Paris Sansoglou holds a degree of Commercial Engineer from the Solvay Business School (ULB) that he has complemented with degrees in Environmental Studies (ULB), Business Informatics (VUB) and Financial Analysis (CIAF).
His professional experience is varied and includes academic research (in ULB on sustainable development), statistics (Business Statistics for Eurostat), knowledge management, economic, environmental & financial consulting activities (for Ernst & Young). He has spent most of his career on the ‘European scene’ working in the European Commission (Eurostat) and in trade associations (representing successively the European manufacturers of synthetic fibres, the European shipyards and now the European dredgers).
Paris developed his strong kinship with maritime policies and technologies since he joined the Community of European Shipyards’ Associations and he now pursues his passion for the sea and related issues with the European Dredging Association (EuDA). He has been managing maritime strategic activities covering research projects (incl. H2020 ThinkNature), trade issues, social aspects, technical and environmental issues, statistics, market monitoring.
Paris joined the European Dredging Association (EuDA) in April 2009 as Secretary General and has been part of various European teams advocating and actively working towards improving market access worldwide, global level playing field and sustainability. As EuDA representative, he was involved in security related discussions (e.g. hijacking of the Pompei in 2009). For the past few years, he highlights to the EU Institutions the key role of European Dredgers for critical infrastructure projects as well as for their security-related aspects.
Silvia Selandari joined the secretariat of the European Dredging Association as Director for Trade Affairs in May 2022.
She has over 10 years’ experience in European affairs, working for trade associations (Orgalim and KellenEurope), the European Commission (DG CONNECT) and an NGO (Oceana). She was previously Senior Trade and Legal adviser at Orgalim (Association of Europe’s Technology Industries).
Silvia is a trained lawyer. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Law from Padua University and Master of Laws (LLM in European Law) from Institut d’Études Européennes (ULB). Silvia is also a qualified barrister (Madrid).
Silvia is Italian and speaks English, French and Spanish fluently.
Vassia Nikolopoulou currently provides executive and administrative support to the Secretary General and the team of the European Dredging Association (EuDA). She coordinates events and meetings, manages office operations, and supports member communication while ensuring efficient day-to-day operations.
Originally trained and having worked as an archaeologist, her professional journey gradually expanded into office management, customer service, administration, translation and proof reading, and operations support across international and multicultural environments. .
Although her career path evolved beyond archaeology, her attention to detail and curiosity developed through her training continue to shape the way she thinks, works, and understands the world.
A native Greek speaker, Vassia is fluent in English and Dutch and has a working knowledge of French.
