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Block 2: Prominent Players & Issues

dsc_0188OK, so we are happy with our definition of ‘Sustainability’ but who are some of the prominent players in the process of trying to realise this objective?

We hear a lot of ‘green/eco/bio/alternative/responsible’ terminology and we are seeing a proliferation of labels on all sorts of products and services … but what do they mean? [Do we even recognise them?] More importantly – what do you and I believe that they mean (because we make decisions based upon what we believe rather than what things actually are). So when I talk about ‘x’ .. are you understanding ‘y’?

So – here we go!

The What. Before we go deeper into the world of ‘sustainability’ we need to look at the range of terms people use for it or aspects of it.   If we can’t agree on what something actually means, how can we then talk about it productively, let alone enter into any agreements?

  • 1. Ethics v Morality. Both of these terms are used in the contextualisation of Sustainability and Développement Durable, BUT are these actually synonyms?  Where do the differences lie and how do they relate to sustainability principles and practices? Can these principles be built into corporate, governmental and personal practice regarding sustainability?
  • 2. Alternative v Responsible v Green. These are often used, almost interchangably, within a particular industrial context : alternative tourism … responsible tourism,  green tourism for example. Once again, do these mean the same thing or are there subtle differences?… Or can’t we tell?   Do we have a general problem with terminology when sustainability is concerned.  How do we resolve it?
  • 3. Max Havelaar https://www.maxhavelaarfrance.org/ v Fair Trade (commerce équitable) https://www.fairtrade.org.uk/. We are used to seeing these words and their associated logos on everyday products, but do we really know what they mean ?  Are they the same ? What are: Fair Trade Towns?  Has France taken up such ideas to the same degree as the UK … if not, why not, d’you think?  If these represent legitimate advancements and solutions, are we making the best of them?  Why can’t everything be ‘fair’ and ‘equitable’? … or can it….?   How?  What will it take?
  • 4. ‘Bio’ v ‘Eco’ (as used here in France & possibly elsewhere…?).  For example, there are ‘eco’ and ‘bio’ wines on the supermarket shelves and on restaurant wine lists sitting side-by-side.  What are they ? Are they to all intents and purposes the same or are there subtle distinctions between the two – and if so what exactly? Do people recognise the subtle differences between the terms: if not, why not?
  • 5. Corporate Social Responsibility v “The business of Business is business!” approach (Milton Friedman 1970).  What do these terms involve?  Are the two perspectives compatible or can they be made to be?  If so, then what will it take to make them compatible (how)?  ….And if we can’t…. then what?
  • 6. ‘Whitewashing’ v ‘Greenwashing’. What are these?  Why do organisations engage in these activities? How can we recognise them? What do they say about those individuals, organisations and brands who engage in them?  What could / should be done (by whom and how) to ‘outlaw‘ such practices’?
  • 7. Low Impact Life / Low impact.org  v Zero Waste Home movements.  What are these and how do they differ?  Are these just for dreamers, BaBa Cools and environment fanatics, or do they represent to some degree a rational, feasible and viable way forward for all of us towards principles and practices which we could and should all adopt?  If they are brilliant tools that could reduce our environmental impact: why aren’t we using them ‘to the max‘ and how do we increase / ‘ramp-up‘ their uptake?  Maybe the solutions are already here, we just need to take them up!
  • 10. The Climate Action Network and the FridaysForFuture Movement… Contrast them. Very different approaches to attacking the same problem?  Which is likely to be more successful do you think, and why? Or do we simply need more of both?
  • 13. A new pair of blue jeans every three months (start with: a lifecycle analysis of jeans vid)  v a beefburger/cheeseburger once a week (start with this): what are their respective impacts upon the planet (water used/polluted … CO2 produced etc) and how do you feel about it?  Are there any lower impact alternatives for both which may be worthy of our consideration?  How do we bring our consumption of these things within the planet’s ecological means?
  • 14. Farmers Markets (like Coeur Paysan, Colmar)  v Bio Paniers (like panier fraicheur bio  or  AMAP France).  How do these differ from each other (from the grower/producer and consumer perspectives) and in what ways do they differ from the traditional retailing of produce in our super and hyper markets?
  • 15. Super/hypermarkets moving into Bio/Eco v Bio-Eco Specialist retailers (like Grand Frais or Bio-Coop ).  What is happening in France?  You could even go and look around your local supermarkets!  While you are at it – are bio/eco/organic/green products necessarily higher priced than mainline brands?  Where is this all heading… do you get the sense that supermarkets are steadily moving in to colonise the bio/eco market … with the possibility that they might ‘drive out‘ the original specialists?
  • 16. Al Gore’s ‘Inconvenient Truth’ (book and film – also see a 2017 revisit of Inconvenient Truth in the light of recent events), ‘Climate Reality’ project & ’24hours of reality’ initiative   v Climate Change Deniers and skeptical science (see an LSE article on the subject as a jumping off point, but do look elsewhere).  A bit like the X-Files, we say that ‘the truth is out there’ – but where does it lie exactly?  Is there still any real doubt?  Who are the doubters (and who pays them)?  How can we counter the skeptics?
  • 17. What are the potential contributions to lessening our impact upon the environment of the ‘Incredible Edible‘ project (10 minute Incredible Edible TED Talk by Pam Warhurst.)  and the Repair Café movement  (and its local Repair Café Brunstatt-Didenheim).  What are these initiatives and, if they represent feasible and viable solutions to sustainability problems, how might their take-up be accelerated?  Are you prepared to get involved in such initiatives….?  If not, why not?

 

TASK Instructions.

You will do this in equally sized teams, each taking one of the above points (no duplication, please).  Together you must cover ALL the points.

  1. Create teams of broadly equal size (pairs or threes MAX ). Choose ONE topic from the list above [arrange with other teams so that there is NO DUPLICATION].
  2. where you are being asked to produce definitions, first (before you rush online) consider for yourselves the WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY and HOW of the terms concerned…. then pool your thoughts and go online to see what the terms really mean.  How close were you?  Believe that your definitions could even be better than those of the experts!  Make notes of your findings (in English) to support a presentation. You will then be asked to informally present your team definitions and findings to the class .  Each team will then produce and submit a written report (typed and in hard copy form) of 2 full pages of A4 (12pt) in your best English to submit in class the week after your presentation.  Both presentation and written components will be marked!

We will then have a plenary session / discussion to consider:

  • Why are we talking about these terms today ….? ( – 30 years ago we weren’t….).  So where and why have they emerged relatively recently: what provoked such interest and  spurred such activity and impassioned debate at every level from local to global?
  • Who is and who is not listening to the ‘messages’ embodied by these terms?
  • What proportion of ‘society at large’ (French, as we live here) would you say is:
    • aware of these terms – but neither subscribes to them nor is doing anything about them – or is simply completely unaware
    • aware & interested – aware and subscribing to them in theory at least (head knowledge) but not really trying enough to adjust accordingly in practice (heart understanding promoting action).
    • aware, interested and trying to act accordingly, but feeling inhibited in making much progress for one reason or another.
    • aware, interested, trying and partially succeeding.
    • aware, interested, trying and demonstrably acting and succeeding…..

[NB. The above Qs are based upon the AIDA model: Awareness –> Interest  –> Desire  –>  Action.  I wonder where we get ‘stuck’ and why… and more importantly how we can get ourselves un-stuck and shifting towards Action.  [I do accept that on certain counts we can’t unstick ourselves on our own (or simply don’t want to) and that others need to help us: particularly the state with ‘carrots and sticks’].   In furtherance of this question/issue, in our next task I am going to ask you to consider your own lifestyle and its relationship to the planet’s resources in order to make a global issue really personal/individual so you can see for yourself ‘where‘ you are, what is stopping you from doing better and what will need to change so that you can move forward].