Keynote and Plenary Speakers
ISDRS 32nd Annual Conference
Plenary session 1 – Innovation and sustainability (July 8th)
Sjors Witjes
I inspire and motivate people to find innovative ways to contribute to a better society. Being at the center of the latest developments, I bring together ideas, knowledge and people to facilitate transformations at all organizational levels. Continuously working on a corporate culture based on sustainability and innovation, enables employees as well as the entire organization to reach its goals.
As an entrepreneurial academic and consultant, I have been part of Organizational Sustainability and Innovation processes in companies in Europe, Latin America and the US and I have supported the United Nations, governments and standardization organizations on Organizational Sustainability. In my academic work in I have been developing and engaging in approaches to actively contribute to improved Organizational Sustainability and Innovation.
Currently, I am associate professor for Organizational Sustainability and Circularity at Radboud University in the Netherlands and program director of the Science for Sustainability master, member of the supervisory board of the second smallest incinerator in the Netherlands ARN and past president of the ISDRS.
Fabiana Franco
Doctor in Health Communication and the Environment. Business Impact Management at Espirito Santo Environmental Secretary. ESG Consultant. Professor, Speaker and co-host of the PodCast “SustentavelMente” (Sustainable Mind). Innovation Coordinator for Labfuturos.
João Bosco Reis da Silva
ArcelorMittal Flat Carbon Latin America Sustainability and Institutional Relations Director, he holds a degree in mechanical engineering, an MBA in Business Management and specializations in Environmental Management and Quality and Productivity. During his career of more than 20 years of experience in the steel production sector, he has held various roles, including that of Corporate and Social Responsibility Project Manager for the ArcelorMittal Group, in Luxembourg, from 2007 to 2010. He is currently a director of the State of Espírito Santo Industries Federation (FINDES), having served as Chair of the Environment and Sustainability Thematic Board from 2017 to 2020.
Plenary session 2 – Tourism and Sustainability (July 9th)
David Perkins
David R. Perkins IV, Ph.D. is a tenured Associate Professor of Geography and Sustainable Tourism at Missouri State University (MSU), where he also serves as Sustainability Programs Director in the School of Earth, Environment, and Sustainability. In this role, he leads curriculum development, teaches across sustainability, tourism, and geography programs, and advises students.
Dr. Perkins has played key roles in creating and developing several academic programs at MSU, including the sustainability minor, the sustainable tourism development minor, the sustainability graduate certificate, the Geography & Sustainability major (sustainable development emphasis), and the MPS–MDP (Master of Professional Studies–Master’s in Development Practice) in partnership with the Global Association for MDP.
His philosophical approach to the concept of sustainability is underlined through a geographic-type epistemology utilizing a nexus of sustainability’s ‘four cornerstones’ of environment, society, culture, and economy which is applied through the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Dr. Perkins’ research and outreach focus on sustainable tourism for community development, sustainability-based strategic planning in the private sector, curriculum design for sustainability education, and human–weather interactions in organizational strategy. Recent projects include working with regional leaders to develop Sustainable Community Development Goals for the Ozarks mountain region, advising manufacturing firms on sustainability implementation, and designing participatory sustainability engagement strategies in the Brazilian Amazon and urban Japan. His work appears in interdisciplinary journals such as International Journal of Biometeorology, Weather Climate & Society, Atmosphere, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Physical Geography, International Journal of Cardiology, and Governance for Sustainable Development Review. He has presented research at more than 30 conferences in the U.S. and abroad.
Dr. Perkins holds a BSBA from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an MA in Geography from UNC–Chapel Hill, and a Ph.D. in Geography (tourism biometeorology focus) from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. His professional experience includes consulting with Deloitte, postdoctoral research at George Mason University on nationwide climate-change communication, and ongoing consulting as CEO and founder of Beyond Green Sustainability Consulting LLC. He also serves as board member–elect for both the International Sustainable Development Research Society (ISDRS) and the National Professional Science Master’s Association (NPSMA).
In his free time, Dr. Perkins enjoys traveling with his family. His travels are extensive. Internationally he has traveled to more than 59 countries and territories across every continent except Antarctica; domestically, he has visited all 50 U.S. states and nearly half of U.S. counties (47.9%, or 1,507 counties).
Caio Fanha
Graduated in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing from CESUPA; holds a postgraduate degree in Marketing Management from ESPM–São Paulo; and a Professional Master’s dual degree in Management Science and International Management from the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium, and the University of Sydney, Australia (Top 3 in the Financial Times Ranking).
He is the Coordinator of the International Office at CESUPA and the creator of the Amazon Experience, one of Brazil’s most innovative internationalization programs focused on the Amazon. With an emphasis on sustainability, bioeconomy, and cultural immersion, the Amazon Experience brings students and researchers from around the world to the Amazon for academic, technical, and community-based learning in the heart of the largest tropical rainforest on the planet.
Plenary session 3 – Climate change and Sustainability (July 10th)
Rodrigo Paiva
Graduated in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing from CESUPA; holds a postgraduate degree in Marketing Management from ESPM–São Paulo; and a Professional Master’s dual degree in Management Science and International Management from the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium, and the University of Sydney, Australia (Top 3 in the Financial Times Ranking).
He is the Coordinator of the International Office at CESUPA and the creator of the Amazon Experience, one of Brazil’s most innovative internationalization programs focused on the Amazon. With an emphasis on sustainability, bioeconomy, and cultural immersion, the Amazon Experience brings students and researchers from around the world to the Amazon for academic, technical, and community-based learning in the heart of the largest tropical rainforest on the planet.
Gustavo Lagares
Gustavo Lagares holds a bachelor's and a master’s degree in international relations from UFU, a PhD in Political Ecology from PUC MG, and is a postgraduate student in Applied Ecopsychology at Koru Ecopsychology. Together with his partner, he founded the Onde Aterrar Institute. He is a psychoanalyst that research mental health in the Anthropocene, and lives on a small farm in the countryside of Minas Gerais, where he seeks to integrate ecotherapeutic and agroecological practices.