CfSD Names & Faces

The people behind the organisation
 

Martin Charter 
Director
The Centre for Sustainable Design 

Martin Charter is the Director of The Centre for Sustainable Design at University for the Creative Arts (UCA) and a former Visiting Professor of Sustainable Product Design at UCA before joining full-time. Since 1988, he has worked at director level in 'business and environment' issues in consultancy, leisure, publishing, training, events and research. Prior to this he held in a range of management positions in strategy, research and marketing in gardening, construction, trade exhibitions, financial services and consultancy including Save & Prosper Group, Reed International, Creative Marketing Group and Kiveton Park (Holdings) Ltd. Martin was the launch Director of Greenleaf Publishing, Marketing Director at the Earth Centre, former co-ordinator of one the UK's first green business clubs, more recently he ran a regional network on green electronics and currently he directs a network focused on eco-innovation.

Martin is former editor of the Journal of Sustainable Product Design, The Green Management Letter and Greener Management International (GMI) and is presently a member of the Editorial Boards of GMI, International Journal of Sustainable Engineering and International Journal of Sustainable Design.  Martin is a member of international advisory board of CARE electronics network, judge on the Association of Chartered & Certified Accountants (ACCA) sustainability reporting awards (2001-2007) and a member of South-East England Development Agency (SEEDA) Waste Market Development Group, BREW South-East advisory board and was an assessor on the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) Technology Programme. 

Martin has previously been an advisor on sustainable innovation to Hampshire's Natural Resources Initiative, an advisory board member of the Sustainable Trade and Innovation Centre (STIC), SEEDA's Environmental Technology Taskforce and a member of the UK Design Museum's judging panel of Design Sense.   Martin is presently convenor of ISO 14006 (eco-design management systems) and was the previous UK expert to both ISO and BSI groups on 'Integrating Environmental Aspects into Product Development' (ISO TR 14062).  Presently, Martin also sits on sustainability advisory boards of P&G and InterfaceFlor in Europe. He is a regular international conference speaker and author and editor of various books and publications including Greener Marketing (1992 and 1999), The Green Management Gurus [e-book] (1996), Managing Eco-design (1997), Sustainable Solutions (2001) and System Innovation for Sustainability (2008).

Martin has an MBA from Aston Business School (UK) and postgraduate diploma in marketing.


Tim Woolman

Project Coordinator (Sustainable Innovation)
The Centre for Sustainable Design


Since 2003 Tim researched Eco-Product Innovation & Clean Manufacturing Technologies at Warwick Manufacturing Group; developing supporting methods & tools enabling engineering SME's to justify innovative steps and to make valuable and potentially radical changes in environmental performance. This research was presented at the 13th CIRP Conference on Life Cycle Engineering, the 2nd International Conference on Eco-Efficiency for Sustainability, and the 13th International Conference of The Greening of Industry Network, Cardiff.

Prior to this, Tim worked for 15 years in automotive product development with GKN and Ricardo managing both detail design and client project delivery to cost, quality and performance targets; recently as a Senior Design Engineer specifying components to comply with End-of-Life Vehicles legislation.

In parallel he studied innovation and environmental improvements in various enterprises through an Advanced Diploma in Environmental Decision Making, complementing a Mechanical Engineering MEng degree and industrial management training.




Vic Clements
Associate
The Centre for Sustainable Design


Vic Clements is an experienced and practicing Environmental and Regulatory Compliance consultant and has worked for over ten years in the field of environmental management and law ( in which he holds an MSc degree), specialising in the WEEE, RoHS and EuP Directives and the increasingly important field of Environmentally Conscious Design (Eco Design).

Prior to this Vic had over thirty years experience as an engineer, consultant and businessman, in the EMC and Wireless regulatory compliance arena, as a notified and competent body assessor with the EMC, LVD, MSD, R&TTE and Medical Devices directives and can bring this wide regulatory, industrial and business experience in support of his environmental expertise.

He is a Chartered Environmentalist and Member of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment as well as a Chartered Electrical Engineer and Member of the IET. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Sales and Marketing Management and a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. Vic is an experienced presenter and trainer. He has presented papers and seminars and run training courses in UK, Germany, USA, Canada, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and China on subjects ranging from Wireless Network Technology, through CE Marking to environmental legislation (WEEE/RoHS) and Eco design.




Gary Waterworth Owen
Associate
The Centre for Sustainable Design


jimGary is an artist , entrepreneur and adventurer. Inspired in 1992 while working at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, he founded the ResponseABILITY Alliance. The last fifteen years of his life has been devoted to helping individuals and companies develop and enhance their abilities to effectively respond to the challenges of thriving and not just surviving in the 21 st Century. Response Ability is once again the core focus of his most recent initiative ‘ Lengthen Your Stride’a unique personal and corporate transformation programme conducted in the Sinai desert.

His business vision and mission as an entrepreneur includes growing what was originally a small design agency into what became a successful furniture and interior design consultancy, construction company, manufacturing plant and direct marketing company with all divisions under the umbrella of the South African based Colourplast Group. In the late seventies, long before the ‘Green/Eco business’ revolution, Gary began recycling alluvial diamond and marble mining waste in South West Africa (now Namibia), into architectural finishes. This product was applied and exported throughout Africa and the USA.

Inspired from an early age by the Artist/Explorer Thomas Baines – who amongst many expeditions, accompanied David Livingstone’s exploration of the Zambezi, Gary pursued his own natural talent as a painter. His paintings have been exhibited in London, New York, Paris and Johannesburg and have been acquired by private collectors. The proceeds of which have often helped support responsible tourism projects, artists with AIDS, arts and crafts projects for the peoples of Namibia and Zimbabwe, along with the conservation of wildlife in KwaZuluNatal.

Gary was born and raised in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). His home town of Bulawayo, abuts the outstanding Matopos National Park at the edge of the Kalahari Desert. This landscape along with the Victoria Falls and Hwange National Park to the North, and the mountains of the Vumba, Chimanimani, and Inyanga to the East, not only inspired him as an artist but helped him draw on the richness and diversity of southern Africa. It seduced him into a world of exploration, creativity, and an unrelenting passion for adventure. His time as a soldier in the early seventies equipped him well for the numerous personal development and leadership expeditions he has undertaken since.

Gary is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, Open Africa and Artists for Peace Justice and Civil Liberties. He serves on the advisory boards of a number of responsible tourism, ecodesign and socially responsible organisations in Africa and Europe and was recently appointed to the International Honorary Advisory Council of the SOR Foundation


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