2025 Featured Speakers
Net Zero Week 2025. All webinars are live and free-to-attend. Everyone welcome.
Rachael Owens
WEBINAR | Retrofit for Net Zero and Frameworks for Social Impact.
- Job Title: Co-Director
- Organisation:National Retrofit Hub
Rachael is an architect with experience in commercial and residential retrofit. At Buckley Gray Yeoman, she led sustainable and regenerative design strategies to reduce embodied carbon, cut operational energy, and enhance biodiversity and wellbeing. She sits on the NLA Retrofit and Conservation panel and is a WELL accredited professional. Named a 2021 RIBA Journal Rising Star, she has also campaigned on embodied carbon regulation. In 2023 she joined the RIBA Stirling Prize jury and in 2024, won AJ100 Sustainability Leader of the Year
George Stevens
WEBINAR | Retrofit for Net Zero and Frameworks for Social Impact.
- Job Title: Director of Communities
- Organisation:LHC Procurement Group
George is a values-driven leader with a strong background in strategy and transformation across the housing, heritage, and charity sectors. As Director of Communities at LHC Procurement Group, she leads on social value, people and culture, and organisational change; placing social and community benefit at the heart of public procurement. With career highlights including delivering the environmental management system at the National Trust, responsible for the development of LHCPG’s Social Value strategy, and holding a qualification in Strategic ESG Leadership, George brings a deep interest in how environmental and social data can support better decision-making, creating long-term value not just for organisations, but for the communities and places they serve. She is a passionate advocate for place-based impact, championing inclusive, measurable outcomes that improve lives and strengthen social equity.
Ben Lovell
WEBINAR | Roundtable: Why sustainability still drives value in an increasingly uncertain world.
- Job Title: Sustainability Coordinator
- Organisation:Beyondly
Ben is a Sustainability Coordinator at Beyondly, he holds a BSc in Environmental Science and is an Associate Member of IEMA. Within his work, Ben is passionate about exploring the intricacies of carbon footprints across supply chains and the influence of global politics shaping environmental strategies. Ben delivers services including ESOS, SECR, scope 1, 2, and 3 carbon footprint assessments for organisations across a diverse range of industries.
Liz Wood
WEBINAR | Roundtable: Why sustainability still drives value in an increasingly uncertain world.
- Job Title: Sustainability Manager & Principal Consultant
- Organisation:Beyondly
A Chartered member of the Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment, as well as sitting on their Climate Change Steering Group. Liz has over 10 years' experience gained through academic research and the delivery of carbon and sustainability support to customers in a multiple industry sectors. Liz specialises in carbon and energy measurement and reduction at organisational, supply chain and product level.
Susanna Jackson
WEBINAR | Roundtable: Why sustainability still drives value in an increasingly uncertain world.
- Job Title: Lead Consultant – Sustainability & ESG
- Organisation:Beyondly
Susanna has a Masters in Climate Change and Environmental Policy. Susanna is a Full member of IEMA and a Chartered Environmentalist, trained B Corp Consultant and the Lead Consultant for Sustainability and ESG at Beyondly. A true advocate for the importance of sustainability and environmental protection and conservation, Susanna delivers services including ESOS, SECR, scope 1, 2, and 3 carbon footprint assessments, Net Zero and science-based target setting, ESG, and B Corp consultancy for hundreds of organisations across a wide range of industries.
Sean Coleman
WEBINAR | Roundtable: Why sustainability still drives value in an increasingly uncertain world.
- Job Title: Sustainability Consultant – Carbon & Energy
- Organisation:Beyondly
Sean is a Sustainability Consultant at Beyondly, he holds a BSc in Geography and is an associate member of IEMA and the EI. Sean enjoy's assisting his clients with their sustainability goals to help ensure a healthier future for both the environment and generations to come.
Chris Smith
WEBINAR | Roundtable: Why sustainability still drives value in an increasingly uncertain world.
- Job Title: Lead Consultant – Resource Efficiency & Circularity
- Organisation:Beyondly
As a Chartered Waste & Resource Manager and Lead Consultant in Resource Efficiency and Circularity at Beyondly, Chris is focused on finding solutions to waste and resource challenges. Combining business management with Environmental Engineering and Data Analysis. Chris brings curiosity and deep expertise to help businesses, cities, and communities of all sizes reduce environmental impact by doing more with less, engaging with circular systems, and turning waste into resource.
Dr. Alina Kadyrova
WEBINAR | Community Engagement and Net Zero.
- Job Title: Postdoctoral Research Associate
- Organisation:The Open University Business School
Dr. Alina Kadyrova is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at The Open University Business School, working on the Horizon Europe ENCASE project (A European Network of Research Infrastructures for CO2 Transport and Injection), which aims to improve the social integration of selected European CCUS research infrastructures. Her research lies on the intersection of social innovation, territorial development, and sustainability transitions, researching the relationships between contextual dynamics and the pathways towards the impact of social innovation. Alina holds a PhD in Science, Technology and Innovation Policy from Manchester Institute of Innovation Research (MIOIR), Alliance Manchester Business School, the University of Manchester.
Dr. Alison Fox
WEBINAR | Community Engagement and Net Zero.
- Job Title: Senior Lecturer in Education - Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language and Sport
- Organisation:The Open University
Dr Alison Fox is also a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Originally trained as an environmental scientist and working in environmental consultancy, Alison turned to a career in education, focusing in the secondary and tertiary sector on embedding education for sustainability within and across the curriculum. As Alison moved into higher education research and teaching, she has retained a commitment to championing education for sustainable development in the postgraduate curriculum, through open courses and within her work in the Human Research Ethics Committee in providing guidance and encouragement for researchers to include environmental sustainability into their research plans and conduct. This contributes to The Open University's commitment as a recent signatory to the Concordat for Environmental Sustainability in Research and Innovation. Alison is currently leading an international, interdisciplinary and intergenerational project across Scotland, Kenya and Nigeria which is facilitating children and young people in taking a lead through art for action - artivism - in calling policymakers and business leaders to account and demanding to be part of the decision-making for future climate action.
Samanthi Theminimulle
WEBINAR | Community Engagement and Net Zero.
- Job Title: Senior Researcher
- Organisation:The Young Foundation
Samanthi Theminimulle is a Senior Researcher at the Young Foundation. She works across a range of research projects for the Institute for Community Studies and The Young Foundation. She is motivated by making research more accessible and equitable, and loves research the most when it is used to bring communities together to co-create the change they want to see happen and enable more distributed decision-making. Before joining the Institute for Community Studies in February 2022, Samanthi worked at the RSA as a researcher, focused on more participatory approaches to research on housing, placemaking and community wellbeing, and as a peer researcher for Toynbee Hall on their work to improve the housing sector for young people in London. Samanthi is a facilitator with Civic Square and Enrol Yourself on their peer-led work to reimagine more equitable and regenerative neighbourhoods. She is also a trustee for RUSS Lewisham, a community land trust, building affordable housing in the place she grew up. Aside from that, you can find her covered in clay on her mission to become a self-taught ceramicist.
Dr Aqueel Imtiaz Wahga
WEBINAR | Community Engagement and Net Zero.
- Job Title: Director, Centre for Social and Sustainable Enterprise
- Organisation:The Open University
Dr. Aqueel Wahga is Senior Lecturer in Management and Director at the Center for Social and Sustainable Enterprise (CSSE) at The Open University. As an entrepreneurship and SME development focused researcher, Dr Wahga investigates the growth dynamics and environmentally responsible behaviour of firms. He also researches the enterprise development initiatives focused on institutionalising entrepreneurship. In these areas, he engages with a range of themes including sustainability, enterprise development, enterprise policy, innovation and dynamic capabilities of firms. Moreover, with a postgraduate degree in Economics, he also likes to investigate socio-economic and political issues. Dr. Wahga supervises PhD and Master level students in all these areas, while also providing capacity building trainings to diverse stakeholders.
Dr. Francesca Calo
WEBINAR | Community Engagement and Net Zero.
- Job Title: Senior Lecturer in Management at the Department of Public Leadership & Social Enterprise
- Organisation:The Open University
Dr. Francesca Calo (PhD) is a Senior Lecturer in Management at the Department of Public Leadership & Social Enterprise, where she brings academic experience from posts held in the UK and Italy. She is also the OU investigator for the Horizon Europe funded project ENCASE where she is exploring co-creation projects in relation to green transition. Dr Calo research interests include social enterprise and third sector organisation in health and social care, impact evaluation methods and social innovation. Some of the topics she is currently researching are: cocreation and social innovation among different actors for achieving green transition; third sector as a facilitator of integration of ethnic minorities, including migrants and refugees; methods for the evaluation of social innovation
John Lang
WEBINAR | Invisible Hands: How Net Zero Plans Are Rewriting Trade Rules.
- Job Title: Lead
- Organisation:The Net Zero Tracker
John specialises in analysing and communicating climate science and policy for the Net Zero Tracker and the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit. A New Zealand-qualified lawyer, he also runs the blog e-nvironmentalist, the consultancy Consult Climate, and Kiwis in Climate. He holds an LLM from UCL and degrees in history and law from Otago.
Chris Ferguson
WEBINAR | Building the Future: Addressing Skills Shortages and Certification Challenges in Construction.
- Job Title: Group Technical Manager
- Organisation:LHC Procurement Group
With over 30 years of experience in the built environment and a decade in the education sector, Chris has cultivated a diverse career that bridges both construction and education. He is a strong advocate for Green Technology and the transition to Net Zero and is instrumental in developing and teaching energy-efficiency courses. His extensive experience in construction has not only shaped his expertise, but his qualifications including Domestic Energy Assessor and Retrofit Coordinator, enable him to consult and educate contributing to the development and implementation of frameworks that advance sustainability goals.
Steve Willis
WEBINAR | Can a good story help us envision a better future?
Steve Willis is an engineer and innovator with decades of experience providing solutions to environmental problems for large scale industries. He is also the initiator of the No More Fairy Tales climate fiction anthology produced for COP27. Steve continues to work on large scale climate solutions, including a CO2 sequestration mineralisation process which can be deployed at the million tonne scale.
Genevieve Hilton
WEBINAR | Can a good story help us envision a better future?
Genevieve Hilton (pen name: Jan Lee) is an award-winning freelance environmental journalist and author. Prior to devoting herself full-time to writing, she worked in corporate affairs and sustainability in the Asia Pacific region from 1994 to 2024. There, she led ESG and communications in Asia Pacific for Lenovo, as well as Corporate Citizenship and External Communications Asia Pacific for BASF.
Richard Carr
WEBINAR | Rail Decarbonisation Delivery Challenge.
- Job Title: Technical and Innovation Director
- Organisation:Railway Industry Association
As Technical & Innovation Director at the Railway Industry Association (RIA), Richard’s role focuses on representing members interests in the important areas of technical strategy, innovation, research, safety and technical standards. He is also responsible for the coordination of RIA’s Nations & Regions network. Richard has over 20 years of railway industry experience, as a consultant and rail business owner. Richard’s career has been focused in technical engineering businesses where design and innovation have played a leading role.
David Clarke
WEBINAR | Rail Decarbonisation Delivery Challenge.
- Job Title: Senior Technical Advisor
- Organisation:Railway Industry Association
Robert Hay
WEBINAR | Rail Decarbonisation Delivery Challenge.
- Job Title: Technical Advisor
- Organisation:Railway Industry Association
Rob is a mechanical engineer who has in his career worked on planes, trains, and automobiles. Although he once managed a diesel engine manufacturing plant, since joining RIA he has been very interested in how the railway could transition away from diesel traction.
Jacqueline Castle
WEBINAR | Destination Zero: Aviation’s technology journey to 2050.
- Job Title: Chief Technology Officer
- Organisation:Aerospace Technology Institute
Jackie joined the ATI in June 2023, after more than 25 years in the aerospace industry at Airbus most recently as the UK Chief Engineer for the Airbus A320 family, with responsibility for wings, landing gear and fuel system. Jackie is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the Royal Aeronautical Society.
David Debney
WEBINAR | Destination Zero: Aviation’s technology journey to 2050.
- Job Title: Head of Technology – Whole Aircraft
- Organisation:Aerospace Technology Institute
Dave is responsible for whole aircraft technology assessment at the ATI and helped to develop the UK’s Future Flight Challenge. Dave was part of the ATI’s FlyZero project leadership team as a chief engineer. He previously worked at Rolls-Royce as Chief of Future Aircraft Concepts, where he was responsible for developing concept designs for hybrid propulsion systems on aircraft of all sizes.
Alex Hickson
WEBINAR | Destination Zero: Aviation’s technology journey to 2050.
- Job Title: Head of Technology - Structures, Manufacturing and Materials
- Organisation:Aerospace Technology Institute
Alex joined the ATI in 2019, bringing experience from across various industries including aerospace, automotive, motorsport, wind energy and space. He has also worked across a breadth of companies, from start-ups and SMEs to blue chip companies including Lockheed Martin and GKN Aerospace.
Tom Halhead
WEBINAR | Destination Zero: Aviation’s technology journey to 2050.
- Job Title: Head of Technology – Advanced Systems and Propulsion
- Organisation:Aerospace Technology Institute
Tom has over 20-years’ experience in power system design, structural analysis and heat transfer with the bulk of his early career spent working on Civil and Defence gas turbines at Rolls-Royce. Tom brings experience from Dyson and HiETA where he led the team through acquisitions into Meggitt Engine Systems then Parker Aerospace.
Professor Seamus Garvey
WEBINAR | GIMDES ... Generation Integrated Medium Duration Energy Storage.
- Job Title: Professor of Mechanical
- Organisation:University of Nottingham
Seamus Garvey is a Professor of Mechanical at the University of Nottingham and an expert in the roles that energy storage solutions will achieve in net zero energy systems. He has been passionately vocal over almost 20 years on the elucidation of how mechanical energy storage can and will play a major role in the future and he leads a Task under the IEA Technology Collaboration Program on Energy Storage focused on medium-duration solutions.
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