Dear friends and colleagues,
Today we are sad to inform you that Gilles Hériard-Dubreuil, Secretary and NTW founding member, has passed away after 6 month of courageous struggle with a serious disease.
Many of members of NTW are losing a loved one, a faithful friend and a dedicated colleague, anyhow the loss of Gilles is a great sadness for us all.
Gilles was indeed an extraordinary person who touched the lives of many people, both personally and professionally. Gilles was always there to help others, whether it was by sharing his expertise, listening and bringing comfort through his tremendous optimism. Gilles was also a dedicated and conscientious colleague committed to principles of transparency and participation who worked hard to ensure the success of all for the common good.
Among a lot, Gilles played an important role in the elaboration and animation of the Aarhus Convention and Nuclear (ACN) process, launched by European Commission and ANCCLI at first and continued by NTW. This ACN process enabled transboundary conversations at European level and the expression of Civil Society views on the same footing than the other actors. He also contributed actively to the different working groups and actions of NTW on Radioactive Waste management for instance and to the BEPPER report, on Emergency Preparedness and Response, on Rolling Stewardship seminars… Gilles’ vision helped a lot NTW strategy’s development and success. He was deeply involved in the SITEX, SITEX-II projects, contributing to the development of the double-wing model (way to involve Civil Society in research dedicated to radioactive waste management) and being one of the creators of the Pathway Evaluation Process (PEP) serious game. He participated to the JOPRAD and EURAD projects where he brought his intellectual and diplomatic skills to help implement a governance scheme where civil society could have a significative place in European research related to Radioactive waste management, he was really one of the main pillar of the interaction with civil society (ICS) activities in EURAD. Finally, his reflective mind was already greatly missed in the last months of negotiations around the European Nuclear Energy Forum and the Taxonomy debate.
But what made Gilles so special to so many was his warm and friendly personality. Gilles was cheerful and always ready for a laugh or a smile giving special care and attention to everyone no matter who they were. Gilles was a fundamentally positive person who saw the best in others and always sought to encourage and inspire those around him.
His loss is a great tragedy for us all, but we must remember the happy times we shared with him. We must celebrate his life and legacy, keeping his memory alive in our hearts and minds. Gilles was an exceptional friend and colleague, and his loss will leave a huge hole in our lives.
He will always be cherished in our hearts as those words received for him can witness:
Very, very sad news! He will be always in our hearts. I’ll miss him truly.
I will miss him and his dedicated thinking and engagement for giving Civil Society a meaningful voice in nuclear issues.
I am truly shocked…He had such a great personality. It is a tremendous loss.