Dr. Xenia I. Loizidou

Dr Xenia I. Loizidou is a graduate civil engineer of the National Technical University of Athens, an MSc coastal Engineer of the Imperial College of London and she holds a PhD on participatory decision support systems for natural resources management. For 30 years she has been a researcher, a European and international expert, a volunteer and an activist in the fields of coastal zone management, marine environment and dynamics, climate change, participatory decision making for our common natural resources and sustainable development strategies, policies and practices.

She has worked in more than 50 countries, travelling the coasts and the seas of the world. She holds several offices and has received numerous international awards for her work on sustainability, marine environmental and gender equality, such as the Iconic Woman Award by the Women Economic Forum in 2016. Her work is included in the U.S. State Department’s ‘1000 Ocean Actions’ initiative and she is highlighted in 20th anniversary report of Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report GEM 2018/2019.

She is the author/ co-author of more than 200 published papers in Scientific Journals and International Conferences, of books (e.g. IPCC publication, i.e. Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change) and Technical Reports. She has been appointed Ambassador of Mediterranean Coasts for 2019 - 2020 by UNEP. Since February 2020 is Member of the International Compliance Committee of the Barcelona Convention, and since April 2020 she is elected member of the Executive Committee of the Cyprus Sustainable Development Network of UN (SDSN Cyprus). She is founding member and the Chairperson of the NGO AKTI Project and Research Centre.

She is the mother of two daughters, Leda and Maria.