I’ve been told that there are two main pathways that I could take as the next step in my career: further education or entering the work force in some capacity. Typically, further education is the path to take if 1) I feel like I need more skills and knowledge for the work force, 2) I just want to keep learning, or 3) I want to do my own research. But I never thought of furthering my education to be able to express myself and be who I want to be. That is, not until I had a conversation with Dean Alice Hovorka.

Dean Hovorka’s experience as a seasoned academic who so strongly followed her passions throughout her career serves as a wonderful example of a heart story born out of the pursuit of further education. Her story is one that shows how academia has the potential to be a space where you can be who you are and who you want to be. 

“I’ve been lucky enough as an academic to find a job in a sector of higher education that allows me to be who I want to be. That is a rare thing in the job market,” Hovorka shared. “As an academic, I have been able to work with students in the way that I want to work with them. No one has told me what to study. No one has told me what I must be teaching or how I must be teaching it. And now that I’m the Dean of the Faculty [of Environmental and Urban Change] at York, what I love about this role is being of service. Being a champion for students, faculty and staff, who want to make a difference in the world.”

And Dean Hovorka is just that – a champion. She is so dedicated to helping others succeed in following their passions because she herself has done just that in her career. One topic of research that she focuses on is the relationships between humans and other animals. She started a group called The Lives of Animals Research Group that originated from passion translating into academia, and I asked her what the story was behind its creation.

“I sort of think of my academic career in two different phases. The first phase, I had nothing to do with animals whatsoever. I was doing a lot of work on gender issues, gender politics and relations of power, and I was doing my work in urban, sub-Saharan Africa. A lot of my work for my PhD was in Botswana, in Gaborone. At the time, I was very interested in urban agriculture. So, I was documenting how men and women farmed differently in the city, and I thought I was going to be finding maize and beans and fruit trees – no, it was all chickens. I went ahead, wrote my dissertation, and for about 10 years, I was known for doing work on gender, urbanization, and everyday life kind of issues. 

“At a certain point, I’d gone back to Gaborone for a visit, about 8 years into doing this work. I was driving around and I had this random thought. I was driving past all these poultry farms, I was seeing chickens everywhere, and I was like, ‘the city would look different if the chickens weren’t here.’ At the same time, I had been reading some work about the exploitation of animals and I remember, I started to cry. I was reading an academic text and I’m starting to cry, so you know there’s something wrong. I realized I had completely missed the animals. I had been walking through abattoirs where chickens were getting slaughtered, I was walking through poultry farms with 30,000 birds in them – never noticed the animals. I mean, I noticed them, but I never really appreciated that they were a social group in the city as much as people were. That’s how I got inspired. 

Source: Lives of Animals Research Group

“So, I took my PhD work and instead of focusing on men and women, I turned it around and focused on chickens. The reactions I had from folks in academia in this part of the world was, ‘Why would you focus on animals? There are people who matter more.’ But when I talked to my colleagues at the University of Botswana, they were like, ‘You should totally do that. We really believe that the animals are number one.’ I started to get a lot of confidence from my Botswana colleagues to pursue this and I kind of never left. I’ve been doing this work for about 12 years now. I started the research group because I wanted to bring together a team of students to help me think through all these issues. It was largely in Botswana at the start, and now it has stretched into Canada and Costa Rica. We’re so intertwined with animals, we don’t even recognize it – and we are animals, that’s the other piece.”

Dean Hovorka has used her academic career to spotlight the role of animals in our societies and really pour her compassion into her work. Similarly, with her work on gender issues and urbanization, she always advocates for intersectional environmentalism – including the injustices between men and women and humans and other animals – which is vital to effectively tackling the climate crisis today.

“If you have inequities and injustices between men and women, you’re never going to have sustainability. It’s the same with the animals.”

“If you think about this new faculty – the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change – one of the reasons I wanted to be here at York with this group of people is that they’re not just looking at sustainability, they’re looking at justice as a means to get sustainability. To me, that totally makes sense. If you have inequities and injustices between men and women, you’re never going to have sustainability. It’s the same with the animals. If you treat other beings in the way that we are treating other beings, we’re never going to be sustainable because not only are you abusing nature, i.e. animals, you’re also undermining everything you need to feed yourself, to have clean air, clean water, fertile soil, a climate that doesn’t change at such a rapid rate.

“I’ve been around long enough now that I’ve seen us go from the actual concept of sustainability being brought forward in 1987, the ideas of a climate change issue, and how long it’s taken us to actually talk about climate change such that we’re recognizing it’s a climate crisis. When I think about the work we have to do to understand biodiversity matters, in that we are not just messing up with the climate, we’re messing up soil, plants, animals, water, air… How do we move ourselves faster through that learning curve? Even this pandemic – itself rooted in an environmental crisis first and foremost, and our relationships with animals, hands down. What it has brought forth is we’re now talking about green recovery. We managed to somehow engrain that we’re in a climate crisis, the pandemic hits, and now we’re bringing the climate crisis back as part of our recovery. So, part of this has been generating momentum, but I feel like we’re in a good place to really draw some energy from the breadth of understanding of what sustainability means.”

To read the rest of this conversation, stay tuned for our upcoming issue, Playbook for Progress. In this issue, Dean Hovorka shares her best advice for new grads on how to take that first step into further education – how to succeed, stay motivated, and sustain the journey while maintaining your core purpose and vision. You won’t want to miss it!

Alice Hovorka is the Dean of the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change at York University. She is an accomplished academic, holding both Master’s and PhD degrees in geography; her research focuses on urban agriculture, gender and power politics, and human-animal relations. Dean Hovorka is a strong advocate for the imperative link between sustainability and justice not only in scholarship but all facets of life.

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A/J is looking for a few volunteer writers to join our team in contributing a book review for one of two upcoming issues! This is a great opportunity for a writer looking to make connections in the environmental media world and have your work published.

For our upcoming issue (46.2), “The Future of Us”, we have 2-3 books ready to be reviewed.

For the following issue (46.3), “2071”, we are switching it up and doing 4 reviews on environmental children’s books! 

We are looking for skilled writers that have an interest in environmental issues and can bring a creative, insightful perspective to review these books. If you are interested, please send us an email with a sample of your work to this address: siobhan.mullally@alternativesjournal.ca

We look forward to hearing from you!

The post Call for Book Reviewers! appeared first on A\J.

The traditional purpose of gardens was to grow and cultivate plants for food and medicine. For centuries, it has provided individuals with the opportunity to learn more about the environment and better appreciate nature. Gardens have become a widespread practice in schools across the globe. Implementing garden-based teaching incorporates concrete experiences that contribute to the understanding of many topics in the classroom curriculum. It is interesting to see how school gardens can differ between regions and how a global pandemic has impacted school gardens. Families have turned to gardening to ease the mental and emotional strain that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on residents when the need for education surrounding nutrition and health is more critical than ever. Overall, this article aims to analyze the impact school gardens have on an individual’s wellbeing and environmental awareness.

Benefits and Challenges

School gardens can have a positive impact on an individual’s mental health providing students with a sense of autonomy as well as a feeling of belonging. The advantages of school gardens are numerous. For instance, a study done by UNICEF reported that the average happiness for children is the highest for children who play outdoors. Moreover, the memorable learning experiences provided by a school garden helps students link their learning to their feelings. Such engaging experiences like these stay with the students as they grow up and affect their behavior and lifestyle. They also influence the students’ values and decision-making skills. When students are given opportunities to take care of and maintain a school garden, they develop an increased sense of responsibility towards the environment and improve their social interaction skills by working in groups and communicating their experiences. They also experience enjoyment from watching their products grow and sharing their produce with their community. Additionally, school gardens can instill healthy eating habits in students by exposing them to fruits and vegetables, which makes them favor natural produce. However, the benefits of school gardens are still not enough to overcome the challenges that are facing these gardens. For example, school gardens suffer from a lack of funding from the school districts and those gardens rely on contributions from the community members. In addition, school gardens are constrained by the national curriculum guidelines that do not allow teachers to try different approaches with their students.

Source: Unsplash

School Gardens Across the World

School gardens supply outdoor learning and access to healthy food for students and local communities. As the global food supply chains have been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, access to healthy food options and nutrition is more important than ever. Outdoor learning and school gardens help fill nutritional gaps in places where access to healthy food may be limited, while also supplying recreation, stress reduction opportunities and supply a safe outdoor learning environment, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the international level, the World Food Programme has supported Home Grown School Feeding initiatives at the community level. These initiatives work to promote nutrition education and better eating habits, and encourage the diversification of production with a special emphasis on local crops. Community involvement, in turn, enhances the sustainability of programs.

Many countries decided to tackle the challenges of food security by educating the younger members of society on how to grow their own crops. Indeed, across many countries, we have seen an increase in school community gardens due to the current spread of the COVID- 19 pandemic. For example, children in El Salvador have grown vegetable gardens in the communities and inspired young people and adults in seeking to replicate their initiative to secure their food and avoid the high market prices affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, at least 700 children from across India are now bound together in a microgreens project initiated by Chennai-based E-zone India, a company that does environment projects with and for school children. Founder Hafiz Khan says that the lockdown helped to convert the program into live WhatsApp video sessions with students from anywhere in the world learning how to nurture their school gardens and home gardens. Another example is happening in Papua New Guinea, in the city of Lae, where the launch of a new garden program for secondary schools represents an approach to reduce outside dependence on the external food supply and building community hubs that can help the health and economic recovery from the pandemic.

Since multiple countries are undertaking similar projects, we are left asking how the meaning of school gardens has changed during these challenging times? Children used to be involved in gardening projects at school to be close to nature and enjoy outdoor activities. Now though, learning how to grow your own food is essential for your survival, not just a mere hobby. Children are understanding the importance of learning how to nurture a garden and grow their own food. Indeed, their experience is leading them to be the protagonist of food security and sovereignty in their community, and they are proving to be engaged and successful in such endeavors.

Conclusion

It is imperative to acknowledge the influence school gardens have on students and their understanding of the environment. Schools across the nation have been implementing outdoor learning into their curriculum. This hands-on teaching style has displayed several benefits for the individuals involved. It has created a sense of community during this global pandemic. There are several challenges that could arise when trying to implement a new school garden. Funding and government policies are some of the leading problems preventing schools from executing this learning technique. However, around the world, schools are trying to overcome these obstacles and standardize the use of school gardens. As previously mentioned, gardening has become much more than just a hobby. Not only does it result in the production of food, but it has also become a new teaching method for the younger generations.

This article is part of our March 2021 Western Student Editorial Series – a series that showcases the works of students in the Collaborative Specialization in Environment and Sustainability program. Read more articles from this series here!

References

Basu, S. (2020). Budding kitchen farmers. Retrieved from https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/food/the-covid-19-lockdown-has-encouraged-children-across-the-country-to-create-their-own-microgreen-farms-at-home/article32041705.ece

Berezowitz, C. K., Bontrager Yoder, A. B., & Schoeller, D. A. (2015). School gardens enhance academic performance and dietary outcomes in children. Journal of School Health, 85(8), 508-518.  https://doi.org/10.1111/josh.12278

Borbon, C. (2020). Children grow vegetable gardens in El Salvador to survive COVID-19 pandemic, The Gulf News. Retrieved from: https://gulfnews.com/photos/lifestyle/children-grow-vegetable-gardens-in-el-salvador-to-survive-covid-19-pandemic-1.1598003097530

Cornish, L. (2020). Can school gardens help alleviate the economic impact of COVID-19 in the Pacific. Devex. Retrieved from https://www.devex.com/news/can-school-gardens-help-alleviate-the-economic-impact-of-covid-19-in-the-pacific-98161

DeMarco, L. W., Relf, D., & McDaniel, A. (1999). Integrating gardening into the elementary school curriculum. HortTechnology, 9(2), 276-281. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTTECH.9.2.276

Evans, D. & Davies, J. (2020). 4 reasons why the world needs more urban farming post-pandemic. World Economic Forum. Retrieved from: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/09/urban-farming-flourish-post-pandemic/

Food Corps. (July 22, 2020). Growing Healthy Communities in School Gardens during COVID-19. Retrieved from https://foodcorps.org/growing-healthy-communities-in-school-gardens-during-covid-19/

Gromada, A., Rees, G., & Chzhen, Y. (2020). Worlds of Influence: Understanding What Shapes Child Well-being in Rich Countries. Retrieved from https://www.unicefirc.org/publications/pdf/Report-Card-16-Worlds-of-Influence-child-wellbeing.pdf

Ozer, E. J. (2007). The effects of school gardens on students and schools: Conceptualization and considerations for maximizing healthy development. Health Education & Behavior, 34(6), 846-863. https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198106289002

Passy, R. (2014). School gardens: Teaching and learning outside the front door. Education 3-13, 42(1), 23-38. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004279.2011.636371

Waite, S. (2007). Memories are made of this: Some reflections on outdoor learning and recall. Education 3-13, 35(4), 333-347. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004270701602459

World Food Programme WFP (2020). Home Grown School Feeding. Retrieved from  https://www.wfp.org/home-grown-school-feeding

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Anyone who knows me knows that I am a pretty agreeable person. I don’t like conflict, and though I don’t always turn away from conflict, I do my best to diffuse it when I can. I don’t feel like I have much of a temper at all. Despite the fact that I’ve got a Gaelic name, a reddish tint to my hair, and Irish ancestors, my temper does not seem to reflect that fiery heritage. 

So, when I was recently asked, “What makes you angry?”, I did not have an answer. I started to question: Where is my rage? Am I naturally an inexpressive person? Or have my life and experiences shaped me into being compliant and agreeable? I’ve been pondering that question for a while now and I still don’t have a clear answer, but it has opened my eyes to something I had never thought of until now. Despite the countless reasons for me to be angry with the world – climate change, the patriarchy, the feeling of hopelessness and dread for the future, the feeling of being trapped in a system where my life seems planned out for me to be stuck “working for the weekend” for the rest of my life – I still don’t seem to feel mad. WHERE IS MY ANGER? 

Source: Pinterest, Artist: Monica Garwood

Don’t get me wrong – I am a very emotional person internally. I don’t express a lot on the outside, but I feel everything on the inside, and I can usually feel the emotions of other people as well. I definitely get mad, and the people who are closest to me can attest to that, but I tend to talk things out until the feelings naturally diffuse. Otherwise, I deal with my negative emotions through journalling or thinking alone rather than giving into anger, outwardly expressing it, or using it some way. I feel a lot of emotions every day, but rage never really seems to show up to the party.

My life-long best friend has rage. She is the fiercest person I know when it comes to justice and equality. She is pursuing a double major in gender studies and political science, and she is a strong, vocal activist, feminist, environmentalist, and social justice warrior. In our friendship, we agree on almost everything; we share all the same values, beliefs, morals, and viewpoints. But our actual personalities could not be more different. She is extroverted, outspoken, and not afraid of facing her anger – she lets her rage fuel her fire by translating it into her activism. I am very introverted, introspective, and whatever anger I have inside of me I’ve confronted by unintentionally diffusing it before I can transform it into anything else. So, when I pondered the question of what made me angry, I thought of how different I was from my best friend and what this looked like when we were kids.

I was praised for being the quiet, compliant kid, and my best friend was punished for being the opposite.

We met in kindergarten and we were inseparable; we used to go around telling people we were sisters, and it got to the point where most kids in our school still thought we were related up to around grade 4. She was the loud, opinionated one who pushed back when she didn’t agree with something – she always stood up for herself and others. I, on the other hand, was the shy kid. I never spoke up, I went along with what other people were doing, and I confided in only my closest friends to talk about things that bothered me. But when I think back to this childhood dynamic, it is now clear that I was praised for being the quiet, compliant kid, and my best friend was punished for being the opposite. I was always described as the following: shy, quiet, nice, polite, kind, a good listener, positive. I was identified with these words so much growing up, all the way until I graduated high school, so I must have internalized a lot of it from a young age. I was praised for being quiet, nice, and agreeable, and I probably subconsciously strived to uphold this “do-gooder” persona. And since my best friend was constantly told that she should be less bold and less angry, I saw those traits as negative – things we should not be.

This past summer, I read a book by Mona Ethaway, called The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls in which Ethaway writes about 7 things females have been told not to do as a result of the patriarchal system we live in (I highly recommend it!). Ethaway addresses topics such as profanity, ambition, attention, and anger, which women have been told to suppress and shy away from. But Ethaway urges women to face these “sins” and indulge in them (in healthy ways, of course) to empower themselves in their feminism and rise up to drive systemic change. When I read her words about anger and the patriarchy, I started to question whether my anger was silent as a result of being a naturally agreeable person, or whether it had been silenced. Ethaway writes the following:

“[The patriarchy] pummels and kills the anger out of girls. It socializes them to acquiesce and to be compliant, because obedient girls grow up to become obedient foot-soldiers of the patriarchy. They grow up to internalize its rules, which are used to police other women who disobey. We should not let patriarchy hammer girls into passivity. Well-behaved, quiet, acquiescent, and calm: no more,” (Ethaway, 2019, p 16).

Source: Penguin Random House

Reading these words and thinking about upholding the patriarchy by being well-behaved made me mad. I felt my anger returning, and I did not shy away from it. I am angry! So, let’s try this again.

What makes me angry? Well, toxic masculinity, the tainted legacy of colonization, system racism, people who sit in silence and close their own bubble when great injustices happen all over the world every day… and simply the fact that full unanimity may never exist. There may never be peace, wrongs may never be completely righted, and people will not always agree on the most sustainable, just ways of moving forward in this world. There will always be division, greed, apathy, selfishness. I am angry at the fact that making the world a better place is hard.

Change is hard and it is exhausting. A world that is just, right, healthy, and safe for everyone feels like a fantasy. Now, I don’t want to get all cynical and pessimistic because it’s not that I don’t believe goodness exists and change is possible – I very much do! That is exactly why I have dedicated my life, education, and career to being an activist and change maker in this world to fight for a better future on this planet. I really do have hope for improvement. My anger, frustration, and rage come in when I realize the huge, long, scary, dangerous road that we will all have to take to get there. But that’s what I will continue fighting for. And THIS is the rage I need to start channeling into my work and life to contribute to change and be heard.

Source: Pinterest

The long, dangerous road and fight for a better world got me thinking of Frodo and Sam and their wearisome, treacherous journey to destroy the ring in Mordor (I know, geek alert). We are very much travelling that same journey in our world. We have to use our rage, anger, trauma, and sadness as much as we use our hope, joy, love, and motivation to drive us forward. We need all the living parts of ourselves to sustain our journey and make progress. In my life, it is not going to be easy to unlearn all of what I’ve been conditioned to believe growing up. It won’t be easy to face my anger, express it, speak out, and embrace my rage, but I am growing to be able to do so. And I will keep trying for the sake of young Siobhan, who felt the fire in her heart but was praised for her ability to snuff it out. It’s time to rekindle that flame and let it burn! It’s time to fight!

Frodo: I can’t do this, Sam.

Sam: I know. It’s all wrong. By rights we shouldn’t even be here. But we are. It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were, and sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn’t. Because they were holding on to something.

Frodo: What are we holding on to, Sam?

Sam: That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it’s worth fighting for.

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Over the past week or so, my world has been very high-energy, productive, and busy, busy, busy! I have been maximizing my time at A\J by writing, thinking, creating, editing, and giving as much of myself to my work as I can – not only because I have obligations, but because I love it! I am someone who thrives on busyness. I want to have my foot in every door and I want to check off every box on the to-do list – these things energize me and move me forward. But recently, I came to a point, after a lot of constant creative output, where I was left with a mental block. I sat down to write this article, which was going to be about how nature relieves eco-anxiety (we’ll get to that later), and I could not think of anything to write. I had zero ideas, and when I dipped into my creative pool, it was dry. 

My brain felt like an internet browser with 25 tabs open, tons of information whizzing around, and all the softwares working at once – and it was starting to get slower and slower, lagging and loading… loading… loading … I actually did have tons of tabs open on my computer and its functionality was diminishing. My screen was exhausted and my eyes were sore from staring at it; I literally felt connected to my computer. So, when I finished work the other day, I closed all the tabs, shut down my computer, and walked away from it. And funny enough, I was unintentionally doing the same thing to my brain – disconnecting and unplugging.

After finishing up my work for the day, I decided to go for a walk around the block. It was around 6pm, so the sun was no longer in the sky, but the light of day remained and blanketed the world in a golden hue. I stepped outside, took a deep breath of fresh air, and the first thing I heard was the call of a mourning dove. It instantly calmed me. I heard its familiar call and it had a very real, very immediate effect on me. For a moment, the only thing occupying my brain was the sound of another living being. It was as if all the other thoughts that usually have intense bumper car competitions in my mind were temporarily wiped away – the bumper car ride at the amusement park was closed for maintenance and it was finally quiet. 

I walked a little farther down the street, then stopped for a moment by a giant pine tree. A little identification trick that I learned in school popped into my mind, so I picked up a fallen needle and tried bending it between my fingers – snap! It broke in half, indicating that it was a red pine. Then, I heard tiny chitter-chatter noises coming from squirrels in the trees as they sat exchanging their latest news to one another. I also heard another unknown bird – chip! chip! chip! And then I heard the whirr of bikes as a few people sped past me, and I decided to keep walking before I looked weirder than I already did, standing alone on the sidewalk, looking at squirrels. 

I turned around a corner onto another street and was boldly met with the sky – bright, royal blue fading into deep, golden orange on the horizon. No clouds were in the sky, which made the colours even more striking. All of the sudden, after stepping outside and noticing a few mere suburban elements of nature, I realized I felt inspired again. I had been giving so much of myself in my life and work that there was not enough left for me to draw inspiration from. It was time for me to refill myself, so I could once again have the capacity to give and share again, and being in nature was what allowed me to do so. 

I have often turned to nature for inspiration and healing when I feel empty or distant from my own self. I stop looking at the screens that so often dictate my every move. I get away from the obligations, the voices, the lists. And I go outside. I listen and look closely, paying attention to minute details. I clear my brain of the constant reel of information and thoughts that run through each day, and start making room for new thoughts that are meaningful, that spark inspiration, and that allow me to reconnect with my physical surroundings. These types of thoughts can come in when I stop thinking about all the how’s, why’s, when’s, and where’s of my day. I had been pondering how I was going to write this article for a couple of weeks, then in one moment, it all came to me – just from going for a walk and intentionally NOT thinking about it. 

Tiny fungi rainbows // Credit: Siobhan Mullally

Nature as a Remedy for Eco-anxiety 

I have found that there are a great many things to befriend in nature that can heal, inspire, and give us peace in our lives. It’s quite known these days that nature greatly benefits mental health. There have been many studies that show how interacting with nature can be therapeutic and calming, and help relieve stress, anxiety, and depression. Even bringing nature indoors by listening to recorded nature sounds or having images of natural spaces in our homes can help improve our moods. So, we know that nature is beneficial for a healthy mind, but what if the state of nature is the core reason for mental negativity?

As a young person today, a main source of anxiety for me is the state of the world. I’m sure many others are with me on this who experience this eco-anxiety on the daily. The world is on fire, species are dying, our natural world is becoming trashed and artificial, but greed seems to win the fight every time. The people fighting for a better world are exhausted and the young people inheriting it are terrified (and most of the time these two groups consist of the same people). This isn’t the kind of stress or anxiety that goes away after finishing a project at work, submitting a final assignment, or giving a major presentation. It’s a constant, looming anxiety that will never go away because it is about holding the world together. 

The people fighting for a better world are exhausted and the young people inheriting it are terrified (and most of the time these two groups consist of the same people).

Imagine the world is a giant broken vase. Some people are actively contributing to the breaking, and some people have no active role in either the breaking or fixing, but the rest of us are all working together to hold the pieces in place and fill in the cracks where we can. Older generations are starting to let go of the pieces, passing them onto younger generations, but the pieces are breaking more than ever, so young people are having to use both hands. They can’t let go or it will fall apart. But wait! My nose is itchy and I can’t scratch it; I can’t take my hands off because I have a duty to hold this world together. I must ignore my own natural, normal needs (i.e. my hopes and dreams of pursuing my life goals, having a full career, starting a family, having a functional planet to live in, etc) to keep it from falling apart. Eco-anxiety is fully real.

Climate Strike at the University of Waterloo // Credit: Siobhan Mullally

As young people who deal with eco-anxiety, we need to be taking breaks from work and screens to be in nature to help sustain our mental health. By being in nature, we can reconnect with it, feel like we are a part of it, rediscover our innate thirst for the beauty of the natural world and our dependence on it, feel it in our own hands, and be grounded in it. Nature’s great peril is what drives eco-anxiety, so it makes sense that nurturing our relationship with the Earth by physically being with it can help aid this.

Connecting with nature can look like a lot of different things: growing plants in your garden, digging your hands into the soil, going to a local forest and feeling the bark of the trees, learning the names of the birds in your backyard, laying on the grass and watching the clouds, or even simply noticing living things that you might not have noticed before, like lichens, fungi, and moss. I think all of these small actions can help alleviate greater anxieties about the world. It’s about bringing your mind from the global picture and scaling it down to the hyper-local microclimate where you physically stand, honing in on the small details. I believe that we may be more able to continue advocating for a better world in a global sense if we devote time and energy to connecting with the natural world around us on a more intimate level.

A closer look at a Citrus Flatid Planthopper (Metcalfa pruinosa) // Credit: Siobhan Mullally

By stepping outside, not only are you getting a good dose of fresh oxygen, serotonin, vitamin D, and maybe a pretty sunset out of it – you’re reconnecting with the earth. The ground you’re walking on. The plants and animals that you coexist with. The little delights that live and thrive and breathe and walk and live all around you. And if we keep connecting with these things, I hope we will feel a little bit more grounded in our own backyards, realizing that we’re part of nature and we can take care of it in the footsteps of people who have done so for many generations. We can get to know the names of the species around us, the bird calls, the texture of the grass outside, the smell of the soil in our gardens. These details are important – they are vital to upholding the connection we have to the Earth. And we will be able to fight for this planet and remedy our eco-anxiety if we keep tending to the relationship we have with nature.

All you have to do is shut down your internet browser brain, close all the tabs, and let it rest. Shut down the cranial bumper cars for maintenance. Embrace the quiet in your mind to feel inspired and rejuvenated. Go outside and find treasures in nature that calm you, reconnect you, ground you, and inspire you. Listen for your mourning dove call.

The post A Being in Nature: How the Mourning Dove’s Call of Inspiration Quieted My Busy Mind appeared first on A\J.

My first few days on the job were filled with uncertainties as I was just beginning to understand my role and didn’t know what to expect for the coming weeks. I was, in every sense of the word, a newbie. But it was not long before I dove head first into the sea of work and was carried off with the current, learning as I went. Bear with me as I further use this ocean metaphor.

Some days at A\J are choppy waves – full of energy, meetings, interviews, emails, busyness. Some days are calm waters, when I can float with careful planning, inspiration, and most importantly, writing. David (A\J publisher and my supervisor) always tells me to learn the ebbs and flows of my work, and that I am. For lack of a more unique pop culture reference, I feel very much like a young Jedi learning from the Obi Wan of A\J. David shares many of his pieces of advice and wisdom with me in the form of metaphors and catchphrases, and they are all valuable lessons that fuel my growth as a writer. I’ve learned how to “use the force” of environmental journalism – you need lots of input before you can produce the output. I am being filled to the brim with inspiration, having meaningful conversations with environmental leaders on the daily, and learning how to tithe to myself in the process in order to produce my best work.

I was recently tasked with writing an article on what I’ve learned so far at A\J in just 4 weeks, but if I included everything, it would be way too long for anyone to read (and for me to write!) So, I will do my best to sum up my key takeaways from this work experience so far.

The A\J Team

First and foremost, meeting the A\J team was a huge positive. It has been wonderful to work with a team of interesting people who are all different, yet share a common purpose. Everyone at A\J is driven to share environmental stories with others, to plant seeds and inspire them. We all work together with each other’s ebbs and flows, and I have observed how dedicated these people are to their work. I’ve experienced so much support, encouragement, and collaboration from the team that has kept me moving forward.

Skill Building

During the past month, I have enhanced my existing skills and established many new ones. I’ve built upon my interpersonal skills, and I don’t just mean “customer service” or people skills. I’m talking about the ability to sustain meaningful conversation and genuinely listen to others in order to gather and absorb important insights and stories from them. Along with that, I’ve greatly practiced and improved my existing communication skills through speaking (and listening), writing, emailing, interviewing, and the list goes on.

My work as an A\J intern has also given me a real experience of what journalism work is like. There are always several different projects on the go and multitasking is the way of life. I’ve had a lot of space to work on time management and self-regulation by prioritizing tasks, working with deadlines, and working around meeting times. There is no shortage of tasks, but it’s not draining, it’s actually empowering! I get to be actively involved in everything, and maybe it’s just me, but I really thrive when I have lots on the go and can be a part of everything all at once.

Creativity

I’ve also been given the opportunity to hone in on my creativity, which is something I didn’t have a lot of practice doing before this job. My writing and learning style has always been quite organized, academic, and structured. For me, the most conceptually difficult type of university assignment I’ve ever had to do (out of math, sciences, and the arts) is writing an English essay. In first year, I had to write an essay on a super short, abstract poem, and I had no idea what it was saying. It took so much original thought and effort to come up with a thesis and write a full, meaningful paper on just 14 lines of confusion. Of course, I’ve come a long way since then, but I find these assignments challenging because I have to generate fresh ideas. I have to be inspired. It is through these exercises that I improve my creative thinking. At A\J, I am challenged to think for myself in everything I do. Right from the get-go I was asked, “What do you want to write about?”, “What are your stories to tell?”, and “Who do you want to talk to?” I’m starting to answer those big questions, slowly tending and listening to that creative autonomy in my work. By doing so, I’m discovering lots about myself and know that I’ll continue to do so.

Conversations

In just four weeks at A\J, I’ve met many new people (virtually, of course), beyond just the A\J team. I’ve been able to have conversations with individuals who are highly experienced, accomplished, admired in environmental fields of work. I’ve been given opportunities to network and listen to these people’s stories. I already feel much more equipped with connections than I did before starting this job, but I’ve also realized how easy it can be to talk to people. You never know how much in common you might have with a university dean or sustainability leader until you have a conversation with them!
How to BE a writer

On top of improving my writing, I’m also learning how to be a writer. There is a difference, trust me. I think you can be very skilled at writing but not be a writer. Dipping my toe into the world of environmental journalism has taught me that…

1. The work doesn’t stop when you sign off for the day. Your work is on the news, on social media, in almost every conversation, and it is literally in your mind all the time. I’m starting to see everything as a potential story. When work aligns with your passion, it doesn’t fit into a 9 to 5 day because passion doesn’t turn off once the work day is done.
2. In order to be a writer, you have to understand yourself to a tee. Understanding the ebbs and flows of one’s own writing is so important – as David told me from day one. I’ve been befriending my inner muse, inner critic, and inner storyteller, and I’ve practiced wrangling them up and getting them all working at once. It’s not always easy, but when it happens, it’s a beautiful thing.
3. I need to find a healthy balance between the busy times full of meetings and emails, and sitting quietly with my thoughts. Sometimes in order to write, I need zero distractions, otherwise I’ll never produce anything valuable. But other times, those distractions are important to pay attention to because they might spark an idea (and they’re also part of my job). I’m learning how to balance this and how to capitalize on my opportunities to write. For example, if I have a free moment to write but have a mental block, taking a break to walk in nature does wonders.

Pathways uncovered

The most common question I receive as a young adult is “What do you want to do after you graduate?” and I’ve always struggled with pinning down an answer. I’ve never known what exactly I want to do, and I still don’t, but in many ways, working at A\J is allowing me to see that I don’t need to choose one specific pathway. I can merge my passions and do lots of things with my future career. This job has introduced me to many people and many pathways I never thought of considering before, so it has only added more options to my uncertainty of the future – in a good way! I feel driven, more than ever, to continue dipping my toes into as many places I can and keep writing and having conversations with people wherever I end up.

Published Accomplishments

Now, this article is not just a spotlight on my work, because ultimately, this is about my experience at A\J and how the team has facilitated this growth for me. But, I do want to highlight a few of my physical accomplishments on top of all the lessons I’ve learned. I’ve published 4 of my own articles and put together 4 WTF (Week This Friday) columns, and that’s just on the A\J website. I’m working on a lot of behind the scenes pieces that you’ll see in our next print issue, Playbook for Progress! This is all to say that being an A\J intern is not without its many opportunities to get your name out there and publish as much as you have to offer.

Going Forward

Clearly, I’ve experienced a whirlwind of growth and excitement in the past 4 weeks and I don’t expect it to stop now! I’ve still got 3 more months left – lots more to do, to learn, and to be a part of. I know that even once my work placement with A\J is over, the experience and lessons I’ve learned will stick with me and carry over into whatever comes next for me. Who knows – maybe I’ll find myself back here one day! I don’t know where I’ll be in a couple years from now, let alone 4 months from now, but I hope to stay connected to A\J in some capacity, and if I’ve learned anything from my time here, it’s the power of planting that first seed.

The post Opening Paragraphs appeared first on A\J.

The selected candidate will assist the A/J Editorial Team with magazine layout, creation, and accompanying graphics of our next issue, 80 pages plus cover and back. The ideal candidate should have an interest in environmental issues as well as a high proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite and working in a Mac-centric environment.

Interested candidates are encouraged to send their resume, cover letter and a sample of their work (this can include a link to an online gallery) to siobhan.mullally@alternativesjournal.ca

We’re looking to fill this position immediately and this posting will remain open until filled.

Alternatives Journal is an equal opportunity employer and enthusiastically seeks to employ individuals from a variety of backgrounds, identities, and experiences.

The post Call for Designer! appeared first on A\J.

Project Learning Tree Canada (PLT Canada), an initiative of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), launched its Green Mentor program (#MyGreenMentor) last spring to help young people expand their forest and conservation knowledge, goals and network.

The second cohort is running from January to June 2021, and applications for mentors close November 16, 2020. If you have over three years of professional experience, are available for 2-3 hours a month, and want to share your experiences with young people interested in Canada’s green sector, you should apply. You might even meet potential future employees!

PLT Canada’s mentors said that they gain just as much from the program as their mentees. Mentorship is a great way to develop leadership skills, hear new perspectives and foster the growth of the forest and conservation sector.

Andrew de Vries, Manager of Indigenous Opportunities & Government Relations at Tolko Industries Ltd., has coached and managed people in the past, but he’d never been a part of a formal mentorship program before PLT Canada’s Green Mentor program.

“I liked the structure of the mentorship program and the resources that were available because it allows you to focus the discussion,” said de Vries.

He was matched with a student on the other coast, Vicky Papuga, and he said he was surprised at how well the mentorship matching software worked. PLT Canada uses an industry-leading algorithm to create successful mentorship matches based on personalities, goals, interests and more.

“It was very interesting to see how much we shared in common—not just academically, but personality-wise,” said de Vries. 

Étienne Vézina, Resolute FP’s Manager of Forestry and Certification, was another Green Jobs mentor who helped his mentee, Catherine Langille, become more aware of all the opportunities awaiting her in the forest and conservation sector. 

Langille became a source of motivation for him beyond the calls—her questions reminded him of some of his own experiences, he said.

“The benefits are for both parties. I think people with less experience are looking to be introduced to the forestry sector in general, and it brings you to think about stuff that you’re not really looking at on a day-to-day basis,” he said. Another benefit is that the program can bring new people into forestry.

Although mentors help guide their mentees, the mentees drive the mentorship relationship. Mentees set goals for themselves and specify topics for each meeting. They engage in self-reflection, seek to improve specific skills and habits, and learn about green career pathways.

Langille said the program changed her life.

“I am happy to have him as a forever connection,” she said. “He gave me the confidence to do the things I didn’t think I could do.”

Vézina said the best part of the experience was seeing Langille evolve over the six-month mentorship.

“Even a small step forward is a great achievement for a mentor to see—the mentee ready to go toward their objective and what we have discussed, that’s really cool,” he said. And de Vries said although it might be a cliché, being a mentor is a chance to give back.

“I’ve learned a lot from teachers and coaches and managers over my career,” he said. “I got to provide Vicky with some of the insights and knowledge from all the different folks that I’ve learned from and continue to learn from in my career.”

PLT Canada’s Green Mentor program connects young people aged 18-30 with Green Jobs professionals. The six-month mentorship program involves meeting up (in person or virtually) two or three hours a month. The program plays a key role in supporting young professionals and guiding them forward along their career path in the forest sector. Our mentorship program is also designed to help increase diversity, as mentorship can help youth overcome barriers and find employment success.

Forest and conservation professionals who want to inspire the next generation of leaders, recruit employees and gain new perspectives should apply to become mentors. 

Learn more about PLT Canada’s Green Mentor program!

The post Growing the Forest & Conservation Sector With PLT Canada Green Jobs Mentors. appeared first on A\J.

But even within that innovative and dynamic environment, I sometimes find myself in need of inspiration: a personal reminder of why I find my work so meaningful and quite frankly, fun. 

Lately, that inspiration has come in the form of a matter-of-fact insight, shared with me by an extraordinary young First Nations man during my graduate studies. 

I couldn’t have asked for a better master’s project. Building on an existing Lakehead University partnership, I was invited into the Outland Youth Employment Program (OYEP) camp to live, work and learn throughout their six-week program. My goal was to gather the stories of OYEP’s First Nation youth participants, to better understand their perspectives on forest sustainability and opportunities for forest sector career exploration.

Each Ranger, as they’re called, taught me valuable lessons. Even today, I regularly find myself going back to my thesis and research notes, seeking their wisdom and advice. For some reason though, I turn back to a single statement more than any other: 

“Most of my family weren’t really doing good as far as education… So, I had to work on my own at home. They couldn’t have helped. They wouldn’t know how,” one young man offered during a sharing circle. “I was the only one paddling the boat, I guess you could say.”

Poetry, struggle, resiliency and determination all contained in a then 16-year-old’s few simple sentences. I must have read them hundreds of times by now. Yet, without fail, they still simultaneously break my heart, fill me with pride and energize my soul with the most profound feeling of hope for our future.

In many ways, that young man’s lived reality couldn’t be any more different than my own. Higher education has long been a priority—almost an expectation—in my family. To this day, I still love hearing about my grandma’s adventures in Western University’s Secretarial Science program during the 1940s. With those types of experiences in my family, I grew up taking for granted that when it came to pursuing my aspirations, I would never have to paddle my boat alone. 

I now recognize my deeply engrained sense of potential as an immense privilege. It’s through the stories of incredible, resilient young people—like those who have generously shared with me at places like OYEP, Feathers of Hope, and the 2018 Emergency Meeting on Indigenous Child and Family Services—that I can constantly remind myself that the world is far bigger than my own experience. 

It’s in those stories that I also find inspiration. They serve as my personal calls to action, the fuel I need to do more, whether it be knocking on the doors of elected leaders, building and growing youth-focused programs, or writing editorials that call even more people into the conversation. 

No young person should have to paddle their boat alone. In the Green Jobs sector, we have a responsibility to use our collective passion, knowledge, insights and experiences to be the community of support that many young people currently struggle to find. As a single voice, we must consciously invite young people into our circle and help instill within them the confidence that they can achieve their highest aspirations—whatever they may be. 

Taking action has never been easier. Whether you’re a student, young professional, or corporate leader, it can be as simple as sharing your own story, offering your time as a mentor or a role model, or committing to continuous action-oriented learning and professional growth. I invite you to reach out to PLT Canada if you want to take action, but simply don’t know where to start—our team is here for you through our growing toolkit of resources, webinars and one-on-one support! 

As I wrote about last week, life’s most impactful moments can come at the most unexpected of times. We can truly never know when something we do or say might be that moment for someone. So, let’s treat every moment like it is. Let’s let intentionality and generosity be our legacy. 

Let’s all commit to doing our part now so that someday every young person can grow up knowing that they too can become a forest and conservation leader. Let’s show them that there is an entire community of support that is eager to paddle alongside them, who values their voices and experiences and is excited to work together to grow a future in which everyone can fully value and benefit from sustainably managed forests. 

The post Let’s Paddle Together appeared first on A\J.

Being Métis, that statement by Jim Sinclair to the 1987 First Ministers’ Conference often plays in my mind. 

Self-determination—the ability to freely pursue one’s own destiny—is a basic human right. It is enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and has since been formally recognized by the Government of Canada. 

More than 35 years after Mr. Sinclair’s principled stand, however, Canada continues to grapple with how to breathe life into that most fundamental of principles. Progress is undoubtedly being made, but not at the pace that many would like. Untangling the web of colonial systems, attitudes and assumptions upon which Canadian society is built is a complex task. One requiring nuanced, nation-specific approaches developed through nation-to-nation relationships.  

As a former elected Métis Nation representative, I’ve sat across from ministers, senior government officials and private sector leaders, attempting to untangle this very web. I can attest to the many practical challenges of achieving full and lasting reconciliation. I can also attest to the value of conversation, learning and relationship building, however long it may take. 

What gets me most excited, though, is myriad of ways through which Indigenous Peoples across what is now Canada are taking action today. Asserting their inherent right to self-determination through efforts big and small, as diverse and unique as Indigenous Nations themselves. Creating positive, lasting change for their communities in the process. 

The #BeadworkRevolution was one such action that I was privileged to be a part of. The reasoning, for me at least, was simple. To advance our nation’s rights and aspirations now and into the future, we needed to harness the collective knowledge, skills and passion of all Métis citizens, including Métis youth. To create that collective consciousness, we needed to rebuild a sense of shared identity and pride that many Métis youth struggle to find. 

What started as a project to simply teach Métis floral beadwork to a new generation, so that every young person could feel connected to and proud of their Métis heritage, grew into a bigger change-making action that none of us could have originally imagined. 

More youth wearing beadwork led to more awareness, more interest, and more requests for materials and instruction by Métis and non-Métis people alike. To keep up with this enthusiasm and demand, our youth group created a “Learn to Bead” kit—everything someone would need for their first beading project, complete with graphical instructions, all in a handy and easy to mail jar. 

By selling these $20 kits to individuals, communities, service providers, governments, school boards and more, we not only raised the awareness and excitement we’d hoped for, but enough money to start a province-wide micro-grant program, through which any Métis youth could apply for up to $500 to host a community gathering or cultural event, to bring community members young and old together. We knew that the potential of our young people was infinite. The grants helped them bring it to life.

With the support of a growing number of partners, that success grew into an annual Métis youth conference, a full-time staff person dedicated to Métis youth issues, and a province-wide initiative where Métis youth could come together to take action on issues that mattered most to them, including education, health and well-being, environmental sustainability, language and culture, and nation building. 

Our small idea grew into Métis youth coming together to assert their inherent right to self-determination. And while I’m no longer a youth, the initiatives carry on under a new generation of leaders. 

Working now at the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and Project Learning Tree Canada (PLT Canada), I’m constantly amazed to learn about and partner with other Indigenous Nations who are actively and creatively exercising their inherent right to self-determination.

This includes the Lac Seul First Nation, whose community-owned business, Ondaadiziwin Forest Management, obtained Ontario’s first Enhanced Sustainable Forest License and successfully certified to the SFI Forest Management Standard. Through Ondaadiziwin, Lac Seul is creating jobs and training opportunities for local youth. They are deepening relationships with local municipalities, businesses and land managers. They have not only reclaimed active stewardship of over 1 million hectares of their territory, but are building a resilient and sustainable local economy in the process.

SFI and PLT Canada have been privileged to partner with Ondaadiziwin, co-creating positive, community-driven change that advances the interests and priorities that matter most to them. Together, we have supported land-based Green Jobs for youth, invested in skills training to further build the Nation’s forest management capacity, and have shared the stories and voices of Lac Seul’s current forestry leaders to help inspire their next generation of environmental stewards. 

Like SFI and PLT Canada, Canadians old and young are taking up their own call to relationship and reconciliation. Listening and learning to become the best neighbours and partners they can be. We all have a role to play. Not least of which is letting Indigenous Peoples lead.

The reality that started for me with the #BeadworkRevolution becomes clearer every day is that Indigenous Peoples have long been leading and will continue to lead. The Lac Seul First Nation’s efforts through the vehicle of sustainable forest management is just one example on a list far too long and diverse for me to fully describe. Through creativity, determination and respectful partnership, that list continues to grow by the day. 

Seeing it now from both sides of the table, I can’t help but recognize the prophetic nature of Mr. Sinclair’s words to the First Minister’s Conference all those years ago: “This is not an end. It’s only the beginning… We break new roads for those who’ll come in the future. Don’t worry Mr. Prime Minister and premiers of the provinces, I may be gone but our people will be back.” 

The post Growing Partnerships, Prosperity and a Brighter Future for Us All appeared first on A\J.