Piet Kommers
Short bio: Piet Kommers, PhD and associate professor at University of Twente, received the Honorary Professor title for his research in Learning Technologies. He is pioneer in media education from the mid seventies and leader of NATO Advanced Research Workshops on Cognitive Learning Tools. UNESCO professor and scientific leader with extensive experience in educational technology and social media. ” …. Media have proved to be instrumental to societal evolution the last few decades: the smart phone, virtual reality, interactive video, hypermedia, expert systems, modelling and simulations.” He is Ph.D. holder in Educational- and Media Design, with a Master in Pedagogy and a Bachelor degree in Teacher Education. Received the prestigious academic award for innovative ‘Experimental Design’ and was very early offered a research position in collaborative group problem solving wherein he designed the ‘Concise Urban Planning Task’. Long-term experience at management level coupled with a strategic appreciation and vision. Methodical in evaluation and systematic implementation. A strong work ethic with a high level of personal integrity (leading by example); able to create trust in teams.
Soumodip Sarkar
Short bio: Soumodip Sarkar is a Full Professor at the Department of Management, University of Évora, Portugal, and researcher at CEFAGE-UE. He is currently also an Associate (Non-resident Fellow) of the Asia Center at Harvard University. He is also the Vice-Rector of the University of Évora, as well as the Executive President of the Science Park of the region (PACT). His current research interests include innovation, entrepreneurship and sustainability. His recent research has been published in high impact journals such as: Scientometrics, Journal of Business Venturing, Journal of Small Business Management, European Management Journal, Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Technology Forecasting and Social Change, Journal of Business Research, Service Business, Sustainability, Journal of Cleaner Production, Journal of Knowledge Economy, European Journal of Innovation Management, Service Industries Journal, Trends in Food Science and Technology, Regional Science and Urban Economics, Energy Journal among others. He has published four books on entrepreneurship and innovation, and his most recent book, EntreSutra was published by Bloomsbury in May 2018. He has been a coordinator as well as team member of sixteen international (EU funded) as well as regional projects, and currently involved in nine different projects.
Prof Sarkar has given a large number of international keynote speeches, and is a highly a sought after speaker on the relevance of entrepreneurship and innovation in society. He has been featured in national and international media, including the Economist and BBC.
Teresa Medeiros
Short bio: Teresa Medeiros is a Full Professor of Psychology at the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social and Human Sciences of the University of the Azores. She is Graduated in Psychology, Master in Education Sciences, Doctor in Education Sciences, Associated in Psychology and Aggregated in Developmental Psychology. She is President of the Scientific Council of the University of the Azores. She is a Researcher at the Institute of Cognitive Psychology, Social and Human Development of the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Coimbra. She teaches several subjects at the University of the Azores: Contexts of Application of Psychogerontology, Adolescent and Adult Developmental Psychology, Models of Intervention in Families and Networks.
She was Dean of Training, Mobility and Cooperation and Lifelong Learning, at the University of Azores, between 2002 and 2014. She was President of the Integrated Teacher Training Centre. She was Director of the Department of Educational Sciences of the University of the Azores and Director of the Psychology Course. She coordinates several international projects namely: (a) TuSénior 55+: Turismo sénior e bem-estar no destino Açores: Criação de um produto cultural [Senior Tourism and Wellness in the Azores: Creation of a cultural product]; (b) Turiviva+: Turismo Sénior: Rotas de Bem-Estar e Vivências Locais num Ecossistema Insular [Senior Tourism: Welfare Routes and Local Experiences in an Island Ecosystem], and (c) IDentidades 65+: Identidades e Trajetórias de Vida de Pessoas Idosas Emigrantes Açorianas no Canadá [Identities and Life Trajectories of Elderly Azorean Emigrants in Canada].
Teresa is author or co-author of 9 specialty books, dozens of book chapters and articles. She has given about 200 conferences and lectures at national and international level. She has participated in over 170 juries of academic examinations. She is a member of the Scientific Council of the World Association of Health and Wellness Tourism. She is a specialist member of the Portuguese Society of Psychogerontology and she created the Lifelong Learning Programme for senior students at the University of the Azores (2003) and coordinated it until 2014.
Joana Lima
Short bio: Joana Lima is an Assistant Professor at the University of Évora and Researcher at the CIDEHUS and GOVCOPP Research Units. Since 2015, she holds a PhD in Tourism from the University of Aveiro. Her PhD thesis focused on the effects of family tourism, particularizing the case of the low-income families. Since 2008, she was a Research Assistant in four Research Projects in Portugal, of which three were in the field of Social Tourism: two of them analysing the INATEL senior tourism programmes (2008-2009); and one regarding accessible tourism in Lousã (2010). She was the main Research Assistant in another research project (2010-2013), financed by FCT, aimed at studying the rural tourism experience and sustainable development. Her main research areas of interests are: social tourism, impacts of tourism on tourists, family tourism, rural tourism and the tourist experience. Her main publications are in the fields of rural tourism, accessible tourism and family tourism.