Raw Foundation is a UK sustainable development charity working with young people to promote sustainable consumption and production through education and behaviour change. As the root cause of climate change and environmental degradation, the foundation focuses on over-consumption and the hidden consequences of our everyday stuff. Everything we do is systems-focused, solution-oriented and change-driven.
Waiting for someone to do something about the issue someday?
AFRICA
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Africa: Country of my birth and deep seated roots.
the unhealthiness …of our world today is in direct proportion to our inability to see it as a whole
Senge,1990
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Over-consumption crisis within a global context and unsustainable consumption and production: Western ‘materialistic’ values. Ecological injustice and inequality between developed and developing nations. Rising population, dwindling resources and resource protectionism.
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Beliefs: Inner knowing and listening to my roots Mother Earth: Deep inner spirituality, love and respect of nature (deep ecology) Seeing, touching, smelling and feeling… using all our senses
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Returned to the UK (aged 12): A huge wrench I continue to struggle with and feel the pull and tension of two cultures
Virtually all indigenous or native cultures have regarded nature or the universe or
Mother Earth as the ultimate teacher.
At few points in history has the need to rediscover this teacher been greater.
(Senge et al, 2006)
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Belief: Virtually all indigenous or native cultures have regarded nature or the universe or Mother Earth as the ultimate teacher Senge, P. M. (1990) The Fifth Discipline, 2nd edition, London: Random House Business Books Senge, P. M., Kleiner, A., Roberts, C., Ross, R. and Smith, B. (1994) The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook, London: Nicholas Brealey Publishing Senge, P. & Carstedt, G. (2001) Innovating our way to the next industrial revolution, MIT Sloan Management Review, Vol. 42, No. 1. http://sloanreview.mit.edu/the-magazine/articles/2001 [10 Nov 2008] Senge, P., Laur, J., Schey, S. and Smith, B. (ed.), (2006) Learning for Sustainability, Cambridge MA: The Society for Organizational Learning Inc.
DESIGN Designers are well-practiced in
problem-based thinking outside the box
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Set up my own Design Company (1982 – 2013) Designers are naturally optimistic and are good at information sharing, problem discussion and resolution. They have invented different ways of behaving and thinking. The problem is the present-day model of ‘design’, in all its forms is inadequate and continues to promote growth and consumption; ‘we can see the costs of this progress in ecological devastation, human and social fragmentation, and spiritual impoverishment’. Furthermore, the resultant gross material waste congests and obstructs earth’s living systems. Designers and advertisers have been brilliant at selling stuff but I always had a problem with the amount of ephemera etc. we produced. Everything focused on ‘owning’ and ‘watching’ and aesthetics in the main. Time to throw away the box and look at the space left behind!!
Designers are at the significant point of conjunction between technological and cultural worlds
Lewis and Gertsakis, 2001
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Packaging Designers: Interesting because they comprise Artists and Scientists that think very differently from separate disciplines. Question: Separate disciplines? Leonardo Da Vinci?
TEACH We are educating young people
for a world that has already ceased to exist
Porritt, 1996
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Teaching: Developed and wrote: HND/C Graphics and Packaging FdA/BA Graphics and Packaging UK Institute of packaging (IOP): Judging panel Question: What are we educating our children for? In the main - We are educating young people for a world that has already ceased to exist Education operating like big business, all about bums on seats, retention and targets
“the compartmentalisation of ‘the two cultures’ identified by Snow…will likely continue until some extraordinarily compelling reason exists to make consilience essential ” Wilson, 1998
• Question the interface between disciplines
• Question the interface between academia/industry
• Invest time in acquiring the tribal languages
• Stop confining to pigeon holes
• Advocate transdisciplanary • Examine and learn from a
‘third culture’
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Question: A third culture?
LEARN We must initially become
ecologically literate to achieve deeper learning and
deeper listening Capra, 2000
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‘MSc Sustainable Development’ with Distinction Dissertation: Bridging the Materials Gap: changing environmental behaviour? Decided to embed into curriculums: Eco-literacy Systems thinking ‘Materials awareness’ Curriculum development: BSc ‘Sustainable’ Graphics and Packaging. Capra, F. (2000) The Challenge of Our Time, Resurgence. No. 203, pp18-20. Publication: Watson, M. (2009) ‘Materials Awareness’ in The Handbook of Sustainability Literacy: skills for a changing world. Green Books: Totnes http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/stibbe-handbook-of-sustainability/chapters/materials-awareness
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Capra, F. (1982) The Turning Point, London: Harper Collins. Capra, F. (1996) The Web of Life: A new synthesis of mind and matter, London: Harper Collins. Capra, F. (2000) The Challenge of Our Time, Resurgence. No. 203, pp18-20.
Plastic products contain many toxic chemicals, including
persistent and bio–accumulative
chemicals
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New belief: From ‘Respect’ to ‘Reverence’ and wonder of how nature works.
This we know: the earth does not belong to man,
man belongs to the earth
All things are connected like the
blood that unites us all
Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely
a strand in it
Whatever he does to the web, he does to
himself
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Defining Value: back to my roots, core values and the web of life Will you teach your children what we have taught our children? That the earth is our mother? What befalls the earth befalls all the sons of the earth. How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?
Systems thinking They cannot be understood in isolation They are systematic problems …interconnected and interdependent
Capra and Pauli , 1995
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Systems thinking helps us understand the complexity of the world around us and encourages us to think in terms of relationships, connectedness, and context. Systems thinking holds the promise of unifying various fields of study that were formerly separated and ‘trancends disciplinary boundaries’. Capra, F. and Pauli, G. (Eds), (1995) Steering Business towards Sustainability, Tokyo:United Nations University Press
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Helpful to connect and mind map all areas of your life.
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Continual feedback loops and time to reflect. Collaboration and informal ‘learning’ networks will be essential.
TRUTH Tempered radicals are often the ones who speak ‘truths’ and raise issues
that have been suppressed Meyerson, 2001
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Defining recognition: Meyerson, D. E., and Scully, M. A. (1995) Tempered Radicalism and the Politics of Ambivalence and Change, Organization Science, Vol. 6, No. 5 pp 586-660
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Truth matters: State the REALITY and be true to myself… Tempered radicals are likely to think ‘out of the box’ because they are not fully in the box. As ‘outsiders within,’ they have both a critical and creative edge. They speak new ‘truths.’” Perhaps a tempered radical can never go home to one community and identity or another.
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Banksy: "We can't do anything to change the world until capitalism crumbles. In the meantime we should all go shopping to console ourselves.“
Tempered radicals? • Speak their truths, even when afraid • Have strong support networks • Have a bias toward action, especially “small
deviant actions” • Have clarity about and a laser-like focus on
their most important goals • Promote, through their example and advocacy,
experimentation and deep professional conversations
• Straddle the fault line between personal values and the dominant culture
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Essential Qualities: Wishbone (VISION of how things could be) Backbone (bravery and determination) Funny bone (to keep going!)
Realisation of the gaps between our vision and our reality will then allow us to transcend the gap between knowledge to action Capra, 1997
It will be a matter for small steps, but ‘small wins’ often snowball as they create opportunities and
momentum for additional small wins Meyerson, & Scully, 1995
Cores values can be put into action to provide leverage points where emergent change at the micro-level [can] shift the macro-dynamics of a system towards more sustainable practices Bradbury, 2001
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Capra, F. (1997) The Web of Life: A new synthesis of mind and matter, London: Harper Collins Meyerson, D. E., and Scully, M. A. (1995) Tempered Radicalism and the Politics of Ambivalence and Change, Organization Science, Vol. 6, No. 5 pp 586-660 Bradbury, H. (2001) Learning with The Natural Step: Action Research to Promote Conversations for Sustainable Development in Reason, P. and Bradbury, H. (ed.) Handbook of Action Research, Sage Publications
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Informal learning 2104: Making Waves Plastic-Free Festival Guide (for organisers) http://issuu.com/shambalafestival/docs/making_waves_plastic_free_festival_ Making Waves Plastic-Free Festival-Goer Guide http://issuu.com/rawfoundation/docs/making_waves_festival-goer_guide
We aim to: • Reduce the amount of plastic • Promote sustainable alternatives
