Webinar: The Sustainability Series by GWC Plus

The Sustainability Series

Our Sustainability Series aims to highlight the many challenges and opportunities presented to us in tackling the climate crisis, by exploring the impact humans have had on the environment over time, whilst encouraging our duty to be agents of positive change. Led by experts in their sector, these talks will make the case for environmental action and hope for the future.

The GWC Sustainability Framework will be officially launched during the first of these talks, sharing our plan to reduce our environmental impact as a community and improve the positive contribution that the school makes to the sustainability of our planet.

Meet Emilie Robinson, Director Project 810

Meet The Presenters

Paul van Heyningen OBE

Deputy Director, Net Zero Electricity Networks at Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)

After doing a PhD in molecular biology, Paul decided academia was not for him and started his civil service career in 2001 in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, just a few weeks before the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak struck. Since then, has has held a variety of posts in Government, focused on energy, climate change and environmental policy. Between 2016 and 2020, he was a Deputy Director in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, leading teams on the UK’s exit
from the European Union: first on carbon emissions trading and latterly on Northern Ireland, which shares an all-island electricity market with the Republic. In his current role, Paul and his team work to make sure our electricity grid is ready for the transition to electric vehicles and other low carbon technologies as we move towards a net zero emissions economy.
Eva Cairns

Head of Climate Change Strategy, Aberdeen Standard Investments

Eva Cairns is the Head of Climate Change Strategy at Aberdeen Standard Investments and
responsible for leading ASI’s climate change agenda to ensure a consistent and rigorous climate change approach is applied to investments, solutions and communications. Eva has published a number of climate related papers including ‘Investing in a changing climate’, ‘Climate change – Our approach Investments’ and more recently, she co-authored ASI’s climate scenario analysis white paper. Eva is also a guest lecturer at the University of Edinburgh MSc in carbon finance.

Before focusing her efforts on the climate agenda, Eva managed a team of Business Analysts, focused on projects related to the investment process, risk and research. Eva joined Standard Life Investmentsin 2010 from Halcrow Group Ltd (now CH2M Hill), a global engineering consultancy, where she worked as an Economist focused on environmental and socio-economic impact assessment of energy and transport projects.

Eva graduated with an MSc in Economics with Distinction from the University of Edinburgh where her dissertation focused on the social cost of carbon. She also obtained the Professional Risk Management (PRM) certification in 2014.
Melvyn Roffe

Principal, George Watson's College

Melvyn has been Principal of George Watson’s College in Edinburgh since August 2014.

Melvyn graduated in English from the University of York and trained to be a teacher at the University of Durham. He began his career in Northamptonshire, teaching at Oundle School and enjoying a short and not massively successful political career which culminated in being elected Mayor of Oundle in 1993. He also served very briefly as an election observer for the Council of Europe before moving to Monmouth School as Head of English and being promoted as Director of Studies there in 1997. In 2001 he transferred into the state sector as Headmaster of Old Swinford Hospital in Stourbridge, serving for six years and subsequently moving to Norfolk as Principal of Wymondham College.

Melvyn was a member of the National Executive of the Boarding Schools’ Association (2004-2010) and was Chair of the Association in 2008-09. He has undertaken a number of governance roles in schools, academies and the FE sector. He has served as a Director of the Scottish Council for Independent Schools (SCIS) and of Connect - the Scottish Parent Teacher Council. He is currently a member of the Council of School Leaders Scotland. Melvyn is a Burgess of the City of Edinburgh and also an Honorary Life Fellow of the College of Optometrists, a distinction awarded in recognition of his service to the profession as a Lay Member of College Council.

Melvyn will become Chair of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference (HMC) for the 2022/23 Session. HMC represents the Heads of 296 leading independent schools in the UK, Ireland and around the world, which between them are responsible for educating over 240,000 young people. The organisation has an important voice in the development of education policy and good practice, provides training, induction and professional development for Heads and the staff of HMC schools and provides a quality “kite mark” for British education internationally. This will be only the third time in over 150 years that this prestigious position will have been held by the Head of a Scottish school, and Melvyn will be following in the footsteps of former GWC Principal, Sir Roger Young, who was Chairman of HMC in 1976.

Melvyn is married to Catherine Stratford and they have two adult children. Melvyn retains a personal interest in politics as well as cultural pursuits and vintage transport. His articles on educational and related themes are published from time to time in the TES Scotland and elsewhere.
Peter Wright

Patron, The Green Team

Peter began his career in Youth Work and Community Education going on to become the Manager of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Unit in the City of Edinburgh from 1989-2007. He co-founded Youth in Trust (now the National Trust for Scotland Conservation Volunteers) Thistle Camps and is the founder and president of Friends of the Award (FOTA). He also helped to establish the John Muir Award. Peter was awarded an MBE for services to disadvantaged young people and the DofE in 2005, and has the distinction of having ‘The Peter Wright Outdoor Learning Hub’ at Newbattle Abbey College, named in his honour.

Peter set up the Green Team in 1995 to offer environmental volunteering opportunities to those taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. He is now Patron of the charity which has grown significantly over the last 26 years. The Green Team helps young people to appreciate nature and care for our planet, whilst developing new skills and realising the wellbeing benefits of time spent in greenspaces.

The Green Team are one of George Watsons’s charity partners and Peter has just completed a 950km cycle across Scotland’s wild landscape to raise funds to provide young carers with some respite in nature on Green Team projects.
Dr Tracey Morse

Senior Lecturer, Head of Strathclyde Centre for Sustainable Development

Dr Tracy Morse is Senior Lecturer and Head of Strathclyde Centre for Sustainable Development. Having previously been based in Malawi for 20 years, she leads an interdisciplinary research team with a focus on addressing the determinants of health in low- and middle-income countries. Working with global partners, she is focused on promoting the importance of transdisciplinary research in addressing sustainable development for all, and supporting the transformational change needed to support attainment of UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Interesting projects Dr Morse has been involved with include Antimicrobial resistance in
Malawi and sexual and reproductive health rights for adolescents.

Webinars in this series

Tuesday 5th October, 6pm

The UK's path to Net Zero

Tuesday, October 5, 2021 · 6:00 PM BST

The Government committed in 2019 to reduce the UK’s greenhouse emissions to Net Zero by 2050. And, under the Climate Change Act (2008), we have a trajectory of legally binding 5-year “carbon budgets” to get there. We were the first major economy in the world to pass a net zero law, and we have made excellent progress, with emissions at 44% below 1990 levels in 2019. But getting to zero emissions is going to mean transformation across the whole economy: in the way we travel, heat our homes, power businesses and factories and manage our land and waste. A key part of this will be switching to use electricity in place of oil, gas and other fossil fuels, at the same time as making sure that the electricity we use all comes from renewable and other low carbon sources.

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Tuesday 23rd November, 6pm

Climate Change: The state of our planet and how are choices can make a difference

Tuesday, November 23, 2021 · 6:00 PM GMT

Our climate is changing, temperatures are rising and we are seeing more extreme weather events across the globe. Many countries and organisations are joining the race to net zero 2050 to limit global warming. All eyes are on the global climate conference COP26 in Glasgow in Nov 2021 to put climate pledges into practice. We are currently far off track when it comes to keeping warming to well below 2C, the goal of the famous Paris Agreement.

The main focus of this talk will be to assess the outcome of COP26 and explore how our choices can help make a difference, with a specific focus on the important role of finance in helping to decarbonise the planet. As Head of Climate Change Strategy at Aberdeen Standard Investments, Eva will bring practical examples of how climate change risks and opportunities should be incorporated into investment decisions and why this should matter to everyone with savings.

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On Demand

S6 Assembly with Eva Cairns, Head of Climate Change Strategy, Aberdeen Standard Investments

Tuesday, September 14, 2021 · 2:00 PM BST

We were delighted to welcome Eva Cains, Head of Climate Change Strategy at Aberdeen Standard Investments, to speak to S6 on the relationship between finance, investment and climate change.

Eva discussed the importance around our choices and actions surrounding energy, transport and food, what we buy and how we invest our money can make a difference.

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The future belongs to the young; Appreciating and sharing Scotland's natural environment

Tuesday, November 2, 2021 · 6:00 PM GMT

We are delighted to welcome Peter Wright, Patron of The Green Team and Chief Executive Penny Radway. The Green Team helps young people to appreciate nature and care for our planet, whilst developing new skills and realising the wellbeing benefits of time spent in greenspaces.

The Green Team are one of George Watsons’s charity partners and Peter has just completed a 950km cycle across Scotland’s wild landscape to raise funds to provide young carers with some respite in nature on Green Team projects.

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What are your sustainable development goals? How to contribute to the decade of action

Tuesday, November 9, 2021 · 6:00 PM GMT

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were set out in 2015 for the WHOLE world to meet by 2030. However with COVID-19, climate crisis, poverty, hunger, plastics... and this endless list of problems and challenges we can feel overwhelmed and feel there is nothing we can do.

However, this is far from the truth. This webinar will tell the story of UN SDGs and how we can all help to meet them. Tracy Morse is the Head of the Centre for Sustainability at the University of Strathclyde. She is originally from Aberdeenshire, and has spent the past 20 years living and working in public health in Malawi. Working hand in hand with community members and her Malawian colleagues they developed health programmes to reduce infectious disease in some of the poorest populations in the world.

Tracey will talk about her experiences, how sustainability is a global issue, and how we can all contribute to this exciting agenda. The responsibility has fallen on us all to act now – so let’s educate ourselves and make choices that are sustainable.

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