Block N°3 AIDA Inhibitors

This is the ‘crest‘ of my old university: Bournemouth University.

The Latin words say:

‘Discere Mutari Est’ – or – ‘To Learn Is To Change’

It is to be hoped that as we are learning more and more about our impact upon the planet and more and more about ways in which we could and should be reacting: we should be becoming more willing and able to change….

…. But ARE we?  Let’s see, shall we………..?

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Q. What did our ‘footprint’ scores tell us? 

A. That we are clearly not doing enough for one reason or another.

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Q. So what’s stopping us? (inhibitors). Where are we ‘stuck‘ and ‘why‘?

The AIDA approach can help here:

• Am I AWARE? If I am not – then why not?
  
• If I am AWARE, have I moved on to being INTERESTED?
• If I am INTERESTED, is it enough to produce a DESIRE?
• If I DESIRE, am I willing and able to ACT?

One could get ‘stuck‘ at any of those points because there are factors which ‘inhibit‘ us (inhibitors), and the solutions are likely to be different at each and every point.  Some personal examples for you:

• I can’t be Aware of everything.  I don’t know whether the efficiency of solar panels has increased dramatically and the extent to which (when set against other energy price-rises) this may make them a more interesting potential investment for me.
• I am Interested in Permaculture, but I really don’t know enough about it to have the desire to get activly involved in it in our garden.  I need information, advice and some practical help to get started.
• I may well Desire to have an electric car, but as I have no garage or off-street parking, I can’t run a charging cable across the pavement. I am also not convinced that there are sufficient charging points – the university doesn’t have a single one as far as I know on any of the campuses upon which I teach
• We have decided to buy a big water butt to recover rainwater from the downpipes, BUT I am hesitating to Act as I don’t think I have the skills or the equipment to make the necessary holes in the downpipes.  The Commune wants all householders to install such systems – but I wish it’s ouvriers communaux could help with the practicalities of installation… I might even suggest it to the mayor…

The point is that none of us are at one A-I-D-A position all the time on every issue – the causes of the inhibitors and therefore the solutions required are different.  Where are you? We need to start with the causes….

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… SO [Your Task!]…

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A. If we can make a grand list of these inhibitors [which we have each felt personally and seen professionally] and analyse them, then we can perhaps group them together under meaningful headings in order to find workable solutions for them.

In so doing we may well need to consider just how strong and intractable these issues are and whether they are:

• in our power to determine to do ourselves,
• whether we might need some help, guidance and support [from where and by whom] to achieve ourselves … or …
• whether action by ‘the powers that be’ at local, regional, national, international and global level will be required to bring about a resolution that:-
  • enables us with carrots – like subventions….  or … other forms of positive persuasion
  • forces us by the use of sticks – like tax increases or fines  … or
  • it could, of course, be a combination of both.  [TJ: I think I recall my parents using both… first the ‘carrot‘ and then, if I didn’t respond as I should have, the (metaphorical not corporal!) ‘stick‘!  It usually worked!].

This you should do by means of a grand but RAPID ‘Brainstorm‘ which YOU will lead and to which everyone without fail will make a contribution.  Each person must share with the group (in class or by file-sharing / online discussion etc) a list of his/her personal inhibitors  and what he/she feels could be the ‘déclic‘ necessary to overcome them...

It will make sense to:

1. contribute all the inhibitors you have thought of individually to the brainstorm
2. ‘cluster‘ the inhibitors/problems together in ‘meaningful‘ groupings
3. consider which are of greatest importance and urgency
4. brainstorm up together potential solutions ready to be put into practice and cluster them under appropriate headings (maybe things like, information, advice, education & training, public services, financial support etc … etc….).
5. Organise these in the form of an Action Programme that is capable of being put into action and implemented. Be aware that sometimes the way you analyse a set of problems/inhibitors is not necessarily the best way of presenting solutions.  An Action Programme needs to be highly specific: you cannot leave it at the level of: ‘Someone should do something’….because no-one will do anything.  Each ‘Action Point‘ in your Action Programme will require:

• WHAT what solutions may be possible? Which are likely to be the most successful, and why? There may be more than one and they may not all have the same costs and benefits.  Exactly what needs to be done to succeed with this particular issue? This is likely to involve thinking about:

• feasibility (is it technically possible to achieve it?)
• effectiveness (likely degree of success in achieving the required objective)
• efficiency (how well does it use resources like time, political capital, the planet’s resources? Is it simple or too complicated?)
• economy  (how costly – financially – is it compared to other options?)
• equity (will it be perceived to be fair to all parties / stakeholders?)

• WHY does it need doing this way / why is this the best solution? (See the above bullet points)
• WHEN should it be done to have best effect and how long might it take to put into practice and see results?
  • in the immediate term [= this financial year],
  • short term [1-3 years],
  • medium term [3- 5 years] or
  • long term [5-10 years] and
  • how long it might take to generate the desired results.

• WHERE / at what level should it be done [international / regional / national / Départmental / local / personal]?
• WHO should lead it [bear the responsibility for it … for both success and failure!] / participate in it /fund it/ do it?
• HOW might it best be done? How much might it cost?  Are there ways of defraying this cost? and how will we measure whether it is being/has been successful or not?

I will give you specific guidance in class as to the output required, but by the end of this half-day / 3 hour class, I will be expecting you to have fully addressed this [perhaps based upon short ‘cluster’ team presentations in Fr or Eng].

To HELP You….

OK… here I need to give you a ‘nano-lecture’ for a minute: have you heard of ‘cascading‘: the American term used for the ‘translation‘ of objectives from the top of the organisation/structure / society right down to the bottom through each and every level of heirarchy in the corporation, organisation or nation…..??

When Nations or organisations are putting things into action, this involves the following steps:

1. Policy – the vision of the future to be achieved [where we are going?]- made at the very apex of the organisation. Think President/ Board of Directors / The Préfet or Mayor. UHA = The President, VP + the CA
2. Programme – the who, what, why, when, where and how in the form of a step-by-step guide [to address the Q ‘How are we going to get there?’] Think the CEO/MD/PDG  UHA = VP + the Deans
   
3. Procedures – sets of rules and regulations to be imparted throughout the organisation in order to realise the Programme and its Policy objectives Think divisional/functional heads and Senior Management. UHA = Heads of Department + Course Directors + Head of Scolarité.
   
4. Practices – coherent sets of actions to be implemented and managed by teams towards the base of the organisational structure as directed by the Procedures . UHA = Course Directors, Year Tutors + Course teaching teams + Scolarité administrative team members.
   
5. Performance – an action by an individual which may be repeated many times as demanded by the Practices (which is, in turn, fully in accordance with Procedures, Programme and the ultimate achievement of the overall Policy objectives). UHA = Unit Tutors + students + support staff.
   

Clearly, the Programme needs to be VERY well thought out, because if even a little error or incompleteness happens at the top – the impact thereof is multiplied and magnified at the bottom of the pyramid: too much gets ‘lost‘ along the way: imagine a dark triangle standing on its head/apex!

In the next part of our programme together, we will apply our thinking to the FLSH and the UHA context you see around you.

My two colleagues will then look more specifically at your sectors and how sustainability principles and practices can be developed and applied:

• Culture, cultural events and venues
• Libraries and bookshops

PS.  Yesterday, listening to the BBC, I gather that, in the context of the coming energy problems (lack of and rocketing costs), libraries in Britain (easily accessible public buildings) are being proposed as ‘warming centres‘ where local people who are finding it difficult to afford to heat their homes can go to stay warm, save money, have some company and perhaps rediscover the joys of a modern library.  A new and unexpected social function – and an opportunity too for libraries to redefine and extend their role in the community.

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