Gavin Slater

Head of Sustainability
Glasgow City Council

Gavin Slater worked in a variety of environmental consultancies until 2009, when he joined Glasgow City Council. In March 2020 Gavin was appointed as the Head of Sustainability at the Glasgow City Council. In his previous role, Gavin served as the City Energy & Carbon Manager for seven years, where he was responsible for delivering the councils carbon management strategy and developing a business case for an Energy Services Company for Glasgow whilst ensuring Glasgow City Council met its Sustainable Glasgow carbon reduction targets. In his role as Project Lead for the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) Future Cities project, Gavin was responsible for ensuring the delivery of the Energy Efficiency demonstrator projects that form part of the TSB Future Cities initiative: a public-private partnership that combined expertise and technology to enhance daily life in the City of Glasgow. In addition, Gavin is the Chief Responsible Officer for the Glasgow component of the EU Horizon 2020 RUGGEDISED project, a Smart Cities and Communities project design to showcase innovation in sustainable living in cities. Gavin holds a BSc (Hons) in Environmental Science & Environmental Management from Strathclyde University in Glasgow.

Dr Paul Toyne

Practice Leader, Sustainability
Grimshaw Architects

Dr Paul Toyne leads the global architecture and design practice Grimshaw on sustainability, overseeing their goals of net zero carbon ready designs by 2025 and truly sustainable and regenerative designs by 2030.

Paul has a diverse background having worked all over the world as an environmental campaigner, conservationist - with WWF - and sustainable built environment specialist. Within property and construction, he has held Group Sustainability and Environment Director roles at WSP and Balfour Beatty, and Group Head of Environment and Sustainability at Bovis Lendlease. Paul’s project experience covers all elements of the built environment, from flagship buildings/developments to infrastructure.

He is a London Sustainable Development Commissioner appointed by the Mayor Boris Johnson in 2010. Paul has help shape London’s route map for a circular economy. He is chair of the Commission’s working group on Quality of Life and UN SDG reporting for the capital.

Paul is a member of the UK’s Green Construction Board’s infrastructure working group. He was chair of Constructing Excellence’s Sustainability group (2010-2018) and a policy commissioner for the University of Birmingham’s enquiry into the Future of Urban Living.

Paul is a non-executive director and has been an independent adviser to businesses including Volvo, Polypipe, Anglian Water, Skanska and Cory Riverside Energy, as well as charities (CIFF) and public sector bodies.

Paul has a PhD from Imperial College, is a Fellow of IEMA, and has a butterfly he discovered named after him.

Andrea Charlson

Built Environment Lead
ReLondon

I am pioneering the transition to a low carbon circular economy in London, with a particular focus on the built environment sector. I am leasing the London Cluster of the Horizon 2020-funded CIRCuIT project which is aiming to accelerate the uptake in circular construction practices across Europe.

Rafe Bertram

Sustainability Facilitator
Meridian Water

Rafe is passionate about design that makes a difference to the world’s most pressing issues and collaborates with all stakeholders, community, industry and specialists to create a better environment for us all.

 

His role at Meridian Water and the London Borough of Enfield is an in-house Sustainability Facilitator – helping embed climate action and sustainable strategies into all projects, workstreams and activities.

 

Meridian Water is a major £6bn, 20-year London regeneration programme led by Enfield Council, bringing 10,000 homes and thousands of jobs to Enfield, north London, next door to the beautiful Lee Valley Regional Park. The Environmental Sustainability Strategy is a roadmap for a zero-carbon development by 2030 and includes targets on embodied energy, materials re-use and percentage accessible green spaces.

 

He is also a Public Practice, a founding contributor to InnerPlanet, and previously a partner Foster+Partners.

Always wanting to see issues with a wide perspective, he’s fascinated by future studies, climate positive design, circular economy, regenerative leadership, doughnut economics, app development and the innovation process.

Katharine Marsden

Development Manager (Public Spaces), Placemaking Team
Grosvenor Britain & Ireland

Katharine has worked at Grosvenor Britain & Ireland since the start of 2019. She assisted in setting Grosvenor’s 2030-2050 environmental goals, is partnering with London Design Festival to deliver accessible public art and is delivering green infrastructure projects across the London estate. Katharine is working on multiple projects that are public & private partnership led, and strongly advocates for community led design to improve the public realm and create a better quality of life. Katharine is a Chartered Surveyor (MRICS) and a Practitioner IEMA member. Her academic work has been published in ‘Sustainable Building Design: Principles & Practice’.