Timotej recently graduated from Vanguard University of Southern California with highest honors, where he was asked to deliver a valedictorian graduation speech. He takes pleasure engaging with and attempting to grasp the philosophical concepts of great minds, such as Plato, Socrates, Jesus, Orwell, Kant and others. He also served as an adviser with the Slovenian delegation to the United Nations in New York, where he was covering environmental issues. Currently he is carrying out independent research into climate change in connection with the society and social responses to it and working towards admission to the doctoral program in this field in 2010. Timotej is extremely ambitious, however, he believes that only group work can lead to real success.

Anna is a student of international relations who already has experience of climate change debates, the CAP and trade system, global warming and other related topics. She is very interested in the world around us and how we impact it, including international relations, governance functions and human rights – one of which, she firmly believes, is the right to a clean and safe environment. One of the main goals of this hard-working and dedicated person is to strive to make a real difference in the world both on a personal and a professional level.

Zdenka was already very active in high school as a representative in seminars and workshops on the environment in Idrija. Today she is a student at The Biotech center at Naklo, where she has done a seminar on sustainable development called, Theme Papers Climate Change. She also participated in the organization of workshops on the topic of renewable energy sources in Slovenia. Her hobbies are traveling and doing all sorts of sports.

Tina works in the Ministry of Economy for the Directorate for Energy and is in charge of EU and international affairs. In addition to this, she has a lot of experience in NGO project work and political campaigning. Currently she is studying a Masters in International Relations where her main research focuses primarily on energy policy in the EU. No wonder that everyone who knows Tina says politics is too often on her mind!

Tadeja is a nature-lover and a member of the Scout Association of Slovenia, where she is the leader of a group of 8 year old children. One of her hobbies is photography and she takes photographs and writes for the scout magazine as well. She did research in physics and biology, winning three awards, which indicates that she’s a clever, determined and hardworking person. Tadeja would like to see Slovenia follow in the Netherlands footsteps by bettering and enlarging bicycle roads and building garages for bicycles.

Because Stasa, a soon-to-be-teacher, has always been interested in our environment, she was drawn to study geography with sociology. During her studies she joined CEEPUS, the student exchange programme, and went to the Czech Republic to write her dissertation. She has also worked in summer camps for underprivileged children where she helped organize activities like workshops with an educational emphasis on protecting habitats. When she becomes a teacher, she wants to make environmental studies more attractive to students.

Her ambition is to see the state of the world today, in its economic and environmental crisis, as an opportunity to re-think our way of life and our relationship with nature. Given that traffic is the no one source of pollution in Slovenia, she sees cycling as one of the simplest and most economically acceptable solutions. Being a social scientist she can help focus the team on the importance of building an informed and active public. She wants people to realize that small steps and even seemingly insignificant life-style changes can make a big difference.

Since getting back from a year long journey around India and Indonesia, Petra has been voluntarily teaching people how to reduce their CO2 footprint. She is president of an Association called, “Ecologists Without Borders”, which promotes voluntary environmentalism and other environmental projects and a member of the voluntary association, “Samarijan”. Petra graduated in geography, but has always been interested in psychology and her passion is to help conserve our environment, and the people and animals which inhabit it. Others would describe her as a self-confident, open minded person who does what she wants to, even if it means taking the hard way.

Petra is a young woman with a strong backbone, a sharp tongue and a sensitive heart who appreciates life and her family and friends. She grew up spending most of her time outside in the fresh air and is not willing to let go of her dreams and ideas. She studied Agronomy at the Biotechnical Faculty and continued with post graduate studies in Environmental Protection. This year she has just returned from Iceland where she has been studying renewable energy science. Petra would like to see Slovenia become one the leading countries in fighting climate change.

Mitja is a biotechnical student whose work consists of getting to know technologies related to the environment, such as biological cleansing devices for water and for the monitoring of toxic compounds. Nature, especially the Alps, has always been an important part of his life and he is a registered mountaineering guide with the Mountaineering Society of Slovenia (PZS). He is known for having good ideas and participates regularly on projects where you have to be creative and innovative, winning an award in a university challenge for a study into the elimination of CO2 from factory exhaust gases.

Maja is an inventive and enthusiastic person who appreciates the little things and is determined to bring playfulness into every aspect of her life. Environmental issues have always been a great concern to her and  together with her friends, she started the cultural-ecological association, Smetumet two years ago, whose primary concern is the issue of waste. They try to raise awareness by organising exhibitions, workshops and debates as well as by making useful and desirable products out of different kinds of waste.

Lara is a student of biology. She is responsible, talkative, open minded and friendly and likes learning new things, travelling and meeting people from all places. She wants to help preserve the planet for the generations of all living creatures to come and will bring to the Challenge, her enthusiasm, her dedication and her knowledge about the animals, plants and ecosystems that need our support.

Lucija is a student of English and Spanish is very passionate about nature, outdoor sports and music. As a daughter of two hiking enthusiasts, she was introduced to the Alpine world at an early age and taught about the importance of responsible behaviour towards nature. She also has 9 years of experience as a monitor in the summer Alpine camps for children. Her goal is to improve people's awareness about the effects of their daily behaviour on the environment and she hopes to encourage them to use bicycles more often for transportation.

Katja is a student of international relations and loves a challenge. An example of this adventurous spirit was her spur of the moment decision to do a 900km long walk through Spain (Camino de Santiago). She was raised to respect nature and not to harm the environment and her goal is to work in the field of environmental protection when she completes her studies. She believes the first step is to target young people and that by putting emphasis on the education of children they will become responsible adults, aware of the threats to nature posed by modern civilization.

Janez is very passionate about the environment, sports and traveling. He has already climbed Mont Blanc, hitch-hiked from Slovenia to Egypt and run 42 kilometers in less than three and half hours. He studied Geography, spent a month working as a volunteer on a reforestation project named Sadhana Forest (one of the best eco-village projects in the world) and currently works for the Association of Ecological Movements of Slovenia. Others see him as someone who works hard to change the world, likes sport, talks too much about environmental injustices and wants to have fun and help others.

Tatjana is a mother of two girls who believes her ideas can make a difference. Friends would describe her as friendly, creative, reliable and always ready to help others. Tatjana has a background in corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects, cross border cooperation projects and a great interest in the environment itself. She would like to educate consumers to be more critically aware of the issues of climate change and recycling.