Heidi Sevestre
Glaciologist
Dr. Heïdi Sevestre is a glaciologist and member of The Explorers Club. In 2022, she was awarded the Shackleton Medal for her efforts in protecting polar regions. Heïdi teaches glaciology to students at the University Centre in Svalbard, located in the Arctic, and regularly leads scientific expeditions to polar and high mountain regions. Through her work, she aims to make scientific knowledge more accessible and to motivate action to combat the climate crisis.
Cesy Leonard
Performance Artist, Founder of "Radical Daughters"
Cesy Leonard Leonard is an action artist and founder of Radikale Töchter (meaning radical daughters), with a particular interest in the political empowerment of young people at the intersection of art and reality. She was part of the Center for Political Beauty until 2019. People are inspired to come into action, to stand up for democracy, freedom, equality, brotherhood and sisterhood. Cesy Leonard lives in Berlin.
Smilla Buschbom & Levi Resch
Climate Claimants, Students
Smilla Buschbom (15) and Levi Resch (17) brought a climate lawsuit against the federal government before the Constitutional Court in February 2023 together with ten other young people and the lawyer Michaela Krömer. The lawsuit, which was supported by Fridays for Future, demands that children's rights be respected when it comes to climate protection.
René Anour
Veterinary, Expert „Conservation Medicine“
Dr. René Anour studied veterinary medicine there and specialized in the young science of "Conservation Medicine", which studies the interplay of human, animal and ecosystem health. During his doctorate, he started research in pathophysiology, with a research fellowship taking him to the Harvard Medical School. His first nonfiction book, "The Noah's Ark Principle," explains how special adaptations in the animal world might defeat human disease.
Juma Xipaia
Indigenous Activist, Chief of a Xipaian Village
Juma Xipaia is one of the leaders of the indigenous Xipaya people, mother, activist and medical student. She lives in the area of the Rio Xingu, one of the great tributaries of the Amazon. At the age of 24, she became the first woman chief of her community. She led a peaceful life until the construction of the Belo Monte mega-dam began in 2011. When she discovered the corruption related to the construction of the dam 6 years later, she became a victim of attacks and death threats. She had to flee Brazil with her daughter, spent a year in Switzerland and was the first Xipaya representative to speak at the United Nations. Back in Brazil, she founded the Instituto Juma, with which she campaigns for the autonomy of indigenous peoples, gender equality and against corruption.
| Instituto juma |
Philipp Blom
Philosopher, Historian, Bestselling Author
Philipp Blom is a philosopher and historian. He studied in Vienna and Oxford. In addition to his writing, he hosts the program "Punkt Eins" on the culture channel Ö1, makes films such as the award-winning documentary series "The Staggering Continent," and works as a curator. His books combine historical research and philosophical explorations. Against the backdrop of current upheavals such as global warming and digitalization, he is also increasingly turning to contemporary and future issues in his book "Was auf dem Spiel steht." Several of Philipp Blom's books are bestsellers. His works have been translated into 16 languages and have won numerous awards.
| philippblom.eu |
Thomas Waitz
Member of the EU Parliament, Organic Farmer
Thomas Waitz is a passionate organic farmer, beekeeper, forester and Member of the EU Parliament. He grew up in humble circumstances in Vienna and now lives on a mountain farm in southern Styria with his partner, where he looks after more than 70 bee colonies. As an ardent activist, he has always been interested in European politics. He has also been co-chair of the European Green Party since 2019. His topics range from climate protection and the agricultural turnaround to the protection of our forests, rivers and animals, as well as EU foreign and peace policies. With full force, he fights for a green, socially just and progressive Europe.
| thomaswaitz.eu |
Katharina Wenty
Slam Poet
Katharina Wenty was born in Korneuburg in 1995 and is considered one of Austria's most successful slam poets, with numerous performances in and outside the German-speaking region. As a filmmaker, she has been part of several short film festivals as well as winner of the media literacy award, the zeitimpuls short film award, and many more. In 2018 she won the title of poetry slam national champion for Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland. In 2020 she founded Poetry slam'md - Verein für Bühnenkunst, Literatur und Jugendkultur (Association for Stage Art, Literature and Youth Culture), as whose chairwoman she organizes and moderates monthly poetry slams with an international focus in Mödling. Katharina lives, studies and works in Vienna.
Joanna Sustento
Climate Activist
Joanna Sustento is a climate activist. She comes from Tacloban, in the Philippines. In November 2013, she lost almost her entire family to the Supertaifun Yolanda – one of the strongest hurricanes since records began. Within a few hours, more than 10,000 people died and over 14 million became homeless. Since then, Joanna (Sustento) has traveled around the world, giving the climate crisis a face. She protested against oil drilling in the Arctic. She demands that the largest oil and gas companies be held criminally responsible. And she is part of LIVErary, a storytelling platform that tells the stories of the community and promotes climate justice.
Yasmo Hafedh
Rapper, Slam Poet and Author
Yasmo is a slam poet, writer and rapper. She says what she thinks and doesn’t mince her words. Her texts – with or without beats – are about feminism, empowerment and criticism of the system. In 2013 she was the first woman to win first place at the Austrian Slam Championships. Since 2011 she has released four albums (Keep it Realistic, Kein Platz für Zweifel, Yasmo & die Klangkantine and Prekariat & Karat), the last two as Yasmo & die Klangkantine. She also gives slam poetry workshops for young people and this year curated the Vienna Pop Festival together with Mira Lu Kovacs.
Richard Ladkani
Director, Cameraman
Richard Ladkani is a filmmaker. His work addresses the most pressing social and environmental issues of our time. “The Ivory Game” is an investigative documentary thriller about elephant poaching and the illegal ivory trade. Executive Producer was Leonardo DiCaprio. The documentary was nominated for an Academy Award in 2017 and received numerous awards. Ladkani’s latest production “Sea of Shadows” shows how organized crime in China and Mexico is destroying ecosystems and eradicating the Vaquita, the world’s smallest whale.
Eryn Wise
Grassroots Activist
Eryn Wise stems from the Jicarilla Apache Nation and Laguna Pueblo people. She works as a leader, or “mother” of sorts for the International Indigenous Youth Council (IIYC) and also partners with Honor the Earth, Sacred Stone Village, Seeding Sovereignty, and Indigenous Roots Cultural Arts Center to guide young organizers committed to movement work and defending the sacred. Working to ensure a future for generations to come, she employs the traditional teachings of her foremothers. Having been a leading figure in the defence of Standing Rock against the Dakota Access Pipeline, she is currently battling Enbridge’s proposed pipeline Line 3 and is also active on fossil fuel divestment.
| HONOR THE EARTH |
Richard van der Laken
Designer
Richard van der Laken is an acclaimed Dutch graphic designer working on and for the impact of design as a tool for social change. In the nineties he co-founded the design studio De Designpolitie and Gorilla, a designers collective that produces a daily, graphically simple current affairs column in one of Holland’s leading newspapers. Six years ago he also co-founded What Design Can Do (WDCD), an international design conference and publishing platform on the impact of design on society, now active in Amsterdam, São Paulo and soon also Mexico City. The 2018 WDCD Challenge will focus on climate change and will be awarded in May this year.
Ricken Patel
Founder of Avaaz, Executive Director
Ricken Patel, who studied at both Oxford and Harvard, is the CEO and Founder of Avaaz, a global civic movement for social change, which has rapidly grown since 2007 into the largest online activist community in the world, with over 45 million members in all 194 countries. Ricken was voted “Ultimate Gamechanger in Politics” by the Huffington Post, and named a Young Global Leader by the Davos World Economic Forum. He was also among Foreign Policy Magazine’s 100 Top Global Thinkers in 2012. He has lived and worked in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Afghanistan and Sudan, working on conflict resolution for various organizations including the International Crisis Group and the International Center for Transitional Justice.
| AVAAZ |
Werner Boote
Film Director
Werner Boote is a Viennese film director. Having studied at the university of Vienna and the film academy he worked as assistant director, including a spell under Bud Spencer. His film „Plastic Planet“, which was screened in over 80 countries, won the golden Romy in the category ‚best documentary film’ and is one of the most successful documentaries of all time. With his film, Boote has made a significant contribution to raising awareness for plastic pollution and also inspired the project the „Ocean Cleanup“, which is working on removing plastic from the world’s oceans on a major scale. Other important films such as „Population Boom“, „Everything under Control“ and „The Green Lie“, currently running in cinemas, continue to follow.
| PLASTIC PLANET | GREEN LIE |
Bunny McDiarmid
Executive Director Greenpeace
Together with Jennifer Morgan, Bunny became Executive Director of Greenpeace International on 4 April 2016. Bunny began her career as a volunteer on the Rainbow Warrior and then established a regional office in the Pacific working on climate, forests and oceans. She then coordinated the international nuclear and deep sea work for a number of years. After leaving Greenpeace in 1999, she ran a sail research vessel together with her partner in the Antarctic and sub Antarctic region for four years. She is a 30-year veteran of the organisation and has been an activist, ship’s crewmember and, most recently, the Executive Director of Greenpeace New Zealand a post she held for 10 years. Bunny is based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Sulak Sivaraksa
Scholar and Activist
Sulak is the founder and director of the Thai NGO “Sathirakoses-Nagapradeepa Foundation”, which fights at the grassroots, national, regional and international levels for freedom, human rights, traditional cultural integrity, social justice and environmental protection. In 1989 he established the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB), together with leading Buddhists including the 14th Dalai Lama, and Thich Nhat Hanh. He was chair of the Asian Cultural Forum on Development and has been a visiting professor at UC Berkeley, the University of Hawaii and Cornell. In 1995 he received the Rightlivelihood Award.
Andrea Crosta
Wildlife Protection Activist
Andrea studied natural sciences, business and innovation and psychology and has over 25 years of experience in conservation projects around the world. He is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Elephant Action League , a hybrid nonprofit organization that merges the worlds of intelligence, investigations and conservation in service of wildlife and the people who protect it. In 2014 he created, and now manages, WildLeaks, the world’s first wildlife crime whistleblower initiative –the WikiLeaks of wildlife protection – and in 2015 he helped found the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC) in The Netherlands where he serves on the board.
Alan Rusbridger
Author and Journalist
Born in Zambia, Alan Rusbridger graduated from the University of Cambridge with a degree in English in 1977. Before stepping down in 2015, Alan was editor of the Guardian for more than 20 years. During his editorship the paper has fought a number of high-profile battles over libel and press freedom, including cases involving Neil Hamilton, Jonathan Aitken, the Police Federation, Trafigura, freedom of information and Wikileaks. The paper was nominated newspaper of the year five times between 1996 and 2006. Rusbridger has been named editor of the year three times. In 2014 he was awarded the Right Livelihood Award. Since 2015 he is Principal of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.
| ARUSBRIDGER.COM |
Céline Cousteau
Filmmaker and Adventurer
As Executive Director of CauseCentric Productions Céline Cousteau directs and produces cause focused multi-media content. Céline is also Founder and President of The Céline Cousteau Film Fellowship non-profit, extending her family legacy to the next generation of storytellers. Céline has worked on over 18 documentaries as presenter and field producer. Her current major work, “Tribes on the Edge” tells the story of the plight of the indigenous tribes of the Vale do Javari reserve in the Brazilian Amazon. Céline holds a masters in International and Intercultural Management.
| CAUSE CENTRIC |
John Thackara
Designcritic and Author
A Brit who now lives in southern France, John Thackara studied philosophy, and trained as a journalist, before working as a book and magazine editor for ten years. He was the first director (1993—1999) of the Netherlands Design Institute in Amsterdam; he was program director of Designs of The Time, the social innovation biennial in England; he was commissioner in 2008 of France’s main design biennial, Cite du Design. John is a Senior Fellow of the Royal College of Art, in London, and a Fellow of Musashino Art University in Japan. He is also a member of the UK Parliament’s Standing Commission on Design and author of numerous books.
Sarah Wiener
TV Chef and Activist
After moving to Vienna in the 80ies, Sarah Wiener discovered her passion for cooking in the well-know restaurant of her father, the Exil. In 1990 she founded her business Sarah Wieners Tracking Catering. Everything began with catering for a film team. She soon expanded to cover weddings, vernisages, fashion shows and receptions. The one-woman business has since grown to include around 100 employees. Sarah also runs an organic restaurant in Berlin. She speaks publicly about the preservation of out natural resources and for ethical and ecological awareness for the food we eat and where it comes from. Sarah Wiener is one of Germany’s best known chefs, author of several cook books and founder and CEO of Sarah Wiener Ltd.
| SAVE OUR SOILS |
Robert Bullard
Dean, School of Public Affairs, Texas Southern University, Sociologist, "Father of Environmental Justice"
Since receiving his Ph.D. in sociology from Iowa State University in 1972, Dr. Robert Bullard has worked as professor or visiting professor at Texas Southern University, the University of Tennessee, the University of California at both Berkeley and Riverside and Clark-Atlanta University. He is the author of eighteen books and has testified as an expert witness and served as a technical advisor on hundreds of civil rights lawsuits and public hearings over the past three decades. In 2008, Newsweek named him one of 13 Environmental Leaders of the Century. And in 2014, the Sierra Club named its new Environmental Justice Award after Dr. Bullard.
Harald Frey
City Planner
Harald Frey works at the Institute for Transportation in the field of transport planning and traffic engineering at the Vienna University of Technology. He completed a Diploma program in Civil Engineering and holds a PhD in the field of transport and infrastructure planning. He also manages the working group “e-mobility” of the Austrian Transportation Research Society (ÖVG). His scientific output mainly focuses on feasibility studies, traffic concepts, transport modelling and research about the interdependencies between transport systems and city planning and is proofed by more than 200 publications. He is also member of several expert committees and is supporting communities and politicians in Transport Planning and Transport Policy.
Gudrun Pflüger
Large Carnivore Expert
Gudrun Pflüger studied biology in Salzburg before moving to Canada in 2000. Since then, two films have been produced documenting her work with wild wolves (‚Die Suche nach den Küstenwölfen’ und ‚Die Wolfsfrau’). In 2010 she walked the “way of the wolves” across Austria together with the German wildlife expert Peter Sürth, to assess the local situation. In 2012 she published her book “Wolfspirit” about her experiences with wolves. Today she lives in her home town Radstadt in the Austrian Alps with her son Conrad and works as a large carnivore expert for the European Wilderness Society.
Hans Herren
President of the Millenium Institute & Biovision
Agronomist and Enthomologist
Hans received the Alternative Nobel Prize (Rightlivelihood Award) in 2013 for his commitment to organic agriculture and world food issues.
In 1977, Herren received his doctorate from ETH Zurich with a thesis on biological crop protection. In 1995, he received the prestigious World Food Prize for his work in Africa, where he successfully helped prevent famine in the 1980s. Herren led the global agricultural sustainability survey IAASTD (International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science & Technology) published in 2008. Herren has won numerous awards for his work and is and has been a member of many prestigious organizations, including the Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers (CGIAR) Science Council.
Roland Düringer
Actor, Comedian and Environmental Activist
After completing his technical training, Roland Düringer decided to follow his calling and learned acting from Herwig Seeböck. Together with Alfred Dorfer, he was a member of the theater group Schlabarett in the 1980s. They made a name for themselves with the movie "Muttertag" and the TV series "MA2412". In 1992, Düringer started his solo career. With "Hinterholz 8" and "Die Benzinbrüder" he reached a wide audience. Since less is often more, however, he has recently withdrawn from the hustle and bustle, giving satirical lectures and tending to his garden.
| DUERINGER.AT |
Rajendra Pachauri
IPCC Chairman
Engineer and Economist
Pachauri is the Chairman of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) since 2002, was the CEO of the Energy & Resources Institute in New Delhi and was the Director of the Yale Climate and Energy Institute from 2009 to 2012. In 2007, he received the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the IPCC together with Al Gore. Pachauri is the author of 27 books and more than 130 articles. He received his doctorate in engineering and economics from the University of North Carolina in 1972. Pachauri holds 23 honorary doctorates and sits on the council of numerous organizations, such as the Clinton Global Initiative, UNESCO International Science Cooperation and the Prime Minister's Advisory Council on Climate Change in India.
| IPCC |
Faiza Oulahsen
Greenpeace Climate and Energy Campaigner
With a degree in political science (specializing in international relations), she started working at the Greenpeace international's climate office in Amsterdam as a climate and energy campaigner. At 26, she is one of the youngest activists in Greenpeace's history. In late summer 2013, she was arrested as a member of the Arctic 30 by Russian security forces when Faiza and her colleagues attempted to occupy a Gazprom oil rig. After just over 2 months of detention in Murmansk, Faiza and the other crew members were released back into freedom. The action of the Arctic 30 was, according to Faiza, "just the beginning!"
Polly Higgins
Founder of the Eradicating Ecocide Initiative
Lawyer and Environmental Activist
After spending several years working in London’s courts of law, Polly Higgins decided to dedicate her life to a single client: the planet. Ecologist named her one of the 10 visionary global thinkers of our time. She has since suggested an amendment of the Rome Statute to the United Nations, to include Ecocide as the 5th crime against peace alongside the four existing crimes (genocide, crimes against humanity, crimes of war and crimes of aggression). Her book “Eradicating Ecocide” won the 2011 People‘s Book Prize. As a student Polly Higgins spent a year in Austria and studied art and ecological philosophy of Friedensreich Hundertwasser.
Tim Jackson
Director of "RESOLVE", Author and
Professor for Sustainable Development, University of Surrey
Tim Jackson is professor for sustainable development and director of “RESOLVE”, a program for inter-disciplinary collaborations aiming to develop an understanding of the links between lifestyle, societal values and the environment. The focus of his research is on the relationship between economic growth, prosperity and the environment. His book “Prosperity without Growth – economics for a finite planet” has already found its´ way into the ecological canon. Tim Jackson advises several governments and international organizations on sustainable development. Alongside his academic work, Tim is also an acclaimed author and playwright (e.g. for BBC radio).
Bill McKibben
Founder of 250.org, Author and Activist
Bill McKibben is an author and environmentalist. His 1989 book The End of Nature is regarded as the first book for a general audience about climate change, and has appeared in 24 languages. He is founder of 350.org, the first planet-wide, grassroots climate change movement. He was the 2013 winner of the Gandhi Prize and the Thomas Merton Prize; Foreign Policy named him to their inaugural list of the world’s 100 most important global thinkers, and the Boston Globe said he was “probably America’s most important environmentalist.” As former staff writer for the New Yorker, he frequently writes for a wide variety of publications around the world, including the New York Review of Books, National Geographic, and Rolling Stone.
| 350.ORG |
Alexander Egit
CEO Greenpeace CEE, Political Scientist and Activist
Alexander Egit studied political science and journalism and has been involved in environmental politics since the 1980s, including several years with Global 2000. Since 1996 he has held leading positions in Greenpeace Austria, focusing on environmental campaigns. He was instrumental in the expansion of campaign work and the establishment of offices in Eastern Europe, as well as in international projects such as the establishment of Greenpeace in China. Since 2006 Alexander Egit has been managing director of the regional office "Greenpeace Central & Eastern Europe" with headquarters in Vienna.
Harald Katzenschläger
Founder of DreamAcademia, Coach and Mental Trainer
Harald is a mental trainer, coach and founder of DreamAcademia, an organization dedicated to helping as many people as possible to realize their dreams. Since 2007, the organization has been knitting together a high-profile, international network and connecting people's potential to help their dreams take the next step. Currently, he is working on the vision "Dreamicon Valley", a physical hub at the former Iron Curtain on the Austrian-Hungarian border, in the heart of Europe. The goal is to test and implement visions of the future and to offer people from all over the world the opportunity to work on their dreams outside of social barriers.
| DREAMACADEMIA |
Mike Edwards
Musician and Environmental Educator
The environmental educator and musician completed his habilitation on the topic of the security implications of climate change for Pacific island states, but has turned his back on academia. Instead, he raises awareness for climate change through numerous initiatives, and is passionate about playing yidakie (didgeridoo) in his band "Dijitalis." Edwards also advises companies on sustainable business practices based on traditional indigenous know-how through his agency "IndigeNouse". In his lectures he pleads for a return to nature.
| DIDJITALIS |
Bianca Jagger
President of the Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation, Human Rights- and Environmental Activist
The alternative Nobel Prize winner was born in Nicaragua. She became known as a model and actress. Since she was able to prevent the shooting of 40 refugees by a death squad from El Salvador in 1981, she has campaigned for human rights and environmental protection. She has worked closely with organizations such as Amnesty International, is a Goodwill Ambassador for the Council of Europe and was Chair of the World Future Council from 2007-2009. Currently she is fighting with the Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation for the rights of indigenous peoples in India and Latin America, and against the planned Belo Monte dam in Brazil.
| BIANCAJAGGER.ORG |
Stefan Rahmstorf
Oceanographer and Climate Scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
Stefan Rahmstorf is an oceanographer and one of Germany’s leading climate scientists. Since 1996 he has been working at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research studying the interaction of oceans and global warming. He is a member of the “German Advisory Council on Global Change” of the German government and one of the lead authors for the 4th IPCC report. Stefan Rahmstorf is also very active in the debate surrounding climate change. On the blog „RealClimate“, which he co-founded, issues on global warming are explained.
| REALCLIMATE.ORG |
Sarah Stamatiou & Matthias Reisinger
Social Entrepreneurs, Impact HUB Vienna
The Impact HUB Vienna was founded in May 2010. The 400 square metre loft in the Viennese 7th district offers space, inspiration and is a feeding-ground for individuals and companies for developing and releasing sustainable ideas and projects. The HUB was founded by the social entrepreneurs Alexis Eremia, Hinnerk Hansen, Matthias Reisinger and Sarah Stamatiou. Vienna is now also the seat of the international Impact HUB Network and the viennese team is very much involved in developing this global movement.
Pres. Mohamed Nasheed
Maldivian Democratic Party, Form. President of the Maldives
Mohamed Nasheed was president of the Maldives from 2008 to 2012. As founding member and leading candidate of the „Maldivian Democratic Party“ he won the first free elections in the Maldives for over 30 years. Following a coup in February 2012 he resigned as president. As a trained oceanographer, he continues to campaign against climate change. During his term as president, the Maldives were the first country globally to commit to becoming carbon neutral. Nasheed is also well known for a parliamentary session held underwater prior to the 2009 climate change conference in Copenhagen to demonstrate the imminent threat to his nation through sea-level rise.
| MDP.ORG |
Cameron Sinclair
Founder of Architecture for Humanity, Architect and Activist
Cameron Sinclair studied at Westminster and University College London. In his post-graduate work he focused on sustainable housing for New York’s homeless. In 1999, Cameron Sinclair and his partner Kate Stohr founded the organisation Architecture for Humanity and published the book “Design Like You Give A Damn: Architectural Responses to Humanitarian Crises”. 2006 Sinclair received the TED prize and founded the Open Architecture Network (OAN). OAN is the first global, open-source network that improves living conditions through innovative and sustainable design. AfH has a network of over 40.000 experts, 60 chapters in 25 countries and has been involved in the reconstruction efforts in Burma, Haiti and Pakistan.
| ARCHITECTURE FOR HUMANITY |
Yann Arthus-Bertrand
Photographer and Director
Yann Arthus-Bertrand, born in 1946 in Paris, studied biology. During his 3 year stay in Kenya, he discovered his passion for nature photography. As a hot air ballon pilot he discovered the earth from above, and documented his journey. In 1991 he founded Altitude, the first photo agency specializing in aerial photography. In 1999 he published his work in the exhibition and book entitled “The Earth from Above”. 2003 he started the project “6 Billion Others”, which aims to portray the world from a more human angle. This project was presented at the climate summit in 2009 in Copenhagen. In 2009 Arthus-Bertrand and his Organisation Good Planet also released the Film “HOME”, available free of charge on YouTube.
| GOODPLANET.ORG |
Ledum Mitee
President of MOSOP, Lawyer and Environmetntal Activist
Ledum Mitee is a studied lawyer from Nigeria. Since 1995 he is the head of the organization “Movement for the survival of Ogoni people” (MOSOP) and fights for the rights of roughly 500.000 Ogonis in the oil polluted Niger Delta.In 1994 Ken Saro Wiwa, Ledum Mitee and 15 Ogoni activists were arrested and held in custody for 9 months. Their trial took 8 months, in which Mitee was the council for the defense. He and 6 others were freed while Ken Saro Wiwa and the remaining 8 activists were hanged. Mitee is also head of the Niger Delta Technical Committee. He raises awareness about the plight of the Ogoni and the involvement of Shell in the oil catastrophe taking place in the Niger Delta.
| MOSOP.ORG |
Wolfgang Kromp
Institute of Security and Risk Studies, Physicist and Atomic Energy Expert
Wolfgang Kromp studied physics and mathematics and earned his doctorate at the University of Vienna in 1970. After stays at the Max-Planck-Institute in Germany and at the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, he was promoted to professor in 1984. Wolfgang Kromp is a member of the Forum for Atomic Energy and in the scientific commission of the Austrian Ministry of Defence. From 1995 to 2012, he was head of the Institute of Security and Risk Studies at the University of Vienna and later at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna.
| BOKU |
Andreas Graf von Bernstorff
Dukedom Bernstorff, Land Owner and Environmental Activist
Andreas Graf von Bernstorff studied forestry. In 1967 he took over the 6,400 hectar family farm and forest, situated on the infamous Gorleben salt deposit in Germany. The German government declared Gorleben to be an atomic waste storage facility by decree in the 1980’s. Since then Bernstorff has been fighting against the castor containers in the salt deposit. Together with Greenpeace, Bernstorff handed in a law suit against the atomic waste site demanding a stop to exploration and construction.
| BERNSTORFF.DE |
Vandana Shiva
Founder of Navdanya, Physicist, Author and Environmental Activist
Vandana Shiva was born 1952 in India. Shiva, currently based in Delhi, is author of over 300 papers in leading scientific and technical journals. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario, Canada, in 1978. In 1982, she founded the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, which led to the creation of Navdanya. Vandana Shiva has worked in the area of intellectual property rights, biodiversity, biotechnology, bioethics, genetic engineering and organic farming. Shiva has also been instrumental in the movement against the food and seed corporation Monsanto.
| NAVDANYA |
Alex Steffen
Founder of worldchanging.com, Author and Activist
Alex Steffen has been the Executive Editor of Worldchanging since he co-founded the organization in 2003. He also served as president of the board of Allied Arts, is co-founder of the Livable Communities Coalition and the Fuse Foundation, and has served on the boards or steering committees for numerous other NGOs and campaigns. Steffen also edited of Worldchanging’s wildly successful first book, Worldchanging: A User’s Guide for the 21st Century.
| WORLDCHANGING |
Alexander Likhotal
President of Green Cross International, Political Scientist and Advisor
Alexander Likhotal was born in Russia in 1950. He holds a PhD in Political Science and History from the Moscow Institute of International Relations. In 1991 he was appointed Deputy Spokesman and Adviser of President Gorbachev. Since 1995 he is the President and CEO of Geneva-based Green Cross International where he advises nations on the social, economic, and political future of an increasingly climate conscious world.
Gerald Ganssen
European Geosciences Union, Ocean Geologist and Paleo Climatologist
Gerald Ganssen currently holds the position as associate professor at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, working in the fields of marine geology, paleoceanography and paleoclimatology. Between 1973 and 1978 he studied at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum (Germany) and he received Doctor of Science at the Christian-Albrechts- University in Kiel (Germany) in 1982. Gerald Ganssen serves on several national and international scientific committees and programmes and was President of the European Geosciences Union from 2007 – 2009.
Hermann Scheer
President of Eurosolar, Author, Politician and Activist
Hermann Scheer studied economics and social sciences and was a German member of Parliament from 1980 until 2010. He was president of Eurosolar, president of the European Coaltition for renewable energy, and head of the World Council for renewable energy. Hermann Scheer was awarded the World Solar Prize, the World Prize for Renewable Energy and in 1999 he received the Rightlivelihood Award for his work. He was also voted the TIME-Magazine “Hero for the Green Century”.
| HERMANNSCHEER.DE |
Helga Kromp-Kolb
Climate Scientist, Centre of Global Change and Sustainability
Helga Kromp-Kolb worked as scientific assistant at the University of Vienna and habilitated in 1982 in environmental meteorology. Until 1995 she worked as a lecturer at the University of Vienna, from 1986 to 1995 she was head of the department of environmental meteorology and has worked as a university professor at the department of environmental meteorology at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences (BOKU) in Vienna since 1995. Since 2010 she is head of the Centre for Global Change and Sustainability, also at BOKU. In 2005 she was named Austrian scientist of the year.
| BOKU MET |
Greg Craven
Youtube Star, Author and Highschool Teacher
Greg Craven is a High-School teacher from Oregon who reached cult-status through his Youtube films. In his self-made films he explains, in a very plausable way, why we all need to become active in the fight against climate change immediately. He uses equally unorthodox methods when teaching at school.
| YOUTUBE CHANNEL |
Freda Meissner-Blau
Founder of the Austrian Green Party, Politician and Environmental Activist
The founder of the Austrian Green Party previously worked for UNESCO and was secretary of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Vienna. In the 1970’s, she became one of the most prominent figures in the anti-nuclear movement in Austria, which ended with a successful referendum against nuclear energy. After successfully campaigning against a planned hydroelectric power plant in the Danube floodplain in 1984, she ran for president in 1986, coming in third. Also in 1986, the newly founded Green Party gained 4.8% of the seats in their first general election campaign and joined the parliament.
Michael Braungart
Founder of Cradle-to-Cradle, Chemist and Author
In 1987 Michael Braungart founded the environmental consulting company, “Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency” in Hamburg. With is partner Bill McDonough he certifies companies all over the world according to the cradle-to-cradle principle. The aim is to create products in a way that, after use, all constituents can be reintroduced into either the ecological or technical cycles and no waste ensues.
| EPEA |
Hildegard Aichberger
CEO of WWF Austria and Environmental Activist
Hildegard Aichberger was born in Austria in 1972. After some time at the Technical University Vienna and the Vienna University of Economy and Business, she studied Land and Water Managment at the University of Natural Resouces and Life Sciences. Since 2005 she is CEO of the World Wide Fund for Nature (Austrian office). Her core topics include: animal protection, energy scarcity, climate change as well as resource use and distribution.
| WWF AUSTRIA |