Patrice Vergriete, born on 4 July 1968 in Dunkirk (Nord), is the Mayor of Dunkirk, a city of 80,000 residents, President of the Dunkirk urban community (CUD), an agglomeration of 200,000 residents, and of the Côte d'Opale metropolitan hub since 2014.
From 20 July 2023 to 11 January 2024, he served as Minister for Housing in Élisabeth Borne's government.
From 8 February 2024 to 21 September 2024, he served as Junior Minister for Transport in Gabriel Attal's government. On 27 September 2024, he resumed his duties as Mayor of Dunkirk.
Expert in urban planning and regional development
The son of a boilermaker at the Chantiers de France shipyards and a homemaker mother, he grew up in the working-class Glacis neighborhood of Dunkirk. After earning his baccalauréat, he entered a science-focused preparatory program at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, which led him to the École polytechnique. He became a civil engineer of the Corps of Bridges, Waters and Forests, and later earned a doctorate in regional planning.
He began his career in the late 1990s at the OECD, before joining the ministerial staffs of Martine Aubry (Minister of Employment and Solidarity) and then Claude Bartolone (Minister for Urban Affairs), where he worked notably on the Major Urban Projects program and urban renewal policy.
In November 2000, he returned to Dunkirk to head AGUR (the Flanders-Dunkirk urban planning agency) until 2008, before working on housing issues at LAATS (the School of Bridges and Roads), and later at the CGEDD, where he led evaluation missions on rental risk guarantees.
On 31 January 2025, he was appointed by decree of Emmanuel Macron as President of the ANRU, the National Agency for Urban Renewal.
Maurice GEORGES, was appointed in 2021 by decree as CEO of Dunkerque-Port (Port of Dunkirk Authority). Since 2022, he has also sèrved as Chairman of the Norlink Port Association. From 1996 to 2021, Maurice GEORGES held various positions within the French Air Navigation Services (DSNA) at the General Directorate of Civil Aviation, and served as CEO of French Air Navigation Services between 2009 and 2021. He also served as Chairman of the European Committee and was a member of the Executive Committee of the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) from 2012 to 2013. Maurice GEORGES is graduated in mathematics from Ecole Normale Superieure, holds a engineer degree from Ecole Nationale de l’Aviation civile and a MBA from Ecole des Ponts/College des Ingénieurs.
Olga Farman was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of the Port of Québec in February 2025. A lawyer specialized in corporate law, she previously served as Managing Partner, Québec Office at Norton Rose Fulbright, an international law firm that she joined in 2013, where she sat on the firm’s pan-Canadian Executive Committee.
Ms. Farman holds an LL.B and an MBA in Business Administration from Université Laval. She is a member of the Barreau du Québec, which awarded her the Advocatus Emeritus distinction in 2021.
Ms. Farman sits on the Board of Directors of LA Caisse, of the Beneva Group and its insurance subsidiaries, and chairs the Board of the Fondation du Musée de la civilisation. In addition to her expertise in legal and legislative affairs, she also specializes in ethics, intellectual property and corporate governance.
Her career has been recognized with numerous awards and honors, including the Hermès de carrière in 2024, the most prestigious distinction awarded by the Faculty of Business Administration at Université Laval, and the award from the 42nd edition of the AMBAQ MBA Gala. In 2023, she received the Grands Diplômés Award from Université Laval. In 2019, she was named one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada by the Women’s Executive Network (WXN). She is actively involved in the community being the co-initiator of the citizen movement Rêvons Québec 2050, honorary co-chair of the major fundraising campaign for the Brian-Mulroney Institute of International Affairs at Université Laval, launched in 2022, and has served as Co-chair of the Centraide (United Way) campaign for Québec and Chaudière-Appalaches in 2021.
Bruno Delsalle has devoted his professional life to the development of port cities and the recognition of their specific features and assets. In 1989, he played an active part in the launch of AIVP, which over the years has become the world's leading network for port cities on the theme of city-port issues and relations. Today, this network represents over a hundred port cities around the world, including Antwerp, Durban, Vancouver, Buenos Aires and Ningbo.
A maritime geographer and graduate of the Institut Portuaire d'Enseignement et de Recherche (IPER) in Le Havre with a specialisation in logistics and international trade, he is contributing to the gradual integration of the economic dimension into all AIVP international events.
Bruno Delsalle has taken part in numerous international conferences and events as a speaker, rapporteur and moderator. In 2014, he co-edited the book ‘Port City Governance’ published by the Sefacil Foundation.
In recent years, he has been actively involved with AIVP members in three innovative areas of work for port cities: marine renewable energies, industrial ecology and urban logistics.
In December 2021, he was appointed Managing Director of AIVP by the AIVP Executive Board, chaired by Edouard Philippe.
