Professor Pete Smith, Chair in Plant & Soil Science at the University of Aberdeen, is a leading expert on climate change, sustainability, and ecosystem modelling. Since 1996, he has contributed to global climate science as a lead author for the IPCC, including its Fourth Assessment Report, which was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. Currently, he serves as co-lead of the Environmental Modelling Group and Science Director of ClimateXChange, Scotland's centre of expertise connecting climate change research with policy. Through his work, Professor Smith plays an instrumental role in shaping strategies for a sustainable future in Scotland.
Dr Alasdair Allan MSP grew up in the Scottish Borders and now lives in the Isle of Lewis. He attended Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities, gaining a PhD in Scots Language in 1998. Alasdair was elected MSP for the Western Isles in 2007. He became Minister for Learning, Science and Scotland's Languages in 2011 and was then Minister for International Development and Europe from 2016 to 2018. Prior to becoming an MSP, Alasdair was senior media relations officer for the Church of Scotland, and was named Gaelic journalist of the year in 2006. He was the National Secretary of the SNP from 2003 to 2006.
Charlotte Bracho (born 1990, Venezuela) is an artist and designer currently living and working in France (Creuse). Her multidisciplinary practice is grounded in textile thinking, exploring repetitive processes involving lines, light, folds, and patterns. Through video art, sculptures, and installations, she seeks to transform tangible materials into creations that evoke illusion and the imperceptible, driven by a desire to reflect on and envision the world in its impermanence and perpetual process of renewal. She holds a BFA in Design from Concordia University in Montreal and a Master’s degree in Artistic Production from the Polytechnic University of Valencia. Her interest in textile techniques was nurtured in the Concordia Fiber department, where they became a central element and key focus of her work. She later expanded her expertise by studying new technologies applied to textile processes and material research. Her work has been showcased in exhibitions such as the VAV Gallery in Canada, a solo show at the Chirivella Soriano Foundation in Spain, and the Textile Object Biennale at the Textile Manufacture Museum in Roubaix, France. She also participated in the Mostra Art Públic in Spain, organized by the University of Science of Valencia, where her project explored the intersection of art and science. A recipient of the Pedro Marco Grant, her work was featured at the Reales Atarazanas Museum in Valencia. Additionally, she was an artist-in-residence at Le Bel Ordinaire in Pau, France.
Antonia Ablass is a textile designer and artist from Berlin and Brandenburg. Growing up between the city and the countryside, her textile work is influenced by this duality and aims at bringing together plants, humans and other living things. Early in her textile-design studies, she began exploring the potential of textiles to reweave nature into the built environment. Since then, she is dedicated to deepening her understanding of plant physiology, wildlife, and human-nature relationships. As an emerging artist, Antonia focuses on integrating plants into daily life, with the conviction that reconnecting humans and nature can be healing to both us and our planet. In her early career, she has exhibited at a few festivals, with a wide range of topics, such as the Silbersalzfestival, an internatiol festival for science and media, as well as at BLADE, a Berlin underground Techno Festival. She believes, that more plants can be integrated everywhere with healing effects on our bodies and minds, as well as the planet's health.
