Ivana Djokic-Saunderson is a freelance translator from Polish to Serbian. She graduated in Polish Language and Literature at the Philological Faculty of Belgrade University and was assistant professor at the Faculty of Drama Arts, where she received her Master’s degree in Film Studies with a thesis about “The Idea of Europe in European Film”. She is now working on her PhD on “Book and Body in Peter Greenaway’s Films”.

Ivana is member of the working groups “Cities and Regions”, “Discourses on Europe”, “Forum X” and “Mobilising Culture for Regional Development“.

Margarita Dorovska is curator at InterSpace Association, Sofia. Since 2005 she is the managing director of the Cult.bg Foundation. Since 2007 she has been working on art residency projects, such as Opening the Closed Shops and EMARE (European Media Artists in Residency Exchange). Currently she is working on an archive of video art from the transition period (1989-2009) of 25 Eastern European countries.

Margarita is member of the working groups “Discourses on Europe”, “Forum X” and “Mobilising Culture for Regional Development”.

Helena Drnovšek-Zorko is Ambassador and Head of the Division for International Cultural Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia. Her duties include the organisation of events concerning intercultural dialogue in the field of her expertise, a crossover of culture and foreign relations. Before taking up her present duties, she was the Slovenian Ambassador in Ireland. In 2006 she was appointed Asia-Europe-Foundation-Governor for Slovenia.

Helena is member of the “A Soul for Europe” Strategy Group.

Sina Kaja Frank, born in Schwetzingen, Germany, in 1979, holds a Diploma in Political Sciences from the Freie Universität Berlin and a Masters in Contemporary European Studies from the University of Bath. After having worked as a member of the cabinet for the Special Co-ordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe in Brussels, she is now advisor to the Head of the Senate Chancellery and the State Secretary for Federal and European Affairs of the federal state of Berlin.

Sina takes part in the working groups “Berlin Conference” and “Forum X”.

Dessy Gavrilova is co-founder and director of The Red House, Sofia. Since 2005, she also has been the director of the Centre for Arts and Culture at the Central European University, Budapest. She studied theatre and drama in Sofia, scriptwriting in Moscow and public policy at the CEU, Budapest. She is a guest lecturer at the Cultural Studies Department of Sofia University. She was in charge of the performing arts programmes of the Sofia Soros Centre for the Arts (1994-1996) and the Open Society Institute in Budapest (1997-2000).

Dessy is member of the working group “Berlin Conference”.

Gabriella Gönczy is a journalist, editor and cultural manager from Hungary. In 2003/04 she co-organised Kulturjahr der Zehn, a Berlin-based festival of all new EU member states. 2005-07 she was responsible for the international media network of signandsight and worked as the Hungarian correspondent of Perlentaucher, the largest online cultural magazine in German language and eurotopics. Since 2008 she is a member of the International Jury of TWINS 2010.

Gabriella is the co-ordinator of the working group “Communication” and takes part in the working group on “Intergroup”.

Sarah Haase, born in Berlin in 1980, studied French, Human Geography and Ecology at Potsdam University. In 2006 she obtained a BA in “Franco-German cultural relationship” at the Sorbonne-Nouvelle in Paris. She made an internship at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg and since July 2008 has been working as an online-editor for europatermine.de. Besides, she is part of the Young European Movement.

Sarah is member of the working groups “Berlin Conference” and “Cities & Regions”.

Luise Heidenreich, born in 1981, studied European Studies at Otto-von-Guericke-University in Magdeburg and in Wroclaw, Poland. She also holds an MSc in Culture & Society from the London School of Economics. After her studies she worked as a trainee at the European Commission in Brussels and in the “A Soul for Europe” Berlin Office, where she organised the Forum X conferences in Pécs, Skopje and Belgrade.

Luise is a member of the working groups on “Forum X” and “Berlin Conference”.

Nele Hertling is co-founder of the initiative “A Soul for Europe”. 1963-1988 she was Research Associate at the Academy of Arts in Berlin (West). Furthermore, she was artistic director of “Berlin - Cultural Capital of Europe, 1988”. From 1989 to 2003 she was director of the Hebbel Theatre in Berlin and artistic director of the "Theater der Welt" festival (1999). From 2003 to 2007 she was head of the DAAD's Artists-in-Residence programme. Since 2006 she has been Vice-President of the Academy of Arts.

Nele is member of the working groups “Forum X” and “Mobilising Culture for Regional Development”.

Katja Hintze, born in Berlin in 1971, studied Art (Sculpture, Performance and Installation) in Australia and Philosophy, Gender, Media and Communication Studies at the Freie Universität Berlin. She is currently working as business development manager in the graphic industry. In 2004 she founded the National Association of Scholar Development Associations Berlin and to date leads it as chairperson.

Katja is in charge of the working groups “Funding” and “Communication”.

Nóra Hoffmann was born in Szekszárd (Hungary) and is currently a DAAD-fellow at the University Jena and PhD-candidate. Her PhD thesis is about social psychological processes in citizenship education. Nora works as a freelance cultural manager. Nóra was a fellow of the Robert Bosch Foundation for cultural managers from Central and Eastern Europe and is now an active member of MitOst Association, Berlin. She initiated a long-term cooperation between the candidate cities of the European Capital of Culture 2010.

Nóra is member of the working group “Forum X”.

Milica Ilic holds a BA in Theatre Production from the University of Arts, Belgrade and a MA in Cultural Development and Project Management from the University of Lyon. She worked at the Centre for Professional Development of the University of Arts in Belgrade and is author and co-author of several research studies on arts and culture in South Eastern Europe. Currently she is Head of Administration and Communication of the IETM (International Network for Contemporary Performing Arts) in Brussels.

Milica is member of the working group “Communication”.

Levan Khetaguri is the president of the Stichting Caucasus Foundation and vice-rector at the Shota Rustaveli Georgian State University of Theatre and Film. Levan studied Theatre Studies and Cultural Administration. Since 1990 he has organised and participated in various local and international cultural projects. Since 2008 he has been a member of the European Cultural Parliament.

Levan represents “A Soul for Europe” in Georgia and is a member of the working groups ”Berlin Conference”, “Cities & Regions” and “Forum X”.

Verena Knaus is Senior Analyst for the European Stability Initiative. She studied modern history at Oxford University and international relations at SAIS in Bologna. From 2004 to 2007 she headed ESI's Turkey research based in Istanbul. Prior to that, she was one of the leading researchers in the field for the Lessons Learned and Analysis Unit in Kosovo. In 2007 she was awarded a World Fellowship by Yale University.

Verena is member of the working groups “Forum X” and “Funding”.

Nevenka Koprivsek is founder and director of Bunker, Mladi Levi Festival and Stara Elektrarna. She worked as actress, theatre director and as artistic director of Glej Theatre in Ljubljana. She is co-author of a research study on spaces of independent performing and visual arts production in the city of Ljubljana. In 2007 she was commissioned to write the concept report for Ljubljana’s competitive bid for the European Capital of Culture 2012.

Nevenka is member of the working groups “Forum X” and “Mobilising Culture for Regional Development”.

Ruggero Lala is international programme officer at the Felix Meritis Foundation and course coordinator at The Amsterdam Maastricht Summer University (AMSU). He has been working on various international co-operation projects of Amsterdam-based organisations. He holds a Masters degree in International Law and International Relations.

Ruggero is coordinating the “A Soul for Europe” Amsterdam Office and is a member of the working group “Forum X”.

Sonja Lebos holds a Master in Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology as well as in Hispanic Languages and Cultures from the University of Zagreb. In 2002 she founded the Association for Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Research in Zagreb.

Sonja takes part in the working groups “Cities & Regions”, “Forum X” and “Mobilising Culture for Regional Development”.

Daniela Maffeo, born in Italy in 1980, graduated in Business Economy from Bologna University in 2004 and then gained an MA in Economics and Management of Cultural Heritage at the University of Tor Vergata in Rome in 2006. She is co-founder and vice president of the Rome-based NGO ReKult, which organises cultural and artistic projects in Europe.

Daniela is in the working groups “Cities & Regions”, “Forum X”, “Funding” and “Mobilising Culture for Regional Development”.

Stephanie Maiwald is project coordinator for Stiftung Zukunft Berlin since 2006. She has been working as a freelancer in a variety of cultural activities such as international film festivals in Latin America and Germany. She holds a Diploma in Cultural Studies from the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) with a focus on Foreign Cultural Policy.

Stephanie is coordinating the "A Soul for Europe" Berlin office and member of the working groups "Berlin Conference", "Communication" and "Discourses on Europe".

Dániel Makkai, born in Tiszalök, Hungary in 1984, received his BA in Ethnomusicology from Université Paris X Nanterre and is now studying French and Anthropology at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. He works as a programme coordinator for the Retextil Foundation (Pécs, Hungary) and is responsible for international relations. Besides, he is a musician.

Daniel is member of the working group “Forum X”.

Susana Marques is co-founder and director of Setepés Arts, Science and Education in Porto. Since 1998 she has been the company’s director, being responsible for a number of cultural projects, both for organisations and cities. Susana holds a degree in Cultural Heritage Management and is specialised in cultural management and cultural enterprises. In 2007 she was responsible for the coordination of the publication “Cultural Management of Cities and Regions”, edited by Setepés.

Susana is member of the ASfE EEIG and responsible for the implementation of the project "Cities and Regions".

Lorenzo Marsili is co-director of European Alternatives, a London-based organisation devoted to exploring transnational politics and promoting intellectual engagement with the idea and future of the European project. He was founding editor of the quarterly journal Naked Punch, and currently edits the monthly magazine Europa. He is completing a PhD at SOAS on contemporary Chinese artistic practice.

Lorenzo takes part in the working groups “Berlin Conference” and “Communication”.

Niccolo Milanese is a writer, co-founder and one of the directors of European Alternatives, a London-based association which brings together philosophers, artists and social activists to imagine and militate for a transnational conception of European politics. European Alternatives organises the annual London Festival of Europe to promote widespread public engagement with this vision.

Within “A Soul for Europe”, Niccolo is taking part in the working groups “Berlin Conference”, “Communication”, “Intergroup” and “Topic Coordination”.

Mahir Namur is founding member and president of the European Cultural Association, an independent NGO based in Istanbul and manager of several international cultural cooperation projects. He teaches "Development of Cultural Projects" at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University and Yeditepe University. He is the founder of www.citizensofculture.net, which is a European social network for cultural actors on internet.

Mahir takes part in the working groups “Cities & Regions”, “Forum X” and “Funding”.

After having worked as dramaturg, editor and production manager for the director Achim Freyer, Sven Neumann was in charge of public relations and production management for the Hebbel Theatre Berlin 2000-2005. Moreover Sven supervised overseas guest performances for the Academy of Arts in Berlin. Since 2006 he has been working as a project manager for the "A Soul for Europe" Berlin Office and became project leader for “Forum X” projects in 2009.

Sven is member of the working groups “Forum X”, “Funding” and “Mobilising Culture for Regional Development”.

Eva Nunes holds a degree in Economics, a "Mastère Spécialisé Européen" in "Management des Entreprises Culturelles" and an MA in Economics of International Trade and European Integration. She was the first production manager at O Espaço do Tempo run by Rui Horta and coordinator of the Theatre Department at Instituto das Artes/MC. Currently she is European Projects Assistant of the European Festivals Association (EFA) the network of arts festivals from 37 countries.

Eva is part of the “A Soul for Europe” Brussels Office and member of the working groups “Discourses on Europe” and “Intergroup”.

Krastio Antonov Preslavsky, born in Sofia in 1979, studied International Relations in Sofia and European Studies at the University of Tübingen, Germany. 2003-2007 he worked for the Bulgarian Council of Ministers in the unit coordinating the preparations for accession to the European Union. Since March 2007 he has been working in the cabinet of Meglena Kuneva, the European Commissioner for Consumer Policy.

Krastio is taking part in the working group “Intergroup”.

2003-2005 Daniela was a fellow of the Robert Bosch Cultural Manager Program in Hermannstadt/ Sibiu (Romania) and helped to establish the German Cultural Centre Hermannstadt. In 2006 she became programme leader of the Robert Bosch Programme for Cultural Managers in Central and Eastern Europe. Since 2009 Daniela is chief officer of the cultural department of the city of Tübingen (Germany).

Daniela takes part in the working groups “Funding” and “Cities & Regions”.

Manja Ristić, born in Belgrade in 1979, graduated from the Belgrade Music Academy as a violinist and received a postgraduate diploma at the Royal College of Music, London. She is a professional violin player, an electronic music producer, a published poet and a cultural manager. In 2004 she founded the Association of Multimedia Artists AUROPOLIS in Belgrade. In 2007 together with the local NGO Cultural Front, she initiated Forum Belgrade – A Soul for Europe.

Manja is a member of the working groups “Cities & Regions”, “Communication”, “Discourses on Europe” and “Forum X”.

Vânia Rodrigues holds a degree in European Studies and a MA degree in Culture, Policy and Management from the City University London. She is a permanent collaborator of Setepés Arts, Science and Education in Porto, where she acts as Head of the Education Department. There, she is responsible for all projects of professional training for cultural organisations.

Vânia is coordinating the “A Soul for Europe” Porto Office and is furthermore part of the working groups “Berlin Conference”, “Cities & Regions” and “Communication”.

Bernhard Schneider is co-founder and former thematic co-ordinator of “A Soul for Europe”. The architect, planner, author and translator worked as consultant to the Senate of Berlin and co-operator with Berlin Partners, the Capital City's Marketing Company. From 1981 to 1989 he was executive planning officer with the Senators of Urban Development and of Cultural Affairs, Berlin and from 1991 to 1995 member of the steering committee of Stadtforum Berlin.

Bernhard is member of the working groups “Cities & Regions” and “Mobilising Culture for Regional Development”.

Ben Schofield is Leverhulme Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in German and Comparative Literature at King’s College, London. He studied at the Universities of Cambridge, Sheffield, Passau and Utrecht, and has taught German and Dutch literature and history at Cambridge University and the Institute of Germanic and Romance Studies, University of London. He became involved with “A Soul for Europe” at the Berlin Conference 2006.

Ben is member of the working groups on “Topic Coordination”, “Discourses on Europe” and “Communication”.

Ghenadie Sontu is the President of the Association ARS DOR. He graduated the Academy of Fine Arts and Invisible College of Moldova. In 2003 Ghenadie was President of the Youth Parliament of Moldova. He curated and managed several cultural and social projects, exhibitions, conferences and charity campaigns. In 2006 with the support of IFPC UNESCO, Ghenadie Sontu launched the International Art Project Eurointegration through Art. Ghenadie is member of the working group “Berlin Conference” and “Forum X”.

Alexander Stummvoll received his MPhil in International Relations in 2007 from the University of Oxford, St. Antony's College, and his BSc in International Relations from Aberystwyth University in 2005. From October 2007 onward he did a 5-month stage in the Cabinet of the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, where he worked on external relations. Since September 2008 he is enrolled as a doctoral researcher at the European University Institute in Florence.

Alexander is member of the working group “Intergroup”.

Jiří Sulženko graduated at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (APAP) at the Theatre Management Department. Since 2007, Jiří is the PR and marketing manager of the cultural centre Zahrada in Prague. As a PhD-student of Arts Management at APAP and later as a teacher he has been giving seminars on Creative Industries, Cultural Policy and Arts Marketing. Recently, Jiří has been commissioned by the Czech Ministry of Culture as an author of the national input to the Compendium of Cultural Policies organised by ERICarts.

Within “A Soul for Europe“ Jiří is member of the working group on “Forum X“.

Balázs Szász was born in 1979 in Pécs, Hungary. He holds a degree in law from the University of Pécs. After his studies, he lived for years in Kathmandu, Nepal and worked as a volunteer and reporter writing for Hungarian political dailies and weeklies. Balázs was chosen as one of “Ten Young Essayists” by the Felix Meritis Foundation in 2008 and was granted a “Kontext Research Scholarship” in 2009. He carries the international relations for “LABOR” and the “Pécs 2010 OFF Programme”.

Within “A Soul for Europe” Balázs takes part in the working groups on “Communication” and “Forum X”.