SPEAKERS

Prof. Mehmet Emre Güler, PhD
Dean Faculty of Tourism, Department of Tourism Management – İzmir Katip Çelebi University, Türkiye

Prof. Mehmet Emre Güler, PhD. received his undergraduate degree from Anadolu University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Business Administration. He completed his master’s and doctoral studies in the field of production management at Dokuz Eylül University, Institute of Social Sciences. He is currently working at İzmir Kâtip Çelebi University, Faculty of Tourism, Department of Tourism Management. He has several scientific publications on tourism management, destination management, production and service management, quantitative decision making methods and project management. 

Prof. Dr. Volkan Altıntaş
Full Professor – Faculty of Tourism, Department of Tourism Guidance – İzmir Katip Çelebi University, Türkiye

Prof. Dr. Volkan Altıntaş graduated from Gazi University in Ankara with Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and obtained an MSc in Tourism and Hotel Management at Akdeniz University in Antalya where he proceed to PhD at the same department. He worked as a Research Assistant between 2003-2010.

At the same time, he was the member of the Junior Researchers team in the center for European Integration Studies at Bonn University in Germany.

He completed PhD in 2010 with the dissertation of “The Effects of Tourism Development on Quality of Life of Residents: The Model of Alanya Region”.

His interested research areas are European Union, tourism politics, regional developments, quality of life and tourism economics. He knows English and German in professional level as foreign languages. He is working at Izmir Katip Çelebi University, Faculty of Tourism as a Full Professor.

ICSE Platform Coordinator

Roberto Solinas PhD
President – Mine Vaganti NGO, Italy

Founder and President, Dr. Solinas is the mastermind behind the strategy and concept of Mine Vaganti NGO (MVNGO) and as CFO in charge of all economic aspects. Directing the Project & Research Hub as European Project Manager he is the strategic grant write coordinator of MVNGO.

Dr. Solinas is specialized in Marketing that he deploys as lead in web development and social media coverage of MVNGO – its satellite organizations, initiatives and spin-off’s, and as lead in the development of MVNGO’s trans-continental network.

As Formal and Non Formal Education (NFE) SALTO accredited Trainer, dr. Solinas acquired a vast expertise in Social Entrepreneurship, the scope of Erasmus+ such as Intercultural Dialogue, Social Inclusion, Environmental quests, etc. Experienced as key-note speaker, moderator and trainer Dr. Solinas attended many conferences, seminars and training courses around the world.

Pioneer in Education Through Sport (ETS) he coordinates MVNGO’s activities in the Sport field and the ICSE platform.

Dr. Solinas accomplished his master degree in Communication and Marketing Studies at the Sapienza University in Rome, obtained a specialization in “Sport management” at University “Bicocca” in Milan and He completed PhD in 2023 at the National Sports Academy “Vassil Levski” (Sofia, Bulgaria.

ICSE Conference Organization

Dr. Maria Grazia Pirina
President – NGO NEST Berlin, Germany

Co-Founder and President of NGO NEST Berlin, Dr. Pirina as European Project Manager coordinates grant write and Implementation of European and National funded projects. As PR and Communication Expert she established, and leads local up to intercontinental partnerships and directs online and offline marketing campaigns.

Dr. Pirina is executive board member of MV International’s, for this and affiliated network of NGO’s, she coordinates global mobility through Higher Education and Vocational training-ships, trainings and volunteering. As speaker, moderator or as accredited (SALTO) trainer Dr. Pirina attended many conferences trainings and seminars around the world.

Dr. Pirina accomplished her master degree in Communication for Enterprise at “La Sapienza” University in Rome and obtained two specializations in “Communication and Organisation” at “La Sapienza” University in Rome and Cultural Event Management at ”Scuola Lisa Mascolo”.

Assoc. Prof. Barbara Mazza
President of the master’s degree course “Organizzazione e Marketing per la comunicazione d’impresa” Associate Professor Department of Communication and Social Research Sapienza, University of Rome

She is Associate Professor (Roma, Italy) and qualified full professor since 2023, in the Department of Communication and Social Research of the Sapienza University of Rome, where teaches Communication for Business Management and Event Management and Communication. Since 20017/2018 to 2023-24 she is President of the master’s degree course “Organization and Marketing for business communication”.

From 2019 she is Member of the Quid (Quality and Innovation of Didactics) project of Sapienza, with functions as head of teacher tutor training and delegate of the Faculty of Sociology, Political Sciences and Communication and she is member of the Didactic Commission of the Faculty of Political Sciences, Sociology, Communication.

From 2015 she is the local coordinator of several research projects at national, European (Erasmus Plus) and international level, and a member of IRNIST, International Research Network in Sport Tourism. It is a scientific research network involving scholars from 38 universities in 17 countries around the world.

She is co-director an editorial series for FrancoAngeli entitled “Sport, Culture and Society” and she is part of the scientific committee of national and European journals including “Sociology of Communication” published by FrancoAngeli and a journal of the Spanish association of Research on Communication published by University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

Her main research interests concern the Business Communication, Innovation and sustainability, Event communication, Sport communication, and Innovative teaching in the universities.

The most recent publications (2021-2023) about Sport Tourism are:

  • 2022, L’ecosistema degli eventi nel terzo millennio. Approcci, metodi e prospettive di gestione e comunicazione, Wolters Kluwer, Milano. ISBN 978-88-13-38078-6
  • 2022 con De Martini A. Roma Euro 2020: A Leveraging Model Analysis In: Mazza B. Sobry C. Sport Tourism and Its Territorial Development and Opportunities. p. 1-18, Newcastle upon Tyne (UK): Cambridge Scholars Publishing, ISBN: 978-1-5275- 8896-7
  • 2022 Introduction. Interpretive Categories for the Study of Local Development Prospects for Active Sport Tourism. In: Mazza B. Sobry C.. Sport Tourism and Its Territorial Development and Opportunities. p. 1-18, Newcastle upon Tyne (UK): Cambridge Scholars Publishing, ISBN: 978-1-5275- 8896-7
  • 2022 with Russo G. Italian Sport Policies for the Sustainable Development. In: Sobry C. Hozhabri K.. International Perspectives on Sport for Sustainable Development. p. 205-224, Cham, Switzerland: Springer, ISBN: 978-3-031-06935-2, doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-06936-9 3
  • 2022 with Ruggiero C. Esports nel calcio o calcio negli esports? I giochi elettronici fra opportunità economiche e difficoltà di istituzionalizzazione. In: A CURA DI MAURIZIO LUPO ANTONELLA EMINA E IGOR BENATI. VISIONI DI GIOCO Calcio e società da una prospettiva interdisciplinare. p. 129-144, Bologna: Il Mulino, ISBN: 978-88-15-29959-8
  • 2021 with De Martini A., Calcio e Esports: un connubio ideale. Eracle. Journal of Sport and Social Sciences, 4(1), 36-53. ISSN: 2611-6693.
  • 2021, How COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown Has Affected Sports Practice. Italian Sociological Review, 11 (5S), 607-633] Doi:  10.13136/isr.v11i5S.474. 
  • 2021, Eds with Ruggiero C., Russo P., Il mondo degli esports. Attori, processi, regole e mercati, Etyipress, Firenze, pp.17-31. ISBN 978-88-97826-87-3.
  • 2021, Italy: Sport Tourism Events. The Case of the Rome-Ostia Half Marathon. In Melo R., Sobry C., Van Rheenen D. (Eds.), Small Scale Sport Tourism Events and Local Sustainable Development. A Cross-National Comparative Perspective, Springer, Cham, pp. 151-172. ISBN 978-3-030-62919-9.

Prof. Bruno Avelar Rosa PhD
Senior Partner – Qantara Sports,Assistant Professor at Universidade Lusófona, Portugal

Prof. Bruno Avelar Rosa is a senior partner at Qantara Sports, a consulting firm specialized in sports industry that works supporting public and private organization, mainly in middle East, Asia, Europe and Africa, in reaching their goals. Based in Portugal, he advises a wide range of international clients. Bruno’s areas of expertise are sports policy, sports development and sports education.

As an external expert of the European Commission for sport topics, he has extensive experience related to cross sectorial collaboration between sport, health and employment. Prior to joining Qantara Sports, Avelar Rosa has been involved with and advised a number of local and international Federations, Higher-education institutions, Ministries and non-governmental entities.

With a PhD in Educational Psychology and a Bachelor in Sports Science, Bruno Avelar Rosa is also a visiting Professor at the University of Coimbra (Portugal) and an author and co-author of several scientific papers and technical documents in the field of sports education, sports ethics, sport development and health-enhancing physical activity, coach education and learning processes. Bruno Avelar Rosa is a certified coach in Karate and Judo

Selected intellectual contributions

  • Bender-Salazar R., Dentoni D. & Lubberink R. 2023. Systems mapping can facilitate the collective and shared understanding of complex problems. World Economic Forum Cliamte & Nature series, March 15th, 2023.
  • Dentoni D., Cucchi C., Roglic M., Lubberink R., Bender R. & Manyise T. Forthcoming. Systems thinking, mapping and change in food and agriculture. Bio-based and Applied Economics.
  • Ochago R., Dentoni D.& Trienekens J. Forthcoming. Unraveling the connection between coffee farmers’ value chain challenges and experiential knowledge: the role of farm family resources. Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension.
  • 2022-2026: 406 700€ research grant for the project entitled ENFASYS (ENcouraging Farmers towards sustainable farming SYstems through policy and business Strategies) from the European Commission (Horizon Europe scheme).
  • Cucchi C., Lubberink R., Dentoni D. & Gartner W.B. 2022. ‘That’s Witchcraft’: Community entrepreneuring as a process of navigating intra-community tensions through spiritual practices. Organization Studies, 43(2): 179-201.
  • Manyise T. & Dentoni D. 2021. Value chain partnerships and farmer entrepreneurship as balancing ecosystem services: Implications for agri-food systems resilience. Ecosystem Services, 49: 101279.
  • Kangogo D., Dentoni D. & Bijman J. 2021. Adoption of climate‐smart agriculture among smallholder farmers: Does farmer entrepreneurship matter?. Land Use Policy, 109: 105666.
  • Pascucci S., Dentoni D., Clements J., Poldner K. & Gartner W. 2021. Forging forms of authority through the sociomateriality of food in partial organizations. Organization Studies, 42(2): 301-326.
  • Dentoni D., Pinkse J. & Lubberink R. 2020. Linking sustainable business models to socio-ecological resilience through cross-sector partnerships: A complex adaptive systems view. Business & Society.
  • Walther C.M., Poldner K., Kopnina H. & Dentoni D. 2020. “Nano” regeneration: How human agency intermediates between nature and technology in community-based energy. Organization & Environment.
Prof. Kazimierz Waluch PhD 
Chairman – Institute for the Sport Development of Sport and Education (IRSiE), Poland

As Graduate of Philosophy degree at the Faculty of Political Science, in Lublin, he obtained his Doctor of Philosophy degree at the Faculty of Political Science, UMCS in 2002 for a thesis titled “External cultural policy of France in the post-Cold War Europe.”.

Beneficiary of a number of scholarships from: the Ministry of Culture and Communication of the French Republic, the Italian Government, and the TEMPUS program. Editor of scientific publications and book series. Vice President of Association Européenne des Jeux et Sports Traditionnels (AEJST). Member of the Scientific Society of Płock. Since June 2010 Chairman of the Foundation Programme “Grant Fund for Płock”.

Former Director of the Institute of Tourism in Warsaw. Participated in numerous national and international conferences. Also a lecturer at Polish and foreign universities and colleges.

Mr. Christo Velkov
Vice President Strategic Development Special Olympics Europe Eurasia Region, Belgium

Christo Velkov is an experienced civil society and philanthropy activist. Born in Bulgaria, he was involved in pro-democracy students’ movements, which led to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Pursuing business education in Brussels, he started his professional carrier at the European Foundation Centre as the first Grantmakers East Secretary. Subsequently, he has held senior positions at EurActiv Foundation and the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Velkov has dedicated most of his professional carrier to Special Olympics, the largest global movement working towards full social inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities through sports-related initiatives. He has led groundbreaking improvements in Former Yugoslavia, review of orphanage policies and practices across Eastern Europe, engagement of EU and UN institutions and sports governing bodies, promotion of higher standards for child and vulnerable adult protection and safeguarding.

Velkov has received his postgraduate education from INSEAD (Business Administration) and Universite Libre de Bruxelles (African Studies). A father of three, he resides with his family in Brussels. In his spare time, he is a passionate, award-winning sailor.

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