IOANNIS FALLAS

Dr. Yannis Fallas holds a PhD in Clusters in Traditional Sectors of the Economy from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and is a Dipl. Mining Engineer of National Technical University of Athens. He has been the Project Manager of many Innovation and Research projects and coordinated important Regional Innovation projects, such as the Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS and RIS+), the Regional Innovation Pole, theRegional Innovation Office of Western Macedonia, the successful proposal of the City of Kozani for the 100 Climate and Smart Cities by 2030, etc. He established and is currently the Director of the Bioeconomy and Environment Cluster in Western Macedonia (CluBE), coordinating the efforts of many European projects and numerous innovative initiatives**.** Representing CluBE, he is a member of international networks and fora such as the European Hydrogen Valleys Partnership, the Biobased Industries Consortium, the European Bioenergy Partnership, the Greenovate Europe network(member of the Board of Directors), Innovawood, the former European Bioeconomy Stakeholders Panel of the European Commission (DG RTD), ICLEI – the Local Governments for Sustainability network, the Hellenic - German and the Hellenic – American Chambers of Commerce, the Regional Committee for Research and Innovation of Western Macedonia, the Greek Bioeconomy Forum (co-founder), etc