Hay on Earth - Eugenie Harvey

There are some profound issues at the heart of climate change that we need to overcome if we are to make the change that is really needed. I'm not going to suggest that a 10% reduction in emissions is the whole journey, but it is an important first step.

10:10 is "an ambitious project to unite all sectors of scoiety behind one simple idea - that between us, we can reduce our carbon emissions by 10% - an in so doing, send a powerful signal about the world that we want for ourselves, our children and our fellow man".

You don't have to be perfect - trying to be perfect can be an enemy of doing good.

2500 businesses - Ocado, Slny and football club Tottenham Hotspur have all signed up

110 NHS tusts

47% of local authorities

2000 schools and colleges

4 cities or regions

France Germany, Netherdlands, Nepal - among the 10 countries who are signed up at government level

Within it's first month of coming to power, UK Govt have committed to 10:10 - we're now going to use this to help get other countries to follow the process.

Small recent steps:

10:10 tags - seeing the racks of bikes changes the landscape of a city - in a much smaller way, we're asking people to wear a 10:10 tag - made out of the recycled jumbo jet that Franny had been flying on when it's engines stopped due to volcanic ash.

Brighton and Hove have 10:10 on the sides of each bus, Gateshead and Tottenham Hotspur have made big steps - and we signed up Joey from Friends too - and two weeks ago, we got the Royal Mail to stamp six million letters witht he 10:10 logo.

In the last two weeks, M&S, the IPO, Bill Bailey, Arsenal and the Citizen's Advice Bureau have all signed up. We do want the usual suspects, and many more.

10 ideas on mainstreaming an idea:

1. Take it to the people - make it part of their daily life
2. Understand the barriers to participation
3. The value of social proof - fire alarm, Royal Mail etc
4. Accept the reality of human nature - we want to look good, be perceived as better people etc
5. The importance of language in presentation of an idea - making it inspirational and exciting
6. Don't be worried about starting small
7. Role of advocates (e.g Boris and cycling)
8. Stakeholder engagement
9. Leveraging support
10. The unique narrative of your project

Feast or famine

That we're facing an uncertain future of food supply has been talked about and pondered over for a decade or more, underpinned by high quality research from Tim Laing, The Soil Association and many others. Today's article in the Observer by the UK government's chief scientist, John Beddinington makes yet another call for action on food security and the need to increase resilience of supplies.

The article quotes Beddington's comments from earlier this year:

"It was an ecological disaster that occurred on the other side of the planet. Yet the drought that devastated the Australian wheat harvest last year had consequences that shook the world. It sent food prices soaring in every nation. Wheat prices across the globe soared by 130%, while shopping bills in Britain leapt by 15%.

A year later and the cost of food today has still to fall to previous levels. More alarmingly, scientists are warning that far worse lies ahead. A "perfect storm" of food shortages and water scarcity now threatens to unleash public unrest and conflict in the next 20 years, the government's chief scientist, Professor John Beddington, has warned.

In Britain, a global food shortage would drive up import costs and make food more expensive, just as the nation's farmers start to feel the impact of disrupted rainfall and rising temperatures caused by climate change. "If we don't address this, we can expect major destabilisation, an increase in rioting and potentially significant problems with international migration, as people move to avoid food and water shortages".

As with many similar issues, I sense that it will be a combintation of in-built intertia to anything other than short term threats, lack of information and a lack of ability in systems thinking that will make things far more difficult for us, our children, and more importantly, the billions of people in the global south who cannot buy their way out of trouble.

Here's what you can do:

Little Do: write to the Chair of your local council asking what strategic plans are in place to prevent food security causing major problems in your area, and ask if there's anything that you and your colleagues can do to help.

Big Do 1: learn, or re-learn how to grow your own food in your garden or on a local allotment, and talk to members of your community to find out what they are doing too.

Big Do 2: Get involved with a joint collaboration between the Earth Open Source organisation and Ecosapiens to create a draft national food security response for Wales.

Biomimicy Change Levers

Three upcoming events on biomimicry may be of interest to EcoSapiens blog readers:

AMED (The Association of Management Education & Development) are hosting a half day workshop on 'biomimicry change levers for behaviour change' on 30 September in London. Run by Andy Middleton and Belina Raffy, the workshop will provide an introdcution and overview of the ways that biomimicry brings fresh perspectives and proven solutions to organisations wanting to embed sustainability and innovation. There's a small charge for the event.

MAFFICK's Belina Raffy is offering one business, community group or organisation in London the opportunity for a FREE 90 minute 'biomimicry and business change' workshop as taster event and trial of new materials that she's developed for the Applied Improvisation Network's annual conference in November.

ECOSAPIENS are working with SOCIETAS' Melissa Sterry and the team at NEW FRONTIERS to develop a four day biomimicry and social change conference that will take place in Cardiff in spring 2010. Topics will cover change levers, communication and behaviour change, and possibly and workshop on community engagement & food resilience.

Email or phone us on +44 1437 720879 for further information.