Third European Forum – ‘City of Future’

Jonathan Wolff is a Senior Research Fellow at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, where he serves as the Blavatnik Chair in Public Policy. Having worked as both a political philosopher and a policy adviser, with a particular interest in questions of equality, disadvantage, and social justice, he has also published a book City of Equals (OUP 2024) co-authored with Avner de-Shalit. His recent work has discussed social equality, poverty, and social exclusion, as well as methodology in political philosophy. He was elected to the British Academy in 2023 and is the current President of the Royal Institute of Philosophy. He Co-chaired the WHO Working Group on the Ethics and Governance of the Access to COVID Tools-Accelerator and continues to work with the WHO.

Avner de-Shalit is a professor of political science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he also served as head of the Department of Political Science and a dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences. Since earning his PhD at Oxford, he has been working on environmental philosophy, urban political theory, and issues of poverty and inequality. He is the recipient of the Rothschild Prize in the Social Sciences (2014), the EMET Prize (2018), and The Inspirational Teacher Prize from the Israeli National Union of Students (2019). He is the author of 9 books that apply his method of research in political philosophy, which he calls ‘Public Reflective Equilibrium’. His most recent book, City of Equals co-authored with Jonathan

Carsten Beck. Director and Futurist. The Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies (CIFS). CIFS is an independent think tank. CIFS purpose is to help people and organisations imagine, work with, and shape their future. CIFS works in 40+ countries with public and private organisations. Carsten Beck has been working with partners and clients in 30+ countries with foresight, scenario processes and megatrends analysis. You can learn more about CIFS at www.cifs.dk.

Prof. Elvio Baccarini teaches Ethics and Political Philosophy at the University of Rijeka. He holds a PhD from the University of Trieste (Italy). His work focuses on areas such as public decision-making and democracy, multiculturalism and pluralism, medical ethics, and the ethics of enhancement. He has published several books and articles in journals such as Journal of Medical Ethics, International Studies in the Philosophy of Science, Grazer Philosophische Studien, Acta Analytica, Philosophies, and others. He has also taught as a guest lecturer in the MA programs in Philosophy, Politics, and Public Affairs at the University Vita-Salute San Raffaele Milano and the State University of Milan, as well as in the MA program in Philosophy, Politics, and Ethics at the University of Bochum.

Ida Križaj Leko (1983) is an architect working in field of architectural practice, concepts and pedagogy. She was honored with national award for best interior in 2018 for reconstruction of coworking space ”RiHub” in co-authorship with Ana Boljar. Renovation project of an existing space in Rijeka for children and their families who live on the edge of poverty – ”My place under the sun”, in which she was co-author, mentor and project leader, was nominated for Mies van der Rohe Award 2024. From 2022, she is Head of Urban Studies at University of Rijeka – interdisciplinary post-master program. She is the curator of the Croatian Pavillion titled ‘’Inteligence of Errors’’ for La Biennale di Venezia 2025.

Mr. Marko Filipović was born in Rijeka, on 22 July 1980. Mr. Filipović finished the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the University of Rijeka in 2004. After finishing University and passing the Professional exam for carrying out urban planning and civil engineering activities in the field of civil engineering, Mr. Filipović started his professional career. Mr. Filipović began his political career in 1998 as a member of the Social Democratic Party of Croatia, holding various positions in the City of Rijeka as well as the Primorje – Gorski Kotar County as City Council and County Assembly member. In the period from 2008 – 2010, Mr. Filipović held the position of International Secretary of SDP Croatia Youth Forum. Within the City of Rijeka, Mr. Filipović was a member of the Commission in charge of development, urban planning, ecology and land management, 2008 – 2009. In 2013 Mr. Filipović started his position as the Deputy Mayor of the City of Rijeka, which he held until 2021, when he was elected Mayor of the City of Rijeka. Mr. Filipović is Vice president of the Association of Cities in the Republic of Croatia since 2021 as well as Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South-East Europe (NALAS) since 2022.

Tomislav Tomašević was born in Zagreb in 1982. He completed his studies at the Faculty of Political Science in 2010 and earned a master’s degree from the University of Cambridge in 2013 in the field of environment, society, and development. At the age of 16, he joined the environmental organization Green Action, where he served as president from 2007 to 2012. He was also the president of the Croatian Youth Network and, simultaneously, a member of the Croatian Government’s Youth Council. In 2006, he participated in launching the Right to the City initiative, and from 2012 to 2015, he was a member of the Government’s Council for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development. Tomašević was not a member of any political party until the founding of Zagreb je Naš! (Zagreb is Ours!), through which he was elected to the Zagreb City Assembly in 2017. On May 30, 2021, he was elected Mayor of Zagreb in a direct election as the candidate of the coalition Možemo! – Zagreb je naš! – Nova ljevica – Zelena alternativa ORaH – Za grad.

Ivica Puljak completed his primary and secondary education in Split, where he graduated from the Technical School. In 1994, he earned a degree in electrical engineering from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Naval Architecture in Split. He then pursued an academic career focused on particle physics, obtaining a master’s degree in 1997 from the Faculty of Science in Zagreb. His doctoral dissertation in particle physics was conducted at CERN and École Polytechnique, and he earned his PhD in 2000 from Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris. As a co-author of over 1,000 scientific papers and a participant in more than 600 science popularization projects, Ivica Puljak is one of Croatia’s most prominent physicists. Since 1994, he has been employed at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Naval Architecture in Split, where he was a tenured full professor before taking on political roles. Additionally, he has served as a visiting scientist at CERN in Geneva and a visiting professor at École Polytechnique in France. He is particularly known for his contribution to the discovery of the Higgs boson, where he was part of the large team of scientists working on this groundbreaking discovery within the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Switzerland. Puljak is also active in politics—he was the secretary and a member of the presidency of the Pametno party, and after its merger with the Party with a First and Last Name, he became the political secretary of the Centar party.

Filip Zoričić (born May 28, 1982, in Split) is a Croatian politician, professor of Croatian language and literature and history, and a doctor of humanities. He has served as the Mayor of Pula since June 2021. Zoričić completed his primary education in his hometown of Split and attended the Archdiocesan Classical High School Don Frane Bulić in Split as a seminarian. In 2005, he graduated from the Faculty of Humanities in Pula, which was then part of the University of Rijeka. In January 2021, he earned his PhD from the Faculty of Humanities in Split with a dissertation titled “Vlado Gotovac: Ideas and Life.” From 2006 to 2018, he worked as a history and Croatian language and literature teacher at Pula Gymnasium. In June 2018, he was elected principal of the same institution. As both a scholar and an active member of various NGOs, he has contributed to the promotion of science and culture in Pula and the broader Croatian context. He served as an independent councilor in the Stari Grad Pula local committee for two terms (2016–2020, 2020–2021). In the 2021 local elections, he won in the second round on May 30, defeating the IDS candidate Elena Puh Belci, and was elected Mayor of Pula as an independent candidate.