Åsa Minoz is part of the programme management team of Viable Cities, in the role of Innovation Strategist since 2018. Viable Cities is a strategic innovation programme with a focus on the transition to climate-neutral and sustainable cities. The programme's mission is climate-neutral cities 2030 with a good life for all within planetary boundaries. Viable Cities is a catalyst for new forms of cooperation between cities, business, academia, research institutes and civil society. This is to mobilize to change the way our cities function in line with our national environmental and climate goals as well as our international commitments linked to the global sustainability goals - Agenda 2030 - and the Paris Agreement. The programme 's time frame is 2017–2030 and is implemented with the joint support by Vinnova, the Swedish Energy Agency and Formas. Today Viable Cities work in close collaboration with 23 Swedish cities and seven government agencies to accelerate the transition to climate neutral and sustainable cities. Viable Cities is also part of the international mobilization for achieving the same mission in an international context, not least through the Net Zero Cities platform supporting 112 cities across Europe in this journey. Åsa Minoz is part of the programme management team of Viable Cities, in the role of Innovation Strategist since 2018. Viable Cities is a strategic innovation programme with a focus on the transition to climate-neutral and sustainable cities. The programme's mission is climate-neutral cities 2030 with a good life for all within planetary boundaries. Viable Cities is a catalyst for new forms of cooperation between cities, business, academia, research institutes and civil society. This is to mobilize to change the way our cities function in line with our national environmental and climate goals as well as our international commitments linked to the global sustainability goals - Agenda 2030 - and the Paris Agreement. The programme 's time frame is 2017–2030 and is implemented with the joint support by Vinnova, the Swedish Energy Agency and Formas. Today Viable Cities work in close collaboration with 23 Swedish cities and seven government agencies to accelerate the transition to climate neutral and sustainable cities. Viable Cities is also part of the international mobilization for achieving the same mission in an international context, not least through the Net Zero Cities platform supporting 112 cities across Europe in this journey. 

Melanie Taylor is the president and chief executive officer of the Synthetic Turf Council, dedicated to leading, educating, and advocating for the synthetic turf industry. For more than two decades, Melanie has devoted her career to managing national and international trade associations, including 15 years in the synthetic turf industry.

Melanie joined the Synthetic Turf Council in 2008, where she served in roles of increasing responsibility while overseeing membership, meetings, education, and other projects. She was named as the STC’s first female president and CEO in 2021.

Melanie is a member of the American Society for Association Executives (ASAE) and chair of the Professional Development Committee for the Georgia Society of Association Executives (GSAE).

Melanie received her B.A. from Georgia State University in Atlanta, GA and lives in Jupiter, Florida.

Martin has over 40 years’ experience in the sport and leisure industry and provides extensive sports management, programming, planning knowledge and insights into the design, procurement, management and maintenance of sports fields and facilities.

He is the CO-Chair of IAKS Expert Circle on Sports Surfaces and currently the Technical Consultant for Football Australia, the NRL, Rugby Australia and Hockey Australia, and has written numerous books on synthetic sports surfaces for the industry.

He has worked in local government in UK and Australia, and for the past 15 years has been integral to the adoption of synthetic sports surfaces in Australia and the improvements in quality.

These experiences influence the practical approach and pragmatic design, procurement and programming guidance he shares.  Understanding the use of synthetic sports field technology to cope with the demands that sports are now asking for in terms of number of hours and intensity that community fields being placed upon them.

Over the past decade he has seen small pockets of the community adopt a stronger voice to stop synthetic fields being installed in Australia and believes that we need to give the Government decision makers better advice and support for them to consider sustainability as more than climate change and environmental protectionism. We need to protect the health of our nations by getting more children active and synthetic surfaces can help in that strategy.  Hard decisions need to be made by our civic leaders and we need to empower them to be leaders by providing them with the best information to make decisions on behalf of future generations.

Martin will share his views and insights today on how by embracing the UN’s Sustainability Goals we can take our civic leaders on a journey that could protect our industry and place the community activists in a more balanced perspective.

Bjørn Aas has in the last 12 years worked at Centre for Sports Facilities and Technology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway. During this period, he has been manager of the Sport Facility group for 6 years. From 2017 to 2022 Bjørn has been project manager for the project KG2021 – a project on future synthetic turf fields. The project was set up to follow six pilot fields designed with various turf systems without synthetic infills. User groups in all the pilots were football players of all ages up to senior male and female, as well as pupils from school and self-organized activity when the field was available. Among the key factors of the assessment have been fiber design and density, impact of the shockpad, various organic infills, winter operation, LCC-analysis and least but bot last a user survey.

Since Dec 01 2022 Bjørn have a position as Senior Engineer at COWI consulting group.

-FA of Finland - Head of Facilities from 2000-> (artificial turfs, natural playing surfaces, indoor football halls, football stadiums etc…)
-MA member of FIFA Technical advisory group – playing surfaces
-Stadium inspector UEFA
-Advisor for football artificial turfs -  Finland's Advisory Committee on Chemicals (2021-> EU ban proposal for microplastics)
-Member of board - Helsinki Olympic Stadium

Holding degrees in Sports Science and Law, Lee spent 8 years at Labosport UK testing Sports surfaces and technologies for governing bodies and federations including Natural and artificial turf for Football, Rugby and Field Hockey as well as Athletics tracks, Tennis courts and indoor sports halls.

During this time Lee worked on projects for major events around the world including the 2012 London Olympics, the 2014 FIFA World cup in Brazil, the 2016 Copa America and the 2016 FIFA Club World cup in Japan.

Lee is currently the Pitch and Technology specialist within the Football division at UEFA. This role involves the management of UEFA’s various pitch support programmes across club and national team competitions of the men’s and women’s game including the finals of the champions League and the Men’s and Women’s European Championships.

These pitch support programmes involve stadia across Europe and seek to provide support to UEFA’s members in improving the quality of pitches by creating Guidelines and resources, sharing best practice and by engaging expert agronomists and groundsmen.

Lee is the pitch manager for the UEFA Champions League final and coordinates the many stakeholders who interact with the pitch and the surrounding area in the build up to the final, including overseeing the ceremony and rehearsal process.

Rosan Jelies (MSc) has a background in public governance and management and currently works as a sustainability advisor in the sports department of the city of Amsterdam.

Rosan works on a broad variety of sustainability projects; from energy management, to ecology and biodiversity on the sports parks. She strives to make sustainable choices the norm within the municipality. In the project Green turf pitches she has the role of stakeholder manager, facilitating innovation and getting the right partners on board and involved.

Matthijs de Boorder (BSc) has a background in sports and business administration and currently works as a project manager at the sports department of the municipality of Haarlem.

Matthijs is responsible for the operation, replacement and new construction of both indoor and outdoor sports facilities. He strives to have sports facilities contribute to the sustainability objectives of the municipality. In the project Scale Up | Future proof turf pitches he has the role of project manager within the municipality of Haarlem, facilitating and driving innovation, selecting locations and client towards partners for the implementation of the project.    

An internationally recognised expert with almost 40 years’ experience of setting quality standards for sports surfaces and sports facilities. During my career I have participated in the development of all leading international and UK standards including the FIFA Quality Programme for Football Turf, IRB Performance Standard for Synthetic Turf Rugby Surfaces, Rugby Football League Performance and Construction Standards for Synthetic Turf Pitches, European and British Standards, World Bowls Board Performance Standard for Artificial Flat Green Bowls Surfaces, The International Tennis Federation Initial Study on Performance Standards for Tennis Surfaces, The All England Netball Association Performance Requirements for Netball Courts, UEFA Requirements for Artificial Football Surfaces (2004), GAA Performance and Construction Standards for Synthetic Turf Pitches and the ECB Performance Standard for Non-turf Cricket Surfaces.

I am currently Facilities and Quality Programme Manager at the International Hockey Federation (FIH), advising on all aspects of facilities infra-structure and hockey equipment. I also provide technical support to the England Netball, European Synthetic Turf Council (ESTC) and the UK's Sport and Play Construction Association (SAPCA). I also chair the European Standards working groups dealing with standards for outdoor sports surfaces and test methods for sports surfaces.

During my career I have provided consultancy services to FIFA, UEFA, The Football Association, Football Association of Wales, Football Association of Ireland and Rugby Football Union (RFU), Lawn Tennis Association and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). I am privileged to been elected to serve two terms on the Synthetic Turf Council (USA) executive board.

Lars Solberg is a highly dedicated sustainability advocate who has spent the last two decades tirelessly focused on reducing environmental impact, increasing sustainability, and promoting circular business models to minimize waste and maximize resource efficiency. Born and raised in Norway, Lars has always been deeply passionate about preserving the natural beauty of his home country and the planet as a whole.

Lars holds a Master's degree in Engineering Cybernetics from The Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Prior to joining the turf industry, he worked for 15 years within the oil and gas sector, gaining invaluable experience and insights into the environmental challenges faced by various industries.

Today, Lars is the founder and CEO of TeBe Sport and All Sports Recycled, two companies working to reduce lifetime cost for artificial turf, ensure a safe environment for play and activity, and bring EOL turf into a sustainable and circular lifecycle.

Stijn Rambour is a polymer chemist who is working more than 20 years in the Materials group of the civil engineering department of Ghent University. He started and is responsible for the testing and research group on synthetic turf ERCAT. He’s actively involved in the development of European, FIFA, World Rugby, FIH and NOCNSF standards.

His employment history is as follows:

 - Ghent University – ERCAT

 - MakinH – co-founder since 6/12/2022

Will has a been working in natural and synthetic technical and industrial textiles, yarns and nonwovens for the past 14 years. He initially joined Don & Low in 2011 in various sales and business development roles before being promoted to Head of Sales in 2019. By his own admission, he is a novice in artificial grass having assumed the responsibility less than 4 years ago. He is the commercial head of Don & Low responsible for sales and marketing and is deeply involved in product development, circularity, investments and acquisitions. He is joined in his presentation by Jacki Stephen formally of Don & Low, now Imajica.

Jacki Stephen, a grass extrusion and innovation specialist consultant has for over 25 years, been working in the synthetic turf industry, specialising mainly in extrusion of fibres for sports and landscape applications. Building up key knowledge and expertise across all central aspects of grass extrusion, including raw materials, machinery, and product design. Jacki sat as a trusted member of various work groups and task forces for the industry’s trade associations, for many years now, and is currently the UK yarns expert for the British Standards Committee (PRI/57 Surfaces for Sports Areas) and the European equivalent (CEN TC/217) as well as working in various groups and task forces for ESTC.

Alex Bobeica (EMBA) has a 15 years’ experience in selling modern machinery for the installation of synthetic surfaces, synthetic turf and maintenance of this areas.

He has been previously involved for some years in the tires and rubber articles industry being after consultant for the development of the first SBR producing factories in Eastern Europe.

Ayca Erden has a BSc. In Chemistry in METU, and MSc. In Material Science & Engineering in Sabancı University where she have written a thesis on “Electrochromic Polymers coated on Carbon Nanotubes as a Supercapacitor active material”. Since 2021, she's been following a MBA program of Solvay Business School in collaboration with Vrije Universiteit Brussel.She has started mher career working in R&D in Ravago Turkey as innovation has always been a passion of hers. She's been in Thermoplastics Elastomers market since 2010 in various roles and moved to Belgium in 2018 to start up TPE business with EOC where she currently works as TPE R&D and Product Manager.

Victor Neto is a researcher and teacher developing work on Product Development and Manufacturing Technologies, specially involving thermoplastics processing, eco-design and nanoengineering. His main professional activity is at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of University of Aveiro (Portugal), where he has an assistant professor position. He is a researcher at the Centre for Mechanical Technology and Automation (TEMA). Victor Neto has a BSc degree in Physics Engineering (2001); MSc in Applied Physics (2004), a PhD in Mechanical Engineering (2008), and a MSc in Management (2012).

Dan founded Brock in 1998 and has been the key creator and driver of many aspects of the company as it has grown exponentially throughout the years. He is a Boulder, Colorado, native and a graduate of The University of Colorado. Brock is the third company his family started. The first two were in the medical product markets, where research and testing were essential for the product’s safety. Working with therapists and doctors, both companies created paradigm-shifting products focused on patient health.

Dan began his work experience in the warehouse packing boxes and worked his way into customer service, product development, and marketing. After the second company was sold, he turned his eye to athletics, bringing science and research philosophy to Brock USA.
Dan is an avid skier, mountain biker, hiker, and tree hugger. Growing up in Colorado gave him a deep love and appreciation for the environment, which is why sustainability and programs like C2Zero are in Brock’s DNA.

Brock was built on the foundation of helping athletes to protect the games we love to play and watch. We believe that sports make everything better, and that starts with safety for players first and foremost. Put simply, if it is not proven to be better, it will not carry the brock name.

Study: Bachelor of Applied Science/ Chemical Engineering and Marketing

Linda started her work experience in the Research & Development department and worked her way up to product- and business development. Prior to joining the sports industry, she worked for 15 years within the stone wool industry as a product & application expert for current and new markets facing the environmental and climate challenges of the various industries. Linda is a skilled international equestrian rider and over the years has developed an affinity with the high demands of top sport.

Personal: Born, lives and works in Switzerland.

Education: Master in Materials Science and European Adhesive Engineer.

Professional: For half a year at Sekisui Alveo AG, as Application Development Engineer responsible for the business unit artificial turf with the Alveosport shockpad.

Gerard Nijhoving is an entrepreneur and since January 2017 the co-owner and Managing Director of Senbis. The company is a continuation of the former research department of AKZO Nobel and now offers R&D services to the plastic and fiber sector and develops bioplastics and products thereof. At Senbis Gerard is mainly focusing on business development and strategy. He holds a BSc in mechanical and plastic engineering and a MSc in management of technology.

Robin joined the Stockholm Football Association six years ago. He has since then been initiating and managing several leading projects looking for solutions to make football fields more environmentally friendly.

His previous experience from the football industry he has earned by starting up and running the football schools of both FC Barcelona and Arsenal FC on the Nordic market.