Alexandra Vakrou is currently Head of Green Knowledge and Research Hub, LIFE Unit in the Directorate for General Affairs, Knowledge and Resources at the Directorate-General for Environment (DG ENV) in the European Commission. She leads teams in charge of the management of the LIFE programme, the coordination of work with the European Environment Agency and the JRC, the co-creation activity of Cluster 6 of Horizon briefings, as well as environmental knowledge and foresight. Ms Vakrou has worked for nearly three decades in European affairs and environment holding various positions in DG Environment and DG Climate Action. Before joining the Commission, she worked for 6 years as researcher on various environmental, agriculture, economic and forestry issues in the National Agricultural Research Foundation of Greece, as well as for 3 years in the Greek Forest Service. Ms Vakrou is a forester and holds a PhD in Environmental and Forest Economics from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK. She has co-authored many scientific articles and is one of the co-authors of the TEEB (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity) reports.