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About NESCAN & NESCAN Hub
Who are we?
NESCAN (North East Climate Action Network) Hub is a regional community climate action support hub, fully funded by the Scottish Government. The Network, and later the Hub, was created by a wide network of community climate action groups in Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire in 2020/21.
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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 objectives
- To develop community resilience, knowledge, skills & expertise in climate change & related action
- To empower communities and assist them in the design, development & deliver of climate projects
- To signpost to other organisations & agencies who can offer support & funding to communities
- To map, celebrate & prompt replication of local community led climate action projects
- To grow the NESCAN network enabling further peer support & development of knowledge
- To link into relevant local, regional & national initiatives & networks and develop partnerships to further support community led climate action
Our Core Values
Ethical
Inclusive
Responsive
Our Core Methods
Connecting
Supporting
Learning
Collaborating
how can we help?
Support
NESCAN Hub provides dedicated tailored support enabling you to take forward and develop your ideas, knowledge, projects and organisation with access to necessary funding to make them a reality.
Inspire
Be inspired by the amazing local community project database and stories, or come along to events and 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 Stuart
NESCAN Hub Manager

Alison Stuart
NESCAN Hub Manager
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.

Karina Emslie
Project Officer

Karina Emslie
Project Officer
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.

Chris Bodington
Community Development Officer

Chris Bodington
Community Development Officer
Chris loves getting into nature as much as she can, swimming in wild places and adventuring with her family. Her passion for protecting nature was nurtured by eleven years living in Japan and she can make a mean vegetarian sushi roll! A secondary teacher by trade, she knows how to lead, inspire and enthuse people to get excited about protecting nature. Hailing from North Yorkshire, she is really excited about making the Shire her new home and working hard to support and develop community led climate action. If your community wants ideas or needs practical support to take action on sustainability, climate change and biodiversity, please get in touch with Chris!

Rachel Smith
Funding & Development Officer

Rachel Smith
Funding & Development Officer
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.

Rachel Maurice
Office Coordinator

Rachel Maurice
Office Coordinator
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.

Rose Toney
Community Development Officer

Rose Toney
Community Development Officer
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.

Nicola Twine
Senior Project Officer

Nicola Twine
Senior Project Officer

Alyssa Parker
Communications and Community Development Officer

Alyssa Parker
Communications and Community Development Officer
Meet the Board Members

Alice Hague
NESCAN Hub Board Member

Alice Hague
NESCAN Hub Board Member
Alice Hague is a social researcher at The James Hutton Institute in Aberdeen, with a background in climate change engagement, environmental politics, and science communication. Alice began her career in science communication and science policy, and previously worked as Head of Science and Innovation for the Nordic region as part of the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office’s Science and Innovation Network. She spent a year on secondment to the climate change team at the Swedish Ministry for the Environment and was a delegate to the UNFCCC climate change negotiations during this period.
Alice has lived in the north-east since 2018 and enjoys getting out and about and exploring what the north-east has to offer.

Adam Price
NESCAN Hub Board Member

Adam Price
NESCAN Hub Board Member
- 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.

Gillian Needham
NESCAN Hub Board Member

Gillian Needham
NESCAN Hub Board Member
- 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

Dr Sue Paterson MBE
NESCAN Hub Board Member

Dr Sue Paterson MBE
NESCAN Hub Board Member
- Oil and gas professional with over 30 years of FTSE-100 UK and international Executive and consulting experience
- Worked in the Middle East, Far East and Europe before moving to Aberdeen in 1999, in roles including Exploration, New Business Development, Talent, Learning and Resourcing, and Joint Venture Management
- Qualified IOD Chartered Director with over 15 years of Non-Executive experience in the private, public and voluntary sectors
- Currently Board member for NESCAN Hub, Scottish Enterprise, and Company of Wolves
- Co-ordinator of Deeside CAN (Climate Action Network) since March 2019
- Co-author of “The Fear Free Organization: Vital Insights from Neuroscience to Transform Your Business Culture”, published by Kogan Page in 2015
- Lives in rural Aberdeenshire with her husband and enjoys walking, cycling, yoga, live music, and spending as much time as she can with her two sons and new grandson
Together we can make a difference for us,
our community and the world.
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