Discover the Inclusion Seminar Speakers

Luciana RADUT-GAGHI is Vice-President for the European alliance at CY Cergy Paris Université. Habilitated Associate Professor in Information and Communication Sciences since 2011, she has extensive experience in coordinating international research networks (LEMEL coordination since 2014). Her expertise is built on the study of the place of the scientific expert in the public space, particularly in relation to climate change controversies, the media discourse in the public space, on specific topics like Europe, history and commemorations.

Catherine Gillo Nilsson is the University of Gothenburg’s (UG) coordinator for EUTOPIA work package on Inclusion as part of her mission on coordinating UG:s efforts on widening access, widening participation and inclusion in higher education. Building long-term cooperation relationships and co-creating with students and staff at different levels of the university as well as society (e.g. different communities in the municipality, civil society, school systems, companies, other public government agencies and tertiary education institutions including international partners) in promoting inclusion, diversity and equity is a key principle in her mission. Catherine holds Master's degrees in scientific subjects education, Africa and international development cooperation and social science. Her professional experiences stretch over four decades, from teaching and research in mathematics, guidance and career counselling to public speaking, research on implementing agile project management methods in globally distributed teams, as well as project leadership in international development cooperation focusing on capacity building in the field of study and career counselling, peer support and inclusion in higher education within the Gothenburg-Nelson Mandela Bay Partnership. She has, amongst others set up varied peer helping and mentoring schemes in higher education, facilitated “train the trainers” workshops in the field, as well as intercultural educational modules and stereotype reduction workshops within and outside the university. She has furthermore presented and conducted workshops at both national and international conferences (e.g. NUAS, EAIE, NAFSA and IAEVG).Accordion title

Petra Videmšek is an associate professor at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Work. She is a Vice-dean for Research, Development, and Doctoral Studies in the Faculty of Social Work and a supervisor in the field of social welfare. Her main research interests are social inclusion in mental health and disability, promoting service user involvement in research and education, advocacy for people with mental illness and learning disabilities who experience sexual abuse and developing supervision in social work. She currently leads Work Package “Promoting inclusion and equal societies” of EUTOPIA and the training programme for qualifying supervisors in social care at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Work.She is the author, author of numerous articles and books on inclusion, experimental knowledge, and dealing with the disabled

Mariam Ouarti is an alumnus of the Nasa Advanced Space Academy. Her leadership position as a commander in the U.S. Space & Rocket Center both during Space Camp and U.S Aviation Challenge gave her an early insight into endorsing inclusion among her diverse international team. Her experience in the White House (2016) and in the Cop22 (2017) as a representative of the young scientists, as well as her work with Syrian refugee students, emerged her in the issue of access and inclusion in Academia. Being herself a student who encountered discrimination on four different continents, while also suffering from a mobility disability, Mariam is deeply concerned about inclusion in Higher Education. Her involvement in this cause made her shift from studying medicine to studying sociology and political science. She is currently a student in the Social Sciences program held by the VUB and UGent.

Born on September 8, 1947, to Congolese parents, Pierre Kompany arrived in Belgium in 1975 as a political refugee. He became Belgian in 1982, finishing his studies of industrial mechanical engineering in aviation in 1988. He won two gold medals at the Salon des Inventions in Brussels and Geneva for a wind turbine. He worked successively as Quality Manager for DHL and a professor at the School of Arts & Crafts. Alderman at the municipality of Ganshoren from 2006 to 2012, he was elected Member of Parliament in Brussels in 2014 and 2020. In 2018, Pierre Kompany was appointed mayor of Ganshoren, becoming the first black to exercise this function in Belgium. He received the title of Doctor Honoris Causa, issued by the Vrije Universiteit Brussels (VUB) and the Brussels Parliament

Until her election to the European Parliament, in third place on the Renaissance list, at the age of 36, Marie-Pierre Vedrenne directed the Maison de l’Europe in Rennes. A lawyer by training, she was national vice-president of the Young Europeans. Born in Limoges, she completed her studies in European and WTO law in Rennes, where she chose to live. She has a thorough knowledge of EU trade policy issues. In 2016, she took over the management of the Maison de l’Europe in Rennes. She supervises a hundred or so members and volunteers committed to the defence of the European Union. Marie-Pierre Vedrenne is very keen to promote the relevance of Europe in the daily life of citizens. Co-chair of the Renaissance delegation within the Renew group, she is also Vice-Chair of the International Trade Committee and a member of the Employment and Social Affairs Committee.

Karen Celis is a research professor at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and co-director of the RHEA Centre of Expertise Gender, Diversity, Intersectionality. She is also the university’s academic advisor on equality policy. Her research focuses on the democratic quality of political representation from an intersectional perspective. Her most recent book is Feminist Democratic Representation, co-authored by Sarah Childs and published in 2020 by Oxford University Press.

Ágnes Sarolta Fazekas (she/her) is an assistant professor at the Eötvös Loránd University Bárczi Gusztáv Faculty of Special Needs Education in Budapest, Hungary. Since 2019, Ágnes has been the leader of the Work Package 6 Inclusiveness of the CHARM-EU Alliance. Agnes has been elected as a member of the EAIE General Council 2020-2022. In this role, Agnes supports inclusive approaches that the EAIE will successfully change the higher education landscape. She has been the chair of the EAIE Expert Community Access and Diversity 2018-2020. She completed her PhD research on access & inclusion of people with disabilities in Higher Education. Agnes holds a Master’s degree in Social Policy.

Alison Garnier-Rivers is EPICUR Alliance manager for the coordinator, the University of Strasbourg, France. As an active member of the informal group Forum of European Universities (FOR-EU), she currently co-chairs the FOR-EU1 (1^st generation alliances) coordination group. She previously worked for 15 years as the European project officer of a regional French economic development agency specialising in digitalisation. From 2016 to 2021, she was also a senior consultant in European project management and funding. She holds a Master in History from the University of Sussex (UK) and a Master (D.E.S.S) in multimedia and internet project management from the University Paris 8 (FR).

Trained as a translator, ève-Laure Gay holds a degree in European Studies from Paris 8 University (2012). She has been working since then on EU-funded projects related to formal and non-formal education, with a focus on youth engagement, inclusion and citizen empowerment. She joined the coordination team of the CIVIS Alliance in October 2019.

Magali Jaouen is Vice-President for strategy and sustainability at CY Cergy Paris University. Professor in Private Law, she is a specialist in contract and tort law. Her main research interests are contractual remedies, from the more specific perspective of the articulation between judge and parties. She has also developed expertise in the study of contractual engineering and the role of new technologies in the preparation and drafting of legal documents.