First ASEFUAN Dialogue on Climate Change,
Barcelona & Madrid, Spain, 24 - 27 November 2009
Participants
A total of 60 young experts and professionals are attending the First ASEFUAN Dialogue.
Nadeem Ahmad (Pakistan)
Nadeem is currently working as Research Specialist with UNDP Pakistan. Prior to this assignment he was working with LEAD Pakistan as Coordinator Research Unit where his work involved managing LEAD Pakistan's research and capacity building projects under Public Policy & Governance and Climate Change Programmes. He has over seven years experience in research planning and coordination, field operation management, computer assistant qualitative and quantitative data analysis, project management and technical writing. His professional interests also include communication and knowledge management for sustainable development. Nadeem has a diverse academic background and training. He has completed masters is Applied Psychology and Mastes in Public Administration from Punjab University as well as M.Phil in Social Psychology from Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. He also has obtained formal training in Economics and Anthropology. Mr Nadeem is alumnai of 46th Graduate Study Programme of UN Office Geneva. He is member of Global Development Network (GDN) “Development Studies Association UK”, and Environment, Health & Development Network of Overseas Development Group (ODG) UK. He frequently delivered lectures on various research techniques and methodologies.
Ceri Beynon-Davies (United Kingdom)
Céri's previous academic background lies in two inter-disciplinary areas. He obtained his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Durham, graduating with a degree in Physical Geography. He has a keen interest in the natural environment, its eco and land system processes. He also has a great interest in international political processes and dynamics which led him to Warwick University where he studied for and subsequently completed a MA in International Relations. Outside of his studies he has a keen interest in sports, particularly tennis, cross-country running, cycling and rugby and also music, particularly playing the piano.
Bram Buijs (The Netherlands)
Bram was originally trained as a mathematical physicist but extended his studies to Contemporary Asian Studies and Mandarin Chinese. He worked and lived in Shanghai, China, for two years, setting up a representative office for a Dutch company. He is currently a researcher at the Clingendael International Energy Programme (CIEP) of the Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael in The Hague. Research at CIEP focuses on energy issues that have a wider geopolitical impact, and include European energy affairs, global energy security challenges and sustainability issues. Bram Buijs' research focuses on the energy challenges facing China and its geopolitical implications, as well as European fuel mix policy making. Recent publications have dealt with developments in China's energy sector and the Chinese position in the international climate treaty negotiations (see “China, Copenhagen and Beyond”).
Diana Cakule (Latvia)
Diana graduated University of Latvia, Faculty of Economics and Management, followed by the Master studies in Paris University XI focusing on International Affairs – Diplomacy and Strategic negotiation. Spent time in Paris let discovering the importance of Europe-Asia relations for both regions. Since 2004, when she joined the Ministry of Finance of Latvia, she got wide range of experience in the field of the European Union issues dealing with economic and financial matters. Also, in that process she enriched her skills during the internship in international organisations as European Central Bank and OECD. These targeted ambitions leaded to the management position of the Head of EU Affairs Division in the ministry, she is holding today. New challenging opportunity was undertaken in spring 2009, when at EU level was decided that climate changes issues have been too long time in environment ministries and the role of finance ministries should be strengthened. As a result, she was appointed as Latvian member to the Joint working group on climate changes financing issues leaded by the European Commission. The expertise concerned financial architecture of climate changes post 2012 and fast start financing, as well as good governance principles. She is considering participation in ASEFUAN Dialogue as tremendous opportunity, as it gives a possibility to be in a role of policy maker on international scene, negotiating, exchanging the views, searching solutions on global issues. It is very important for her personal and professional development, as she is member of Latvian delegation to the UN COP15 Climate Change Conference to in Copenhagen, 2009.
Manuela Certan (Romania)
Manuela is a 25 years old and recent graduated of the Faculty of Architecture (The “Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urbanism in Bucharest, Romania). Between 2007 and 2008 she was registered as an Erasmus student at Katholieke Universiteit - Leuven, Belgium, where she attended master and post-graduate courses at The Faculty of Architecture and The Faculty of Fine Arts. During this interval she started investigating public spaces as means to communicate and bring social awareness. This was followed by a three months internship at Dietmar Feichtinger Architectes - Paris (where sustainability was a major factor in the design process) and by the completion of her thesis and final project (constructed around the idea of environmental responsibility). The contact with different cultures, the diversity she encountered and was fascinated by, were important factors in developing as an enthusiast, inquisitive and sociable person. As a result, her current capacity to communicate in several languages, to adapt, to prioritize and synthesize, the energy, the ability to quickly integrate in a team and the wish to constantly surpass herself became advantages in facing the new challenges that young persons encounter in their quest to improve the future.
Alejandra Chapa (Spain)
Alejandra is an engaged and dynamic student specialised in Europe-Asia relations, and with a large knowledge in international politics, economy and law. She has a diverse working experience that goes from four years of intern work in a Spanish NGO on development programs in India, to an internship in the Spanish Embassy in Singapore. She believes that it is an urgent duty of each and every single citizen of the 21st century World to react actively to the environmental concerns that the international community shares. Above all, she has a deep trust in the international organisations' strategical position to lead the way for the adoption of effective, concrete and successful commitments from all the countries towards a new trend of sustainable development which necessarily has to address the issues of generalising the use of renewable energies at the reach of all, climate change and environment protection, conciliating both national and international interests.
Jonas Christensen (Denmark)
Jonas Christensen is a master student of Economics at University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He has the last 5 years focused on economics, international economics, international politics and issues related to EU policies and EU economics. Currently, he is working in the Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Division for EU policies. He will be attending the UN Climate Conference, Conference of the Parties (COP15), as a MFA/UN Climate Attaché in Copenhagen in December 2009. He has been living in New York, where he worked as an intern for the United Nations, focusing on development policies and climate change. Furthermore, he worked 2 years in the Ministry of Finance, focusing on international economic cooperation. He lived and studied at Chinese University of Hong Kong, focusing on Chinese language and Asian/Chinese econonomies and International Relations. He is interested in travelling, exploring new countries and cultures, meeting new people and old friends, and then he likes to enjoy life, i.e.: "Enjoy your life - it is what we have it for".
Zlatimira Colova (Bulgaria)
Zlatimira Colova is a young EU citizen who cares to make a difference and to leave a small footprint. At present, she is at the final stage to complete jer Master degree at New Bulgarian University after graduating with a BA in Public Administration from Sofia University in Bulgaria. Encouraging education in all its forms is a passion of hers and thus she works at the American University in Bulgaria. While a student, she has been engaged and involved in a number of activities and student networks and organizations since 2002. She was a member and AEGEE board member, as well as a member of AIESEC and JEF. Since 2004, she has been involved at first as a volunteer and later employed by the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Euro-Atlantic Youth Club. In 2008, she also completed a global educational and leadership program called Up with People. The program helped her develop a deeper understanding and a lasting appreciation for the diverse cultures and communities she visited and made an impact. Her participation in Up with People was a continuation and a challenging way to continue her work in the field of action youth work.
María Cuiñas (Spain)
Ever since a child, María has always been interested in foreign languages and cultures; thus, she studied in Barcelona a BA in Translation and Interpreting (majoring in English and Japanese), and later a MA in International Studies (specializing in European Community Law). Her working experience is as varied as her interests, and she am currently looking forward to getting involved in the preparations for the upcoming Spanish Presidency of the European Council in 2010. Her heart is divided between Europe and Asia, since she has spent some time living in Kyoto and Seoul and cannot get rid of the spell this fascinating part of the world has casted over me. Although she still has many things to learn about the tow regions, her professional career will be devoted to Asia-Europe cooperation in order to be constantly filling that gap.
Miriam R. Delos Santos (The Philippines)
Miriam firmly believes in human dignity, cooperation and hope. These three reflect how she combines academic knowledge, systematic leadership and the strength of the heart in order to work towards the formation of people and the development of communities. She finished her MA in International Political Economy and Development from Fordham University in New York City with Distinctions in Economic and Political Analysis during the comprehensive examinations and is, at present, the Director for Operational Development and Synergies/Cluster Officer in the Ateneo School of Government in the Philippines. She has also acted as convenor and project leader for various large-scale operations such as relief and rehabilitation efforts, social involvement programs and political/election-related endeavors. Aside from these, she is also a trainer, consultant and Organization Development practitioner who conducts workshops, mentoring and various interventions on strategic planning, vision-mission and leadership. Mhir, as she may also be called, also likes to sing and enjoys being with others – even acting as emcee for different events which allow her to interact with different people. She is also a creative person and has had a book of fiction she wrote entitled, “The World for Lost Beings,” published in the USA.
Francis Ron de Guzman (The Philippines)
Francis has a Juris Doctor degree from the University of the Philippines. He has papers on environment, energy and sustainable development. He served as Teaching Assistant in Environmental Law under leading environmental law expert Prof. Antonio Oposa. He graduated with an Honors degree in Philosophy and has been admitted to the prestigious Masters of Climate Change program of the Australian National University starting 2010. Currently, he is a Faculty of the University of the Philippines, teaching Social Science and Philosophy. He supervises the National Service Training Program, focusing on developing the leadership skills of the students, advocacy and environmental project management. He is a member of one of Asia's leading energy policy and project think-tanks, the Asia Pacific Basin for Energy Strategies. In 2004, he was a Philippine Youth Ambassador to the South East Asian Youth Program. He also represented the country in the Emerging Climate Leaders Program in Japan in March 2009. He is described as the future of environmental policy-making, having been awarded by Bayer and UNEP as Young Environmental Envoy for 2006 and recognized for his leadership in the 2007 Eco-Minds for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok, Thailand.
Ai Farida (Indonesia)
Farida's bachelor study is in the area of agricultural meteorology at Bogor Agricultural University (Indonesia). She has working experience as a research assistant on watershed modeling at World Agroforestry Center – South East Asia (ICRAF-SEA). During her work, she got involved in the development of a watershed model called GenRiver as well as helping users to use the model. She has also been involved in Rapid Hydrological Assessment (RHA) for Singkarak watershed in West Sumatra as part of reward for environmental services project. She has learned a lot during the time she worked in this project and interest on the watershed management and reward for environmental services. Then she had a short course fellowship from the Netherlands Fellowship Program in UNESCO-IHE, Delft on River and Watershed management. Currently she is studying a Master program at TU Darmstadt Germany on Hydrogeology and Environmental Management by DAAD scholarship from Germany.
Daniel Vamos Fecher (Sweden)
Having lived during the last four years, voluntarily, on three different continents in four different countries it would not be an understatement to say that Daniel likes the international way of living. During these four years he has worked as a receptionist at a hotel in Paris, an aid at a home for old people and Spanish teacher in Sweden, English teacher in a boarding school for children of families who did not have the means to support the children themselves in Nicaragua, as well as for not so poor children in China. He is currently studying at Sciences-Po Paris in the antenna that specializes in Asia which is situated in Le Havre. In his spare time, although he has great doubts as to whether there will be any of that this semester, he likes to read, dance and sing.
Nuala Flood (Ireland)
Nuala graduated from Architecture at University College Dublin in 2004 with first class honours. Post graduation she worked in Paul Keogh Architects, an award winning design practice, for one year. She spent two years on the graduate training scheme in the Office of Public Works (Ireland's Governmental Architectural Services). This training scheme enabled her to become a registered member of the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland. Most recently, she worked in Sean Harrington Architects. The majority of her work there involved projects with a socially and environmentally sustainable theme. In October 2009 she will begin a Ph.D. in Urban Systems and Urban Ecology at Trinity College Dublin. This research is part of a wider agenda of the university to make Dublin a ‘Greenprint' for low carbon living.
Dimitra Gavrilaki (Greece)
Dimitra is currently a postgraduate student in the programme Architectural Design – Space – Culture of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). She graduated from NTUA's School of Architecture and during the period of her studies she spent one year as an exchange student in Technische Universitaet (TU) Berlin. She has worked in architectural offices in Athens and has taken part in several competitions. The current project she is working in is her first independent project as a professional architect and it is a collaboration with the University of Athens and the organization World Cultures. Dimitra is also an active member of the social group ‘Chorikoi' which aims at spreading new ideas in contemporary Athens' urban space. She is particularly interested in urban osmosis which consists of overlapping relationships between built an un-built space and natural and artificial environment. Moreover the field of her current research and of great interest is the relationship between sustainability and its aesthetic results in the contemporary urban space.
Mark Grassi (Italy/United Kingdom)
Mark has been largely influenced by having attended an international school, learnings through his studies and having witnessed the effects of climate change at first hand in developing and developed countries that have provided him with a passion for the subject. A keen linguist and traveller, he is able to transgress cultural barriers through understanding different mentalities that will be crucial in realising a realistic and effective climate change-fighting partnership between both during his career. This has also given Mark a moral drive into researching and studying deeply into the climate change and sustainable development issues and their roots. He has always specialised and undertaken dissertations in these topics during his undergraduate degree, working with a NGO and now as part of his Masters degree. He has worked on real life texts at institutional level concerning emissions-reducing projects between cities and states at an international level with the EU. He is constantly searching for ideas on cooperation and have enjoyed travelling and participating in events such as the Global Progressive Forum and debates meeting members of the IPCC.
Sofwan Hakim (Indonesia)
Sofwan Hakim is a graduate in Regional and City Planning from the Institute of Technology of Bandung. His Bachelor degree program provided him with solid skills in spatial planning, environmental and infrastructure management and public policy as well as a keen understanding of international issues such as millennium development goals, climate change and intergovernmental funding. Currently, he is working as an assistant researcher in Urban and Design Research Group and he has been involved for several research project related to that issue. This past summer, he represented Indonesia at the 15th ASEF University's at Woosuk University, under the topic ‘Migration and Multicultural Societies'. He has also been a volunteer for Kyoto University Institution of Disaster Prevention School during one of their projects in Indonesia. His experiences related to international issues made him able to discuss about current issues, share ideas, and give possible solutions through dialogue with variety of people from different backgrounds, cultures and with different points of view.
Sarah Hempel (Denmark)
Sarah has completed a BSc. International Business and Asian Studies and is currently studying her MSc. International Business and Development Studies at the Copenhagen Business School. At present she is researching for her Master's Thesis which concerns public-private partnerships for development in the Global Health sector. Sarah is also working with the Danish think tank CONCITO to teach grade school students about climate change and the environment and will represent Denmark as a United Nations attaché at the UN COP15 Climate Change Conference to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark 2009. Previously Sarah has lived in Costa Rica where she worked with the School for Field Studies University Programme to research sustainable environmental and economic development. Additionally she has lived and worked in North America, Europe and Asia in a variety of public and private organizations and speaks English, Danish, Spanish and Japanese. In her spare time Sarah en joys music, travelling and practising Capoeira. In the future she hopes to use her international background to support sustainable development initiatives involving cooperation between public and private stakeholders.
Huang Hongda (Singapore)
Jack graduated from the National University of Singapore with a 1st Class Honours Degree in History. Nevertheless, his undergraduate days under the University Scholars Programme were characterized by exposure and rigorous training across disciplines, and his deep interest in ecology often saw him conducting research into environmental protection, biodiversity and sustainable development. This passion saw him conducting independent research at the Singapore Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) on sustainable development and domestic and regional strategies for managing water resources. Subsequently, Jack was handpicked to represent Singapore at the 8th Hitachi Young Leaders' Initiative youth forum on Empowering Asia: An Increased Role in a Common Voice as a Responsible Player, which was hosted by Vietnam in Hanoi in January 2007. Upon graduation, his broad-ranging interests led him to take up an appointment as a Policy Officer in the Ministry of Defence Singapore, specialising in ASEAN and regional affairs. In recent years, the topic of climate change and sustainable development has also become intrinsically bound with defence sector interests, due to the need to counter non-traditional and transnational security threats presented by natural disasters, as well as the burgeoning need for water, energy and food security. In his free time, he enjoy volunteering at local animal shelters and raising funds for good social causes.
Pekka Huima (Finland)
Pekka is a Finnish architect student and graphic designer with enthusiasm for problem solving by conceptual design. He has been lucky enough to become a member of team producing urban ideas for City of Helsinki, such as Talking Trash Bins and concepts for Traffic Safety improving. His background in graphic design has led him to new and mixed fields of architecture and urban planning: diagrams, charts and graphics are important tools of communication for me. The huge amount of information that a responsible designer should manage grows day after day. Pekka believes that visualization is a powerful way for making the needed information more accessible. Besides his passion for visual designs, he loves cycling, Finnish nature and creative moments of misunderstanding.
Hussam Hussein (Italy)
Hussam was born in Kuwait, he has Palestinian origins and he is a Jordanian and Italian citizen. He has worked at the European Parliament in Brussels, at the London Middle East Institute in London, for NGOs in Uganda and Jordan. Now he is doing a Master at the College of Europe in Warsaw, Poland. It could be said that he is himself a bridge between Asia and Europe. Concerning his studies, Hussam did his BA and his MA in Italy in International Relations and Diplomacy, graduating from the University of Trieste (Gorizia) with 110 cum laude out of 110. In both cases he did so with a dissertation in the History and Institutions of the African and Asian countries (Supervisor Prof. Enrico Fasana) and in Anthropology and Development on Environmental issues (Supervisor Prof. Palmisano and Prof. Roberto Mazza). He studied for one academic year at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London as Erasmus student. At the moment Iheam doing a Master at the Natolin (Warsaw) campus of the College of Europe to better understand the role that the EU could have in sorting out global environmental issues.
Winson Kang (Malaysia)
A fresh graduate of the National University of Singapore, Winson Kang holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical). His engineering education specializes in the field of heat transfer and thermodynamics. Armed with that, wonderful experiences from studying years and an open mind, he is now based in Shanghai- one of his four designated rotational training locations within the Greater China Region and Taiwan- for his two year long Management Associate Programme in an established engineering firm. He moved to Singapore from Malaysia four years ago for university education. Winson loves and has been traveling extensively all this while, making new friends, getting himself exposed to various domains of the world, and believes that while traveling is fun and relaxing, it's also much more than that. It's learning, reflecting, savoring, accepting and appreciating- elements that could yield profound positive long lasting effects on one's life. Coffee, books, and running are also on his long list of favorites. He chooses to live in the now- neither the future nor the past- focusing on happiness and appreciating everything. Life is full of challenges and for that, he, at the same time, can't wait to watch how life unfolds tomorrow, and many, many tomorrows to come.
Mihails Kozlovs (Latvia)
Mihails background includes three years studying communication science and one year covering Latvian environmental problems on Latvian local broadcasting channel. He is currently studying environment management science at the University of Latvia. When work and study leaves free time, he enjoys riding his bicycle, although the cold weather in Latvia only allows him to do it from May to the middle of October. Mihails enjoys relaxing in nature, so if he has the time he goes out of the city in order to get closer to the wild life of the calm of Latvian nature. Mihails believes that children of his children must see the same beauty that he can observe nowadays. However, to be so it is very important that we live rationally-thinking, not only about today but at least of the near future. He is sure that small steps caring about nature are important and are taken in consideration by nature, of course.
Kaori Kume (Japan)
Kaori's major was law and political sciences, where she mainly studied about International Politics, the CEECs and the EU, at Keio University. Then, she went to Belgium and studied the EU International Relationship and Diplomacy at the College of Europe. She picked “The Negotiation of the European Union at the world economic stage” as her thesis topic. Then, she undertook an internship at a consultancy in Belgium where she mainly researched and analysed EU's policy concerning energy, environment, transport and trade issues. Since then, her interest toward this subject has increased. More recently she has been selected as a Japanese Climate Cool Leader of the British Council, and for that she will be attending a workshop in Thailand, where she will learn to use artistic impacts on Climate Change Solution. She is also organising ASEFUAN AGM 2010 in Tokyo. The theme of the meeting will be Environment and Sustainable energy. In the near future she will work for a top economic institution in Japan, Keizai Doyukai (Japan Association of Corporate Executives), which is quite active in the environmental field.
SooYeon Kwon (South Korea)
Graduated from a Korean high school, SooYeon was far to be called an environmental person. However, since her studies at Sciences Po, she became interested in environmental issues. Today, she can say that she yields to none in her interest and eagerness to learn on those issues and especially on sustainable development. In fact, she plans to go to Kyoto for her third year abroad where she hopes to learn how Japan and especially Kyoto has been an environmental friendly city. Passionate for lacrosse, a not so popular sport, she is a naturally active person and she likes to take a cheerful view of life. SooYeon believes everyone will fight to save our planet.
Jussi Lehmusvaara (Finland)
Jussi specialized in green economy, clean technology private sector development, emerging markets and SME internationalization with work experience spanning through four continents both in private and public sectors and several years of experience in managing non-governmental organisations and projects. He considers environment, business and society as mutually dependable parts which have to be thought within the wider frame of promoting private sector's role in the society, innovating business cases for sustainable international development and developing inclusive environmental policies. His recent work experience includes e.g. consulting business opportunities in Asia in projects financed by the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank with special focus on energy efficiency, clean technology and other green economy related projects; analysing the OECD's Enhanced Engagement process with emerging economies of China, India, Indonesia, South-Africa and Brazil, etc. Jussi holds a Master of Arts from the Collège of Europe (Brugge, Belgium), Master of Social Sciences from the University of Turku (Finland), Certificat d'Etudes Politiques from the Sciences Po-Institut d'Etudes Politiques IEP de Rennes (France) and studies in economics at the University of Stockholm (Sweden).
Helena Lim (France/United Kingdom)
After her studies in International Relations and Development Studies (University of East Anglia, UK), Helena volunteered with the French NGO Médecins du Monde, working with homeless people and Roma communities on migration and health-related issues in France, assisting in both in a local medical centre as well as on the field. At the other end of the spectrum, she worked at the Council of Europe on European migration and integration policies and on intercultural and interreligious dialogue. In so doing, she actively contributed to the Council's “White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue” and to the recent campaign “Speak out against discrimination”, which emphasises the role of the media in combating discrimination and promoting a culture of tolerance and mutual understanding. She has more recently broadened her horizons by carrying out an internship with ASEF in Singapore, working in both the People-to-People Exchange department on education and the Executive Office on the publication of the Asia-Europe Journal. This last stint has successfully given more insight on the complexities of bringing together two regions like Asia and Europe and the difficulties to reconcile the differences brought about bottom-up and top-down approaches. Helena believes is very fortunate to have worked with an engaging pool of experts from education, migration, culture, human rights and environment – only increasing her curiosity to learn more! On a personal basis, she is an avid traveller and loves to learn new languages. Albeit an amateur, she also enjoys photography and painting.
Henrik Lindbo Larsen (Denmark)
Henrik obtained his master degree in political science last year with a focus on international politics and development issues. Parallel to his studies, he has been engaged in the organising of conferences and project, including election observations, for the promotion of the political and social development in the EU neighbouring countries. Since then, he has worked in the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and now works as a researcher at the Danish Institute of International Studies, i.a. on world order issues and regional cooperation. Over the years, he has published a number of both academic and popular articles on various political and developmental issues.
Ida Maegaard Nielsen
Claire Mak (Singapore)
Claire is an undergraduate student at National University of Singapore (NUS), minoring in English and Technopreneurship. She is currently in the US, taking a full-time internship while attending classes in University of Pennsylvania. With diverse interest in the Arts, Sciences, and Business, she has a variety of working experiences ranging from organizing events at the ESN Asia (Singapore), to her current internship in a biotechnology start-up (USA). Her interest lies in sports, reading, travelling and volunteer activities. Throughout her high school days, she made visits to old folks' and children's homes to chat with them. One memorable volunteer activity was her participation in the “Grandpa Grandma Day”, where chopsticks were sold to raise money for the old folks. Claire feels it is encouraging seeing how countries prosper, but it is her hope that while growing economically, sustainable development is not neglected. Hence, she have participated in several volunteer activities such as cleaning up East Coast Park (Singapore) during her high school days as part of a Clean & Green Movement, and joined in the activities in school during Earth Day Week. She feels students can take more initiatives in developing sustainable development projects, all for a Greener and Livelier Planet.
Llanos Martinez-Trenado (Spain)
Llanos was born in Madrid (Spain), 28 years ago. She's been always fascinated by "the new". New people, new places and new cultures. After finishing her Bachelor in Business Management, she started her search for the rest of the world. It all started in London (UK), a true multicultural city, a very special place where one can meet people from all around the world. Here she learnt how valuable is learning from the others, specially when they come from places so far away of the place you come from. Having London as a camp base she travelled around the old Europe and then she received admission to study International Relations in the Diplomatic School in Spain, a place where the best experts in the country come together and where diplomats and other related professionals from 40 different countries study, discuss and live together for a year. This was a marvellous experience in all possible ways and led her to obtain, a few months later, a grant form the Spanish Government for working as market and policy researcher in Hong Kong (P. R. of China). This was her first physical contact with Asia, and it was absolutely unforgettable. She had the opportunity to study Mandarin Chinese in Beijing and to travel all around the continent. After more than a year in Asia, she chose working in renewable energy for a Spanish company based in Madrid, closely working with the projects in Asia. And she's glad of that decision, she's discovered a very usuful sector for a balanced economic development and she's more than happy to have the chance to share her knowledge and experience in the field. (And no, she hasn't given up learning Chinese).
Mike Medina (The Philippines)
Exposure to three diverse fields of Biology, Environmental Science and Urban Planning produced a bird's viewpoint in trying to understand the complexities of nature and how everything is related to one another, and how man can tap and benefit from this. This has been further enhanced with Mike's experiences in teaching for the last seven years, all the salient information and knowledge learnt from the three fields, and as a volunteer for an advocacy group that aims to empower communities against any resource-intensive and pollutive activities in their areas. Currently Mike is on leave from teaching in the Philippines. He hase embarked in preparing for further postgraduate studies and at the same time staying for a year in another country and becoming a member of an environmental advocacy group (Environmental Society of Oman). This set-up provides fresh new perspectives, this time from the viewpoint of a more developed country than the Philippines, in how he can incorporate ideas in framing future land use and environmental management. Mike is very much eager to contribute and articulate ideas and perspectives for change towards a sustainable and livable environment while also dedicated to a continuing enthusiastic and dynamic learning environment.
Luke Miller (United Kingdom)
Jewellord Nem Singh (The Philippines)
Jewellord is a PhD student based in the Department of Politics at the University of Sheffield, UK. He received his Masters in Asian Studies at Lund University, Sweden and BA in Political Science at the University of the Philippines. While his work has primarily been academic and research-oriented, he has made a few contacts with NGOs and think tanks in different places. His primary research interests include the political economy of resource extraction, the role of labour and social movements in shaping the governance of mining, and corporate social responsibility agendas within the sector. In his free time, he generally socialises, travels and dances salsa.
Ihtiar Nur
Ihtiar is currently a student of the Solar Energy Engineering Master Program at Dalarna University, Sweden. He has always been interested in the fields of sustainability and exactly because of this reason Ihtiar decided to further his studies after having previously studied electrical engineering in his bachelor degree at University of Indonesia. He was an internee at Hay Group management consulting (Indonesia) for some time before moving to Sweden. Ihtiar was engaged in a work load analysis project and was working intensively with the Attorney’s General Office of The Republic of Indonesia.
Ciaran O'Brien (Ireland)
Ciaran studied for his degree in Electrical Engineering in University College Cork where he learned how electrical systems work. He has also completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Trinity College Dublin in Statistics that assists him in analytical work. He is currently completing a Masters degree in Energy Management, where the emphasis is on renewable energy technologies. He works as an analyst for an energy utility company in Ireland where he has learned about the gas and electricity markets in Ireland and the U.K. He is very interested in emerging renewable technologies such as wave power and how they will help solve the problem of increasing demand for energy and decreasing supplies of fossil fuels. In his opinion Climate Change is the biggest challenge facing mankind this century and he would like to do his bit to save the world!
Conor O'Brien (Ireland)
Conor holds two honours bachelor degrees in Architecture and Architectural Science from University College Dublin. In his studies, he specialized in ecological urban living and public transport infrastructure. He has worked actively in several student organizations and hosted a major international architecture summer-school in Ireland in 2008. Previous work experience includes working for Dublin City on a major community regeneration project and also working for a small design-led architecture office focused on the creation of high quality environments for people to live and work in. He is currently working independently in the field of ecological architecture and planning and is actively involved with the promotion of urban cycling culture. Having partaken in its Climate Leaders programme, he is also working with the British Council in Ireland. With transport-related GHG emissions continuing to rise at an alarming rate, he believes that designing cities that minimise travel and maximise exchange offers a real response to the social and environmental problems arising from fossil-fuel dependence and a warming planet.
Andreia Oliveira (Portugal)
Andreia is a Portuguese 26 years old girl who is very interested in development cooperation issues, after a degree on Political Science and International Relations. It was her 6 months professional experience in India, where she was working for disaster mitigation, which her instruction on climate changes expanded from the common knowledge that can be obtained from the media. Such comprehension was later increased during her Master's programme at College of Europe, as it is where she had the opportunity to learn about European Environmental policy and better understand how such issues are being tackled in the European Union and in accordance with a global framework. More recently, Andreia participated at the ‘Young Adults 4 New Results' conference on climate changes, prepared by Kofi Annan's new organization, the Global Humanitarian Forum. As a result of this inspiring event, she has been developing an idea of creating a Portuguese debate space for climate changes considering COP15, and which is currently being negotiated with representatives of Portuguese civil society. As it may be seen, both her academic and professional background are based on a strong belief presented by Edmund Burke more than two centuries ago: that all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
Alina Pathan (Finland)
Alina holds two bachelor degrees in Business Administration and Social Sciences. In her studies she has specialized in environmental management as well as development studies. Currently she is doing her master degree in development studies and her master thesis on water policy as a part of climate change governance in India. Alina has worked full-time as an environmental and climate change expert in a consultancy firm for the last five years. She has been a project manager and expert in various private, public and non-governmental organisation projects relating to environmental management, climate and environmental policy and business consulting, natural resources, technology, foresight and evaluations. For example, she has recently been an expert in reviewing the role of climate scenarios in climate policy development for the Finnish Government, researching successful climate policy measures for a NGO as well as developing environmental and climate programmes for private companies. Previously she has worked as an environmental planner and as a researcher in New Delhi and Kolkata, India, where she researched climate change risks and policy in India, as well as water governance.
Mireia A. Paulo Noguera (Spain)
Mireia comes from an academic background in Tourism, specialising in ‘Planning and Sustainable development'. Later on, she obtained a Degree of International and Intercultural Studies, speciality in ‘Mediterranean'. Finally, she holds a Bachelor's Degree is in East Asian Studies, specialising in China. Besides this university background, Mireia has been attending courses and seminars about international cooperation and sustainable development. Thus, she collaborated in several organizations in Togo, India and China. These experiences provided her with a rich knowledge in the cooperation field in a regional level and more precisely related with sustainable development in rural areas. She has had the opportunity to live and study at Beijing University for two years with a grant from “Fundación del Instituto de Crédito Oficial español”. During this period, she created a team to produce a word-spreading documentary related with environmental issues in China and Spain. Finally thanks to the Foreign Ministry of Spain she is currently studying an M.A. in European Political and Administrative Studies in the College of Europe, where she has started her research for her thesis about environmental organizations emerging in China and new challenges of international cooperation among the EU and China.
Christoforos Pavlakis (Greece)
Christoforos' background begins in working in research institutions in knowing the appropriate methodologies. He graduated with a degree in Communication, Computing and Media from National University Athens. As a student there, he assisted in examining several environment related projects from a communications perspective. In 2007, he completed a research visit to the Centre for Advanced Studies and Research in Information and Communication Technologies and Society (ICT&S) in Austria. During this period, he was involved in a research team, carrying out research in the field of “Measuring the Impact of Digital life on Environment”. Recently, he has been working at the Ministry for Environment and Climate Change, within the Communications Unit.
Monchi Roderos (Philippines)
Graduating with a degree in Philosophy from Ateneo de Manila in the Philippines, Monchi Roderos committed to environmental responsibility as his way of expressing his “infinite responsibility to the Other”. He has worked under the private and public sector. He handled environmental issues as part of the corporate social responsibility of the top local private corporation in his country. After this, he decided to work for government as a researcher in his country's premiere socio-economic agency. Monchi ensures that sustainable development is properly incorporated into whatever work he does. He also volunteers a lot to numerous NGO initiatives related to environmental responsibility as part of his constant learning. He loves to go on new adventures and keeps “Carpe Diem!” as his personal philosophy.
Jovy Sarjeant (United Kingdom)
Jovy has always tried to combine his passionate interests with an appreciation of the practical - by virtue of which ideas are realised. His academic and professional pursuits are indicative of this, being both theoretical and practical in nature. He has studied at three Universities including the University of Massachusetts and worked in political institutions both abroad and in England, where he played an important role in winning a U-turn on the proposed expansion of Heathrow airport. He has a deep interest in political philosophy which has helped him to understand the contingency of politics; most particularly how cultural and historical forces condition the manner in which political issues are conceptualised, leading not only to different approaches and viewpoints on these issues, but to the construction of different political questions. This has given him a pragmatic mindset that is comfortable situating “unique” political concerns within a general framework, by drawing together ideas from a multiplicity of cultures and disciplines to help provide an understanding of the broader picture: which seems to be important given the interrelated nature of climate change/sustainable development and the globalized world in which these topics are situated.
Johanna Schut (The Netherlands)
Johanna is a 25 year old Political science student, enrolled in the masters' degree 'European Union in a Global order' at the university of Amsterdam. Among the courses she is taking is EU-Asia relations, which she finds particularly interesting. It also drew her attention to the ASEFUAN Dialogues. Energy and environmental problems, or developments, if one wills, are a global challenge. It knows no borders. Johanna wrote her Bachelors thesis on the role that the regions can play in the promotion and implementation of energy-efficient policies. Furthermore, she co-created an online partnership pool during her internship at the Assembly of European Regions (AER) in Strasbourg (France), to provide regions with a platform to exchange best practices and exchange knowledge. Dialogue is important when one aims to tackle a problem that concerns us all, globally. Therefore, she considers the ASEFUAN Dialogues a step in the right direction.
Franky Christian Silalahi (Indonesia)
Franky's bachelor degree is in international relations from Padjadjaran University (Bandung, Indonesia). Now he is studying international relations for a Master's Degree at Nottingham University. International affairs and relations among nations have been his main interest since high school. That is also the reason he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia. As a government official, sustainable development has become his concern since he joint this Ministry. Moreover, Franky is currently working for Policy Planning and Development Department which has a responsibility in giving policy recommendations to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Michal Sládek (Slovakia)
Born in Bratislava, Slovakia, Michal is a student of architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts & Design in Bratislava. His main interests are post-communistic city and responsible thinking in architecture. As a member of Society for Higher Learning, he made a socialistic monumental architecture guided tour in Bratislava. Michal also contributed to the book of Dutch photographer Illah van Oijen Urban landscapes of Bratislava. Since 2008 he is working for NGO People in Need, Slovakia on a project of experimental housing solution for Roma communities in Eastern Slovakia. In this project, a straw-bale house was built by a Roma family under his supervision. He is a member of NGO ArTUR, sustainable architecture and a founding member of NGO Archimera, which aim at propagating young architecture.
Anna Kinga Sochocka (Poland)
During her master studies she had an opportunity to examine the sustainable buildings in the West European climate. The high amplitude of the temperatures and the extreme weather conditions are characteristic for Poland. And as during her PhD studies she would like to create a model of a sustainable block of flats in the city center in Poland, she started to look for some examples of this kind of sustainable architecture in other extreme climates, also in South-East Asia. In December she will take part in conference “Valuating contemporary City Space” in Warsaw. She is going to present the influence of the policy promoting the roof gardens on the cityscape.
Athina Stamatopoulou (Greece)
Athina is currently focusing on a research, concerning relationships in public space: between built and unbuilt environment, between different uses and urban contrast, in human experience's terms, as a parameter of contemporary city's sustainability. She has dealt with the meaning of the limit inside the city, in public accessibility's terms, as well as how enclosed open spaces - which are usually defunct places and impenetrable obstacles in public continuity - and their reaction with the built environment and user's behaviour can re-define the urban sustainability, combined with all the environmental friendly or optimising options and tools. She has tried to design a mechanism which turns to advantage every environmental sustainability's tool, adapted to the needs of each location and place and tries to create an environment - in many scales - which takes into account user's behaviour in the urban era and its relationships, as a parameter to a deeper and amplified thinking of how contemporary sustainability of the urban can be approached and lived, because such an organisation or manipulation can optimize all the developed research and make it much more efficient.
Martin Stavenhagen (Germany)
For years now, Martin has been actively exploring solutions for sustainable development. This passion has been fueled by his membership in the Green Student Association during his undergraduate studies, as well as the invitation to attend the 2008 Youth Perspective (YouPEC) Conference on Sustainable Consumption, including writing a Declaration to the EU parliament and all EU member states (see http://www.youpec.eu). There, Martin had the chance to discuss with both experts and other interested students the challenges of climate change, increased consumption and global resource depletion, as well as sustainable solutions and smarter resource management. He also has extensive knowledge about Integrated Sustainable Water Management (IWRM); for his master thesis, he is evaluating the Asian Development Bank's Water Policy and IWRM Strategy as a Research Assistant at the Institute of Water Policy in Singapore. Furthermore, he has had valuable practical insights working for sustainable development projects in Asia. He has interned for GTZ (German Technical Cooperation Agency) in the Sustainable Consumption and Consumer Protection Department in New Delhi, India. There he learned more about the mechanisms and challenges of involving private and public stakeholders in project development and national strategies to achieve environmentally sound economic development. Before that, he interned for the EU project “Strengthening Pilot Administrations” on political decentralization and community empowerment in Battambang and Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Fadly Hadley Tanjung (Indonesia)
Fadly Haley is a23 years old graduate in Regional and City Planning department of Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia. Up to recently he was working as Planner's Assistant in a Urban Planning Consultant Company, doing city spatial plans projects for Pekanbaru, Bukittinggi, and Tanjung Redeb City. He then moved to Habitat Indonesia National Secretariat as Junior Planner. There he helps with the implementation of the Habitat Agenda, an international agreement decided in 1996 by UN Habitat. It consists of two main purposes which are ‘adequate shelter for all' and ‘sustainable urbanization'. In 2008, Fadly got a scholarship from Helsinki University of Technology to attend the its Summer School in Transportation. It gave him a wider knowledge about international transport relationships. Besides housing and urban development issues, his interests are heritage conservation and its relationship with urban planning. To learn more about it, Fadly is a active member in the Indonesian Heritage Trust, a national NGO concerned with the sustainability of heritage and local culture.
Elina Tenho (Finland)
Elina started her Architecture studies in Helsinki University of Technology in 2004 and completed her Bachelor of Architecture degree in 2008. The topic of her bachelor's thesis was ‘Considering Immigrants in Finnish Urban Design'. The following year she spent it in Madrid University of Technology as an Erasmus student. Her studies in Spain included courses such as Bioclimatic Architecture in a Sustainable Environment and Architecture and Landscape. This fall she began her Master studies in Helsinki. She is taking part in a minor study programme called ‘Creative Sustainability' which includes such courses as State of the World and Development, Cultural Interaction and City in Crisis. ‘City in Crisis' aims at enhancing the living conditions of poor people in Cambodia and includes a field trip to Cambodia. She has been working in several Architecture offices in Finland during her studies. At the moment she is working in K2S Architects Ltd in Helsinki. Her hobbies are contemporary dance, art, reading and CISV which is a volunteer organization promoting peace education and cross-cultural friendship. She sayts to be fascinated by different people and cultures and learning from them.
Sébastian Trenner (France/Germany)
Sébastian has a passion for international development. Through his diverse background, education and work experiences he considers himself a world citizen and firm believer in economic and social development. He is trained in several disciplines namely business administration, international relations, European politics and microfinance. All of which he has practiced in both for-profit and non-profit settings as well as with international multilateral agencies (the European Commission, the International Labor Organization or the World Bank). Sébastian's experience in development cooperation ranges from project management to policy-making. Through this, he has been able to hone his interpersonal and analytical skills by interacting with several experts in different fields while constantly seeking the best possible outcomes and/or means of action for each task/situation. His passion lies in the careful analysis of the human dimension of any given issue and the exchange of ideas or opinions above language, cultural and/or ideological barriers.
Timo Uustal (Estonia)
Timo is 25-year old boy from the geographical heart of Europe - Estonia. He has been interested in natural science and everything related to technology since childhood. Currently he is MSc student in Environmental Technology in University of Tartu, previously have gained experiences in Tartu Secondary School of Business, where he was also the manager of the Educational Department of Students' Council. He has been also a student of Science School of Tartu University in advanced math, biology and chemistry classes. For some years he was the editor of the newspaper of Tartu Nature House. He has achieved good results in almost every subject. Usually, he is dealing with many different projects and also planning educational events. Since 1999 he has actively fostered e-learning methods by making some dozens web pages, which have educational background as well as contributing to LEFO.net community. Currently, he is leading Fims Alliance, founder of EU-Youth.net - international youth network. In addition, he is involved in digital art media as the head of Fims Productive. His slogan is: "Education is a treasure, and culture never dies". More info at http://timo.uustal.net
Tamara van't Wout (The Netherlands)
Tamara van ‘t Wout has a Msc degree in international relations with a minor in international economics. During her studies she became increasingly interested in the Asian region. With an ASEM fellowship she was able to study and conduct research for her thesis at the Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea. After her graduation she returned to Asia and worked for Oxfam Hong Kong, an international non-government organisation, where she focused on the programs in the Indochina and Mekong region, e.g. Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam. Especially the community based natural resource management projects in the forestry, fisheries and agriculture sectors, captured her interests. Currently she is pursuing another master degree in “human development and food security” at the economics faculty of the Roma Tre University. At the same time, she is volunteering for various NGO, e.g. for the Asia Desk of Caritas International Belgium to compile a handbook with lessons learned and best practices of their relief, rehabilitation and development projects in Asia. The handbook focuses on the integration of disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation measures in their food security and livelihoods projects.
Tom Van den Steen (Belgium)
Tom pursued his first passion, classical philology, with the intent to become a secondary school teacher. However, he later decided to switch direction in a rather drastic way towards international politics. After a general degree in this area at the Catholic University of Leuven, he specialised in humanitarianism and human rights at Warwick University. Tom has conducted academic research on Flemish environmental policies in an attempt to map all actors and institutions that have been active in this field. He has also been supporting the Humanitarian Policy Department of the British Red Cross as an intern, doing some preparatory policy research and blogging about humanitarian news, reports and events. Tom enjoys speaking all of the seven languages he knows, be it while travelling, working or attending international events. As a humanitarian, he is now looking for opportunities to put his academic knowledge into practice in the service of humanity.
Inari Virkkala (Finland)
Inari Virkkala is a final year student at the Architecture Department in the Helsinki University of Technology. She has been working actively in various student organizations and now being part of the British Council Climate Advocates team provides her an excellent opportunity to channel this energy into the battle against climate change. As buildings consume roughly one third of the energy used in societies, architects and urban planners will have a great role in reducing the CO2 emissions.
Rui Wang (China)
Rui's former experience is neither in environmental science nor in social science, but through the former various volunteer experiences she has had, as well as her thesis paper research in China (about Giant Panda Habitat Protection, from the perspective of Economy) and her current East Asian studies in Finland, she has begun to look at the environmental protection issue from an integrated and multi-disciplinary angle. It is amazing and attractive, as well as of great challenge. Rui hopes to find the very "Balance Point" through the environmental protection career: the local people's life can get improvement through the rational economic development, as well as the protection of their traditional culture. Public's consciousness and participation can play a vital role in the process, with the guide and coordination from both government and NGO. Rui sees herself as a panda lover first as well as an environmental volunteer later, who aims at being an eligible NGO worker of China in the near future. She is always on the road to try to achieve her goals.
Andreas Wiese (Germany)
Having spent his childhood and youth in Germany, Andreas Wiese is now studying at the European-Asian campus of the French university college Sciences Po Paris. Hence, his daily life at this campus involves what the aim of both the Asia-Europe Foundation and ASEFUAN is all about: to strengthen the exchange between Europe and Asia. Since his High School time, Andreas participated in various international events and conferences; most recently he took part in the German-Chinese student dialogue under the auspices of the German Parliament and in the G20 London Summit 2009 as the representative of the German youth. His primary realm of interest revolves around the international exchange between people. He has been involved in various youth projects, is diversely interested and loves nature. Andreas is also a British Council Global Changemakers; the British Council Global Changemakers are a global network of community activists who work for positive change in their respective societies.
Krystle Wong (Malaysia)
Krystle believes in activism, awareness and education. In order to make herself as useful as possible to our world, she studies at the Sciences Po Paris Europe-Asia Campus in Le Havre and chose to intern at the Centre for Public Policy Studies in Malaysia. During the academic year, she battles and flirts with Comparative History, Economics, Politics and Societies, Law, Constitutionalism, French and Hindi; and during her holidays, she squeezes out money to travel and see the world. This leaves her with relatively little spare time, but when she is lucky (or lazy) enough to have any, she helps organize the cultural art life on campus, writes for fun and reads herself to sleep.