We are excited to present the keynote speakers of this year’s conference. Here, you’ll meet the experts who will be sharing their knowledge and insights at the The Young Water Professionals (YWP) European Conference 2024 . Learn about the experts who will be sharing their knowledge and insights. These speakers are bringing a wealth of experience and expertise to the table, offering practical solutions and real-world perspectives on the water sectors challenges. With their diverse fields of accomplishments and interests, they’ll set the stage for a dynamic range of insights.
Mads Helleberg Dorff
Director, Danish Industry. Head of DI Danish Water Industries.
Mads Helleberg Dorff, Director of the Danish Water Industries Federation – a part of the Confederation of Danish Industry/DI Water. Mads will be giving the welcome speech at the IWA YWP Conference in Denmark.
Mads has several years of professional experience working with public affairs, political strategy and analysis, CSR and communications in corporate and public institutions abroad and in Denmark including Global Affairs Canada, the Danish Agriculture & Food Council, Danske Bank Group, EU, UN, Department of Foreign Affairs of Greenland, Danish Ministry of Environment and Climate.
Kala Vairavamoorthy
Executive Director of the International Water Association (IWA)
Kala Vairavamoorthy is an internationally recognized water resource management expert, with a particular interest in urban water issues. He combines a strong engineering background with practical international experience.
He has published extensively and has a strong international profile working closely with the World Bank, African Development Bank, UN-Habitat, Global Water Partnership, and the European Union.
Blaž Kurnik
Head of Climate change impacts and adaptation at European Environment Agency
Blaž Kurnik (1978) has worked at the European Environment Agency (EEA) since 2010 in various positions.
He has been a coordinator of and contributor to various EEA reports on climate change impacts and adaptation, notably on climate change adaptation in the agriculture sector, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction and climate change impacts in Europe.
Blaž is currently head of group climate change adaptation and land use change and forestry (LULUCF). He leads a team of experts working on various climate change adaptation topics, including managing the European Climate Adaptation Platform – Climate-ADAPT.
Mikkel Storm Jensen
Major, Institute for Strategy and War Studies, Royal Danish Defence College, Forsvaret
Mikkel Storm Jensen is an expert and author in the field of cyber conflict and strategy, with the main focus on the user of the cyber domain in interstate conflict and competition.
He has followed Russia’s cyber attacks on Ukraine since 2016 and since the 2022 invasion also the conventional aspects of this conflict. Also, he has experience with
intelligence analysis and international cooperation in that field.
Furthermore, he monitors the military aspects of the armed conflicts in Syria and Iraq as well as the fight against IS/ISIL/ISIS/DAESH.
Anemone Birkebæk
Director of Partnerships, UN Live
Anemone leads UN Live’s partnership and fundraising efforts, contributes to strategic and organizational development, and guides the initiation of new programmes.
Before joining UN Live, she worked at McKinsey & Company, specialising in strategy and large transformations, with a focus on philanthropic foundations.
Anemone has diverse experience, including leading a democracy programme in Tanzania on behalf of a Danish political party, conducting on-the-ground research on corruption in The Democratic Republic of the Congo, and serving as an Associate Attaché at Denmark’s Representation to the United Nations in Geneva.
She holds a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University and a B.Sc. in Political Science from the University of Copenhagen