Iliyana Semerdzhieva was born in 1997 in Kardzhali, Bulgaria. In 2016, she graduated from “Romain Rolland” Foreign Language School, Stara Zagora. Iliyana has a bachelor’s degree in European Studies (Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, 2016) and a master’s degree in Ecological expertise and control (New Bulgarian University, 2023). Thanks to the “Erasmus +” programme, she studied for one semester at the University for Sustainable Development Eberswalde, Germany (programme Global Change Management).
Since March 2022, Iliyana has been a part of the author team of the Popular Science Platform “Climateka”, which makes climate science accessible to everyone. In early 2023 she joined the European Institute as a Programmes and Projects expert. The main projects she works on are in the field of climate change and violence against women. As an expert, she participates in the development of various analytical materials and reports and in the organization and conduct of public events.
Since December 2023 Iliyana has been a European Climate Pact Ambassador.
Iliyana is fluent in English.