Board of Directors 2026-2030
“We will work to support agroecological responses through local food producers and consumers, education, and agri-food public policies. A radical change is needed: those who care for their territories and provide us with high-quality food at fair prices need support. Agroecology is a fundamental approach to responding to the needs of food producers, farmers, and society as a whole, especially as the current agro-industrial production model, dependent on exports and global agricultural inputs, is being affected by multiple wars and poly-crises.” – Paola Migliorini
Alexander Wezel, President
Dr. Alexander Wezel is Head of Research and Professor for Agroecology and Landscape Ecology at ISARA, Lyon. He is part of the Research Unit: Agroecology and Environment and serves as the Coordinator of MSc Agroecology at ISARA. His expertise includes serving as a Member of the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE) at Food and Agriculture Organization.
CATERINA BATELLO, Vice-President
Caterina Batello is an Agroecology Expert, Vice President of Agroecology Italy (AIDA), and former Team Leader for Agroecology and Ecosystem Management at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). She spent most of her career in international agricultural development and is the author of numerous books and papers related to the management of biodiversity, livestock, and ecosystem services, with a focus on harnessing natural biological processes across different ecologies, including tropical, temperate arid, and mountain zones. Under her leadership, a “Scaling up Agroecology Initiative” was developed and launched with UN agencies and National Research Institutions, and an important political consensus on Agroecology was approved by 147 countries in 2019 by the FAO Council.
CRISTINA LAURENTI, Vice-President
Cristina is a PhD student in the Department of Global Development at Cornell University. Her research and advocacy focus on the health implications of feminist agroecology, advancing systemic, community-based, and decolonial approaches to wellbeing, grounded in social justice, gender equity, and the right to health.
In her new, second term on the board, she will support the Association’s engagement with the health dimensions of agroecology. In her previous term she coordinated the development of the Agroecology Youth Network, and she will continue to support the growing range of activities of the Network.
Marcos Lana, Board Secretary
Marcos Lana is Associate Professor at SLU. His work focuses on the use of crop models to assess the impact of climate change and agronomic management on crop performance, so as to propose suitable adaptation strategies concerning crop production systems and other ecosystem services. He is also involved with the development and adoption of agroecology as a tool to support sustainable farming systems.
Alexandros Tataridas
Alexandros Tartaridas researches sustainable crop production and agroecological weed management at the University of Coimbra and will help to organise the 2027 Agroecology Europe Forum in Portugal. The Forum will, he says, consolidate Agroecology Europe as a reference space for scientific knowledge exchange, policy dialogue, and societal engagement.
Chiara Flora Bassignana
Chiara Flora Bassignana is Coordinator of the Agroecology Europe Gender and Intersectionality Working Group. As a research fellow in the agroecology group at the University of Gastronomic Sciences, her work has focused on the co-creation of agroecological knowledge, the renewal of agrobiodiversity, and the strengthening of territorial resilience.
Her publications and teaching bridge academic research with lived experience, field-based practices, and community processes. She has facilitated and evaluated living labs, trained diverse groups, contributed to interdisciplinary research, and collaborated with farmers, institutions, and civil society organizations. Through this work, she has developed a strong conviction that meaningful transitions emerge through relationships and through the creation of spaces where diverse voices can meet, exchange, and collectively shape future pathways.
Irene Katsaros
Irene Katsaros holds a Master’s degree in Agroecology from Wageningen University and has extensive experience coordinating research and community-based projects. She is currently working as a research fellow at University of Coimbra, positioning herself at the science–practice–movement interface. Her expertise includes agroecological transitions, permaculture, and participatory methodologies.
Her main priorities for the new mandate of Agroecology Europe are to strengthen the organisation’s role as both a movement and a political actor advocating for transformative agroecological transitions in Europe. She aims to reinforce collaboration between science, practice, and grassroots movements, deepen political advocacy within EU policy frameworks, expand youth and intergenerational engagement, and foster stronger international exchanges, particularly with actors from the Global South.
Jessica Donham
Jessica Donham is Coordinator of the Agroecology Europe Gender and Intersectionality Working Group and an agroecological farmer in Turin, Italy.
Lucas Sebastián Worsdell
Lucas Sebastian Worsdell is a PhD researcher at the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience at Coventry University, working on the Co-innovation of Caribbean Agroecological Transitions (CiCAT) project. His work highlights the radical imagination of movements which seek to strengthen autonomy, transition landscapes, and unravel the power structures which degrade their territories.
Marie-Claire Feller
Marie-Claire Feller is Community Manager of Alnarp’s Farm in Sweden.
PAOLA MIGLIORINI
Paola Migliorini is an Associate Professor in Agronomy and Crop Production at University of Gastronomic Science in Pollenzo, Italy. She is the coordinator of the Master’s programme in Agroecology and Food Sovereignty, Course Leader in Agroecology, Sustainable and Supervisor of the Organic Agriculture and Educational Garden. She is also a coordinator of Agroecology’s Research Group, working on several research projects at EU, national and regional levels. As Founder and former President (2018-2022), she is currently a board member of Agroecology Europe. She serves as Scientific referent for AEEU in the H2020 AGROMIX project. She was a board member of IFOAM AgriBioMediettaneo from 2005 to 2015. She is the author of over 100 technical and scientific publications.
“My desire is that AEEU can enhance is influence in advocacy at the European level, and bring together different actors from movement, science and practices in joint forces to enlarge the development of agroecology in Europe.” – Alexander Wezel