Speakers
Please click on a speaker's name for more information.
Andy Johnston is Head of the Centre for Local Sustainability at the Local Government Information Unit. He is responsible for developing strategy, policy and practical solutions for local authorities wishing to improve their environment.
His previous work was as Head of Education and Learning at Forum for the Future. In this role he produced guidelines on sustainability for universities and ran a masters programme in leadership for sustainable development. For six months he was seconded to the OECD to write a report on education and sustainable development and gave presentations in many OECD countries.
Andy was a local councillor for eight years and chaired the planning committee for seven of those years. He was instrumental in the adoption of doorstep recycling and introducing sustainability into the Local Plan documents.
In a previous role Andy was a lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire in environmental management for business, he has a PhD in environmental performance indicators.
Dorothy Cowie was appointed in October 2006 as the Director of abc, the Authorities Buying Consortium - an organisation that provided procurement services to the 12 west of Scotland member councils, four associate member councils and over 150 public and voluntary organisations.
Since December 2006, Dorothy has also led a Project Team to establish a new organisation Scotland Excel, the recently launched centre of procurement expertise, created specifically to work with the local authority sector.
On 31 March 2008, abc was formally wound up and Scotland Excel, a groundbreaking national partnership, was established by local authorities to transform procurement and deliver best value. As Director of the new organisation, Dorothy is now responsible for working with local authorities to maximize the opportunities and benefits of local government collaboration and to share expertise.
Prior to this, Dorothy was the UK Procurement Director for Scottish Power, where she was responsible for leading a team of 51 procurement staff in developing and implementing procurement strategies for the Group's spend of some £800M per annum.
She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply and holds degrees from both Strathclyde and Heriot Watt Universities.
James previously worked in meteorology, oceanography and hydrology - applying these to pollution management. He was Head of Science with SEPA and then Head of Environmental Strategy. He recently founded, ran, and then sold Entrading, the UK's first comprehensive eco-store in Glasgow. James is now the chair of the Scottish Sustainable Development Forum.
Janice is the Sustainable Development Unit Manager for City of Edinburgh Council, where she has developed a range of initiatives, including the Edinburgh Sustainability Standards for the built environment, and integrating sustainable development into the construction of the new Council Headquarters.
She is a long-standing member of the SSN Steering Group, she represents the SSN on the COSLA Climate Change Task Group and is also chairs the SSN Sustainable Procurement Working Group.
Maf Smith is Director of the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) in Scotland. The core work of the SDC is to advise and scrutinise the Scottish Government on issues relating to sustainable development., The SDC team also provides secretariat support for the Scottish Sustainable Development Forum and co-ordinates the supporting alliance for the Climate Challenge Fund.
In 2007, Maf along with 100 other leaders from across the UK, was trained by Al Gore to speak about climate change through the Cambridge University Programme for Industry. Maf is one of only 7 people in Scotland to undertake the training.
Prior to joining the SDC, Maf was the Chief Executive of Scottish Renewables, working to support development and provision of a sustainable energy future for Scotland. Before working at Scottish Renewables, Maf was the Manager of Furness Energy Partnership running a range of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.
Martijn Quinn is Deputy Head of Cabinet for Stavros Dimas, the European Commissioner for Environment. Martijn has specific responsibility for: strategic policy development, nature, biodiversity and forests, sustainable production and consumption, and economic analysis and instruments.
Prior to joining Commissioner Dimas’ Cabinet, Martijn was a member of the Cabinet for Poul Nielson, then European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid. He has also held posts in the Directorate General for Enlargement and the Directorate General for Trade.
Michael Damm is the Managing Director of Environmental Affairs in the City of Aalborg, Denmark, and has more than 10 years of experience in green public procurement. He was formerly the Head of the Environment Department at the City of Kolding, Denmark.
Michael is responsible for drawing up the environmental demands used in calls for tender and carries out environmental evaluations. He is an expert on sustainable development and environmental legislation.
Paul Ekins joined King's College London as Professor of Energy and Environment Policy in January 2008, having been Head of the Environment Group at the Policy Studies Institute and Professor of Sustainable Development at the University of Westminster since 2002.
Paul is Director of the Green Fiscal Commission, an independent body established in 2007 to generate information and evidence on green taxation. He is also a Member of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution and, from 2003-2007, was on the UK Government's Sustainable Energy Policy Advisory Board. He is a Co-Director of the UK Energy Research Centre, in charge of its Energy Systems and Modelling theme, and leads King's College's involvement in large research consortia on Bioenergy and Hydrogen.
He is the author of numerous papers and articles, and his most recent book is Economic Growth and Environmental Sustainability: the Prospects for Green Growth (Routledge, London, 2000). He is co-editor of the book Understanding the Costs of Environmental Regulation, which will be published by Edward Elgar in 2008.
In 1994 Paul Ekins received a Global 500 Award 'for outstanding environmental achievement' from the United Nations Environment Programme.
Roger Adams is Executive Director - Policy for the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). He is responsible for co-ordinating and managing ACCA's global policy positions on a range of professional issues, including sustainability and corporate responsibility.
Roger has directed ACCA's work in the corporate social responsibility area for over 15 years. In 2002, ACCA became the first professional body to be awarded the prestigious Queen's Award for Sustainable Development.
He was one of the founding members of the Global Reporting Initiative (1997) and currently chairs the GRI Technical Advisory Committee. He is a member of the Executive Board of the "Accounting for Sustainability" project launched by HRH the Prince of Wales. He has served as a Council member for the Institute of Social and Ethical AccountAbility ("AccountAbility") and as an adviser to the Environment Committee of the 100 Group of Finance Directors in the UK. He recently served on the UK Government's Sustainable Procurement Task Force. Currently Roger is supporting the three-year sustainability project established in 2005 by the IFAC Professional Accountants in Business Committee and representing ACCA on the Advisory Committee of the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB).
In addition to extensive consultancy work in developing and transitional economies on behalf of ACCA, Roger speaks and writes regularly on corporate governance and corporate social responsibility topics. He has carried out several major sustainability-related research projects for the United Nations Environment Programme and the UN UNCTAD group in Geneva (ISAR).
Roger is a visiting professor at the University of the West of England.
Simeon currently heads the Climate Change Economics Division in the new Department for Energy and Climate Change (DEC), a team of economists providing economic advice and support across the climate change policy agenda at a UK, EU and international level.
Prior to joining DEC, Simeon worked at the OFT, where he led a study into the system for setting the prices of pharmaceuticals purchased by the NHS. Before joining the Government Economic Service, Simeon worked for the economic consultancy NERA, largely on issues relating to power market regulation and reform. He previously held posts at the European Commission and the Department for Education.
Simon Pepper was Director of WWF Scotland for 20 years, where he majored on sustainable development policies and promoted a shift from rhetoric to action. Since 2005 he has worked in a freelance capacity, with a special interest in promoting change in consumption behaviour.
Simon was awarded an OBE for services to sustainable development in 2000. Between 2004-7 he served as an external appointee to the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Sustainable Scotland. Chaired by the First Minister the Sub-Committee was responsible for overseeing joined-up policies of the Labour/Liberal Democrat Executive.
Simon currently serves on the boards of Forestry Commission Scotland and the Deer Commission. He was Elected Rector at the University of St. Andrews between 2005-8.
Stewart Stevenson is the Scottish Government Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change, and is the SNP member for Banff & Buchan.
Mr Stevenson spent most of his working career in computing-related posts with the Bank of Scotland, and was latterly their Director of Technology Innovation.
Tom Lewis has been an Assistant Director in CIPFA's Policy and Technical Directorate since 2003, following a career spanning the public, private and voluntary sectors, in a range of financial and general management roles. He is responsible for leading CIPFA's work programmes in a number of key sectors. Notably, during this period, CIPFA has published material on the Professionalisation of the Civil Service, and on Good Governance, as well as the Financial Management Model. More recently, Tom has looked after the development of CIPFA's work on sustainability reporting, and on ethics.
Case Study Seminar Leaders
Barry Mitchell has been the North East Centre of Excellence LM3 Project Manager for the last 2 years and is currently involved with other related LM3 projects within both the North East and the UK.
He has project managed the significant expansion of LM3 methodology within the North East, creating a significant impact within the public, private and not for profit sectors. Specific case studies undertaken within the project have been used as exemplars on a national basis.
His background is as a professional accountant and project manager, being employed in a wide variety of commercial and industrial businesses before becoming involved with the LM3 project, initially within the public sector.
Janet spent 20 years in the insurance and financial services sector, followed by a career change to the legal profession. Six years ago she transferred to the strategic procurement unit in Warwickshire County Council and has focussed on policy and strategy around sustainability issues. Warwickshire is now recognised as one of the leading authorities in sustainable procurement, having won national awards for its work.
John is a director for CenSA where he leads on business development. John is also a senior research associate in the Stockholm Environment Institute where he leads a programme of research on understanding the impacts of both consumption and production patterns while also addressing the policy implications. John has advised numerous companies and government departments on sustainable consumption and production issues including the measuring of carbon footprints, having recently undertaken the carbon footprint of the NHS.
Osbert Lancaster is Director of Footprint Consulting, an ethical enterprise which helps organisations in the transition to a sustainable future.
After gaining an MBA, he worked in management and economic development consultancy, before developing his interest in sustainability.
Osbert is a Fellow of the Centre for Human Ecology - sometimes called Scotland's green think tank - and was formerly executive director of CHE for seven years, until January 2008. He supported the development of the Centre's renowned MSc in Human Ecology, led the course in Ethical Enterprise and carried out sustainability consulting - including helping the Scottish Parliament develop its ethical purchasing policy.
Osbert is also a member of the Scottish Government's Climate Change Challenge grants panel.
As Head of Facilities Management at East Ayrshire Council Robin has responsibility for a range of services but with a particular interest in school meals delivery.
He believes that school food has key role to play in producing educated consumers of tomorrow and that public sector food provides a unique example of where social, economic, and environmental service improvement can be successfully delivered.
East Ayrshire were winners of the Soil Association's Food for Life School of the Year award; winners of the Guardian Public Services Award for Innovation and Progress in Customer Service; and Highly Commended for a sustainable approach for school food in the British Institute of Facilities Management Investors in Excellence awards.
Sarah-Anne has worked as a researcher with the Sustainable Development Research Centre in Forres since March 2007. She joined SDRC after completing an ESRC-funded PhD at the University of Dundee that investigated residential segregation and community formation in the urban environment. She also holds an MA (Hons, 1st class) in Geography and an MSc (distinction) in Applied Population Geography.
Since joining SDRC Sarah-Anne has developed her research interest into social enterprise through work with the BEST Procurement Programme - an ESF-funded Development Partnership in the East Midlands that aimed to help social enterprises successfully tender for public sector contracts and the public sector to adapt their procurement policies to be more accessible to social enterprise. She is currently developing research interests in the spatiality of social enterprise and its relationship with the alleviation of deprivation. She is also interested in how social enterprises can contribute towards sustainable rural communities.
Sarah-Anne also has experience of working with Environmental/Sustainability Management systems and is currently involved in developing such systems for Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and Perth College.
