Mirko Schönfeldt is Chairman of the Institute of Northern-European Economic Research and Director of its Department of European Economic Law. In addition to his leadership responsibilities at INER, he is Professor of Business Law and Vice-Rector for Studies and Teaching at NBS Northern Business School. He is also a practising attorney and serves as Honorary Consul of the Republic of Latvia for the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein.

Oliver-Andreas Leszczynski is an internationally recognised authority on industrial artificial intelligence and the architecture of complex, data-driven production systems. His work spans intelligent shipbuilding, maritime operations, deep-sea technologies, green hydrogen, e-kerosene and the strategic infrastructure required to transform emerging technologies into scalable, auditable and economically viable industrial capacity.

Jürgen Sorgenfrei is an internationally experienced maritime economist, port strategist and author whose career spans port development, executive leadership, global trade forecasting, maritime consulting, academic research and institutional strategy.

Michael Stuwe works at the intersection of infrastructure, economic geography, strategic management and regional development. As Director of Logistics & Infrastructure at INER, he leads the institute’s research into rail capacity, intermodal freight, port-hinterland systems, transport corridors and the institutional foundations of resilient economic connectivity.

André Röhl is a security and resilience strategist whose work connects economic security, critical infrastructure, crisis management, civil preparedness, organizational capability and defence-related institutional capacity. As Director of Security & Defence Economics at INER, he examines how companies, public authorities, municipalities and security institutions can preserve essential functions, adapt under pressure and contribute to the resilience of the wider society.