Tribe Talks Sustainability

Tribe Talks are starting back up in September, the theme for our first quarter is Sustainability and we will be joined by Boom Saloon, Adam McGibbon, LifeMosaic and WildFish.

 

The goal of Tribe Talks is to bring together bright minds, and interesting topics, that can help foster inspiration, provoke conversations that matter, and help to educate our community to do better, and be better. 

We selected sustainability as our initial focus because many of our members are actively involved in this field. When choosing speakers, we aimed to cover key aspects of sustainability—social, environmental, and economic. Each session includes a Q&A, providing a valuable and actionable way to explore how we can contribute to a better world. The Q&A sessions will encourage group discussions, giving you the chance to delve deeper into each subject. Through this guidance, we hope to to ease any negative feelings towards the subject.

We’ll also steer each talk away from the typical doom-and-gloom narrative often associated with sustainability and climate change. Instead, we’ll emphasize facts and actionable solutions. By covering a variety of topics, we aim to highlight environmental success stories. In addition, we seek to discuss impactful environmental policies and government actions. In turn we hope to help you feel empowered in your personal efforts.

 

Meet our guest speakers 

 

Rachel Arthur-Boom Saloon

Boom Saloon is a global media movement to democratise creativity for good, driven by international members.

They explore the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals through the lens of creativity, across print publications, online features, newsletters and events. This work supports a series of community projects which inspire and empower people facing challenges.

Rachel Arthur, founder and editor of Boom Saloon invites you to an insightful, behind the scenes talk. She will share how boom saloon has evolved to explore the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals through the lens of creativity – bringing together a global community of members working together to democratise creativity for good.

Adam McGibbon- Oil Change International

Adam McGibbon is a campaigner and strategist. Currently, he works with Oil Change International.  His primary focus is on a campaign to end the flow of money from major governments, pledging to take action and shift billions into clean energy instead. Adam has also ran a campaign to get the UK Government to stop using billions of taxpayers money to finance fossil fuels overseas, from 2017-20. 

Prior to this, Adam worked as an election campaigns manager for climate-friendly politicians. Adam’s Tribe talk focuses on 2013 when he took up a risky job in becoming Campaign Manager for Caroline Lucus, the UK’s only Green MP. Caroline Lucus was out to defend her Brighton parliamentary seat for the first time in 2015, with a wafer-thin majority. Lucas is re-elected with a large majority over her closest rival, in a huge turnaround that arguably saved the Green Party during a fragile time. Adam’s talk shares the inner workings to reveal how the campaign was won. 

Serge Marti-LifeMosaic 

Indigenous peoples protect 85% of the worlds biological and cultural diversity, through ancestral knowledge and practices that nurture diversity, spirituality, interconnection and collective approaches. Indigenous peoples and their territories are also under threat, from the high speed growth of giant extractive industries, infrastructure development, homogenous education and belief systems, as well as the spread of internet and social media. On the whole, these processes lead to monoculture, materialism, disconnection, and individualism, all of which are at the heart of the global polycrisis (the great clusterf**k).

LifeMosaic supports movements to defend nature and culture. They particularly support indigenous peoples movements to reflect on and vision their role and contribution at a time of eco-system collapse and climate chaos. As well as sharing some lessons of their work, Serge would love to hear your thoughts about the importance of movements to defend nature and culture, and how best to nurture these in Scotland.

Rachel Mulrenan- WildFish

Wild fish populations are collapsing as their habitats are destroyed faster than anything else. In the UK, most of our rivers fail to reach ecological targets. Open net salmon farming is ravaging wild salmon and sea trout. All fish are threatened by abstraction, barriers, and pollution.

Salmon has become one of the most popular dishes in restaurants and at home, but its popularity has come at a cost for the environment, fish welfare and the health of the planet. Almost all the salmon we eat is farmed. Scotland is one of the world’s largest producers of farmed salmon, but how much do we know about the realities of this industry taking place in our waters?

In this talk, Rachel will give an overview of the Scottish salmon farming industry – what it is, and how it impacts on the health of fish, people and planet. She will give a short introduction to WildFish’s Off the table campaign, which calls on chefs, restaurants and consumers to stop serving, buying or eating farmed salmon, and open a discussion about what a future in Scotland could look like without the salmon farming industry.

 

Book your space

We hope to see you at one of our Tribe Talks this year. Our mental and physical health, as well as the strength of our communities, is undoubtedly tied to our natural and built environments. Promoting sustainability in any form helps to lay the groundwork for environments in which we can thrive. More importantly, doing so also conserves resources for future generations. We hope that this series can help channel your curiosity and desire for better in a positive and productive way.

You can view the full series of talks and book your space by clicking here. If you have any questions, or would like to book a space to a sold out talk please contact us: more@tribeporty.org or call 0131 258 3471.

 

Thanks for reading, 

Alice

 

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Tiny Changes/Positive Impacts

This year’s Art Walk Porty theme coincides with many alarming political and environmental circumstances. From things close to home such as the bin strikes, to mass drought worldwide and extreme heat waves. It’s overwhelming to say the least…It’s had me thinking about our connection to nature and the sea as well as the impact our individual actions have.  

I’m fortunate enough to have grown up around the coast and have always felt a deep connection to it. Even during my daily ride along the promenade, I always find myself taking a deep breath and releasing any anxieties. To tell the truth, most days I just have a cheesy grin on my face because the view is that good. Or it’s because I can see several dogs running wild along the beach, diving in and out of the water. I think a common connection amongst the community here is the power of the sea. Not only does the seaside create beautiful memories, but it has spiritual and healing power. I’m a great believer in cold water having a positive impact on physical and mental wellbeing. 

The extra challenge the North Sea presents makes the pay off even greater, we like it cold! I had a bet with my Grandfather last year that he wouldn’t muster the courage to tackle the north sea, he’s a bonkers man and of course did it (all the while singing Soprano). On a more tender note, the seaside has always grounded me in times of troubles. My nan passed away during the first few months of the pandemic, meaning I was unable to travel home to be with my family. One evening when struggling to deal with the weight of this, I took a walk along Portobello, and as I reached the tip of the shoreline, the whole sky lit up purple. Purple being my Nan’s favourite colour. Whilst rationally this is not a natural phenomenon, it felt special. It made me feel close to her, close to home. And I’m sure I’m not alone in tales such as this. 

Connecting to nature is important and that is why it is important we care for it. But how much of this is down to us as individuals or small communities. It’s difficult to think of our own conscious actions as powerful when the fight against the climate emergency is largely in the hands of corporate empires and the powers above. Why should we recycle when the system is flawed? Why should we pick up someone elses litter when it ends up in a landfill or back in the ocean anyway? Why should we care for our waterways when water companies actively pump sewage into it?

At present, society is still malleable and can be blown into many shapes. But at some point, the glass might cool, set, and become much harder to change. The resulting shape could be beautiful or deformed, or the glass could shatter altogether, depending on what happens while the glass is still hot.— William MacAskill

I say yes, yes of course our actions are powerful, get angry, come together as a community, express your emotions about these crimes against the environment. Last year whilst home in Kent I was unable to swim in the sea as the pollution levels were too high. The following week my family joined in the protest against dumping sewage into the ocean. Seeing my cousin’s kids take part in this at first saddened me, their summer memories formed around banners excaliaming ‘DON’T PUT POO AND WEE IN OUR SEA’. The thought of kids being unable to play in the sea due to the environmental impact of pollution is outrageous, but a common reality. I believe it’s important for children to be aware of these issues from an early age and to experience the importance of protest. Raise them to be little anarchists fighting the good fight, it acknowledges the power of the individual. 

We very often fail to think as carefully about helping others as we could, mistakenly believing that applying data and rationality to a charitable endeavor robs the act of virtue. And that means we pass up opportunities to make a tremendous difference. — William MacAskill

William MacAstall is a leading figure in the promotion of Longtermism, an ethical stance which gives priority to improving the long-term future. Instead of accepting a gloomy fate, we make active choices to promote a positive future for younger generations. Whilst I do not vouch for the skewed dystopian view carried over by Tech-Billionaires, I do believe the core principles are important to hold for a successful shift towards positive change: positive actions = a positive future. One should attempt to not become overwhelmed with numbers, statistics and probabilities of the climate crisis. Instead think about what matters to you and the active changes you can make to better the situation. Imagine the impact if every household in Portobello made one small, achievable and sustainable lifestyle change to better the future of our planet… 

 “How can I make the biggest difference I can?” and using evidence and careful reasoning to try to find an answer. The honest and impartial attempt to work out what’s best for the world, and a commitment to do what’s best, whatever that turns out to be. — William MacAskill

What can we do right now to help our Oceans? 

 

Please get in touch and share your thoughts, or even pledge a positive tiny change you are going to make. You can also sign up to our newsletter below!

Thanks for reading,

 Alice.

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