A new Board of Directors was elected on November 18, 2020. The Board will serve for four years.
PRESIDENT : Juan Andrès GUTIERREZ
Pays Basque (Spain), Department of agriculture of the Basque Country
Geographer, graduated from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Master in Geography, Ecology and Development of Mountain Areas at the University of Grenoble and Interuniversity Degree in Cartography and Remote Sensing at the Universities of Louvain-La-Neuve, Liège and the Université Libre de Bruxelles. Since 1989 Juanan Gutierrez has been working at HAZI (a public company financed by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Policy of the Basque Government) where he is currently responsible for the Department of Prospective and Cooperation Networks. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the World Rural Forum (NGO working in the field of cooperation). Juanan Gutierrez has been President of Euromontana since 2012.
VICE-PRESIDENT: Dominique FAYEL
France, FNSEA
Dominique Fayel is a farmer and president of a mountainous departmental federation of FNSEA in Aveyron. He is a member of the FNSEA board and president of the Mountain Commission and Less Favoured Areas. Finally, he is a member of SIDAM, an organisation focusing on projects of the Massif Central. As Vice-President, Dominique Fayel wants to focus on agricultural issues and to bring his expertise to Euromontana. He believes that agriculture is not represented well at the national level and that is important to be more involved in Euromontana and work at the European level. Working on the Euromontana Board will allow for more exchanges with other European countries and greater involvement in important decisions at the European level, especially regarding the CAP. The idea is to have a territorial and global approach in order to promote agricultural development that considers economic, social and environmental factors.
VICE-PRESIDENT: Georges ALEXAKIS
Greece, Region of Creete
George Alexakis is a member of the Regional Council of the region of Crete. Since 2017, he is Vice-Governor of Crete for European and International Affairs and therefore follows policy priorities and strategies and supervises projects’ implementation both at regional and European levels. He is also the Vice-President of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) in charge of Maritime Affairs.
VICE-PRESIDENT: Alessandro FEDE PELLONE
Italy, ERSAF
Alessandro Fede Pellone is President of ERSAF, the Regional Agency for Services to Agriculture and Forestry of Region Lombardy. He is engaged in the development of the Lombard agricultural, forestry and agri-food system and also has a long experience in working on environment and parks protection. With reference to the forestry sector and the rural area, it also works to promote the development and cohesion of the ecosystem in the management and enhancement of the regional forestry property, the economic enhancement of timber, nursery and biodiversity support activities, support to fight against forest fires.
VICE-PRESIDENT: Tor ARNESEN
Norway, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences
Tor Arnesen is a Senior Research Scientist at the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences and chairman at the Norwegian Mountain Research Network. His work focuses on the social development of mountain communities. Member of Euromontana’s Board of Directors since 2017, Tor is also involved in the Network for European Mountain Research (NEMOR).
VICE-PRESIDENT: Adrian-Radu REY
Romania, ROMONTANA
Adrian-Radu Rey is the President of ROMONTANA, a non-governmental and multi-sectoral organisation supporting the overall development of mountain areas in Romania. He has consistent experience in project development, policies and strategies for mountain areas and putS its expertise at the service of Euromontana at the position of Vice-President.
TREASURER: Thomas EGGER
Switzerland, SAB, multisectoral national mountain organisation
Geographer, he was from 1996 to 2001 Head of the regional office of the Swiss Centre for mountain regions (SAB) in Brig. Thomas Egger is Director of the Swiss Association for Mountain Regions – SAB since 2002. Formerly a member of the Swiss Federal Parliament, he is President of SEREC (Swiss Service for Regions and Municipalities) and Secretary of the Conference of Presidents of Mountain Tourist Village Municipalities. He is also co-leader of an Action Group in the Macroregional strategy for the Alps (EUSALP) and responsible for several projects of the Alpine Space Programme as well as projects in the cooperation with countries in Eastern and South-eastern Europe.
Member: Rob Clarke
Scotland (United Kingdom), Highlands and Islands Enterprise
Rob Clarke is the Head of Policy at Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE). HIE is the Scottish Government development agency for the Highlands and Islands of Scotland with a unique remit that integrates economic and community development. Rob has almost 30 years’ experience in economic development in roles including agricultural marketing, food and drink, trade and investment, and policy.
Member: Rosalind BRYCE
Scotland (United Kingdom), Centre for Mountain Studies, Perth College University of Highlands and Islands
Dr Rosalind Bryce is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Mountain Studies, Perth College University of Highlands and Islands. She has 14 years of postdoctoral research experience in socio-ecological systems and has worked on both national and international research projects with a mountain focus – in some cases, with Euromontana.
MEMBER: Christophe LEGER
France, APCA, National Network of the Agricultural Chambers
Thanks to his detailed knowledge of French mountain farms, Christophe Léger, who is a farmer in Haute-Savoie, will be able to be the spokesman for French mountain farmers in Euromontana and to be the link between Euromontana and the APCA Mountain Group. Beyond his ability to bring the diversity of French mountain agriculture, Christophe Léger is particularly sensitive to the European dimension of mountain farming. He wishes to develop through his participation to Euromontana his European network and partnerships with different countries. He has already forged links with Italy, Switzerland or Romania and wants to continue on this path.
MEMBER: Alfred VISMARA
France, Association of Chambers of Agriculture of the Pyrenees
Alfred Vismara is a cattle-meat farmer in the French Pyrenees and 3rd Vice-President of the Chamber of Agriculture of the County of Aude, as well as Vice-President of the Aude Pyrenees « Communauté de Commune », in charge of agriculture. He advocates for the preservation of mountain breeds and is also convinced of the importance of promoting synergies between agriculture and other economic sectors for an integrated development.
MEMBER : Vlatko ANDONOVSKI
Macedonia, MAKMONTANA – Association for the Sustainable Development of Mountain Regions
Vlatko Andonovski is associate professor at the University in Skopje, where he teaches Forest Genetics and Tree Improvement and Landscape Design and is a research associate in biodiversity, forestry, sustainable development of natural resources, management planning on nature protection, protected areas and international and trans-boundary cooperation. Vlatko Andonovski is executive Director of MAKMONTANA- Association for the sustainable development of mountain regions in the Republic of Macedonia, where his main duties include work and lobby for sustainable development of mountain regions in the Republic of Macedonia and South-Eastern Europe and the financial management of the organization. He is also the President of the Balkan Foundation for Sustainable Development – BFSD.
MEMBER : Dilyana SLAVOVA
Bulgaria, Mountain Milk Association
Dilyana Slavova is the founder of the Mountain Milk Association and a member of European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). As former President of the EESC committee for Agriculture, Rural Areas and Environment, she was rapporteur for opinions on the CAP, milk and vulnerable rural areas and is active in the advocacy work for the optional quality term ‘mountain product’ at EU and Bulgarian level.
MEMBER : Anna GIORGI
Italy, UNIMONT
Anna Giorgi is Full Professor and Director of UNIMONT- a detachment of the University of Milan placed in Edolo, a mountain village in the central Italian Alps. Her work focuses on the development of mountain territories through Research & Innovation, education and dissemination activities. She is the leader of EUSALP’s Action Group 1 – to develop an effective R&I ecosystem, she is also member of international networks and coordinates working groups on mountain development at the national ministerial level.
MEMBER: Mario GRILLO
Italy, CIA – Confederation of Italian farmers
Mario Grillo has a degree in economy. He has direct experience with economic activities in mountain areas running a livestock breeding and cheese production farm in the Sila area in Calabria. Beyond producing food, the farm is an agritourism and contributes to attracting people in the area. Mario Grillo is vice president of the association of Cia-Calabria agritourisms and is very active at the regional level. For the last 10 years, he has organized organizing the Sila farm open day. He actively coordinates the CIA mountain of farmers operating in mountain areas from almost all over Italy. At the international level, Mario Grillo is involved in a project on national mountains parks. Mario Grillo will be supported by his staff members within CIA headquarters in Rome and in the CIA office in Brussels.
MEMBER : Klavdija GORNIK
Slovenia, Regional development agency for Podravje – Maribor
Klavdija Gornik has been Project Manager at the Podravje – Maribor Regional Development Agency since 2011. She has developed expertise in managing local projects, particularly Cohesion Policy and European projects. Her priority at the Regional Development Agency of Podravje – Maribor is to be attentive to the local needs of this mid-mountain region and to develop solutions that match their expectations.
MEMBER: Laura GASCON HERRERO
Spain, Province of Teruel
Laura Gascón Herrero is European project officer in the Provincial Government of Teruel since 2009. She joined the entity for leading the PADIMA project about depopulation in Mountain Areas, which was the first step for her career in rural development, territorial planning and “smart” management in mountain areas. The Province of Teruel has been a member of Euromontana since 2008 after a frequent and fruitful cooperation and, since 2017, is member of the Board of Directors. The Province has been Lead Partner in several INTERREG EUROPE projects such as PADIMA, MOG and SILVER SMEs with Euromontana as communication responsible partner. Teruel is a province especially worried about depopulation and demographic change, and because of this involved in several projects aiming at reversing the trend.
MEMBER: Bernat CLARAMUNT
Spain, CREAF
Bernat Claramunt is a Researcher at CREAF research centre, a leading institution in Mediterranean ecosystems research. His work focuses on mountain environment. Bernat Claramunt was also involved in the Advisory Board of the OPCC (Pyrenean climate change observatory) from its start and is currently the coordinator of NEMOR, the Network for European Mountain Research.
MEMBER: Simão PINHO
Portugal, Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (IPB) – Mountain Research Centre (CIMO)
Simão P. Pinho is Professor Coordinator at Instituto Politecnico de Braganca and Principal Investigator of the group on Sustainable Processes and Products at Mountains Research Center (CIMO). His research work focuses on the valorisation of natural resources, like walnut leaves and olive mill solid wastes. Thanks to his expertise, Simão wants to encourage policy makers to work on valorisation in rural and mountainous areas. He represents Euromontana at the Steering Committee of the Mountain Partnership.
MEMBER: Aud HOVE
Norway, Innlandet region
Aud Hove was a farmer and teacher before becoming Deputy Mayor of Oppland county (now part of Innlandet region). She is an experienced politician from Skjåk, one of the mountain municipalities in Innlandet and is also involved in different organisations such as the Mountain Region Network and several national parks.
MEMBER: Truls VASVIK
Norway, Vestfold and Telemark region
Truls Vasvik is a member of Vestfold and Telemark County Council. Within the Council, he is the Chair of the main committee for industry and tourism and actively works at creating new economic opportunities in the region as well as at promoting the assets of this mountainous areas.
