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 willing and able to change….

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

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

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

Q. So what’s stopping us? (inhibitors)?

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 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, whether we might need some help, guidance and support 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’) or forces us (with ‘sticks’) to act.

This you will do by a grand ‘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….). NB. 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. This will need to be highly specific.  Each ‘Action Point’ in your Action Programme will require:

• WHAT exactly needs to be done to succeed with this particular issue?
• WHY does it need doing this way / why is this the best solution?
• WHEN should it be done to have best effect and how long might it take to put into practice and see results?
• WHERE / at what level should it be done?
• WHO should lead it / participate in it /fund it/ do it?
• HOW might it best be done, how much might it cost and how will we measure whether it is being/has been successful or not?

OUTPUT REQUIRED.

Convert all the above into a Group Sustainability Action Programme: Personal, Professional and Political for application at all levels from: your course to FSESJ, then to UHA, to M2A, to Haut Rhin, to Grand Est to National level (and, if necessary beyond).

If it helps (it should!), imagine that you have been asked to prepare a ‘Pilot’ Action Programme for use in the Haut Rhin…. the logic being: if you can get it to work there, then ‘iron out’ any problems, then it can be launched throughout all the Regions of France. [So, if, for example, you wanted the Education Nationale to establish a new course to run throughout the national curriculum, then you could propose and test it in Haut Rhin].

It will feature a specific and detailed Action Programme Case Study Report  for the FSESJ and the UHA suggesting how the faculty and the university as a whole can play a part in leading this initiative.

FORMAT of OUTPUT:  A group response in which all members of the course play an equal part.  [You must cite who has done what: I don’t want some people doing the work and others not]. I am happy for the group as a whole to determine the fomat.  It could be, for instance:

• a whole group written report (in WORD) with certain teams responsible for particular sections / ‘clusters’
• team Powerpoints or Prezis with an audio file voice-over to explain the slides
• Whole group or team videos, perhaps ‘talking to‘ Powerpoint /Prezi …

DEADLINE: TO BE ADVISED

Up to now, you will appreciate that we have been ‘talking the problem’ (how and why we are not doing as well as we should) … now we need to consider how and by whom solutions may be put into place.   You will notice that I have not termed this a ‘plan’ – that is too high, too remote, too vague – more a vision of an end point rather than a roadmap and timetable of how to get there.  I have called this an Action Programme: it is logical, organised and with a timetable and ready to be implemented (What we sometimes call a ‘turnkey‘ solution: use the key…open the door … the action is already laid out for implemenation.

[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…..  Seems easy enough (in principle), but in practice how much of the worthy intentions at the top level actually arrive fully intact at the bottom?  It is easy for things to go astray en route.  This is particularly important in a country like France where most activity is ‘Top-Down‘ through layers of heirarchy [The political structure in Germany, however, enables a significant measure of ‘Bottom-Up’ … I’ll explain the origin of the innovative and sustainable Fribourg ‘Vauban’ Quartier project as evidence … If I dont, then remind me!  Be warned… you’ll want to visit it – it’s quite an eye-opener!  But go by public transport: there is nowhere to park because the area for 25,000 people is car-free bar one residents’ car park in which one space which would cost more than my monthly mortgage repayment!].

Cascading involves the following steps (I have tried to arrange these in Ps so you can remember them):

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.
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
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.
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
5. Performance – an action by an individual which may be repeated many times as demanded by the Practices (which is, in turn, are fully in accordance with Procedures, Programme and the ultimate achievement of the overall Policy objectives).

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.

End of ‘Nano-lecture’!]

I am most sincerely hoping that the engagement with this topic area will enthuse and challenge you on both personal and professional levels. and that it will have a lasting effect …. my grand-children’s future depends on it after all…!

NOW

May I say a personal ‘Thank-You‘ to you:

For the fact that you have chosen to be on the IES programme and to commit personally and professionally to the concept of sustainability and the fair-sharing of the world’s resources.  Hopefully you have followed the links I have provided to research by Mark Lynas (Six Degrees) and others showing fairly conclusively that we have a fast-closing window of opportunity to turn hearts and minds around and to create action at personal, professional and political levels to stave off uncontrollable / irreversible environmental disaster…. so it is more than obvious that the world (not just the Grand Est or France) desperately needs your leadership and (as young people) your boundless energy and belief.  I thank you for your commitment and (insofar as I can) I apologise for the fact that my generation didn’t wake up quickly enough to the problem and is set to leave us then you with so much to do.  As long as I live and breathe, I promise to play my part in your action plans…..

…..A Parting Gesture…..

It is often said that to understand the present and the future it is essential to understand the past……   So that’s where I am heading here…. back to 1854 in fact and a reply by Chief Seattle (Native Indian West Coast tribal chief) and his ‘Reply’ to President Franklin Pearce who offered to ‘buy’ the last remaining indian lands between the European settlers and the Pacific.  Just about the whole of what we would call the ‘Modern Environmental Movement‘ and even things like the ‘Polluter Pays Principle‘ / ‘Bonus Malus‘ are pre-figured in Chief Seattle’s Reply.  Below is a YouTube video with Greywolf reading it.  You might also have a look at a page I put together on important, current links to recent sustainability sources.

Do have a look at it [perhaps we should read and consider it together]. It is only two pages, but you can feel that the Indians of that generation could see all too clearly from 170 years ago where the world was headed…..and they were not wrong as it turns out….   Which begs the question: what should we be writing today for our great, great, great grandchildren??  Someone has already asked that question actually, and the response was a film starring the late, great Pete,Postlethwaite called the ‘Age of Stupid‘ (look it up!) where those on the Earth a few generations from now (2055 and living on a planet that has all but ceased to support human life) manage to send back in time a message to us today trying to work out how and why we managed to ignore all the signs and do so little to act to protect future generations.

With feeling and hope….

Tony