Tim Clarke

Biography

Professor of Practice, Institute of Science and Environment  (1st August 2023)

First real job was as the Wildlife Campaigner for Friends of the Earth, responsible for their Save the Whale, Endangered Species and Habitat campaigns. (1978-1980).  

I joined the European Commission (EC) in 1980, and retired thirty three years later in Oct 2013. Initially was appointed the EC’s Fisheries adviser, responsible for the management of 80 fisheries and aquaculture projects globally. Subsequently rose to Management positions dealing witth the Environment, NGOs, Civil society, Good Governance, and Human rights.. During this time I produced Manuals on Environmental Impact Analysis, Good Governance, Conflict Resolution, and Election Observation, applied in all EU Development Co-operation programmes (at that time worth  € 22 Billion/year), worldwide.

From 2004-2007 was appointed EU Ambassador to the African Union, IGAD, (Horn of Africa)  Ethiopia and Djibouti, then from 2007-2011 EU Ambassador to Tanzania and the East African Community, responsible for managing a budget of over € 1 Billion, 100 staff and all policy/political dialogue between the EU and these countries/regional institutions. Initiated a number of innovative programmes on cultural co-operation, eco-villages, and climate change.

After ‘retiring‘ undertook pro bono work for NGOs and Universities, supporting work on Climate change; community-led development; the fight against injustice and inequality, notably on women’s, girls’ and children’s rights; environmental conservation and biodiversity; culture; regional integration; eco-innovation and eco-development. One of my ideas - the creation of an EAC Academic and Research Network for Regional Integration (EACANRI) came to fruition in July 2023 in Kigali, Rwanda.

A current priority is to develop, with a range of African universities and institutions, a free, pioneering, MOOC on Climate Change and the SDGs. It will be rolled out in 8 African universities in mid 2024 with the long-term vision that it will be taught to every single African undergraduate in over 400 universities.

Qualifications and memberships

MA Zoology Oxford University

Dipl (Distinction) Food Resources and Community Development (London)

Thesis: Appropriate Technology in Rural Development

Academic and research interests

Lifelong passion for anything related to the Environment, Africa and Europe. My 50 year love affair with Africa and Africans was provoked initially as Leader of the Oxford Expedition to Mount Kenya in July 1972 to study the ecology of small mammals. I was founder of the Jane Goodall Institute Europe and was a Trustee of JGI Global for many years. Currently I am a Trustee and former Chair of ‘Friends of the Ullswater Way’; Trustee GAIA Education Europe; Senior Adviser KMG Ethiopia; and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS).

Publications

Sustainability 2019, 11(10), 2832; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11102832

'A Competency Framework to Assess and Activate Education for Sustainable Development: Addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals 4.7 Challenge'. 'A Competency Framework to Assess and Activate Education for Sustainable Development: Addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals 4.7 Challenge'.

African Memories: A personal account of my experiences in Africa, Nov 2020

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