The UIC
Sustainability Impact Awards 2026

As Head of Sustainable Development at the UIC, Lucie acts as technical and team lead for environmental and social sustainability projects, including international advocacy for rail. Lucie is seconded from Network Rail.

Lucie has worked in rail for more than 15 years, performing roles both in strategic policy and embedded in project teams delivering large rail infrastructure projects. Her specialist knowledge lies in topics including Environmental Impact Assessment, sustainable low carbon design, construction site assurance, delivering biodiversity gains in construction projects as well as social value and corporate charity partnerships.

Floridea is Director of the non-profit cooperative cambiaMO | changing Mobility, Madrid – Spain Research director on travel behaviour, evaluation, and gender approaches in mobility and climate change. Her main activities include: research direction and evaluation for the EU, European Investment Bank, the International and National projects; participation such as Civil Society observer to the climate negotiation during the United Nation Framework for Climate Change Conference – UNFCCC (e.g. GST, ACE, GGA); publication of academic papers in travel behaviour, accessibility, governance and stakeholders guidelines. She is an Associate Professor in Urban sustainability at UC3M – Madrid, Spain. She has a PhD in urban planning and transport at the ENPC-Paris-tech.

Jorge Morera is a Transport Planner and a Board Member of the European Passengers’ Federation, where he actively advocates for better passenger rights. He possesses a multimodal background ranging from aviation to urban transport planning, with a recent specialization in commuting and workplace travel plans.

Jorge is currently involved in various European research projects dedicated to public transport planning and electrification. Recently, he has participated in several high-level forums, including SKUP Turkey, CARNET Insights on Future Mobility, and the European Youth Policy Dialogue with the EU Transport Commissioner.

Margrethe, with 20+ years in rail and sustainable mobility, is an advisor and coach committed to sustainability. Her years at company and sector levels, nationally and internationally, taught her that real change is driven by brave individuals, not boardrooms. Now, she guides people and leaders to discover their courage, fostering sustainable decisions. She is a fan of Inner Development Goals (IDG)
Her rail years includes 8 years as a sustainable development advisor at the International Union of Railways (UIC), advocating internationally for rail, climate and sustainable mobility. She also served as head of sustainability at Vy in Norway.

Dr. Lewis Fulton is Director of the Energy Futures Program and Co-director of the Sustainable Freight Program within the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis. He leads a range of research activities around energy transitions, new vehicle technologies and new fuels, and how these can gain rapid acceptance in the market. He also helps coordinate research internationally through development of ITS-Davis research centers in Europe and the Global South. Until recently he also Chaired the Transportation Working Group of the California hydrogen hub (ARCHES). Among other previous positions, from 2007-2012 he was a Senior Transport Specialist with the International Energy Agency, Paris.

Mariela Lopez Hidalgo leads Community Development and Member Engagement at REN21, catalysing collaboration across governments, industry, civil society, and academia to advance renewable-based economies and systems change. In her work, she specialises in fostering synergies between the transport and energy sectors to support integrated approaches to sustainable transport.

With 10+ years of experience in strategic partnerships, communications, and sustainable development, she has previously implemented sustainability and knowledge projects at the Inter-American Development Bank and the OECD.

Hildegard Meyer is an ecologist with more than 20 years of experience at WWF Central and Eastern Europe. She has led and contributed to a wide range of conservation initiatives, from eco tourism and protected area management to habitat connectivity across the Carpathian region. Her core expertise lies in developing and managing complex EU-funded projects, particularly Interreg programmes, in close collaboration with international partners, authorities, research institutions, and private-sector stakeholders.

Her work focuses on ecological connectivity, with a special emphasis on reducing the impact of linear transport infrastructure on wildlife permeability and advancing effective mitigation measures. She has served on the advisory boards of the EU projects REVERSE and BISON and contributed to key publications, including the UIC Guidelines on Managing Railway Assets for Biodiversity. Hildegard is committed to raising awareness, building capacity, and strengthening alliances to address the challenges that transport infrastructure poses to biodiversity at scale.

Evan Freund is a senior director for sustainable infrastructure and finance on the WWF-US Forest team. In this role, he manages programming around infrastructure design, finance, and development, including the five-year Greening Transportation Infrastructure Development (GRID) Integrated Program. Funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), GRID focuses on incorporating biodiversity and ecosystem-related considerations into transportation infrastructure planning.

Prior to joining WWF, Evan managed the Government and Public Sector Practice for CiBO Technologies, a venture-backed agricultural technology startup. From 2005 to 2017, Evan worked for the US government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a bilateral foreign aid agency, beginning his career there as a technical specialist in the Infrastructure practice. This involved designing and overseeing investments in water supply, sanitation, transportation, and energy systems in Ghana, Namibia, Honduras, and Lesotho. From 2008 to 2014, he served as MCC’s deputy resident country director in Maputo, Mozambique, where he helped manage MCC’s five-year program focused on improving economic opportunity through targeted investments in water supply and sanitation infrastructure, transport infrastructure, agriculture, and land tenure. Upon his return to Washington, DC, in 2014, he served as a director and country team lead, overseeing the MCC’s programs in Liberia (2014–2016) and the Philippines (2016–2017).

Evan holds a master’s degree in city planning (MCP) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received his BA from Middlebury College.

Bertrand GOALOU leads urban transport and railways initiatives in the Transport Sector Department at the Asian Development Bank, with focus on Emerging Areas and new Transport solutions. With more than 25 years of experience in the sector, Bertrand’s expertise covers all stages of the project cycle. He joined ADB in 2010 and devised sustainable urban transport projects, promoting innovation and transformative approach. Prior to joining ADB, Bertrand held various Project Director positions in a French leading international transportation engineering firm. He worked in Europe, Asia, Middle East and Africa and developed urban mobility plans, bus rapid transit, light rail, metro, active modes, electric mobilities and railways projects.

Bertrand holds a postgraduate degree in urban planning and transport from ParisTech, France (2001) and a master degree in civil engineering and urban planning from the National Institute for Applied Sciences (INSA), France (1998).

She leads programs that help cities transition to climate-friendly transportation systems for people and goods. Tu My focuses on decarbonizing transport, improving last-mile logistics, digitalizing transportation, and promoting walking and cycling. With a background in management and international relations, she brings a pragmatic approach to urban sustainability across Europe, Asia Pacific, and Africa.

Holger Dalkmann is a well-known thought leader with over twenty-five years experience in the field of transport, cities, sustainability and climate change.Holger is Founder & CEO of Sustain 2030. He is supporting governmental organisations, foundations and leading NGOs in their efforts to scale their impact towards decarbonisation and sustainable development. Holger was one of the co-founders as well as board member of SLOCAT and Director for WRI’s sustainable transport program.He has published over 100 articles including the influential Avoid-Shift-Improve concept. He is a frequent speaker and moderator at international events on sustainable mobility and climate change.

Lidia Signor is the Head of the new UITP unit that covers combined mobility (focusing on the integration of mass transit with active and shared mobility) as well as shared mobility. Italian national, she got her main degree from Ecole des Ponts, France, in Urban Mobility Planning and Design. After her professional experience in France, Peru and Morocco and before joining UITP 4 years ago, she gained valuable expertise in stakeholders’ coordination at the MaaS Alliance and in European project management at ERTICO-ITS Europe, based in Brussels. She speaks Italian, French, Spanish, English and a basic Portuguese.

Carolina Chantrill is an Environmental Engineer (Argentine Catholic University, 2009) and has a Master of Urban Planning (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2015). In early 2020, she joined Sustentar as Director of Sustainable Mobility. In this role, she has led the activities of the Sustentar in promoting sustainable, low emissions, and resilient strategies in the Transport sector. She is co-chair of the Steering Committee of the regional platform LEDS LAC, and recently elected as Board member of the SLOCAT partnership. Additionally, she is the general coordinator of the consulting portfolio of the Center for Urban Economic Studies of the National University of San Martin (Argentina), since 2021, and most recently senior expert of the Laboratorio de Ideas Sostenibles (LIS).

Eloy Gomez Giron has a background in Journalism and Communication, with an extensive experience of 20 years in various EU-funded programmes and communication roles in different countries in Europe. He has led the communication activities is several transnational cooperation programmes (Interreg), namely the design and implementation of their communication strategies, the organisation of different types of events and the production of content for different channels. Currently serving as Communication and Events Manager at EIT Urban Mobility, an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, a body of the European Union.

Paige Malott is a communications strategist and project manager with over a decade of experience helping international organizations craft clear, impactful messaging and delivering executive education. Specializing in passenger railways, she has worked with global brands, governments, infrastructure managers, and academic institutions to develop strategies that elevate reputations, support capital projects, and simplify technical information for non-specialist audiences. Paige has been involved with UIC for six years, and has worked as a research consultant on several projects, providing thought leadership on substituting flights with train travel, planning intercity rail stations at airports, and financial models for high-speed rail infrastructure. She has also presented at the UIC World Congress on High-Speed Rail and the High-Speed Rail Socioeconomic Impacts Symposium.

Raimondo is the Director of the Sustainable Development Foundation since 2008, a not-for-profit organization based in Rome, funded by more than 130 companies, business associations and experts.
He has a long experience in sustainability issues: he graduated in environmental law, with a Master degree in sustainable transport systems. From 1999 to 2005 he was leader of Trenitalia environment team and from 2005 to 2008 was senior environment and sustainability advisor at International Union of Railways (UIC) in Paris.
Lecturer and speaker in international conferences on climate and sustainability, he has published a number or articles on environmental issues as well as on the green transition of companies.