The GEONARDO Story 

Gábor Kitley is the co-founder and CEO of Geonardo. He has managed and coordinated research and innovation projects under the Framework Programmes since FP5. He has also developed and implemented projects under the Intelligent Energy Europe and LIFE programmes. Gábor’s experience in EU research and innovation projects cover the topics of energy efficiency in buildings, renewable energy, regional development, water management, decision-support systems, sustainable tourism, geothermal heating and training and capacity building. He graduated from Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, as a geologist with a second master degree in Environmental Law.

Ömer is the Managing Director of Geonardo. He has 20 years of direct hands-on experience in developing and implementing EU-funded projects and managing EC contracts in the energy, environment and sustainable development fields. He has a thorough knowledge of the European Union’s funding system and a sound understanding of the programming and implementation of various EU funding schemes and programmes and their interrelations. In particular, his knowledge spans across the EU’s energy, environment, sustainable development, competitiveness, research and innovation, enlargement and external policies and the associated funding schemes and programmes such as FP6/7, H2020/HE, CIP Eco-innovation, LIFE/LIFE+, Structural Funds and EuropeAid. Ömer is an environmental engineer from Istanbul Technical University (ITU) and holds an MSc in Environmental Management from Aalborg University (AAU).

Gabriella has more than 15 years of international experience in conceiving and implementing EU-funded projects and EC contracts. Gabriella has managed and coordinated EU-funded projects under a broad range of programmes co-financing research, innovation, entrepreneurship, SME support, ICT and educational projects. Over the past few years she has been involved in several projects as a coordinator and as a partner mostly responsible for quality assurance, management, and dissemination/communication. She also has experience in event organisation, developing training and e-learning courses; she has been acting as a trainer since 2004. She has been an expert evaluator to the European Commission in CIP EIP/COSME and FP7/H2020 calls since 2007 and she was also an appraisal and monitoring agent for EEA grant mechanism programmes. Gabriella holds a Master of Science degree in Economics, having specialized in management consulting and European business. Her main areas of focus are on SME development and ICT-supported learning, game-based learning.

Krisztina has 10 years of experience in developing and managing EU-funded projects under Horizon 2020, FP7, CIP-IEE programmes. Previously, she acted as the National Contact Point for Twinning at the National Development Agency of Hungary, where she has gained hands-on experience in international affairs and EU policies. Krisztina has also experience in EC tenders and has been an evaluator to the European Commission. She holds an MSc degree in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Debrecen, Hungary.

Jelena has over 10 years of experience within organizations dealing with various types of projects. With a degree from the Faculty of Political Sciences of University of Belgrade, she started off in NGOs dealing with security projects and foreign policy. She changed her focus to education while working in the Erasmus+ National Agency of Serbia. Jelena was running a team of 9 employees in charge of trainings for applicants and evaluators, approving and monitoring projects related to VET, adult and school education, as well as managing implementation of two education networks in Serbia (eTwinning and EPALE).

Dóra is a project manager involved in Horizon 2020 projects at Geonardo. She holds a joint B.A in International Relations and Development Studies from the University of Sussex. She obtained her master’s degree at Lund University, MSc in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Science. During her master’s programme she became familiar with most up to date approaches to environmentally friendly solutions to sustainability problems. Her main interests include sustainable agriculture, policies enhancing environmental justice and circular economy solutions.

Gloria is a communication manager, responsible for the planning and implementation of communication and dissemination activities of various EU-funded projects, including COLLECTiEF, Train4Sustain and WIN-BIG.

She holds a master’s degree in International Relations and Diplomatic Affairs with a focus on EU governance from the University of Bologna in Italy and completed her university experience between Italy, Belgium and Canada. Her interests range from EU affairs and international politics to social justice, gender equality and environmental policies.

Diego is a creative professional from Spain, with experience in communication and innovation management. Currently serving as our communication manager, Diego is involved in high-impact projects such as MIND STEP, AgEnRes, and EUB SuperHub.

With a backround in Fine Arts, he channeled his creativity and organisation skills in a career on project management, taking on roles in Spanish companies like Inforges and Let's Flow, where he executed innovation initiatives rooted in Design Thinking. Additionally, Diego possesses expertise on community and communication management on an international scale, having collaborated with the Hungarian NGO Artemisszió Alapítvány in Budapest and its community center, Mira Ház.