The COPERNICUS Alliance is registered as a not-for-profit organisation under German law. The network is coordinated by a Leadership Team and supported by an Advisory Board and a Network Manager. Learn more about the organisation and the people involved!
The COPERNICUS Alliance was established and is run by members, for its members. It is registered as a not-for-profit organisation under German law. The CA is self-financed and uses its funds to achieve its mission. It also seeks external funding for projects and activities.
The network is coordinated by a Leadership Team, currently composed by three Co-Presidents, and supported by an Advisory Board and a Network Manager. The Leadership Team and Advisory Board members are volunteering positions. The Leadership Team is elected by the CA members for a period of two years, the terms of Advisory Board members are four years.
Leadership Team
Co-President Asst. Prof. Elisabeth Hofmann, Université Bordeaux Montaigne
Elisabeth Hofmann is Assistant Professor at Université Bordeaux Montaigne, France. After undergraduate studies in Germany (her native country), Elisabeth did a PhD in Development Economics in France. She then worked in project evaluation and gender and development for NGOs in Africa and held a half-time teaching position for a bachelor degree for project managers in sustainable development in the Global South, which she is now coordinating. She is head of the UNESCO Chair in Training of Sustainable Development Professionals which she co-founded in 2000. In this context, she contributed to a competence framework for SD project managers and in the expert committee involved in the conception of Green Comp. She is a founding member and former coordinator of "Genre en Action", a francophone international network on gender and development. Being a full time Assistant Professor since 2009, she is a member of the research laboratory "Les Afriques dans le monde" in Bordeaux. Her applied research concerns integrating a gender approach in development initiatives through transformative learning. She has been involved in certain activities of the European Society for Research on the Education of Adults since 2011 and recently in the Erasmus+ project "Pushing the boundaries of online transformative learning" (OnTL).
Co-President Assoc. Prof. Tom Kuppens, Hasselt University & Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Tom Kuppens is Assistant Professor (tenure track) in environmental economics at the Centre for Environmental Sciences (CMK) of Hasselt University (UHasselt), Belgium. He is also assistant professor of economics teaching methodology at the School for Educational Studies (SES) at UHasselt and the Multidisciplinary Institute for Teacher Education (MILO) at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). He holds a doctorate in business economics, in which he developed a methodological framework for societal techno-economic assessments to facilitate complex decision making in which economic, environmental and societal impacts of technological innovations within a biobased, circular economy interact. Motivated by speeding up the necessary change for urgent sustainability problems, Tom started doing educational research as well with a focus on how to integrate transformative learning for sustainable development in the economics and business curriculum. Tom explored the green competences required for a transition to a biobased and circular economy, developed innovative educational materials (e.g. using virtual reality, art-based and collaborative learning). His research focuses at the moment on the influence of teacher-student interactions in terms of the roles of a business person towards sustainability on the one hand, and teacher professional development on ESD for pre- and in-service teachers on the other hand.
Co-President Prof. Eglė Staniškienė, Kaunas University of Technology
Eglė Staniškienė is a professor at the Sustainable Management Research Group, School of Economics and Business, Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), Lithuania, and holds a PhD in Social Sciences. Her research topics extend from quality management to sustainable development, corporate social responsibility, education for sustainable development, and interdisciplinary research. From 2008 to 2013, she has worked as the Head of Quality Department at KTU. She led the development and implementation of the project for the improvement of the internal quality assurance system at KTU. Eglė is an expert of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), and in 2020, she participated in the Expert Group Meeting on “Socially just transition towards sustainable development: The role of digital technologies on social development and well-being of all”. Currently, she is a member of the Expert Council of the Lithuanian Responsible Business Association (LAVA). She has published more than 60 scientific publications and participated in more than 20 national and international projects. She uses and develops her scientific competence in the study process and in cooperation with business and public sector organisations.
Network Manager Mario Diethart, MSc
Mario Diethart holds a master in Environmental System Sciences with focus on geography from the University of Graz, Austria. He is working in the field of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as part of "Sustainability4U", a collaborative initiative of the four universities in Graz (University of Graz, University of Technology Graz, Medical University of Graz, and University of Music and Performing Arts Graz). He was involved in various EU projects focusing on innovative education approaches (e-learning, international, intergenerational settings) as well as on participatory city planning and sustainable tourism.
as of 1 January 2026: Co-President Antje Disterheft, PhD, University of Lisbon
Antje Disterheft holds a PhD in Social Sustainability, an MSc in Environmental Citizenship and Participation, and a BA in Social Work. She is a researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences (ICS), University of Lisbon, where she works on the Horizon Europe project SHARED GREEN DEAL. She contributes to the analysis of transdisciplinary social experiments across six Green Deal priority areas and to the development of training resources on behavioural, cultural, and social change. She is co-leader of the SHIFT – Environment, Territory and Society research group and a member of the editorial team of the group’s blog (Ambiente, Território e Sociedade).
Her research explores relational and transdisciplinary approaches to sustainability, with a focus on the interplay between inner and outer dimensions of transformation. Her work spans fields such as sustainability transitions, transformative learning, ecological economics, and governance.
Antje teaches at bachelor, master, and PhD levels, and is also an invited professor at Universidade Aberta. Her pedagogical approach is rooted in mutual learning, co-creation, and embodied educational practices. She frequently experiments with participatory and reflective tools to support deeper engagement with sustainability challenges.
She is a co-founding member of the Portuguese network Rede Campus Sustentável (founded in 2018), where she serves on the Executive Commission and contributes to working groups, annual events, and the network’s newsletter. She also promoted and co-led training initiatives to advance exchange on teaching staff’s competencies for sustainability, e.g. a webinar on the GreenComp with European Commission’s officer Ulrike Pisiotis, or collaborative workshops on future teacher training. Before joining ICS, she was a postdoctoral researcher at CENSE – NOVA University Lisbon, where she founded The CareLab for People and Planet (www.the-care-lab.org), a practice-based initiative on care, sustainability, and systemic change, which is currently transitioning to her new affiliation.
as of 1 January 2026: Co-President Michael Yang
Michael Yang is an emerging leader in sustainability, higher education transformation, and international NGO governance. He has built a diverse professional portfolio spanning project management, organisational development, capacity building, and the facilitation of learning processes for systemic change.
Michael served as Co-President of oikos International, where he held executive responsibility for guiding the global organisation through a period of strategic renewal. In this role, he strengthened financial stability, expanded partnerships, enhanced impact measurement systems, and supported a worldwide community of students, researchers, and practitioners dedicated to advancing sustainability in economics and management education.
In addition to his leadership experience in the non-profit sector, Michael brings entrepreneurial insight from SAMBLY, a circular-economy-focused start-up he co-founded. His role included business development, stakeholder engagement, and the acquisition of early-stage innovation funding, complemented by participation in incubation programmes and a lot of pitching experience.
Across his roles, Michael has developed strong competencies in strategic planning, multi-stakeholder collaboration, community engagement, fundraising, and the design and delivery of educational and transformational programmes. His work consistently bridges academia, civil society, and innovation ecosystems, contributing to the broader development of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) across Europe.
Advisory Board
The Advisory Board members are elected for a period of four years by the CA members. They can be CA member representatives, student representatives or assume an extended advisory board role. The current members are:
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Prof. Matthias Barth, President, Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development, Germany
Member representative -
Prof. Kim Ceulemans, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Control, Accounting and Auditing at Toulouse Business School, France
Extended Advisory Board Role -
Dr. Jana Dlouhá, Researcher at Charles University Environment Centre and former CA Vice-President, Czech Republic
Member representative -
Prof. Dr. Rebeka Kovačič Lukman, Professor of Environmental Sciences at University of Maribor, Slovenia
Member representative -
Dr. Clemens Mader, Co-Director at RCE Zurich, and scientist at Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland
Extended Advisory Board Role -
Asst. Prof. Dr. Ingrid Mulà, Assistant Professor at University of Girona, Spain
Member representative -
Dr. Estibaliz Saez de Camara Oleaga, Director of Sustainability at University of the Basque Country, Spain
Member representative -
Dr. Anne Zimmermann, Associate Senior Research Scientist, Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern, Switzerland
Extended Advisory Board Role -
until 31 December 2025: Michael Yang, oikos International, Switzerland
Student representative
