Perspective change

“We create new cultures based on our relationships with people. We should not treat people based on what we have heard about them” said Emmanuel Adeleke, GCE student from Nigeria, summarizing the workshop. Previously, the two trainers from “Working Between Cultures” had used some practical exercises and games to teach nearly 30 GCE students how cultural misunderstandings can arise and how intercultural cooperation works best. The coaches recalled that people often have prejudices against people from countries they do not know. For example, a European viewpoint may misunderstand the continent of Africa as something culturally homogeneous without seeing the diversity between and within the African countries.

The students also shared their own experiences. One student said that in some African countries, non-greetings are perceived as impolite, even in the presence of strangers. Yet, in Germany this act may not convey impoliteness. To overcome such misunderstandings, the trainers recommended communicating more with other people to become more sensitive to the situations of others. However, one should not only focus on the differences, as often wrongly done, but also on the similarities.

Every person is different

The coaches also pointed out that individuals differ within a country. In addition to culture, every person is influenced by many other factors, such as their past and current circumstances. The workshop made it clear how important it is to understand yourself and your counterparts correctly and to recognize that your own ideas and rules are not a universal law. All sides benefit when diversity is recognized, understood, and used.
Thanks to its high level of interactivity, the workshop contributed to strengthening the relationships between GCE students from three cohorts and to discovering many previously unknown commonalities.

This text was written for the Elite Network Bavaria.
English editing kindly done by Taylor Blair

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Die Perspektive wechseln

„Wir erschaffen neue Kulturen auf der Grundlage unserer Beziehungen zu Menschen. Wir sollten Menschen nicht auf der Grundlage dessen behandeln, was wir über sie gehört haben“, fasste Emmanuel Adeleke, GCE-Studierender aus Nigeria, den Workshop am Ende zusammen. Zuvor hatten die beiden Trainer von „Working Between Cultures“ den knapp 30 GCE-Studierenden anhand einiger praktischer Übungen und Spiele verdeutlicht, wie es zu kulturellen Missverständnissen kommen kann und wie interkulturelle Zusammenarbeit am besten gelingt.

Oftmals habe man Vorurteile gegenüber Menschen aus Ländern, die man nicht kenne, erinnerten die Trainer.
Auch die Studierenden berichteten von eigenen Erfahrungen. Ein Studierender erzählte, in manchen Ländern Afrikas würde das Nichtgrüßen, auch gegenüber Fremden, als Unhöflichkeit wahrgenommen werden während es in Deutschland keine besondere Bedeutung habe. Um solche Missverständnisse auszuräumen, empfahlen die Trainer mehr mit anderen Menschen zu kommunizieren und sich der eigenen sowie der Situation des Gegenübers bewusst zu werden. Dabei solle man sich aber nicht nur auf die Unterschiede, wie fälschlicherweise oft getan, sondern auch auf die Gemeinsamkeiten konzentrieren.

Jeder Mensch ist anders

Die Trainer wiesen auch darauf hin, dass die Menschen innerhalb eines Landes unterschiedlich seien. Neben der Kultur werde jeder Mensch von vielen weiteren Faktoren beeinflusst, wie dem persönlichen Lebenslauf und den aktuellen Umständen.
So machte der Workshop deutlich, wie wichtig es ist sich selbst und sein Gegenüber richtig zu verstehen sowie anzuerkennen, dass die eigenen Vorstellungen und Regeln kein universales Gesetz sind. Wenn die Vielfalt erkannt, verstanden und genutzt wird, profitieren alle Seiten davon.
Der Workshop trug durch seine hohe Interaktivität dazu bei, die Beziehungen der GCE-Studierenden aus drei Jahrgängen untereinander zu stärken und viele bisher unerkannte Gemeinsamkeiten zu entdecken.

Dieser Text wurde für das Elitenetzwerk Bayern geschrieben.

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On October 14^th, 2019, the next “GCE Year” was opened by the traditional “Welcome Meeting”.
The new GCE students as well as “older” GCE students from previous years and the master´s programme coordination team came together at 16.00 o´clock. After the long summer break, some of the latest stories and adventures needed to be shared with familiar and new faces. However, the conversations had to pause as the programme started. Stephanie from the GCE coordination welcomed everyone and asked different groups to stand up: GCE students 2019, GCE students 2018, students from Africa, Asia … To see the altering standing groups demonstrated the high diversity of the GCE family. In addition to the year 2019, there were also master students and alumni from the years 2018, 2017 and even 2016. Having a closer look on the new GCE students 2019 alone, students are coming from America, Nigeria, Indonesia, Taiwan, Brasilia, Albania, Egypt, Columbia and Germany, which comprises the biggest group. So far, 25 new GCE students with an average age of 25.8 years are enrolled in the master´s programme, 4 are still expected to come to Bayreuth. In total, 260 applications were received for the winter term 2019/20.

After the GCE coordination, the GCE student board rose to speak and shared some organisational information with the audience. After that, two videos were shown from GCE alumni who could not be in Bayreuth but, nevertheless, wanted to greet the new students.
Subsequently, Thomas, board member of “Friends of Global Change Ecology e.V.” presented the association for current students, alumni and associates of the study program GCE and Steven, GCE student from 2017, assigned the new students who wanted to have a “buddy”, a student from the previous years to support them with their start.

Then everyone went outside and the “GCE family photo 2019” was taken in an autumnal setting. During the subsequent come-together the conversations could be continued and deepened with a piece of cake in the left and a cup of coffee in the right hand. Finally, the Welcome Meeting 2019 was completed by a campus tour for the new students.
We wish everyone a happy new GCE Year and welcome our new fellow students again!

The post Welcome GCE Year 2019/20! appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

We breath the air she provides,

We eat the fruits from the fields and trees around us.

And yet, we take her for granted.

She satisfies our thirst for water,

She eases us with a light rustling of green leaves when we are out of balance,

She consoles us with salty air when our hearts lust for freedom,

And yet, we take her for granted.

We heist her most precious treasures,

We spill her veins with dirty oil,

We poison her oceans with deadly plastics,

You see? We take her for granted.

She will, at some point, not longer, forgive us

The crimes and harms we throw upon her.

She will, one day, not longer, hold her anger

And show us how small and dependent we are.

She will, soon enough, unleash her forces

To conquer back her dignity and pride.

We can still change the fortune ahead,

We can still act and become better in treating our Mother,

We can still make up for our mistakes of the past

And not take her for granted no more.

Today on her day, we don’t take her for granted.

Let’s make everyday like today.

The post Earth Day – Time to Act appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

Emily was cleaning bicycle when her father arrived. “Please turn off the tap Emily you don’t need this amount of water for cleaning”, he requested.

“Dad we have plenty of water in the pipe”, Esther replied sweetly.

“Not always my dear, some cities in the world don’t have enough water for drinking or cleaning bicycle like this”, he explained. “Really? Where in the world is there less water?” she asked.

“Let me tell you a story“- her father said.

“I always like your stories dad please start”, girl said impatiently.  “Please turn off the tap”, he said and started..

Terry Burner the owner of several Real Estate business and Car Washing facilities in Southern California was enjoying his Easter Holidays in Barcelona. He was a man who had inherited his grandfather’s small garage and had doubled the profit over the past decade. Known for his excellent money-making schemes, Terry was walking around the beach in his polo hotel t-shirt, when he saw a man in his mid-thirties coming towards him.

“You seem like a rich man”, the man prompted.

“Certainly I am”, Terry affirmed.

“If you don’t mind, can I get some water”, he asked.

“Yes, why not, please have it”, Terry offered his half filled metal bottle.

While the young man was fulfilling his metabolic needs Terry was staring at him in surprise.

The man finished and said, “Do you know Cape Town is getting dry?”.

Terry exclaimed, “What? I didn’t know. I am not following Africa lately”.

“You must know the story, rich guy”, the man replied.

The young man – who looked like a control freak – began: “The population of Cape Town in South Africa has roughly doubled in the last two decades whereas its water resources have increased very slowly. The city experienced indeed dry days in the past. But now, scientists believe climate change has intensified the recently experienced drought events, thus resulting in water shortage”. With this the young man stopped and asked: “What do you think Sir?

“I think Climate Change may be a reason for the drought events,  but the ignorance of the Cape Town City administration cannot be overruled. They could have prepared better infrastructure in fighting drought”, Terry responded.

“You are reasonably correct sir. Six dams were completely filled in 2014 and city administration assumed  future rainfall pattern would resemble past. However, three straight years of drought changed everything. No one in the government anticipated this”, said the man.

“But my dear friend” – inquired Terry – “Cape Town authorities could learn from California where $7.5 billion dollar water bond was approved with 67 percent vote. Century old laws were replaced and water usage was monitored”.

“I hope they learn from experience in California” – replied the man – “but do you think we are underestimating the impacts of climate change with a situation like this? Researchers from University of Cape Town acknowledged they had never expected such a rapid impact of climate change. What is your take on this?” the man asked Terry.

“Let me be very blunt here”, Terry said looking at him. “Climate Change is affecting all of us but we can’t simply blame all problems on it”

“For instance – said Terry – when I inherited my family business, it was running in debt. So I decided to change the system by creating a new customer base and by diversifying our spending from garage to car washing and real estate. I promoted also the use of technology and adopted efficient trade practices”.

“What do you mean by technology and efficient trade practices?” asked the man.

“Well, about 60% of my car washing facilities and other offices use treated wastewater, all our toilets are flushed with gray water and we reward employees for their water saving efforts. These are some initiatives, I assume people in other parts of the world – and Cape Town officials – are also doing this”, Terry pointed.

“Well, Cape Towners have successfully pushed Day Zero by reducing water consumption by 60%: people showered in 90 seconds avoided wastage of water, reused gray water. Moreover, Cape Town officials cut irrigation supply, constructed water collection points and rigorously worked for a water saving campaign”, explained the man.

“What is Day Zero? And I am sorry, are you a Cape Towner ?” Terry asked. “You seem to be very concerned about the city!”.

The young man replied: “Day Zero is when the city reservoir reaches 13.5 % of its total capacity, which means authorities have to cut off water supply to three quarters of population.”

Before the man could elaborate further, Terry’s phone beeped. Terry with open eyes said “I am afraid I have a skype call now. I have to go, but it was nice meeting you Mr…?

“Mr. Rigo Flech”, the young man answered.

They shook hands. Rigo added “And the answer to your last question is Yes, I am a Cape Towner and once I owned a car washing facility and a small motel in Cape Town”.

After having said this, the young man walked away. In some minutes Terry was back in hotel thinking about Rigo.

Next morning near an old Heritage garden of Barcelona, Terry saw a beautiful fountain but what stuck him was a small bird showering in water. Remembering the young Rigo he smiled and mumbled: “You have have left me numb Cape Town bird Rigo”.

“What did he do after?”, Emily interrupted.

“He googled “Cape Town drought”, dad smiled and said.

“Can we avert a crisis like this or people keep migrating from there?”, Emily inquired.

“Hope Terry has a solution”, he grinned.

“I got my answer Dad, not wasting water anymore”, she admitted.

“Every year thousands of bird migrate in search of food and nesting. While we may know the science but there is a always a story. Rigo was one of those birds who left Cape Town for a better life”. You can be next..

(Terry Burner, Rigo Fletch, and Emily are fictional characters and all the facts provided in the story are borrowed from articles listed.)

References

• https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/04/15/how-the-drought-changed-california-forever/
• https://www.npr.org/2016/03/18/469799456/in-california-dealing-with-a-drought-and-preparing-for-a-flood
• https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/02/cape-town-running-out-of-water-drought-taps-shutoff-other-cities/
• www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/cape-town-drought-water-shortage-luxury-five-star-hotels-day-zero-laundry-showers-toilet-flush-pool-a8191966.html
• https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/why-april-rainfall-is-key-to-stave-off-cape-towns-day-zero-20180409
• https://www.reuters.com/article/us-safrica-drought/cape-town-day-zero-pushed-back-to-2019-as-dams-fill-up-in-south-africa-idUSKCN1HA1LN

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Why do you want to create something epic? You say on your website you want to create something “better than reality”.

Von Wong: There are lots of documentary photographers out there, capturing great stories. I think it is important to always have a different approach. Documentaries have a very important but also a very different way to communicate with people and reach a different sort of demographic which is important. To create these epic stories, just happens to be something that I am particularly good at. I try to educate through adventure and I found that the internet likes things that are really flashy and it’s something they have never seen before. It is an effective way to communicate with an audience that is not already interested.

Your picture with a mermaid drowning in plastic bottles was exhibited at the UN Environmental Assembly in Nairobi last year. Do you see yourself as an environmentalist?

They reached out for me and asked if they could use my latest work on plastic pollution. In the end, they used around seven or eight of my pictures, some of the plastic pollution topic and some others about toxic laundry. I wasn’t invited to Nairobi unfortunately, so I did not attend the assembly. But this is what I try to do: I want my images to help people who are struggling to get their message out there. I don’t necessarily consider myself as an environmentalist, there are so many amazing environmentalists doing far more than me. At the end of the day, I am just somebody trying to do positive things with the skills I have.

How do you create an interaction between your art and people, outside of social media?

I am more focused on the online engagement for now. In the future, I would like to get more into creating installations. That is what I am doing right now: Creating installations – and after the work we destroy it. So, in many ways, I am creating temporary art installations and I would love to find a way for them to live on. The problem is that it costs a lot of money, you need a place to store it, exhibit it… Hopefully someday someone is going to say: “Hey, let’s make it something more permanent!”

Sometimes, for example with the mermaid and the plastic pollution, we transform the work into educational posters which you can buy then. And I think, we are going to do the same with the e-waste posters, so that everyone can buy it without making profit. For now, the only way to own one of the pictures is either as a gift or if it is related with charity. Maybe one day, when I become a starving artist, then I might sell them. (laughs)

Who supports you in your complex photoshoots?

Mostly it is all done by volunteers. People I never met before text me that they want to help. Mostly I post something on social media asking if anyone is in town and wants to help and people just show up. For the e-waste project, there were about 50 volunteers.

You have a background in engineering and are now a photographer – when did conservation and social aspects become important for your work?

It was about two or three years ago when I was getting off the back of a large campaign and it felt meaningless to only do advertising. So, I started to search for a purpose and tried different ways – in the beginning I was doing documentary videos and I decided I wasn’t that good at it. So, I decided to do my crazy photography instead. (laughs)

The goal right now is to get cooperation to start supporting global campaigns. And as we are starting to get more conscious, people will start to care more about what a company stands for and not just about the final product. We live in a global economy and as everyone is doing basically the same, it becomes more about what they support, what their values are. I want to get these companies more involved – something like social capitalism. (laughs)

For me, it is a little harder to work with the establishment in the conservation field because they already have their way to do things. That is why I want to concentrate on good corporate behaviour. Instead of always pointing the finger on how companies are doing the bad thing, I want to do the reverse and reward the ones doing good things. I want to bring big brands to spending more money on social impact – it’s not about taking the brands that are already doing a lot in that area but trying to encourage those who don’t have it as a primary focus.

Adidas for example, recently launched that by 2025 they want 100% of their footwear to be made from ocean plastic – these are the kind of initiatives that will carry us into the next century. If more big brands do it, more little brands will follow, too.

Do you think that companies are shifting towards “good” attitudes?

They have to because the world is going to shift. (laughs) Maybe the next 20 years they can go on like now but in the next 50 years, they can’t. Sooner or later, the world has to make this shift. And I want to accelerate this and be on that side of the battle when it comes.

In your last project about e-waste, Dell lent you all the electronic materials you needed – and took it back afterwards to recycle them. How does this recycling look like?

They sort the material and break it down to smaller parts. We were at the facility in McKinney, Texas. There, they took all the metal parts and run it through a metalogical process to separate all different types of materials. After the recycling, less than one percent of the materials goes to the landfill. It was very impressive!

Do you know what is the impact of your pictures outside of social media?

It is hard to tell who we reach. But for this campaign we are giving away a postcard for everyone who donates their electronic waste. We have 1000 postcards to give away but so far, we have no calculations about how many items we collected. I hope to have in the end a huge amount of extra recycling as the result of this campaign.

Do you see a change in awareness caused by your pictures?

There are always positive and negative reactions. Lots of parents and teachers are excited about it because they can show it to their students and it is very interesting for them to engage with it in a different way. But how do measure the efficiency of art? That is really hard.

Any ideas for new projects already?

I always like to tackle different problems with every project. So, I am always coming up with different ideas – there are like 20 different ideas in my mind. (laughs) It is then important to figure out the one that works out and finding the right people to collaborate with, finding the right stories to tell.

e-Waste, sharks, plastic bottles – they don’t necessarily have anything to do with each other. Where and how do you get your inspiration?

With the work I do, I try to connect with different people who care about the same things. Often, they say “Hey, I saw your work, would you like to talk?” and I just say yes to everybody – and sometimes, the project becomes real. One of the projects that we are launching next month was similar: We got access to a huge facility in Cambodia to raise awareness for the environmental costs of fast fashion – just because I talked to this one girl by chance. It is always about finding the people who are passionate about making a difference. We will publish our project about this probably close to Earth Day on April 22nd.

Do you have a message you would like to spread?

Participate in the challenge, recycle your e-waste, get a free card at rethinkandrecycle.com!

Thank you for your time, Benjamin!

Thank you so much!

The post “I want to reward companies with a good impact” appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

“Remember to look up at the stars. Be curious. And however difficult life may seem there is always something you can do and succeed at.”

Stephen Hawking

Today, one of the most brilliant minds of our time passed away: Professor Stephen Hawking died this morning at the age of 76.

GCE student Nikunj Pathak penned a poem to honor this extraordinary and inspiring man.

A tribute to  Stephan Hawking

He asked how and why,
What is hidden in the sky,
Who are the stars so bright,
Why they glitter in the night,

 

From the theory of Big Bang,
How universe formed and sank,
Explaining math physic rule,
Little Einstein of the school,

 

When the body paralyze,
Doctors feel he won’t survive,
Ignoring physical bind,
He romanced with science,

 

In a brief history of time,
He enlightened many minds,
From his radiations on the black hole,
Science and theories were retold,
He asked how and why,

What is hidden in the sky…

The post “Remember to look up at the stars” – Stephen Hawking appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

Giving youth a voice since 1945

The European Forum Alpbach is a think-tank and interdisciplinary platform for science, politics, business and culture established in 1945. Every year it addresses relevant socio-political questions of our time in a fun, interactive andopen way to inspire social debates.

This year’s EFA18: Diversity and resilience

In 2018, the EFA will be all about “Diversity and Resilience”: an extremely relevant topic that defines our age of rapid transformations. Now more than ever we hear from all possible sides how systems are changing and questions arise whether diversity in financial, technological, human and environmental terms is or not driving the change and whether or not it can provide resilience, prosperity and success for manifold human and environmental systems.

Participate as an scholarship-holder

As a scholarship-holder sponsored by the European Forum Alpbach you will have an unforgettable academic and social learning experience! You will witness how think-tanks can foster international dialogue and gather young agents of change to share their ideas, passion and motivation – Carla Madueño, EFA17 participant

Students willing to expand their bag of ideas are encouraged to apply, as topics range from sustainability issues to ethics in economics, grassroots politics and social movements, law, technology and development, education, finances and markets, and many more.

Don’t miss out the opportunity to meet fascinating people from all over the world and spread the momentum for change in the heart of the Austrian Alps.

What are you waiting for?

Apply until March 30, 2018 (11:59 noon CET). If not convinced yet, get inspired & watch the video here.

Application links

• European Forum Alpbach Homepage
• EFA Scholarship Program and Online application
• Testimonials by former scholarship-holders: Humans of Alpbach
• Participant Report EFA2017
• Contact Author for further details

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Yesterday, a range of side events, exhibitions and actions marked the Young and Future Generations Day at the COP. There are an estimated 1.8 billion people aged between 10 and 24 years on this planet, and they are the fastest growing demographic in many countries. As this generation has only been on this planet for a few years, they have contributed only little to the greenhouse gas emissions which are driving climate change – yet it is their future which will be most affected by its environmental and economic consequences. In many ways, young people have the highest stakes in #COP21 and the #YFGDay drew attention to both their activism and their demands.

There was no lack of photo-ops throughout #YFGDay. For instance, young people all over the conference grounds “dropped dead” at 3pm exactly. This “die-in” was an effective visual reminder of the fact that climate change will affect young people everywhere in the world.

But what is the real impact that young people have in Paris? UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christina Figueres met with Young and Future Generations representatives at a 30 min briefing and also gave a speech at the official opening ceremony of #YFGDay. However, she left after having taken pictures with 15-year old key note speaker and climate change activist Xiuhtezcatl Roske-Martinez. After Figueres left Anjali Appadurai, a young leader, gave a statement criticizing her departure, and the room cheered. She inquired where the real physical space for young people was to meet decision makers and lobby their case, and how the voice of the youth could be heard when statements had been restricted to two minutes.

COP21 is a political process, so access to political power matters. It makes me hopeful to see that young people demand this access and have a vision on how to use it constructively.

– Henrike Schulte to Bühne

The post #YFGDay, Part II – Young people at COP: coming into power? appeared first on Global Change Ecology.