We were part of this years UN75 Dialogue! On May 11th, our initiative led an online discussion about the topic: “Should space protection be added on a global agenda?”. This roundtable discussion was held online with international experts on the topic. You can watch the recording of this very insightful discussion here, on this website or on Youtube.
Down below you can have a look at the panellists who participated in the dialogue. A short bibliography of each participant is written on this website, but more information can be found online and on their social media profiles.
The panellists
Agnieszka Lukaszczyk
Senior Director for European Affairs at Planet
Agnieszka Lukaszczyk is a Senior Director for European Affairs at Planet. A Polish/American national, has worked at the European Commission, Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, Space Data for Societal Challenges and Growth Unit. She also worked at the Directorate General for Enterprise and Industry, Space Policy and Research Unit. Before she joined the Commission, Agnieszka was the Brussels Office Director for the Secure World Foundation. In addition, she is the former Chairperson and the former Executive Director of the Space Generation Advisory Council in Support of the United Nations Programme on Space Applications. Agnieszka also worked at the European Space Policy Institute as a research fellow. Agnieszka serves as the Vice President – Europe for the World Space Week And Sits on the Board Of Directors for the Women in Aerospace-Europe. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Space Security at the Polish Defence Academy. She holds a Master’s degree from the Warsaw School of Economics in Management of Space in New Economies and a Master’s degree from the American University School of International Service in International Politics plus a Bachelor degree in Political Science from the University of Tennessee. She also studied at the Universite Catholique de Louvain in Brussels, Belgium; the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland and the World Trade Institute in Berne, Switzerland. She gained professional experience at the Political Section of the Polish Embassy in Washington DC, American Electronics Association in Brussels, European Department of the Polish Senate in Warsaw and the Warsaw Business Journal.
Michelle L.D. Hanlon
Co-Founder For All Moonkind, Permanent Observer at United Nations Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space
Michelle is Co-Director of the Air and Space Law Program at the University of Mississippi School of Law and its Center for Air and Space Law. She is also a Co-Founder and President of For All Moonkind, Inc., a nonprofit corporation that is the only organization in the world focused on protecting human cultural heritage in outer space. For All Moonkind has been recognized by the United Nations as a Permanent Observer to the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. Michelle Chairs the International Committee of the National Space Society and is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Space Law, the world’s oldest law journal dedicated to the legal problems arising out of human activities in outer space.
Tomas Hrozensky
Resident Research Fellow at the European Space Policy Institute & Chairman at Slovak Space Policy Association
Tomas Hrozensky is a Resident Research Fellow at the European Space Policy Institute in Vienna, Austria, focusing primarily on space safety, security and sustainability and space diplomacy. He holds MA and PhD in international relations from the Matej Bel University in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia. Previously he was a visiting Fulbright Scholar at the Space Policy Institute of the George Washington University, researcher for the Space Security Index 2017 and member of Slovak delegation to the UN COPUOS. Tomas has several years of volunteer experience in the Space Generation Advisory Council and in his home country, Slovakia, he is chairing the Slovak Space Policy Association NGO, which also serves as a national point of contact for Slovakia in the European Centre for Space Law.
Pedro Russo
Assistant professor of astronomy & society at Leiden Observatory and coordinator of the Astronomy & Society group
Pedro Russo is an assistant professor in Astronomy & Society at Leiden University, the Netherlands, where he leads the Astronomy & Society Group. Dr. Russo was the global coordinator for the United Nation’s International Year of Astronomy in 2009. Pedro obtained his university degree in applied mathematics, physics and astronomy from the University of Porto, Portugal. He was a research fellow at the Max Plank Institute for Solar System Research in Germany and is now involved with several international organisations, like the International Astronomical Union, European Astronomical Society, Europlanet (European Planetology Network), the International Astronautical Federation. His work has received several awards, such as Seeds Special Award 2009, Scientix Best Educational Resource in 2015 and 2016, Most Innovative Educational Activities in 2017 and 2018 by HundrED and 2018 Leiden University’s K.J. Cath Prize.
Adam Rogers
Strategic Communication Adviser with the United Nations
In 1996, Adam Rogers left an exciting career with an e-commerce startup he co-founded and reluctantly agreed to join the United Nations for a year to head up the communications office of the UN Capital Development Fund. He told his partners he would be back in 12 months, but 22 years later he was still there, having been on missions to more than 50 countries and worked at three different organizations: UNCDF, the UN Development Programme and the UN Office for South-South Cooperation. He is now retired but continues working as a strategic advisor and consultant to the organization. When asked what motivates him the most his answer is simple: a world formed and informed by the SDGs.
Adam’s current work is with UN Volunteers, where he leads the communication effort behind the Plan of Action to Integrate Volunteering into the 2030 Agenda. Adam also is supporting UNDP in Ukraine with its response to the COVID-19 pandemic and with overall strategic communication in support of its portfolio of programmes there.
He is the world’s 10th most successful influencer on UN issues on Twitter, as tracked by UN Social 500 (just four spots behind UN Secretary-General António Guterres) and Onalytica ranked him as the second top influencer in sustainability (just behind Bill Gates and ahead of Jeff Sachs).
Adam’s most recent published work includes The Intrepid Traveler: The ultimate guide to responsible, ecological, and personal-growth travel and tourism and The No Mammal Manifesto: Diet for a new and more sustainable world.
Romana Kofler
Programme Management Officer at UNOOSA United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs
Romana works as Programme Officer at the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), the Committee, Policy and Legal Affairs section. Her work includes supporting intergovernmental negotiations pertaining to space matters in the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, its Subcommittees and Working Groups. She serves as the Secretariat to the Working Group on the “Space2030” Agenda, which is mandated to negotiate a “Space2030” agenda and its implementation plan in support of sustainable development goals, by 2020. She also serves as the Secretariat to the “Space Mission Planning Advisory Group” (SMPAG) that coordinates international efforts to prepare to meet a potential threat to our planet by hazardous near-Earth Objects (NEOs).
She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations – Political Science from the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences and a Master’s Degree in Asia-Pacific and International Relations from the Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, Japan.
Romana joined the United Nations after successfully passing the Young Professionals Programme Exam. Prior to that, she worked as an Adviser to the parliamentary Committee on the EU Affairs in the Slovenian National Assembly.
SDG 18 - SPACE FOR ALL 