Skills for Sustainable Industrial Transformation: SDSN at UN ECOSOC Partnership Forum 2026

Andrija Erac is Head of the Networks Secretariat at SDSN. He leads a globally distributed team based in Paris, New York, and Kuala Lumpur, providing oversight and coordination for nearly 60 national and regional networks comprising over 2,000 member institutions. In this role, he supports the team of network managers in their engagement with universities, youth, and a wide range of partners to advance the SDGs, the Paris Agreement, and national sustainability priorities. He also contributes to cross-cutting thematic projects in areas such as decarbonization, climate adaptation, and health.

Beyond team leadership, Andrija contributes to major multi-stakeholder programs funded by international donors and philanthropic foundations, supporting country-level sustainability planning, resilience initiatives, and organizational transformation efforts.

Prior to joining the SDSN, Andrija worked at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), managing complex, high-value commercial negotiations and disputes. His experience at the ICC spans over 30 countries and involves multinational companies, state-owned enterprises, government entities, and international organizations across the construction, energy, transport, and infrastructure sectors.

Shatha Alhashmi is a senior government executive and advisor with over 20 years of experience in national strategy, policy execution, and large-scale public sector transformation. She has led complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives and public-private partnerships at the national level, delivering long-term economic and social impact.

She currently serves as an Advisor at the UAE Prime Minister’s Office, where she supports national leadership on aligning the UN Sustainable Development Goals with the UAE’s development priorities. Previously, she played a key role in the design and delivery of the UAE’s 50-year national development plan and led government-wide innovation efforts, including the establishment of a national innovation center and the implementation of cross-sector innovation strategies.

Shatha has served on boards and advisory councils, is a bilingual public speaker, and regularly contributes to policy and leadership publications. She holds degrees from Zayed University, Harvard University, and Oklahoma State University, and is a Certified Executive Coach from Henley Business School.

Dr. Ramon Iriarte is a Senior Education Program Specialist in the Section for Youth, Literacy, and Skills Development at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. He previously served as a regional education program specialist at UNESCO’s Regional Bureau for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC) in Santiago, Chile. In his current role, he oversees the management, implementation, monitoring, and reporting of UNESCO’s global program on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).

With extensive experience in Education, Science, and Technology, Dr. Iriarte has worked as a TVET teacher, university lecturer, and researcher while holding various senior leadership roles in both public and private institutions. As part of UNESCO, he has supported member states in developing, implementing, and evaluating national policies on Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI), STEM education, and ICT in education.Dr. Iriarte holds a Bachelor’s degree in Education Science, and a Master’s Degree in Technology Education from Aichi University of Education (Japan). He earned his Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from Kagoshima University (Japan) and has pursued additional graduate studies at institutions including Dr. Frank Niethammer Institute (Germany), Nagoya University (Japan), the Latin American Institute for Educational Communication (Mexico), and Queensland University of Technology (Australia).

Dr. Patrick Paul Walsh received a Ph.D. in Economics from the London School of Economics in 1994. Dr. Walsh is a Government of Ireland, Marie Curie (Brussels), IZA (Bonn), RSA (London), EIIR (Brussels) and REPOA (Tanzania) fellow. He is currently on secondment to UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) as Vice President of Education and Director of the SDG Academy.

Dr. Walsh still remains a Full Professor of International Development Studies and is Director of the UCD M.Sc. in Sustainable Development in partnership with the SDG Academy. He was elected president of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland (SSISI) in 2022. SSISI is an all-island learned society established in 1847. The Society is a forum for evidence based discussions on public policy between government departments, social partners and academia. Proceedings are published in an open science diamond Journal archived in TCD TARA and listed on the Web of Science.

Ms. Maria Nakova stands as a driving force in advancing vocational excellence, digital innovation, and sustainable transformation across Europe’s construction sector. With over 20 years of leadership at the crossroads of innovation, sustainability, and skills development, she has dedicated her career of project management in empowering professionals and businesses to meet the evolving demands of the green and digital economy.

As Project Leader of BuildSkills Academy and Head of the European Digital Innovation Hub in the Construction Sector (EDIHCS), Maria spearheads initiatives that elevate workforce capabilities, ensuring that skills development is aligned with industry needs and future-proof strategies. Through her role of Manager strategic development at Cleantech Bulgaria, she actively supports SMEs and public sector in mastering their digital and green transitions, embedding excellence into vocational training and operational practices.

A recognized expert in fostering circular economy solutions, Maria has led transformative capacity-building programs, driven innovation transfer, and shaped policy frameworks that accelerate sustainable growth. Her management of large-scale EU-funded projects has delivered actionable policy recommendations, positioning skills and vocational education as key enablers of the twin transition—digital and green—across diverse ecosystems.In her upcoming presentation, Maria will share pioneering insights from BuildSkills Academy, showcasing how Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVEs) and European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) are redefining the construction sector. She will illustrate how strategic skill-building initiatives are not only bridging the gap between current workforce capabilities and emerging green transition goals but also setting new standards for vocational excellence across Europe.

Antonia Christou is a Research Associate and Project Manager at the Cyprus University of Technology, where she is involved in projects on sustainable entrepreneurship and the integration of digital and green skills in the construction sector. Prior to joining CUT, she worked in the aerospace industry in France, Germany, and Singapore, serving as an Innovation Manager and supporting entrepreneurs and startups through the development of an Industry 4.0 accelerator programme. Her research focuses on integrating sustainability within entrepreneurship education in higher education, as well as examining the role of sustainable entrepreneurship education in fostering future eco-preneurs. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Foreign Languages Applied to Economics and a Master’s degree in Business Development from Université Toulouse II in France.

Prof. Dr. Angelina Taneva-Veshoska is Director at the Institute for
Research in Environment, Civil Engineering and Energy. Expertise in
education: more than 17 years of experience in education, as professor,
national VET expert, trainer of trainers, developing curricula (in HE, VET
and adult education), managing and coordinating educational projects,
conducting surveys on labour market needs, developing innovative
teaching methods. Expertise in business consultancy: working with
industry, creating and implementing methodologies, measures and tools for supporting sustainable business growth, better management of knowledge and intellectual capital, establishing R&D Centres and Training Centres . This effort was rewarded when she and her team received the 1st prize for their case “The Knowledge Management and Intellectual Capital Excellence Award “. Angelina and her team are coordinating Erasmus+ CoVE project: CATALYST European VET Excellence Centre for Leading Sustainable Systems and Business Transformation.

Ana Tomikj is a researcher at the Institute for Research in Environment, Civil Engineering and Energy – IECE. Her research interest is in: Economics, sustainability, intellectual capital, and circular economy. Her educational background is in economics and finance, and she has completed a specialisation programme in sustainable leadership. She has 8 years of international work experience in education, skills and consulting, working on Erasmus+, Horizon 2020 and IPA II-funded projects, tackling issues like sustainability, eco-skills, innovation, business-academia collaboration etc. She was project coordinator of the Visegrad funded project TREASURE and is part of the CATALYST Centre of Vocational Excellence.

Dr. Enda Murphy is Professor of Planning at the School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy where he has been programme Director for the Masters in Regional and Urban Planning (MRUP) since 2019. He is also a UCD academic lead for the Sustainability and Climate Committee of Una Europa. Between 2015-2018, he held the position of Vice-Principal for Graduate Studies and Director of the Graduate School for the College of Social Sciences and Law (CoSSL). Beyond the University, he is an active Editorial Board Member of PLOS ONE, one of the world’s leading science journals; he is also a current member of the UN SDSN SDG Academy High Level Advisory Council (HLAC) whose mission focuses on the international development of Education for Sustainable Development.

His research interests are broad in scope but centre on the areas of urban transportation and spatial planning, environmental noise, neoliberalism/neoliberalisation, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He has published widely in the international literature and is author/co-author of more than 100 academic journal papers, book chapters, conference papers and reports and is co-author of three books. Enda has held visiting professor positions at the University of Economics, Ho Chi Minh City, University of Hartford, USA, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, CRENoS, University of Cagliari, and at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm. He is a former Fulbright Scholar.