Fourth Stop:
Berlin

Dr Stefan Carsten

Dr. Stefan Carsten is a futurologist and urban geographer. He was a project manager in futurology and environmental research at Daimler AG in Berlin, where he designed new mobility services such as car2go and moovel. He is currently a member of the advisory board of the Federal Ministry of Transport for "Strategic Guidelines for Public Transport in Germany" and the largest municipal housing company in Berlin, Howoge. He is a speaker, author and (political) consultant on the topics of cities and mobility and works with various municipal and corporate players and institutions in Germany and abroad to promote the mobility and spatial transition. He is married, has two children and lives and works in Berlin.

Kerstin Kube-Erkens works for Messe Berlin, one of the largest trade exhibition companies in Germany. She received her degree in business administration from the University of Westminster in London and the University of Applied Sciences in Berlin. She started her career as a regional sales director at Elf Oil Deutschland GmbH (now Total). As a product architect, Kerstin focuses on new product ideas for Messe Berlin, conducts market assessments, and develops business cases in a national and international context. She is especially interested in interdisciplinary work and knowledge transfer.

Christiane Leonard has been a member of the DVR Executive Committee since 2023 (already on the Executive Board since 2019) and has been an honorary member of the German Social Accident Insurance Institution for Commercial Transport, Postal Logistics and Telecommunication (BG Verkehr) since 2017. She was also a member of the Presidium of the IRU Geneva (International Road Union) from 2018 to 2021 and Vice President Passenger Transport of the IRU from 2016 to 2019. She is Chief Executive Director of the German Bus And Coach Operators’ Association (bdo). Prior to this, she was Deputy Managing Director and worked as a legal advisor at the Berlin-Brandenburg Road Transport Guild. Christiane Leonard is a lawyer specializing in administrative law. She completed her second state examination in law at the Higher Regional Court of Hamm and her first at the University of Osnabrück.

Linda van Rennings is a communications expert and moderator for trade shows and conferences with over five years of stage experience. Her areas of expertise include digitalization, sustainability, innovation and new work - often in combination. In addition to her work as a moderator, she works as a press spokesperson in the field of sustainability communication and is enthusiastic about the challenge of communicating complex issues in a way that is both understandable and technically correct.

Thomas Huber is the Head of the Innovative Mobility Solutions Department at DB Regio Bus and is responsible for the areas of autonomous driving, digital platforms, mobility analyzes and other integrative forms of mobility. He is driven by his enthusiasm for networked solutions to the challenges of public mobility in the interaction of a wide variety of players and means of transport. After several years at the University of Regensburg and in engineering offices, he has been working at Regio Bus in various functions since 2012.