Louis Meuleman is Stakeholder Forum’s New Chairperson

Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future is pleased to announce that Louis Meuleman is the organization’s new Chairperson, effective 1 June 2025.

Louis Meuleman

Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future is pleased to announce that Louis Meuleman, a highly respected and effective former public manager on environmental sustainability at the subnational, national, and EU level, is the organization’s new Chairperson, effective 1 June 2025.

The SF Board, Fellows, and Associates feel incredibly fortunate to have Louis work with us in the coming years. Those sentiments were echoed by SF Director Irena Zubčević, who, when asked to comment on Mr. Meuleman’s new role, said “By leveraging his wealth of experience, his enthusiasm, and passion for stakeholder engagement, Louis’ influence will increase Stakeholder Forum’s capacity to drive sustainability initiatives forward.”

Louis is preceded as Chair by Alexander Juras, who stepped down from the Stakeholder Forum Board of Directors to enjoy his well-earned retirement.

Louis is passionate about strengthening stakeholder involvement on the 2030 Agenda and beyond, and about making science, policy and society work together. He has an extensive international network and is an experienced moderator and speaker on sustainability, interactive policymaking, and communication.

Louis’s academic background combines environmental biology (MSc) and public administration (PhD). His first book (2003) is a practitioners’ guide on interactive policymaking with stakeholders, based on his extensive experience in the Netherlands. His PhD book (2008) is about how bureaucracies can overcome barriers of, and combine hierarchical, network and market governance styles. Louis’s latest book (2018) applies this to governance for the SDGs.

Besides being Chair of Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future, he has several other affiliations. He is Chair of the Scientific Committee of the European Environment Agency, Vice-Chair of the UN Committee of Experts on Public Administration CEPA (2018-2025), Guest Professor of political science at Antwerp University, Visiting Professor of public governance at KU Leuven University, and Board member of the Club of Rome EU-Chapter.

Since he retired from the European Commission in 2021, Louis has done advisory work with his think tank Public Strategy for Sustainable Development (PS4SD) for, among others, the European Commission, UNITAR, UNEP, WWF, OECD, Council of Europe, national governments (e.g., Germany, Romania, Cyprus), and cities through URBACT, a European exchange and learning program focused on sustainable urban development.