What are the credible alternative to the existing financial system?

Financial markets, we are told, are the lifeblood of our society, which is why governments across the globe have gone to such enormous lengths to prop up failing financial institutions. However is the economic crisis really over? Is the ‘business as usual’ mentality destined to produce more of the same instability? What plausible alternatives to the current system are there that would promote employment, social and environmental equality, whilst ensuring the economic stability we require?

Bringing together some of the leading voices in alternative economics including Ann Pettifor, Hazel Henderson, Tessa Tennant, Julie Richardson and Nathalie Buschor. This course will cover macroeconomics as well as the experiences of those working with money and investments on a daily basis. The course will uncover the myths and flaws that surround the current banking system, before drawing on the wide range of ideas and experience to explore how a new economic dawn could really lead to a fairer robust system that supports and serves the interests of communities and ecosystems.

Ann Pettifor recently featured in The Observer magazine as one of six pioneers in green thinking. Her work and writing has concentrated on the international financial architecture, the sovereign debts of the poorest countries, and the rise in sovereign, corporate and private debt in OECD economies. She is well known for her leadership of Jubilee 2000, an organisation that placed the debts of the poorest countries on the global political agenda, and brought about both substantial debt cancellation, and radical policy changes at national and international levels.

Hazel Henderson is a world renowned futurist, evolutionary economist, a worldwide syndicated columnist, consultant on sustainable development, and author of Beyond Globalization, and seven other books. She sits on several editorial boards, including Futures Research Quarterly, The State of the Future Report, and E/The Environmental Magazine (USA), Resurgence and Futures (UK).

Tessa Tennant is Executive Chair of The Ice Organisation myice.com, an environmental rewards programme. Tessa co-founded the UK’s first equity investment fund for sustainable development in 1988, the Merlin (now Jupiter) Ecology Fund. She was Chair and co-founder of the UK Social Investment Forum uksif.org and of the Carbon Disclosure Project cdproject.net where she is now a Trustee.

For more details click here: http://www.schumachercollege.org.uk/courses/rethinking-finance-good-servant-bad-master

Email:admin@schumachercollege.org.uk

Tel:+44 (0)1803 865934

Schumacher College, Dartington is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

This one’s going to be controversial! This is my take on the most common mistakes volunteers make – BEFORE, DURING and AFTER volunteering.

I want to precurse by stating clearly that I believe the vast majority of people who choose to volunteer are doing so with the best of intentions. Our work at people and places brings us into contact with some pretty blooming marvellous people – some of whom may have made one or two of the following mistakes – some of whom made none of them -oh shut up and get on with it Sallie -

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Newly refurbished, Swallow Barn is a chic two storey barn conversion at Bodrifty Farm. Our hundred acre organic hill farm and nature reserve is surrounded by gardens, woods and fields leading up to the stunning West Penwith Moors. You’ll have access to a large lawned area and the farms’ fields. Walk up the fields and visit Bodrifty Farm’s scheduled ancient Iron Age Village, one of the most important sites in Western Europe, and then carry on the Tinners Way ancient trackway to The Gurnard’s Head for lunch. We provide an honesty bar from the local award winning Polgoon Vineyard down the road, and some provisions to get you started. Fresh vegetables, herbs and salad leaves grown in our polytunnel are available to buy in season. http://www.organicholidays.co.uk/at/2971.htm

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One of our main suppliers in India – Freeset Global- has been awarded full membership of the World Fair Trade Organisation.

In 2010 Freeset gained provisional membership of the WFTO and in 2011, full membership has been awarded.

As an established social enterprise Freeset has been committed to fairtrade principles and practice. Not only are fair wages paid but the business deliberately focuses on employment for women who have been trafficked and exploited by prostitution.

When buying Freeset products, you know that fairtrade is at the heart of the business and that the Freeset employees are at the heart of the business.

Well done Freeset!

For Freeset’s custom printed bags visit www.freesetbags.co.uk and for their range of retail bags, visit http://www.globalseesaw.co.uk/ethicalstore/brand/freeset

Freeset is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

The hotel overlooks an azure lake below the picturesque pueblo of Zahara de la Sierra. We have four ensuite lake view guest rooms above our country restaurant. The menu at Al Lago brings the traditional Spanish kitchen into the modern day, using locally sourced ingredients to recreate rustic Andalucian cuisine. Our lettuces, berries and vegetables, grown in the huertas surrounding the village, are largely organic. This idyllic village is famous as a producer of cold pressed organic olive oil. Visits to the organic oil producer and historic hydraulic mill can be arranged during your stay. Al Lago is situated in the middle of the Grazalema protected parkland, teeming with rare birdlife and awash with wild flowers in spring. http://www.organicholidays.co.uk/at/2970.htm

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Father’s Day is 19th June this year and we have a few gift ideas for you that are ethical, fun and a bit different.

We know Dads can be really difficult to buy for, so maybe we can give you some inspiration

Pucket wooden table game – NEW

This is a great gift for Father’s Day and is fun for all the family. “It’s wooden, noisy and you get to ping things. Brilliant” – Time Out, London. Players race each other to clear the discs (“pucks”) from their side of the board by catapulting them through a small hole leading to the other side (the “gate”). Any pucks that arrive on your side must be sent back before you win. These Pucket games are hand-crafted in India from sheesham and haldu wood and come complete with a cotton bag for the pucks, and pegs to adjust tension on the elastic.

This may be the perfect gift for the Dad that has everything, and will surely come out again and again at Christmases and parties for years to come. It is £49.50 with free standard delivery to the UK.

Maybe Dad’s study needs a bit of sprucing up with a few well chosen accessories? Our Timu leather journals are gorgeous, useful gifts that can be used as notebooks, diaries or even photo albums. Or perhaps he would like some stylish red soapstone bookends to keep those books in order on the shelf? Or he may need some aluminium coasters to stop those drips marking his desk?

Does Dad have a favourite armchair that has seen better days? Why not hide some of that threadbare upholstery with a cushion? We have a few cushions suitable for men that will make relaxing in the evening just a little more comfortable for him. Prices start at £18 for a complete cushion.

And if all else fails and you end up going for a mug, again, make it a fair trade mug. With maybe a matching egg cup this year? Prices start at just £3.

Fairwind is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Chris Huhne announced in May, a UK wide commitment to halving carbon emissions by 2025, from 1990 levels, along with plans to radically change the way that the country produces energy, reports the BBC.[1] This announcement makes the UK the first country in the world to have declared a “legally binding” target on greenhouse gas emissions beyond 2020.

Part of these plans involves the UK having to cut carbon emissions in half by 2027.  Allen & York have explored how this is being put into practice by organisations around the UK.  Their in-depth interview with Paul Hinds, the Head of Sustainability at Natural England, outlines how they went about reducing their carbon emissions of its business travel and estate by 50% by the end of 2010.

Questions we asked Paul Hinds

1) What factors have leaded you to the desire and action of decreasing carbon emissions by 50%?

2) What do you believe the long term impacts on Natural England will be as a result of reducing carbon emissions by 50%?

3) As the Head of Sustainability, have you had experience of reducing carbon emissions within business by a significant amount before?

4) How will you reduce carbon emissions by 50% at Natural England?

5) What is the process involved in reducing carbon by 50% at Natural England, for example how long have you been working at this?

6) Are you on target so far?

A&Y: What factors have leaded you to the desire and action of decreasing carbon emissions by 50%?

PH: The organisation was formed in 2006 to be the adviser to the Government on the natural environment.  As an advocate of mitigating carbon we felt we had to ‘walk the walk’ as well as ‘talk the talk’ hence we set a very ambitious target.  We also wanted to demonstrate that carbon could be reduced without the need to either offset or pass on the carbon burden to our customers, stakeholders or employees.  We also wanted to demonstrate that carbon reduction brings significant financial benefits as well as productivity and work-life balance benefits to our staff.

A&Y: What do you believe the long term impacts on Natural England would be as a result of reducing carbon by 50%?

PH: We have instilled a ‘low carbon culture’ in the organisation whereby everyone now questions the carbon costs of decisions and actions in much the same way as they would consider the financial costs.  As a result we take a more balanced approached to how we do our business but continue to maintain our levels of customer service.  Whilst this is a hugely significant achievement, it is the first step towards the agency being a truly sustainable organisation.  We are now looking at the environmental impact of our suppliers, commuting, waste etc. and will be setting targets later in the year.

A&Y: As The Head of Sustainability, have you had experience of reducing carbon emissions with business by a significant amount before?

PH: I have previously worked for organisations and led partnerships with carbon reduction goals, but nowhere near as ambitious as 50%.  This is what attracted me to the job in the first place, particularly as most of my peers at the time thought I was setting myself up to fail!  Prior to joining Natural England I was more involved in the strategic development and influencing side of environmental management, both working with collaborations between private business and the public sector as well as lobbying within Whitehall.  The job offered me the opportunity to show that, like Natural England, I could both ‘walk the walk’ as well as ‘talk the talk’.  On a personal level I have reduced my carbon footprint by well over 50% as a result of cycling and using public transport more and becoming much more energy conscious around my home (despite 3 kids with a fascination for light switches!)

A&Y: How will you reduce carbon emissions by 50% at Natural England?

PH: Through a combination of energy efficiency and ‘right-sizing’ our offices, giving ownership of carbon to our staff whilst providing them with the support and tools needed to work in more sustainable ways and strong leadership from our senior decision makers. My role has been very much about facilitating these programmes of work which has varied from rolling up my sleeves and pouring over endless spreadsheets of data to presenting to the Board.  To use a football analogy it has been very much a ‘Player manager’ role with me both managing people to deliver whilst also delivering myself.

A&Y: What is the process involved in reducing carbon by 50% at Natural England, for example how long have you been working at this?

PH: There is no distinct step by step process in the delivery as a lot of things have to be delivered concurrently.  However, for us, the most important area was getting the data right – both the methodology and the timings by which we report our carbon emissions.  This was important for two main reasons;

1. Because we are an ‘evidence based’ organisation with lots of very clever people who immediately challenge any data they don’t feel is right

2. We wanted our staff to ‘own’ as much of their carbon footprint as possible, so accurate and regular reporting on how successful they were in reducing their carbon footprint was essential in order to maintain buy-in.

If we couple this with the commitment of our senior management team to reduce their own individual travel carbon footprints (thereby showing that we are all in it together) with the organisational dialogue we have created with our staff, then we have created a strong base on which to achieve our savings.

Our methodology follows Defra’s published guidance and uses its emission factors and is accredited to the Carbon Trust Standard and has been audited by PwC. We use utility bill data to calculate and monitor our estate energy carbon emissions, but have begun to move over to real time monitoring of our offices

The largest proportion of our 2007 footprint and the biggest opportunity for carbon saving has been through improving the energy performance of our estate.  We have closed and moved from inefficient offices to more sustainable locations and also encouraged our staff to realise the work-life balance benefits of flexible working and touchdown centres rather than commuting to a Natural England office on a daily basis.

We have established a system that quantifies the emissions of working at home to ensure that we are not passing on the carbon burden to our staff when working in a flexible way and we are supporting staff in improving the energy efficiency of their homes by providing advice on insulation, behavioural change and grants.

A&Y: Are you on target so far?

PH: We have already made considerable progress with a 48% reduction (as of the beginning of December 2010) and plans to ensure we meet the target by mid-January 2011.  Our office energy efficiency programme and rationalisation of inefficient estate has reduced our working office carbon footprint by just under 44% as of November 2010 with an estimated annual utilities cost saving of £380,000 (against our 2007 baseline).

During the first year of implementation (2009-10) the Natural England travel carbon footprint fell by just under 23%.

Our thanks to Paul Hinds and if you are interested in taking part in our series of Sustainability Industry Leader Interviews please email – our Communications Team

Allen & York are a leading international Sustainability Recruitment consultancy, offering jobs in Environment, CSR & Sustainability, Renewable Energy and Carbon Management, plus Health and Safety Management. Please visit their website at: www.allen-york.com

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David Orr uniquely combines a pioneering approach to education, design, community, innovation and practice that has always embodied a whole worldview. His work not only has direct impact but is visionary and therefore inspiring for individuals and groups around the world. The Oberlin Project is innovating through rich collaboration, a response to making the community much more resilient into the future.

He is well known for his efforts in designing the first substantially green building on a U.S. college campus. The Adam Joseph Lewis Center was later named by the U.S. Department of Energy as “One of Thirty Milestone Buildings in the 20th Century,” and by The New York Times as the most interesting of a new generation of college and university buildings.

David Orr is now working to bring together a collaborative venture within the community of Oberlin from schools to private sector. The Oberlin Project joins the many strands of sustainability including urban revitalization, green development, advanced energy technology, sustainable agriculture and forestry, green jobs, arts and education into an integrated response.

The heart of the project is the redevelopment of a 13-acre block designed to catalyze the renewal of the downtown area and initiate a process leading to a prosperous post-fossil fuel powered economy, while improving its facilities and continuing one of the most important educational experiments in the United States.

The investment in construction, renovation, and energy technology is intended to stimulate the expansion of existing businesses and create new enterprises that meet emerging demands for energy services, solar technologies, green products, and locally grown foods and forest products.

David Orr’s approach to sustainability is an essential, rich dialogue on how we integrate responses to crisis and environmental challenge – where there is a role for every voice from industry and science to art and music. The Oberlin Project has already been heralded as having the potential to be an international model for change and development. Mid-project David Orr comes to Schumacher College to discuss the implications of such a cutting edge and innovative approach to a more resilient future.

Schumacher College is proud to be hosting David Orr talking about The Oberlin Project alongside Steven Mayers and Transition Town’s Rob Hopkins in an exploration of urgent collaborative responses to climate change, food security, economics.

The Road Ahead: Building Community in the Long Emergency, June 27 – July 2, 2011
David W. Orr, Stephan Mayer & Rob Hopkins
http://www.schumachercollege.org.uk/courses/the-road-ahead-building-community-in-the-long-emergency

To listen to an interview with David Orr about The Oberlin Project at Sustainable Industries http://sustainableindustries.com/podcasts/sustainable-industries-interviews-david-orr

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While many newlyweds spend their honeymoon backpacking through Europe or jetting off to a far away tropical location, very few kick off the rest of their lives by working in meagre conditions without pay.

But that’s changing, thanks to a growing trend amongst 21st century honeymooners called ‘honeyteering.’

Honeyteering is where just-married couples volunteer for a worthy cause in the developing world, rather than the indulgent two weeks on a beach. A growing trend in the United States, it is relatively new in the United Kingdom.

Couples who see giving back as the perfect way to start their new lives together are opting to skip the rose petals in the bath and roll up their sleeves for good causes.

The idea itself is not so radical, more and more couples (who already live together and have fully stocked homes) are asking their guests to make a monetary contribution towards a charity rather than buy gifts; so this only seems like a logical extension of the concept.

The honeymoon is also less of the romantic and sexual epiphany it once was (many couples have cohabited for many years prior to getting married) and some couples have already enjoyed numerous romantic getaways together.

Thus, it isn’t surprising some newlyweds are opting to dig a well in an African village and dine with the locals instead of the sometimes ‘overblown’ or ‘clichéd’ type of traditional honeymoon (i.e. cocktails on the beach, intimate candlelit dinners for two, etc).

CNN recently highlighted the case of Aaron and Kristen Berlin, a Massachusetts couple who dedicated their honeymoon to volunteering in a Thai orphanage. Aaron told CNN, “We learned a lot about the culture. That was one of the great things about volunteering. We were really incorporated into the daily lives of the children and the volunteers who ran the orphanage.”

Cultural immersion, camaraderie, and educational opportunities are just some of the numerous rewards associated with volunteering. Doing it with a partner can be a powerful bonding experience and a great way to learn more about each other.

Besides the numerous mental, physical and emotional benefits of volunteering, honeyteering encourages couples to explore parts of the world that they might never have experienced. On a typical honeymoon, couples tend to stick to their resort and other touristy parts of town. A volunteering honeymoon forces couples off the beaten path.

What could address the requirements of a honeymoon (i.e. something special, unique and memorable) more than a volunteering trip to some of the most beautiful and exotic parts of the world?

If you’re thinking about honeyteering, start by considering your mutual interests. From volunteering with wildlife to working in an orphanage, from construction to teaching English, there are thousands of organizations all over the world eager for help.

The first thing that you need to do as a couple is to decide which cause you wish to volunteer for. For any given cause, programs are typically available in multiple countries. There are a number of websites that can connect you with reputable volunteer organizations around the world; Volunteer Latin America, Volunteer 4 Africa, and Volunteer Work Thailand are three of them. If the destination is of primary importance (mutual interest), start searching for volunteer opportunities that match your preferences (cost, climate, dates, etc) in that particular part of the world.

Once you have chosen a volunteer vacation you need to prepare for your trip. Get your travel documents in order and check to see if any vaccinations are required. If you are volunteering in an area where the people speak a different language than you do, take some language classes or buy a language book to teach yourself the basics. Most importantly, research the culture and customs of the area you will be visiting. Some countries have much different dress codes and social customs. Failing to follow these customs can offend the local people. Remember, you can extract a lot of the information you need from the organization you have chosen to work with (i.e. culture, weather conditions, in-country travel options, etc).

Guidance to setting up your own volunteer placement can be found on the Latin Lounge.

For a newly married couple, participating in a cause greater than themselves may offer the perfect balance to their wedding. Some newlyweds find it especially meaningful to start their new lives together by giving back – dedicating time to serve the community or environment they’re visiting. There’s no better way to start a new life than to help make the world a better place.

Despite this fact some charities are opposed to the idea of honeyteering as they claim honeymoons are too short in duration to benefit local people. This is a good point but could equally apply to most short term volunteer vacations in the humanitarian sector. How can you truly help the needy and impoverished if you just turn up for a week? This is particularly pertinent to teachers, health care workers, and other professionals (i.e. it wouldn’t be beneficial for teachers to spend only a week actually involved in education). In many cases however, any help that people can provide is always useful, particularly in the form of manual labour such as digging wells or building work – this would be a completely viable way to contribute.

We recommend couples wanting to consolidate their marriage by working on something together spend at least one month on a project in the humanitarian sector but understandably this isn’t possible in all cases. It is easier to do something of value for the environment in the short term as any amount of time spent helping protect an endangered species (sea turtles) or planting trees is worthwhile.

This article should in no way discourage people who are considering a traditional type of honeymoon, after all, what you do on your honeymoon is entirely up to you. Spending two weeks relaxing and rejuvenating in an idyllic locale is a wonderful way to spend your honeymoon.

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The two cottages are annexed to a 16th century country house on our certified organic farm. Set in a small valley amidst lovely countryside, the house is surrounded by fields and forest. The cottages are very comfortable. All the furniture is handmade or has been restored by us. L’Estada has two double bedrooms, and El Cirerer has one double bedroom and a double sofa bed in the living room. Each cottage has its own private garden and barbecue, and they share a gated swimming pool. Inside a protected area of special natural interest, the estate comprises meadows and grazing land full of richness and biodiversity. It is a peaceful and relaxing place. The national park of Montseny is close by, and the area is full of walking routes. http://www.organicholidays.co.uk/at/2968.htm

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