The Electric Bullet takes the Management Committee to Edinburgh!

Attending the ‘Taking action on the UN Sustainable Development Goals across communities and schools event’ on the 6th November 2017.
 
I attended the event with my colleague and our Group Secretary, Coral Bell. The event introduced SDGs to Coral and re-engaged me with the framework they offer in bringing climate change, sustainability and low carbon futures into the mainstream. We arrived in sustainable style by electric car, pulling into the City Chambers forecourt and plugging-in to park and charge during the conference. We’d not been to this venue before and we were both so impressed with the centrality of the venue for an event, including a fabulous downtown parking location for the electric car.
 

During my studies at Dundee University, SDGs were not dealt with directly which on reflection seems a bit ironic. In looking at the bigger academic picture, I’d lost sight that SDGs are key in representing 17 areas of the three pillars of sustainable development: planet, people, profit. However, the 17 goals were omnipresent, just not highlighted as a concept.
 
I seem to remember that initially SDGs were an educational tool for developing countries to promote awareness in climate change. More recently we recognised them as valuable learning framework at home in Scotland and other developed countries.
 
The event reminded me about that, and inspired Coral and I to look at how we can embed them more effectively in our community work. This comes with a specific focus within the Carse of Gowrie Sustainability Group’s junior division, the Junior Carsonians (JC’s) who represent the six Carse Primary Schools, about 1000 children. The JC’s meet regularly to work collectively on climate change projects, often taking the work back to their own schools to be further developed.
 
All the presentations at the event were great in sharing ideas and projects that are happening across Scotland.  Email, twitter and facebook are all well and good but having the chance to sit, talk and debate with a diverse group of people for a few hours can just have great impact.  As Coral and I love a ‘bit of a debate’ we thoroughly enjoyed the group discussions which had a good amount of time was allocated.  I’d just like to say thank you to the organisers and everyone’s generosity in sharing their experiences and expertise.
 
By the event close, the car was fully charged and ready to make the fifty-mile journey home!! Suffice to say, the conversation never stopped as Coral and I chatted enthusiastically about the day and how we can implement action in the Carse of Gowrie.
 
 
 

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