We are pleased to confirm our keynote speakers. Please note, the titles of the talks are indicative at this time, and have not yet been finalised by the presenters.
Tony Juniper CBE is a prominent environmental figure, active in the defence of Nature for 40 years.
He has led major organisations, run global campaigns, written many books and advised at the highest levels. He began his career as an ornithologist and went on to join Friends of the Earth, initially leading the tropical rainforest campaign and then was appointed as Executive Director. He worked as an advisor to HRH The Prince of Wales, was President of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts and was an Executive Director at WWF-UK. He is now the Chair of the British Government’s official conservation agency Natural England and a Fellow with the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. He has advised many global businesses on their environmental strategies.
His books include the multi-award winning What has Nature ever done for us? and Harmony, which was co-authored with The Prince of Wales. Tony Juniper is a frequent contributor to TV and radio broadcasts and is a prolific speaker on environmental themes. He has received many awards and widespread recognition for his environmental work and in 2017 he was appointed Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for services to conservation.
H.E. Mr Francois Jackman is Ambassador of Barbados and Permanent Representative to the United Nations
Francois Jackman is the Permanent Representative of Barbados to the United Nations and Ambassador of Barbados. Before his latest appointment, Mr. Jackman served as his country’s Ambassador to China, beginning in 2018. He was previously Co-Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of the West Indies in Barbados, from 2016 to 2018.
Mr. Jackman has held senior positions related to trade and foreign affairs since entering Government service in 1995. He served as Chef de Cabinet in the Office of the Prime Minister in 2015; Counsellor at his country’s Embassy in Beijing, China, between 2009 and 2014; and Head of both the Maritime Boundaries Unit and the Caribbean Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade from 2004 to 2009.
Mr. Jackman holds a master’s degree in international boundary studies from Durham University and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, logic and scientific method from the London School of Economics.
Mari Sundli Tveit is the chief executive of the Research Council of Norway and is president of Science Europe
She has previously been rector of the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) and Deputy Director-General of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise. Sundli Tveit is a professor of landscape architecture. She serves on the board of the Global Research Council, and has also been president of Universities Norway, a board member of the European University Association and of Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg.
Sam Barratt is Chief of Youth, Education and Advocacy at UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
Sam oversees the work on UNEP’s Higher Education work, setting up the Nature Positive University Alliance which works with Universities to assess how their value chain, estates, research and student cohort can be harnessed to deliver for nature, as well as the Green Jobs for Youth Pact that is exploring how can young people have the skillsets and mindsets to meet the need of a fast-changing jobs-market,
He also works with the non-formal education field of practice, co-founding the Playing for the Planet Alliance, a collaboration with the video gaming industry to support decarbonisation and introduce green activations in games, with others, set up Sports for Nature to engage sports to act for the landscapes they depend on as well as working with the Girl Guides and World Scout Movement who together launched the Tide Turners Plastic Challenge Badge behaviour change and advocacy programme in 52 countries that has engaged 950,000 young people.
Previously, Sam worked as Chief of Public Advocacy for UNEP where he ran all of the global campaigns on the issues of air quality, marine litter and wildlife crime in addition to the global efforts for World Environment Day. Before joining UNEP, Sam was Director of Communications for Avaaz, the global people-powered advocacy group with over 50 million members and worked for Oxfam and FIFA in previous jobs.
Working with new mediums to reach new audiences and to challenge established thinking with new ways of approaching wicked problems is something he lives in pursuit of and is also looking forward to visiting the tomb of St Cuthbert in Durham Cathedral.
Lana Par is currently serving as the Vice-President of the European Students’ Union (ESU) for the 2024/25 term.
Lana has been active in the student movement for the last five years. She started as president of the student council at the University of Rijeka and, as a member of the Croatian Students’ Council, she was active in advocacy on both national and European levels.
Having been a member of the executive committee of the ESU since October 2023, she is now its vice-president for the 2024/25 term. Through her work she focuses on quality assurance, learning and teaching and student-centred learning, micro-credentials, digitalisation, recognition and European Education Area.
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