What on Earth Issue 76

WHAT ON

EARTH FRIENDS OF THE EARTH SCOTLAND’S SUPPORTERS MAGAZINE

Issue 76 I Autumn 2018

Which climate future will it be?

WHAT ON

H T R A E T L A N D’S RT H S C O F T H E E A AGA Z IN E O S D N F R IE TERS M SUPPOR 18

0 Autumn 2 Issue 76 I

Friends of the Earth Scotland is: > Scotland’s leading environmental campaigning organisation > An independent Scottish charity with a network of thousands of supporters and active local groups across Scotland > Part of the largest grassroots environmental network in the world, uniting over 2 million supporters, 75 national member groups and 5,000 local activist groups

Our vision is of a world where everyone can enjoy a healthy environment and a fair share of the earth’s resources.

C O N T E N TS Annual Prize Draw

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Bringing Climate News to the SNP

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Friends of the Earth Scotland is an independent Scottish charity SC003442 What on Earth is published by and copyrighted to: Friends of the Earth Scotland 5 Rose Street, Edinburgh EH2 2PR T: 0131 243 2700 E: info@foe.scot W: www.foe.scot Editor: Connal Hughes Cover: Kerrigan & Alice give out copies of our climate newspaper at SNP conference. Photo by Ian Macnicol Design: Emma Quinn

Edinburgh’s Transport Transformation

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10 years of RBS campaigns

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What is ‘Popular Education’?

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The views expressed in What on Earth are not necessarily those of Friends of the Earth Scotland.

FoES accepts no liability for errors, omissions or incorrect data in advertisements.

If you would prefer to receive a digital version of What on Earth please contact us: info@foe.scot Printed on Cocoon silk 100% recycled paper

Photos: Top: Ian Macnicol / FoES Below: Ric Lander

WHAT ON EARTH AUTUMN 2018

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Director’s view Dr Richard Dixon, Director @Richard_Dixon Last month I had a rare trip to the House of Commons to give evidence to the Scottish Affairs Committee as part of their inquiry into the future of oil and gas. Several bits of the oil industry and a number of oily professors had made written submissions and given evidence in previous sessions.

Amazingly, not one of them made any meaningful mention of climate change. In an inquiry into the future of oil and gas.

I was speaking just two days after the publication of the much-anticipated and frequently-leaked report from the world’s climate scientists on the terrible state the world will be in at 1.5ºC of temperature rise, and how much worse things would be at 2ºC. They did say we have time to stabilise temperatures at 1.5ºC but only if we embark on a programme of “rapid, far reaching and unprecedented” change. They also said that what happens in the next decade is crucial.

The oil industry’s continued denial of the need for change is disappointing but not really surprising. But those who should be leading us out of this crisis are also in denial about the scale of change that is necessary. We went to the SNP conference to show them they faced an immediate choice – climate action or climate disaster.

Unlike many countries, we have the opportunity to act swiftly, because we have a Climate Bill in the Scottish Parliament right now. We could set targets which drive that “rapid, far reaching and unprecedented” change. Instead, the current plan is to do almost nothing more in the next decade than what was agreed in 2009 in the current Climate Act. Action on climate change means transforming transport, cracking down on plastic, shifting financial investments and fully banning fracking. We’ll be continuing to fight on all these fronts.

But those who should be leading us out of this crisis are also in denial about the scale of change that is necessary.

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News in Brief Planning: an uneven match As the campaign for planning reform gains momentum, we supported Planning Democracy’s stunt at the Scottish Parliament to highlight the need for an equal right of appeal for communities.

The Developers Vs Communities in the (In)Equality Cup football match saw communities playing uphill, into a bricked up goal while developers had much wider goal posts and a referee partial to their cause.

20mph Bill Green MSP Mark Ruskell has introduced a Private Member's Bill which would change the default speed limit in urban areas from 30mph to 20mph. These 20mph zones could make our streets safer and fairer for everyone using them, and are a vital part of the solution to air pollution. Gavin Thomson from FoES said: “Everyone in our towns and cities should feel comfortable walking, cycling, and playing in their area, and by slowing the traffic to 20mph we can help create safer, healthier, happier neighbourhoods.”

Keep it in the Ground Two new fossil fuel developments off the coast of Scotland show just how much work has to be done to break free from fossil fuels. In one week in September, Total announced a major gas discovery off Shetland whilst BP received approval to proceed with an oil field in the North Sea. Dr Richard Dixon commented: “The world cannot afford to burn even a fraction of the fossil fuels we already know about.

Fossil fuel firms should not be searching for and exploiting new reserves. This oil and gas needs to stay under the sea.”

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2018 Annual Prize Draw WITH MORE PRIZES THAN EVER!

Star prize: Two-night stay for two in Solus, Findhorn Win a stay for two people in a large room with mezzanine in a beautiful eco-house in the heart of the Findhorn Eco-Village. Solus (meaning “light” in Gaelic), was the first straw bale house to be built in Scotland. Enjoy the stunning Moray coast and explore the nearby Findhorn village.

Our Annual Prize Draw is a great way to raise money to support our work. You can purchase tickets yourself or sell them to friends, family or workmates.

Other prizes include: £50 Real Foods online shop voucher with free mainland UK delivery.

A one hour boat tour with Phoenix Boat Trips in Nairn, Morayshire with the chance to spot the dolphins and other wildlife.

A bear repair voucher worth £25 from Leith Toy Hospital. Because getting stuff repaired is good for the planet!

Bottle of Shackleton’s whisky. Inspired by the whisky brought along on Sir Ernest Shackleton’s epic adventure, this is a premium blended malt scotch that’s bold and rich.

Signed Limited Edition Print, ‘Lion Family’ by acclaimed wildlife artist Carol Barrett Bottle of The Woodsman whisky. Particularly oak-y, as you might expect from the name, with plenty of vanilla and nutty malt notes in tow.

Tour of the Cairn O’Mohr Winery, Errol, Perthshire …And many more!

You’ll find a booklet of tickets enclosed in your copy of What on Earth. To enter, send tickets and payment to: FREEPOST RRLR-KAGH-LYBS, Friends of the Earth Scotland, 5 Rose Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2PR For more tickets, please contact Kerrigan kbell@foe.scot Tel: 0131 243 2717. Or buy tickets online at www.foes.do/raffle2018 Entries must be received before Tues 15 January 2019 which is the draw date.

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FOES is Celebrating 40 years of campaigning

We continued our celebration of 40 years of Friends of the Earth Scotland with a summer garden party following our Annual General Meeting.

We were delighted to be joined by the Chair of FoE International, Karin Nansen. A founding member of Friends of the Earth Uruguay, she has worked side by side with peasant women, promoting agroecology and in defence of native seeds in Latin America.

Karin spoke about the work of the international federation and the great contribution of FoES to that work through the decades.

She praised our current work linking up with unions to talk about how we transition to a new economy after fossil fuels in a way that is fair to workers and communities.

Karin talked about the challenge of climate change, corporate power and environmental destruction but was firm in her belief, and the FoE network’s belief that: “The real solutions are coming from the people.”

Her inspiring speech also reminded us that our ability to do what we do should not be taken for granted: “Every day human rights defenders are being threatened and killed around the world.

We need to defend the rights of those who defend our environment and our rights.” She drew on the importance of linking environmental, social and gender justice in our work: “Women are often leading these struggles and bearing the majority of these impacts.”

We were also joined by our first full time Campaigner and later Co-ordinator Xanthe Jay who told us about what it was like working in an earlier incarnation of FoES; the camaraderie, the technology (or lack thereof by today’s standards!) and the hilarious stunts in a bid to get environmental problems into the newspapers.

While we haven’t won all the fights yet, our organisation and movement is stronger than ever.

All photos: Caroline Rance

One particularly memorable stunt involved sending a delegation of kilted young men accompanied by a piper down to Taplow, Buckinghamshire, to plant a miniature pine “forest” on Terry Wogan’s lawn in protest of his tax-evading investments in Scottish monoculture plantations – “the press absolutely loved it!”. What makes FoES campaigning effective, Xanthe said, was “a fearless indifference to the norms of good behaviour.”

Xanthe concluded with an impressive list of the achievements for the decade she spent at FoES but reminded us that: “It isn’t the single campaign successes that really matter, it’s the fact that over 40 years FoES has built a coherent and effective voice that speaks up for the wild spaces, the threatened rural communities, the children breathing noxious car fumes on their way to school, a voice that challenges the misuse of natural resources or disputes simplistic assumptions about economic growth.”

We were delighted to be joined in the audience by several FoES members who had been with us since our very beginnings in 1978.

They shared their tales of campaigns in the early years, including frustration over setbacks as well as joy over hard-won victories.

The afternoon felt really special, with a lovely message from FoES founder Mairi MacArthur, who couldn’t make it to the event, and lots of laughter and reminiscing.

While we haven’t won all the fights yet, our organisation and movement is stronger than ever – fit for the next 40 years fighting for environmental justice!

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Which climate future will Scotland choose?

Caroline Rance, Climate and Energy Campaigner @CaroRance On the day a shocking United Nations climate report revealed the world has a narrow and shrinking window in which to avert the most catastrophic climate change, we went to the SNP conference in Glasgow to present two different versions of Scotland’s climate future.

We produced and handed out a double sided newspaper, The International, dated 8 October 2040. On one side the paper celebrated Scotland reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, showing a greener, healthier country where people had benefited from climate action. It told stories of improved public transport, a boom in clean renewable energy and a better relationship with nature.

The other side showed a world where governments had failed to do enough on climate change, leading to food shortages, increased energy prices, transport chaos and widespread climate breakdown.

The UN report warns that this is the future we're currently facing, unless we urgently change track.

Which future will the SNP choose?

We handed our papers to delegates going into the conference, from party members to MSPs, MPs and Ministers. Members were clear on the future they want to see – climate action and a cleaner, greener Scotland playing our part to tackle this global issue.

But the Scottish Government’s new Climate Bill won't deliver that. The Bill, which was published in May and will now be debated in Parliament before becoming law, does not commit Scotland to doing our fair share to keep temperature rises below 1.5°C. It fails to live up to the Paris Agreement and fails to deliver on Nicola Sturgeon’s commitment to remain a world leader in the fight against climate change.

Crucially, the Bill’s proposed targets mean almost no extra action between now and 2030 than previously agreed in the 2009 Climate Act. This was written at a time when the world had yet to reach 1°C of warming, and the global agreement was only to limit warming to 2°C. The UN report states that what happens between now and 2030 is crucial. It’s therefore vital that Scotland’s new climate law does more to cut emissions in the next decade.

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All photos: Ian Macnicol / FoES

Climate scientists state we need rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society. Scotland must commit to cutting our climate emissions further and faster in the next few years. That means making the decisions now to strengthen the targets in the Climate Bill, and committing to urgently improving the energy efficiency of all Scotland’s homes and buildings, climate friendly farming and an immediate end to any new oil and gas exploration.

We’re standing at a crossroads and the Scottish Government has a choice to make, where will they lead the people of Scotland?

The UN report has spelled out what lies ahead if we continue on this path of fossil fuel use and political timidity.

The SNP Government must act to protect Scotland, to ensure we reap the benefits of the transition to the zero carbon economy and do our fair share of the work needed to avert catastrophe.

Decisions made this year by this government can ensure we can better protect communities and vulnerable people around the world and build a better, greener Scotland.

It is up to all of us to hold our politicians to account. If you haven’t already, please send a message to your MSPs via www.act.foe.scot/climate-zero-2040

You can read our climate newspapers at: www.foes.do/climatepapers

Thanks to each of you who donated to our recent climate appeal, enabling us to take this message to the SNP conference and continue to campaign for urgent climate action in Scotland. Your support is invaluable.

WHAT ON EARTH SUMMER 2018

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Getting active on climate

Photo: Esme Allen / SCCS

As the Scottish Parliament gears up to scrutinise the new Climate Bill, activists across Scotland have been busy campaigning and lobbying their MSPs for greater action on climate change.

We met over 400 people earlier this summer when, together with Stop Climate Chaos Scotland (SCCS) and Take One Action film festival, we put on 14 climate action workshops and 10 film screenings to help people get involved in the campaign for a stronger climate law.

It was inspiring to see so many people, young and old, experienced campaigners and new, coming together to make a difference.

Following the workshops many have gone on to meet their MSPs, and local groups have been organising events from climate justice workshops in Edinburgh, talks in Stirling, and a new Climate Action Network in Dundee.

Mass climate lobby In September, almost 100 people from all corners of the country travelled to Edinburgh to meet their MSPs in a mass climate lobby. MSPs from all parties attended, hearing from climate concerned constituents about the need for urgent action.

Showing public support for climate action is vital, and is already helping parties in Parliament to commit to better targets than the Scottish Government. Both the Greens and Labour support stronger action, while the Conservatives have said they will ‘push the Scottish Government to be more ambitious’, although they have yet to declare what targets they will support.

The Climate Bill will be hotly debated over the next few months, and together we can make sure it delivers the urgent action needed.

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The Transport Bill must deliver on pollution Photo: Bruce White / FoES

The Scottish Government’s Transport Bill could be a significant piece of legislation in the fight against air pollution, if MSPs make the right improvements to the Bill.

In addition to setting out the legal grounding for Low Emission Zones, the Bill includes new forms of bus contracts and a ban on pavement parking.

But some important measures are missing.

The current Bill allows councils to run services where there is an ‘unmet transport need’; in other words, they can service the routes private bus companies aren't interested in.

In practice, this would be another public subsidy, with councils running loss-making services while private companies cherry pick the busiest routes and reap the profits. This is fundamentally unfair.

With cash-strapped councils unlikely to run unprofitable services, it could lead to a continuing decline in bus passenger numbers and a corresponding increase in people forced to travel by car due to insufficient public transport.

We’re pushing for an amendment to the Bill which would allow councils to run their own bus services with no restrictions. In October, we protested outside Parliament, and spoke to MSPs about the importance of giving councils more public transport powers.

The Transport Bill also lacks a Workplace Parking Levy, and we’re pushing for this to be added.

A WPL gives councils the opportunity to charge employers who provide workplace parking to fund public transport and active travel infrastructure. The WPL has worked well in Nottingham, and councils across Scotland have asked the Scottish Government for the powers to deliver it.

If we improve the transport network, there will be a genuine alternative to car travel, and we will reduce harmful emissions. Moving more people from cars onto public transport is an essential goal if we want to improve air quality. We’ll continue making a big noise until the Transport Bill genuinely delivers what passengers need.

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A Car Free Day in Kelvin Way, Glasgow this year. Photo: CarFreeGlasgow

Can Edinburgh lead the way to clean air?

Gavin Thomson, Air Pollution Campaigner @gavinthomson With Scottish Government commitments for Low Emission Zones in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, and Aberdeen, we are eager to see ambition from Scotland’s biggest cities for clean air. After Glasgow City Council’s LEZ plans were so disappointing – making very little impact on air quality until far into the future – it was great to see Edinburgh showing more vision.

We have always argued that Low Emission Zones, in addition to being ambitious and timely, must work hand in hand with ideas that make it easy for car users to take a different transport option. This appears to have been taken on board in Edinburgh. The Council’s consultation on their City Transformation Plan includes a range of measures to encourage walking, cycling and

public transport use, alongside the LEZ. There are proposals such as charging points for electric vehicles, a city wide transport smartcard, and Car Free Days once a month.

Car Free Days are an idea that many European cities have used to create excitement about the public space that is given back to people when cars are kept out. One day a month, the city centre is closed to private cars. Often this day coincides with special events, such as a festival or a market, so there are cultural and economic benefits. Cities such as Oslo and Madrid have now moved to ban private car use in their city centres altogether, after many years of building support for active travel with fun, inclusive Car Free Days.

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We’ve been working hard to encourage Edinburgh residents, and people around Scotland, to respond to the consultation and make sure these great ideas don’t get watered down. Hundreds of you replied to the Council to show your support for these plans. We secured coverage across local and national media to ensure people understand the severity of the damage caused by air pollution and the urgency of reducing it.

These proposals are relevant to everyone across Scotland, because we need leadership from our local councils. Many policies which would cut air pollution are delivered by local authorities rather than national government. It would be great to

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see more Scottish councils exploring how they could prioritise walking and cycling, and create healthier, happier places.

Dundee and Aberdeen have yet to publish their Low Emission Zone plans, and we’ll be working alongside groups of pedestrians, cyclists, and people who are at particular risk from air pollution, to ensure they are as ambitious as possible. We hope the vision shown by Edinburgh in their initial plan leads other cities to think bigger and bolder.

If you’re in Dundee or Aberdeen and are interested to take action on air pollution, please get in touch: gthomson@foe.scot

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Photo: Ric Lander

Chaos and Creativity: 10 years of campaigning against RBS

By Ric Lander, Divestment Campaigner Environmental activists have spent years fighting oil spills, pipelines, mega coal mines and the chaos they cause. When a group of campaigners changed tactic and started following the money, at the end of the pipeline they found, more often than not, UK banks like RBS. Back in 2007 a shocking report was published by the group Platform. It found that RBS was responsible for considerably more carbon emissions than the whole of Scotland.

In response a campaign began, interfering with RBS’ freshers week promotions, ‘polar bears’ being arrested at RBS’ corporate HQ and the disruption of RBS’ glitzy annual general meeting.

Students passed successful motions to force

their unions to stop banking with RBS and Natwest, and to pressure their universities to follow suit.

As we now know the climate crisis wasn’t the only catastrophe RBS had been fuelling.

Investments in sub-prime mortgages and a series of foolish takeovers had left the Bank needing a £20 billion bailout – the first of many historically-huge handouts.

With the 2008 bailout RBS had become political, and campaigners were not ones to waste a crisis. Direct action group Climate Camp organised protests against the financial industry during 2009’s G20 meeting and brought hundreds of activists to camp on the back lawn of RBS’ HQ at Edinburgh.

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Photos: Ric Lander

In subsequent years, disrupting AGMs became something of an annual activity with meetings of the ailing bank used to draw attention to specific damaging projects RBS funded, such as the Alberta tar sands and Appalachian mountain-top removal.

Over time RBS funding for these projects has been wound down. In 2016, alongside a global downturn in oil and coal prices and RBS' general withdrawal from overseas investment banking, RBS announced its stake in fossil fuels had been dramatically cut and it pledged to end project finance for coal, arctic oil and the tar sands – a major campaign victory. But perhaps more important than policy changes at RBS was the way in which the campaign encouraged UK environmental and social justice organisations to think more critically about finance and the economy.

Student network People & Planet led this change and delivered success, launching a UK campaign for universities to go fossil free in 2013, and scoring their first victory when Glasgow University pledged to divest in 2014.

At time of writing almost half of the UK's universities have now divested, a dazzling achievement. Returning to high-street banks,

People & Planet called on Barclays to go fossil free, pushing them to sell their shares in UK fracking companies and taking the brave step to storm the stage of their 2018 AGM. Our “Just Banking” conference in 2012 brought speakers from trade unions to the Bank of England to offer remedies, including Move Your Money’s account switching campaign.

Scotland’s national debate on independence brought more radical proposals for reform to light, and Common Weal and FoES both pushed the agenda calling for RBS to be broken up and reformed into a network of ‘People’s Banks’.

This small alliance got backing from UK Labour and eventually the SNP announced the creation of a new national public bank. Public control of the banks is now firmly back in the political mainstream.

WHAT ON EARTH AUTUMN 2018

As long as UK banks remain so concentrated, so profiteering and so irresponsible campaigners will need to win reform before we can achieve all those other things we need for a healthy and fair future.

And yet there is much to remain hopeful about.

Occupations, theatre, research, lobbying, sabotage, solidarity, bold visions and coalition compromises: the creativity spawned within the campaign schooled a generation of activists in almost every campaigning tool in the box.

It made new connections between UK campaigners and those defending their land from fossil fuels around the world. It provided a focus for activist anger about the banking crisis and the cuts.

And it has spawned inspiring divestment campaigns which may prove the best hope we have of breaking the power that fossil fuels hold over our future.

Photo: Colin Hattersley / FoES

In 2016 former Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King warned: “Without reform of the financial system, another crisis is certain...

Only a fundamental rethink of how we, as a society, organise our system of money and banking will prevent a repetition of the crisis that we experienced in 2008.” And that was before Brexit.

Photo: Edinburgh People and Planet

There is still much to do to see UK banking become a positive force in the battle to resist the worst impacts of the climate crisis. It is also sobering to reflect that RBS – the bank which almost broke the UK economy completely – is still essentially unreformed and subject to much the same regulatory regime even after a decade in public ownership. The bailout offered climate campaigners an opportunity to reform RBS, but it required the UK Government to live up to its responsibilities as owners, and neither Brown, Cameron or May's Governments have done so.

The system remains on the brink of crisis.

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New Bank could help build a fossil free economy The Scottish Government is proposing a Bill which will establish a new Scottish National Investment Bank. This Bank was promised in the 2017 Programme for Government but it’s exact mission is still being debated.

Scotland’s economy remains deeply dependent on fossil fuels, the burning of which is driving devastating changes to the global climate. We need public investment to build a sustainable and fair economy and the Scottish National Investment Bank could provide it.

This new Bank could fund projects like big offshore wind developments, better public transport or invest in renewable heating schemes for our homes.

Not everyone thinks this way though.

The bankers who wrecked the economy would rather it funded business as usual and chased economic growth for growth’s sake. Pursuit of profits with no regard to the consequences of business practice has led us to the position we find ourselves in today of rampant inequality and environmental collapse.

This Autumn many of you joined us in telling the Scottish Government that the Bank’s lending should build the zero carbon economy we need by investing in projects like big offshore wind, better public transport and renewable heating for our homes. We’re calling for: > The Bank’s ethical lending criteria to rule out investing in poor employers and polluting projects. > The Scottish Government should explicitly rule out lending to fossil fuel projects and align the Bank’s activities with the Scottish Climate Change Act. > The vision of the Scottish National Investment Bank should be wholly focussed on providing finance for the move to a low carbon and inclusive economy.

With these commitments, the Scottish National Investment Bank could become just what we need to kick start a transition to a healthy, fair and fossil-free Scotland.

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Councils investing heavily in fracking, despite ban In September we made a splash in the news by revealing the shocking extent of local councils’ investments in fracking companies.

SNP, Labour, Green and Liberal Democrats voted for an effective ban on fracking in the Scottish Parliament last year and 60,000 people told the Scottish Government they wanted the practice outlawed. Despite this, our research, published with 350.org and Platform, found Scottish Councils had £972 million invested in companies fracking overseas. The money, invested through local government-run pension pots, means local councils are profiting from an industry that isn’t permitted in Scotland. £9 billion was invested across the UK and many of you sent messages to your local councillors protesting investments in fracking companies and fossil fuels.

Campaigners across Scotland are calling for change and it’s working.

In Edinburgh 15 local councillors recently came out in support from three political parties including the Lord Provost Frank Ross. Islington Council in London became the latest local government pension fund to pledge to divest completely from fossil fuels in September.

The fracking industry undermines global efforts to tackle climate change.

It threatens fragile ecosystems and scarce water supplies and is often forced through despite community objections.

If fracking is too dirty and dangerous for us here in Scotland we shouldn’t be trying to profit from it in other countries either. There are better ways to invest our pension funds and Councils should be living up to their climate change obligations, investing in clean energy solutions, not more fossil fuels.

Find out how much your Council has invested www.foes.do/divest-fracking

If fracking is too dirty and dangerous for us here in Scotland we shouldn’t be trying to profit from it in other countries either.

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Time to draw a line under fracking

By Mary Church, Head of Campaigns With the publication of a further consultation on the Scottish Government’s position on fracking, we inch closer to the final test of Ministers’ resolve on the issue.

The Court’s ruling in INEOS’s judicial review of the Scottish Government’s ‘effective ban’ on fracking made clear that there is no legally enforceable ban in place – rather we have a preferred policy position of no support for the industry. That policy must undergo a Strategic Environmental Assessment before Ministers can make a final decision on the matter, and it is a somewhat technical consultation on that assessment that will be carried out over the next 2 months.

It is highly unlikely that the outcome of this consultation will change in any significant way Ministers’ position not to support fracking.

But what is less clear is how they will chose to implement and enforce a position of no support going forward.

The current apparatus in place to implement the ‘effective ban’ could be overturned with the stroke of a pen, by this or a future minority Government. While this may be unthinkable in the immediate term, in the medium to longer term it is far from it: the Conservatives are vociferous in their support for fracking, while parties of all flavours have been known to change policy over time.

This is why for us legislation to prohibit the granting of new licenses for onshore unconventional oil and gas and revoke existing ones is essential. Both to draw a line under the issue of fracking for good and to send a powerful message about the direction of travel towards a fossil-free Scotland.

Email First Minister Nicola Sturgeon now to show your support for a full legal ban on fracking: https://act.foe.scot/sturgeon-fracking-ban

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What is ‘Popular Education’?

By Kate Whitaker, Young Friends of the Earth Europe Network Development Officer.

Popular education refers to a methodology that seeks to develop the ‘critical consciousness’ of learners. The techniques draw on the existing knowledge and lived experience that everyone has, and uses this to develop their understanding of seemingly complicated topics, such as global climate justice.

The methodology stems from the work of Paulo Freire, a Brazilian educator who developed the approach in contrast to the formal education he experienced, which he considered a form of control and domestication.

For the last four years FoES has been part of a Europe-wide project called ‘School of Sustainability’ based on using these techniques throughout our network to reach new people and deepen the learning of our trainings and events.

This project has funded much of our activism and youth engagement work and has also enabled us to engage with hundreds of new people through the popular education methodology.

This project has funded much of our activism and youth engagement work and has also enabled us to engage with hundreds of new people through this popular education methodology.

In celebration of that project and our learning, I would like to share with you a few of my favourite tools, which you may find useful. You can find many more tools, case studies and resources collected on the ‘Tools for System Change’ website: http://virtual.foei.org/trainings/

Keep in touch with Young Friends of the Earth Scotland @youngfoes

@yfoes

www.foe.scot/young

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Problem tree This is a great exercise for identifying the root causes of a problem and which aspects you may be able to tackle.

1) In a small group, draw the trunk of a tree.

Label this with the ‘problem’ you want to explore.

im

pa c

ts

3) When adding causes ask ‘but why does that happen’ to try and identity the deepest possible roots!

th e

the problem

2) Draw on the causes of the problem as roots and the impacts as branches.

the causes

4) Then assess the causes and discuss which ones you think your group may be able to tackle, bearing in mind skill level, resources and capacity.

5) You could then make a solutions tree where you put the identified cause on the trunk, the strategies to tackle it on the roots and the results of fixing this problem on the branches!

This exercise allows groups to explore the different levels of privilege and can open conversations around how this relates to different types of power relations within groups.

It can help start discussions on how the many aspects of someone’s identity intersect and can influence how they are treated and the opportunities they have access to within the group and in society.

Each person does the exercise individually and shares as much as they want with the wider group.

your own identity

do gr min ou a n p t

Problem flower

1) Each person draws a flower with three parts to each petal as shown.

2) Each participant writes an element of social identity, such as gender, sexuality, race or class on the inside segment of each petal. These can be predetermined by the facilitator, generated by the group or each person can choose their own.

3) On the next part of the petal, write the group you consider to be dominant or most privileged in your context.

4) On the final part of the petal, write what you personally identify as.

5) Once participants have reflected on their own flower, then encourage them to share as much as they wish with someone else.

6) Following this the facilitator can pose questions to the group about how peoples’ flowers reflect the power they have in different spaces, the general make-up of the group and what this has to do with your campaigning work.

element of social identity

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Membership matters ...yes, really!

From left, Adam Scott (FoE EWNI), Haf Elgar (FoE Cymru), Sanjay Singh (People’s Postcode Lottery), Kerrigan Bell (FoE Scotland), Bleddyn Lake (FoE Cymru)

Having joined Friends of the Earth Scotland recently, I can honestly say that it’s rare to find such a dedicated bunch of people working to bring about positive change in their communities, country and the wider world.

From crafting creative stunts to catching ridiculously early trains to ensure our climate message was delivered at the SNP conference on time, to the willingness to help others not just in the team, but the wider network, the FoES staff, board and volunteers regularly bring 110% to the cause.

But this is not about the gang in the office it’s about you, our wonderful members. Whether it’s coming to events and actions, signing petitions, writing to your MSPs, commenting on social media, or simply, quietly, supporting us with a monthly donation, the plain fact is without your tireless engagement and participation, we wouldn’t have achieved what we have over these past 40 years, nor have the influence that we do.

I took the opportunity to visit FoE Cymru recently, with Sanjay Singh from People’s

Postcode Lottery and saw first hand how their work connects with other organisations such as primary schools and social enterprises, as well as individuals. Meeting some of their members over lunch, I was struck by how being a part of FoE Cymru ties in with their sense of belonging, their values.

There’s an ongoing debate in the charity world around whether membership is in decline or not. But personally, I don’t see the need for community going out of fashion any time soon, especially in the troubling and turbulent times we are living in. FoES is one such community, and as members, you are all a part of it.

One of our tasks now is to find ways to grow the community, so that our network is stronger and more resolute, our voices heard even louder. So please join me in sharing what you get from being a member of FoES with your family and friends – maybe it will inspire them to sign up too! I look forward to meeting more of you in the months ahead.

Kerrigan Find a Local Bell is Group FoESnear Development you www.foe.scot/local-groups/ Manager, kbell@foe.scot.

WHAT ON EARTH AUTUMN 2018

Your legacy, Scotland’s future We take so much from the planet during our lives, it seemed like the right thing to do to give something back for future generations

Thanks to the support of thousands of people like you, for the last 40 years we’ve helped protect and defend Scotland’s environment.

We need to keep campaigning on issues such as air pollution, climate change and plastics and continue to be Scotland’s leading voice for the planet.

After providing for your loved ones in your will, please consider leaving us a share of what is left and help turn the vision of a healthy, fair, fossil-free Scotland into a reality.

Leaving a gift in your will is easy, simply visit www.foe.scot/legacy or contact Kerrigan on 0131 243 2717 kbell@foe.scot for more information.

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FOLLOW YOUR HEART - USE YOUR HEAD