Sustainability Research Pod

This special podcast captures a conversation that details the history and success of the MSc in Education for Sustainability delivered at London South Bank University since 1994. This is an episode with Professor Ros Wade and Angela Grunsell who were at the forefront of designing and delivering this exceptional degree in the 90s and continued teaching on the degree until 2020.  

This episode is funded by The British Academy as part of the Shared  Understanding of Sustainability Research (2022). This is part 3 of 3  episodes.

The research bought together 9 network members from different  sectors in London to discuss sustainability and policy paying attention  the inclusion of racialised communities

For information on the funded research please visit   www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/programmes/shared-understandings-of-a-sustainable-future/shared-understandings-of-sustainable-future-research-awards/

This episode is funded by The British Academy as part of the Shared Understanding of Sustainability Research (2022). This is part 2 of 3 episodes.

The research bought together 9 network members from different  sectors in London to discuss sustainability and policy paying attention the inclusion of racialised communities

For information on the funded research please visit  www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/programmes/shared-understandings-of-a-sustainable-future/shared-understandings-of-sustainable-future-research-awards/

This episode is funded by The British Academy as part of the Shared Understanding of Sustainability Research (2022). This is part 1 of 3 episodes.

The research bought together 9 network members from different  sectors in London to discuss sustainability and policy paying attention the inclusion of racialised communities

For information on the funded research please visit  www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/programmes/shared-understandings-of-a-sustainable-future/shared-understandings-of-sustainable-future-research-awards/

In this episode, Rebecca Taylor, a graduate of the Education for Sustainability MSc, an English language teacher, sustainability coordinator and literacy specialist discusses some of the challenges and opportunities around sustainability being embedded in the English as a second language classroom.

In this episode:

A discussion about outdoor education with Marina Robb (Bsc; PGCE; MA; Msc; Author), Founder and Managing Director of Circle of Life Rediscovery Community Interest Company and The Outdoor Teacher Ltd, both leading organisations that aim to transform education and health through nature. Co-author of ‘Learning with Nature’, a respected practical reference book for Forest School & Outdoor practitioners forwarded by Chris Packham and ‘The Essential Guide to Forest School and Nature Pedagogy’, Marina has been the recipient of funding from Natural England, Mind and The National Lottery, amongst other grant makers for her outdoor work with disadvantaged teenagers, families and young people.

The flagship project ‘ The Woodland Project’ won the ITV People’s Project in 2017, supporting families and teenagers with disabilities and mental health issues. Marina is a senior practitioner for residential camps in Sussex woodlands, Forest School & training, nature-based training for adults, nature & health interventions, outdoor learning days and youth training programmes.

In this podcast she shares a little of her 30 years experience in outdoor learning and her deep understanding of effective nature education through an outdoor discussion with LSBU host Brian Davies, currently completing the Masters Programme in Education for Sustainability at LSBU.

A panel discussion celebrating inclusion, diversity and fair representation within pioneering organisations. This session will cover topics such as closing the gender and ethnicity pay gaps, diversity throughout the organisational structure, innovative and inclusive initiative and policies and valuing all protected characteristics as a culture, not a checklist.

Session leads: Sanchia Alasia, Head of EDI, and Sebastian Bromelow, Project Manager (OD/EDI), LSBU

Joined by:

• Cllr Marianna Masters, Lambeth Council

• Marc McKenna Coles, Global Diversity and Inclusion Manager, Lloyd’s Bank

• Joseph Galliano, CEO, Queer Britain

• Marisha Drayton, Recruitment Partner, LSBU

Biographies: Marianna Masters has held several senior positions within global financial and corporate companies over 25+ years. A long-standing advocate of Black rights she was Co-Chair of the Black Employees Network whilst at Thomson Reuters. Her passion for grassroots politics allowed her to be successfully elected as a councillor in the London Borough of Lambeth in 2018.

She was Chair of the Lambeth Labour Group of 57 Councillors from 2018-2020 and is currently the Vice- Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. She additionally is Vice-Chair on Our Healthier Overview and Scrutiny Committee covering 6 boroughs in South London. She also sits on the Partnership Board of Black Thrive, a mental health partnership between communities, statutory organisations, voluntary and the private sector.

Visit: www.lambeth.gov.uk

Queer Britain is working towards opening the first national museum focussed on LGBTQ+ people, gathering, exploring and celebrating their stories, histories and artefacts. It will have a strong educational agenda. It will be an innovative, immersive bricks and mortar museum which will preserve and present stories and artefacts. It will celebrate, explore and explain LGBTQ+ lives, and place them in a national and international context for everyone, regardless of sexual identity or gender identity. Joseph Galliano is CEO and Co-Founder of Queer Britain. He is a fundraiser, journalist, former editor of Gay Times magazine and third sector ambassador manager who is now throwing all his energy into building an organisation capable of launching a national LGBTQ+ museum, Queer Britain.

Visit: https://queerbritain.org.uk

Marc McKenna-Coles currently works as the Global Diversity and Inclusion Manager for Lloyd’s. He supports and oversees Diversity, Inclusion, Wellbeing and Culture objectives for the corporation as well as supporting the Insurance market. His role over the last 2 ½ years has been to lead the Global Diversity and Inclusion festival for Insurance, Dive In (https://diveinfestival.com/), which in 2020 had a global attendance of over 30,000 people across 35 countries and 144 events. Marc has also co-authored various guides and reports for the insurance market (https://inclusionatlloyds.com/resources/toolkit/). He supported and drove the Insurance Market Gender plan and target as well as developing the same for Ethnicity.

He previously was a global Diversity and Inclusion Manager for RBS (NatWest Group). Marc’s D&I work at RBS, included improving LGBT+ inclusion for both customer and colleague, including, a policy and guidance to support Trans and Non-binary colleagues and improving how customers can update their gender marker on their banking profile. Prior to working in Diversity and Inclusion, Marc spent a number of years in customer facing roles within the bank and before this, spent approximately 10 years with Disney, both in UK Disney Stores and Disney Cruise line in the USA

Visit: www.lloyds.com/about-lloyds/diversity-and-inclusion-at-lloyds.

The impacts of climate change are not experienced equally or fairly, between rich and poor, women and men, and older and younger generations.It is therefore imperative that we take action to address the climate crisis through a human rights approach.

This session will bring together powerful young activists from around the world to talk about their youth-led campaigns that seek to achieve climate justice through different approaches and priorities, all with a focus on driving progress towards reaching the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

Featuring:

• Jeana Malhi, Systems Change Organiser, UKYCC

• Poorvi Mehrotra, Assistant programme Coordinator, Restless Development India

• Jevanic Henry, Panelist, Youth Power Panel

• Soumita Chakraborty, Youth Advisory Board Member, Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety

• Hattie Tollerson, Student Union President, LSBU

Biographies: Jeana Malhi is a Systems Change organiser with the UK Youth Climate Coalition (UKYCC), sits on the advisory committee for Beyond Suffrage, a board member with Friends of the Earth (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) and Local Councils Officer at Hope for the Future. She is motivated by climate justice and opposing the capitalistic and colonial structures responsible for climate change.

Visit: www.ukycc.com

Poorvi Mehrotra is an Assistant Programme Coordinator in Restless Development India. She is passionate about advocating for the rights of young people and supporting them to take action in their communities. Her work has focussed on different Sustainable Development Goals and has worked with refugee women from Afghanistan and others in crisis situations. In India, she is leading a programme that supports adolescent girls aged 18-24 to conduct research interviews through mobile devices and leading Climate Justice work with young people. Poovi represented Restless Development at the Women Deliver Conference in June 2019.

Visit: https://restlessdevelopment.org/country/india

Jevanic Henry is a young environmentalist, youth leader and community activist currently pursuing final year undergraduate studies in Economics and Finance at the University of the West Indies. Despite this he continues to be involved in climate change advocacy and activism nationally, regionally and on the international stage, a passion which was fuelled after representing his country at the Regional Youth Climate Change Conference in Jamaica in 2017. Jevanic, along with fellow attendees formulated the Youth Climate Change Activists (YCCA) movement which seeks to raise climate change awareness and action throughout the region.

Visit: https://restlessdevelopment.org/youth-power

Soumita Chakraborty is a Youth Advisory Board Member for the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety. Engaged as a climate change professional with IORA Ecological Solutions in India, she works with subnational governments to design evidence-based policies and implementation frameworks to effectively address climate change. She is a social development professional with a diverse background on cross-cutting issues like climate change adaptation, disaster risk management, youth led development and road safety. Soumita works on strategic planning for urban resilience to traffic injuries and road accidents and is currently leading the climate action strategy within the coalition.

Visit: https://claimingourspace.org

The focus of this discussion will be on migrants and refugees at a time of COVID and climate change. We are all in a time of uncertainty, therefore, solidarity and resilience is needed for all of us. The panel will discuss this in relation to the wellbeing of displaced people. In order to fulfil the SDGs for the sake of our future and of our common humanity, we need the resources of all. The panel will explore ways in which communities can support and engage with newcomers and find mutual benefits in so doing.

Session lead: Ros Wade, Chair, London RCE and LSBU Emeritus Professor for Education for Sustainability.

Joined by:

• Jos Hermans, Founder and Chair, COMMEET

• Saima Raza, Trustee with Migrant Help UK, Founder of ‘Under One Sky’ and Chair of the Refugee Forum in the largest borough in London

• Ahmet Sayer, Founder and President , European Migrant Platform

School: Law and Social Sciences.

This session will explore holistic sustainability, and look at what accessible and inclusive ‘conscious’ living really means. We will look at what we as individuals can do, and highlight examples of sustainable living and Climate Change activism not often centred in the mainstream narrative. This will feed into discussing the imperative for Climate Change activism to be led by the pursuit of Climate Justice, and why we must decolonise the environmental movement and ensure that our activism is intersectional.

Biography: “I run a blog, Green Soul Grace, and an Environmental Education Organisation called Earth For All. Through my blog I share my journey of learning the meaning of holistic sustainability, and hopefully, in turn, create a community where we can learn from each other and advocate for the world in which we want to live. – Grace.

Visit: https://greensoulgrace.org, www.earthforall.org.uk.