Florian Maringer has been active in the field of climate, energy and industrial policy for more than 15 years and represents these issues in national and European committees. From 2011 to 2017, he was responsible for energy, climate and industrial policy at IG Windkraft. Until the end of 2019, he was Managing Director of the Dachverbands Erneuerbare Energien Österreich and from the beginning of 2020 to the end of 2023, he was responsible for climate and energy policy as well as industrial policy issues in the cabinet of the Ministry of Climate Protection. At the beginning of 2024, he founded the KONTEXT Institut für Klimafragen together with Tina German and Katharina Rogenhofer and is on the advisory board there. Since October 2024, he has been Managing Director of the Austrian Wind Energy Association and Vice President of the European Renewable Energy Association.

Christian Teichert studied physics in Germany and, after completing his doctorate in 1992, worked as a postdoc at Forschungszentrum Jülich at the University of Wisconsin Madison, USA, and at the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics in Halle/Saale. From 1998 to 2025, he taught at the Institute of Physics at the Montanuniversität. His research was in the field of materials physics and surface science with a focus on semiconductor nanostructures and atomic force microscopy, often in the context of international project partners as well as international diploma and doctoral students of TUL. In 2023–2024, he was President of the Austrian Physical Society, where he particularly promoted the activities of the Energy and Sustainability Committee. He feels cosmopolitan and likes to hike and to experience other cultures and ways of life up close.

Frank Melcher has been head of the Chair of Geology and Mineral Deposit Theory at the University of Leoben since 2013. After studying geology in Mainz and earning a master's degree in petrology and mineralogy in Innsbruck, he received his doctorate in 1993 from the University of Leoben on gold and manganese deposits in Ghana. After a postdoctoral year at the Minnesota Geological Survey and a position as an assistant professor in Leoben, he habilitated in petrography and mineralogy in 2000. From 2000 to 2013, Melcher worked at the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources in Hanover with research on the supply of critical raw materials to the EU and the development of fingerprinting methods for conflict minerals from Central Africa. Additional research focuses on domestic mineral raw materials, microanalytical methods, and proof of origin methods. Melcher was President of the Austrian Mineralogical Society from 2017 to 2020. From 2021 to 2025, he was a member of the Austrian Advisory Council for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste. He is also the author of more than 350 publications, including over 120 in peer-reviewed journals.

Mitch Walking Elk, born in 1950, is a Native American singer-songwriter. He endured the inhumane treatment of Native American children who were separated from their families. He works as an educator, social worker, and teacher. As a ceremonial master, he passes on his tribe’s ancient, enduring traditions to new generations.