Caroline Lucas talks to BPEC

lululucas Caroline Lucas talks to Brighton Peace and Environment Centre about Brighton, sustainable living and easy ways to make small changes.

Caroline Lucas is a happy lady. Britain’s first Green MP has got the backing of the UK’s first Green-led city council in Brighton & Hove.

In an exclusive interview with Loretta Flockhart, Caroline talks about the Brighton Peace & Environment Centre, taking local action and her love of the city’s art scene.

Action and community

Caroline believes that change stems from taking action, not just taking a political stand point, and that action begins with information and education.

“Some issues seem remote, like the arms trade in the Middle East, but they might be supported by local business. Writing a letter to the head of a pension fund for example, may reveal that our money is propping up arms sales elsewhere,” she suggests.

“Information is the first step to change things,” Caroline says, adding that “most global issues can usually be connected to the actions we take every day, yet it’s not always easy to see the end results.”

Caroline knows well the energising unity and strength that community action fosters. “Societies and community groups encourage individuals to act alongside other people so it’s more fun and more sustainable in the long term. People feel more engaged”.

Before entering politics in her mid twenties Caroline was an avid anti-nuclear demonstrator and has abiding memories of those days. “I was the membership secretary of Exeter Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (C.N.D.) and remember boarding a bus at 5.30 on Saturday mornings to travel to Greenham Common or Molesworth to protest and hang things on fences.”

“Greenham Common was exciting then in the same way that climate camps are now. Any issue that unites people with a cause to fight is bonding” she says while shuddering with the recollection of cold mornings with strangers on buses. “Funny thing is, twelve hours later, on the journey home, you all share your passion and it feels like you’ve known each other all your life. It's a special, powerful feeling.”

Local action with a global reach

“The intangible affects of knowing that people share your agenda and are joining you in your concerns cannot be underestimated”

Having worked with Oxfam for ten years, visiting countries affected by poverty and climate change, Caroline met many people who felt that they had been forgotten. “I saw first hand what a psychological boost it was for them to know that individuals were taking action on their behalf”, she says.

BPEC's Climate Connections project, delivered in partnership with Brighton & Hove City Council and Oxfam, brings global issues to the local arena in a bid to connect residents with their global counterparts.

“Climate change is an abstract concept but when we put faces to phenomena and learn how real lives are affected, we create a relationship with people, not intangible arguments,” Caroline says.

Closer to home, she believes that doorstep action does influence central government policy. “Politicians generally don’t do more than what they think their electorate will stand for. When individuals take action, such as weaning themselves off oil through 'Transition Towns' for example, it sends a message to government and changes politicians’ sense of what’s acceptable or is expected.”

As the populace are usually ahead of politicians, the more individuals demonstrate they care about the interconnected issues of oil, climate, nuclear, education etc., the more likely it is to be scaled up on the agenda.

Caroline suggests if residents push to grow their own food that government can develop ‘policy enabling frameworks’ that require and enable local councils and business developers to assist them, creating “tools for locals”.

Cost of sustainable living

Cost is often proposed as the barrier to making sustainable living choices. The price difference between fair trade and organic versus bargain foods can be great.

“People used to say environmentally friendly products were more expensive than their toxic counterparts, so being green became a middle class issue. While there was a bit of truth in that, the more it was spoken about, the more it was believed. But it is no longer the case.”

Competition in the eco market is high and prices are dropping. However, as we recover from the economic downturn the cost of sustainable choices are still a factor.

We encounter more obstacles to making informed choices with added barriers of misinformation and ‘green washing’ - a phrase coined to describe the deceptive use of marketing and PR to promote companies and products as sustainable, when they are not.

“This stems from getting accurate information and having access to the daily products and services we need. For a family without access to a car to buy vegetables from a local delivery service may prove better value than supermarket cost leaders when you factor in the cost of public transport. Informed small steps like this allow each of us to take manageable, direct action,” Caroline says.

Caroline strongly advocates swapping to a renewable ‘green’ electricity supplier; “It’s often cheaper and the paperwork is done for you”. Going one step further, with the aid of government feed-in tariffs, homeowners can produce their own energy by installing photovoltaic solar panels.

The Brighton Energy Co-op promotes community-owned energy, which for Caroline is “about as green as it gets.” The Co-op is looking for more roof space to install photovoltaic panels, and welcomes residents to help produce, and use, locally generated electricity.

Brighton Green Pages, a BPEC project, informs residents of the vast array of local services and as a directory for businesses and organisations that support sustainable living choices. The free Green Pages service enables informed choice-making in the move towards a sustainable future and is part of the city’s strength.

“Brighton heads the list of eco-aware cities and I think it’s partly due to its vibrant third sector,” says Caroline.

However you choose to go about it, Brighton is a hot bed of resources and there are many community groups designed to help each of us learn and take informed action.

Education

As a mum, Caroline understands the importance of incorporating global issues and facilitating debate in children's education. “It bothers me that the school curriculum is constantly closed down rather than widened out,” she states.

A recent report, 'What parents want: the role of schools in teaching about the wider world', commissioned by Think Global and conducted by YouGov, shows that almost three quarters of parents think it vital that schools help young people to think globally. However, cuts within the Department for International Development (DFID) have directly impacted the work of charities such as BPEC who specialise in this invaluable education and training.

Caroline proposes that without the extra teaching resources available parents can still help. “If someone has done a VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas), it’d be good to bring that experience into school, share their experience of working abroad or in a recycling plant for example.”

BPEC, with its lending library and teachers’ resource library, provides a wealth of educational resources to support both parents and teachers. Over one thousand specialist titles on issues such as climate change, global citizenship, fair trade, renewable energy, human rights and development can help to spark a child’s interest and initiate lines of thought on these critical issues.

“Schools are a microcosm of life experience and work such as BPEC’s help schools go beyond the minimum curriculum. The challenge is to ensure global learning is properly integrated. It needs to be implemented from an early stage, otherwise it sits outside the agenda as a luxury.”

As a working MP Caroline visits many eco-schools, such as Westdene Primary and Varndean School, where being informed and taking action are key components of the curriculum. “I’m so proud of them. The kids are excited that they are separating rubbish, recycling and making proposals to teachers. The responsibility helps them feel they are making a difference.” she says.

Making links between the wider world and school excites and motivates students and teachers alike. BPEC provides training and resources for teachers to develop innovative ideas in their schools. Some schools grow food on a little patch of land, other teachers borrow artifacts to help teach French while learning about Morocco, or undertake training on developing connections with schools around the world.

Brighton life

Like most, Caroline needs to balance work and family commitments with a bit of R&R and enjoys the fresh sea air and walks in the downs. She’s also an avid art lover.“I just love the overall art scene and that any day of the week there’s something on”.

Speaking about the recent Brighton Festival, Caroline states “I love that Aug San Suu Kyi was honorary director of the Brighton Festival. For a city that sees itself as tolerant, open and free to link to a country where those values have been so hard fought is fantastic and wholly appropriate.”

Linking Brighton with Burma, the ensuing support for the festival artists and performers and the boost to the city’s economy provides tangible evidence that concern about global issues does impact the way local people think, feel and act.