Keynote Speakers

Opening of NORDIWA 2023 - The Water sector - Beyond today’s mission
Pär Dalhielm, CEO Svenskt Vatten

As the Swedish water and wastewater association, Svenskt Vatten represents the water sector in terms of water services provided by the Swedish municipalities. He is a member of the General assembly of EurEau and since 2022 Vice president.

Pär has 20 years of experience from working with sustainability issues at local, regional and national level. As a board member of WaterAid Sweden he has insight and passion for global water issues. He has a bachelor's degree in environmental science and economics which is supplemented with an MBA (Master business administration).

Curiosities, he is fairly a dedicated mountain biker, husband and father of two girls.

Leadership and the water sector
Tom Mollenkopf, President and Board Chair IWA

Tom Mollenkopf is an independent advisor on policy, strategy and governance. He is President of the International Water Association and a Senior Associate with the Aither consultancy. Over recent years he has advised government, NGO and private sector clients in Australia and globally. He is passionate about sound evidence-based decision making, and the role of informed and respectful conversations in good policy.

Tom's professional background is in law, first in private legal practice, then as corporate counsel - including Head of Legal at Australian Airlines (until its merger with Qantas) - before undertaking a series of executive and CEO roles in the water and environment sector. He was CEO of the Australian Water Association from 2007 to 2013, and later, he was CEO of the Peter Cullen Water and Environment Trust until 2021.

He is a Non-Executive Director on several Boards and is a member of the Victorian Sustainability Fund Committee and the Australian Water Partnership Expert Review Panel.

In January 2023, Tom was appointed an Officer in the Order of Australia, in recognition of his distinguished service to business, particularly through the essential services industry, and to the community.

The Urban wastewater treatment directive – proposed amendments from the Committee of the Regions.
Åsa Ågren Wikström, European Committee of the Regions, Rapporteur for the Urban wastewater treatment directive

For as long as I can remember, I have had an interest in social issues and I have followed what is happening in the outside world. I got involved politically in 2002 and since then have been active both locally, regionally and nationally – and since some years also at the European level at the Committee of the Regions. During 2011-2013, I took a break from politics due to my previous job as municipal manager.

Over the years, my interest and commitment to social development has only grown stronger and thanks to my current assignment at the European level, it is a privilege to be able to connect the issues from the local, regional, national and international perspective. Besides, it's so much fun!

Since January 2023 I am the Rapporteur in the Committee of the Regions for European commission’s revised Urban waste water treatment directive, one of the most important EU-directives for the European waters.

The Urban wastewater treatment directive – proposed amendments and the process ahead
Nils Torvalds, European Parliament, Rapporteur for the Urban wastewater treatment directive

Nils Torvalds is a Finnish Member of the European Parliament since 2012 and represents the Swedish People's Party (SFP) in the centrist-liberal group Renew Europe. He is a member of the Environment committee and Budget committee, and a substitute in the Industry committee. Through his role as coordinator in the Environment committee for Renew Europe, the third biggest group in the Parliament, he has a key role to play. In addition, he works with EU-Russia relations and EU-US relations in respective parliamentary delegations in the Parliament. In his role as Rapporteur for the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive he will lead the negotiations with the Council on behalf of the Parliament.

Göteborg a water wise city
Marianne Erlandson, Göteborg Sustainable Waste and Water, Managing Director 

Since autumn 2018, Marianne Erlandson has been the Managing Director of Sustainable Waste and Water in Göteborg. The administration's operating budget is approximately €200 million per year with just under 600 employees and is responsible for water supply and the sewer and storm water systems and also handling the waste in the municipality. In addition, the administration has a large investment budget for their water supply and sewer operations. Prior to her current work, Marianne was in the years 2013 to 2018 CEO of the then newly formed company Västvatten, which is a joint operating company within water and wastewater for four municipalities in Bohuslän. At Västvatten, Marianne led the work on building up the organization and working methods. Previous professional life was at the Swedish Road Administration and the Swedish Transport Administration in many different roles. Marianne Erlandson is a civil engineer and having a master in geotechnics from Chalmers University of Technology.

Energy strategies and priorities for the Gryaab urban wastewater treatment plant
Karin van der Salm, CEO Gryaab 

Karin van der Salm has a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering from Delft University, the Netherlands. After 20 years of working within the energy sector and process industry, she entered the water sector in 2013. Today she is the CEO of Gryaab, one of the largest waste water plants in Scandinavia. Gryaab is in an extreme expansive period to be able to meet new legislation and growing population.  Karin is truly passionate of circular economy and believes in the value of waste water. One example is that Gryaab in collaboration with Kretslopp & Vatten now will deliver huge amounts of technical water for cooling of Novo Energy’s battery factory.