Council

The EUROPARC Council is elected every four years by the EUROPARC Federation’s General Assembly composed of our membership. Six Council members and the President are directly elected by EUROPARC members. Furthermore, the Council invites up to five co-opted members who have an advisory role within the Council.

The current EUROPARC Council and President were elected during the online General Assembly on the 6th of October 2024.

EUROPARC’s work is overseen by the its Council and President. They bring a wealth of experience and expertise to bear on the work of the Federation and also represent EUROPARC across Europe. They monitor that EUROPARC is functioning well and focus on the strategic direction of EUROPARC.

All members of the Council perform their duties honestly and free of charge.

Get to know our Council members here:

EUROPARC Council Members 2024-2028:

EUROPARC President

Michael Hošek (CZ)

Marta Múgica (ES) – Vice President

Elliott has worked in landscape, conservation and rural development roles for over 25 years.  He recently moved to work as the Director of Parks Services at the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority.  Before this, he worked for 13 years as the Partnership Manager for the Forest of Bowland National Landscape.

Elliott originally qualified with BSc. Environmental Science and MSc. Rural and Regional Resources Planning (with European Rural Development). Born and raised in Scotland, Elliott has now made his home with his family in north-west England, on the edge of the Forest of Bowland National Landscape.

Elliott has been active within EUROPARC Federation since 2018 with specific involvement in the Atlantic Isles Section and the Nature, Regional and Landscape Parks Taskforce. Within the UK, he has been a trustee on the National Landscapes Association since 2023 and has been a board member on range of regional partnerships, including the Northern Uplands Nature Partnership and a LEADER Local Action Group.

João Cardoso de Melo (PT)

João will take on the role of treasurer. With a postgraduation in executive management, at Lisbon Business Scholl, and a degree in landscape architecture by Évora

University, João dedicates is career to nature conservation and biodiversity and worked in the private sector as consultant for 10 years. Since 2010 he is responsible for the ecological infrastructure management at Cascais Municipality, with experience in the planning and execution of conservation and ecological restoration projects, engaging volunteers, promoting nature tourism, involving the management of multidisciplinary teams. Is actual research focus being landscape planning and fire risk, nature conservation and visitor’s impact, nature base solutions, invasive species and habitat management. Since 2016 he is engaged with EUROPARC, in 2018 as member of the sustainable agriculture commission, being currently the chairman.

Lidia Bai (IT)

Lidia Bai has a humanistic education with classical studies and a degree in philosophy. She worked in the corporate sector of a national bank and subsequently held positions in public administration dealing with culture, tourism, gender equality, agriculture. She was elected Mayor of her city twice. In the last ten years she has been President of the Colline Metallifere National Park, which is a member of the UNESCO Global Geoparks Network and she was an official member of the EGN Coordination Committee.

She is currently a member of the Board of Federparchi, the Italian section of the EUROPARC Federation.

During her experience in a National Park made up of small communities, she gave priority to the enhancement of natural and cultural heritage through bottom-up participation processes. Sustainability was the main theme of the work, in agriculture, in landscape planning processes and in green economy planning. In this context, the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas has proven to be an extraordinary tool, with the achievement of phase 3.

Sabrina Caire (FR)

Sabrina has been worked in the field of public health for over20 years. She had a primary experience in tourism sector, where she built strong interests for multicultural environments.

She has two Master’s degrees, one in political sciences, and the second in European policies, lobbying and advocacy.

She is elected Deputy Mayor of her village and committed to environmental policies. Furthermore, Sabrina is member of the French speaking section of EUROPARC since 2021, which is affiliated to the French Federation of Nature Regional Parks. They worked on advocacy, including sustainable tourism issues, exchanges of experiences, and new partnerships.

 

Coopted Council Members

Nikos Pangas (GR)

Nikos Pangas of the Philodassiki Society in Athens will take on the role of Periurban representative. Nikos is a Forester-Environmentalist and has a Doctors degree in urban forest planning. He specializes in protection and management of peri-urban green spaces. Since 1989 he has been employed by non-profit NGO Philodassiki Enossi Athinon as technical director of Mt. Hymettus Aesthetic forest in Athens, Greece. He is also a consultant specialist on projects related to forest management mostly in peri-urban areas, has been involved in several research projects related to analysis and planning of peri-urban space and for a period of 10 years he has collaborated with the Hellenic Open University as a consultant tutor. Since 2017 he is a member of EUROPARC/Fedenatur Periurban Commission.

Sonja Miller

Sonja Miller

Sonja Miller will take on the role of Section Representative in the EUROPARC Council. She works for the German section “Nationale Naturlandschaften e. V.” since 2015, where she gained experiences in different fields such as tourism and international cooperation. Currently she is in charge of the department of Business Corporation and Fundraising and as such, she can pursue her passion for bringing people and nature closer together. Sonja has a Master’s degree in “Sustainable Tourism Management”. Moreover, she has several years of working experience in the fields of social innovation and community building.

Michelle Herrmann

Michelle has been coopted as the EUROPARC Youth Representative. She has studied agricultural science and finished her PhD in sustainable plant nutrition. Born in the man and biosphere reserve Bliesgau in Germany, she experienced the co-living of human and nature since her early childhood. Based on this knowledge, she advocates for a changed understanding of nature conservation: seeing humankind not as an enemy but as an ally in protecting nature. Because of her study background, she takes the farmers’ perspective into account promoting actions which are compatible with modern, sustainable agriculture. Her enthusiasm for sustainable development has guided her throughout her life. At the moment, she is initiating and leading workshops for young people on topics like biodiversity, sustainable agriculture and nutrition, and the value of food.

As the youth representative, she is the link between the council and the youth council. In close contact with youth groups across Europe, she gathers concerns and wishes from young people and tries to bring them forward in the council.

Myrthe Fonck

Myrthe has worked in the field of Protected Area management for over 10 years. She studied veterinary science and ecology and is passionate about nature conservation and human-nature relationships. Myrthe currently works as a Strategy Advisor Nature for PWN, the Netherlands, an organization responsible for drinking water supply and the management of two Natura 2000 dune areas in The Netherlands. Besides her experience in Protected Area management, she has expertise in the implementation of nature-based solutions and truly believes that working together with nature is key for a sustainable and healthy future. She has been active in the EUROPARC climate change adaptation Task Force and has been involved in the EUROPARC network since 2017. One of her highlights is the recent Fitter for the Future networking event, where she organized a workshop on the ‘sustainability express’. It showed that cross-border and -sectoral collaboration, innovative thinking and inspiring narratives are needed to position nature in the heart of our society. Myrthe believes that that is exactly what the EUROPARC network brings and why she feels energized to be part of the organisation.

The position of Internal Auditor is elected by our members. The internal auditor is invited to attend Council meetings.

James Stuart – Internal Auditor

James joined EUROPARC as Internal Auditor in the autumn of 2023. His first career was in the British Army including two operational tours which followed on from studying Oceanography at Southamption University. After retiring from the military he moved into sports leadership which quickly linked with tourism, writing the first Marine Tourism Strategy for Scotland. This was followed by a roles leading a Contract Research Organisation and Entrepreneurial Scotland and in 2017 James became the Convener (Chair) of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. He now has a portfolio of interests including; Non-Exec advisor to Scottish Forestry, Chair of the Governance (Audit) Committee at the Lakes District National Park, Chair of the Ethical Contributions Board for SMEEF, CEO of a Welsh Sports Governing Body, Chair of a Further Education College Group and other project work as a consultant.