Governance
SDSN Northern Europe is governed by two co-chairs and a Leadership Council.
Co-chairs
SDSN Northern Europe is led by two Co-Chairs, along with the Network Manager. The Co-Chairs and the Network Manager meet regularly to discuss the network's strategy, development, and activities, making decisions by consensus.
The Co-Chairs are senior sustainable development leaders from the Northern Europe region.
The Co-Chairs also contribute to the global network by participating in the UN SDSN Leadership Council meetings and the UN SDSN Network Strategy Council.
Co-chair Katherine Richardson
Professor of Biological Oceanography, and director of the Sustainability Science Centre at Copenhagen University.
Co-chair Holger Wallbaum
Professor of Sustainable Building at the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering at Chalmers University of Technology.
Leadership Council
The role of the council is to provide advice and intellectual stewardship, as well as strategically source and mobilise human and financial resources. It is currently composed of nine experts on sustainable development from network member organisations in all five Nordic countries.
The leadership and secretariat of SDSN Northern Europe are required to follow the general aims and certain processes of the global SDSN. Still, the Northern Europe network can to a large extent operate freely and decide on strategy and actions.
Council Member Annik Magerholm Fet
Annik Magerholm Fet is professor of Environmental Management, Systems Engineering and Life-cycle Analysis, and vice rector of NTNU in Ålesund.
Council Member Katarina Gårdfeldt
Katarina is the Director-General of the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, affiliated Professor in Inorganic Environmental Chemistry at Chalmers University of Technology, Chair for the National Committee for Environmental Global Change at the Royal Academy of Sciences, and board member of the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research. As the previous Director of the Gothenburg Centre for Sustainable Development, she initiated and Co-Chaired the SDSN Northern Europe.
Council Member Tarja Halonen
Tarja Halonen is a Finnish politician who was the 11th President of Finland, serving from 2000 to 2012 – the first female head of state in Finland.
Council Member Kaisa Korhonen-Kurki
Kaisa Korhonen-Kurki, PhD, Senior Research Scientist – Sustainability transformations at the Finnish Environment Institute, Adjunct Professor in environmental policy at the University of Helsinki.
Council Member Göran Tomson
Prof. Göran Tomson is Co-founder and a Senior Advisor at the Swedish Institute for Global Health Transformation and UN Agenda 2030 counselor at the President’s office at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.
Council Member Michael Søgaard Jørgensen
Dr. Michael Søgaard Jørgensen is Associate Professor at Center for Design, Innovation and Sustainable Transitions at Aalborg University in Denmark.
Council Member Thorvaldur Gylfason
Prof. Thorvaldur Gylfason is Professor of Economics at the University of Iceland and Research Associate at Center for Economic Studies at the University of Munich.
Council Member Åsa Ström Hildestrand
Åsa Ström Hildestrand is the Head of Communications at the International Research Centre Nordregio in Stockholm, Sweden. Her areas of expertise include many aspects of sustainable development: local and regional development; social inclusion/integration of immigrants; green transition (bio economy); gender equality (women’s economic empowerment); and international co-operation.
Council Member Maria Figueroa
Dr. Maria Figueroa is Academic Director of the Copenhagen Sustainability Initiative and Associate Professor in Sustainability Management at Copenhagen Business School in Denmark.
