|
home |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
NECTER Committee NECTER members |
Jaime lecturers and debates environmental policy and sustainability with engineering students. Originally from Spain, he came to the North East 12 years ago after living in The Netherlands for a while. He has two canny children. He coordinates several multinational research projects in natural resources management. He works with Dr Aidan Doyle in the development of outreach programmes including Newcastle University's contribution to NECTER.
Guy Austin, School of Modern Languages, Newcastle University
Guy is interested in engagement acivities via film events; in October 2010 he curated a season Algerian films at the Side Cinema in Newcastle.
Paola Masciulli Bateman is an Italian teacher of English at the Secondary School ‘Giovanni Oliva’ in Locorotondo, Italy. She is Head of the Department of European Projects and is currently involved in a Comenius Project titled ‘Euro Star’, involving three European countries. She has also been involved in various Etwinning partnerships, and the last one with Liverpool and Rouen (France) called ‘Culture Swap’ has been awarded last March. She has also been appointed for managing the Department of Interculture Education and Social Integration of all Cultures.
Anne is a plant biologist and her research group study the physiology, biochemistry and molecular biology of 'nocturnal plants'. She is principal investigator of the North East arm of the Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) network, a Big Lottery-funded England-wide initative aimed at encouraging people to get back in touch with nature by enabling them to explore and study their local environments.
Samantha Boyes, Civil Engineering & Geosciences, Newcastle University
Samantha is a civil engineering graduate with water specialism, currently pursuing a PhD in rainforest water resources and climate change in Guyana, also at Newcastle University. Before this Samanatha worked as a researcher with the Centre for Land use and Water Resources Research (CLUWRR) at Newcastle University working on the sustainability of bio-energy projects in developing countries. Samantha also spent a year in Sweden at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg where here studies focused on applied environmental science. Her current research uses remote sensing data to investigate the changes in land cover in Guyana and to explain these changes in terms of climatic variation and anthropogenic impacts. Samantha is co-founder of Cinema Politica Newcastle.
Zora Joy Bride, Patchwork Planet Productions: Green Phoenix Festival
Having decided to not tread the boards, though legend tells she can still be heard singing from time to time, Zora took to arts management and programming and has been doing so, mostly at festivals for a number of years. Starting out as a runner at the age of 16, to co-producing a venue in the Green Fields at Glastonbury (03-05), and booking and programming over 200 workshops and performances for the Big Green Gathering (2002 – 2007).
Zora is very happy indeed to be bringing a celebration of arts and sustainable culture to the North East as she is passionate about providing people with the opportunity to develop skills and talent. The Green Phoenix will be a brilliant opportunity for many people to come together to let their hair down and share ideas, skills and stories.
Deborah Brady
Mike Brogan
English Martyrs School with sixteen other schools in the region involving 126 GCSE art students were responsible for the 'Textures and Growth' flagship programme which focussed on the plant-life and lichens that inhabit the areas along the North East coast. We compared rural and industrial locations. This work has so far resulted in two public exhibtions of the students' work, at EMS Art Gallery and at Moorbank Botanical Gardens. We are currently working on a garden project with RCE and with Our Lady and St. Bede School in Stockton and will be involved in a new Summer school venture in July.
Sadaf Butt is Health Improvement Specialist for Food & Health in the Health Improvement Service, County Durham and Darlington Community Health Services.
Edward Byers, Civil Engineering & Geosciences, Newcastle University
Edward is a civil & environmental engineering graduate currently pursuing a PhD in infrastructure systems, also at Newcastle University. Half Brazilian, half British, Edward has strong interests in energy and water issues in particular and was able to particularly focus on these when he spent a year in Sweden at Chalmers University of Technology. Edward’s current research is focused on long term infrastructure transition strategies for the UK, although he hopes this will lead to further application in other countries. He is the founder of Cinema Politica Newcastle and is looking forward to arranging many events and film nights in collaboration with RCE NorthEast throughout the year.
Moira Conway
Recently when interviewed she regarded her career highlights as fashion Editor of “Jackie” magazine and bringing up three sons.
Dolan Conway, Royal Institute of British Architects
Dolan Conway trained at the Architectural Association London. He is Chair of the North East Region of the Royal Institute of British Architects and a member of the RIBA National Council. Currently involved in City and Town Centre Regeneration Projects, he has worked in private practice and Local Authority Architectural Services. Committed to Inclusive Design his work on Quays Regeneration with design led teams developed into membership of Euroscape an International and European group of Architects and Planners working on Sustainable Regeneration of Waterfronts and their Communities, published in the Cool Sea (ISBN 0901273406) Waterfront Communities Project Tool Kit. In 2010 he takes up the Chair in Equal Arts.
Emer Crangle has lived overseas for most of the last 23 years (Egypt, Yemen, Sudan, Malawi, Uganda, Afghanistan, Iraq, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Lebanon, Palestine etc). Her work for a variety of organisations including Oxfam, Save the Children and the Red Cross usually involved managing programmes in vulnerable communities / refugee camps concerning health promotion, primary health care water and sanitation issues. Currently she is studying for an MA in Fine Art (painting) at Sunderland University before deciding which direction her future work will take
We feel that the word ‘sustainability’ has no resonance with young people. It is something we feel assured that older generations are dealing with, and something only future generations will have to cope with the consequences of. Still fresh and feeling invincible, with a ‘live fast, die young’ mentality, young people don’t see the need to worry about washing out milk bottles to stop the ice caps melting. We want to see sustainability made more accessible and relevant to young people.
Listen to our music here
Sara Crawshaw, Hexham and Newcastle Partnership South
Vivienne Dawson is the coordinator of the 'Grow Your Own Five' project in partnership with Tanfield School and school hub, Tantobie Community and Beamish Open Air Museum. She is an artist with the 'Great Northern Artists' group and manages Landscape & Art & Design Services (LADS). Much of her work involves making gardens with school and community groups. Over the last few years LADS has instigated and developed award winning garden projects, including 'Meadow Well Made' at North Shields, and the maze and environmental improvements at East Cramlington Nature Reserve.
Cathrine is a social anthropologist who loves teaching and doing research. Her work most recently has been with British gardeners and their expertise on plants, but she also has conducted long-term research with older people in Yorkshire on their experiences of ageing, social memory and place. She is currently working with designer Michiko Nitta on a project about people's relationships with plants.
Dr Jane Delany, Dove Marine Laboratory
Educational achievement in the North East amongst our more deprived communities remains below the national average, and levels of participation in higher education are particularly low (26%). The portfolio of innovative educational initiatives that Jane has championed is serving to address this, by creating an inspirational and inclusive programme for young people to embrace learning.
Colm Doyle is a self employed Education Consultant working with schools and organisations across the North East of England and also in Northern Ireland. He has over 30 years experience working in schools in the region, his final teaching post being Deputy Headteacher in a successful Technology College in Darlington. For over seven years he was Regional Co-ordinator for the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust. He is well known and his work respected by educationalists at all levels. Colm uses his experience as a school governor and in training graduates new to the teaching profession through the GTP in Darlington. He is a family man, having grown up “children” and grandchildren, as well as having a daughter at primary school.
Mick Dunne is Subject Leader for Art and is the Cross Curricular Coordinator for the Arts at Our Lady and St Bede RC School in Stockton-on-Tees, a Specialist Arts College since 2008. Our Lady and St Bede (OLSB) provides training opportunities for arts staff and hosts workshops for teachers and pupils from other schools. The Art Department offers opportunities in specialist Printmaking and provides advice and equipment for use by other schools. As well as art, Mick is music and sport mad with OLSB pupils providing most of the banners seen at the Riverside Stadium, home of the mighty Middlesbrough FC!
Frances Enearu holds a Master’s degree in Environment, Health & Safety from the University of Sunderland and has keen interests in sustainability reporting using the GRI standards and promoting Education for Sustainable Development amongst the leadership of organisations and institutions of higher learning via Conitnuing Professional Development (CPD). Her previous research work investigated the barriers to and opportunities for a “green curriculum” within institutions of higher learning and she is currently a research assistant examining how sustainability skills relate to graduate employability. Frances is also involved in a number of international sustainable development projects which includes the establishment of a Regional Centre of Expertise (RCE) in Nigeria West-Africa, her country of origin. Frances joined the NECTER committee in April 2012.
Dr Claire Furlong (web profile) is currently a Lecturer in Environmental Engineering in the School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences at Newcastle University, specialising in Environmental Engineering in Developing Countries, Novel Technologies and the nexus between people and technology. Her PhD was on drinking water quality in developing countries and she undertook nine months field research in the Peruvian Amazon. She is currently undertaking research on the perception of drinking water in the Peruvian Amazon and Community Led Total Sanitation in Vietnam.
She considers herself to be an interdisciplinarian working with qualitative and quantitative methods and crossing the boundaries between science, engineering and the social sciences. She passionately believes that only interdisciplinary work in this sector will bring water and sanitation to the millions who lack these basic services in developing countries. In her capacity as a Science and Engineering Ambassador (from 2007) she has worked with schools to develop programmes on the importance of water and sanitation, this was featured in Regions Magazine, (Vol 271, I1, 2008). She is linked to RCE through the Aspire Capacidad – North East and Iquitos Programme and has worked with Joe Plumb for a number of years.
David Goodacre is a retired Anglican Priest, currently organizing the Great North Festival, a year-long festival taking place across the region about celebrating innovation and rediscovering hope. He was ordained in 1960 and has worked since in Stockton-on-Tees, Birtley, Sunderland and Ovingham. From 1981 to 2001 he was Vicar of Ovingham and Adviser in pastoral care and counselling in Newcastle Diocese. Since 2001 he has worked with the West End Refugee Service, providing a counselling service for asylum seekers. He continues work as a Spiritual Director. He has been treasurer of NECTER since October 2012.
Ian Ground, North East Centre for Lifelong Learning
Ian is currently Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the North East Centre for Lifelong Learning (NECLL), part of Sunderland University, in Newcastle, and is Head of the NECLL's Explore Membership Scheme.
John Hartshorne, Biologist, Ecologist, Gardener and Teacher
Mary Haworth, The Alumni Association of Newcastle University
A champion of customer service, Mary believes it is essential that Newcastle University exceeds the hopes and expectations of those supporters who have chosen to invest in our future.
Mary is a fully certified member of the Institute of Fundraising and is currently studying for an MSc in Charity Marketing and Fundraising at the Centre for Charity Effectiveness based within Cass Business School.
Caspar is a Research Associate and teacher with a background in mathematics and engineering. He has twenty years of research experience in industry and academia, a wealth of teaching experience in a variety of subjects both in the UK and internationally, and is the proud father of two. He is currently conducting research into sediment transport in the Department of Geography at Durham University. He has been involved in RCE North East since its inception, helping to write the original bid to the United Nations that resulted in the establishment of the RCE. He founded The Great Debate project in 1998 to provide a space for public debate in the North East, bringing internationally renowned speakers to the region to contribute to workshops, courses and discussions aimed at a general audience. As well as being a founder member of the RCE North East steering group he has been Director of RCE North East since September 2011, founding NECTER as its coordinating body in October 2011.
Ben has a background in film making and digital media. He co-founded an animation studio called Polygon Fiction in 2008 and a transmedia production company called Fleetfoot Studios in 2010. He has studied Permaculture Design, completed Transition Training, and is an active member of the North East Permaculture and Transition Network. Ben has facilitated workshops on film making, phenomenology and social media. In 2011 Ben co-founded the Sentient Cities project - a vessel for exploring creative approaches to engaging urban populations in the shift to a more satisfying and ecologically sustainable future. He lives in Newcastle upon Tyne and is growing fonder of the city by the year. Ben was appointed as Media Coordinator for NECTER / RCE North East in October 2012.
John Holmes, School of the Built Environment, Northumbria University
In addition to teaching John has carried out research into the drivers and barriers to sustainable property development over the past ten years and has worked with consultancy teams for NHS Estates and the Kings Fund evaluating the effectiveness Public Private Partnerships schemes in delivering sustainable healthcare facilities. He is also a BREEAM assessor (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) and is working with a number of developers to improve the environmental performance of their buildings. Recent schemes include the Sunderland Aquatics Centre and an £80 million office and arts venue in London.
Reay is a Railway Enforcement Officer with East Coast based out of Newcastle Central Station. Along with 10 other officers he covers the East Coast route from Edinburgh to London Kings cross as well as the cross section from York to Leeds.
Reay`s work as a Railway Enforcement officer led him to the RCE as a way to Embrace the Gypsies Roma Community as well as overseeing other community based projects that have seen strong ties made with the Street pastors and the Salvation Army as a way of dealing with the more Venerable members of society.
Due to recent restructure we have had to place a hold several community projects and concentrate or recourses elsewhere however Reay is hoping to have these back on track in 2011.
Robert Hull was formerly Head of the Environment and Sustainable Development Policy Division in the European Commission and then Director of the European Economic and Social Committee in Brussels. Now a Member of Council of Newcastle University he is also involved with a range of organisations working on environmental and sustainable development issues at national, regional and local levels. He was Chair of the the fore-runner to the NECTER management committee, the RCE North East Steering Group, from 2007 to 2011.
Rich is the coordinating officer for the North East Strategic Partnership for Sustainable Schools (NESPSS) which engages public, private and third sector partners engaged in supporting schools in the broad sustainability agenda.It is funded by Department for Children, Schools and Families via Government Office for the North East. He is also a trustee of a number of regional charities involved in sustainability programmes. Outside of work Rich is happily married, a proud father of two and a realistic Middlesbrough FC supporter.
Deborah Johnson is Head of Geography and Environmental Studies at Newcastle College. She has worked at the college for five years and loves it. She completed a BSc (Hons) in Geography at Newcastle University, MSc. in Environmental Management at Sunderland University and PGCE at Sunderland University. She is very interested in global issues, some of which she teaches her students. Thanks to her interest in global connections she was involved in setting up a global school partnership with Tweneboa Kodua Secondary school in Ghana.
Deborah says “The students always surprise me with their ideas, creativity and intelligence. They are always doing additional projects in the college and raising awareness of different important issues.”
Dr Andy Large, Newcastle University
His work in the northeast region has included work on quantifying impacts of quarrying on wetland systems, and developing wetland systems to address issues of acid mine drainage – a legacy of the northeast’s mining history. However the work closest to his heart concerns the dynamic gravel-bed rivers of Northumberland, and in particular the River Coquet which he has ‘haunted’ for a decade-and-a half. Recent NERC funded research has focused on quantifying the impacts of the September 2008 floods on upper reaches of the Coquet catchment. Most recently, Andy co-edited the book Laser Scanning in the Environmental Sciences (Wiley-Blackwell, 2009), and is also on the Editorial Board of the international journal River Research and Applications. He is a Governor in his daughter’s school, and likes nothing better than encouraging young people to get involved in wet and muddy activities such as he has been doing throughout his formative and professional life.
Lucy was treasurer of NECTER from October 2011 until October 2012 when she left the North East to work in Botswana. She studied Environmental Science at Newcastle University and worked at the University as a Sustainability Officer until October 2012, supporting the Sustainability team in their energy and waste management work as well as providing staff and student engagement opportunities to promote the University's environmental initiatives. She also helped organize Cinema Politica Newcastle events and was very active in the Transition movement in Newcastle. She is now RCE North East's Botswana correspondent.
Graeme Lloyd is Head Teacher at Tanfield School - Specialist College of Science and Engineering, Stanley in County Durham working in partnership with NECTER and the University of Newcastle upon Tyne on projects focussing on sustainability and the environment.
Alex Lockwood, University of Sunderland
“Taking part in the Great Debate is always a deeply challenging personal experience. This time was no different. I had not thought enough about issues of freedom and choice in the past year, as one tends to do when work and life are so full. The Great Debate offers valuable time to step out of the day-to-day and really think about significant issues that affect our cultures and societies, issues we often barely give a second thought. So I thank The Great Debate Team and the sponsors and supporters, especially RCE North East, for the opportunity to do just this.
“All the debates I attended, including the one I took part in on the Limits to Freedom, were stimulating, open and fair. People gave of themselves freely and unselfishly in their opinions and their willingness to listen to those of others, despite the essential tensions that such debates generate. It is, however, the tension between authority and freedom that I think is the most important thing The Great Debate allows us to discuss, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to say a few things on the subject, as unimportant as my single voice may be.”
Elisa Lopez Capel
Dr. Krista McKinzey, Climate Change Project Officer, Science Learning Centre North East
Upon completing her PhD at the University of Edinburgh in 2005, Krista taught Geography for a time at Fettes College in Edinburgh, after which she spent a year developing a successful environmental science outreach programme for schools on behalf of two Scottish Science Centres. Krista came to the North East in 2007 to establish, develop and manage the Climate Change Schools Project – she has been delighted with the outstanding achievements of its Climate Change Lead Schools! Krista’s science communication work was recently acknowledged when invited by the British Council to take part in their ‘Communicating Climate Change’ workshop in Washington DC attended by other young scientists, journalists and producers.
In her spare time, Krista enjoys photography, hiking and camping with her husband, Ed, and brother, Ryan, in wild, remote parts of the world, and assisting her parents and grandparents in the garden!
Dr Frederick Milton, School of Historical Studies, Newcastle University
Oliver Moss, Northumbria University, Secretary, NECTER
Dr. Kola Liadi Mudashiru, Sir Joseph Swan Institute for Energy Research
Munmun KC, Pakistan Cultural Society
After ten years of experience working in the filed of International Development mainly in Asia she made a decision to change her career into the creative sector, something that she had always been passionate about. Since the beginning of her new career in 2004 she has achieved a number of successes as creative head of the organisation that has undertaken some of the extraordinarily challenging and inspiring Arts Festivals and projects in the North East that have helped to prove her ability and given her recognition in the field of the Arts Management.
With such a broad range of experience and knowledge from her past career which has complimented her current job and made her well equipped and extremely competent to bear in her role as a Director of Pakistan Cultural Society. Her academic background and international exposures of working with people from different cultures and faith, her passion and commitments for the arts and artistic practices and above all her dedication and hard work towards establishing inter-cultural dialogue between communities through the arts; has been the key for her success.
In addition to her present role, she is also associated with various organsiations where her contributions as a member of Executive Board, as Mentor and as an advisor are extremely crucial and she truly believes this as a constant learning process alongside her day to day work.
Phil O'Keefe, Northumbria University
Phil's comments on his involvement in The Great Debate Green Phoenix Festival Programme, 22 August 2010:
“I agreed to do this date, long in advance of knowing that it exactly coincided with Newcastle United’s first home game of the season. The Regional Centre of Expertise (RCE) in Education for Sustainable Development has a long and distinguished history of establishing platforms for debating world futures in the context of North East England. But a commitment is a commitment, even if, as I arrived, I could hear the St. James crowd in the background minus my voice.
“But what a crowd for The Great Debate Green Phoenix Festival. Long balls from the environmentalists, short stabs from the growth merchants, bewildered social dreamers in the middle. A crowd that was incisive and knowing with a range of experience that exceeded that of the formal speakers. What kind of growth? What was the role of finance capital? Was decoupling economic growth from resource use necessarily the road to a bleak future? The interchanges were swift and sure and I admired again the quality of intellectual exchange that is possible in Newcastle.
“Newcastle won 6-0: RCE won by a rugby margin, 25-0.”
David O'Toole is a lecturer at Newcastle College and a rep for the University and Colleges Union. He is also treasurer of The Great Debate, an RCE North East partner organisation that organises courses, workshops and public debates.
Paolo Pieri is a restauranteur with deep cultural roots in the warm Etruscan earth. His father came from Larciano near Pistoia in Tuscany, and brought with him the distinctive agronomical and culinary understanding of that particular place, and ran one of Newcastle's first Italian restaurants in the 1970s: pioneering the now familiar Mediterranean cuisine. Paolo's successful Ristorante Michelangelo in Ryton is as well known for the warmth of its family hospitality as its fine food. He is looking forward to opening out some of his extensive gardens to a variety of Transformative Education partnership projects.
José Plumb Nathaniel is the Projects Coordinator, based at "The Peru Mission" in Iquitos, Peru
Phil Renforth, Newcastle University
In 2006 he founded (in collaboration with friends in the Institution of Civil Engineers) the ‘Creative construction competition’, in which local civil engineers deliver construction based workshops to school pupils from across the region. In 2008-2009 he was Researcher in Residence at St Cuthbert’s High School (Newcastle) focusing on the provision of drinking water and aspiration development, and last summer he hosted a local sixth form student as a research assistant. He is particularly keen on developing engagement activities that encourage trans-disciplinary education (maybe artistic-scientists or scientific-artists?) but this will have to wait until his PhD is completed in late 2010.
Dr David Ridley
He graduated from Newcastle University with Combined Honours in History and German. His Durham University PhD focused on aspects of nineteenth-century labour history in the North East coalfield, which he is developing for publication.
He sees the modern commitment of trades unions to Lifelong Learning as a fulfillment of their earliest demands for education and training, and an overlapping interest with the RCE theme of Education for Sustainable Development and the coal energy background of his own academic studies.
Professor Dermot J Roddy, CEng, FIET, Sir Joseph Swan Institute for Energy Research
Paul Ruane is the assistant head teacher of Saint Cuthbert's RC High School in Benwell, West Newcastle, where he teaches physics. As a traditional Irish musician he coordinates the NECTER Sustainable Migrant Community Cultures programme in partnership with the Tyneside Irish Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne and Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann.
Amir Saeed, Centre for Research in Media and Cultural Studies, University of Sunderland
Amir teaches Media and Cultural Studies and his research interests include Race and Ethnic Studies; Media Power; and 9/11 and the Media.
Joanne Salway is an Education Officer for Hartlepool Cultural Services, which covers Hartlepool Art Gallery and Museum of Hartlepool. Her role involves working with school groups, families, Under 5s, college students and other community groups. Hartlepool Cultural Services has developed strong links and partnerships with local and with local art colleges. The service is always looking for potential projects with other organisations.
Vidya is the Director of Saarang, a creative consultancy developing innovative and sustainable business approaches within the creative and cultural sector. She has been instrumental in contributing to the developing diverse arts scene in the North East and has over eight years of managerial experience in working with the not-for-profit sector. She is on the advisory board of Flo-Culture, a research and development centre dedicated to informing policy and developing practice in the field of creativity, learning and young people and has been working closely with RCE North East since 2007. Her experience includes devising, developing and managing various national and international projects, fund raising/writing funding bids and developing successful partnerships to develop and deliver project contracts within the education sectors. She has also developed community engagement initiatives to help the wider community to understand and respect differences and appreciate similarities. Vidya has a Bachelor’s degree with honours in Computer Science, Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing and Advertising and is currently pursuing a Master’s programme in Business Administration at Newcastle University.
Jackie is youth work and teacher trained, has a degree in Fine Art and an MA in video and broadcast TV. She has collaborated with academics, architects, community developers, teachers, trainers, youth services and charities to produce people-centred participatory workshops, community consultation, research and marketing videos. Her background in creative education spans 20 years, much of which has engaged young people in thinking about their place and finding their voice in the world. Using documentary, drama and the arts to explore issues such as environment, diversity, integration, bullying, inclusion, mental health, young families, and anti-social behaviour, her workshops aim to be inclusive and fun. She regards Media production as an excellent tool to develop collaborative learning skills while achieving personalised learning goals.
Other projects include commercial productions for business, theatre and the arts. Her work has shown on BBC2, Sky TV and at national and international festivals including Glastonbury, Latitude and The Big Chill. In recent years she has worked on environmental projects with schools and NGO’s in West Africa. She is currently working with NECTER partners Great North Festival and The Great Debate on developing a film-making training programme for young people not in employment, education or training.
Dr Karen Scott is Lord Richard Percy Research Fellow at the Centre for Rural Economy in the School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Newcastle University.
Glenda Short is the joint Head of 6th Form and teacher of Italian and French at Ryton Comprehensive School. She is always keen to encourage students to contribute to the community and to expand their horizons. She has taken students on exchanges and visits to France, Germany and Italy.
Hari Shukla, OBE
Chair, NECTER / RCE North East
Hari's Peace: Blog by Hari Shukla
Spice FM Hari Shukla OBE
Sandeep Singh
Sandeep has a strategic and human centered approach to work and is enthusiastic about bringing together the realms of Design, Business and Sustainability in identifying solution spaces that create emotional value by the application of design thinking.
His research interests span designing for a sustainable future, application of design thinking fundamentals for process improvement and human centered design. He also acts as a consultant in delivering advice on creative problem solving for organisations, strategy development, globalisation and market expansion and development of intellectual property rights. He is also forging links between UK and India to facilitate the exchange of design expertise between the east and west.
Sandeep thinks that the future of design holds a lot of promise as international boundaries will dissolve, bringing the East closer to the West. Signs of this happening can already be seen with Information Technology growing stronger by the day and virtual spaces expanding in leaps and bounds. It would become imperative for the businesses in the West to start building strong links with the rapidly developing East to share best practice, collaborate and innovate - working together towards shaping a better world, where sustainability would no longer be an issue, but rather a way of life.
Panganai Svotwa, artist
I was born and grew up in Africa, Zimbabwe. While growing up in Africa, I began to appreciate the special relationship between the land and people. Land provided us with food and it was also home to rivers which provided us with water. Our generation contributed less carbon dioxide emissions and we had less worries about air pollution than developed countries. The experience of landscape was of a spectacular clear view. Nature also presented us with various endless photographic opportunities of wild life, waterfalls and mountains.
Unfortunately the natural beauty of most of the developing African countries is disappearing daily because of man’s actions and the global climate change. My goal is to capture and reproduce either on paper or on video, as accurately as possible, the great spectacle which we risk loosing. This would enable an audience to see my viewpoints and be triggered to consider the various human actions which are detrimental to the environment.
I am now based in the United Kingdom and increasingly find that my interest in global environmental issues around the world and politics informs my work.
Through my work, I document the various sustainable methods which are being adapted by first world countries to counter attack the detrimental impacts of the global climate change. I photograph latest equipments being developed, with nearly zero carbon dioxide emissions, which provide alternative renewable energy. I photograph the important work being done by the National Trust through the restoration of historic buildings around Great Britain for educational purposes. I also document ancient and traditional solutions and technologies equipment like hydro power systems which are being brought back to life because of the global climate change.
I use a Canon digital camera with a wide range of lenses and therefore my kit bag changes appropriately and according to what I am shooting. I always use a tripod and only use natural light to produce my work. I apply minimum manipulation to my pictures because I consider that heavily manipulated images can diminish the concept of authenticity and mislead the viewer, especially in the context of a documentary practice.
From the previous projects I have done as a developing artist at Northumbria University, and the current political situation in my home country Zimbabwe, I recognise myself as a political documentary photographer. My practice is also influenced by other global climate change social documentary photographers like Sebastian Salgado.
Click here for gallery 1 of Panganai's photos
For more information see www.psvotwa.co.uk
John is working to develop AFC Newcastle, a social enterprise creating jobs in football.
Students from Cardinal Hume School, Wrekenton have worked with Creative Partnerships to develop a Graphic Novel based on their research into the history of East Gateshead. more ...
Carla-Leanne Washbourne is a natural sciences graduate student, with a mixed background in earth science, engineering geology and archaeology. She is currently coming towards the end of a PhD in geosciences at Newcastle University. She has a strong interest in science communication and engagement, participating in a wide range of engagement projects from primary school workshops to stand-up comedy. One of the founding members of the Engineers Without Borders Student Group, she is currently Outreach Officer for the newly-formed Engineers Without Borders Professional Network Newcastle, looking to develop and roll-out in-house educational workshops on the role of engineering in sustainable development.
Steven Walker, Intercultural Arts
Steven is Project Co-ordinator & Office Manager for Intercultural Arts, a development agency for culturally diverse arts in the North East of England.
Intercultural Arts is a charity set up to help people to find work in ‘the Arts’ in the North East of England. This could be people creating art, people who want to develop as arts professionals, or people who want help setting up a group to support and promote artists within their community. Intercultural Arts gives support to large organisations in the North East who want to understand the needs of minority communities, and programme artists and performers that these communities would enjoy.
Intercultural Arts gives priority to those from minority communities but are happy to work with artists who practice culturally diverse art forms regardless of their nationality or ethnicity.
Oscar Watson is acting to help NECTER establish itself as an independently-funded body serving education throughout the region.
Oscar was formerly director of Intercultural Arts, a charity set up to help people to find work in the Arts in the North East of England.
Dave Whitaker
Jim Wood has managed the Students into Schools, Colleges, Community programme since it was established in Newcastle University and Northumbria University in 1993. His role in 2009 is Assistant Director (Curriculum) in the Newcastle University Careers Service which is responsible for delivering the suite of Career Development modules that include students undertaking tutoring for academic credit in local schools, colleges and community learning centres. Prior to joining Newcastle University, Jim taught mathematics in secondary schools in Newcastle.
Professor Paul Younger, Director, Newcastle Institute for Research on Sustainability
Paul’s background is in hydrogeology and environmental engineering, and he holds BSc and PhD degrees from Newcastle, as well as a Masters from Oklahoma State University, gained during his tenure of a Harkness Fellowship there from 1984 to 1986. Before he took up his first academic post at Newcastle University in 1992 Paul worked in the water industry, in the UK (Yorkshire Water, National Rivers Authority and later in private consultancy) and in Bolivia (Centro YUNTA, La Paz). Following a succession of academic posts as Lecturer, Reader and Professor, Paul served for two years as the University’s first Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Engagement before taking up his present position in June 2010. He is particularly renowned for collaborative work with grassroots communities (in the UK and developing countries) to empower them to tackle issues of post-industrial pollution and the provision of clean water. The research and outreach programme which Paul established on these themes in 1992 continues strongly to this day, and won the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher Education for Newcastle University in 2005. Paul is also a Director of four companies engaged in the groundwater control and geothermal energy sectors, and has contributed to the sustainability agendas of some of the world’s largest corporations, including HSBC, Rio Tinto and Anglo-American. In June 2010 Paul was appointed as Chair of Sustaine, the independent champion body for sustainable development in North East England.
A gifted communicator, Paul served for five years as a Public Orator for the University, delivering honorary degree citations for the Right Honourable Gordon Brown MP (in Jan 2007), Sir David King (May 2006), Baroness Onora O’Neill (April 2008), Lee Hall (May 2009) and Alan Shearer (Dec 2009), amongst many others. A fluent Spanish speaker, Paul has extensive experience in community-based development projects in Latin America, and is well-known in the mining and water sectors in Spain. In 2009 he was appointed to the water research panel of the Institute of Advanced Studies of the government of Greater Madrid. Paul is author of some 250 items in the international literature, including textbooks on groundwater and mine water management. He currently serves on the public engagement panel of the Royal Academy of Engineering, and the Societal Issues Panel of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. From 2008 to 2010 Paul was Chair of the Board of the Great North Museum, and he currently serves on the Board of Live Theatre.
