A qualified economist, and European civil servant for more than 30 years, Antonella Cagnolati was Director of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe and manager of the environment, regional development and local authorities sector in the Parliamentary Assembly of the same structure. She is currently working as an expert consultant in governance, local democracy and citizenship. In this role she coordinated the 2013 and 2014 editions of the Council of Europe’s Lisbon Forums focusing on the aftermath of the Arab Spring, electoral processes and democratic governance in Southern Mediterranean countries. She is co-founder of Solidarity Water Europe, created following the Blue Europe action plan that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe organised in 1993-1994.