Christopher Slaney is a freelance journalist and television news producer with thirty-five years experience, much of it in the Middle East and Africa. He started out as a television news cameraman when stations shot film which needed processing in a lab, editing was a skill involving scissors and glue, and getting stories on air when satellites were still a novelty often meant finding airline crew who would carry a spool of film to London or Paris. In 1990 he covered the release of Nelson Mandela from prison as a live transmission and thus began a new career producing live coverage of major news events. Notable credits include the handover of Hong Kong to Chinese rule, PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat returning to Gaza, US presidential elections and the funeral of Pope John Paul II. Since 1998 he has worked mainly for the Associated Press, the world's global news agency but still welcomes the chance to use a camera and was recently in northern Iraq for PBS fliming a report on the Yazidi and Kurdish communities.
Daniel Schaffer, 49, has been the CEO of the Foundation for Environmental Education since December 2013. Before taking up this role he managed for five years EcoOcean, an NGO focused on the Mediterranean marine and coastal environment. Prior to that, he has worked for many years as a research vessel and yacht captain combining his love for the sea and his passion for the environment. Daniel has experience working with youth both within the formal the non-formal education system and believes education to be a vital tool for positive change. He is a passionate sailor and has sailed and raced all around the world. Daniel holds a BA in Business Management and a Masters in Marine Civilizations studies. He resides with his wife and two young children just outside of Copenhagen.
Emmanuel Koro is a Johannesburg-based environmental journalist who has written extensively on environment and development issues in Africa. He has trained Southern African journalists on ESD, working with UNESCO. Additionally he has trained African journalists on Environment and Development Reporting working with the British Council, the Africa Resources Trust and the Netherlands-based Hilversum Television School. He holds a Rhodes University master’s degree in journalism and media studies, with a first class thesis pass.
Julie Saito is a Programme Specialist of Communication in the Section of Education for Sustainable Development at UNESCO’s Headquarters in Paris. She started her 20-year journalistic career as Television coordinator for Nippon Television in New York and NBC News in Tokyo, which brought her an Emmy Award in 1986 as Associate Producer of KNBC’s production “Ring of Fire,” a series of stories on earthquake preparedness in Japan. After receiving her M.S. in Journalism from the Columbia School of Journalism in New York, USA, she worked for Japanese daily, Asahi Shimbun, as staff writer for 16 years. She joined UNESCO in 2007 as attaché de Press for the Director-General. Ms. Saito was born in Tokyo and has lived many years abroad: Bangkok, Nairobi, New York, Lyon (France) and currently in Paris.
Gosia graduated university with a degree in environmental engineering, and has 18 years of experience working in environmental education. She has been implementing these ideas successfully in Poland for 12 years, engaging over 750 schools in that time. Gosia is an ecologist, educator, trainer, and initiator of many activities with schools and youth that have helped to enhance their roles in opinion formation and culture animation within their local communities. She is a co-author and implementer of the nationwide Schools for Sustainable Development Program and initiated and launched the international Eco-Schools Program and ‘Green Flag’ Certification System in Poland. Gosia is a founder and Executive Board member of Foundation of Active Places and People in Poland. Currently she is working for Foundation for Environmental Education in its head office in Denmark as the YRE International Director and project manager. She is developing a global programme to inspire youth from all around the world to actively participate in local development and increase their environmental awareness, knowledge and critical thinking.
Mona Zoghbi is a sustainable development consultant. She has conducted research, expert consultations, teachings and trainings with international organizations such as UNESCO and UNDP, as well as various universities, research institutes, and NGOs including in Lebanon, South Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, on climate change, sustainable development, and youth environmental education and leadership. She also worked as national coordinator of youth projects at UNESCO Office in Beirut Regional Bureau for Education in the Arab States and as a University Instructor on sustainability. Holder of a Master in Environmental Sciences and PhD in Sustainable Development.
Pedro is the producer, writer, and co-director of When They Awake, an award-winning feature film about Canada’s Indigenous music scene, and social, political, and environmental movement enveloping it. Before his leap into filmmaking, he was a journalist, senior editor, architecture critic, and the author of six travel books, and of two best-selling titles published in China about architecture and the politics of public space. Parallel to his creative pursuits, he spent years as a researcher and political advisor on migration, human security, identity, and border narratives, with organizations like the UN, the International Organization for Migration, the African Union’s Peace and Security Department, and several governments, a job that took him all over the world. Pedro’s work in film has been distinguished with over a dozen awards, nominations, and opening night honours. He is a member of the Directors Guild of Canada, and a fierce rugby player.
