in Finance from The Ohio State University and a MSc in Economics Finance from Aalto University (2013). Emma represents athlete voice in the IOC Executive Board and a number of IOC Commissions such as the Olympic Programme Commission, and the Legal Affairs Commission. Emma is also the former Chair of the Finnish Athletes’ Commissions and a member of Finnish Advisory Board of Sport Ethics. By living and playing in many countries like Austria, Finland, USA and Russia and by competing in five Olympics, Emma has a vast athletic experience and is passionate about representing athletes in decision making at the highest level.

Dagmar Schumacher is the Director of the UN Women Brussels Office. Ms. Schumacher previously worked at the headquarters of the United Nations Volunteers programme in Bonn, as Chief of the Partnerships Section. From 1998 – 2002, she worked with UNDP in Hanoi, heading the Poverty and Social Development Unit; before which she worked with the UN in Latin America and New York. She holds a Master Degree from Kiel University.

Judo competitor, I’ve been part of the Belgian national team from 2009 to 2018. Amid several international podiums, I won a gold medal at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore (2010) and became Junior European Champion in 2012. Also passionate about creative writing, I published my first book “Ceinture Blanche”, in 2018 after winning a literary prize with the “Laure Nobels Foundation”. Women’s rights advocate, Ambassador for “Give & Take” and co-founder of “Balance Ton Sport”, I pursue several activities leading to a common goal: the growth of our multiple skills at the service of a more equal and inclusive society.

Diane de Navacelle de Coubertin graduated as a goldsmith form Parsons school of Design, in New York. She had her jewelry company for 15 years and than started clay working in 2020, she is now a sculptor.
Diane is also a descendant of the Baron Pierre de Coubertin, renovator of the Modern Olympic Games. Member of the Pierre de Coubertin Family Association, created in 2016, her mission is to transmit the heritage she received and ensure that the Olympic ideal imagined by Pierre de Coubertin, and the values that govern it, continues to be respected.

In 2018, she became member of the “Oly Art committee”, than created by the IOC, to put up light the connections between arts, culture and Olympism.

As an ambassador of the Olympic movement, Diane wants to bring back the cultural and artistic dimension of the Olympics. She is also very involved in Inclusion, Women and environmental issues, as well as Education and recently became the Chair of the Legacy and Education Committee at the ISF.

Senior Policy Expert in the United Nations Environment Programme’s Brussels Office

Thierry Lucas, a French national, is an expert in European and international policy on environment and sustainable development. He is a Senior Policy Expert in the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Brussels Office, working on a variety of topics including biodiversity and ecosystems management in the context of the partnership-building between UNEP and the EU institutions, and key EU stakeholders in Brussels. He was also the coordinator of the global Ad Hoc Open-ended Expert Group on marine litter and microplastics. Mr Lucas has over 25 years of technical and management experience with the UN, including expertise in Africa and Asia. Before working for UN Environment Programme, Mr. Lucas was the project manager of an adolescent health programme in Asia of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Monika Tall, originally from Slovakia, currently living and working in the Netherlands, is an EMEAI Digital Manufacturing Project Manager at Dow Benelux. In addition to her digitalization efforts in operations, she acts as a Benelux WIN (Women Innovation Network) chair at Dow.

Monika started her career journey at Dow in 2017 as a Process Automation Engineer after finishing her master’s degree in Automation & Robotics in Germany. Currently, Monika is responsible for implementing digital solutions in manufacturing covering several European Dow sites.
Monika is passionate about inclusion, people, sustainability & digitalization.

Caterina Pesce is graduate in Physical Education, degree in Movement and Sport Sciences, master of Psychology (Universities “Foro Italico” and “La Sapienza” of Rome) and PhD in Philosophy (Free University of Berlin). Currently Associate Professor at the University “Foro Italico” of Rome. Her main research focus is on exercise and cognition across the lifespan, rise and fall of motor coordination and enhanced physical education. She has over 80 international articles in peer-reviewed journals, over 4000 citations, and is author or co-author of 10 international books on exercise and cognition and physical activity for educational achievement, as well as editor/co-author of 3 national books. She is the mind behind the “Joy of Moving” method for holistic child development through physical activity, promoted by the Italian Ministry of Education, indicated as a best practice in the national recommendations for physical activity of the Italian Ministry of Health and in a European Erasmus+ cross-country analysis of school PA practices; it is now in the scaling-up phase in several countries. She is associate editor for MENPA and IJERPH and on the editorial board of JSEP.

Research gate link: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Caterina_Pesce

Safeguarding Officer in Sport (I.O.C Certified) and Chair of the ISF Integrity Committee, she currently works on the implementation and development of safeguarding policies and educational programs within School Sport. With an extended knowledge of International Relations in the world of sport, she also acts as an Assessor to the ISF Executive Committee.