Speakers

Ivailo Kalfin joined Eurofound as Executive Director on 1 June 2021. Mr Kalfin’s expertise covers a range of areas, from the dynamics of the labour market and social policy to global political trends, the EU and budget, as well as digital transformation. He has outlined five main priorities for his role at Eurofound: supporting the mainstreaming of Europe's green and digital transitions; complementing the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan with evidence-based research; increased cooperation with international organisations and external partners and greater outreach to European Neighbourhood Policy countries; support for enhancing and expanding the capacity of social partners within the remit of the Agency; raising Eurofound's profile among key stakeholders.

Séamus Boland was elected President of the European Economic and Social Committee in October 2025.

He has been an EESC Member since 2011. He has held different roles at the Committee, including President of the Civil Society Organizations' Group (2020-2025) and Vice President of the Civil Society Organisations' Group (2018-2020).

His policy and political interests include the eradication of poverty, social exclusion, rural development and inequality.

Séamus has been CEO of Irish Rural Link since 2001, Chair of the Peatlands Council since 2012 and a Board Member of Inland Fisheries Ireland (2018-2022).

In October 2024 he was appointed to the Just Transition Commission as an independent expert by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications in Ireland.

President Boland is a farmer and has worked in civil society for over 40 years, including with young people, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities and people living in rural isolation.

He is a trained Speech and Drama Educator.

President Boland is married to Geraldine Boland and has three children and three grandchildren.

Dan Jørgensen is the European Commissioner for Energy and Housing within the European Commission in office between 2024-2029. He was Minister for Development Cooperation and Minister for Global Climate Policy between December 2022 – September 2024, and Minister for Climate, Energy, and Utilities between June 2019 – December 2022 in the Danish Government. He was a Member of the Danish Parliament (Folketing) between 2015-2024 where he served as Vice-Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the Social Democratic Party (2017-2019) and as Vice-Chairman of the Danish Delegation to NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Dan Jørgensen was also a Member of the European Parliament within the S&D Group between July 2004- November 2013. He holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from Aarhus University (Denmark) which he obtained in 2004. He pursued an academic career and lectured as External Lecturer at several universities between 2010-2013, i.e. University of Copenhagen; Seattle University; Sciences Po, Paris; Danish Institute for Study Abroad, Copenhagen; Department of Political Science, Aarhus University and also as Adjunct Professor at the Aalborg University, Denmark (2016 – 2019).

Thomas Kattnig is an Austrian trade unionist with a strong focus on EU and international policy. He is a member of the Federal Executive Board of younion – Die Daseinsgewerkschaft, representing more than 148,000 members, and has led numerous campaigns to strengthen public services, including the first successful European Citizens’ Initiative Right2Water. He consistently advocates for fair financing of public services and the fundamental right to housing.

In the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), Mr. Kattnig represents workers’ interests and has acted as rapporteur on key issues such as energy policy, services of general interest, affordable housing, and the green transition. Since 2020, he has served as Vice-President of the TEN Section and of the EESC Workers’ Group.

At the European and global level, he is Vice-President of European Public Service Union (EPSU) and Public Services International (PSI) and a member of the ETUC Executive Committee, where he promotes strong, democratic public services, social rights, and decent working conditions.

Michelle Norris is Full Professor of Social Policy and Director of the Geary Institute for Public Policy at University College Dublin.  Her teaching and research interests focus on housing policy and urban regeneration.  She has led over 30 research projects on these issues and produced 200 publications on the results.  She has strong links with policy makers in Ireland and internationally. She has served as an independent member of National Economic and Social Council which advises the Taoiseach on economic, social and environmental policy on three occasions and as a member of the boards of two of the main agencies responsible for providing social housing in Ireland - the Housing Finance Agency and Land Development Agency – and of the Housing Commission, which established by the minister for housing to review housing policy and reported in 2024.  She was one of the lead authors of the Housing2030 report on improving affordable housing outcomes which commissioned by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and UN Habitat and published in 2022.   She is the coordinator of the €4.4 million Horizon Europe funded project EqualHouse - From Housing Inequality to Sustainable, Inclusive and Affordable Housing Solutions, which examines policy responses to housing inequality in Europe.  In 2025 she was elected as a member of the Royal Irish Academy.

Vlad Ioana - As Housing Policy Officer at FEANTSA, she follows the developments in EU’s housing related initiatives, while advocating for a needs- and rights-based approach that centers the fight against homelessness.

Margit Perko works as a policy officer at the European Commission (DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion) on topics related to the social economy and housing. Before joining the European Commission in 2018, she worked at a consultancy in Austria, mainly on civic participation projects. Her background is in political science (University of Salzburg, Austria).

John Comer is a Member of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and has served as rapporteur for several key housing-related opinions, including A European Affordable Housing Plan – The Contribution of Civil Society and Making Housing Affordable – Increasing Modern Methods of Construction and Lowering Costs.

Louise Lennon is the Policy and Communications Officer with IRL since June 2016. Louise’s work includes engaging members and rural communities to inform IRL’s policy positions for submissions to relevant Government Departments. She informs members about changes to policy relevant to rural Ireland and its impact on people living in rural areas through print and digital media. Louise advocates for the needs of rural communities to Government and relevant agencies, while also writing press releases responding to issues that affect rural communities when they arise in the media or when new Government policies/strategies are launched.

Louise represents IRL at C&V Pillar Bilateral meetings with the various Government Departments and is the secretariat for the C&V Pillar Health Linkage Group. She is also the current secretariat for the C&V Pillar. She represents IRL on the Our Rural Future Implementation Group, the European Rural Parliament and Coalition 2030 and supports the secretariat of the European Rural Communities Alliance (ERCA). She represents the Social Inclusion Pillar of the PPN National Advisory Committee.

Louise also works on EU Funded projects IRL and are partner on.

Rudolf Kolbe, had graduated as engineer. Since 1981 he has been managing his own company in the field of geodetic surveying. With regard to his other functions, in Austria, he has been President of the Austrian Federal Conference of the Liberal Professions and President of the Austrian Federal Chamber of Architects and Chartered Engineers.

At European level, he has been President of the European Council of Liberal Professions (CEPLIS) and Founding - President of the European Council of Engineers Chambers (ECEC).

In the EESC he has been Members since 2015 and is Vice-President of Group III (Civil Society Organisations' Group) since 2020.

Paul Tierney is CEO of MMC Ireland and an Executive Director at The Thurston Group in the UK. With over 30 years’ experience in the construction and manufacturing sectors, Paul has built a career at the forefront of modern methods of construction (MMC), guiding organisations through growth, innovation, and sector transformation. Before taking up his role with MMC Ireland Paul was MD and CEO of one of the largest MMC companies in the UK and Ireland for over 20 years

As CEO of MMC Ireland, Paul leads the national body representing offsite and modular manufacturers, contractors, and suppliers. He champions collaboration between industry, government, and academia to drive MMC adoption, sustainability, and skills development across Ireland.

At The Thurston Group, Paul supports the Board with its strategic growth strategy, broadening product innovation, and driving efficiency throughout the business.

Tina Weber is a senior research manager in Eurofound’s Working Life unit. Her work has focused on labour shortages, the impact of hybrid work and an ‘always on’ culture and the right to disconnect, working conditions and social protection measures for self-employed workers and the impact of the twin transitions on employment, working conditions and industrial relations. She is responsible for studies assessing the representativeness of European social partner organisations. She has also carried out research on European Works Councils and the evolution of industrial relations and social dialogue in the European Union. Prior to joining Eurofound in 2019, she worked for a private research institute primarily carrying out impact assessments and evaluations of EU labour law and labour market policies. Tina holds a PhD in Political Sciences from the University of Edinburgh which focussed on the role of national trade unions and employers’ organisations in the European social dialogue.

James Browne was appointed Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage in January 2025. 

Since becoming Minister, he has overseen and led significant housing policy changes as well as providing certainty to the sector and the market overall. 

His term so far has seen sweeping changes to Ireland’s private rental system with a strengthening of renter’s rights, the simplification of planning laws and measures to address the delays incurred by judicial reviews, the driving on of ramped up apartment delivery, expansion of the Land Development Agency, record levels of capital investment in housing and water infrastructure, the setup of the Housing Activation office, and a particular focus on families and those experiencing homelessness. 

He was previously Minister of State Department of Justice with responsibility for International Law, Law Reform and Youth Justice, where he became known for his work on Gambling regulation. 

James was first elected to Dáil Éireann in the February 2016 general election as a representative of Wexford.

He was born in Enniscorthy, Wexford, and is the oldest of a family of 4. He was educated locally at St. Mary’s CBS, Enniscorthy before attending Waterford IT, University College Cork and the King’s Inns. He was called to the Bar in 2006

Jenny has led organisations and teams within the voluntary sector for 30 years; focused on programme delivery and fundraising. She joined Habitat for Humanity in Ireland in 2007, was appointed Chief Executive in 2011 and now leads it’s work across Ireland. Under her leadership Habitat launched the first Habitat ReStore in Europe in 2012 and is focused on deepening its impact and scale. Jenny is passionate about Habitat’s local and global mission and the power of Habitat ReStores to deliver for people, community and the planet.

Marie Hyland joined Eurofound as a research officer in the Social Policies unit in 2023. Her research focuses on issues related to housing, the social implications of the green transition and the socioeconomic situations of vulnerable groups. Prior to joining Eurofound, Marie spent several years as an economist at the World Bank, where her research covered women’s employment and economic empowerment, private sector development and the economics of climate change. Marie holds a PhD in Economics from Trinity College Dublin. During her PhD studies, she was a visiting Fulbright scholar at the University of Maryland.

Michaela Kauer is a renowned expert in affordable housing, urban policy and public services with a strong gender equality focus. Her long work experience at the City of Vienna enabled her to gain broad interdisciplinary expertise. Starting in 1992 as spokesperson of the City Councillor for Housing and Urban Renewal, she moved later to the cabinet of the City Councillor for Women’s Rights, Integration and Consumer Protection. After five years as head of cabinet of the City Councillor for Health and Social Affairs, Michaela Kauer was assigned Director of the Brussels Office of the City of Vienna in 2009. In this role, she leads Vienna’s activities as chair of the Eurocities Task Force on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality. Serving as joint representative of the Austrian federal states for the EU Urban Agenda, she also acted as key co-coordinator of the EU Urban Partnership on Affordable Housing from 2015-2021. Her longstanding passion for this subject led her to assume the position as jury member of the European Responsible Housing Awards. With her academic background specialising in International Public Management, Michaela Kauer both regularly publishes on urban, housing and gender policy and teaches at several European universities.

Baiba Miltovica has been appointed President of the Permanent Group on Transport of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in 2025. Ms Miltovica also serves as Board Member of the Latvian National Association for Consumer Protection (LPIAA) and actively co-operates with the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) on the European Commission Horizon 2020 and DG Justice and Consumers projects. She is member of the European Consumer Consultative Group (ECCG) of the European Commission, subgroup on Energy and Sub-Group on Artificial Intelligence (AI), connected products and other new challenges in product safety.

During her previous mandates at the EESC, Ms Miltovica held a position as President of the Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and Information Society (TEN) and as Vice-President of the Diversity Europe Group, and was appointed Rapporteur of six opinions (on energy and climate policy, energy performance of buildings, internal gas market, heating and cooling, etc.). She was also an active member of the TEN section, the Section for Single Market, Production and Consumption (INT) and the Section for Economic and Monetary Union and Economic and Social Cohesion (ECO).

In Latvia, Baiba Miltovica, continues to fulfil responsibilities in the LPIAA and is Member of the Advisory Board of the Latvian Public Utilities Commission.

Ms Miltovica holds a degree in political science and lectures at Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, Faculty of Economics and Social Development.

Massimiliano Mascherini is Head of the Social Policies unit at Eurofound since October 2019. He joined Eurofound in 2009 as a research manager, designing and coordinating projects on youth employment, NEETs and gender equality. In 2017, he became a senior research manager and spearheaded new research on monitoring convergence in the EU. In addition, he led the conceptualisation of the 2026 European Quality of Life Survey. In 2025, he was awarded the Brendan Walsh prize for the best paper published in Economic and Social Review. Previously, he was scientific officer at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. He studied at the University of Florence, where he majored in actuarial and statistical sciences and attained a PhD in Applied Statistics. In 2014, he obtained a scientific qualification as Associate Professor of Social Statistics and Demography from the Italian Ministry of University and Research. He has been visiting fellow at the University of Sydney and at Aalborg University and visiting professor at the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

Andres Jaadla has more than 25 years of professional experience working in the field of housing and urban management in Estonia and in the European Union.

 Rapporteur of European Committee of the Regions  2024  „Smart, sustainable and affordable housing as a tool for local authorities to face multiple challenges „ 

Mr. Jaadla is  an active  member of Rakvere City Council, and a member of the European Committee of the Regions (COTER and CIVEX  commissions). 

In 2024  he was rapporteur for the CoR opinion "Smart, sustainable, and affordable housing as a tool for local authorities to face multiple challenges."

In September 2026 he was appointed rapporteur for the forthcoming CoR opinion " The Affordable Housing Act from a local and regional perspective."

Academic background: Andres Jaadla has a Master's of Law, MA, University of Tartu ,

Master of Science in Natural Sciences, MSc ,  Estonian University of Life Sciences 

Master in Business Administration, MBA , University of Tartu 

Andres Jaadla believes that everyone deserves a safe, warm and truly affordable place to call home. A lawyer by trade and former Mayor of Rakvere, Andres has spent decades turning housing policy into practical reality. As the leader of the Estonian Union of Cooperative Housing Associations (EKÜL), he works closely with communities to prove that making homes energy-efficient doesn't just save the planet - it directly lowers the cost of living.

At the European level, Andres is a powerful voice for local leadership within the European Committee of the Regions (CoR). He authored the influential CoR opinion, "Smart, sustainable, and affordable housing as a tool for local authorities to face multiple challenges," which paved the way for his appointment in September 2026 as rapporteur for the forthcoming CoR opinion on the EU Affordable Housing Act package. In this critical role, Andres leads the efforts to ensure the EU's landmark housing framework respects local and regional perspectives, providing cities and regions with the legal certainty and backing they need to fight housing stress. Andres is a highly sought-after speaker who loves sharing practical, proven and compassionate strategies for building affordable housing and providing what matters most to people: lower bills, stronger communities, and protected neighborhoods.

Barbara Steenbergen has been committed to tenant protection for more than 25 years. She started in 2001 as head of the presidential office of the German Tenants' Union Deutscher Mieterbund www.mieterbund.de in Berlin and as political coordinator for energy policy and international affairs.

In 2007, the International Union of Tenants (IUT) elected her as head of the newly founded IUT Liaison Office to the European Union in Brussels, which she established in 2008. Since 2013 Barbara Steenbergen has been a member of the Executive Board of the IUT. She is chair of the Jury of the European Responsible Housing Awards since 2013 https://www.responsiblehousing.eu/jury.

She is responsible for the political relations, advocacy and representation of the interests of the European tenant associations towards the EU Commission, the EU Parliament, EU Council, the Committee of the Regions, the European Economic and Social Committee and other relevant bodies at European level.

Mateusz Szymański is the member of the European Economic and Social Committee since 2020 where represents the Workers' Group. He also sits in the EESC Section responsible for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society (TEN). At national level, is responsible for international cooperation at the trade union NSZZ "Solidarność". 

Emmanuelle Causse is the Secretary General of UIPI, the International Union of Property Owners, the European umbrella organisation of private property owners. She is responsible for institutional relations and the overall coordination of the Secretariat’s work. She is the face of UIPI in Brussels, representing European homeowners, co-owners and landlords in EU debates on topics such as housing, construction, sustainability and finance, and making the link between the European level and UIPI’s 29 national member associations across 25 European countries.

Joan Roget Alemany is has a Master's degree in Chemistry from the Universitat de Barcelona, a Marketing Diploma from IQS, and an MBA from IESE Business School. He has built an international career at the intersection of industry leadership, business management, and strategic governance.

He held senior executive positions at BASF, serving as Business Management and Human Resources Director for Southern Europe, and later led several management buyouts (MBOs) involving Spanish, German, and Italian companies. In recognition of his achievements in corporate transactions, he received the Best Deal Prize 2010 from the Spanish Private Equity Association. He subsequently joined ITW as Vice President and General Manager of its Reagents Business worldwide.

Beyond his corporate career, he has played a prominent role in representing employers and industry interests. His leadership positions have included Vice President of Foment del Treball, the Catalan Employers' Association; Vice President of FEIQUE, the Spanish Chemical Industry Association; and President of FedeQuim, the Catalan Chemical Industry Association. He serves as a member of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), contributing his expertise to European policy discussions on industry, competitiveness, and economic development.