Capturing autumn light

I was pleased with these pictures, taken in the Netherlands last weekend while walking with friends. The low afternoon light in the trees was beautiful.

Research methods - Denmark

Last week I visited Denmark again for the first time in just over three years to make a contribution to this course on Research Methodologies in Organic Food and Farming Research. My role was to give a bit of an overview and background to systems methodologies as well as getting students to try out a few techniques in the context of their own PhD research. We visited a highly diverse organic farm as part of the course so were able to draw on that experience also. The event was held in a hostel in the forest - simple rooms, log fires, lots of space - wonderful place for such a course and it was great to hear about all the projects going on and to be able to contribute a few ideas.

Doing things differently

Jonathon Porritt reflecting on the 'death throes of capitalism' and 'scary times' says:

"From a sustainability perspective, it’s difficult to exaggerate the significance of this moment. Depth-driven consumerism, underpinned by a corrupt, self-serving and unaccountable financial system, has been at the heart of 20 years of environmental devastation. It’s over. If we chose, we could now do things very differently once we’ve negotiated our way through the recession."

I'm sure he's right where there are cost savings to be made but history has shown that environmental measures that require investment don't do well when times are hard. There must be many different paths to take in the actual process of 'negotiating our way through the recession'. I find it hard to anticipate the systemic effects but like Porritt, think there'll be opportunities as well as problems.

Greece again

Yes - sometimes it does rain in Greece but I've seen enough rain in UK this summer so here are some brighter moments. The church is in Skopelos and the others are of the wonderful Pelion region we've been lucky enough to visit quite a bit these past few years, through our links with the University of Thessaly in Volos.

Gurkhas to stay in Britain

Looking around for some good news among all the doom and gloom I note that retired Gurkhas have won the right to stay in UK. Sounds as though it doesn't affect many and I can't pretend to know all the issues. But it seems to me an important point of principle that given history and the Gurkhas service to the UK, they be allowed to choose.

Illegal logging

I've recently engaged with the work of the Environmental Investigation Agency on illegal logging in Indonesia. I find I react strongly on hearing about some of the situations they've been investigating in Indonesia. I find it deeply disturbing to hear details of this sort of environmental crime including the sheer scale of it! Sobering also to hear how such products find their way to Europe in spite of many companies' stated intentions not to support unsustainable forestry. So it's cheering to hear the US start to extend its own wildlife trafficking legislation - the Lacey Act - to include timber, wood products and plants. This would in effect prohibit the import, sale or trade of illegally harvested wood products. Responsibility will therefore lie with importers, retailers and traders in the US, not just with those doing the logging. Whether the bill will go right through and how such legislation would work in practice remains to be seen. To me, it seems long overdue and I hope there will be pressure for the EU and UK to do likewise. EIA, as a campaigning organisation, are facilitating individuals to call for such action. They've drafted a letter that can be sent to local MPs.

Reason - its use and abuse

Thanks to David Chapman for the link to this interesting set of articles on 'why people hate reason' from the New Scientist. An impressive line-up of authors offering some very different disciplinary perspectives. Quite a lot of common themes among the different contributors discussed in the Editorial

"The first problem our contributors have identified is not with reason itself, but with its abuse. The second unifying theme among our contributors is the concern that science and reason are increasingly seen as providing not just scientific, technical and military fixes, but answers to everything that matters in the world. Some of our contributors bring a third charge: that even on its own terms, reason must own up to some serious limitations."

....though it's concluded that

"some of the expectations of reason are ...unreasonable."

In our Open University Environmental decision making: a systems approach course we consider different approaches to decision making, some very rational others much less so. We need all the approaches so I see rational and less rational means more as a duality than a dualism. A few years ago I became aware of precision farming approaches that enabled farmers to move from intuitive to more rational approaches and findings that farmers' decision making was actually highly rational. Having worked through a lot of environmental decisions where Simon's ideas of limited rationality seemed to resonate very strongly, this research made me think, as I was becoming used to claims that we need to value intuitive approaches more highly than the strictly rational. I agree we need to accept the limitations of reason but not sure I hate reason - its clearly got users as well as abusers.

The trap of conventions

I've recently been reading Michael Maniates' analysis - Individualization: Plant a tree, ride a bike, save the world - in which he illustrates very well how we are trapped in our thinking into doing what is familiar rather than engaging meaningfully with our ability to do things differently, which could mean fairly radical social change. He talks about it partly in terms of limiting our collective imagination. The need for this 'second-order' change - doing things differently - rather than 'first order', i.e. change that amounts to doing more of the same, came up again in reading George Monbiot's posting on the proposed coal-fired replacement of Kingsnorth power station. Monbiot explains that whether we prevent runaway climate change hinges largely on us stopping using this most carbon-intensive fossil fuel and that there are a lot of issues of practicality and cost around 'cleaner coal'. I was struck by the phrase from the power plant's proposer E.on in alleged correspondence with a civil servant that " the government has no right to withhold approval for a conventional plant”. Aaagh! In this day and age how can such an argument hold? In this context ....conventional, traditional or familiar...doesn't necessarily mean good!

It's still summer

A visit to Hidcote's wonderful gardens and sitting admiring an early evening Oakham sky reminded me it's still summer...which stuck at my computer I sometimes forget!

Environmental decision making books

Trawling through Amazon to find books on environmental decision making I might have missed, I noticed this one came in at number 6. Not exactly a user friendly description but a move in the right direction...and according to the record there's one left! :)

Emissions awareness

So nearly three out of four motorists don't know how much Co2 their cars emit, according to this article in the Independent. I'm surprised one out of four do - it's a bit like being able to reel off the details of how much gas and electric your household consumes rather than how much the bill comes to. Fuel consumption - yes, engine size - yes.....but perhaps like most of the British public, I've never owned a new car, when specifications are very much on show so it's in second hand markets that these details need to be available?

Wrest Park in July

Definitely a good day for Wrest Park today. Lovely to sit in the peaceful shade of its wonderful trees on this hot and humid July day.

Harvest

The year marches on. We hand over our Environmental Responsibility book at the end of the month to the publishers so a lot to do over the next few days. I'm conscious as I'm sitting at my computer of combines harvesting nearby fields well into the night. We've watched the crops grow from seed. I find harvest time quite exciting - the general transformation captured by this sort of site I think, rather than just the excitment of the big machines, though the activity is all part of it. Interesting to take a look at how some of the farming community views this time and at some of the Farmers Weekly site's blogs.

Government response to Environmental Education petition

The National Association for Environmental Education (NAEE) started a petition this Spring to put environmental education at the heart of the UK schools curriculum. A lot of people signed and we now have a response. Interestingly a decade ago is now thought of as something of a golden age in environmental education whereas there seems just as much if not more need today. Environment's in today's curriculum but not as much in the fore of some areas as it needs to be. Seems a contradiction of some of the statements coming from Government. I look forward to hearing about the promised 'sharper focus on sustainable development' from September 2008.

80 ways to celebrate World Environment Day

Today's World Environment Day - allegedly one of the UN's "principal vehicles for stimulating worldwide awareness of the environment and enhancing political attention and action. " They've identified 80 ways to celebrate and with my work hat on I note "Xpect environmental responsibility" is one of them. This year New Zealand have hosted the main celebrations, in partnership with UNEP.

The Great Glasshouse

It wasn't the brightest of days for our visit to the National Botanic Garden of Wales last Monday but we were passing and it was still very worthwhile. Norman Foster's 'raindrop' , the largest single span glasshouse in Europe, was impressive in its design, the interior design of 'the Great Glasshouse' was done by Gustafson Porter. Filled with mediterranean plants, on a cool rainy day it was a lovely place to be.

The cranes are back

Interesting to hear on Springwatch that wild cranes are back in Britain. There are recent pictures of them at Horsey in Norfolk on the Birdguides site. I've not known them here in my lifetime so think it'd be exciting if they did start to survive here once more. I wonder what might today be in their niche though. Is this trying to turn the clock back? Restoration or conservation?

Your majesty, please save us from ourselves

Monbiot's on form - with a letter to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia asking him to ignore our Prime Minister's request to increase oil production. He does point out a lot of contradictions and I'd be interested to see responses to this letter.

Environmental responsibility

We're in the process of developing a new course on Environmental Responsibility for next year, drawing out aspects of ethics, policy and action. Interesting how many different meanings are found in this term which I suppose is hardly surprising as there' s a large literature around different meanings of the constituent concepts of environment and responsibility. Interesting for example that we can be perceived to be responsible and irresponsible at the same time and that one person's expression of environment will be nearly all about biophysical factors whereas in another's biophysical barely features. For me there's often some big starting assumptions in evidence about what we can be responsible for and about the relationship between individual and collective responsibility...and whether legal or moral responsibility is in mind. Interesting paper from Alexander Dahlsrud who analysed 37 definitions of corporate social responsibility and drew out five dimensions: environmental, social, economic, stakeholder and voluntariness.

Even in Bedfordshire

...can hoopoes be seen...and a couple of red-footed falcons...allegedly. Nice pics from Steve Blain.

Making the connections

Interesting comment from Jonathon Porritt who was taking stock of how our sustainability and environment agenda has changed over the past year:

So, food security is back on the political agenda. Climate change is omni-present. Peak Oil is rising. The credit crunch is the new player on the block. Resource wars are looming. Rainforest destruction just won’t go away. Species loss is as bad as ever, but no one cares – for now. Water shortages are chronic.
But much, much more worrying are the linkages between all these notionally “separate” phenomena. The synergies, feedback loops, interdependencies. At long last, people are starting to make the connections – and are even beginning to link all those separate symptoms back to their root cause: today’s literally insane notion of getting richer by trashing the planet and screwing the poor.

Human behaviour and climate change

Phil Downing, Head of Environmental Research at Ipsos Mori, gave a seminar yesterday at the OU which I attended. It was part of a short series we've held over the past couple of months to explore what systems ideas have contributed to the discourse on climate change. Phil and his colleagues' work on public attitudes to climate change was of interest to us in terms of trying to understand multiple perspectives on our various systems of interest in the context of climate change. Two points he made that I found interesting from a systems point of view. One was 'rebound effect' - where people save money on say saving energy and then spend it on a flight to New York or a high energy using plasma TV. This is an example of an unintended consequence of an intervention. Reinforces for me that human behaviour isn't straight forward and can't be simply 'controlled'. The other point of interest was his mention of 'cognitive polyphasia' - where we can hold two conflicting beliefs at the same time. There's something illustrated there about ideas not being independent of contexts and the dynamics of our thinking and beliefs. Does make me wonder about interviews that aim to find out what people think though.

Feeding the world without destroying it

The International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) - set up to take stock of our knowledge, technology and policy, and help find a way to feed the world without destroying it - is due to report. Some interesting articles in 5 April's New Scientist about it including one from Janice Jiggins, who highlights quite a dilemma about 'transferred technologies' and those developed for particular contexts. The quote below is taken from that article, which can also be found here with the other articles.

"Scientists driven by the intellectual excitement of their work had difficulty grasping how a technology could be benign or harmful in different contexts....In general, however, there is a mismatch between the generalising nature of scientific and technological solutions that have to exploit market opportunities, and the obstinate specifics of farming. The assumption that external solutions can be effectively transferred to small farmers has often proved false. This has left too many farmers without access to science and technology, and a lot of technology irrelevant to farmers' real problems. Transferred technologies can even cause environmental or social harm. Conversely, knowledge and technologies originating from farmers themselves, or through civil society organisations working closely with them, are often so closely tailored to a particular context they cannot be applied generally."

Spring in Greece

Does consultation count as 'strong action now'?

Interesting piece in the Guardian climate change blog today from Bibi van der Zee. She comments on some of the anaomalies from this week's budget. To me this budget was rather pale green and a particular challenge for those of us advocating participation in decision making are the many proposed consultations announced. I share some of the concerns expressed in this article. Also not clear yet about the nature of these proposed consultations....a delaying tactic, political tool or genuine attempt to focus on the right thing?

Behind the costing of Heathrow's Third Runway

Well written piece here from Jonathon Porritt explaining some of the issues behind 'shadow charging' for carbon and DEFRA/DfT's mis-use of the Stern report figures in context of proposed third runway at Heathrow. Paul Ekins originally picked up on this.

A third runway for Heathrow?

I was invited to blog a piece by this title to accompany tomorrow's BBC Money Programme about the proposed third runway at Heathrow, much in the News this week because of 'Plane Stupid's' protest at the House of Commons and the Greenpeace protest at the airport itself . I'd question some of the assumptions behind this proposed decision. The decision-making approach adopted doesn't, to me, look systemic. It also highlights some very different meanings behind the term 'sustainable development'. I think systems approaches to decision making have something to offer in this kind of context.

Unintended consequences

George Monbiot's article, 'An Exchange of Souls' I found very chilling. He's highlighted the pitfalls of using cost benefit analysis in the context of climate change where human lives are at stake and challenged the assumptions behind working out the costs in monetary terms in Nicholas Stern's review of the economics of climate change. Besides claiming that subsequent analyses have shown that the government numbers are wrong, he seems to be saying that attaching numbers to environmental and social costs leaves open an option for others to argue that all costs of new developments can be outweighed purely in terms of economic benefits. The proposed third runway at Heathrow is his starting point. Monbiot's also recognising that this is an unintended consequence and that there's no way that Stern and his team intended the findings of their report to be used in this way. I've read this report and it makes all sorts of points about how these numbers should and shouldn't be used. Perhaps a salutary reminder that we can't control how people will respond to an analysis. Readers won't necessarily share the values of authors so can use it for different purpose. Monbiot concludes

I can accept that a unit of measurement which allows us to compare the human costs of different spending decisions is a useful tool. What I cannot accept is that it should be scrambled up with the price of eggs and prefixed with a dollar sign. Human life is not a commodity. It cannot be traded against profits or exchanged for convenience. We have no right to decide that others should die to make us richer.

Clean, green climate-friendly towns

I like Greenpeace's work on showing that we have many de-centralised energy options not just those we're going with at a national scale. Mainstreaming this kind of thinking seems to me to be one of the main challenges. Interesting animation here where they're urging us to 'Visit EfficienCity: a clean, green climate-friendly town'.

England in February

....can be splendid! These photos taken on a recent visit to Exmoor, stopping in Salisbury on our return.

UK 18 year-olds thoughts on the future

Interesting to see Jonathan Porritt's comments on the outcomes of an extensive 'future leaders' survey done by Forum for the Future with UCAS and all applicants to UK Higher Education. Quite a few comparisons across generations though I'm always a little suspicious of percentages that summarise what people think. Surely even when it's reported that "84% think that......" there must be a lot more diversity in thinking there?
According to the Forum for the Future site:

The survey paints a picture of a generation that is intensely aware of the big challenges facing the planet and eager to see broader social and political change, but which is less willing to adapt individual personal behaviour.

The survey results do, however, begin to highlight ways through this paradox. Respondents would like to see tougher action by government, business playing a positive role, and less of an obsession with material affluence.

Systems and Climate Change seminars - coming soon

What do systems ideas offer to help us understand and live with climate change? The Open Systems Research Group is exploring this theme in 3 inter-linked lunch-time seminars at the Open University on March 11th, April 15th and May 13th. Details can be found here.

Snowdrop hunting

Today I've been over to Anglesey Abbey on what has become a bit of a ritual for this time of year - hunting for snowdrops. The Great British Gardens site is a great help. Besides snowdrops, there's a wonderful winter garden at Anglesey Abbey - very clever planting for colours, contrasts, fragrances and shapes. I note from my old blog that my previous few years' snowdrop trips to Audley End and Benington Lordship were quite a bit later than this one. Does this mean we're in for an early spring?

I've become fascinated by snowdrops. They don't grow well in my garden so I'm not a collector but happy to just see them growing elsewhere. I love to see them flowering early in the year as the days just start to lengthen - a very cheering sign of spring to come. I also find interesting the stories people tell about them. From the Abbey's leaflet :

"Snowdrops ...have a long association with monastic sites and are linked with the church festival of purification....snowdrops cross-pollinate easily, so wherever there are a number of varieties present there is a good chance that some new types will develop. The Anglesey Abbey collection now contains over 170 varieties..."

And from the Audley End website some time ago...

“The common snowdrop has been known throughout Europe for centuries and believed to have been grown from earliest medieval times. Then the soldiers returning from the Crimean War (1853 – 54) brought back snowdrops (theGalanthus plicatus) in their backpacks and by 1891 snowdrop passion had taken a firm hold.”

Thinking on thinking

I deeply admire the writings of Sir Geoffrey Vickers who in retirement from public life wrote to make sense of his experiences. He served as solicitor, soldier, adviser to the National Coal Board and member of a great many public and professional bodies including the Medical Research Council. Looking through his 1970 book Freedom in a Rocking Boat this morning for some readings for students, I found his following comment thought provoking. For me, one of Vickers great skills is in how he captures the dynamics of life. In this introduction to his book he is striving to acknowledge those who have influenced his thinking:

....my sense of indebtedness leaves me dumb. Socialized and humanized by being claimed from birth onwards as a member of so many communicating human groups; ushered into self-awareness through a language, every word of which resonates with the meanings of ancient usage; heir to several cultural traditions, each far too abundant for my assimilation - how can I name or number or know the living and the dead who have shaped my thoughts and me?

Remarkable strength of spirit

I watched Channel 4's 'A Boy called Alex' yesterday. What a remarkable attitude to life he and his family showed. Truly inspirational.

Nuclear power?

So our Government's definitely backing a new generation of nuclear reactors. Very interesting to see the diverse views here about whether people feel this is right or wrong. To me it feels a bit like going back in time. When the first round were built it was partly because nuclear power was perceived as a cleaner cheaper option to other possibilities at that time. There was faith in the future that safe long-term ways would be found to dispose of their waste and health and safety issues were played down. As I understand it technology's moved on but we still haven't sorted the disposal of wastes issue nor some of the health and safety issues. Though many see little choice and think that nuclear weighs up well against other options and needs to be part of the solution to our energy supply problems. But if the true costs of the nuclear option were weighed up in terms of waste disposal wouldn't it compare less well with renewable energy options which would be my first choice?

Kenya - a complex situation

I had a New Year letter with a difference from a friend who has made her life in Kenya. Her story of the politics, emotions, relationships, movement of people and disruption of infrastructure she was experiencing highlighted for me how complex and serious the situation there has rapidly become. Also how variable it is from one part of the country to another and among different communities. Fortunately she feels herself to be in a relatively safe area. But she was highly critical of the international news coverage which she found far from accurate as journalists work to get their soundbytes, based on their own limited experience and interpretation of events. It has made me question the role and nature of journalism in such situations. It's one thing to let the rest of the world know what's going on but quite another to report without understanding the depth of the situation and without acknowledgement of complexity and variability, hence playing into the hands of one group or another. I wonder generally about the nature of the intervention and reaction of the international community. I'm really surprised to see such a turn of events in Kenya and I do so hope that the international community can learn from past occasions in Africa and help ease the situation, not polarise groups or inadvertently extend the conflict as it plays out in front of the world's media.

Carbon footprint & the New Year resolutions league table

I hear from this DEFRA page "According to a YouGov poll, just 15 per cent of Britons have resolved to reduce their carbon footprint in 2008, compared to 38 per cent pledging to lose weight and 20 per cent aiming to make more money."

I don't find this very surprising. It seems to me to echo wider priorities that come across in news coverage and Govt policy.

As the New Year starts

I remember life in Sierra Leone where at New Year people danced and sang 'Happy New Year me no die-o' just celebrating being alive for the start of another year. I love watching fireworks but increasingly the New Year displays around parts of the world seem a bit excessive, a competition among cities to out-blitz each other. To me they seem less celebratory about what really matters than the Sierra Leonean way. Still - some energy savings in the celebrations in New York I note.

Looking for 'environmental good news' to start the year took a bit of doing but I am cheered to think that travelling by Eurostar to Paris amounts to only one tenth of the environmental effects of taking a plane. In addition, according to this article, Eurostar offsets carbon emissions on that amount. I think this sounds great but given the huge recent re-construction at St Pancras do wonder a little where boundaries have been drawn on counting the costs.

Following the consumerism of Christmas in the UK I'm wondering if we all really have to go at the pace we do. If we all slowed down a bit and cut out consuming what we don't really value anyway and do say 80% of the consuming we're currently doing, I suspect for many of us our quality of life would improve a great deal. Schon's 'reflection-in-action' comes to mind as a way of achieving it.