Speakers 10.12.2025

Marta Gaworska holds a M. Sc, Eng. in forestry and has more than 20 years of working experiences in the forestry sector. Her professional activities have been connected with both policy developments and implementations, particularly in the field of sustainable forest management. Her previous positions have involved working for the FOREST EUROPE, Confederation of European Forest Owners, the Ministry of the Environment and the Poland’s State Forests. Most recently she holds the environmental attaché position in the Permanent Representation of Poland to the European Union. 

She has experiences in representing the forestry sector at different international forums, including a broad range of EU meetings and the United Nations Forum on Forests. She was the leader of UNECE/FAO Team of Specialist of Forest Policy, a chairperson for the ECE Committee on Forests the Forests Industry. She closely followed major forest policy developments, also in the area of climate change, biodiversity protection, renewable energy, regional and rural development. 

Gerfried Gruber holds a master in Austrian and European Law and has been working on European policy topics for more than 25 years, since 2008 in management positions. During his two terms, in total 10 years, at the Permanent Representation of Austria to the EU, Gerfried Gruber took charge of different policy areas, with focus on the CAP, including preparation and execution of the Austrian EU-Presidency in 2018. Since May 2020, he takes charge of national and international forest policy issues, forest strategies and stakeholder processes in forestry, as well as forest statistics and reporting. 

Christian Holzleitner is currently Head of Unit responsible for Land economy and Carbon removals at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Climate Action. Previously, he worked as Head of Unit for Finance for Innovation and Land Use and assistant to the Director-General for Climate Action covering all issues related to EU and international climate policy; and at the Directorate-General for Competition in the area of State aid for services of general economic interest in the postal, transport, and health sectors.
Before joining the European Commission, Christian worked as senior manager with KPMG Germany on international transfer pricing. 
Christian is an economist and holds a PhD from the University of Linz (Austria). 
 

Doris Wydra is Senior Postdoctoral Researcher at the Salzburg Centre of European Union Studies, University of Salzburg, where she also served as Executive Director. Her research spans EU politics, external relations, and neighbourhood policy, with a particular focus on the Western Balkans. She has contributed to major international projects on contestation and EU enlargement and previously worked in Ukraine and Russia. In addition to her work on democracy, illiberalism, and contested EU actorness, she investigates the evolving landscape of EU forest-policy instruments and the political struggles that shape their meaning, uptake, and implementation.

Sarah Adams leads communication and dissemination activities for EFI’s Mediterranean and Genetics Resources Facilities. A former NGO project manager, she had broad experience in international development and marine conservation, before joining EFI where she has been leading communications activities for over 12 years.

Sarah has led and shaped EFI's network communications for the Mediterranean region and has been involved in many European-scale multidisciplinary projects. She joined the EUFORGEN Secretariat in July 2022 and  develops strategies for dissemination and communications for the Secretariat and its affiliated projects. She has a postgraduate degree in secondary education from Exeter University and a bachelor's degree in modern languages and literature from the University of Birmingham.

Helga Pülzl is Assistant Director for Policy Support of the European Forest Institute and responsible for the Policy Support Facility and its Trust Fund. Her main research interests are in European and international forest governance and policy change, bioeconomy perceptions and sustainability indicators development. She coordinates the IUFRO Working Party 9.05.01 on bioeconomy policy and holds a Phd and master’s degree in political science from the University of Vienna.