Conference 2025 | Future-Proof Leadership konference

Previously

Past ESG conferences

Who were the speakers at our previous conferences? What were we discussing? What carbon footprint did the conference produce? You can find out below.

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Speakers 2025

Janez Potočnik

Co-Chair of the UNEP Environment International Resource Panel, ex-Commisioner of the European Commision

Dr Janez Potočnik is an economist graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. He served as Director of the Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development in Ljubljana. He was appointed Head of Negotiating Team for Accession of Slovenia to the EU and served as Minister responsible for European Affairs. In 2004 he joined the European Commission as Commissioner responsible for Science and Research. In 2010 he became Commissioner for Environment. After the mandate he was appointed as a Co-Chair
of UNEP Environment International Resource Panel. He is also Partner at SYSTEMIQ and one of the founders of the Systems Transformation Hub.

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Andreas Dick

Member of the Board, Production & Logistics at Škoda Auto

Andreas Dick is member of the Board of Management for Production and Logistics at Škoda Auto since September 2023 and an experienced automotive executive with international management experience. With over 25 years of experience across Mexico, China, and Germany, Dick has led transformative projects, including digital advancements and the rollout of electric vehicles, managing the production of up to 1.8 million vehicles annually. As Škoda Auto’s Sustainability Representative, he drives initiatives in electromobility, digitalization, and sustainable manufacturing on a global scale. Together with his teams, Andreas Dick is committed to steering the company through its transformation towards a more sustainable future. One example is the commitment to a CO₂-neutral production in the Czech Republic and India, to be achieved by 2030. As of now, the plant in Vrchlabí is already CO₂-neutral.

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Mark van Loon

Senior Vice President Sustainability & Innovation at wienerberger

Mark van Loon is Senior Vice President Sustainability & Innovation at wienerberger, where he has been responsible for groupwide sustainable product innovation and strategic sustainability since 2020. wienerberger, a global leader in building materials, plays a key role in the transition to zero-emission buildings and infrastructure solutions for water and energy management.
With over 30 years of experience in the construction and building materials industry, Mark has held various global leadership positions, including Managing Director of Pipelife Benelux (part of wienerberger). His expertise lies in innovation management, sustainability, and strategic growth.
Mark holds an international MBA from Nyenrode Business University and has international experience in the Benelux, Germany, Austria and North America. With his deep knowledge of sustainable construction, the circular economy and water management, he is a prominent and solution-oriented voice in the industry.

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Violeta Luca

CEO & Chairwoman Vodafone Czech Republic

Violeta Luca has been in charge of Czech Vodafone since January 2024. Before that, she was the CEO of Microsoft Czech Republic and Slovakia. And before that, she was the CEO of Microsoft in Romania. Violeta Luca has managed transformation projects in retail, banking, e-commerce, healthcare and telecommunications. She has long focused on the development of digital skills, innovation and support for start-ups; she also provides active mentoring to empower women in their professional and management careers. She has received numerous awards and was recognised by Forbes as one of the 20 most influential women in Fintech in the CR and one of the TOP CEOs in 2023. In the Manager of the Year 2022 competition, she won in the Foreign Manager category. Before joining Microsoft, she worked at companies such as Metro Cash & Carry, Dante International, Flanco Retail, Whirlpool and AIG. She graduated from the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest, Romania.

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Jacco Jochemsen

Co-founder at CURRENT

Jacco is an experienced innovation manager and advisor with more than 10 years of experience in the field of circular economy, with a specialty in circular economy performance metrics, ESG reporting and innovation management. He has been advisor to the GRI, CTI and ISO norms on circular economy and is currently supporting the development of the Global Circularity Protocol. Jacco was trained as a chemist and sustainability expert in the Netherlands and Japan.

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Libor Vošický

Chairmen of the Board of Stavební spořitelna České spořitelny and President of the Association of Czech Building Savings Banks

Graduated from the Czech Technical University in Prague, Faculty of Electrical Engineering. He has spent practically his entire career in the banking sector, specialising in the area of financial markets. He first worked at Commerzbank and Citibank. In 2006, he joined Česká spořitelna, where he held several managerial positions in the financial markets. Until 2018, he headed the Financial Markets and Financial Institutions unit. Since 2019, he has been the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Stavební spořitelna Česká spořitelna. As chairman of the Association of Czech Building Savings Banks, he has been at the forefront of negotiations with the state on the future of building societies and, together with the CEOs of other building societies, has helped steer the entire sector towards its new role to support and accelerate the much-needed energy renovation of housing in the country.

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Jiří Hynek

President at Defence and Security Industry Association of the Czech Republic

Jiří Hynek has been President of the AOBP Czech Republic since 2011. He has long been dedicated to supporting the Czech defence and security industry and promoting its interests in the Czech Republic and abroad. He represents AOBP in NATO advisory bodies and in negotiations with the state administration. He also acts as an expert on defence policy and export support, and regularly speaks at international forums. In the past, he has held senior positions in the ICT and defence industries. He graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of Charles University. Under his leadership, AOBP has grown to over 250 member companies.

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Marek Miltner

LIMESS Sustainability Lab, Founder

Marek Miltner is helping the world use artificial intelligence tools to solve the environmental challenges of the future, especially in the fields of energy and mobility. He has more than 8 years of experience as a software engineer and IT specialist in both academia and commercial spheres. He works at CTU and collaborates with universities such as Stanford and Cambridge. He studied technology policy at the University of Cambridge, innovation and software engineering at CTU and MBA in the USA. He also focuses on digitalization of public administration, education policy and AI. In his spare time, he teaches, builds software and experiments with blockchain.

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Kristýna Vobecká

ESG Manager at Wienerberger

ESG Manager at Wienerberger

Kristýna graduated in Environmental Studies and Media Communication and has been trying to combine these streams in her work for a long time. She has been working in marketing and PR for over 10 years and has always been drawn to the topics of environmental protection and social responsibility. Her life theme is the intertwining of business and sustainability and finding ways for responsible business. She has found this in the areas of ESG, sustainability, decarbonisation and green strategies, topics she has been working on for the past four years at the building materials manufacturer (Porotherm, Tondach, Semmelrock and others) wienerberger.

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Lenka Žlebková

CEO of the Prague Congress Centre

“Variety is the spice of life” and “What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger” – these are the mottos of Lenka, who has progressed, thanks to her dynamic attitude to life, from a maid in Chicago, to the position of CEO of the Prague Congress Centre and the Board of Directors of the Prague Convention Bureau. Following an internship in Paris and a trainee program in the USA, she worked as a product manager at CzechTourism, sales and marketing director at President Hotel Prague, or as the director and later member and Vice Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of the Prague Convention Bureau. With her contribution, Prague was able to move up the ICCA ranking of world congress destinations from 19th place in 2010 to 5th place in 2022.
Lenka took the role of PCC CEO just three days before the outbreak of the pandemic, which brought the congress industry to a standstill. Under Lenka’s leadership, the centre was able to overcome a period of restrictions, a ban on meetings, and the risk of losing employees and profits. Instead, thanks to her proactive support of helping company culture and team spirit, PCC started a major transformation process with strong environmental focus and soon achieved record sales. As a result, Lenka was awarded Manager of the Year 2022 in the Services category, became a finalist in the Woman of the Year 2023 competition and achieved the title Future Leader 24 in public voting

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Martina Popenková

Director of Public and Client Relations, Ipsos

Martina Popenková joined Ipsos in 2010 as an Account Director responsible for research in the areas of innovation, potential measurement and sales forecasting, as well as projects dealing with branding and broader market understanding. She now works as a Senior Client Director implementing research results into company processes across many sectors. Before joining Ipsos, Martina worked for several years for Kantar in the UK.

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Jitka Němečková

Board Member ASCOPA

For more than 15 years he has been working in strategic corporate communications and ESG in companies such as Haleon, Provident Financial, Plzeňský Prazdroj and Unipetrol. She is a board member of the Association of Strategic Communication and Public Relations (ASCOPA), where she is responsible for the development of
ESG communication and the industry’s largest competition, the Golden semicolon. She started her career in media, research and advertising.
She was awarded Spokesperson of the Year 2018 and her team was named PR Team of the Year in 2020. She also works as a mentor and advisor at the Faculty
of International Relations at the University of Economics in Prague and in the Equilibrium programme of the British Chamber of Commerce.

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Kateřina Morrisová

Head of ESG & WHS, GasNet CZ; Presidium of the Czech BCSD

Kateřina Morrisová has been working in the field of energy and sustainable development for more than 15 years. Since 2021, she has led the ESG & WHS unit at GasNet, where she sets and implements the sustainability, environmental responsibility and safety strategy. Under her leadership, GasNet became one of the first energy companies in the country to voluntarily publish ESG reports according to international standards and received a prestigious rating from Sustainalytics. She is also a member of the Presidium of the Czech BCSD, where she contributes to the development of sustainable business in the Czech Republic. Under her leadership, GasNet systematically reduces emissions, develops the use of biomethane and hydrogen in the distribution network, and invests in infrastructure modernization with an emphasis on safety and sustainability.

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Jan Kofroň

Assistant professor
Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles Univeristy in Prague. Deputy Head of the Department of Political Science.

Jan is a graduate of the Faculty of Science at Charles University in Prague (2008), where he also received his PhD (2012) in Political and Regional Geography. He currently works as an assistant professor and deputy head of the Department of Political Science at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University. His professional interests focus on geopolitics, defence/military affairs, and military expenditures

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Ondřej Vaněk

Chief AI Officer, Adastra

Ondřej is an entrepreneur who brings the latest insights from the world of artificial intelligence into practice across various industries. He serves as Chief AI Officer at Adastra Group, an international company specializing in data, analytics, and cloud computing. His team of 150 AI experts has successfully delivered hundreds of AI-driven projects. He is also the co-founder of Blindspot AI, one of the fastest-growing technology companies in Central Europe according to the Deloitte Fast 50 ranking. With a team of 80 specialists, Blindspot AI has completed over 300 AI projects worldwide. Ondřej holds a PhD from the Czech Technical University in artificial intelligence and biocybernetics and is the author of more than 30 academic papers focused on game theory, multi-agent systems, and security. He believes in the practical application of AI across industries.

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Martina Remtová

Client Director, Head of ESG Strategy

Martina Remtová is responsible for project quality management and client satisfaction, helping clients set a path to sustainability at the consulting company Flagship Impact. She is also the first B Leader in the Czech Republic. In this role, she raises awareness of the B Corporation movement in our region and guides companies through the certification process. She believes that the future belongs to companies that do business with vision, courage, and consideration for the world around us.

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Filip Gregor

Head of the Responsible Companies Section at Frank Bold

Filip Gregor is Frank Bold’s leading expert in ESG, corporate responsibility, and corporate governance. He is a member of EFRAG’s Sustainability Reporting Board, which develops and approves EU standards for sustainability reporting. He founded the Alliance for Corporate Transparency project, which evaluates the sustainability reporting of 1,000 large European companies. He is the head of the Responsible Companies section at Frank Bold, Frank Bold’s Brussels branch, and manages the Frank Bold Advisory team, which focuses on the practical implementation of ESG.

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Marie Machálková

Team Leader and Consultant in the ESG team

Marie works as a team leader and consultant in Frank Bold’s ESG team, focusing on people management and development as well as client project implementation. She has over 10 years of experience in managing various projects in government, business, and non-profit organizations. She has worked in risk management, quality management, and European structural and investment funds, including controls and audits.

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Simona Kalvoda

CEO of Czech Green Building Council (CZGBC)

Simona Kalvoda is the Executive Director of the Czech Green Building Council, which she has led since 2014. Under her leadership, the Council’s agenda has expanded from energy savings to a comprehensive approach to sustainable construction – from the circular economy and water management to indoor environmental quality and decarbonization. She previously served as director of the British Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic and in consulting and management roles in the field of business development. She is actively involved in European initiatives such as #BuildingLife and promotes the adoption of carbon-neutral solutions for buildings and construction in Czechia.

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Want to get a sneak peek at the 2025 conference?

Carbon Footprint of the 2025 Conference

CI3, s.r.o., a BLF partner, has once again calculated the carbon footprint of this year’s conference based on internationally recognized methodologies. The calculation included transportation of participants and guests to and from the event, their accommodations, transportation of materials and people during the event, energy consumption at the venue, materials used, catering, and waste generated. Some of the data had to be collected prior to the event itself, but the final data was not available until after it ended, particularly regarding participant transportation, energy consumption, and catering.

The conference’s total carbon footprint reached 3,350.2 kg CO2e, or approximately 3.35 metric tons of CO2 equivalent. This represents a significant increase compared to the previous year. This increase is due to several concurrent factors, not a single change in the event’s organization. Participant transportation accounts for the largest share of the total footprint, amounting to 1,773.3 kg CO2e, or 52.9% of total emissions. Compared to previous years, a larger proportion of participants chose to travel by private car, which had a significant impact on the result. Guest transportation accounts for an additional 471.7 kg CO2e (14.1%).

The second most significant category is catering, which amounted to 754.5 kg CO2e (22.5%). The increase in this category is primarily due to a higher number of servings, not a significant change in the composition of the meals. The catering remained strictly vegan. Energy consumption during the event amounted to 156.9 kg CO2e (4.7%). Although the venue uses green electricity, the calculation also includes emissions associated with energy production and electricity transmission. A positive development compared to previous years is a more detailed understanding of actual energy consumption in the halls, particularly for lighting, cooling, and ventilation.

Other monitored categories—transportation of materials and people during the event (90.0 kg CO2e), lodging (83.2 kg CO2e), materials (19.1 kg CO2e), and waste (1.5 kg CO2e)—account for a relatively small share of the total carbon footprint. The calculation for material transport reflects a conservative estimate of the logistics flows associated with the event’s preparation and execution.

The results of this year’s calculation clearly show where the greatest potential lies for reducing the carbon footprint in the future. Participant transportation remains a key area, where individual decisions have a significant impact on the overall result. Precise catering planning and further improvements in energy efficiency at the venue also play a significant role.

The conference’s carbon footprint thus serves not only as a tool for transparency but, above all, as a practical basis for targeted measures in future editions.