Sheila Watt-Cloutier

Nobel Peace Prize nominee Sheila Watt-Cloutier is in the business of transforming public opinion into public policy. Experienced in working with global decision-makers for more than a decade, Watt-Cloutier offers a new model for 21st century leadership. She speaks with passion and urgency on the issues of today — the environment, the economy, foreign policy, global health, and sustainability — not as separate concerns, but as a deeply interconnected whole. At a time when people are seeking solutions, direction, and a sense of hope, this global leader provides a big picture of where we are and where we’re headed.

In 2007, Watt-Cloutier was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her advocacy work in showing the impact of global climate change on human rights — especially in the Arctic, where it is felt more immediately, and more dramatically, than anywhere else in the world. Watt-Cloutier is an Officer of the Order of Canada, and the recipient of the Aboriginal Achievement Award, the UN Champion of the Earth Award, the Norwegian Sophie Prize, the Jack P. Blaney award for Dialogue, and the Right Livelihood Award, which is widely considered the “Nobel Alternative”.

From 1995-2002, Watt-Cloutier was elected the Canadian President of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC). She was later elected in 2002 to become the International Chair of the ICC, representing the 155,000 Inuit from Canada, Greenland, Alaska, and Russia — she held this post until 2006.

Widely recognized for her influential work, Watt-Cloutier gave a TEDx Talk in 2016 titled “Human Trauma and Climate Trauma as One”. She is also the author of the memoir, The Right to Be Cold: One Woman’s Story of Protecting Her Culture, the Arctic and the Whole Planet, which was nominated for the 2016 BC National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction and the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing. In 2017, the book was shortlisted for CBC Canada Reads, defended by Chantal Kreviazuk. Watt-Cloutier was also shortlisted for the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize.

Liteboho Makhele

Liteboho Makhele is a seasoned Sustainability Specialist and Programme Manager with 20 years’ experience working across public and private sector organisations on applied research, education and community buildings, urban regeneration, environmental sustainability and climate change mitigation and adaptation.

In her current role as Programme Manager: Sustainable and Resilient Cities at the South African Cities Network, she focuses on climate change adaptation, water security and resilience, energy diversification and integrated waste management in the metropolitan municipalities of South Africa. Liteboho’s work also places emphasis on the institutional shifts and governance arrangements required for the acceleration of sustainability transitions in cities.

She is a Salzburg Global Fellow for Parks for the Planet Forum, a mentor on the Emerging Urban Leaders (EUL) Program co-convened by Salzburg Global Seminar and World Urban Parks and is a Danida Fellow for Environmental Governance. Liteboho is also a moderator of the Sustainable Cities module of the Post Graduate Diploma in Sustainable Development at the University of Stellenbosch.

Amina Maharjan

Dr. Amina Maharjan works as a Senior Livelihoods and Migration Specialist at the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).

She is an interdisciplinary researcher and practitioner specializing in human mobility and migration, sustainable development and climate adaptation in the Hindu Kush Himalaya.

Her work focuses on the science-policy-practice interface related to the human dimensions of environmental change, vulnerability to cryospheric change, air pollution, multi/translocal livelihood resilience, as well as gender equity and social inclusion.

Photo: Jitendra Raj Bajracharya/ICIMOD.