Governance of the EEAC Network

Governance of the EEAC Network

The EEAC is a network governed by the Annual Plenary Session (APS), which gathers all the member councils. The APS meets at least once a year and deliberates on past and future goals and activities. The APS elects a Board to facilitate the functioning of the network. The Board consists of a chair, vice chairs, secretary and treasurer who consult with Working Group chairs and conference hosts as necessary.

Currently the following persons hold a position in the Board:

Chair: Arnau Queralt Bassa

Arnau Queralt-Bassa has been serving as Chairman of the EEAC Network since January 2015. Arnau is director of the Advisory Council for the Sustainable Development of Catalonia (CADS) since October 2011. Since 2017, he serves as secretary of the Inter-ministerial Commission for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in Catalonia and, from 2020, he is member of the Sectorial Commission for the 2030 Agenda in Spain on behalf of the Government of Catalonia.

Vice Chair: Katalin Sipos

Katalin Sipos is vice-chair of the EEAC Network since January 2022. Katalin is a member of the Hungarian National Council for Sustainable Development (NFFT) delegated by the green NGO community. She has been working for nature conservation since 1998, and she's currently the CEO of WWF Hungary.

Vice Chair: Jan-Baptist Verheeke

Jan-Baptist Verheeke serves as the vice-chair of the EEAC Network since January 2022. Jan is the Secretary General of the Flemish Environment Council, Minaraad. In 1989, he started his professional career as a lobbyist for a Flemish nature protection organization. In 1992, Jan became acting director of the secretariat of the Minaraad. After spending some years as personal advisor on nature policy to the then Flemish environment minister (2004-2009), Jan returned to the Minaraad as general secretary.

Board Member: Julia Hertin

Julia Hertin is board member of the EEAC Network since October 2021. Julia is Secretary-General of the German Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU). She has been with the Council in different positions since 2009 with the exception of 2012-13 when she worked on the energy transition in the German Federal Environmental Ministery. Before that, Julia has been working for ten years in environmental research in the UK (SPRU Science and Technology Policy Research at the University of Sussex) and Germany (Research Centre for Environmental Policy at the Freie Universität Berlin).

Board Member: Folmer de Haan

Folmer de Haan is the treasurer of the EEAC Network since January 2022. Folmer is the deputy director of the Council for the Environment and Infrastructure (Rli). Before joining the Rli, Folmer worked at the Dutch Council for Energy (AER), worked at several consultancy firms in the field of sustainability, energy and industry and the development of policy instruments for the different sustainability transitions. He started his career with a research position at the Delft University of Technology.

Network Coordinator: Fee Kirsch

Fee Kirsch is the coordinator of the Network. She assumed her position on March 1st 2023. She is in charge of the day-to-day business of the Network. Before joining the EEAC, she worked for DG CLIMA at the European Commission, the German Council on Sustainable Development and the One Campaign, an NGO campaigning to end extreme poverty.