The Arctic NGO forum is facilitated by John Crump (GRID-Arendal), Stephanie Meakin (GRID-Arendal) and Hans Bolscher (ECORYS Netherlands). Together they bring over 40 years of experience to this project with their unique skills and experience in the polar regions, in facilitation and in bringing stakeholders together to work on common objectives.
A support team, made up of individuals from both organisations, complements the core team with specialist skills in event logistics, stakeholder engagement, websites and IT.
John Crump - Team Leader
John has worked and lived in the Arctic over the last 20 years and is keenly aware of the political sensitivities of the region and the challenges they present to developing policy in a dynamic multi-stakeholder context. He has excellent analytical, writing, networking and communications skills. In his current position as Senior Advisor/Climate Change at GRID-Arendal, John leads an innovative global partnership called Many Strong Voices (MSV), a network promoting climate change adaptation and mitigation in the Arctic and Small Island States.
As Executive Secretary of the Arctic Council Indigenous Peoples' Secretariat he worked for six Indigenous Peoples’ Organizations and acted as liaison with Arctic Council Chair, eight Arctic states, and approximately 30 NGO and other Observer bodies. He coordinated the IPS network and supported joint policy development on climate change, contaminants and sustainable development. As Executive Director of the Canadian Arctic Resources Committee he led stakeholder workshops focused on oil and gas development in the western Arctic. While working for the Nunavut Planning Commission, he helped facilitate regional planning workshops and stakeholder meetings in the six planning regions of the territory.
Stephanie Meakin - Senior Expert
Stephanie Meakin has a background in molecular biology with more than 20 years experience as a field biologist and science policy advisor. She specializes in Arctic issues, environmental health and wildlife issues providing consulting services to various government, academia and non-governmental organizations.
Meakin has worked under contract for Inuit organizations at the national and international levels, GRID-Arendal, WWF, various UN organizations, Environment Canada, Health Canada, Canada's Library of Parliament, Council of Canadian Academies and Universities among others. She is currently the Science Advisor for the Inuit Circumpolar Council (Canada). Meakin was a science manager for 15 years on the Northern Contaminants Program, and spent eight years as an ArcticNet Research Manager and was a lead researcher and team member on various Arctic environment and health research programs and projects including the IPY funded, Circumpolar Flaw Lead program where she co-led a Traditional Knowledge Study in the Beaufort Sea.
Hans Bolscher - ECORYS Project Coordinator
Hans started his career in the African countries of Sudan and Uganda as project leader for MSF (Medecins Sans Frontieres) and later in the management team for IDA, a Pharmaceutical company for the developing world. He has always operated on the cutting edge between business and sustainability, in management positions or as project leader. His education, training as both a development and business economist (Free University Amsterdam) reflects this dual approach. His next step, as director for Max Havelaar in the field of Fair Trade (almost 10 years), also combined sustainability and business. During that period he was active in several socially responsible business networks (e.g. Board Social Venture Network Europe).
In 2002 he moved to a government position in the Netherlands, first as director for the Immigration Service (IND), then as Director for Climate and Industry for the Ministry for Environment (VROM). During this time he headed several inter-departmental and international project groups on international climate issues. He recently worked as project director for Carbon Capture and Storage to build the Dutch CCS policy for both the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Environment. Hans currently works as an associate consultant at Ecorys and is still highly involved in the Sustainability, Climate, Energy and CCS-world.