Speakers: Back to basics
Building the foundations for the future of skills
Back to Basics looks at the skills that lifelong learning and innovation depend on. This interactive conversation will explore how people can think critically in a world shaped by AI and information overload, and how education and training systems can encourage creativity, curiosity and new ideas.
Mohamed Khaled Ainaas
EU Jeel Connector | Libya
Mohamed Alnaas is a Libyan filmmaker and creative professional whose work spans filmmaking, cinematography, storytelling and creative direction. He focuses on crafting narratives that connect culture, identity and human experience.
Fatima Zahra El Maliani
Young Ambassador and ETF Trainee | ETF
Fatima Zahra El Maliani is based in Torino and studied for a joint master's in International Security Studies at the University of Trento and the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies. In 2023, she was named a Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic for her volunteering with UNICEF's after-school programme in Porta Palazzo and her support for homeless women.
Daniel Funeriu
Former Minister of Education, Research, Youth and Sports | Romania
Daniel Funeriu is a chemist and researcher at the University of Bucharest. He obtained his PhD in Strasbourg with Nobel laureate Jean-Marie Lehn and held research positions at Scripps Research, the Technical University of Munich and CNRS. As Romania's Minister of Education, Research, Youth and Sports from 2009 to 2012, he led the adoption of new education and research laws, introducing dual vocational training.
He has also served as a Member of the European Parliament and, until 2026, as EU High Level Adviser to Moldova's Government.
Paula Gori
Manager and Coordinator | European Digital Media Observatory
Paula Gori is General Manager and Coordinator of the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO), based at the Florence School of Transnational Governance at the European University Institute. She previously coordinated the Florence School of Regulation – Communications and Media and helped set up the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom.
Her research interests include digital policy, information integrity, AI and climate disinformation, and she co-edited a Springer volume on disinformation.
Adeline Hulin
Chief of Unit, Media and Information Literacy and Digital Competencies | UNESCO
Adeline Hulin is Head of the Media and Information Literacy and Digital Competencies Unit at UNESCO in Paris. She leads global work on media and information literacy through policy development, capacity building and international partnerships. She previously served as Project Coordinator in the Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media and has published on media regulation and media freedom.
She holds a PhD in Political Science from Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas.
Valeria Kovtun
Founder | Resilience Lab Cognitive Security and Defence
Valeria Kovtun is Founder of Resilience Lab, which helps governments and organisations strengthen societies' resilience to disinformation and authoritarian influence. She designed and led Filter, Ukraine's first governmental media literacy institution, and helped embed media literacy in the country's National Information Security Strategy. She has since advised organisations including the OSCE and the UN, and was an Obama Foundation Scholar at Columbia University in 2025–2026.
A former BBC journalist, she holds a master’s from the London School of Economics.
Azra Mehmedović
Young European Ambassador | Bosnia and Herzegovina
Azra Mehmedović is a digital communications specialist, youth educator and founder of Razijan Lab, a craft business in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Her work focuses on youth empowerment, health and media literacy.
Andrew Penaluna
Founder | International Institute for Creative Entrepreneurial Development
Andrew Penaluna is founder and former Director of the International Institute for Creative Entrepreneurial Development, whose team helped plan and deliver the EU Joint Research Centre's EntreComp Framework. A recognised creativity and innovation expert at the UN and the OECD, he has worked on education policy and practice from primary schooling to postdoctoral studies.
In the UK, he chaired the Quality Assurance Agency's national guidance on enterprise and entrepreneurship for higher education and received a Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion.
Radmil Polenakovikj
Professor and President | Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje / NCDIEL North Macedonia
Radmil Polenakovikj is a Full Professor at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje. He has led over 160 international projects, supported the creation of more than 60 start-ups and contributed to national strategies on entrepreneurship, innovation, SMEs and the green transition. He leads the university's Business Start-Up Centre and the National Centre for Development of Innovation and Entrepreneurial Learning (NCDIEL), and supported the establishment of the Centre of Vocational Excellence for Green Innovation.
He received the ETF Green Skills Award in 2025.
Amr Ramadan
EU Jeel Connector, Egypt; Founder and CEO | Empower Hub
Amr Ramadan is an education expert and Founder and CEO of Empower Hub, an edtech social enterprise that designs and delivers sustainable development programmes and online courses. A Chevening Scholar at UCL, TED speaker and climate advocate who has spoken at COP28 and COP29, he works to promote equitable education worldwide.
Daria Santucci
Communication Specialist | ETF
Daria Santucci leads PR and media relations at the European Training Foundation (ETF). An international communications strategist, she previously worked as a press and communication officer at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Energy and as a journalist across print, broadcast and digital media. She has also taught political campaigning online and digital communication at university level
She holds a PhD in Political Science.
Norayr Stepanyan
Young European Ambassador | Armenia
Norayr Stepanyan is an Armenian content creator and marketer specialising in film production, social media and AI-generated content. His work focuses on storytelling and using digital media to connect people and share ideas.
Pilvi Torsti
Director | ETF
Pilvi Torsti has been Director of the European Training Foundation (ETF) since 2023. An education policy expert with a PhD in social sciences, she brings extensive experience across government, academia, business, and civil society. She previously served as State Secretary across three Finnish ministries and as an MP, and she is an adjunct professor at the University of Helsinki. She is co-founder of UWC Mostar and HEI Schools. Pilvi is a UWC graduate and an Eisenhower fellow.
At the ETF, she hosts the video series In Conversation with Pilvi Torsti with guests working globally in partnership with the ETF.
