SARA PARKIN OBE ______

Summary Sara Parkin has been an independent campaigner, writer and broadcaster on environmental and sustainable development issues for nearly 40 years. After starting her working life as a nurse and ward sister in , she played a leading role in the UK and the development of Green Parties worldwide during the 1970s-80s. With colleagues she established Forum for the Future, growing the organization over the last decade to become the leading UK sustainable development charity, employing 70 people, and working in partnership with government and the private and public sector to accelerate practical change to a more sustainable way of life. She serves on the boards of the Natural Environment Research Council, and the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education, and, until 2006, The Environment Agency of England and Wales.

She is particularly interested in integrating sustainability ‘literacy’ into existing education and professional development offerings. In 2001 she was awarded an OBE for services to education and sustainable development and is currently writing a book on sustainability literate leadership.

Sara Parkin was born in Aberdeen and is married with two sons. Her home is on the Island of Islay, and her current working base is in London.

Current Roles  Founder Director and Trustee, Forum for the Future  Council Member, Natural Environment Research Council  Board Member, Leadership Foundation for Higher Education  Member, UK Research Council Science in Society Advisory Group  Member Science in Society Advisory Group, Living with Environmental Change Research Programme  Independent writer and campaigner  On partial sabbatical writing a book on sustainability literate leadership

Experience Skills overview As well as being ‘sustainability literate’ herself, Sara Parkin has considerable and varied experience of leadership, as a Ward Sister, in the Green Party, in Forum for the Future and on a number of boards of other organizations. She also teaches leadership for sustainability on the Masters course she designed for Forum for the Future. A confident all round communicator, she is also experienced in project design, management, report and fundraising application writing.

Forum for the Future Set up together with colleagues and Paul Ekins and launched publically in 1996, Forum for the Future works with over 100 partners in the private and public sector (including education and government), focusing on practical solutions to the implementation of sustainability in organizations as diverse as the Welsh Assembly Government, National Audit Office, professional bodies, Sector Skills Councils, ConocoPhillips and Tesco, . Amongst other things, Sara Parkin:  designed and set up the (ongoing) Forum’s Leadership for Sustainable Development Masters, a pioneering experiential learning model, now in its 12th year with graduates in senior positions in government, business and community organizations – a significant number having set up their own enterprises. Sara Parkin teaches on the strands on sustainable development and leadership.  pioneered the (ongoing) Engineers of the 21st Century initiative, which has helped to drive change through the profession, including a landmark change to professional standards  designed and completed major projects like the Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability; (for DfES) the Sustainability Integration Group (of bodies that fund, regulate

SP Biographical CV update January 09 1 and run the post school education sector); an applied sustainability module for MBAs at London Business School.  overseen the growth of the organization and the implementation of the necessary governance and operational systems until the appointment of a dedicated Director of Resources, and (with co-founders) secured the leadership succession by appointing a CEO.

Independent Writes and lectures to audiences ranging from community groups to military leaders, and advises many organizations. Sara has written four books - mostly on green politics – and is currently engaged on a fifth, on sustainability literate leadership to be published by Earthscan in 2009.

Green Politics Influenced by the ‘limits to growth’ debate Sara Parkin was an early participant in groups like Friends of the Earth and Population Concern before migrating to what became the Green Party. National roles included International Liaison Secretary, Chair of Executive, speaker, and manifesto writer. She played a leading role in the party’s 15% poll in the 1989 European elections which brought a high media profile. From 1985 to 1990 she was co-secretary of the European Greens, playing a significant role in the development of Green Parties in Europe and worldwide, including support for the many environment groups behind the democratic revolution in East Europe. She has had no party political affiliations since 1992.

Nursing Sara Parkin started her working life as a prize winning nurse and ward sister in Edinburgh and then Yorkshire. As well as holding posts in hospitals, she worked in the Nursing Research Centre of Edinburgh University, acted as a tutor, and was a founding Board member of the new (and then controversial) Brook Advisory service for young people. She has taught relationship skills to a range of groups – including nuns, young offenders, Muslim women.

Public Appointments 2008 - UK Research Councils Science in Society Advisory Panel 2003- Leadership Foundation for Higher Education, Board Member 2003 - Natural Environment Research Council, Council Member 2000 – 2006 Environment Agency of England & Wales, Board Member

Voluntary Appointments Current St Andrews Prize, Trustee Civil Engineering for Sustainability Editorial Panel, Member Trustee, Optimum Population Trust Past (includes) 21st Century Science, Advisory Committee Member Friends of the Earth, Trustee Groundwork Foundation, Trustee New Economics Foundation, Trustee Honours 2006 Society for the Environment, Honorary Fellow 2002 Institute of Energy, Companion 2001 OBE for services to education and sustainable development 1996 Institution of Civil Engineers, Companion Various Nine Honorary degrees

Contact Details Forum for the Future (registered Charity number 1040519 19-23 Ironmonger Row London EC1V 3 QN Tel: 020 7324 3676 Fax: 020 7324 3697 Mob: 07801827878 E: [email protected] (private address) Web: www.forumforthefuture.org.uk

SP Biographical CV update January 09 2