Mayor of Malaga, Spain

He has been Mayor of Malaga since 2000, and was re-elected by an absolute majority on three consecutive occasions (2003, 2007 and 2011). He was also re-elected in 2015 and 2019. Mayor De La Torre Prados has been the Vice President of the Euro-Mediterranean Paternariado of Regional and Local Assembly (since 2010), and Vice President of the Euro-Mediterranean Association of Local and Regional Assembly. He has notable involvement in the development of Malaga as a pioneer city in Smart City and Sustainable Development. 

Mayor De La Torre Prados has Chaired the Finance Commission, as well as the Mobility and Accessibility Commission of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces. He was elected Deputy for Malaga, from 1977 to 1982, and Senator for the Constituency of Malaga, from 2011 to 2014. He was National Deputy and Adviser in the first pre-autonomous Government of Andalusia. At the Spanish Congreso de los Diputados, he is a member of the Budget Committee and the Tourism, Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Committee.

In 2017. he was awarded by the French Republic, the Legion of Honor for his role in building cultural relations with France. In 2018, he received the Pushkin Medal from the Russian Federation for promoting cultural ties between Russia and Spain. In 2019, he was awarded the Distinction of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan for his outstanding contribution in the promotion of friendly relations between Japan and Spain.

Mayor De La Torre Prados graduated with a PhD in Agronomy from the University of Madrid, Regional Development Specialist at the University of Rennes (France), as well as a BA in Sociology from the University of Málaga.

He was born in Malaga in 1942. He is married and has four children.

Urbanist, sustainability educator, and social innovator

May East is a British/Brazilian urbanist, sustainability educator, and social innovator. Her work spans the fields of cultural geography, urban ecology, and women’s studies. A UNITAR Fellow, she holds a Master of Science in Spatial Planning with specialization in the rehabilitation of abandoned villages and a PhD in Architecture and Urban Planning on the topic “What if Women Designed the City?”. Her research interests, also, include nature-based solutions for urban planning and the use of regenerative design approaches for shaping eco-communities, mining cities, slums, transition and abandoned towns. Her passion is to co-develop Project-Based Learning trajectories supporting indigenous and migrant communities and their traditions to survive in rapidly changing environments while enhancing their opportunities to become the designers of their desired future.  She works with community-based organisations and intergovernmental agencies in policy guidance for SDGs implementation with projects seeking to strengthen climate resilience, food security and women’s empowerment. May was designated one of the 100 Global Sustainability Leaders by Showcase Asia and ABC Carbon three years in a row and Women of the Decade in Sustainability and Leadership by Women Economic Forum 2019.

Professor, University of Newcastle, Australia

Distinguished Laureate Professor Sanson-Fisher leads the Health Behaviour Research Collaborative at the University of Newcastle, Australia. His past roles include the Director of CIFAL Newcastle (United Nations Institute for Training and Research). He has an outstanding global reputation as a leader in health behaviour research recognised by his award of Officer of the Order of Australia and Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. His work is known for successfully combining behavioural and public health approaches to health promotion, health service evaluation and improvement, with a particular focus on vulnerable populations. His ability to conduct innovative and responsive research is demonstrated by his more than 600 peer-reviewed publications and over AUD$52 million in competitive research funding. L/Prof Sanson-Fisher is a member of the International Scientific Advisory Committee for Knowledge Translation Canada and a member of the faculty for knowledge translation for the National Institute of Health (USA) and National Cancer Institute (USA).

CEO of London-based Global Education Holdings Ltd (GEDU)

Dr Rana completed an MBA from Ohio University and gained an MSc and PhD from Stevens Institute of Technology. Dr Rana has executed a number of complex cross-border equity/debt-structured investments and finance transactions in the UK, Canada, Australia, South Africa, and Hong Kong while working at HSBC’s New York office. He enjoys evaluating different global education models and applying them to unlock the potential of students in accessing education. He has also written a textbook, Dr Rana on Applied Corporate Valuation and Financial Modelling. He is the Group CEO of London-based Global Education Holdings Ltd (GEDU).

Executive Vice President of the Shanghai Arbitration Commission (SHAC)

Dr. Fan serves as the Executive Vice President of the Shanghai Arbitration Commission (SHAC).    He has extensive knowledge of the Asia-Pacific region and is an experienced arbitrator.  Over 200 arbitration proceedings have been conducted with him as presiding arbitrator, sole arbitrator or co-arbitrator under the rules of UNCITRAL, CAS, SIAC, HKIAC, KCAB, CIETAC, etc. 

On top of commercial arbitration, Dr. Fan’s appointments and tenures witness his extensive experiences in the niche disciplines of sports and international investment arbitration.  

Dr. Fan is a panel arbitrator of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and a Council Member of the China Court of Arbitration for Sport (CCAS).  He chaired the Arbitration Commission of the Chinese Football Association between 2019 and 2023 and served on the ad hoc panel of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou in 2023 as well as the 9th Asian Winter Games in Harbin.

Dr. Fan is one of the four ICSID arbitrators by the PRC government to the ICSID panel as well as a Fellow of Roma Tre-UNIDROIT "Center for Transnational Commercial Law and Investment Arbitration”.

Before joining SHAC, Dr. Fan served as Director of Arbitration and ADR for North Asia of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) between 2016 and 2021 and as a law professor for 13 years at the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, one of the leading law schools in Shanghai, PR China, during which he was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Duke University, the United States. He received Ph. D from the East China University of Political Science and Law in PR China and LLM from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom.