Stephen Doughty

I recent years I have been drawn to kayak and canoes journeys in northern latitudes having started out some years ago taking people on land based expeditions to Northern Norway and Spitsbergen.

My most recent trips saw me sea kayaking over 1200 miles along the NW Passage in arctic Canada in 2007 and 2008, and an open canoe journey of 876 miles down the Mackenzie River, again in the Canadian North in 2011. When not travelling in higher latitudes, I have paddled sea kayaks around most of NW Scotland and open boats along many of our major lochs and rivers.

The NW passage trips were made in connection with The Arctic Voice Project which established links between schools and communities in the arctic and the UK. These links are still active, most notably a link between Goja Haven and Fortrose in Scotland. The projects aim was to facilitate a dialogue between communities interested in cultural exchanges and discussing the effects of climatic change.

Both professionally and as an active expeditioner I have been training leaders and teams for over 25 years. In the expeditioning world I trained the first Greenpeace Antarctic expedition over-wintering team as well as those involved in smaller and less well known unsupported expeditions. Through my work in the corporate world I have coached and trained senior and middle manages in may well known entities in the UK and abroad including HSBC Rail, BAe Systems, The NHS and Euromedic International.

I started my leadership training career in outdoor management development where, with my colleague Chris Loynes, we developed an Outdoor Experiential Development Training Competency Framework for DETAG, the outdoor training centre's organisation.

I am a Fellow of The Royal Geographical Society (FRGS) and a Chartered Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (FCIPD). I am also a Fellow of the Institute of Consultants (FIC) and a member of The Institute of Outdoor Learning. My Maters Degree is in management learning and leadership from Lancaster University, where i continue to teach classes in leadership to post graduate students. I have also published academic papers on outdoor leadership development topics.

Further qualifications include BCU, and Scout Association Coaching awards for kayak and open boats together with a Wilderness Emergency Medical Technicians qualification and the RYA VHF Radio operators ticket.