New Head of the EnvCom Secretariat

Björn Grönholm, 39, has been nominated as the new Head of Environment and Agenda 21 Secretariat as of 1 October 2006.

Before nomination Grönholm was working as a coordinator for SUSTAINMENT -project. He has also cooperated with the UBC for 10 years. Grönholm was a development manager in waste management company for Finnish archipelago, a coordinator in Keep Archipelago Tidy Association and in Keep Baltic Sea Tidy Network. Grönholm graduated from Abo Akademi University with a Masters degree in Political Sciences in 1999. He has worked as a researcher for several years in the field of international relations, political and administrative structures with focus on environmental policies. Altogether 27 candidates applied for the vacancy. Four were finally interviewed by the Commission's co-chairman Guldbrand Skjönberg, Mikko Lohikoski, and Olli-Pekka Mäki from Turku, and the former Head of Secretariat Risto Veivo, who is currently working as the head of Unit in the Baltic 21 Secretariat in Stockholm.