Stefanos Fotiou is an expert on sustainable development and currently serving as the Regional Coordinator of the UNEP’s “Resource Efficiency” programme for the Asia and the Pacific region. Before joining the United Nations Environment Programme, he was the Managing Director of a consultancy company, supporting governments and the industry on issues related to economics and sustainable development. His professional experience includes also posts in the Environment General Directorate of the European Commission (monitoring and evaluation expert), the Greek Biotope Wetland Centre (head of the Sustainable Development unit) and the Aristotle University (Research Associate).

Stefanos has coordinated, or involved as a principal expert in, the development of national, regional, global and sectoral studies and strategies related to sustainable development and he has published scientific papers, monographs and a number of articles on economics of the environment, sustainable development, information economics and natural resource management. He has conceptualized, and been actively involved in the implementation of international projects in the area of sustainable development.

He has also an extensive experience as an educator; he has taught as a visiting lecture in the Department of Planning and Management of Natural Resources of the Aristotle University and in the Department of Business Administration of the University of Macedonia. He has planned and instructed a number of high-level capacity building seminars co-organised with internationally acclaimed academic organisations, including the University of Oxford, the NYC University, the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, etc. He has been member in steering committees of international research and development initiatives and has served as:

•National expert of Greece in the EU 6th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development

•Scientific Coordinator and member of the Steering Committee of the European Regional Program of Innovative Actions;

•Deputy Division coordinator in the International Union of Forest Research Organizations;

•Advisor in bi-lateral and multi-lateral development projects

He is currently a member in the Editorial Board of the Journal of Coastal Management (Elsevier publisher) and a reviewer in various scientific journals.

He holds a University Diploma in Forestry, a PhD in Environmental Resource Economics a Master in Information Systems and post-graduate certificates in “Economics of Technological and Institutional Change”, “GIS and Remote Sensing”, “Non-linear analysis” “Agro-business Management and Marketing” and “Total Quality Management”.

His work within UNEP concentrates in the following thematic areas:

•Sustainable Consumption and Production

•Green Economy

•Businesses and Environment

•Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility

•Policies for sustainable development