Join the SEEd Sustainability Journey

I will if you will… is an exercise we use with participants on our SEEd Changemaker programmes and many of our events and workshops. Participants make small or large commitments to help them make changes towards sustainability. The underlying idea is that we are all connected and responsible for each other, therefore changing the world and making it more sustainable requires us to work together. Now, the SEEd team has integrated the exercise into our newsletter and we invite you, as a member of our community, to join us on this journey of Commitment, Joy & Impact.

We are here to help each other, so we designed a journey that is easy to follow, where you have the possibility of choice, can feel and exercise what change is like, and most importantly, feel happy instead of anxious about your actions. Believe me, making a change can be fun!

All we ask of you during this upcoming month is to choose one COMMITMENT from the list below that you are eager to try out; one JOY that helps you relax and keep your journey fun; and one IMPACT idea that you find interesting enough to then spread the word to friends, colleagues, family members, or anyone you encounter. Easy, isn’t it? But more importantly, by following the steps you can change your lifestyle, your mindset, and empower others to follow suit. Like a real change maker.

Please do share your actions and commitments with us by email or on social media.

 

Commitment

  • Globalising the way we think through the news we read
    For most people for whom English is not their native language, constantly encountering information that one does not understand is perfectly normal. The way they source information will be very different, and the news they read will communicate different world views. The news we read influences our attitudes and dreams, how we calculate risks, and the health of entire economies. Additionally, since English is a world language, Western media tends to have an even more significant impact on global thinking, especially regarding foreign affairs. One can often hear about Russian propaganda, but what about Western soft propaganda? According to Nina Khrushchev, compared to the American soft propaganda presented in Hollywood movies, Russia cannot compete. Likewise, reading only Western media might cause a politically biased position regarding conflicts worldwide. What do people think worldwide, and what does their media tell them? We need to understand each other in order to cooperate on sustainability issues. Therefore, the time to read British and American news only should be over! As a commitment for the month, join the SEEd Team and try to read news from newspapers outside the Western perspective.
    Here are some examples to start with:Al Jazeera English (Qatar)CGTN (China Global Television Network) (China)The Hindu (India)Daily Nation (Kenya)Dawn (Pakistan)
  • Sustainable relationships through communication
    More and more parents seem to question the impact of the current education system that clearly demands systematic reforms. However, disputes with the school often end in students being kept at home. According to a study by TeacherTapp, nearly one-third of headteachers experience the practice. When our concern lies in long-lasting and fruitful relationships in the school, between schools, between families and schools or simply between regular people in a world filled with tension, should we work on our communication skills? It is one thing to be persuasive in a presentation or be able to write cohesive essays. However, do we, students, teachers, and parents, need to practise a more patient and understanding way of communicating with each other? People from different sectors, palliative care doctors, hostage negotiators, and film directors provide examples of communicating in difficult situations.Crisis communicator Adar Cohen talks about his three rules for leading tough conversations:1) Moving toward the conflict.2) Asking questions and listening like you would be a complete newcomer.3) Let there be silence between the questions and answers.As a commitment, read or listen to some helpful tips to practise them daily. It can be challenging to stay calm or speak up in certain situations, especially when your surroundings do not notice your progress. So, find someone who observes and supports you on your journey, and when you get very frustrated with not comprehending others’ reactions towards you, try the book “Surrounded by Idiots”.
    Lessons from other sectors
    How to Lead Tough Conversations | Adar Cohen | TEDxKeene
    Further reading: After the riots
  • Trade Unions
    When observing secondary school students talking about sustainability issues at the Bracknell Forest Eco Conference facilitated by SEEd last month, the student’s knowledge of overconsumption and the variety of causes surprised me. However, what shocked me was that no one mentioned democracy. The notion that the somewhat problematic traits of our capitalist economy are entangled with democratic practices seems to be forgotten. Looking for alternatives, Richard Wolff argues that after several failed attempts, a new socialism is ready to challenge capitalism and enable liberty, equality, prosperity, and democracy. The state is not the primary operator of this kind of socialism but democratic workplaces that give workers a say in production. Richard Wolff and Gene Epstein debate this topic, and it is highly recommended for anyone who would want to dive into the power of people in the workplace. Rethinking bottom-up democratic practices should be on the table because, in 2022 and 2023, the trade union membership rates were the two lowest in the UK since 1995. According to the Department for Business and Trade, the decline has slowed, but the latest data shows that only about 22% of UK employees are members of any trade union. Around Europe, young people want to move out of precarious work situations, but trade unions that could help improve pay show a generational imbalance. For sure, the causes of low membership could be political. Still, since the new Labour Government promised to update the trade union legislation to secure and help unions, it is time for you to join! So, as a sustainability commitment, you can look up and find a trade union that is relevant for you> Or if you are already a member of one, you could dive deeper and get active, for example, by engaging your young colleagues (you can find some tips here). Either way, your union membership and your actions move us toward a more democratic workplace that could influence our entire economy!
    Engaging young people in trade unionsYoung workers: attitudes to workA new deal for working people
  • Religion and the Environment
    Should religious leaders communicate environmental concerns the same way they speak up against the psychic pollution of porn? In his essay, Roger S. Gottlieb asks such provocative questions while introducing the religious aspect of environmentalism. Amongst others, Gottlieb writes about changing religious practices in several religions and challenges the fundamental belief of the “privileged knowledge of what God wants and how a person should act” by pointing out that many religious people have also contributed to climate change. However, Gottlieb also highlights the potential of religion in motivating sustainable practices and shows examples of green religious attempts. Could religion offer an alternative to life around accumulation? “Across Great Britain, 46% of people identified as Christian, 38% said they had no religion, 6% identified as Muslim, and 2% identified as Hindu. Around 2% identified as Buddhist, Sikh, Jewish or of another religion.” (The House of Commons Library, 2024). This data shows that including religion in debates around sustainability could add a new perspective to tackling issues around climate change. If you consider yourself a religious person, a commitment for you could be to discover religious practices, events, and activist groups you could connect with.
    Religion and the environment.
    Useful links:Faith for the climate ; Eco Colchester ; Christian climate action ; Operation Noah ; Baca Birmingham ; Birmingham FOE ; Eco Church ; Green Christian

    Teachers and civil service union members take part in strike action in London. Unions are furiously opposed to the government’s new legislation © Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images

Joy

  • The Need To Grow
    Is it a necessary skill to know how to grow your food? The importance of soil is shown through the work of pioneering researchers and activists who fight to introduce localised and sustainable agriculture. According to the UN, the planet has fewer than 60 years of healthy soil, which calls for protecting the soil and implementing permacultures and findings like a Green Power House. As a Joy element, watch the documentary to have a fun way to learn about issues and practices around sustainability.
  • Influencer on gardening
    How can you use your land sustainably to grow food and create a beautiful environment for you and the wildlife? Jamie Walton shows you tips for creating a polyculture in your garden. Composting, collecting rainwater, or pruning your vegetables are all on his agenda. For many people, gardening is a hobby that makes them joyous, but doing it the right way can also help the climate.
  • Hello Brain!
    A family-friendly exhibition introduces up-to-date knowledge of our brains. How our personality is built up makes our experiences, values, attitudes, and emotions. Scientists are still unravelling one of our most complicated organs – just like we do that with sustainability. The more we dive into it, the more questions we encounter. Let’s try to figure it out and find answers that are not perfect but good enough. After all, we must understand ourselves in order to change our actions.
  • Penelopiad – Margaret Atwood
    When deciding what information is correct, what story is true, what we should believe and most importantly, what we should teach, the question of perspective is crucial. Events and history are often told and understood within a specific framework, but what happens when we try to reframe it all? Does the story change? Does the information that has been correct within the previous framework remain dominant? Margaret Atwood has proved to be a master of story-telling and shows a magnificent piece, a “story against division” that is divided in itself. The modern versus the ancient, the mythical compared to the mundane and the spoken against the silence are presented as contradicting perspectives. Try the story, enjoy it, and let yourself be influenced by its different perspectives. Also, to get even more from the book, watch this lecture, which helps you perceive the little details along the storyline.
  • Music on Nature
    Music has the power to calm, express, and picture. Classic musicians have long been using nature as inspiration for their pieces. The sounds of the sea, the wind, and a flower garden have helped create sounds many have enjoyed. Now for your Joy, listen to this playlist during work or study to help you concentrate, before sleep to calm you down, or just at busy times to filter out all the city’s noise.Here you can read a bit about each of the pieces:
  1. Vaughan Williams Sinfonia Antarctica
  2. Richard Strauss An Alpine Symphony
  3. Claude Debussy La Mer
  4. Ludwig van Beethoven No.6 in F Major, Op. 68″ “Pastoral”
  5. Ronald Binge The Watermill
  6. Frederick Delius In a Summer Garden
  7. Phoon Yew Tien Flowers in Spring
  8. Ralph Vaughan Williams Fantasia On Greensleeves
  9. Florence Beatrice Price Dance of the Cotton Blossoms
  10. Antonín Dvořák From the Bohemian Forest

Photo source: https://www.crick.ac.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/hello-brain

Impact

  • Good Sport: The Hidden World of Stadium dealsWhy do we like competitive sports? What is its value? Are the expensive facilities worth our money? Or would our societies benefit more from distributing the money somehow differently? I am sure many have encountered these questions before but hearing from a negotiator’s perspective about how entangled sports, economics and politics are might be an interesting perspective to listen to. Former owner of the Miami Marlins, David Samson, talks about the unwritten “rules” of a power play with shocking openness.In comparison, sports economist Andrew Zimbalist illustrates a positive example of social development enabled by holding the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992. When looking at these two cases, especially at patterns of power plays, can we define “rules” of social life, or should we remind ourselves that what David Samson describes might only be a typical behaviour? And in a highly individualistic society – who wants to be typical?
    The hidden world of stadium deals
  • Sustainable OlympicsThe Paris Olympics aimed to be the most sustainable ever. The organisers tried to think ahead and planned the event’s construction, energy use, transportation and catering in a way that aligned with the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change. This responsibility meant mapping resources and calculating the entire carbon footprint for the first time in Olympic history. 95% of the venues were pre-existing, most sports equipment was rented, and all the facilities were structured to decrease carbon footprint. Still, they remained stunning. Notably, inclusion played a massive role in the Olympics, involving 120 organisations and 200 athletes to create more sustainable food provision. A sustainable urban vision as the long-term aim of the city included conserving nature, like the river Seine, and building the Olympic Village, which will become public housing and affordable apartments. This seems like a promising improvement for the organisation.
    Push green sports
    Five ways Paris is delivering a more sustainable games
    A new sustainable urban vision
  • What the Olympics teach usWhat was different about the 2024 Paris Games, and what can we learn from it regarding celebrating success? Iain Mackinnon shares his inspiration about the correct pronunciation of the names. Names with unfamiliar origins can often be mispronounced, like the case of Kamala Harris. However, in the case of educators, is it okay to get the names of students they have been working with for over a year wrong? It is not just Kamala Harris who speaks up against the issue, but this year, the Paris Olympic authorities have asked athletes to pronounce their names and included that on their profile page so that reporters could call them correctly. Truly inspiring, isn’t it? Just ask.
    What the Olympics teaches us about celebrating our learners
  • Gender discussion in sportsAre competitive sports an equaliser or a reinforcer of gender norms? The UN states that sports is an equaliser, so the same number of female and male athletes was also crucial for the Paris Olympics. From another perspective, media communication on sports can reinforce gender norms and picture it as a male-dominated institution. Emily Subden writes that women are perceived as weaker as the media compares men to women. Barriers for women in sports include facilities, restrictions on behaviour, sexual assault and clothing issues. Still, sports can be a great reinforcer of change that challenges gender norms and behaviour. So, when watching a sports event next time, it might be worth asking which sports are dominated by women/men and what the causes might be. Do women leave the handball team in their teenage years because they fear to get a manly figure? Are girls less active in PE class because sweating is not womanly, and there is no time to shower or do the hair and make-up afterwards? And why would they even care? No one does- or do they? Read about some of the arguments around gender inequality in sports, or check out the enormous requirements for sports performance AND the look of a cheerleader.
  • Athletes and sustainabilityWith the fame of being a celebrated athlete comes the responsibility to speak up for several issues. The BBC Green Sports Award notices and celebrates athletes who act and speak up for the climate. As an inspiring example, Ines FitzGerald, cross-country champion among English schools, declined a competition in Australia because she was conscious of her climate impact. Players for the Planet is another motivating illustration started by Jack Cassel that brought together athletes to raise awareness of sustainability. As Cassel points out, what would happen to the world if Messi or Ronaldo would say: “Let’s save the environment”?
    BBC Green Sports Award

    From: https://olympics.com/ioc/paris-2024-sustainable-games