The Executive Committee shall be responsible for the management of the Association, such as the ESDN account, coordination with the ESDN Office on the ESDN Office Work Plan, calling General Assembly meetings, and the general day-to-day decision-making.
The Executive Committee consists of the ESDN Association President and at least two Vice-Presidents. Currently, the Executive Committee has one President and three Vice-Presidents.
ESDN Association President
Elisabeth Freytag-Rigler (Austria)
Head of Department for EU-Coordination for Climate and Environment
Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Climate and Environmental Protection, Regions and Water Management
ESDN Association Vice Presidents
Taru Savolainen (Finland)
Secretary General of the Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development
Prime Minister's Office
Jeannette Muller (Luxembourg)
Team Lead for Sustainable Development
Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity
Anna Pot (Netherlands)
National Coordinator for the Sustainable Development Goals
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The ESDN Association Advisory Board supports the tasks of the Association and advises the Executive Committee in terms of the Association’s objectives, including matters that deal with the content of the annual work programs, and on specific projects proposed by Regular Members respectively. Currently, the ESDN Advisory Board consists of representatives from ten European countries. Since 2024, the Advisory Board has been expanded to include up to 4 Youth Representatives from the ESDN Youth Network. They are voted on every year by the Youth Network to represent them in the Advisory Board.
Advisory Board Members
Austria
Elisabeth Freytag-Rigler
Head of Department for EU-Coordination for Climate and Environment
Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Climate and Environmental Protection, Regions and Water Management
Belgium
Cédric Van de Walle
Federal Institute for Sustainable Development
Finland
Taru Savolainen
Secretary General of the Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development
Prime Minister's Office
Annika Lindblom
Ministerial Adviser on International Affairs
Ministry of the Environment
France
Cédric Chesnel
Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion
Germany
Christina Fischer
Federal Chancellery
Luxembourg
Jeannette Muller
Team Lead for Sustainable Development
Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity
Netherlands
Anna Pot
National Coordinator for the Sustainable Development Goals
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Romania
László Borbély
State Counsellor, National SDG Coordinator
Prime Minister's Office - Department of Sustainable Development
Ileana Luminița Bălălău
Head of Unit
Prime Minister's Office - Department of Sustainable Development
Switzerland
Daniel Dubas
Delegate of the Federal Council for the 2030 Agenda
Federal Office for Spatial Development (ARE)
Fabrice Burri
Scientific Collaborator
Federal Office for Spatial Development (ARE)
Wales
Rae Cornish
Deputy Director - Sustainable Futures
Welsh Government
Jon Townley
Head of Global Responsibility
Welsh Government
Youth Network Representatives
Theresa Öllinger
ESDN Youth Representative (Austria)
Cara Borg Aquilina
ESDN Youth Representative (Malta)
Pedro Sereno
ESDN Youth Representative (Portugal)
Daniel Wood
ESDN Youth Representative (Wales)
The mission of the ESDN Office is to help improve national SD strategy processes in Europe by facilitating a continuous exchange of experiences between the relevant national key actors in the implementation of nationa sustainable development strategies. Current key functions of the ESDN Office are:
- to maintain a website that serves the ESDN and the public as an up-to-date “one-stop-shop” on SD strategies and related activities throughout Europe,
- to support the ESDN Associate Members in finding information on SD strategies;
- to help the ESDN Association Executive Committee and Advisory Board in finding and articulating common interests, and
- to support the formulation of common “products” or “services” of the ESDN.
The activities of the ESDN Office are overseen by the Executive Committee and the Advisory Board.
