Look East Wild Earth is a UK-based registered not-for-profit charitable company. We forge links between environmental initiatives in the UK and in Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Our Activities
• Support for environmental organisations in Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia
• International volunteering, youth exchanges, study visits and seminars
• Talks, events, campaigns and information promoting issues of global sustainable development
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How we are run
Look East Wild Earth is run by voluntary co-ordinators who facilitate projects & campaigns, and make decisions in a cooperative manner. The decision-making body is our board of Trustees who meet 3-4 times per year. Full members are entitled to vote at AGMs and are invited to contribute to Trustees meetings.
Download our environmental policy here (PDF)
Membership
Membership of LEWE costs £20 per year (concessions £10).
1. 'Friends of LEWE' are associated members who receive our newsletter and information updates.
2. Full members are involved in running LEWE and are invited to contribute to Trustees meetings.
Interested in joining? Download membership form here (PDF)
Annual Reports
Download Annual Report 2007
Download Annual Report 2008
Our formal aims and objectives:
1. To educate the public in the preservation and conservation of the natural environment and its sustainable development.
2. The promotion for the benefit of the public of conservation, protection and improvement of the natural environment, in particular but not exclusively, by the provision of, or assisting in the provision of sustainable development programmes involving young people and local communities in the United Kingdom, Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
History
'Look East' was born in the summer of 2004 on a hiking trip on Olkhon island on Lake Baikal in eastern Siberia. Steph was completing a volunteering placement with an environmental organization and Katy was visiting her and some old friends from her time there as a volunteer four years previously. Feeling overwhelmed by the beauty of the place as well as the amazing work of the organization, Baikal Environmental Wave, we decided to try to set up a UK based organization that might be of some use in supporting the work of struggling Russian, Siberian and East European NGOs and help to promote cooperation and understanding between UK folk and those to our immediate east. Look East was formed as an unincorporated voluntary association, until 2007 when we established ourselves as 'Look East Wild Earth', a charity and company limited by guarantee.
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Trustees
Ms Aisha Hannibal
Aisha Hannibal is Coordinator of Brighton Peace and Environment Centre, which promotes sustainability, justice and equity through education and information. Her first involvement with LEWE was working with Steph Ward on the Siberian Wild stall at festivals, making forest tea and raising awareness about non timber forest products. Although initially attracted to Russia and the east through Steph’s contagious enthusiasm and motivation, Aisha travelled to Lake Baikal in 2003 and captured her own sense of awe and inspiration for Siberia and the importance of its environmental protection. As of trustee of LEWE she brings management skills and knowledge of the not for profit sector, including fundraising, strategic planning and developing organisational capacity. Her knowledge of sustainability spans from working in conservation and ecotourism in Guyana, to cycling on the Sussex hills and growing her own veg.
Ms Katy Harris
Katy Harris is co-founder of LEWE, and has worked with environmental organisations in Siberia for almost ten years, since spending a year volunteering for Baikal Environmental Wave. She has experience of fundraising, management, & project development, having worked for a number of UK voluntary organisations including the Centre for Alternative Technology, a leading eco-centre in Wales. She has also worked as a trainer and co-ordinator for the European Voluntary Service programme. She now works freelance as Russian Development Coordinator for the 'Taiga Rescue Network,' a network of NGOs working on conservation and sustainable use of the world's boreal forests, as well as part-time for the UK Small Woods Association as co-ordinator of the Coed Lleol Partnership, an initiative to re-connect people and woodlands in Wales. A fluent Russian speaker, Katy believes she may be the only person in the UK to hold an MA in Siberian Studies! Katy lives in West Wales.
Dr Jonathan Sutton
Jonathon Sutton is a Senior Lecturer in the Dept of Russian and Slavonic Studies at Leeds University. He teaches Russian language and specialist courses on 'religion in twentieth-century Russia', 'The Encounter between Orthodox Christianity and Islam' and 'Literature, Religion and Enquiries into Value'. He has a long standing interest in philosophy, theology, and natural resources, and a PhD from Durham University on the religious philosopher Vladimir Solovyov (1853-1900), an early ‘ecologist.’ From 1986 to 1989 he worked as Campaign Officer for a London-based pressure group working for the release of Jewish 'refusenik' scientists from the Soviet Union. He has also worked full time in the Research Department of Amnesty International, for AI's campaign against use of the death penalty in Russia and other republics of the former Soviet Union. He has an ongoing interest in homelessness, prison reform and rehabilitation in Russia. He is on the editorial board of academic journals ‘Religion, State and Society’ and ‘Studies in East European Thought,’ a Trustee of the Eckhart Society, and a member of the Society for the Study of Theology (SST) and of the British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies (BASEES).
Dr Emily Lygo
Emily Lygo is a lecturer in the Department of Russian Studies at the University of Exeter. She is also a former volunteer of Baikal Environmental Wave!
Dr Emma Wilson
Emma Wilson is a senior researcher for IIED. She previously worked for a number of years on the Island of Sakhalin.
Ms Stephanie Ward
Stephanie Ward's interest in Russia began in 1996 after a surprise opportunity arose at school resulting in her being taught Russian one-to-one by a great admirer of all things Slavic. That enthusiasm struck a chord and she jumped at the chance to work there for 6 months during her gap year. She has been concerned with the future of the planet since she can remember and her passion for Siberian environmentalism began when spending a week travelling the Trans-Siberian railway aged 18. She studied Russian and Asia Pacific Studies at university in Leeds and has worked with Russian environmental NGOs since 2004 when she spent a year living in Siberia and volunteering for NGO 'Baikal Environmental Wave.' On her return in 2005 she successfully applied for a grant from the British Council and established a project called Siberian Wild. The aim of this project is to raise awareness of the Siberian wilderness in the UK and to support Siberian NGOs’ campaigns. In 2007 she completed an MA in Russian Studies at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (with distinction), and wrote her dissertation on Non Timber Forest Products and their role in rural Siberian communities. As part of her research she spent 5 weeks in Tomsk, Western Siberia, contributing to a project coordinated by the Darwin Initiative Project “Sustainable Support for Biodiversity and Forestry in Tomsk Taiga 2007”. She is a founding member of Look East Wild Earth.
How could I get involved?
- Join our mailing list!
- Give a donation to support our work.
- Become a friend of Look East Wild Earth. For £20 you will receive a copy of our newsletter and regular updates on events and campaigns.
- Become a full member of Look East Wild Earth and get involved in decision-making, running projects and campaigns, coordinating events, and attending meetings.
- Volunteer to help out at UK events or support campaigns. Could you grant one of our wishes?
Please email us to find out more: info (AT) lookeast.org.uk
UK-based organisations:
We are currently building partnerships with organisations in the UK working locally or nationally on issues of sustainability and environment. If you would like to find out about similar issues or projects in other countries, and share your ideas and expertise, we would be happy to hear from you.
Organisations and individuals worldwide:
We are currently building partnerships with organisations working on issues of sustainability and environment, who are based in Russia, Eastern Europe, Central Asia or the Middle East, and would like to work through the Look East network with organisations in the UK.
For further information please contact us at:
info ( AT ) lookeast.org.uk