Oliver is currently a Community Development Worker in mid-Wales on a Lottery funded project to engage young children and their communities in healthy living. Issues he has encountered over the years working in both the 3rd and education sectors include many that are central to the environmental/sustainability debate: food miles, public transport, local produce, access to services, community dis-empowerment etc. He would like to see a little more common sense, social cohesion and responsibility for others in the world and a lot less greed. He thinks that 'reduce' and 're-use' should always come before 'recycle'!

“Christine grew up in southern Africa and papua New Guinea and she is currently studying an MSc in the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Design at the Welsh School of Architecture at Cardiff University, as well as working for a Sustainable Architecture Practice in Bristol. She is especially interested in sustainably retrofitting existing buildings. She loves spending time in the outdoors, especially by the sea and enjoys reading, surfing, swimming and listening to music. She is really looking forward to getting involved with the Challenge Europe project”

Alasdair is an engineer by degree training and is now a research and development engineer working on advanced hydraulic transmissions. He has become more aware of the legacy we appear to be leaving to future generations with the current course of energy use.  He believes we have to act boldly and soon to avoid what appears to be planet wide catastrophe.  To this end he is passionate about energy issues and has a real desire to facilitate change. He sees that the task of overcoming our use of fossil fuels is enormous and that there is a general lack of public awareness of the core energy issue.  He would like to be able to contribute to the issue in a meaningful way and sees the Challenge Europe Project as a means of tackling this.

Angus was once described as looking more like a rugby playing farmer than an environmentalist – and he tells us that this is not far from the truth!  Although he still plays the occasional game of rugby he has long since left the farm and now runs his own business within the environmental sector helping businesses and organisations grow by growing greener.  His company specialises in planting native and permanent woodlands in the UK, with a company ethos centred round the stimulation of positive actions.  His personal aim is to be responsible for planting one million trees!”

Rory is Wildlife and Community Officer working for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) on the island of Islay, enthusing people about what is a truly stunning island! He has the pleasure of sharing the place with some lovely people and outstanding wildlife. He will shortly be moving jobs to become a Marine Policy Officer for the RSPB in Edinburgh, though. Rory is tired of negative nay-saying on climate change. He feels that we should be realistic but positive and proactive about what we can practically do, and that's why he wanted to get involved with Challenge Europe.

Rory previously worked for an EU structural funds programme and will begin a master's degree in ecological economics this year. His passion for travel and experiencing other cultures has inspired him to live in the USA, Canada, France and most recently Belgium. He believes that the impact of climate change is unprecedented and its consequences for his own and future generations uncertain. For him, Challenge Europe presents an opportunity to reduce this uncertainty by simply bringing together a group of idealistic, young and enthusiastic Europeans and tapping into the 'wisdom of crowds'. Beyond that, he thinks Challenge Europe has the power to compel individuals and communities to take an active role in the intervention that our environment urgently requires. Above all, Rory believes we need to redefine the way we understand development: “wealth, consumerism and technology are not reasons for being, but preserving the natural beauty of our world most certainly is.”

Ruth is an Environmental Journalist and she is interested in the way we interact with the environment through sport, art and fashion, and she has a real passion for marine conservation. She has an environmental background with experience in photography and journalism and often writes about environmental matters for a variety of publications, illustrating her work with her own pictures when possible. She joined Challenge Europe because she believes the media has a big role to play in promoting green issues, and would like to see more about the project in the mainstream press. One day she hopes to work in environmental education, which she feels is the key to tackling climate change, especially among children and young people.

Joe has been described by a friend as “The most self motivated person I have ever met – you just do things!”.  Joe is a director of a company he set up and an Energy Consultant, consulting companies on how to reduce their energy consumption, produce Energy Performance Certificates, Display Energy Certificates and verify energy saving claims from different products. He believes that to go “green” it needs to be more than just economically viable, socially beneficial and politically appealing; going green needs to be easy!  He would love to see a change of attitude that takes the opinion that climate change is happening and rather than meaning we will have to take backward steps regarding our lifestyle we can fix it through innovation, improve our quality of life and pull the economy out of recession all at the same time!

Mary is a lawyer and has recently established her own legal consultancy advising renewable energy and low carbon companies in all aspects of project development and project financing. She has long been interested in environmental issues and is looking forward to using the Challenge Europe experience to provide her with a new perspective and new ways of tackling the challenges we face as a result of climate change.  She would like to be remembered as someone who made a difference – be it to one person’s life or many people’s lives and hopes that Challenge Europe can be part of that difference

“Neil’s interest and concern in climate change comes from the fact that those who are likely to be hardest hit are those least responsible for creating the problem in the first place and who often have the lowest ability to adapt. He would like to be remembered as a pragmatic environmentalist – someone who is passionate about raising awareness of social and environmental injustice but who recognises that the most effective way of encouraging change and concern doesn’t involve preaching or making people feel guilty. He runs an energy-saving campaign called the Student Switch Off which gets halls of residence at 33 UK Universities to compete against each other to save energy. He is also Assistant Editor for the international journal Global Environmental Change. He would like to see councils and businesses reduce energy wastage – particularly light wastage overnight - and feels that the Challenge Europe Project may be a vehicle for encouraging this.”

“Sarah would like to be remembered as someone who has made a difference to the conservation of the planet, for future generations and wildlife. She initially worked for the Northwest Development Agency, a government funded agency, which delivers and drives economic development in North West England but has recently joined the NWDAs Energy & Environmental cluster organisation; Envirolink, working as a Business Development Manager, supporting the low carbon market development in Greater Manchester. Sarah feels that the major companies in the UK are responsible for much of the issues relating to climate change. She would like to see real changes in their attitudes for making climate change one of their key action areas - not simply marketing gimmicks, appearing to be ‘green’, but actually visibly showing that they are supporting climate change and reducing their carbon footprint”

Susan’s background is in online communications, publishing and PR. She is currently working part time doing website editing/design whilst studying for an MSc at the Centre for Sustainable Heritage at University College London. As part of this she is working with the National Trust to make their historic buildings more energy efficient. Susan is really excited about Challenge Europe and looking forward to working on a community-based project to raise awareness and bring people together to tackle climate change. She is really interested in building links between different European countries too and feels that it would be brilliant if there are opportunities for collaboration between different countries' projects.

Jane has recently set up a business that provides an alternative to carbon offsetting.  She gives people power in the carbon markets by providing a channel for people to permanently remove 'permits to pollute' needed by heavy industry. Her friends and people she works with would describe her as enthusiastic and energetic. She has a passion for making positive change happen, and inspiring other people to do the same. She believes that environmentalists need to paint a positive vision for a future rather than telling people what to do or trying to scare them into action. She believes that one of the things that would help change attitudes is more open discussion about climate change, the potential impacts, and what is being done (or not done) by politicians and businesses to react to it. This is something Jane is tackling as part of her current business: she is trying to make the European Emissions Trading Scheme accessible so that people are informed about the facts and inspired to retire pollution permits or lobby the government for lower emissions caps

Ben works both as a fundraiser for (RSPB), and in sustainable development for the North East region. In his spare time he's an actor & presenter. His work is driven by a belief that the natural environment is vital for all of us, but that it is undervalued in our society.  Ben’s friends and family would describe him as a passionate communicator, a funny and charming speaker, who can be both challenging and motivating. He is very interested in the role the arts can play in mass communication.  He believes the arts can be used to reach people on an emotional level where science has previously struggled. He would like to increase public awareness of climate change issues and wants to use communication to help build an atmosphere of urgency and change on carbon and peak oil.”

Ben is considered by his friends and family to be an enthusiastic, sociable and determined character. He is also an entrepreneur at heart. He loves coming up with creative ideas and doing all the leg-work to make these happen. He thinks it’s important to keep messages original, personal and entertaining - green doesn’t have to be boring! Ben has recently set up a production company called Nice and Serious which specialises in creatively communicating environmental issues for responsible organisations through the medium of film. Ben’s ambition in life is to creatively communicate climate change, sustainability and other environmental issues to the public, based on the rigour of science but with the imagination of the arts. Ben would like to take this to a new level and reach across international boundaries and he feels that the Challenge Europe project is the perfect opportunity to do this

Stephanie hails from Canada where she worked as an Environmental Scientist for an oil company performing various environmental tasks - mainly calculating the net carbon emissions from the production of their petroleum products. After moving to Scotland, she spent some time consulting on carbon management, and now works as an Energy Officer for Renfrewshire Council.  With all of the recent legislation affecting local authorities, there is a lot to be done!  She is currently heading up the Council's Carbon Management Program, while also leading the Council's Carbon Trading Public Sectors project, as well as taking on the task of teaching and strategising for the Council's Carbon Reduction Commitment obligations.  Stephanie joined Challenge Europe because she wants to be involved in a project that will impact positively on the natural environment, and to learn some new skills along the way.

Estelle is the Adaptation Officer for the West Sussex County Council. She comes from an Ecological Economy background but has been educated to develop an absolute faith in the mitigation effectiveness in tackling Climate Change. Her experiences in different countries have confirmed her belief in the inevitable risks and uncertainties of climate change. Her aim is therefore to make a real and lasting impact on the adaptation strategy debate. At the moment Estelle is also undertaking MSc in Environmental Management and Assessment doing a dissertation about the framework of policies strategies in the UK.

Friends would describe John as someone who gets things done and doesn’t just talk about it. John currently works at the Ministry of Justice in the Information Directorate, prior to this he spent nine years working in investment banking at JP Morgan Cazenove and Citigroup. He is involved in a number of projects from an Atlantic Row to raise awareness of climate change to setting up a charity based in the Amazonian basin to assist with the social development and empowerment of the indigenous people in the region. John would like to show that through participation in this project and the pursuit of other opportunities that people with no previous experience can change what they do and have a positive effect on the environment

Leon was born in Sichuan Province, China. He is currently undertaking a Masters in Engineering (MEng) and is the founder of Suchen, a not-for-profit organisation that inspires young people to engage in sustainable entrepreneurship. Having spent time starting up a student newspaper called The Gateway and worked for Peter Jones on Dragons' Den projects, he strongly believes in the value of innovation and business ethics. Leon was a member of the BP-2041 Antarctic Expedition in which 50 leading students where selected from around the world to explore what is happening to the  Antarctic Peninsula. Having witnessed the effects of climate change in Antarctica in a "defining moment"; powerlessly observing ice carvings crashing into the southern ocean. This profound experience made the global issue of climate change something personal to him. From this experience, he has gained special insights into climate change and a deeper understanding of the social and political issues have involved. He would like to be remembered as someone who dedicated his life to the goal of preserving our planet to benefit all life. 

Matt co-founded a marine conservation company and now sits on the board of trustees. He has also recently founded an innovative last mile delivery service using green vehicles in central urban areas. He hopes to be remembered for his drive and enthusiasm for enterprise and the environment and how the two can work very well together and have shared aims (profit and environmental responsibility). Matt thinks the real challenge for Challenge Europe will be to find initiatives that will combine business and financial aspects (i.e. reduce cost) with positive environmental aspects.

“Gavin is currently mid-way through his doctoral research, looking at how clean vehicle technologies can be practically rolled out in a dynamic and rapidly changing business, political and social environment. He has a proven track record in communicating sustainability issues through print. He has published a number of books mainly targeted at the practical “person on the street”; with two of his most recent publications being "Domestic Solar Energy: A Guide for the Homeowner" and "Fuel Cell Projects for the Evil Genius".

Dylan is the Principal Strategy Officer for Cardiff Council involved in corporate policy development, urban competitiveness and regional policy. He is also a Sustainability Advocate for Cardiff Council, assisting the Authority to achieve environmental accreditation, adopt carbon reducing practices and positively influencing the behaviour of his co-workers. He is looking forward to working with new friends from various academic and occupational backgrounds through the Challenge Europe network. He hopes to learn from the group, contribute positively and help deliver projects that will assist the transition to a sustainable, low carbon economy”

Cerys is a Researcher at Cardiff University's Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability & Society (BRASS). Her current research has stemmed from a secondment with the Future Foundation (a London based consumer think-tank); assessing "Consumer attitudes towards Climate Change" in the UK. She has also designed & delivered an undergraduate module in Greening Business, sits on a Sustainability Advisory Panel at the National Assembly for Wales and is also a "Researcher in Residence" at a school in Newport, working on their Eco-School's programme.

 Aled works in the field of community development where he is Carmarthenshire’s Zero Carbon Communities Officer. This role allows him to work alongside communities that are ready to explore how we can develop energy descent and at the same time reduce emissions at such a scale as not to reach the IPCC Tipping point of a 2C rise in global temperature. Aled feels that being a parent is enough of a spark for him to ensure that protecting the future of the planet should be above everything else on our agendas. He also believes that over consumption is the key driver for climate change. He believes that the public must be given opportunities to reconnect with nature and understand how food can be produced locally at minimal environmental cost.