Jaume Bech, Emeritus Professor of Soil Science at the University of Barcelona (UB). Degrees in Biological Sciences, Pharmacy and Geological Sciences. Ma in Geology, PhD in Pharmacy and PhD in Biology. Full Prof. in Soil Science at UB (1975-2007). Director of the Agricult. Engin. High School. Tech Univ. of Barcelona. Author of more than 400 papers, Editor of 34 Special Issues in Catena, JSS, EGAH, JGE. Honorary Professor from University of: Kuban State Agrarian (Russia), Piura (Peru), Cuenca (Ecuador), ESPOL Guayaquil (Ecuador), Honor Diploma La Frontera Temuco (Chile), Institute for Biology and Pedology of National Academy of Sciences (Kyrgyz Republic). Dr. Honoris Causa of 13 Universities from Bulgary, Chile, Ecuador, Georgia, Kyrgysztan, Peru, Russia and Spain. Honorary Member of 7 National Soil Sciences Societies from Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Ecuador, Georgia, Greece, Romania and Russia. Honorary Member of: VIII Com. Div. SSS EGU and IUSS. Officier dans “L’Ordre des Palmes Academiques, France.Prof. Claudio Bini. Degree in Geological Sciences (University of Florence, 1969). Academic position: Full Professor (Chair of Soil Science). Academic career: Fellowship at the University of Perugia (1970 – 1974) and Florence (1975 – 1980); Researcher at the University of Florence, 1980 - 1987; Associated Professor, University of Udine, 1988 - 1994; Associated Professor, University of Venice, 1995 - 2004. Full Professor, University of Venice, 2005-2015. Member of numerous Scientific Societies. Vice-chairman of Division 1.2 –Soil Geography (IUSS) for the period 2006-2008. Co-Convener of scientific sessions at EGU, ICOBTE, EUROSOIL. Associate Editor of Soil Research (2012-currently). Associate Editor of Journal of Soils and Sediments (2012-currently). Reviewer for several international journals (STOTEN, EMAS, EGAH, Geoderma, Geoexplo, Catena). Prof. Bini authored ca. 200 scientific papers, published in national and international journals, and several books with international publishers (Nova Editor, Springer, Elsevier).Daniel Karthe, Prof. Dr., currently works as Head of Programme – Resource Nexus for Sustainability Transformations at United Nations University, with a co-appointment in the Faculty of Environmental Sciences of TU Dresden. He has more than 20 years of professional and research experience related to environmental resources management, including several research and development projects in Mongolia, where he formerly served as founding professor for the Department of Environmental Engineering and Vice Rector for Research of German-Mongolian Institute for Resources and Technology. Prior to that, Dr. Karthe led and coordinated several national and international research projects at the Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) in Magdeburg, Germany. Prof. Karthe has more than 50 international peer-reviewed publications, including in particular the fields of water resources, but also soil and air pollution.Alexey Alekseenko is an accomplished environmental scientist holding a double doctoral degree in geo-engineering from the two world’s oldest institutes of resources, TU Bergakademie Freiberg and St Petersburg Mining University. With an extensive background spanning over 15 years in collecting, generating, and examining data pertaining to both natural and man-made systems, his research findings have been featured in prominent journals, garnering significant recognition within the academic community. Since 2021, he has been serving as an Adjunct Professor at the United Nations University to advance the Resource Nexus approach in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Alexey is experienced in environmental projects for industries extracting coal, metals, diamonds, and building materials. His expertise expands from pollution assessment to the restoration of ecosystems disturbed by open-pit, underground, and placer mining. His current research focuses on an in-depth exploration of mining legacies in the broader context of global coal phase-out and energy transition.
