PEDAL - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the PEDAL Board
Diana worked for two blue chip com pan ies, in the energy and fin ance sec tors, for over 20 years. Her back ground is in train ing and organ isa tion al devel op ment, with exper i ence in design ing, deliv er ing and eval u at ing train ing, design ing organ isa tion al level devel op ment strategies and pro ject man age ment. She has been involved in a num ber of suc cess ful high pro file loc al cam paigns for envir on ment al justice, includ ing Portobello Campaign Against the Superstore and Portobello Opposes New Garbage Site. Diana has lots of exper i enced in organ ising and run ning events and fun drais ing, and is involved in a num ber of oth er loc al groups.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the PEDAL Board
Eva Schonveld has lived in Portobello for the last 16 years and has raised her three boys here. She was a founder mem ber of PEDAL, helped set up the PEDAL orch ard as part of the food group, and was part of the team who developed PEDAL's CCF fun ded pro jects. She has worked in com munity devel op ment and involve ment pro jects for the past 24 years and is very com mit ted to the ideas behind the Transition mod el. Together with oth ers in PEDAL she set up Transition Scotland Support, where she has been involved in work ing to sup port Transition com munit ies across Scotland and build ing a nation al net work for them. Eva is the pro ject coordin at or of the Fife Diet, and is a mem ber of Portobello Community Council
Job Titles:
- Member of the PEDAL Board
Community garden ing and organ ic farm ing has played a major role in build ing my pas sion to bring about envir on ment al change in our com munit ies, from Hulme com munity garden in Manchester to Bath Street com munity garden in Portobello. Official work place ments and edu ca tion have also played a part: for example, my final year research pro ject at Glasgow School of Art focused on urb an food pro duc tion, and my work in Inverness focused on energy effi cient homes, pre par ing veg boxes, and garden ing more generally.
I have lived in Portobello since January 2013, with my two year old daugh ter, Alice and hus band Hugh. As new comers to the area, we are keen to involve ourselves in the com munity, trans ition group and loc al envir on ment al agen das. I am also cur rently a mem ber of an act ive 8 piece band, play ing the sax o phone and cla ri net. We write our own songs and gig reg u larly in and around Edinburgh.
Job Titles:
- Member of the PEDAL Board
I grew up in the Scottish Borders town of Selkirk which gave me a strong sense of com munity. During my 25 years of work as a GP in Portobello I lived here too and con tin ue to do so. I have an interest in healthy, sus tain able, loc ally pro duced food; hence my mem ber ship of Slow Food. Last year I estab lished Portobello Apple which seeks to be a non-profit mak ing com munity net work link ing loc al apple grow ers with loc al con sumers. I have also act ively sup por ted the Portobello Market and Portobello Community Orchard. Further afield I have been involved in Breadshare, a bread mak ing social enter prise and also in the private fin an cing of loc al businesses.
I believe that com munit ies like Portobello need to be work ing towards great er resi li ence in cop ing with future chal lenges wheth er cli mat ic, eco nom ic or cul tur al and whatever the under ly ing causes. There are pro found dif fi culties in this. Working with trans ition organ isa tions like PEDAL offer the best way of mak ing progress.
Job Titles:
- Member of the PEDAL Board
Ian was born and raised in Portobello. He worked for 27 years in com munity devel op ment roles in Edinburgh and Greater Glasgow, and through suc cess ive loc al gov ern ment re-organ isa tions. Ian is author of Radical Community Work: Perspectives from prac tice in Scotland, writ ten with Mae Shaw. He is cur rently Director of Development Trusts Association Scotland, the com munity-led regen er a tion net work and nation al trade asso ci ation for com munity devel op ment trusts. In addi tion to his com munity devel op ment exper i ence, Ian brings skills in stra tegic plan ning, organ isa tion al devel op ment and fin an cial management.
Job Titles:
- Member of the PEDAL Board
Justin chaired PEDAL from its incep tion in 2005 until 2010 when he shif ted his focus to oth er PEDAL pro jects, and oth er com munity cli mate change work. In 2009 he stopped lec tur ing in social anthro po logy at Glasgow University to focus on sup port ing com munity responses to cli mate change. He helped devel op a strategy for Fife Council to sup port com munity car bon reduc tion ini ti at ives; and worked with ini ti at ives across Scotland to build com munity resi li ence Holyrood 350. His cur rent work focuses on sup port ing forest peoples in Central Africa to regain their rights to their lands. He has lived in Portobello since 1998 with Eva and their 3 boys (with brief peri ods liv ing on Eigg and in Falkland), and is inter ested in how ‘loc al to loc al' con nec tions - across Scotland, and across the Global North/South divide - could rad ic ally re-ener gize nation al and inter na tion al action for sustainability.
Job Titles:
- Member of the PEDAL Board
Mandy works for City of Edinburgh Council, cur rently with the cor por ate Business Intelligence team. She brings 2 dec ades of pro fes sion al exper i ence in eco nom ic devel op ment, com munity devel op ment, adult learn ing and pro ject man age ment in the pub lic and vol un tary sec tor. Mandy has volun teered with PEDAL for sev eral years and has a strong per sonal interest in sus tain able liv ing. She recently spent two months liv ing and work ing in Findhorn Foundation eco v il lage in the north of Scotland.
Job Titles:
- Company Secretary
- Member of the PEDAL Board
After com plet ing a degree in Microbiology & Virology in 1985, Neil worked for the University of Nottingham Department of Pharmacology doing research for a well-known house hold products man u fac turer. He went on to work for Scottish & Newcastle Plc in 1990, first in fer ment a tion research and then as Pilot Brewery Manager, where he was instru ment al in brew ing and pack aging design er beers. He later became Consumer Relations Manager for the UK, com pleted his MBA and became an aud it or for BSI. Unfortunately, due to ill health, Neil was retired from this role in 2009, but fol low ing a full recov ery is now look ing for a new career. His interest in PEDAL came about through being involved in the Donkeyfield Orchard, and the oppor tun ity to become more involved in the com munity was too good to miss. Neil lives in Portobello with his wife, Lorna, and their son Alexander. He is an affil i ate mem ber of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
Job Titles:
- Member of the PEDAL Board
Peter is a com munity act iv ist who has lived in Edinburgh for 12 years. Peter came to Edinburgh to study geo graphy, pub lic policy and crit ic al the ory. His thes is was on land reform in Scotland. While at University, Peter was President of Edinburgh People and Planet and Vice President of the Students' Association (EUSA), dur ing which time he cam paigned for car bon reduc tion, Fair Trade and eth ic al invest ment of Edinburgh University's reserves. He worked for the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations and acted as Chair of Transition Support Scotland, an organ isa tion that sup ports Scotland's Transition Towns move ment. Peter lives in Portobello with his part ner, Maggie. He has been act ive in PEDAL since its cre ation. He has par tic u lar interests in com munity own er ship and land reform. Peter is an edit or of the Bright Green blog, and is cur rently Rector of Edinburgh University.
Job Titles:
- Treasurer of the PEDAL Board
Stephen is a Chartered Building Surveyor with extens ive exper i ence of work ing in loc al gov ern ment, hous ing asso ci ations and the health ser vice. He has been a part time lec turer in hous ing main ten ance and build ing sur vey ing at Heriot Watt University, and, between 2007 and 2012, was one of three Councillors for the Portobello/Craigmillar ward on City of Edinburgh Council. Stephen attends Portobello Community Council and has a long involve ment in loc al affairs, includ ing sev eral suc cess ful loc al cam paigns and pro jects. He has skills and exper i ence in prob lem solv ing, pro ject man age ment, budget ing and con trol of expendit ure. He also holds a Master in Business Administration degree from Edinburgh University, and is an asso ci ate of the Chartered Institute of Housing. Stephen's par tic u lar interest is in integ rated energy man age ment and reduc tion in urb an areas.