T
he unpleasant treatment nature has received so far once again was brought to the fore recently, as trainers, activist and volunteers from SCI branches and partners met in Lagos-Nigeria for the camp coordinator training: Lead for Nature in and with Peace, hosted by Voluntary Workcamps Association of Nigeria (VWAN), to ascertain the threat of human induced climate change and to extrapolate ways and practices that can promote a climate that supports peace. We can identify on the global picture that communes in the so called ‘Global South’ are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change while they have little financial and technological means to offer more resilience to climate change, holding the training in Lagos is seen as a way to promote volunteering as a way for young people within the local context to raise their voice on climate issues in their local communities, also to be heard globally and seen in their communal struggles with the impacts of global warming. SCI is sowing solidarity among its worldwide network, the Create a Climate for Peace campaign is initiated to concert and dedicate many activities in response to the biggest challenges of our time. On the theme of the training - “Young Citizens Building Global Communities – Lead for Nature in and with Peace” there is a clear statement of the idea of the Create a Climate for Peace Campaign within SCI, many young people who participated in the training are involved in the worldwide campaign through various follow up Workcamps/local activities that aims to encourage more eco-friendly lifestyles, while also stimulating more awareness of global climate issues through online and offline platforms. At the end of the year we
will be able to connect the dots of all the Workcamps and activities that is held within frame of the campaign at the visibility event taking place in Poznan-Poland, during October 8-12, 2014; several activities connected to the campaign that have taken place worldwide will be exhibited and evaluated. There is the need for everyone to raise to the challenge of climate change, this need cannot be over emphasized, the future of the earth’s climate (our home) depends on how quickly and effectively people can substantially reduce those activities that are warming the globe, since further greenhouse emissions will have much more devastating consequences on future generations. We have to advance in our relationship with nature (the natural world) and quit, or as the case may be, reduce lifestyles that continue to violate our natural environment. Create a Climate for Peace campaign presents a call towards Climate Justice and Peace for all and sundry. The training has over-seen a convergence of young SCI activists from across the globe to engage in methods and be equipped with insights to lead sustainable follow-up activities in their local community with their local organisations under the framework of the Campaign. Participants were engaged to critically assess their roles as future camp coordinators and as earthlings. The main aims of the training course are: • • •
To empower young people to lead and facilitate community youth projects as part of peace work To help young people to gain a new and improved appreciation of nature and to understand that by respectfully treating nature social justice and inclusion can be strengthened To deepen young people’s understanding about the nature and dynamics conflicts and giving them practical skills and tools to transform conflicts in youth work and learn from them
The methodologies employed by the trainers did not addresses only the environmental aspects of climate justice, also the awareness of its social and economic dimensions was triggered by the use of experiential methods and workshops in the microcosm of global tendencies to strengthen the pedagogical and practical aspects of the course. Facilitating collaborative participation was central to the sharing of knowledge and experiences among the pretty much diverse group of participants; this provided a platform for cross learning between the duality of North and South. The training was also about exchanging best practices, successful stories and solutions from already existing practicable examples across Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe, about how other individuals and organisations have been able to work sustainably for climate justice and peace. It is glaring that living sustainably would imply a radical shift in some of our attitudes and choices, the context we live in may already pose a challenge, just as we experienced on the training: a common idea is to promote the use of less fossil fuel based products and shift more bio degradable , on the contrary almost everything in the local market is packed in layers of plastic, confronting these realities and finding more climate positive solutions was the subject of much confab, from which we can draw more inspiration for our present and future actions to support and sustain an climate friendly approach to our consumer choices. During the training visit was made to a local project Permaculture Forest Garden in Badagry-Lagos, to gain practical experience within a best practice community.
According to Nnimmo Bassey of Environmental Rights Action Friends of Earth Nigeria; “Africa is in the line of fire of climate impact�. The impacts are already being felt if we look closely; the rising temperatures, crop failures, desertification, floods, succession of heat waves, coastal erosion and shift in rainfall patterns we experience results to more ecological hazards, conflicts over resource, IDPs, climate refugees and other chains of ominous events that continuously threatens. As these impacts are oscillating to intensify we can expect more adverse effects if we fail to break the reliance of our economic development on fossil fuel to advance towards more sustainable energy sources, change the way we currently consume to being more conscious of our choices. In the overview, it is obvious that the existing policies, programmes, actions and measures by governments and institutions are insufficient to address the level of risk posed by climate change. We see the need for everyone to respond with a positive attitude - through sustainable living, practices and activities to mitigate the effects of global warming.
Author: Femi Aganran 2014