Blending

A multilingual lawyer trained in several jurisdictions, Libor has over 18 years of experience working with high-level governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental structures. He has previously managed diverse teams and complex projects with multiple stakeholders and large budgets in challenging environments of the Middle East (Security Sector Reform), Western Balkans (EU Pre-accession Assistance) and Turkey (EU Refugee Response). He is currently the Head of Operations and Partnerships at the Union for the Mediterranean headquartered in Barcelona, Spain. 

Dr. Florent BLANC, Ph.D. is Director of the “Negotiators of Europe” research and training program at ESSEC Business School.
He is the consortium team leader for the implementation of the Framework Contract (HR/R1/PO/2019/024 - LOT 3) covering the conception and delivery of negotiation-related trainings and services for the European institutions. This consortium joins the teams of College of Europe and the European Institute for Public Administration (EIPA).
As part of ESSEC IRENE’s negotiation training team, Florent delivers negotiation-related modules for the European Commission, public institutions in France and around the globe as well as private sector clients.
He contributed to capacity4dev activities as a member of the pool of trainers delivering Policy Dialogue and Negotiation as well as Context for Development modules under recent training contracts. For over 7 years, he also contributed to develop and adapt dedicated training modules for EUD teams (Nepal, Ivory Coast and Barbados). He also advised EUD on contractual negotiations for large infrastructure projects.

He contributed to the EU-PALOP-TL partnership by proposing a reflexion on the dialogue mechanisms and necessary capacity-building for Members of the partnership.

Florent holds a PhD from Northwestern University where he was George Lurcy scholar (Fulbright Program 2004-2005) and adjunct professor between 2006 and 2010. With a focus on national security policies and counterterrorism, Florent taught also courses in immigration policies, social changes, legal studies and journalism methodologies. From 2011 to 2016, he was West African Program manager for a French NGO where he oversaw and delivered projects on social cohesion, crisis prevention and education policy reform, with a focus on Mali. Florent also holds a doctorate from SciencesPo Paris.

Trained Environmental Planner, Manager and Policy Analyst in Environmental Policy working at the interface of people-ecosystems' interactions. Thomas has developed and implemented innovative tools for managing people-ecosystems interactions such as REDD+, payments for ecosystem services, environmental impact assessments (EIAs), audits and Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs).

Graduated in African Studies, Political Science and International Relations (Charles University in Prague). Experience in ESIF-funded grants (City of Prague - Managing Authority, Center for Regional Development - Intermediary Body) and financial instruments (Ministry of Finance, National Development Bank) since 2007. Currently member of the business team of the NDB with responsibility for the pillar assessment and for EU programmes in indirect management (InvestEU, EFSD+, The Ukraine Facility).

Researcher and analyst.
Consultant in the development, management, and evaluation of projects in the heritage and culture sectors. Speciality Arab world.
Teacher in the "Smart city" Master at the Catholic University of Lille-HEI-YNCREA on the topic "Sociological approach to the city".
PhD student at the Catholic University of Louvain on "Critical analysis of European development policy in the heritage and cultural sectors in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon".