Marta Mileusnić
Marta Mileusnić is a Professor at the University of Zagreb – Faculty of Mining, Geology, and Petroleum Engineering, where she has worked for 25 years. Marta has taught a wide range of courses at undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels.
Her research interests cover environmental and exploration geochemistry, clay mineralogy, geoarchaeology, and mineral resource value chains. She has led and participated in numerous international projects, including EU-funded and EIT KIC Raw Material initiatives. Marta has authored 22 scientific papers and numerous conference contributions. She has been a guest professor and researcher at institutions across Europe, North America, and Africa.
Marta has played a significant role in developing educational programs and standards, contributing to the advancement of academic and professional qualifications in her field. She is a member of Sectoral Council III for Mining, Geology, and Chemical Technology, which plays a crucial role in shaping the Croatian Qualifications Framework and influencing economic development in Croatia. Marta is actively involved in several professional organizations, including the National Commission for UNESCO Global Geoparks and the Croatian Geological Society, where she serves as a Vice President.
Outside of her professional life, Marta is passionate about traveling and discovering new cultures, while also enjoying nature through hiking and long walks, as well as reading and watching movies.
In the frame of the PRO-SLO PhD School, she is responsible for overseeing the design of the school in line with EIT educational standards, as well as organizing the school in 2025 and 2026.
Theresa Wand
Theresa Wand is Deputy Director of the Graduate and Research Academy at TU Bergakademie Freiberg.
After studying business administration, she completed her doctorate at the TU Bergakademie Freiberg on conflict management and conflict management systems in companies and trained as a certified mediator during this time.
The focus of her work is the interdisciplinary and systematic qualification and support of young academics from doctoral students to postdocs and tenure-track professors. In this context, she has many years of teaching and workshop experience in the areas of communication and conflict management, university didactics and gender equality and emphasizes hands-on methods, collegial exchange and reflection in her work.
Gregory Poelzer
Gregory Poelzer, Political Science, Luleå University of Technology
Luleå, Sweden (gregory.poelzer@ltu.se, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1574-3862)
Gregory Poelzer is an Associate Senior Lecturer at Luleå University of Technology. For the past ten years, Poelzer has focused his research on the relationship between mining companies and communities. He has been involved in case studies across Europe and Canada that investigate Social License to Operate and has written on its conceptual development. In addition, his research looks at legitimacy, particularly the procedural and value factors that affect trust. This work includes comparative analysis at the international, national, and local levels – looking at the relationship between government, industry, and society. He has presented his research at multiple international conferences, participated in both academic and industry panels, and research workshops, including a week-long visit to Armenia, hosted by the Swedish Consulate, that included seminars and lectures with company representatives, government officials, and academics on the topic of SLO. He has also had responsibility for delivering lectures for EMerald master's students on company-to-community relations.
Joanna Kulczycka
Dr hab. Joanna Kulczycka (kulczycka@meeri.pl) is Professor in the Faculty of Management at the AGH University of Science and Technology, Director of the office of The Highway to Technology and Innovation Institute IATI - virtual institute, and President of the Waste Management and Recycling Cluster – Key National Clusters in Poland.
Expertise: raw material management, circular economy, waste management
At AGH she teaches economic, corporate social responsibility, eco-innovation in industry competitive sustainable business, circular economy and other.
Joanna Kulczycka has a Ph.D. in management (1998) from AGH UTS (Cracow), and a D. Sc. degree (habilitation) in economics (commodity science) from Poznań University of Economics. She was the founder of and now heads the Department of Strategic Research at MEERI Polish Academy of Sciences. She is a Professor in the Faculty of Management AGH University of Science and Technology, and is author of over 200 publications. These include the first book on LCA in Polish, the first Polish Minerals Yearbook, and the first book about critical raw materials in Poland, and she is also editor of several books concerning the circular economy in Poland. Her research experience stretches from the economics and management of industrial processes, mainly in the raw materials and recycling sectors, to CSR, to eco-innovation and to the circular economy. Member of the UNEP Resource Panel, the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform (2017-2020), EU H2020 SC5 Advisory Group for Societal Challenge 5 'Climate Action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials (2014-2018)’, EU EIT Raw Materials (operational group), and the Committee for the Sustainable Management of Raw Materials of the Polish Academy of Science. She has experience in the management and realisation of EU projects, from 5FP UE, H2020, Interreg, KIC Raw Materials, Era-min and in the organisation of many conferences and workshops.
Maximilian Erdmann
Maximilian Erdmann is a research assistant at the chair of behavioral and business ethics at the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg.
He is a trained and passionate philosopher and economist and teaches courses and seminars in business ethics. His research is dedicated to facilitating the circular economy from a business ethics perspective. In doing so, he focuses on the application and further development of theories of responsibility and on improving the effectiveness of institutions that should incentivize market actors to act sustainably.
Outside of university, he gained experience in sustainability (ESG) and corporate responsibility in the automotive industry and the financial sector.
Gari Walkowitz
Gari Walkowitz is a full professor of behavioral and business ethics at the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg.
His research is dedicated to the design and effectiveness of institutions to promote ethical and sustainable behavior in companies and markets. He works at the interface between behavioral economics, social psychology, and philosophy. The aim of his work is to better understand the interactive influence of organizational framework conditions, incentive systems, situational factors, and personality dispositions on individual and collective decisions in organizations and on markets when dealing with valuable resources.
Gari Walkowitz has already researched and taught at many other universities before his time in Freiberg (e.g., Humboldt-University of Berlin; Bonn University; University of Cologne; Technical University of Munich; RWTH Aachen; Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt; Ingolstadt University of Applied Sciences; Mittweida University of Applied Sciences; Sichuan University, Chengdu; Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu; Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Al-Quds University, Abu-Dis; Helsinki University; University of Pennsylvania; National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow.
Michael Tost
Michael Tost is the professor for sustainable mining technology at Montanuniversität Leoben, Austria.
Michael has a PhD in mining and an environmental engineering master’s degree from Montanuniversität Leoben and various post-graduate courses at London Business School, UK and AGSM in Sydney, Australia. He is a passionate and motivated sustainable development and mining professional.
Before joining Montanuniversität Leoben, Michael was Head of External Affairs, Europe & North America for Vale, based in Switzerland and Head of Mining and Metals at the World Economic Forum, Switzerland, where he initiated the project “Mining & Metals in a Sustainable World” and was focused on the advancement of responsible mineral development. Before, he was with Rio Tinto, where he worked for over 12 years in various sustainable development and health, safety and environment related roles in Austria, UK and Canada.
Outside work, Michael is very passionate about mountains, endurance sports and nature.
Anita Proszowska
assistant professor in AGH University of Krakow; a professional with more than 20 years of educational and practical experience, skilled in data collection and marketing research; author of over 100 publications (ORCID: 0000-0002-9208-367X). Member of the Polish Scientific Marketing Association; accredited tutoring practitioner; has comprehensive experience in training and teaching; lectured and conducted research in Spain, Finland, Netherlands and Portugal; completed several international teacher training courses for higher education. Her main research interests focus on consumer behaviour, in particular the determinants of pro-environmental behaviour, taking into account cultural differences
Vildana Mahmutović
Head of Sustainability
Vildana Mahmutović has over 10 years of experience in the fields of environmental protection, sustainability, and ESG standards. She gained her expertise working in the consulting sector with nearly all major industries in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as with USAID projects.
Currently, as the Head of Sustainability at Adriatic Metals, she is responsible for the further development and promotion of the company’s sustainability strategy. This includes the Net-Zero strategy, climate, physical, and transition risk management, as well as sustainable community development, core values, and an ESG strategy aimed at enhancing business performance and creating a strong social purpose.
She led the first environmental and social impact assessment for mineral resources in the country, which was published in December 2021 for the Vareš project.
As part of her role in the PRO-SLO doctoral school, she participates in the design, organization, and implementation of the on-site part of the program, including case study development. Her contributions ensure a practical component in the education process, allowing students to apply theoretical knowledge in real-world scenarios. In conclusion, she will act as the industry mentor providing students with „real-life“ case studies and guiding them through its methodology and completion.