Board of directors

MEMBER: André MARCON

France, MACEO (Association supporting economic development of Massif Central)

André Marcon has been the president of Euromontana from October 2008 to October 2012.

André Marcon is hotel manager at Saint-Bonnet le Froid (Haute-Loire) where he offers trips to discover the local nature. He is the president of UCCIMAC, Union of chambers of commerce and industry of Massif Central, which has now merged into MACEO. Since 2011, he is also the president of CCI France, the National assembly of chambers of commerce and industry and vice-president of Eurochambers. He has been vice-President of the economic and social committee in France since 2004, member of the Permanent Board for Massif Central Committee since 1994, of the Permanent Commission of the National mountain council since 2002, of the Permanent conference for Tourism in rural areas since 2001, of the National conference for spatial planning and territorial management since 2006. Locally he is also Mayor of Saint Bonnet le Froid since 1989 and vice-président of the "Communauté de commune du pays de Montfaucon".

MEMBER : Martin PRICE

Scotland (United Kingdom), Perth College of the University of the Highlands and Islands

Professor Martin Price is Director of the Centre for Mountain Studies at UHI-Perth College, within the emerging University of the Highlands and Islands. He established the Centre in 2000 following previous work at the Universities of Oxford and Bern, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (USA). He has undertaken activities related to the sustainable development of, and global changes in, mountain areas around the world since the early 1980s, and was centrally involved in the development and implementation of both the mountain chapter of *Agenda 21* (1992) and the International Year of Mountains (2002). He has been the coordinator of two major studies on European mountains for the European Commission (2002-4) and the European Environment Agency (2008-9) and has worked with many other international organizations on mountain issues, including FAO, IUCN, UNEP, and UNESCO which designated him UNESCO Chair in Sustainable Mountain Development in 2009.

MEMBER : Maurizio GALLI

Italy, Lombardia, ERSAF (Regional Agency for services to agriculture and forestry)

Graduated in Political Sciences and expert in Geography and Regional Planning, Maurizio Galli has 30-years experience in coordination and management of programs, projects and initiatives for the local development in Lombardy Region and at European level. From 1980 to 1988 he worked at EU institutions (in Rome, Brussels and Luxemburg) and was committed to promote the use of Structural Funds at a local level by improving local capacities through focused training activities and regional planning. He has been General Director of some public companies in charge of local development and planning and supported Lombardy Region at the Institutional Territorial Tables (as far as mountain areas is concerned). Currently he is the General Director of the Agency for Services to Agriculture and Forestry of Lombardy Region.

MEMBER : Ioan AGAPI

Romania, FAMD (Mountain Farmers association of Vatra Dornei)

Ioan Agapi is CEO at "Dorna" Mountain Farmers' Federation since 1995. Graduate of the North University of Baia Mare, with a major in Mining, and of the university of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Iasi, with a major in Rural Development, Ioan Agapi has worked for 10 years in mining construction and for 17 years in mountain rural development. The projects he manages are financed by the World Bank, the Government of Romania, the EU and Heifer International.

Norway, Buskerud County Council

Jon-Andreas Kolderup has previously been member of the Buskerud County Council for eight years and elected member to the Norwegian Mountain Regions Association and Euromontana, on behalf of the council. Today he is member of Hol Municipal Council and executive board. He is elected chairman of the political steering committee of the Water-region "Vest-Viken", this is realted to EU's water directive, under implementing in Norway. He has his basic education from the Norwegian Military Academy, supported by economical studies and is living in Geilo, in Hol Municipalicy, a mountain municipalicy with two National Parks, in the midst of Southern Norway. He has 12 years experience from the Norwegian army, 4 years as a political advisor and 25 years from the oil industry, mainly contracting and Public Affairs, in Norway and abroad.

MEMBER: Danut GITAN

Romania, Ministry of agriculture and Rural development (CEFIDEC), Vatra Dornei

Former Executive director of  Training and Innovation Center in the Carpathians – CEFIDEC Vatra Dornei and vice-president of Euromontana from 2004 to 2012, Danut Gitan now works in the Ministry of agriculture and rural development. Specialized on agricultural mechanics and agri-food economy, Danut has participated in implementing rural projects in the mountain area of Romania, financed by EU, the World Bank and the Romanian Government.

MEMBER : Vlatko ANDONOVSKI

Macedonia, MAKMONTANA – Association for the Sustainable Development of Mountain Regions

Executive Director of MAKMONTANA  and the President of the Balkan Foundation for Sustainable Development from 2005. He is associate professor at the University in Skopje, teaching Forest Genetics and Tree Improvement and Landscape Design. Since 2008 he is vice-president of the Macedonian Chamber of Tourism in charge for the Rural Tourism Cluster.

MEMBER : Thomas EGGER

Switzerland, SAB, multisectoral national mountain organisation

Dipl. Geographer. 1991 - 1996: Scientific collaborator ARW, Dr. Peter Furger AG in Visp. 1996 - 2001: Head of regional office of the Swiss center for mountain regions (SAB) in Brig. From 2002: Director of the Swiss center for mountain regions in Berne. Member of the Federal Council on spatial development. Member of the advisory group on spatial planning of the Bundesland Rheinland Pfalz. President of Schweizerische Beratungsgruppe für Regionen und Gemeinden. Member of the board of directors of Schweizerische Studiengesellschaft für Raumordnungs- und Regionalpolitik. Secretary of the Parliamentary Group Mountains. Secretary of the Conference of Heads of Municipalities from tourism villages in mountain areas.

MEMBER : Jean-Louis CAZAUBON

France, APCA, National Network of the Agricultural Chambers

Jean-Louis CAZAUBON is farmer in the Pyreneese mountains (dairy farmer, processing milk in yoghurt). He is an elected representative in several institutions: President of the Chamber of Agriculture of Hautes-Pyrénées, President of the Regional Chamber of Agriculture of Midi-Pyrénées, Vice-President of APCA (Permanent Assembly of Chambers of Agriculture at the national level), in charge of the comissions "territories", of the Mountain group and of the group "quality of products",  Vice-President of Crédit Agricole Pyrénées-Gascogne, and Vice-President of the group Rural Development in COPA-COGECA. He is also advisor of the French Economic, Social and Environmental Committee. He is the Mayor of Poueyferre, a commune of 900 inhabitants, since 1995.

MEMBER : Thierry PERCIE DU SERT

France, ARPE, Regional Sustainable development agency of Region Midi-Pyrénées

Thierry Percie du Sert is Deputy Director at ARPE, agency in charge of sustainable development. He is responsible of the Territorial projects unit, and manages in particular relations with protected areas (regional and national parks) of Region Midi-Pyrénées.

MEMBER : Elena DIBELLA

Italy, Province of Torino

Elena Di Bella is the director for Rural and Mountain Development in the Province of Torino. She also represents she province of Torino at the board of director of Euromontana, where she co-leads with APCA (French Permanent Assembly of Chambers of Agriculture) the theme of mountain quality food products.

Originally graduated in agricultural economics from the Turin University, she has worked as agricultural extension officer at the Italian Farmers’ Federation of Piedmont and as free lance in advising farmers and industries on analysis and control costs and fund raising, as well as on the reorganisation of the dairy cooperatives of the Pinerolese area. She has also occupied the function of interim director of Euromontana before joining the province of Torino where she has been working since 2001 as a director for Rural and Mountain Development. Her main field of activities are the agricultural and rural and mountain development sectors and quality products: local development projects planning and coordination in the framework of strategic political lines of Province of Torino, European projects planning for rural and mountain development, coordination of studies and feasibility studies.

MEMBER : George FARLOW

Scotland (United-Kingdom), The Highlands Council

Councillor George Farlow is the elected, Highland Council member for The North, West and Central Sutherland Ward. He is affiliated to the Scottish National Party (SNP). This ward is one of Europe's most fragile and peripheral upland areas. As an active member and director of a number of organizations in Sutherland he has a strong interest in tourism, community development and the mountain environments. In the current economic climate Cllr. Farlow is currently engaged with promoting tourism initiatives focusing on the unique local environment, developing local jobs in new and innovative models and supporting activities to protect and effectively manage a special landscape. Cllr. Farlow has a professional qualification and continuing interest in Forestry, Climate change and food production. He is also a Director of the Sutherland Partnership and the West Highland Geopark.

MEMBER : Sylvain MARMIER

France, FNSEA

Farmer in the department of Doubs (with 3 associates in GAEC) since 1992, Sylvain Marmier has been involved directly in European affairs through the European Council for Young Farmers which he chaired from 2003 à 2005, after having been respectively president of Young Farmers in the Doubs and in the Franche-Comté region. His history also includes an international dimension as he has worked for a year in the United States and has been national secretary for AFDI (Agriculteurs français et développement international). He is also administrator of the Crédit agricole of Franche-Comté, regional administrator of the Water management Agency Rhône-Méditerranée-Corse, Board member of the Local and regional Chambers of agriculture and Vice-president of the Economic council of Franche-Comté. He represents in the Euromontana Board of Directors the mountain commission of FNSEA.

MEMBER : Robin CLARKE

Scotland (United-Kingdom), Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE)

Head of policy for HIE (agency for economic development in the Highlands and Islands).

MEMBER : Andreja BOREC

Slovenia, Faculty of agriculture of the University of Maribor

Prof.Andreja Borec is member of the department of agricultural economics and rural development of Euromontana. Her professional work is dedicated mostly to environmental issues and rural development and agricultural land management. She has work experiences on the field of land abandonment causes and consequences in the mountain regions as well as experiences in the field of implementation of rural development policy to mountainous regions. Recently she has been working on the promotion, development and marketing of traditional and local mountain food.

MEMBER : Eivind BRENNA

Norway, Oppland County Council

Mr Eivind Brenna, has 28 years of experience from local politics in a mountain community. 12 years as mayor. He has been member of the county board of Oppland for 5 years and 10 years in the national board of the liberal party of Norway. He has been member of the national board of Fjellregionsamarbeidet since the start 10 years ago representing Valdres. He and his wife are owners and directors of a mountain lodge with 150 beds for the last 30 years. Mr Brenna was one of the founders of Valdres Natur- og kulturpark, the first regional park of Norway. He is now chairman of Norske Parker the national organization of regional parks of Norway. He is part time student in the MPA study in Høyskolen I Hedmark 2010-2013. He is member of the board in several companies: Innovasjon Norge AS, Opplandskraft AS, and several tourist companies.

MEMBER : Aashild KJELSNES

Norway, Sogn og Fjordane County Council

Ms Aashild Kjelsnes has 20 years of experience as a county politician. For the election period 2011-15 ms Kjelsnes holds the position as the chairman of the county council and thus has the leading political and legal responsibility of the council. The political responsibility includes education, health, communication, county roads, energy-supply, culture, business development and county planning. Other relevant positions are: Chairman of the national committee of landslides and avalanche protection. Four years as vice chairman of the national Road Safety Committee. For 5 years she was the chairman of a program aiming at improving public health. Ms Kjelsnes has held the position as board member of the transport company Fjord 1 for 8 years, the energy-supply company Sogn og Fjordane Energi for 5 years and committee of the Unesco World Heritage site Neroyfjorden and Geirangerfjorden for 2 years.

MEMBER : Miguel VILAS-BOAS

Portugal, CIMO (Centre of Research on Mountain areas)

Professor Miguel Vilas-Boas, Vice-coordinator of the Mountain Research Centre, CIMO, since 2003, works in the department of environment and natural resources in the Agrarian School of the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança. With an academic background in chemistry obtained during is PhD in the University of Porto, Portugal, and Leicester University, England, he is coordinator of several financed research projects and author of many scientific publications. His research goals are oriented to the quality of mountains products, with a strong focus in beekeeping technology and organic beekeeping as tools to fight against depopulation of mountain regions and development of rural areas. Recently he is been elected group leader in the International Honey Commission.