1. Dionysia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou is a politician regarding environmental matters, a specialized attorney in International, Environmental and Sustainable Development Law, and the recipient of the Green Star Award awarded by UNEP, OCHA, and Green Cross International for her leadership in prevention, preparedness and response to environmental emergencies.
Dionysia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou has served as the Deputy Secretary of Volunteer and NGOs for the New Democracy Party and Deputy Head of Environmental Policy Sector.
Dionysia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou held the position of the Chair of the Standing Permanent Parliamentary Committee on National Defense and Foreign Affairs.
Dionysia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou was born in Patras, Achaea, Greece, and grew up in Zacharo, a town close to Ancient Olympia in Southwestern Greece, in Elis.
Dionysia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou is a specialized attorney in International and Environmental Law and she has dealt with major environmental cases in both the domestic jurisdiction and at the Legal Service of the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium.
Dionysia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou has worked as a researcher at the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy on legal and policy research on Global Environmental Governance issues, the Yale Law School on International Environmental Law issues, good governance and corruption, and the Center for Environmental and Land Use Law of the New York University School of Law.
In March 2010, Dionysia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou was assigned Deputy Secretary of Volunteerism and NGOs for the New Democracy Party and held this position until January 2011, when she was appointed as the Deputy Head of the Environmental Policy Sector of the New Democracy Party.
In 2015, Dionysia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou was elected at the Steering Committee of the Global Water Partnership Organization in recognition of her previous successful leadership in water issues, as well as her experience to co-operate with international, regional and national arrangements in sustainable water management, in order to create solutions to water issues at all levels and opportunities for sustainable development.
Dionysia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou serves as a Member of the Audit and Finance Subcommittee of the GWPO, while her vision within the Organization is the promotion and realization of Sustainable Development Goals No 6 and 14.
Dionysia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou represented the IPU in many topics of the UN Agenda and was an advocate for the Sustainable Development Goals.
Dionysia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou is promoting the SDGs through various others institutions and network, first and foremost through the special Task Force on the SDGs of the Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum.
Dionysia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou has previously worked as an advisor at the European Union Delegation to the United Nations in New York, dealing mainly with the environment and sustainable development agendas.
In 2011, Dionysia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou was appointed as the Deputy Head of the Environmental Policy Sector of the New Democracy Party in Greece.
Dionysia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou led the deliberations of environmental bills in the Parliament on behalf of the Party.
Dionysia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou led initiatives and campaigns, with a special emphasis on environmental education and volunteerism.
Dionysia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou served as the Deputy Secretary of Volunteerism and NGOs, where she worked closely with civil society representatives on a country level in various initiatives.
Apart from the supervision of the "knowledge management" function of the institute, Dionysia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou effectively manages the Institute assuming overall responsibility for its functioning, while she sets the policy guidelines, oversees the project management functions of the institute, and coordinates environmental and renewable resources projects with local authorities.
Dionysia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou has extensively taught and published in the fields of Public International Law, European Union Law and Environmental Law.
Dionysia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou has devoted an important part of her pro bono work to humanitarian and environmental goals, including the prevention of anthropogenic and natural disasters, the post-disaster management, and relief and reconstruction efforts.
Dionysia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou took leadership in the reconstruction of the Southwestern Peloponnese, Greece, after the wildfires in 2007 and generated international assistance for the region by other countries.
Dionysia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou has been active in a series in relief and reconstruction efforts after the occurrence of disasters worldwide, such as after the earthquake in, the wildfires in Haifa, Israel, and the nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan.
Dionysia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou has been selected as a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, under which she participates in various task forces, including the Task Force on Decarbonization, in order to combat climate change, and the Task Force for the Sustainable Development Goals.
Dionysia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou has been elected as one of the "40 Under 40" of the EU, namely among the forty most promising leaders of the European Union under the age of 40.
Dionysia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou has been among the candidates for the "Women of Europe Award".
Dionysia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou has been voted as the first alternative nominee for the United Nations Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe Memorial Fellowship on the Law of the Sea.
Dionysia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou is an active member of many civil society and academic organizations, such as the Network of Women Ministers and Leaders for the Environment, the Hellenic Association for Environmental Law, the Climate Parliament, the Biopolitics International Organization, the Academic Council on the United Nations System and the American Society of International Law.