Zinnur Büyükgöz was born in 1964 in Erzurum. He graduated from Primary School of Bakırköy Kocasinan in 1975, Secondary School of Kadıköy İmam Hatip in 1978 and Highschool of Gebze İmam Hatip in 1983. Mr. Büyükgöz graduated from graduated from Yıldız Technical University, Faculty of Architecture as City and Regional Planner in 1987. Between 1987 and 1989, he completed his master’s degree at the same university on the same area. Mr. Büyükgöz served in different parts of the country as city planner since then. He started his political career as Head of Town of Darıca and Member of Gebze Board of Management from Welfare Party and Member of Executive Board of Kocaeli City Branch of Virtue Party. He served in several posts since the foundation of the Justice and Development Party (JDP). Mr. Büyükgöz worked as Technical Deputy Mayor of Gebze Municipality, Alderman at the Gebze Municipality, Alderman at the Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality and Member of Board of Zoning between 2004 and 2009. Besides his political roles, he also took active role in various civil society organizations and different platforms. He became a Member of İstanbul, Bursa and Kocaeli Regional Councils for the Conservation of Cultural Property in 2004. Mr. Büyükgöz worked as expert in Turkey’s different Administrative Courts. He took place in several projects and represented our country. Since 2014, he is a Member of Project Advisory Board in the Technopark İstanbul Technology Region. In      2019, he quit his Membership in Regional Councils for the Conservation of Cultural Property due to his candidacy for being the Mayor of Gebze. On 31^st of March 2019, Mr. Büyükgöz became the Mayor of Gebze. He is married and has four children.

Mehmet Murat Çalık was born in 1972, in Maçka, Trabzon. Çalık who is the third child of a mother from Rize and a father from Trabzon completed his primary education in Maçka and his high school education in Trabzon. In 1997, Mr. Çalık graduated from City and Regional Planning Department, Faculty of Architecture of Istanbul Technical University. In 1998, he became a founding partner of a company which operated in the city planning sector.  Between 2008 and 2014, Mr. Çalık performed various duties at the management and president levels in the Istanbul Branch of Chamber of City Planners. Mr. Çalık who has made various contributions to Beylikdüzü since 1999 worked as Technical Coordinator and Deputy Mayor at the Beylikdüzü Municipality. Aiming for the sky, advocating for “happiness in the city needs planning” and with the dream of making Beylikdüzü breath of Istanbul, Mr. Çalık won the favor of people and became the Mayor of Beylikdüzü on 31 March 2019. He is Member of several civil society organizations such as Trabzonspor Club, Beylikdüzü Volleyball Specialization Club and West Istanbul Foundation. He is married and father of two children.

Dr. Andreas Hollstein studied Law and earned his PhD at the University of Bonn. From 1993 until 1995, he worked for the Head of Division at the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania. After this, he worked as a Research Assistant of Wolfgang Lohmann MP and in the CDU/CSU fraction in the German Bundestag in the areas of social welfare and the benefits act for asylum seekers. He became Honorary 1st Deputy Mayor of his hometown Altena in 1994. He has been Mayor of the City of Altena since 1999. In 2017, he and the city of Altena were awarded with the first National Integration Prize from Chancellor Angela Merkel. In 2018, he was one of the four regional finalists for the Nansen Refugee Award.

Salim Korkmaz was born in Adana, Turkey on 4th of July, 1984. After completion of his primary and secondary education in his hometown, he moved to Ankara, Turkey for his undergraduate degree on American Culture and Literature at Hacettepe University. He took up postgraduate courses in Translation Studies at Hacettepe University. He is currently studying under the Local Government, Urban and Environmental Studies MA program in Istanbul University. He started his professional career at Turkish Handball Federation, in the international relations department. He served as the coordinator of International Relations in Turkish Handball Federation until 2010. Between 2010 and 2012, he taught several courses on Translation of EU Texts, International Relations Texts, Press and Media Translation, and Translation of Legal Texts at Cappadocia Vocational Colleague, as a lecturer.  He has translated several books from English into Turkish, including Islam and Democracy (2010), Democratic Values in the Muslim World (2012), Roman Myths (2012) and Kamikaze Diaries (2016). Since 2013, he has been working at UCLG-MEWA, following up international development agendas and coordinating relations of the Organization with other international organizations. He is currently the General Coordinator of UCLG-MEWA. Salim Korkmaz has represented his organization before various fora and platforms, including but not limited to UCLG Congresses in Rabat, Morocco (2013) and Bogota, Columbia (2016), World Assembly of Local and Regional Governments in Quito, Ecuador, Habitat III PrepCom meetings in Nairobi, Kenya and Surabaya, Indonesia, Habitat III Conference in Quito, Ecuador, and several Policy Forum on Development (PFD) meetings of the European Commission in Brussels, & Ghent, Belgium and Amman, Jordan, Gaborone, Botswana and Kathmandu, Nepal. He has coordinated the Intermediary Cities MEWA Regional Forum in 2017 in Nevşehir, Turkey.

Burak Oğuz was born in 1972. He completed his primary education in Urla İskele Primary School and his secondary education in Urla High School. After graduating from the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences at Dokuz Eylül University, he received his MA degree in the Department of Finance of the same university and his thesis on the Financial Structure of Free Zones Dok. He still continues her PhD work in her dissertation phase. Burak OĞUZ started his professional career in the tax, accounting and finance departments of companies with international capital. In 2003, he became a Certified Public Accountant. Burak OĞUZ, who continues her career in her own company, is also an Independent Auditor from Public Oversight Authority. Burak OĞUZ is fluent in English. He is married and has two children.

Antonio Rodríguez Osuna has been the Mayor of Mérida since 2015. Mr. Osuna was born in Mérida on March 6, 1975. He has a master’s in business administration and Management, executive MBA from the ITAE Business School and a Diploma in Physical Education (Badajoz School of Education) from the University of Extremadura. He is married. During his career, Mr. Osuna was Councillor of the City of Mérida by the PSOE (1999-2004), Chief of Staff of the Minister of Industry, Energy and Environment of the Junta de Extremadura (2007-2011), Advisor to the Vice President (2004-2007) and Parliamentary for the PSOE in the Assembly (2011-2015) serving as the Energy, Environment and Sports Spokesman. Besides his public sector experience, having been entrepreneur in the hospitality sector, Mr. Osuna owned a restaurant in Cáceres until May 2018 and currently has it in Mérida. He worked as a waiter for two years, lighting technician, tent installer, leisure and leisure monitor, sports monitor for two years in the beach service of the City of Vélez-Málaga and monitor complementary training activities in Extremadura. In addition, from a young age, Mr. Osuna has been very involved in youth and political union activism since it is part of his way of understanding his personal commitment to improve the society in which he lives and fights for equality. Mr. Osuna presented himself as a candidate of the PSOE to the municipal elections of May 2015, and since June 13, 2015, he is the Mayor of Mérida which he wants to be a reference city of values ​​at national and international level. Transparency, Equality, solidarity, diversity, social inclusion and sustainable development are some of the most important principles which Mr. Osuna wants to include and share with citizens.

Firdaous Oussidhoum is the Special Adviser of the UCLG Secretary General, the world institution for Local and Regional Governments advocating for shared values and principles, for the Local Democracy as representative of the citizens. She is also a Member of the UNESCO Chair for Intermediate Cities and World Urbanization. Architect and Urban planner, Firdaous developed her expertise in the Sustainable and Resilient Develop Strategies. After finishing her studies between Grenoble (France) and the Barcelona School of Architecture (Spain), she followed up with a Master in Philosophy of Architecture, and continued completing her doctorate in Philosophy of Architecture in Lyon III University. Practicing Architecture and Urban Planning for 18 years in her office in Tangier (Morocco), Firdaous has been Consulting for Decision Makers and Development institutions, as a Policy Maker for local policies, housing policies and strategic management policies at international level (Africa, Asia and Europe) as a Senior Expert. Always connected to the International fields and challenges, she has been elected in volunteering positions with a Diplomatic and Strategic relevance, first through the professional structures (Secretary General on Regional Council of Architects of Tangier-Morocco from 2005-2008,  in charge of International Relations – Member elected of National Council of Architects of Morocco from 2008-2011, Member elected of International Union of Architects from 2008-2014 and Assistant Secretary General of Africa Union of Architects 2008-2011), and after as a Lecturer and speaker at an international level. Firdaous Oussidhoum became Director of International & External Relations at the Africa Union of Architects in November 2011 till August 2015. Taking benefit of her 12 years in International Relations and Cooperation, she has been advising the United Cities and Local Governments especially as the (UCLG)’s Coordinator for the Intermediary Cities Forum, before taking the position of Special Adviser. She has also been a Professor of Philosophy of Architecture, a discipline that allows her to continuously reflect and innovate on the approach of a resilient human development through sustainability and culture : the Planet Resilience is for her directly linked to the daily definition of live of the Human Being in its space, time and policy orientations, where only Dialogue between all spheres can allow Life to continue, and offer a resilient future to the next generations. Firdaous is acting for a new Dialogue towards our planet’s sustainability. In this vision, the key role for her is into both the global institutions _especially United Nations_ and local decision makers and mayors :  urban development strategies & governance, are the channel in grounding international recommendations and universal values.