IAKS Nordic Board

André Flatner (Norway)

President

André Flatner is Manager of BIAA, a newly established national competence network for sustainable sports and activity facilities, hosted by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology NTNU, and coo financed from the National Savings Bank Foundation, all county-municipalities and Ministry of Culture and Equality. He is former director of the department for public health and physical activity in the City of Fredrikstad and has been the President of the IAKS Nordic section since 2021. He is also on the advisory board to Tverga, a national resource center for self-organized sport in Norway.

Lisa Mari Watson (Norway)

Vice-President

Lisa is an experienced chief executive officer with 10 years of working in the sports industry. She is today manager of Tverga, a resource center helping municipalities and local initiatives in developing sport and leisure facilities for self organized sports.

Daniel Glimvert (Sweden)

Treasurer

Daniel is an expert in sports and leisure facilities and responsible for areas concerning all facilities at the Swedish Gymnastics Federation.

Peter Ahlström (Sweden)

Board member

Peter is Head of Sports Strategy in the Sports Department in the City of Stockholm. He is responsible for research, development, events and communication. He and his team strive for equal access to healthy and active lifestyles for all Stockholmers. Among his responsibilities is making sports and leisure facilities more accessible to groups that are less active, such as teenage girls and people with disabilities.

Evald Bundgaard Iversen (Denmark)

Board member

Evald Bundgaard Iversen is Head of the Research Centre for Sports, Health and Civil Society at the University of Southern Denmark. His research has particularly dealt with issues around the organization steering and management of (public) sports facilities. Recently, a particular focus has evolved on the possible dilemmas between the different aspects of sustainability with regards to sports facilities.
 

Ari Halinoja (Sweden)

Board member

Ari is senior architect at Sweco Architects in Stockholm with experience from designing arenas, sports facilities and sports halls.

Ari has been Business Development Manager for Culture and Sports at Sweco Architects, being responsible for strategic development and coordinating projects and knowledge within Sweco. In this role, he has also appeared as public speaker and lecturer to develop knowledge about sports facilities and their importance for public health and association life.

Ola Mattsson (Denmark)

Board member

Ola is a consultant who is passionate about building projects that create places that are future proof and bring a communal sense. Ola’s expertise lies in building projects that lie with the sports, outdoor and cultural sector. Furthermore, Ola has been part of advising teams for municipalities, grassroots, and sports clubs to realize their goals, creating meaningful venues for leisure pursuits.

Jarkko Rantamäki (Finland)

Board member

Senior Advisor 

Finnish Supervisory Agency 

Government Grants For Sports And Leisure Facilities

Olav Torp (Norway)

Board member

Olav is Associate Professor in the field Building Process at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). He has about 30 years experience with teaching, research, and development of knowledge within more effective and sustainable construction processes, project management and uncertainty management related to construction processes. He has been Head of Research of the 'Building Process' group for many years, and also Deputy Head of the Department for Civil and Environmental Engineering at NTNU. 

Since 2020, he has been leader for the Norwegian Center for Sports Facilities and Technology (SIAT). His goal is to establish more research based knowledge for better and more sustainable sports facilities.
 

Nils-Olof Zethrin (Sweden)

Board member

Nils-Olof is senior advisor in sport and leisure policy at the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions. 

He has a PhD in sports history and has long been interested in sports facilities and sports environments especially their social, cultural and societal roles.

Pernilla Holgersson (Sweden)

Substitute board member
Pernilla works at NILU Climate and Environment Institute AB, a subsidiary of the Norwegian research foundation NILU. She is a chemical engineer with more than 20 years of experience in environment, climate, and sustainability, combining roles in research and consultancy.

Pernilla supports both private and public sector actors – from municipalities and regions to national authorities – providing insights into the transition towards a circular economy. She leads projects on climate transition, circular and resource economy with a focus on turning theory into practice, and conducts value chain-based analyses across industries, materials, products, policies, and processes. Since 2017, artificial turf for sports and leisure have been a key area of her work.