Martin Lees has held senior positions in the international system, first at OECD and then at the United Nations as assistant secretary general and later as rector of the University for Peace in Costa Rica. He has been responsible for a number of international initiatives, including the InterFutures Project at OECD, the InterAction Council of former Heads of State and Government, the United Nations Financing System for Science and Technology for Development, the International Committee for Economic Reform and Cooperation in the NIS, and the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development. Following a period as secretary general of the Club of Rome, he has most recently moderated a high-level Task Force set up by President Gorbachev on climate change. With a degree in mechanical sciences from Cambridge, he has focused on a the application of systems thinking to issues of the modern world. He is now engaged as an international consultant and lecturer on issues of transformational change in models and strategies for growth, climate change, educational innovation and new approaches to peace and security.