In this final episode before Summer vacation, Claudia Marcusson comes on the podcast to look back on the Green Transition Forum 5.0 where we both spoke on a panel on ESG on June 18 in Sofia, Bulgaria .

In the First segment we discuss challenges and successes in the startup and investor space .

In the Second segment , we discuss what defines success and failure for startups and investors in the Sustainability space.

Finally, in the Third segment , given that Europe is lagging behind in R & D , innovation and growth, and in light of the recently published Draghi et Letta reports what financial innovations are needed for growing more zebras ?

Here are the segments and main discussion points of this podcast with Georgios Karakatsanis :

Segment 1 : Circular Economy; Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) , the competition on global supply chains' shift ,

Why Scope 3 environmental impacts (on supply chains) account for ~75% of total lifecycle impacts ,

how ML/AI can deal with Scope 3 Greenwashing; the elephant in the room of Critical and Strategic Raw Materials (CSRMs).

Segment 2 : Farm to Fork (the basic lifecycle rationale from the farm to the consumer) and why EVO went one "F" further (to "Finance"). Ecological Finance Engineering ; intergenerational equity and what the Norwegian Fund teaches us; why ESG is a good place to set a tent but not to build a house.

Segment 3 : EVOTROPIA Academy; what need and market gap of Sustainability professionals' training and young generations we covered; the underlying physics (i.e. thermodynamics) of Sustainability; Artificial or Ambient Intelligence? A recommendation for the EU in the context of global IT collaboration.

Short bio

Mr. George Karakatsanis is a Natural Resource Economic Designer and Financial Engineer. He has long research, business and consulting expertise as economic designer for the optimization of fuel, non-fuel, agricultural and biological resources for corporations and states. He is the Founder, Director and Chief Economist of EVOTROPIA Economic Architectures that specializes on natural capital classification and valuation methods, advanced data analytics for geoeconomic and supply networks’ modelling, Evolutionary and Machine Learning methods for Industrial Symbiosis and the structuring of ecological finance and investment instruments. He is the scientific coordinator of several EU-funded and corporate research projects on natural resource economics, critical raw materials, soil bio-remediation and Regenerative Agriculture. He is a graduate of Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB), holding an MSc and PhD from National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) on natural capital econometrics. He has extensive professional experience in environmental banking, ecological investments, risk management, and business continuity. In the period 2014-2016, he collaborated with Technische Universität München (TUM), receiving a DAAD scholarship as a Guest Lecturer and Researcher in the international research program NEXUS Energy-Water-Food on the conflict resolution for the management of water resources in the Nile Basin, as well as a Guest Scientist in the Oscar von Miller Forum (OvMF), where he organized and conducted several workshops and lectures on the field of Natural Resource Economics for Engineers. He has published over 50 peer-reviewed works and more than 30 educational articles on natural resource economics. Since 2014, he is a research affiliate of the Laboratory of Hydrology and Water Resources Utilization of the School of Civil Engineering of NTUA. Since 2020, he is scientific advisor of the Association of the Greek Manufacturers of Packaging and Materials (AGMPM), Director of the Special Committee for Circular Economy and the Built Environment of the Sustainable Building Council Greece (SBC-GR) and member of the Hellenic Solid Waste Management Association (HSWMA), while since 2023 he is a member of the Board of Directors of FILAIOS Olive Oil Club.

Here are the segments of our podcast :

1) why Hydrogen , why now? Key to energy transition and mix

2) From tanks to pipelines : storage challenges and solutions , security and certification

3) Future trends in R &D, Technologies, cooperation

Prof. Dr. Haitham Saad MOHAMED RAMADAN (World’s Top 2% Scientists’ List – Stanford University 2020/2021/2022/2023, hindex: 37+, 125 Publications, citations about 5000 on July 2025) obtained his PhD from the Department of Energy and Automatic Control of École Supérieure d'Électricité (SUPELEC), University of South Paris XI, France in March 2012. Since August 2013, Prof. Dr. Ramadan did several postdoctoral research missions in the Laboratory of Signal and Systems (LSS), the Federation of Research of Fuel Cells (FCLAB), the FEMTO-ST laboratory and the University of Belfort Montbéliard in France. In 2020, Prof. Dr. Ramadan joined the International Institute ISTHY, l’Institut international du Stockage de l’Hydrogène, the first French laboratory for testing and certifications of Hydrogen tanks as Research and Innovation Chair and Manager. In 2024 and 2025, Prof. Dr. Ramadan received his Professorship of Control and Energy respectively by the Ministry of Higher Education and Research in France. He is the author of more than 125 high-ranked journal and conference papers and one book chapter. He was/is the Principal Investigator and coordinator of different Egyptian-French projects and international collaborations; and summer schools. Since 2017, Prof. Dr. Ramadan has been the chair/co-chair of the International Conference of Energy and Applications (ICEA’25), the International Conference on Green Energy & Environmental Engineering (GEEE’25), the International Conference of Energy Systems (ICES), the annual International Conference of Emerging and Renewable Energy: Generation and Application (ICEREGA) since 2017, the General Secretary of ICREGA16, the International Program Committee member of ICAFE’17. He is/was the Guest and Managing Editor for different Elsevier journals, His fields of interest include hydrogen reservoirs and hydrogen storage systems, power systems control and optimization, sustainability, multi-physical modelling of energy systems, renewable energy (Solar and Wind), hybrid power systems, hydrogen economy, hydrogen technologies, Fuel Cells and Batteries, Energy Management topics, electric and hybrid electric vehicles, microgrids, smart grids and HVDC.

Dr. Ahmed Rhif (Tunisia) is a Researcher & Engineer (PhD, Eng). He is the CEO and Director of the National Centre for Sciences and Innovation Promotion. He has more than 18 years of experience on Scientific Research, Teaching and industrial projects. He was the Dean of the International Centre for Innovation & Development (ICID) for 6 years. Ahmed Rhif has worked as a Technical Engineer Chief, Project Manager and Method Engineer in international automobile companies. His research interests include Modelling, Control Systems, Renewable energy and Engineering as well as the management quality standards (ISO). He has edited over 15 books in Electrical Engineering, Control Systems, Computer Science, Data Science, etc.

Dr. Claudia Fernanda YAŞAR is currently an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Electrical & Electronics, Control and Automation Engineering at Yıldız Technical University (YTU), Istanbul, Turkey. She earned her PhD in Mechatronics from Castilla-La Mancha University in Spain with Cum Laude distinction, was honored with the Outstanding Student Award at the same university, and the Best PhD Thesis in Robotics (2017) by Robotnik and the Spanish Committee of Automatics (CEA).

Dr. Yaşar has over 15 years of interdisciplinary academic experience in:

• Mechatronic systems, robotics (both rigid and flexible),

• Control engineering, including nonlinear, adaptive, and model predictive control,

• Vibration suppression and active touch sensing,

• Smart systems for energy management,

• Artificial intelligence and deep learning for electricity price forecasting,

• Fuel cell modeling and control, and

• IoT-integrated climbing robots for industrial inspection.

She has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed scientific papers, including publications in top-tier, SCI-Expanded indexed journals such as Electric Power Systems Research, Applied Bionics and Biomechanics, and Transactions of the Institute of Measurement and Control. Her Scopus h-index is 7, with over 120 citations, and she has actively contributed to and led several internationally funded research projects across Spain and Turkey. Dr. Yaşar’s work directly supports emerging themes in sustainable systems, AI, smart systems and green robotics.

Data protection, disinformation  and hybrid threats: impact on national security in the digital age

The objective of this talk is to provide a view on the problem of the importance and role of strategic global policies and investments in the protection and resiliency of critical infrastructure, national and international, in the context of modern hybrid threats. Disinformation, broadly defined as false information intended to mislead, emanates from both states and non-state actors, and affects communities across the globe. Fake news and deception are ages-old phenomena, but the digital age has facilitated the amplification and manipulation of false information to an unprecedented extent threw internet and new media. Acknowledging the importance of disinformation and its consequences and considering the fact that in future wars the primary target of the attack is going to be critical infrastructure (one or more) the cyberspace will be a tool for conducting attack(s) threw hybrid threats. Potential solution to the problem of insufficient state protection of critical infrastructure should be observed through the prism of building investment policies in broader national strategies for protecting critical infrastructure as well as national security budget defence expenditures/allocations leading to higher level of protection and resiliency of critical infrastructure.

Short bio

Prof. dr. sc. Marija Boban,  Full Professor at Universtiy of Split Faculty of Law in Split is expert in the field of personal data protection, GDPR, information security and smart technologies; Head of Department of Economic, Financial and Information Sciences and Statistics, Faculty of Law, University of Split; Director and owner of the consulting company TechFuturo innovation specialized in business consulting in the digital age. 

Author and co-author of 7 books, more than 140 scientific papers in the field of personal data protection, cybersecurity, citizen’s privacy, AI, robotics, right of access to information and computer forensics from which 45 scientific papers are cited in the Scopus and Web of science databases. Teaches courses Informatics in Law, Cyber crimes, Intellectual Property and Information Security, National Security Systems and Electronic Business at the Faculty of Law in Split and at the Department of Forensic Sciences at the University of Split. Also for many year is external associate professor of  the Polytechnic "Marko Marulić" in Knin and the Faculty of Law, University of Mostar. As invited speaker and lecturer has participated in more than150  international and domestic scientific and professional conferences with the presentation of papers published in proceedings and relevant scientific and professional journals. She has won a number of awards and recognitions and through her many years of scientific and professional work has profiled her as one of the most recognized experts in the Republic of Croatia in cyber security, personal data protection, e-Health, e-Government and computer forensics.

Segment 3 : Une feuille de route pour (ré)industrialiser

Podcast : Patrimoine, architecture arabo-islamique et tourisme dans la région du Touat (Algérie)

Invitée : Dr. Zatir Sara, enseignante-chercheure en architecture urbanisme et patrimoine à l’Université Ahmed Draia Adrar . Research teacher in architecture and urban planning (department of architecture and urban planning - Ahmed DARIA University - Adrar, productive with proven experience of successful scientific projects with quality results thanks to the leadership and motivation of the team. Works with teachers and students to determine educational requirements in order to offer excellent results.

Internationally, since 2013 to date, continuous participation in internationally renowned seminars and congresses as a member of the scientific and organizing committees.

Segment 1 – Conservation et valorisation du patrimoine architectural arabo-islamique

Segment 2 – Architecture et urbanisme en milieu saharien

Segment 3 – Tourisme et développement durable 

voici le 2e segment avec Zaki Sari

Segment 2 : L’ingénierie au cœur de la réindustrialisation

Cette discussion était importante pendant cette période de ré /industrialisation partout dans le monde, mais particulièrement en Europe et en Afrique du Nord .

Voici le premier segment de ce podcast :

Segment 1 : Qui êtes-vous ? Une trajectoire au service de l’industrie

Voici la biographie de notre invité , Zaki Sari :

Professor Zaki Sari is currently a freelance senior consultant and expert for industry, services and higher education. Before, he was a Manufacturing Engineering Professor at Aboubekr BelkaidUniversity of Tlemcen (UABT), Algeria; the founder and past Director of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory of Tlemcen (MELT), and the founder and past head of the National Curriculum of Manufacturing Engineering. He obtained his Engineer degree in electrical engineering from the National Institute of Electrical Engineering, Boumerdes, Algeria in 1987; his Magister degree in power engineering from the National Polytechnic School of Algiers, Algeria in 1990; and his Doctorate degree in manufacturing engineering from Tlemcen University in 2003. He obtained also a certificate in system engineering management from University of Missouri Rolla, USA, in 2003.