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About NESCAN & NESCAN Hub
Who is NESCAN?
Who is NESCAN Hub?
NESCAN Hub is the facilitating and support organisation for the network. NESCAN Hub was set up as a Community Interest Company (CIC) limited by Guarantee in August 2021.
Our VISION
A sustainable North East Scotland, with connected, empowered, active communities at its heart.
Our Aims
To support and develop community led climate action throughout Aberdeen City & Aberdeenshire.
To support communities to be a part of a just transition to a sustainable North East Scotland, contributing to local, regional and national policy setting & decision making.
Our Core Values
Sustainable
Ethical
Inclusive
Responsive
Our Core Methods
Connecting
Supporting
Learning
Collaborating
NESCAN's Ethical Engagement and Communication Framework
The Board and Hub members of NESCAN collaborated to develop the Ethical Framework of Engagement and Communication. This offers essential guidelines for membership selection, fundraising efforts, communication plans, information dissemination, and other key aspects for the NESCAN Hub team.
how can we help?
Support
Dedicated tailored support provided enabling you to take forward and develop your organisation, ideas, knowledge and projects, with access to the necessary funding to make them a reality.
Inspire
Be inspired by amazing local community projects and come along to events to see the possibilities to create a thriving sustainable community.
Peer to peer learning
Learn what community projects are going on and gain support and knowledge from others’ skills and experiences.
Build Capacity & Skills
Benefit from free training sessions, events, resources and toolkits. Gain help to access funding needed.
OUR TEAM
Meet the team
Alison loves being outside in nature, walking and biking, with friends and family. It makes her happy chatting and spending time with people. She is passionate about fairness and justice and wants to help make the world a better for all. Alison is the captain of the NESCAN Hub, her role is to ensure our aim, objectives and outcomes are delivered on time, within scope and budget, by providing leadership support to the Hub Team and NESCAN members and liaising with key stakeholders. Alison is a fount of community climate change knowledge and happy to spread that knowledge in any way that can help develop and support are communities.
Hi I’m Nicola and I love learning new things, meeting people and interesting conversations! As an experienced Community Learning and Development practitioner and with a degree in Environmental Geography – I felt a sense of serendipity when I found my place as part of the team at NESCAN Hub and the work we are involved with really excites me.
I have a keen interest in the outdoors and nature as well having a fondness for cheese and wine, music, gigs and festivals and good company. I am passionate about learning for wellbeing and supporting better life outcomes for people and communities, capacity building for sustainable places and projects, and in turn promoting and working towards better planetary health. I live in the wonderful wee coastal village of Collieston with my two teenage boys and cats Rocky and Annie.
A strong sustainability advocate, Rachel is all about practical environmental action.
She loves talking about sustainable activities and swapping sustainable living tips. An active member of several local community groups, including Aberdeen Climate Action, she enjoys organising local community events such as beach cleans and tree planting.
Rachel acts as the first point of contact for all NESCAN stakeholders, building and developing strong relationships with our members and communities. If you have any queries or need a solution, Rachel is the person to speak to.
Rachel can often be seen wandering around her local area with her dog and a wheelbarrow. Her interests include making compost, getting creative with food that would otherwise go to waste and feeding the hedgehogs. (Leaving out a bowl of water in hot weather may mean life or death for these shy and increasingly endangered garden visitors).
Rachel is well versed in the challenges of working as part of a community group. She enjoys getting enthused about new sustainability and biodiversity projects and in translating that energy and excitement into funding applications. Get in touch with Rachel if you are looking for help to secure funding for your projects.
Karina enjoys exploring the countryside in Aberdeenshire, camera in one hand, the other hand holding their two little ones. She had the opportunity to grow up and work in Peru, the USA and the UK allowing for a multicultural sensibility and international experience across management, in a wide range of sectors. She is passionate about diversity and helping others and is proud to be part of a team determined to take the bold steps needed to shift the world into a sustainable and resilient place.
Karina acts as the first point of contact for all NESCAN stakeholders, building and developing strong relationships with our members and communities. If you have any queries or need a solution Karina is the person to speak to.
For Rose, biodiversity has been her work and play for many years. An ecologist, with a love of the sea in particular, she is happiest along the beautiful coasts of North East Scotland watching wildlife and enjoying the nature-connectedness this experience brings. A lifelong volunteer, and an active member of several non-profit organisations, she is equally at home recording wildlife with camera traps or helping build boardwalks to improve access to greenspace.
She particularly enjoys working with local groups to help them take action to protect the natural environment from within their communities. If you would like support in developing ideas to help your community take positive action to combat climate change and biodiversity loss, get in touch with Rose.
Keith is a historian of science who has worked with individuals, families and communities in the places where science and culture meet. Working in museums, heritage sites, educational and community settings, he has developed programmes and events where people can make meaningful memorable connections with their environment.
He believes relationships between people, and between people and places, are at the heart of working within climate change. It is the approach he uses to work alongside communities working on, or hoping to work on, issues that are important to them.
He enjoys being outdoors. That can mean birdwatching, camping, cycling, kite flying, or simply standing somewhere just breathing the outside in. Or being in a museum. He likes them too.
Hi, I'm Ria, Community Development Officer for Marr area providing support and networking opportunities for individuals and organisations across the region. I'm passionate about the environment, biodiversity and behaviour change. I have experience working and volunteering in the UK and abroad in conservation, animal welfare & husbandry, volunteering management, youth work and nature-based learning & well-being methods.
The previous projects I've been involved in are the Scottish Wildcat Conservation Project and the Scottish Government Animal Health and Welfare (Act) 2006 as well as driving forward local climate action movements and running a sustainable zero waste business. This encompasses my passion for supporting individuals and communities in their goals to help with climate change and raise awareness and actions.
I enjoy biking, swimming, upcycling projects, and immersing myself in nature - it's where I feel most alive. And on top of all that, I'm also working towards an environmental degree to deepen my knowledge and passion for sustainability.
Francesca started with NESCAN Hub in November 2023. She is the Community Development Officer for Buchan and Banff & Buchan. She has a varied background having worked in a range of setting in the UK and abroad related to Community Food, Health & Wellbeing, Market Gardening, Farming, Community Music, Practical Conservation and Seabird Monitoring. She is passionate about raising awareness of sustainable food, seed sovereignty and how to grow a local good food movement.
If you would like support in developing ideas related to food and farming to help your community, take positive action to combat climate change, please get in touch with Francesca.
Meet the Board Members
- Emeritus Professor of Postgraduate Medical Education (Postgraduate Medical Dean) University of Aberdeen
- Retired medical doctor now working part time for NHS Grampian as a Secondary Care Appraiser and for the General Medical Council as an Associate
- Marr Area Partnership Board Member since 2021
- NESCAN Board Member since 2021
- Chair Mid Deeside Community First Responders and active Responder with Scottish Ambulance Service since 2017
- Coordinator Tarland Climate Crisis Group TCCG since formation in 2019
- Co-Lead for CromarFood Waste Project (TDG/TCCG joint project) since 2020
- Member of Marr Paths Forum since formation in 2021
- My interests include hill walking, cycling and painting
- Professor of Plant Molecular Genetics, University of Aberdeen since 1998; conducting research on sustainability and grain quality in rice since 1991; 30+ graduated PhD students supervised; 120+ research papers; main collaborations in India, Bangladesh, Philippines, France, Italy and Spain.
- Volunteer for Aberdeen Climate Action (ACA) since 2016 and currently co-lead of ACA’s Climate Café team.
- Board of Directors, NESCAN Hub since 2021.
- Amateur landscape photographer.
Together we can make a difference for us,
our community and the world.
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