Sound Of Sirens

‘If we’re going to move the arts’ response to climate change forward we need to create inclusive environments, to exchange ideas and  avoid duplicating our work unnecessarily.’

Statement of the RSA Arts and Ecology Centre Hub.

The RSA Arts and Ecology Centre is an organisation whose role is to catalyse, publicise, challenge and support artists who are responding to the unprecedented environmental challenges of our era. Using their inspirations, RSA Arts and Ecology aims to create a positive discussion about the causes and the human impact of climate change through commissioning, debate, interdisciplinary discourse and a high-profile website.

The Hub is a place where artists, academics, campaigners and organisations working on responses to climate change can connect, share resources and information, and find new ways to work together….check it out.

The great thing about the States is that beside the most ignorant politicians and the most unethical corporate system you will find a lot of people with a sense of self-responsibility and creativity who put ideas into action.

For example….

‘The Sustainable Living Roadshow (SLR) is a caravan of educators and entertainers who tour the country in a fleet of renewable fuel vehicles to empower communities and individuals to utilize sustainable living strategies for a healthier planet. Visiting k-12 schools, university campuses and community festivals across the United States, the caravan sets up off-the-grid eco-carnivals with experiential learning villages, featuring workshops, speakers and entertainment.’

Read into their principles and ethics, it’s inspiring! Have a look at the diversity of offerings/elements, it’s fun! Makes me want it to happen in Germany…

Video-tutorial:

And now - get real!

“LobbyControl ist ein gemeinnütziger Verein, der über Machtstrukturen und Einflussstrategien in Deutschland und der EU aufklären will.”

Sehr, sehr lobenswertes Projekt, welches aktive Aufklärungsarbeit in Form eines Blogs, Printpublikationen, Events und Studien leistet. Besonders angetan hat es mir natürlich die Studie über Greenwashing in Deutschland.

Ich wünsche mir viel mehr öffentliche Aufmerksamkeit bezüglich den Einfluss von Unternehmen und Marken auf Politik und Gesellschaft. NGO’s wie LobbyControl leisten meiner Meinung nach einen unschätzbaren Dienst - und sei es auch nur die Dokumentation. Ich bin sogar der Meinung, dass der Umgang mit Marketing aus Sicht des Konsumenten ein Teil der Schulbildung sein sollte. Auf Grund der enormen Vernetzung von Politik, Medien und Wirtschaft, sowie der rasant Ansteigenden Relevanz neuer und/oder alternativer Werbeformen wird es immer schwerer, tatsächliche Absender und Hintergründe von Informationen zu erkennen - und schliesslich soll uns ja die Schule dabei helfen, als mündige Bürger durch das Leben zu gehen. Naja, nur so ein Gedanke.

In diesem Zusammenhang möchte ich auch auf die Online-Aktion für Lobbytransparenz in Europa hinweisen, bei der es um mehr Transparenz in der europäischen Entscheidungsfindung geht. Macht mit!

Ok, this is about the media and its functions. Again: I do not claim to be an expert, call me a generalist, however, let’s see how far we get.

I’ll start with a quote of a beautiful essay by Donella Meadows, a professor, biophysicist, systems analyst, organic farmer, author, journalist and inspiration in the movement for sustainability. The essay is called ‘Dancing with Systems‘ and this particular part is about ‘Honouring and protecting information.’

A decision maker can’t respond to information he or she doesn’t have, can’t respond accurately to information that is inaccurate, can’t respond in a timely way to information that is late. I would guess that 99 percent of what goes wrong in systems goes wrong because of faulty or missing information.

If I could, I would add an Eleventh Commandment: Thou shalt not distort, delay, or sequester information. You can drive a system crazy by muddying its information streams. You can make a system work better with surprising ease if you can give it more timely, more accurate, more complete information.

First of all, I have to tell you that we had difficulties in deciding wether to write in english or german. Still have…So if any of you would like to know more or get some german input, let us know. Otherwise we’ll keep it english. We are in the process of meeting/exploring/exchanging with people working in similar areas or with similar interests, and there is a lot of great stuff happening in the UK, so here we go.

These are some of the activities on our list:

There will be a talk with Toni Spencer of the Schumacher College:
An Ecology of Making: A Community of Things
An exploration of crafts, design and the aesthetics of sustainability

a talk with Vandana Shiva:
The transformation of Societies. What comes after development?

There will be practical input like a pruning workshop, loads of permaculture and other projects to visit, we will participate in a Transition Town Training in Totnes and then head to London, meeting people from an acting school and more. That’s the rough outline. We will see what emerges around it…Maybe we’ll just enjoy spring for a minute!…

We’ll let you know about all that right here!…

Ok, what about make some time and bake some bread. Never done it? How does that work? Why put in all that time and effort, when you can just buy it at the corner? - Well, I think I won’t answer to that. What I can tell you is that there comes a whole package of sensations and fun with it…;-) I’m aware that it’ll probably cost more energy input than output if you count the quantifiable stuff. If you count the non-quantifiable stuff that’ll look different I think. Why not engage in getting some basic knowledge on the production of your own food. So here we go. Have fun…

Bake your own bread / prepare your own Sourdough Starter

Wholemeal flour
Water
Salt
(Nuts, Seeds, Olive Oil, Honey…)

Mix some spoons of wholemeal flour (rye works best) with some water and make it into a liquid paste
cover it, leave it in a warm place
Check it every day for four days, try to keep it the same texture
If it is warm enough after four days it will have bubbles due to fermentation
This is your starter

Preparation for 2 or 3 loafs/about 1,5 kilos of bread
The night before mix 1/10 of the flour (around 150g) with your starter, add some water and make it into a paste
Cover it, put it in a warm place, leave it over night so the yeast can spread
In the morning add the rest of the flour, water and some salt- and whatever else you want to add (some oil, nuts, seeds…)
Make it into a firmer dough then leave it covered for 2-4 hours in a warm place
If you want to keep some starter for your next bread separate some of the dough before adding salt and the other ingredients, put it into a jar and keep it in a cool place. It will keep at least for a week
Put the dough in forms, filling 2/3 of form, let it rise for 2-4 hours
Put in hot oven (240C) for 10 minutes then down to 180C for 30-45 minutes