Speakers

Katarzyna Zawodna-Bijoch is CEO at Skanska’s commercial development unit in Central and Eastern Europe. She is responsible for the company’s strategy and operations in the area of sustainable and innovative office investments in ten city markets in Central and Eastern Europe: Warsaw, Prague, Budapest, Bucharest, Wrocław, Poznań, Łódź, Katowice, Gdańsk, Kraków. She is currently running portfolio of 450 000 sqm.

She joined Skanska in 2006. Under her leadership since 2016, the CEE unit has been developing extensively, holding a leadership position among regional developers. Since 2016 the company has leased over 630 000 sqm of futureproof office space, has sold 25 buildings for over EUR 1.4 bln.

Since her appointment as President and CEO, the company has invested in co-working sector (Business Link’s acquisition) as well as sustainable and innovative solutions, focused on human well-being and reducing carbon emissions. Katarzyna has initiated cooperation with Saule Techonolgies to implement perovskite technology on Skanska office buildings. Perovskite solar cells, unlike common silicon solar cells, do not require direct exposure to the sun to efficiently produce electricity. This – along with being easily customizable with shape, color and size – makes them ideal for facades and other vertical surfaces. It will be a  significant milestone towards zero-energy office investments. Under Katarzyna’s ledership on CEE level Skanska has launched Connected by Skanska. It’s an all-in-one operational system for office buildings that includes a mobile application for everyday users and a web portal for tenant & building administration.  Katarzyna Zawodna is one of first experts who introduced LEED certification system in Poland and CEE region 10 years ago, ceritifing Skanska buildings.As a CEO, she was also responsible for decision of developing Skanska office buildings in line with WELL Building Standard™. It was a major business decision and another step towards futureproof workplaces that the company has taken.   

Katarzyna actively works to improve ethical standards in the region. She is a member of the policy councils at UN Global Compact as well as the Civic Congress – a cross-environmental civil project promoting sustainable development in Poland.

In addition, she also holds the title of LEED Accredited Professional. She was honored with many prestigious RE awards i.e. Personality of the Year (Eurobuild Awards). Furthermore, Katarzyna is a RICS Fellow, being recognized for her professional achievements and leadership.

Areas of expertise:

Office real estate market in Central Eastern Europe

Central and Eastern Europe – general economic overview and markets’ performance Sustainability and certifications of the office buildings

Wellbeing

Ethics and corporate responsibility in business

Previously attended as a speaker on the following events (examples):

 EXPO Real, Munich, Germany 2019

 #ETTalks, Warsaw, Poland 2018