TVE Asia Pacific invited several Asian professionals from environment education or communication backgrounds to select the best ESD projects to be featured in Saving the Planet. They formed the regional selection panel which met virtually during the selection process.

Members of the Panel:

• Dr José Roberto (Robbie) Guevara is an educator with extensive experience in adult, community and popular education, and participatory action research, particularly in the fields of environmental education, education for sustainable development, and HIV/AIDS education. Education for him is a two-way learning process; hence he has a strong passion for participatory, creative and experiential learning methodologies and a commitment to reflective practice. He is currently a Lecturer at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University) in Australia. Since 2003 he has been the editor of Eingana, the Journal of the Victorian Association of Environmental Education. He has continued to keep his involvement with ESD in the Asia Pacific region through the Asian-South Pacific Bureau of Adult Education (ASPBAE) and ACCU ESD Programme.
  Dr J Roberto Guevara, Lecturer in Cultural Globalisation, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia RMIT Universit, Melbourne, Australia
• Nalaka Gunawardene is Director and Chief Executive Officer of TVE Asia Pacific. Trained as a science writer and journalist, he counts 20 years of experience in communications, initially in the mainstream print and broadcast media and later in the development sector. He has written and spoken widely on public communication of science, ICTs, MDGs. In a speech at the UN Headquarters in 2005, Nalaka called for poverty to be recognised as a ‘copyright free zone’ so that media products related to poverty reduction can be shared and used as widely as possible.
  Nalaka Gunawardene, Director and Chief Executive Officer, TVE Asia Pacific
• Dr Ms Li Hao is Founder and Director of Beijing Earthview Environment Education and Research Centre, China. Trained as a biologist in Germany, she became an environmental educator and communicator upon return to China. She was project Project coordinator of Environmental Education Television Project for China (1996 – 2000) before founding her own non-profit institute. Earthview works closely with Chinese broadcasters, schools, universities and advocacy groups to raise environmental awareness. Li has served as Environmental Envoy for China’s State Environmental Protection Agency.
  Dr Li Hao, Director Beijing Earthview Environment Education and Research Centre, Beijing, China
• Ms Mamata Pandya is Programme Director, Instructional Design at the Centre for Environment Education, India. She has been with CEE since its inception in 1985. She is involved in development of EE and ESD resource materials for educators (in formal and non-formal education) as well as for children. She works with different media -- including print, audio-visual and new media. She is core faculty for several of CEE’s national and international training programmes for educators (pre-service and in-service), as well as professionals from government and non-government sectors. She also heads the Children’s Media Unit and Zoo Interpretation programmes at CEE.
  Mamata Pandya, Programme Director, Instructional Design, Centre for Environment Education Ahmedabad, India
• Ms Shibao Tomoko is in charge of Education Cooperation Programme of the Asia/Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO, Tokyo, Japan, which contributes to Education for All (EFA) and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The Programme places emphasis on education and learning for disadvantaged people in Asia Pacific region, and with non-formal education approach, exemplified in projects related to adult literacy education. Ms. Shibao joined ACCU after B.A. in Art History of the University of Tokyo. She holds M.A. (Communication Studies) from the McGill University, Canada. After being a researcher at a private think-tank she resumed working for ACCU, first in the field of culture and then in education. 
  Shibao Tomoko, Director - Education Division, Asia/Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO Tokyo, Japan
• Dr Buddhi Weerasinghe was trained as a botanist, and worked as a university teacher in Sri Lanka and Nigeria for 15 years before specialising in educational technology. He then served as Director of Media House at the Open University of Sri Lanka, and as Information and Networking Manager with the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre in Bangkok, Thailand. He is currently UNDP Consultant to the Disaster Management Centre, Sri Lanka.
  Dr Buddhi Weerasinghe, expert in educational technology and disaster communication

Convenor:

• Ms Manori Wijesekera is Regional Programme Manager of TVE Asia Pacific. Trained as a journalist, she worked for newspapers and magazines before joining TVEAP, where she heads the Distribution and Programme Teams. She has served as production manager for TVEAP’s regional and global TV series, including Children of Tsunami, Living Labs, Digits4Change and The Greenbelt Reports. She joined TVEAP’s international Board of Directors in 2002.
  Manori Wijesekera , Regional Programme Manager, TVE Asia Pacific