Who we are

I was born in Lincoln and have spent most of my working life in the County.  I was challenged by my Grandfather, a first world war veteran, when I was a undergraduate age  19 when he said 'when you are strong and able, who will you look out for?' This challenge has never left me. After a short career in industry using my Degree in Economics, I re-trained as a Teacher of Physical Education and started a life long journey of supporting learners to achieve their best. My full time work was as a Teacher, County Advisor and Teacher Trainer, and latterly Deputy Principal of Franklin College, Grimsby.

In all those settings I sought to promote a way of thinking and action that embodied the neighbourly values of 'from me, mine, here and now, to we , ours , the world, the future' .  Recognising that we daily make decisions that impact on others and our children's children. During this time I also had the opportunity to engage with grass roots educational projects in Brazil, Ghana, South Africa and Lesotho, which greatly informed my international understanding. As a result I promoted as many international links and visits for students as were possible.

In my spare time I am and have been a sports enthusiast playing and coaching a range sports to County and Regional standard, and more recently have taken up painting with a local art group and encouraging art activity as a way of  promoting health and  wellbeing.

Education:

• BA Economics, Sheffield University
• PGCE, Keele University
• Cert International Development, Cambridge University

Other current positions:

• Health Research Authority,  Regional Ethics Committee Member
• Local Patient Participation Group
• Parish Councillor
• FRSA

Shane Traill is a leader in the creative, digital learning and marketing sector, working with organisations to develop new, innovative, and inspirational educational and marketing initiatives. Shane works regularly with organisations such as The FA, Bosch, Premier League, Orsted, NHS, International Olympic Committee, as well as in Further and Higher Education to implement new thinking and develop new interactive content.

As Director at First Media, Shane is striving to engage with other organisations to integrate and promote the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, particularly around Quality Education, Good Health and Well Being and Sustainable Cities and Communities.

Shane is the lead on digital engagement, creative content and elearning programmes for the UNA Greater Lincolnshire.

During a distinguished farming career Clifford has achieved several UK crop yield records and acted as the leading nucleus seed producer to all the major European plant breeders. He is an expert in the production of food, industrial and medicinal crops and has served on a panel of the National Institute of Agricultural Botany and Processors and Growers Research Organisation and as a national judge for the Agricultural Trade Awards.

He is a Barclays Bank Farm of the Year award winner, former Barclays Bank business judge, previous Chairman of a regional Farming Group for the UK Sustainable Strategy in Farming and Food and a UK Institute of Directors ‘Director of the Month’. He is an Honorary Member of the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) Plant Varieties and Seeds Tribunal and previously a DEFRA external project assessor. Clifford is a senior Agriculture and Bioenergy adviser to the United Nations Foundation (UNF) and has served as a member of an expert’s panel for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and as an expert adviser to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

He was also a project reviewer for the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a DEFRA grant assessor and an expert adviser to Climate KIC on the bioeconomy. He was previously Head of Operations at the G4 Group and is now a Goodwill Ambassador for the African Union Development Agency - New Partnership for Africa's Development, a director and co-founder of the National Aquaculture Centre and trustee of Aquaculture without Frontiers and Milling4Life both UK registered Charitable Incorporated Organisations. Now engaged in aquaponics development through AquaTainer. He is listed in “Who’s Who in the World 2020".

I was born and raised in Belfast, Northern Ireland, before moving to London in 1986 to join the Metropolitan Police.

For the first part of my career I served as a police officer across a number of inner London Boroughs. I had a posting as the neighbourhood policing lead in Streatham and a spell as staff officer to a member of the chief officer team. The latter posting heightened my interest in wider policing policy and I subsequently managed the Met’s Criminal Justice Policy Office. During this period we established the London Criminal Justice Board with the aim of improving links between the major criminal justice agencies such as the Crown Prosecution Service, Probation Service, HM Prison Service and the Magistrates Courts and Crown Courts.

The second half of my career involved a diversion into the field of security and protection work. I served in the Met’s Force Firearms Unit, initially leading on training and policy and subsequently leading the operational teams. A highlight of this posting was working abroad with the British High Commission and Jamaican government. This was to help develop the Jamaican Constabulary’s policy and processes on firearms operations to improve accountability and the proportionate use of force.

I then moved into Aviation Security covering London Heathrow and London City Airports. My time there included the planning and delivery of security for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympic Games for which Heathrow was the official port of entry. In 2014 I was appointed to lead the Royalty Protection Command.

I retired in 2016 and moved to Lincolnshire. In 2018 I started working as the Regional Co-Ordination Manager for the five Police and Crime Commissioners in the East Midlands Region. This work provided me with insight on what an inter-connected and increasingly global world we live in. New crime trends in serious and organised crime are affecting communities across the world and cause issues across traditional borders. We will need strong institutions, working with integrity, to counter these new and emerging threats. I am a strong believer that informed and ethical law enforcement helps sustain communities. I have a particular interest in Sustainable Development Goal 16 on Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.

For over 40 years I have worked in the social sector supporting some of the most vulnerable, economically and socially disadvantaged young people and families in our region and have supported many unemployed people and volunteers to gain paid work.

My business background was in Marketing and Videography and I had a very successful Media company which led to me co-founding a £1.1m Community TV and multimedia studio which was opened by Sir David Puttnam.

I now manage a small community led 15 acre “off grid” rural development in N E Lincolnshire called Humberston Eco Conservation Centre. www.Humberston-ECC.org which is owned and managed by Positive Activities Charity.

The centre promotes renewable energy technologies, conservation integrated with fun family activities for all ages, abilities, and creeds. The Charity believes “place based social action works,” therefore, many of the planned projects on this unique site have been co-designed with residents and will managed by them too.

The mission within 5 years is to make the Humberston Eco Conservation Centre 100 % carbon neutral and 100% reliant and powered by using several combined heating and power technologies on site including solar voltaics, wind turbines, an anaerobic digestion waste to energy project which will be supported by green, low energy sustainable technologies.

The United Nation’s 17 2030 SDG’s (Sustainable Development Goals) an immediate call for action to individuals, communities, businesses, schools, colleges, and universities to act now and the SDG’s also provide the world with a critical framework for post COVID-19 recovery.

Joined up communities like our project at Humberston, businesses and educational establishments can all play an increasingly important role in supporting SDG initiatives in whatever form they are able, no matter how large or small.

By adopting and sharing best practice, our ecosystem can be protected and nursed back to life. Communities across the world are already collaborating regionally, nationally, and globally and innovative community led solutions are helping to tackle environmental, economic, and health and wellbeing challenges.

And as our communities throughout the world become more connected that ever, we can all join forces, share best practice, and make a huge positive impact to address the challenges we face.

Download this SDG aligned app - AWorld. Its FREE on Android and IOS devices.

Join our United Nations Association - Greater Lincolnshire project.

I have lived and worked in Lincolnshire for most of my life and for the last 30 years have been involved in education. I gained my PGCE as my own children started school and have been a teacher, primary headteacher and school improvement adviser before becoming an independent consultant.

I have always enjoyed learning new things myself and have endeavoured to promote a love of learning through a broad curriculum. I believe it is important that children grow up understanding their local and wider community, developing an awareness of how they can participate and contribute through their future work and lifestyle.

In my spare time, among other things, I am an avid reader and keen golfer. I also enjoy creative projects and (most importantly!) being a grandparent.

Education:

• BA (Hons) English Lit/Anthroplogy, Oxford Brookes University
• PGCE, Hull University
• NPQH, DfE
• NPQSI, Liverpool Hope University

I was brought up in the North of England in a mining town close to Beamish Museum. This kindled my interest in the environment and outdoor activities. After training as a research chemist specialising in analytical techniques for new organometallic compounds at Newcastle and Durham Universities, I decided to follow a career in teaching, focusing on post-16 education in Sixth Form Colleges. I was able to contribute to national projects with the purpose of changing the way in which Science is taught and assessed. Later, as a Deputy Principal at Franklin College, Grimsby, I was able to engage in national post-16 curriculum developments to enable young people to appreciate wider perspectives and to make connections.

Since retirement from Franklin College, I have been able to sample new cultures through hosting international students from Vietnam, China, South Korea and Japan. Recently we have been fortunate in becoming foster parents for an Afghani unaccompanied asylum-seeking child.

My interests include mountaineering and the outdoors in general, alongside exploring and learning from other cultures.

Janice spent over 30 years running a leading UK farming practice consisting of over 10,000 acres of owned and rented land. Agricultural activity included working with arable crops for industrial uses such as slip agents and mould release lubricants including exporting these products to the Middle East. The phrase exporting 'oil to the Arab nations' was used in promotional material for this highly unusual activity at the time. Work also took place with Airbus to develop fibre composites from hemp fibre for aviation use.

Crops were also grown for food, and used to facilitate running a successful food company from organic hemp, the products of which were placed in and marketed by several large UK supermarkets and retail outlets.

Production of very high grade seed stocks was undertaken up to pre-breeders seed level and including being declared overall champion at the Toronto World Fair.

Latterly producing crops for the pharmaceutical industry for exploratory research of such topics as the alleviation of Multiple Sclerosis including repairing myelin in the human nerve sheath and addressing degenerative nerve tissue disease and skin healing properties.

Also reporting on various global bio-economy conferences, seminars and meetings for the United Nations Foundation including running a mandated United Nations Foundation Organisation - The Global Biotechnology Transfer Foundation, which has been instrumental in bringing research and knowledge transfer to partners around the globe including the 55 countries of the African Union and its Development Agency.

Chief Financial Officer and founding Trustee for both the Aquaculture without Frontiers and Milling 4 Life registered charities.

Founding member of The National Aquaculture Centre based at the Europarc Grimsby including focussing on next steps for the seafood industry, supply security and waste.

Working on various EU projects such as Wind Africa, BOVA Network (vector borne diseases) together with the US based Gene Drive and ISABEL (setting up small scale community AD plants) and GOLF (looking at global sustainable food supplies/security, and logistics).

Director and founder of AquaTainer.

John Firth

John has nearly 30 years’ experience in assessing the impacts of climate change, overlapping with 28 years in the water industry (Severn Trent Water 1976-2004). He was the co-founder and CEO of Acclimatise (2004-2020) which was acquired by Willis Towers Watson (WTW) in November 2020. From 2020-2023 he was a Senior Director at WTW.  John is passionate about the need to transition from fossil fuels, to adapt to a changing climate and build resilience to the systemic risks we face. He has spoken extensively at conferences around the world and engaged with Presidents, Prime Ministers, CEOs, business leaders, scientists, administrators and activists translating science into knowledge.

Honorary Professor: University of Liverpool Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Professional experience:

During his time at Acclimatise, the company worked on nearly 500 projects, of which just over 100 involved John either as a team member or project director. His recent years at WTW have been spent as an internal advisor on climate change.

He has a particular interest in the impacts of climate change on the business and financial services sectors (risks and opportunities); and has been actively engaged on work related to the ‘Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures’ (TCFD). He has worked extensively on country National Adaptation Plans (25 countries) developing the linkages between non-state actors, government and politicians to create shared agendas for policy reform and action. His interests include cross-boundary and cross-sector impacts, WASH, legal liability, nature-based solutions, disclosure of information to investors, the mobilisation of private-sector finance, climate funding in developing countries, loss and damage, and the integration of adaptation/resilience into national policy making. He has an interest in the value of earth observation data to assess climate risk and opportunities to adapt and build resilience and was invited by the US Govt to support its contribution to the GEO XIV Plenary in Washington DC in 2017.

His earlier professional years were spent in strategic planning in flood management, drought management, water resource management, public water supply and treatment, public sewerage and treatment.

Clients:

Commercial and international development banks, governments and their agencies, insurers, investors, companies, development partners, cities, NGOs and international organisations.

Countries worked in:

John has worked on projects in over 30 countries in Europe, Africa, North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean, the Middle East, Australia, South and South-East Asia

Advisory role:

John has been an active participant in many advisory groups including the EU Taxonomy working group, the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, the Climate Bonds Initiative, Group of Earth Observations (member of the Climate Change Working Group), and was a founder member and Chair of the Netherlands Government’s Global Centre of Excellence on Climate Adaptation Implementation Group (which became the Global Center on Adaptation).

Professional memberships:

John is a Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society, and the Royal Geographical Society. He is a Member of the American Meteorological Society and the Royal Town Planning Institute.

Education:

BSc (Hons) Urban Land Economics, Postgraduate Diploma Urban and Regional Planning, Certificate International Development Studies