SPEAKER'S BIOGRAPHIES

GRAHAM U’REN – BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Graham has been the Director of the Royal Town Planning Institute in Scotland for 9 years.   He has a degree in geography and is a chartered planner and Fellow of the Institute.   He worked in Local Government for 27 years, mostly in Lanarkshire.  He was chair of the Scottish Society of Directors of Planning in 1982/3. 

He introduced the new devolved status for the RTPI in Scotland within the UK Institute to shadow parliamentary devolution in 1999 and leads on policy and public affairs in Scotland for the RTPI currently with emphasis on the Planning Etc (Scotland) Bill and Marine Spatial Planning. 

He is a member of a number of ministerial advisory groups and is currently a company director of the Built Environment Forum for Scotland, a trustee of the Crichton project at Dumfries, a director of Planning Aid Scotland and chair of the Friends of the New Lanark World Heritage Site.  He was formerly chair of the Historic Burghs Association of Scotland and a member of the Heritage Lottery Fund Committee for Scotland. 

AN  VANHULLE – BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

An Vanhulle (1977) has a Master in Architecture (2000), obtained at the Institute for Higher Education in the Sciences & the Arts, Ghent and an Advanced Master in Spatial Planning (2001), obtained at the Ghent University. She also specialised in design in public space at the University of Leuven (2005).

In 2001 she joined the department of spatial planning at WES, a  research and consultancy office in Bruges. Within WES, she has worked on several projects, mostly in the field of urbanism and spatial planning (spatial structure plans, strategic research projects, design of public space, environmental impact assessments, research on landscape perception and off shore wind parks).

In 2004 and 2005 she also worked at the Maritime Institute of the Ghent University. Within the Maritime Institute she has worked on the GAUFRE project ('towards a spatial structure plan for sustainable management of the North sea'). This research project aimed to create a vision for an optimal spatial planning of the Belgian part of the North Sea.

Website of the Maritime Institute: www.maritieminstituut.be
Website of WES: www.wes.be
Website of the GAUFRE project:
http://www.belspo.be/belspo/fedra/proj.asp?l=en&cod=ma/02

JOHN EDDIE DONNELLY – BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

John was appointed the Project Officer of the Scottish Sustainable Marine Environment Initiative (SSMEI) Clyde Pilot in July 2007.  He has an Honours Degree in Forest Management from Aberdeen University and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Foresters.  He has worked in rural land management, mostly in Grampian, in both the private and public sectors for the previous 9 years before moving to the marine environment.

The creation of integrated land management plans, including spatial forest plans, as well as extensive experience in stakeholder consultation, makes John well placed to deliver one of the first Local Marine Spatial Plans in Scotland.

He initiated the creation of the North East Forest Industries Group (NEFIG) and this experience will be invaluable when engaging with and bringing together all the various sectors within the Firth of Clyde to develop the Local Marine Spatial Plan.  The aim of NEFIG was to improve relationships, increase integration and share in success. It achieved this through bringing together inter-related industries and organisations such as nurseries, forestry companies, wood processors, end users (including paper mills; timber frame house manufacturers and builders; joiners) and recreational businesses.

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