How Can Education Help To Shape A Steady State Culture? by Susan Brown

In 2012 I was asked, to feedback on a draft report by Steady State Manchester on the role of education in shaping a Steady State Culture. I was asked, at that time, to feedback on that draft report. As someone who is invested in thinking about what constitutes good education in different contexts I was intrigued by the questions of what the educational landscape needs to look like to play a role in shaping a Steady State culture and what that role might be.
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Local Third Places and Re-Imagining Economies as Sustainable

Professor Ray Oldenburg has spent many years analysing the social function of what he has coined ‘third places’. His books work to highlight the need for juncture places; places we meet and chew the cud with others in our community and network. Rather than the idea of social separate from economic, he recognises that the two lenses of seeing the world as being intimately bound and tied to each other. Read more…

A Scotland Conservation Officer by Catherine Gemmel

I have always been a water baby. Any chance to go to the beach, stick my head into a rock pool or to swim in the sea I was there. As soon as I had the opportunity to learn to SCUBA dive with Aberdeen University I grabbed it so I could experience first hand the amazing underwater world. We are so lucky in this country to have such amazing experiences on our doorstep and I always knew I wanted to be able to give something back to the sea after so many years of enjoyment and wonder. Read more…

Food Sharing by Jess Acton

Food is a vital part of our lives. Nutritious and healthy food maintains, nourishes and heals us. Food is important to all cultures and the buying and eating of food can be a political act. We share food with those we love, as a ritual, at celebrations and to commiserate. It is an intrinsic part of our lives, beliefs, values, economy, culture and society. Read more…

Podcast: Food Inc; The Film And A Discussion

Food, Inc. is a film about what is happening to our food chain.  Every month, we watch a film, have some food, and discuss what we saw at the Serenity Cafe. The food we had was vegetarian curry made with organic ingredients donated by the Ragged community so we could have a community meal.  The film was about the increasingly unhealthy way our food is produced such that the methods are damaging the environment, abusing workers, and having cruel disregard for the animals.
Made by the Emmy award winning filmmaker Robert Kenner, it’s primary focus is on the United States, however this is now relevant worldwide as the companies which it examines – and the methods of production – are multinational.  These are not American problems, these are world problems.  The corporations which have come to dominate the world production of beef, pork, chicken, maize, soy, potatoes and other staples, are not rooted in any one single country – they have global reach.
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Pete Wilkinson Co-Founder of Greenpeace Talks About His Life

I imagine that nearly everyone has heard of Greenpeace.  It is one of the most famous non-governmental organizations in the world and it is renowned for activist protests to protect the environment.  I did not genuinely know much about the organisation until the other day a librarian at Edinburgh Central Library told me I should go along to the Edinburgh Reads event as one of the founders of Greenpeace was going to be talking. Read more…