Our Ambassadors

Henk Ovink is the Dutch Special Envoy for International Water Affairs. 'Water is the number one global risk. Not only because the World economic Forum says so, but because the facts tell us, every year in a row. It is affecting billions of people and billions dollars worldwide. And it will only get worse. With increasing impacts of drought and scarcity, pollution and bad or lack of drinking water and with severe flooding due to climate change, sea level rise, increasing impacts of surges, storms and rain events the world has no choice but to look ahead, adapt and prepare! Wetskills is a crucial approach to building capacity, raising awareness and increasing opportunities for innovations world wide. Wetskills builds a coalition between students and practice, between professionals and people, to learn, research, exchange and implement.'

'Dare to dream about making the impossible possible.' Ap Verheggen is an extraordinarily creative artist in a myriad of media. He makes sculptures, designs objects, writes and produces documentary films. His projects Cool(E)motion and SunGlacier added value in the discussion about climate change. Instead of ‘naming, blaming and shaming’, App wants to add a positive focus. 'Our climate is changing very rapidly, so extra fast response is required.' App: 'I feel connected to Wetskills, because Wetskills stimulates young people to think out of the box. These people dare to dream and to innovate. They combine creativity and expertise to come to projects in a similar way as I do. SunGlacier: In this project me and my team push the boundaries of what is technically and scientifically feasible. Is it strange to believe that we could create a glacier in the desert? I am fascinated by the prospect of building a large sculpture in the hot desert that can produce icicles on its own. www.sunglacier.nl

Mr. Kartikeya Vikram Sarabhai is the Founder Director of the Centre for Environment Education (CEE), established in 1984 as a Centre of Excellence of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Government of India. Mr. Sarabhai is on several committees formed by UNESCO for the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. He is the UNESCO Chair on Education for Sustainable Development and the Human Habitat set up at CEE in partnership with CEPT University and supported by ICLEI and the Swedish Institute of Education for Sustainable Development (SWEDESD). He is the co-chair of the Global Citizenship Working Group convened by the Brookings Institute, Washington D.C., to examine how Global Citizenship Education is measured, and make recommendations for new ways of assessing learning. He was a member of the Indian delegation to United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) at Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg in 2002 and was the co-author of India's report for UNCED. He is the co-chair of the Earth Charter International Council, the Vice-Chair of the Indian National Commission of IUCN, and a Member of the Steering Committee to oversee the UNEP/GEF supported Phase-II Capacity Building Project on Biosafety.