By Caroline O Connor, member of Macra Na Feirme, the Irish Young Farmers and Rural Youth Organisation.
A friend of mine from Macra na Feirme rang me on the 20th August and asked me if I wanted to go to Manchester for 5 days to a Rural Youth Europe event on renewable energy. I was at a loose end at the time so I decided to take the opportunity to go. I have been aware of some of the issues surrounding climate change since I was a child. It has been spoken about as an imminent threat to our species for as long as I can remember. We are all often paralyzed in the face of such a massive global crisis. Many people feel unable to engage with the issues and many more choose not to. However, the message for the last 30 years has been clear; we all have a part to play.
Before I take you through my 5 day trip, I feel it is pertinent to raise a co-occurring issue in relation to climate change. We have been told for the last number of decades that climate change could spell the end of life on planet earth as we know it. We have been given no end of dates by which we must have our environmental house in order or else risk compromising the viability of our planet. I remember these sort of doomsday predictions as being a central defining feature of media narratives throughout my formative and adult years. I used to lie awake at night worrying about climate change, terrified that the ground would open up underneath me and swallow me whole as I slept. According to recent reports, this type of Climate Anxiety is a very common experience, particularly for generation Z. I feel a considerable amount of anger about the irresponsible way that this vitally important issue has been portrayed to us for decades. It has led to drastic levels of crippling anxiety and demoralization among young people. It’s immoral beyond comprehension to weaponise fear as a means of getting young people to take action on any issue but in particular, on an incredibly complicated and multi-faceted issue such as climate change.
In my opinion, a positive and motivating story is needed in place of apocalyptic fear mongering. We can ask ourselves how we can innovate our way out of the crises we face on multiple fronts. Whether that is wild fires, floods, droughts or any other climate rated event, let’s all make a collective decision to break up with fear mongering and to establish a new relationship with solution focused and positive interventions to solve these immense problems. With these concerns firmly to the forefront of my mind, I boarded my 5am Ryanair flight from Cork. I didn’t know what to expect in going over, but I decided to go with an attitude of willingness and open mindedness. I promised myself that I would listen carefully to what happened over the 5 days and that I would speak my mind when it was appropriate to do so. I had been to Manchester before but never to the city centre. The red brick of the old part of the city stood out in contrast to the abundance of rainbow flags, signifying clearly that pride had just taken place. The traditional contrasted with the new and innovative.
The aims of the trip were to:
- Create a space for rural youth to voice their perspectives on energy transition across Europe.
- Raise awareness and educate rural youth on the importance of energy transition and smart energy solutions, focusing on wind and solar energy.
- Equip rural youth with the skills necessary to advocate for and implement energy transition initiatives in their local communities and organizations.
- Promote active engagement and foster a sense of ownership and responsibility among rural youth towards sustainable energy practices and environmental conservation.
On the first night, we gathered for dinner and began to get to know each other. We all bonded immediately from those first interactions, and it was clear that we were in for a fun and informative couple of days. We had arrived from all corners of Europe, most of us with somewhat of a good understanding of the challenges and opportunities available in the renewable energy transition. During the following 5 days, we were treated to fantastic educational seminars about the triple planetary crisis. I was extremely relieved that there was zero fear mongering from any of the participants or the organisers. This was exactly the type of positive and forward looking initiative that I had hoped for.
Pegah from Youth and Environment Europe was an exceptional teacher. Her knowledge was vast and her genuine passion for the environment shone through. She spoke about her personal philosophy on the issues we were discussing as being one of invitation rather than compulsion. This was incredibly important for me personally to hear and I am certain it was one the key elements of what made the week so compelling. Moreover, the unity and friendship that formed within the group made the learning all the more enthralling. Therein lies our first piece of evidence that fear mongering should be thrown on the proverbial fire and replaced with positive and absorbing invitations to engage with the issues.
On the first day, we established the ground rules going forward for the week. The common themes we agreed upon were mutual respect, inclusion and keeping the group cohesive. These values served us well during our time together. We played ice breaker games, and settled into conference room 2, our home for the week. Our first lesson was an overview of the triple planetary crisis. This means that there is a global crisis due to loss of biodiversity, high levels of pollution and, of course, climate change. Our second lesson was an in-depth look at the difference between nature and the environment. I was surprised to learn that nature is something we inherit. It is what we have been bestowed through millions of years of evolution. In contrast, the environment is the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates. These two key lessons laid the foundations for the rest of the week. Over the course of the next 3 days, the organisers utilised a wide variety of exercises to educate us and allow us to engage in various aspects of the triple planetary crisis.
Some of the activities we engaged in were:
- A heated but good humoured debate about a proposed fictional eco tourist village. This was a beautiful opportunity to envision the uneasy interaction between economic development and concerns about protecting biodiversity.
- A presentation from group A who played the part of the European authorities on the regulations that farmers in group B must abide by when they propose constructing renewable energy projects on their land.
- Presentations from 5 separate groups on sources of renewable energy. Namely, wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and hydroelectric.
- A Dragon’s Den style activity where we pitched our follow up idea to Pegah and the other organisers. This was the next step in taking our newly acquired knowledge back to our communities to promote sustainable energy awareness.
The central point that I learned during the course of the 5 days was as I originally hypothesized – there is no easy transition away from fossil fuels. They are the bedrock of our societies and the way we live our lives. They are currently as intrinsic to our human flourishing as water or air.
Some of the main points that naturally emerge as a consequence of this realisation are as follows.
- Installing sources of renewable energy into individual homes such as geothermal heat pumps and solar panels are currently still very expensive. This excludes people on lower incomes from being able to go green. Fossil fuels remain the only viable source of energy for this demographic until the price of green energy installation can be reduced dramatically.
- The number of products we use in our daily lives that are manufactured from byproducts of crude oil is so vast that it would be impossible to name them all.
- The amount of raw materials such as zinc and lithium that are needed for manufacturing the batteries of electric cars is immense. According to the graph we were shown, the amount of raw materials goes up exponentially the closer we get to the net zero by 2050 scenario. Mining is not a renewable activity, yet we insist on pushing electric cars and phasing out petrol and diesel.
As illustrated by the previous point, the energy transition is currently awash with contradictions, impossible problems and paradoxes. However, on the positive side, renewable energy discoveries continue to be made every day. Immense efforts are being made on the research, development and political lobbying front to ensure we as the custodians of planet earth innovate our way to a sustainable and brighter future.
In conclusion, The Rural Voices, Energy Transition 101 seminar, was a wonderful way to end the summer. The knowledge exchanged and the friendships formed over the course of the 5 days were extraordinary. We were all there because we love our home planet and we all agreed that it needs to be protected. Sustainable energy is a vital part of that process. All the attendees were both fascinated by the topics discussed, and were motivated to protect our environment from a place of calling and conscience. The follow up activities that we are in the process of undertaking are the first step to continue bringing positive environmental education to a wider audience. There is a very old idea that Paradise is a walled garden. The walls symbolize the structure of our culture, our economies, and our political systems and the garden is a metaphor for the beauty of our planet. Caring for the garden is a global effort that starts in our local communities. The organisers of the event had the wisdom to see this. Let’s all do our part in making this global garden beautiful, sustainable and flourishing.
