Have put together a post on People & Planet’s ‘Shared Planet’ conference for the DECC Youth Advisory Panel blog. A little less forthright than it may have been in a less public form, but it may be of interest all the same.
Shared Planet is an annual conference, run by student campaigning network, People & Planet, and is the largest of its kind in the UK. People & Planet are behind potent campaigns focusing on climate change and corporate power, translating into tangible success, especially with their ‘Transition Unis’ project, taking positive practical action to make university education more sustainability and their ‘Green League’, ranking universities by their level of sustainability. When the Youth Advisory Panel were invited to run a workshop at Shared Planet, we were therefore quick to take them up on the offer!
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The closing panel was of particular interest. It comprised five accomplished activists, including Aaron Porter, chairman of the National Union of Students and ex-People & Planet members, such as Jess Worth, co-editor of the New Internationalist. The panel spoke powerfully and managed to rally the attendees well - but at times seemed overly negative. To me the environmental movement is a very positive one that can bring much benefit to the world, and the importance of taking positive, practical, sustainable action cannot be over-emphasised. This was not something the panel discussed at all - even when I raised this issue of outlook with them - and it may limit the attraction of the movement to new people….
At #sharedplanet - pleased to hear of positive practical action w/ Transition unis - @peopleandplanet’s other campaigns seem very negative.
This guy talking about direct action at #sharedplanet reminds me of MC Devo. That is a good thing.
