This week we are wrapping up the findings from Park Ecovillage Trust (PET)’s Carbon Neutral 2022 survey and so it felt like an appropriate time to look at the overlap between that and the Just Transition Fund projects – briefly. (Just Transition is a Scottish government project to help create a fairer, greener Scotland.)

But first, a story…
Imagine a woman standing by an icy mountain river, intending to cross to the other side. A team of four risk assessors stands behind her, reviewing her situation. The toxicologist says that she ought to wade across the river because it is not toxic, only cold. The cardiologist says she ought to wade across the river
because she looks to be young and not already chilled and her risk of cardiac arrest is therefore low. The hydrologist says she ought to wade across the river because he has seen other rivers like this and estimates that this one is not more than 4 feet deep and probably has no whirlpools at this location. Finally, the EPA policy specialist says that the woman ought to wade across the river because, compared to climate change, water & air pollution, and biodiversity loss, the risks of her crossing are trivial. The woman refuses to wade across. “Why?” the risk assessors ask. They show her their calculations, condescendingly explaining to her that her risk of dying while wading across the river is one in 40 million. Still the woman refuses to wade across. “Why?” the risk assessors ask again, frustrated by this woman who clearly doesn’t understand the nature of risks. The woman points upstream and says “Because there is a bridge.”

Mary O’Brien provides this wonderful example of modern society’s potential over-reliance on experts holding small pieces of the larger puzzle, authoritatively speaking from a narrow perspective at the expense of more widely informed and contextual ways of knowing. It also hints at the fortitude required to question this piecemeal, reductionist approach with all its certitude. Now this is not to say science isn’t serving us, rather, that we need everyone in the community to point out the obvious – wherever you are in your part of our beloved community, you hold a piece of the puzzle, a unique perspective or
insight into how things are running, and we need you in the conversation, to point out those seriously obvious bridges that are right in front of our noses when it comes to crossing this bridge to carbon neutrality!

This is where the Just Transition Fund comes in because it’s not only about reducing carbon, it’s about creating green jobs, developing whole new businesses and doing this in a way that’s fair. How can we use this process to make our own community fairer, develop jobs that are creative & well-paid, ramp up our
food production, take affordable housing to a whole new level? We need entrepreneurs, makers, collaborators, creatives – all of us in conversation – so the ‘system’ recognises other parts of itself and we can remember our roots of co-creation with Nature.

Please join us in that conversation so that together we can step into our potential as a demonstration site, a beacon of hope for the world and a safe, inspiring place for our kids and their kids and their kids….

Many thanks, Sam Graham for the CarbonNeutral 2030 & JTF Teams.