A time of new beginnings, trees full of blossom, the new season’s growth shoots forth. At a time when we have never heard starker warnings of impending ecological catastrophe it feels like Mayday in more than one way. Thanks to Arts Connection and all the great folk to Llanfyllin for coming together to create a memorable day that I hope will from a pattern for many more seasonal celebrations.
As One School One Planet I attended the Climate Solutions conference at C.A.T. on Friday. The environment centre has been mapping the route to a Zero Carbon Britain and now is the time to see such plans receive the full attention they deserve.
It was also wonderful to hear Jane Davidson speak, one of the architects of the well Being of Future Generations Act (see above) with its 7 target areas for well being, a vision for a resilient, healthy prosperous Wales, with a thriving culture and globally linked. Very much in line with OSOP objectives of course and a vision also that sets Wales apart from almost all other countries, stating that all development must sit within a larger frame work of how it might impact on future generations under these headings.
The Welsh Assembly was the first national government to officially declare a climate and environmental emergency, followed by the British government in London. This is a key starting point in demanding the actions we need and win resources to put behind new ideas and initiatives.
Climate emergency = creativity
We would like to advance a proposal to engage with Britain’s youth, those 15 and 16 year olds of today whose lives are going to be dominated and shaped by the rapid transition away from the carbon extraction economy to a full regenerative economy.
I believe governments and authorities should be seeking to unleash the power of creativity of the generation and help them generate and action literally missions of small scale responses to this huge problem, allow the initiative to be with the people who really want to rise this challenge.
Permaculture can guide and shape this process and the powers that be need to get behind and support the initiatives that are come up with. Small and slow solutions is the principle,s but we need to action as many of those that we can and to support and get behind the best ideas as they emerge. Inclusivity at this time is the most important issue, governments have demonstrably failed to rise to the climate challenge, we need to allow the creativity of a million young minds to work on this problem from every angle.
If kids needs time out from school, the answer is yes, seed funding, yes, access to training and support, yes. We owe this at the very least to the climate generation, we need to take their concerns very seriously and allow them to innovate in every way they can. This is after all an emergency, Mayday, Mayday!!