Raul Lansink has lived in Caracas, Lisbon and Amsterdam, speaks five languages and has studied International Relations at Leiden University in the Netherlands. Raul is consultant, writer and entrepreneur in the area of social innovation, community building and digital collaboration. A strong advocate of the European idea, Raul was chairman of Forum2020, an association of next-generation Dutch leaders promoting the cause for Europe.

Mark Blaisse has lived in Paris, London, Lisbon, Vienna and Stockholm and attended British and French schools. He studied history & philosophy in Amsterdam, Paris and Florence before moving to Bonn and back again to Paris, as a foreign correspondent for Dutch media. Among his many journalistic functions he was editor in chief of the magazine European Affairs, and author of Concept Europe (Amsterdam, 2003), a book in which he explores the views on Europe from the periphery of Europe.