The Participants of the Climate Train

The quotes in italics are the reasons why people wanted to come on the Climate Train, they are taken from responses to a questionnaire. devised by Richard Scrase and Yuri Doublianski to and sent out to participants via email after the journey

Ben Matthews Norwich
Researcher in Atmosphere-Ocean CO2 flux at the University of East Anglia, as part of the European Study of Carbon in the Ocean Biosphere and Atmosphere. He also attended COP 2 in Geneva as representative of the Global Commons Institute and the AGBM in Bonn last July as a member of the SGR National Co-Ordinating Committee.

Sean Hughes York
Physics graduate from York University, attended COP 1 in Berlin, and took part in many actions as part of the alternative ‘Greenhouse Gathering’ organised by ASEED Europe.

Margaret Charnley Norwich
Studying for a degree in Environmental Science at UEA. She was also the Student Union Environmental Officer for one year, and worked extensively in trying to improve energy efficiency in University residences and buildings.

I wanted to create contacts and networks of campaigners and students, and to make an impact as part of a group - not to the conference, but to people who read about us in the media. I also wanted to learn from other peoples experiences. Also I have a lot of knowledge on the issue, economics, politics, etc. and I was hoping to disentangle the mess in my brain - and I have!

Michelle Valentine Norwich
Studied European Politics and German at UEA. Attended the AGBM in Bonn last July, has been involved with many local organisations, working on a variety of issues, though her particular interest is in transport.

During my degree I had learnt a lot about environmental issues, although not about climate change specifically. I wanted very much to learn from the experience of the others on the journey, and to use that knowledge to better enable me to work on these issues in the future. I also very much wanted to travel by train, and to see China and Japan, not as a tourist but as a member of a group of people with shared goals on a mission to try and make a positive impact in the places we stopped and at the Convention.

Robert Kenyon London
A computer software developer with a special interest in telepresence and video conferencing.

I expected to meet people, learn things, help people, and just maybe sell the idea of using computers instead of travel.

Christina Korpernik-Steckel London
Studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at Oxford. She specialises in linking art to environmental, social and philosophical issues, has co-ordinated many art exhibitions and projects in the UK and in Eastern Europe.

Richard Schofield (Sco) London
Free lance cameraman, has worked extensively with Greenpeace on a variety of issues.

Richard Scrase Bath
Fundraising Director for the UK Green Party, also teaches Environmental Science

Dietrich Brockhagen Köln
A Physicist working with the European Commission (DGXI Global Environment) on aircraft emissions and their environmental impact. Attended COP 4 as a representative of Germanwatch.

I expected to get a clause inserted into the protocol adopted by the conference on the subject of air-transport - more specifically the allocation of international bunker fuel emissions to countries.

Britta Coy Munich
Worked for ASEED Europe to help organise the Greenhouse Gathering at COP1, now works for Greencity, a Munich based environmental campaigning group, her special interest is food security.

Susi Danner Munich
A librarian interested in resource and waste management.

Berthold van Maris Utrecht
Free lance journalist specialising in urban culture and ethnic relations in the Netherlands. Fluent speaker of Spanish and also a graphic designer. specialising in work with ecological organisations.

Peter Hundley Hamburg
Information manger of the International Network for Environmental Management (INEM), a network of national business associations for environmental management.

Wolfgang Pomrehn Kiel
A geophysicist and meteorologist, who has a special interest in nuclear issues. Also works as a freelance journalist and has attended COP 1 and 2.

Zuzanna Iskierka Warsaw
Works with Polish Ecological Club/Friends of the Earth Poland and local community groups on many issues, particularly waste management, urban development and renewable energy. strategy.

I expected to learn about climate change and the political process at ‘COP’, I expected to have a nice experience of meet people from different countries and backgrounds. I wanted us to be noticed at the conference, our message is different from the business lobby and should be presented as well Also I work on the local level, but it is decisions taken at the international level as well that effect us and so I wanted to know more about how these decisions are made I think it is important to try and influence them.

Oras Tynkkynen Tampere
Vice-chairperson of Friends of the Earth Finland, also a free-lance journalist. Green Party representative on the Tampere municipal council Undertook his civil service at the Service Center for Development Cooperation .

Ari Lampinen Jyvaskala
Researcher on nuclear physics and computer science. He specialises in solar energy technology, and works with the Finnish NGO Technology for Life (TFL), which organises engineering ethics courses in technical universities and colleges, lobbies the Finnish parliament for renewable energy and energy saving policies and promotes appropriate technology dissemination in developing countries.

Phillippe Pernstich Vienna
Phiiippe has an MSc in Environmental Sciences from the University of East Anglia, and he conducted his dissertation on "Contraction and Convergence". He attended COP II as a representative of the Global Commons Institute I.

My aim was getting a Kyoto mandate based on Contraction and Convergence.

Daniel Swartz Budapest
Works with the Zhaba collective as a facilitator. Organises and conducts workshops all over Europe with small and medium sized NGO"s advising them on networking, consensus decision making and effective meeting organisation.

My aim was to improve the effectiveness of the group and to help plan good actions in Kyoto

Irina Yevdokimova Kharkov
Professors assistant in the Department of Sociology in Kharkov University. She is interested in social structure, the link between social and scientific issues in Ukraine and Russia, he social impact of telecommunication systems on a modern city and social changes in post-communist nations.

Igor Borodavko Kiev
A Radiologist working on nuclear contamination issues in an independent laboratory in Kiev.

Aleksander Kuzmenko Kharkov
Director of Projects at Telecommunications and Partnership, a Ukrainian organisation founded by scientists and lecturers of Kharkov Institute and Kharkov State University. He is involved with developing telecommunications for NGO"s in Eastern Europe.

It was a possibility to visit COP-3, to have new contacts, to do an exciting trip.

Bianca-Maria Lotrean Sibiu
Student of Ecology at Sibiu University. Also in the process of establishing a regional environmental protection organisation.

For several reasons; I’m interested in Japanese culture, I wanted to attend and participate in the second event of the century and to get information in this field of climate change.

Cristina Parau Sibiu

Student of Ecology at Sibiu University. Also in the process of establishing a regional environmental protection organisation.

I did not know much about this problem and because I study ecology, I thought it would be exciting to travel to Japan, get information and make NGO contacts..

Marina Shvangiradze Tiblisi
Marina works with the Georgian UNFCCC Climate Change Programme, and is an expert in mitigation. and Joint Implementation strategy. She was attending the conference as an official delegate of her Government.

Ketevan Khundadze Tiblisi
Works with the organisation ‘Green Foundation in Georgia, an NGO which works on developing and promoting renewable energy technologies.

Dushka Peric Opatija
Works for Ekolosko Drustvo Zmergo based in Opatija. The organisation campaigns on a variety of environmental issues, for example ‘eco-consumerism’, genetic technology, traffic pollution and renewable energy.

Yuri Chirokov Novosibirsk
Works as en environmental engineer at ISAR Siberia. Previously he has been a Director of Public Relations for the Novosibirsk Regional Environmental Committee.

I hoped to get information on climate change, and on the procedures of decision making at the global level; Also I hoped to draw attention to the problems of Siberia, and to make contacts for my work..

Olga Chtanakova Gorno Altai
Chief Ecological Specialist of the government of the autonomous republic of Gorno-Altai. This is a mountainous region south of Novosibirsk.

I wanted to meet people from other countries, exchange views and opinions, see the world, learn how the international conferences are run, how they organised, etc. It was, in a way, a "consumer's " position.

Yuri Doublianski Novosibirsk
Geologist at the Institute of Petrography in Novosibirsk, specialises in nuclear issues.

I had at least three motives to go. First, I am a scientist and I newer took part before in NGO activities, even though the character of my job (geological disposal of nuclear wastes) is quite compatible with such activities. I was glad to make use of this trip to learn how the NGO system works and how effective it is. This would help me in making a decision - whether it is worthwhile to embark on such sort of activities myself. Second, it is my view that humanity is now facing the challenge of finding urgent fixes for global problems, which are, inherently, tremendously complex (examples being global climate change, the treatment of nuclear materials, etc.), and where the consequences of a possible erroneous decision might be very grave. That's why the decisions on the level of national governments as well as international bodies must be taken by informed decision makers. Hence, there is a desperate need for an "interface" between sound science and decision makers. I wanted to learn: whether such an interface exist in the climate change business, how efficient it is, to what extent scientific findings are taken into account when making political decisions. Third, I am involved in work on the permanent disposal of nuclear wastes in geological formations, so I wanted to acquire up-to-the-date information on this problem, and to learn which models are currently used for the forecasts of climate change. Naturally, I would use these data in my future professional activities, as well as in lectures for NGO activists.

Konstantin Dunaev Krasnoyarsk
Works at the Institute of Remote sensing in Krasnoyarsk, Also interested in developing new technologies for environmental monitoring. He studied Environmental Science at the Central European University, and he is particularly interested in the relation between forests and climate change.

I wanted very much to learn about the latest information on the science of climate change, to make professional and business contacts with people and organisations involved in climate studies and in the research and development of technologies mitigating the global environmental problems.

Tatiana Gogoleva Khanti-Mansiisk
Principle secretary of the Berezovo Regional Government in the Khanti-Massisk region of Western Siberia (the Basin of the river Ob). She is also a teacher and the president of an NGO called ‘Natives of Khanti-Mansiisk’ which works on promoting responsible development in the region.

Sergey Pashenko Novosibirsk
Researcher at the Institute of Chemical Kinetics in Novosibirsk, specialist in aerosols and particulate pollution in Siberia. He is also Vice President of the Siberian Ecological Foundation, an organisation working on environmental problems in Siberia, and recently director of the new "Siberian Scientists for Global Responsibility"

Hongzun Ren Beijing
A Professor in the Department of Water Resources and Water Environment in the Institute of Geography, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

Yu Sun Beijing
Has a Masters Degree Environmental Protection gained in the Netherlands, and now works as an environmental journalist on the English edition of the China Environment News. Has also worked with the National Environment Protection Agency in China on a variety of issues, including climate change.

Jingjie Yu Beijing
Assistant to Hongzun Ren in the Department of Water Resources and Water Environment in the Institute of Geography, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

Other Participants

Three other people joined us for part of the journey. David Maignon a journalist from Reseau Action Climat France (Climate Action Network France) who joined us from Brussles to Moscow, Lucia Muniz from Jovenes Ecologistas in Spain joined us as far as Warsaw, and Valeri Tynkhonov, a specialist in Russian railways travelled with us from Moscow to Novosibirsk in order to write an article about the Climate Train for a railway journal.

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