Friday, 10 February 2017
STAY TUNED FOR OUR 2018 RE-FRESH
Saturday, 27 August 2016
A picture can show a story of inequality- Amy, Innovation and Infrastructure Ambassador
Earlier this year I had the privilege of spending 6 weeks travelling in Canada and the USA. One of the places my husband and I visited was Atlanta, home to Martin Luther King Jr, now home to the MLK National Historic Site and the newer National Center for Civil and Human Rights. Prior to visiting Atlanta, I had some understanding of the black rights movement based on years of watching movies and reading the New York Times over the past few years as the Black Lives Matter movement has had to become prominent due to ongoing racial injustice. However, our visits to these centres focussing on the work of the movement in the 50s, 60s and 70s to fight and end segregation in the South of the USA changed my understanding of what the people involved experienced and the level of hatred that was shown people wanting to make the world a better place.
Both places told the story of segregation in different ways. One, from the life and work of Martin Luther King; the other from the reflections and views of the movement and the people doing the work of the movement. There were pictures, there were videos, there were stories of protesters being hosed down with fire hoses, of dogs being set on people, of people being spat on and sworn at. All of this hate had continued from a time when people were stolen from Africa and forced to work in inhumane conditions for ‘owners’ who saw them as animals to make them money. Slavery was officially abolished at the end of the USA Civil War in 1865, but there were no provisions given to providing the former slaves with land and jobs so that they could feed themselves and their families. This meant that many were forced to continue in an unofficial form of slavery working for their former masters under very similar conditions. The inequality continued, and the slave owners, who lost a lot of money in the civil war, saw the former slaves as the reason for their misfortune. Over time, their hatred became law as the former slave owners were the ones with money and power in a very unbalanced society. These laws were known as segregation. Black and white people had separate bathrooms and drinking fountains, in many cases separate restaurants. They weren’t allowed to travel in the same train carriages and had separate sections on buses.
There was one photo that has particularly stuck in my mind.
It is a picture of two school housed on the same road. One is for black
children, the other is for white children. They were not allowed to go to the
same school. The school for white children is a lovely, well-kept building with
an area outside for children to play in. The school for black children is a
rundown shack which gives the impression of wind whistling through the cracks
and it being very hot in summer. Federal law in the USA at the time said that
all children had to be provided with an education. Law makers in States with
segregation in place said they met the federal laws by having separate, but
equal schools. This picture clearly demonstrated to me that this was not the
case. Black children were severely disadvantaged by their schools. While the
white children were given up to date facilities, the black children were left
with old, falling apart buildings. All were given the opportunity to go to
school, but that school experience was not equal so their ability to learn and
make something of themselves was not equal. So while it is important to
acknowledge that great things can be done with limited resources, it is also
important to acknowledge how much harder it is to do great things with limited
resources. Inequalities, such as different standards of buildings, can continue
to deepen inequalities in society and make it much harder for the people with
less to fight for equality.
Tuesday, 9 August 2016
The impacts of climate change on the world’s indigenous people- Ashleigh
Indigenous communities are some of the first people
to be experiencing the effects of climate change. This is because
many indigenous groups depend on the natural environment for their way of life,
and have a close relationship with their environment. As such, these
communities are often the first impacted by floods, droughts, and other extreme
weather events. They are also some of the lowest contributors to
greenhouse gas emissions, as many indigenous peoples live in developing
countries. However, indigenous peoples also have very limited
access to the kinds of resources that would help them cope with a
changing climate.
Despite being amongst the most
severely impacted, indigenous peoples are rarely
considered in the public climate change discussion, and are
continuing to push for the right to participate in international
decision-making. Indigenous communities are feeling the impact of changing
climate world wide. Different communities experience different impacts, but
climate change is touching all.
South America: The Kamayura
of the Brazilian Amazon have already
been severely affected by climate change. Their homeland, encompassed by the
Xingu National Park, is now surrounded
by farms and ranches. The fish stocks that the Kamayura relied on have plummeted due
to higher water temperatures in jungle lakes, and rainfall has diminished
because of increasing temperatures. The tribe has no transportation out of
their homes deep within the jungle, and little money, to buy food to replace
what they used to get from the land. Farming has also been a problem -
the lack of water has killed many crops. Elders have compared the threat from
the changing climate to that of the arrival of measles in the 1950s, when the
disease wiped out 90% of their people.
Europe & the Arctic Circle: The Saami
people live in northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Russia and survive by
fishing, hunting and herding reindeer. Reindeer are an important part of the
culture, food supply, and economy of the Saami communities. However, harsher winters have created
hard ice crusts over the lichen that the reindeer dig through the snow to eat,
which then caused a large loss of reindeer. The changing climate is also making
frozen lakes unsafe as the ice is unreliable, which is forcing Saami herders to
change herding routes they
had used for generations. Have a look at this short video (only 1 minute and 6 seconds!)
to hear a young Saami woman explain what the changing climate means for their
way of life.
Africa:
Traditionally the Maasai people have been pastoralists and nomadic cow-herders,
both of which are at risk from the impacts
of climate change in the Serengeti. The climate is becoming drier, with short rainy
seasons, giving grass little time to grow, and the Maasai cow herds little to eat. Their
nomadic lifestyle has become very limited by property
rights, increasing populations, and national parks, which prevents the Maasai
from moving to more suitable climates as past generations would have done.
North America: The
National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Perry Bellegarde, has
commented that indigenous peoples not only have rights, but
responsibilities to the land and water. Eriel Deranger, a grassroots
indigenous activist of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, discussed
the historical lack of consultation by government with Aboriginal peoples
regarding climate change policy at the
Indigenous Peoples Meeting on Climate Change in January 2016. However,
speaking at the UN Conference on World Climate Change in December 2015, Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau made it clear that his
government would be turning to indigenous peoples for advice on properly caring
for the environment.
Australia: There are hundreds of different nations, each with
unique cultural practices, beliefs, and languages. However, traditional Owners
are concerned that climate change will impact their totems, which are
used to recognise different groups and are an important part of cultural
identity. Totems can be represented by animals and plants, which may be
affected by climate change. The Climate and Health
Alliance has reported that
indigenous Australians have shown higher risks of respiratory illnesses and
emergency medical care from air pollution and heat waves, as well as high rates
of mental illnesses related to losing lands and culture because of climate
change. To find out more about what young indigenous people are doing to fight
climate change in Australia, check out Seed, Australia’s first indigenous youth climate justice network.
Asia: The traditions, generational
knowledge, and subsistence lifestyle of Orang Asli, the indigenous groups of
Malaysia, are
threatened by climate change. Orang Asli make up nearly 12% of
Malaysia’s population - that’s 2.1 million people whose culture and livelihoods
are at risk due to climate change. The Temiar people of eastern Malaysia are severely
impacted by deforestation, which is itself an important cause of climate
change, as well as by its immediate impacts. The Temiar have a deep respect for
the natural environment, but their land rights are not usually acknowledged.
Logging has reduced local water supplies, prevented hunting and gathering
traditional medicines, and seen burial lands disturbed.
Across the globe, indigenous peoples
are under threat from climate change. Food sources, health, and traditions are
all at risk for cultures that have lasted longer than most of our countries.
Share with us what you would like to see your government do to support
indigenous communities in your country with the impacts of climate change. What
would you like to see the world do to support all indigenous communities under
threat from a changing climate?
Wednesday, 20 July 2016
So what are goals 11 and 12?
Thursday, 14 July 2016
How can sustainable cities help us all? Ashleigh.
Monday, 11 July 2016
World Population Day
Saturday, 11 June 2016
Climate Change is limiting our chances of a Peaceful World - Jasmine, Peace and Justice Ambassador
