Mats Berdal is Professor in Security and Development in the Department of War Studies, King’s College London, where he is also the Director of the Conflict, Security and Development Research Programme (CSDRG). He previously was the Director of Studies at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) and served on the Commission of Inquiry set up by the Norwegian Government to examine Norway’s military, humanitarian and development contributions to allied operations in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2014.

Pascale Cassagnau holds a doctorate in history of art and is an art critic in charge of the audiovisual and new media collections at the Centre national des arts plastiques (Ministry of Culture). A contributor to Art Press for many years, she has written about Chris Burden, James Coleman, John Baldessari, Pierre Huyghe, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster and Matthieu Laurette, among others. Her research focuses on new cinematic practices in their cross-disciplinary dialogue with contemporary creation.

Picture: Pascale Cassagnau © PATRICK RIMOND

Djenabou Cisse is a defence and security expert, with a focus on military and operational issues. She also works on strategic and security questions in Africa (North Africa, Sahel and Gulf of Guinea). Previously, Djenabou Cisse worked for the French Ministry for Armed Forces, where she held various positions (prospective analysis, interministerial cooperation). She also teaches at Sciences Po Paris.

After studying at Le Fresnoy, the French National Studio of Contemporary Art, Clément Cogitore developed his artistic practice at the crossroads of contemporary art and cinema. Combining film, video, installations and photographs, Cogitore questions the modalities of cohabitation between humankind and its own images and representations. Rituality, collective memory, figuration of the sacred, as well as a particular idea of the permeability of worlds are leading trends in his practice. Clément Cogitore was the laureate of the prestigious Prix Marcel Duchamp in 2018.

Clément Cogitore © Kenza Wadimoff

Susan Coughtrie has been Director of international affairs think tank, the Foreign Policy Centre (FPC), since January 2023, having originally joined in 2020 as Project Director for the Unsafe for Scrutiny project, which explores the risks and threats facing journalists uncovering financial crime and corruption. The findings of this research led Susan to co-found the UK Anti-SLAPP Coalition in January 2021. Susan has undertaken a variety of consultancy work in the media sphere, having previously worked at the international free expression organisation ARTICLE 19 from 2012-2018, as an advisor to the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) from 2019-2022, and served as a board member for the Scottish investigative media outlet The Ferret from 2020-22. Susan is also a Trustee for committee for the Campaign for Freedom of Information in Scotland (CFoIS).

Brendan Curran is a senior policy fellow working on sustainable finance policy with a particular focus on just transition and place-based climate investment. Prior to joining the Grantham Institute, Brendan spent several years working on sustainable finance policy within the UK Government. Firstly, as a policy adviser on social investment within the Government Inclusive Economy Unit and more recently working with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) on green finance policy and the publication of the Net Zero Strategy.

Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer is Senior Vice President and member of the executive team of the global think tank German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF). She leads GMF’s Geostrategy policy and risk advisory work across Europe, the United States and the Indopacific region. She is a renowned expert in European affairs, transatlantic and international relations.

Laure de Roucy-Rochegonde is a Research Fellow at the Security Studies Center of the Institut français des relations internationales (IFRI). She is also an Associate Researcher at the Centre de Recherches Internationales (CERI, Sciences Po/CNRS), and a Lecturer at Sciences Po Paris and Université Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas.

Mélanie Forné is an illustrator based in the South of France after having spent 14 years in Guatemala as an archaeologist specialised in Mayan culture. In Guatemala she published a series of graphic novels for children that tell the story of a little girl called Maya. Since she returned to France, alongside her other career, she has been working as a freelancer in illustration, graphic novels, graphic and web design, as well as in science, fulfilling her passion for teaching through images.

Emily Fry joined the Resolution Foundation in 2022 as an economist focused on energy and trade. Previously she spent several years in finance, the public sector and academia primarily focused on climate change and sustainability. Emily has an economics and management degree from the University of Oxford and a Master in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School.

Melanie Garson is the Cyber Policy and Tech Geopolitics Lead at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. She is also an Associate Professor in International Conflict Resolution & International Security in the Department of Political Science at University College London, where she teaches about cyberwarfare and the future of conflict in the digital age, as well as international negotiation.

Rodney Harrison is Professor in Heritage Studies at the UCL Institute of Archaeology. His research explores the histories of heritage and museums and their future roles in light of the climate emergency. He is (co-)author and (co-)editor of 20 books and edited volumes, the latest of which is Critical Heritage Studies and the Futures of Europe.

Nancy Huston spent her childhood in Canada, her teenage years in the USA, and her adult life in France. Writing in both English and French, she practises various genres: novels, essays, children books, scenarios, and plays, mostly published by the Editions Actes Sud in France and Leméac in French Canada. Her works have won a wide amount of prizes. Her novel, Fault Lines, has been translated in over forty languages.

Sébastien Krier is currently a Policy Development & Strategy Manager at DeepMind, specialising in the intersection of research and strategy to shape DeepMind’s policies on frontier AI governance issues. Before joining DeepMind, he served as a Senior Technology Policy Researcher at Stanford University’s Cyber Policy Centre. Earlier, he advised various governments and organisations on AI policy and governance.

Aline Magnien is Heritage General Curator at the French Ministry of Culture; and was the head of the ministry’s Research Laboratory on Historical Monuments until October 2023. Since the 15th of April 2019, she has taken part in the restoration of Notre-Dame as the Director of the LRMH (Laboratoire de Recherche des Monuments Historiques). She was also one of the four coordinators for the Notre-Dame Scientific Workshop, a member of the National Commission for Heritage and Architecture, and a member of the Committee for the Scientific and Technical control of the State. She was previously in charge of the Musée Rodin’s collections (2007-2015).

Sébastien Maillard is an Associate Fellow at Chatham House, and Special Advisor at the Institut Jacques Delors, having previously been its Director. Prior to this, he worked at the French newspaper La Croix, as its correspondent in Brussels and Rome. In addition, he has taught EU Affairs at Sciences Po Paris and Boston College.

Dominique Marchais is a filmmaker and scriptwriter. After studying philosophy at Sorbonne Paris 4, he worked as a film critic from 1994 to 1998 at Les Inrockuptibles magazine. From 1998 to 2002, he was a selector for the Belfort film festival – Entrevues. In 2003, he directed his first film, the short Lenz échappé. Since Le temps des grâces in 2010, he has worked on the relationship between landscape and politics through the form of documentary cinema.

Cecilia Mascolo is Full Professor in Mobile Systems in the Department of Computer Science and Technology, University of Cambridge. She is Director of the Centre for Mobile, Wearable System and Augmented Intelligence. She is also a Fellow of Jesus College Cambridge and the recipient of an ERC Advanced Research Grant. Her research interests are in mobile and wearable systems and machine learning for mobile and wearable health and fitness.

Jérémy Mast is the representative for the French Ministry of Ecology in the UK, serving as Sustainable Development Counsellor at the French Embassy in London since September 2022. He joined the Ministry in 2020, initially as deputy to the head of the financial aid for housing office, where he notably worked on simplifying financial aid for energy renovation. He then went on to advise the General Director for Energy and Climate during the French Presidency of the European Union, during which time he monitored the negotiations on the “Fit for 55” package within the Council of the European Union and led internal discussions on the theme of “just transition”. Jérémy has a master’s degree from Sciences-Po Paris and has studied at the Ecole Nationale d’Administration.

Delphine Mercier is a sociologist specialised in migration and labour issues in the context of globalisation. She is currently the Director of Research at the CNRS in France, and the deputy director of the Laboratoire d’Économie et de Sociologie du Travail. Her latest research focuses on the integration of Syrian refugees in the labour markets of Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.

Carl Miller is the Founder of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at Demos in 2011 and CASM Technology in 2014, and has spent the last decade researching social media intelligence (SOCMINT), extremism, online electoral interference, radicalisation, digital politics, conspiracy theories, cyber-crime, and Internet governance. He is the author of The Death of the Gods: The New Global Power Grab (Penguin Random House), and the presenter of Power Trip: The Age of AI (Intelligence Squared).

Cyril Neyrat is artistic director of FIDMarseille (Marseille International Film Festival). He also writes for films and on film. Associate editor to the Éditions de l’oeil (Montreuil, France), he recently published Matériaux Pedro Costa, co-edited with Luc Chessel (2022) and edited Whit Stillman, L’ancien est le nouveau and Paul Vecchiali. Once More (FID/editions de l’oeil, 2023). He is the author of several books based on long conversations with filmmakers (Pedro Costa, Jean-Claude Rousseau, Miguel Gomes and Pierre Creton) and of many articles on Jean-Luc Godard’s work.

Xavier Rival is an aeronautical Engineer and holds a Master of Arts in Defence Studies from King’s College London. He joined the Ecole de l’Air et de l’Espace in 2000, qualified as a fighter pilot and commanded a fighter squadron. He is the Air and Space Attaché at the French Embassy in London.

Marie Roussie is a Research Engineer at Mines Paris – Université PSL. Since the launch of the Red Team Defence project, she has been working with the team of authors, scriptwriters and illustrators on their management research. She has co-authored a number of articles on science fiction as a way of differently thinking about innovation.

Antoine and Greg Saults are two brothers who decided to leave France to settle down in London. They went up and down London venues and festivals and recorded at Abbey Road. In an interview for Music Week magazine about his frequent discoveries of new musical talents on social media, the legendary founder and guitarist of The Who mentioned Saults: “They are in the same league as The 1975. (…). They are strong and authentic.”

François Schuiten is a Belgian comic book artist and set designer. Currently, he is working on The Obscure Cities graphic novel series as well as The Hollow Grounds trilogy. He has also designed countless posters, illustrations, screen prints and lithographs. He received the Grand Prix de la Ville d’Angoulême in 2002 for his works.

Charlotte Sector is a spokesperson for the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland in charge of multimedia content. Prior to that, she worked as an Executive Producer at France 24 in Paris where she helped launch the channel in 2006.

Rory Stewart is a former UK cabinet Minister and Diplomat and Member of Parliament for Penrith and the Border. He served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was a Professor at Harvard University and has written a number of bestselling books, including Politics on the Edge: A Memoir from Within. He currently teaches Grand Strategy at Yale University and co-presents the UK’s top podcast, The Rest Is Politics, with Alastair Campbell.

Apolline Taillandier is a political theorist and historian specialising on transhumanism, liberalism, feminist thought, and artificial intelligence projects from the postwar period onwards. Her current research is on the history of artificial intelligence from the 1960s onwards, focusing on the ways feminist ideas have influenced projects in computer programming and computer education.

Lionel Tarassenko CBE is the President of Reuben College, and Lead for the AI & Machine Learning research cluster. He is a world-leading expert in the application of signal processing and machine learning to healthcare. He is the founding Director of Oxehealth, an applied AI company whose products are deployed in 40% of NHS Mental Health Trusts.

Rob Woodside is the Director of Conservation and Estates at English Heritage, making him responsible for the conservation of the National Heritage Collection, 420 of some of the most significant ancient and historic building and monuments in England. He is the author of the Sustainable Conservation Principles that set out the English Heritage approach to adaptive conservation, biodiversity, environmental sustainability, climate change and skills training.