The Team Inspire Newsletter

Just over six months ago, the stories of over eighty individuals, from over nineteen countries and as many academic and working histories, collided in the world’s coldest continent.

Brought together to explore and understand the climate challenge, we debated, discovered and dreamed together; traveling to a place only half a million have yet visited.

Adventuring across the dreaded Drake Passage, encased in the small finite world of our vessel the Akademik Ioffe, the ten-day journey saw us collectively awed by the magic of exploring the Antarctic landscape, and simultaneously frightened by its fragiity.

For many still, climate change is not yet an experience, and remains a distant and diluted concept. Not so for the participants of the expedition, whose stories are now irrevocably intertwined with that of our planet - where the call to climate action rings loud and clear.

The impressions of such a journey, and the urgent action needed to answer its challenge, mean the stories of the participants have continued to expand and develop exponentially; as individuals and as a fellowship. Each of us, marked deeply by the experience, continues

to spread our story with urgency in our home environment through campaigns, conferences, and careers, and to audiences of politicians, the media, family and friends.

It is the continuing stories that will truly prove the mettle of the Antarctic experience - as Proust recognised, “The journey of discovery does not consist of seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”

This newsletter is a window into some of these evolving stories - their achievements and adventures. We begin with a report of some of our presentations, where a few participants tell the stories of how they shared the Antarctic experience with others. On page 3, we take a look at Stacey’s new idea for a children’s book on climate change, and hear Sabine’s experiences using the C-Learn climate modelling software we saw in Ushuaia. We then hear from Will on page 4 about his idea for a climate outreach project, before concluding with some updates from 2041 themselves on page 5.

We hope that you enjoy this edition and we look forward to reading your story here soon!

All the best,The Newsletter Team

Issue 1, Autumn/Fall 2009

Credits

Lucy Symons oversaw the content and proofing of the newsletter, and wrote the editorial introduction.

Paul Sidebottom assisted with the initial concept and design.

Robert Barham coordinated the overall project and compiled the articles within it, and also created all the graphics and designs.

Thanks to Stacey, Sabine, and Will Rayward-Smith for supplying articles, and thanks also to Vanya for pulling together and compiling the information for the 2041 section.

Thanks also to Lina, Simon, Siddharth, and Darcy for help in the presentations article.

Finally a big thank you to Vivienne, Robert, Colum and all the others at BP, 2041, and elsewhere who made the trip possible. This newsletter would not exist without you.

This newsletter has been created using Adobe InDesign. For any queries, questions, or feedback, please get in touch with Rob Barham on barham.rl@gmail.com

1

Experiencetheby Robert Barham

One of the main aims of the expedition was to share the experience with others upon our return. Take just a cursory look at Aiden’s survey results, and you’ll see we’ve been doing this in one way more than any other: by giving presentations.

As a group, we’ve given presentations to friends, students, schoolchildren, and businesspeople. Some have spoken to groups of three or four, others to packed assembly halls of several hundred. One or two have even been presenting in an online format, and have been viewed by scores of people over a number of weeks. Between the school rooms, the lecture theatres, the corporate offices, and the ‘vlogosphere’, the experience and the message of the expedition has reached hundreds, perhaps even thousands of people around the world.

So the story of the expedition has been shared, through presentations, with a great many people already. What has been less widely shared is the collective experience of actually giving those presentations. What have these talks actually been like?

I spoke to Simon about his talk at a local school’s morning assembly, where he spoke to an audience of children aged 9-12. “It was a new experience,” he said. “The subject of the morning assembly was ‘ambition’, and I talked about Robert Swan, his ambitions, and discussed my experiences of the expedition. I also gave some talks in the afternoon, which were more discussion-based, where we talked about the expedition and issues surrounding sustainability.”

Although Simon hadn’t presented to this kind of audience before, the children were extremely receptive to the topic. “They listened intently and raised all number of questions, anything from what kind of food you eat in Antarctica to discussions about energy saving techniques and not leaving TVs on standby. They were onboard with the issues of sustainability right from the start. The kids don’t need any persuasion in terms of the importance of this subject, they are already on side. All that’s needed is an arena to discuss the issues in an engaging way.”

Some audiences aren’t so easy to present to. Darcy – who’s so far presented everywhere from Nike to Portland State University – generally had very receptive audiences, but did encounter people who were harder to

persuade. “One person in particular did not believe global warming was man-made,” she said. “You’ve got to be prepared for those in the crowd and how you might address their perspective appropriately.”

Siddharth had a challenging presentation for quite a different reason: it was just very big. “It was extremely tough because I was giving it to an audience of 500 people sitting in a U-shaped plenary, so maintaining eye contact and getting feedback and involvement from lots of people was pretty tough,” he said. All the same, he delivered the presentation successfully and reached a large and diverse group of students and youth leaders from across India.

Sid. “Some people don’t care so much about Shackleton and the history, but are very interested in the issue of Antarctic preservation.” It’s important also to make your points well defined, and clearly structured. According to Darcy, “the most challenging aspect is keeping it focused and not devolving into personal stories or anecdotes, although some are necessary to make it personal and accessible to them. Avoid the ‘here’s how I spent my summer vacation’ mode of storytelling.”

Second, be passionate when you’re talking if you want to really carry your audience. “Passion about the subject is the most important thing,” said Simon. “If you can convey that, the audience will be much more receptive. I also think the first few minutes are crucial, particularly with a young age group…early engagement grabs their attention and brings them on side.”

Third, be well prepared. Have a good selection of images and video. Practise your talk before you give it (don’t forget Robert’s ‘talk in front of the mirror’ advice!) And have some answers to questions you can anticipate; most feedback people have given suggests that audiences are extremely interested in this topic and listen attentively, and you can expect some searching questions from them after you’ve given your talk.

Finally, make use of all the resources we already have available. There’s a list of some of these in the box at the bottom of this page. If you need a hand with some aspect of your presentation, this might be a good place to start.

presenting to a new audience can be a challenge

But what if you haven’t yet given a presentation, and are thinking about doing one soon? From the experiences of those given so far, a few common words of advice seem to be coming through.

First, tailor the presentation to your audience, and think about the perspective they’re coming from as much as your own. A presentation to your friends will be very different to a presentation for a group of science students. “Everyone is not interested in everything,” said

Some Useful Resources...• The expedition video can now be found online, in two parts: --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW4GkugwZFc --- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wE16hVupik• Images are stored in the Flickr group: --- http://www.flickr.com/groups/expeditionantarctic/• Some easily presentable information and fact sheets on climate change can be found here: --- http://www.architecture2030.org/• Some presentations have been stored on the iBackup resource

2

A Penguin Called Neko...When I returned from Antarctica, re-entry to the ordinary world was a painful experience. I struggled to figure out how I was going to offset my 10 tons of CO2. I found it challenging to share the magnitude of what the experience meant to me, what it had done to me…I shut out my closest friends and family for a few weeks, maybe even months.

My story began to emerge little by little, and one evening I was chatting at home with Annie and Phil. Annie is an artist, and she has always dreamed of illustrating children’s books. Phil is a creative, he comes from a family of actors and writers and has a talent for the arts. I have a gift for bringing people together and turning ideas into action.

I thought about the conversations we had in Antarctica and aboard the Akademik Ioffe about truly changing behaviors and creating a different culture, one that expects every citizen to be responsible for preserving energy and protecting the environment. Then I remembered learning in elementary school that smoking will kill you and seatbelts will save your life. And of course that meant that I turned into quite the persistent conscience to my mom, who smoked, and my dad, who didn’t like to wear his seatbelt much. They both changed their ways.

Teach the lesson to children and they can be the teachers to others.

So that evening when Annie, Phil and I were solving all of the world’s problems, as you do with those you love, the concept of Neko was born. Neko learns that it is the small things we can all do to mitigate the effects of climate change. Phil has written the manuscript. Annie has created the majority of the illustrations, including the marketing image you see on this page.

We are working on the final layout over the coming weeks, and we are exploring the best way to get this little guy teaching the rest of the world…hence this article. So now the request for help: if anyone has advice for getting a children’s book published or ideas for charities we could donate a portion of the proceeds to – you know where to find me.

Lastly a ‘thank-you’. I continue to reflect on the time in Antarctica…what I learned about myself through observation of and participation in that microcosm of society. You are all truly extraordinary individuals, and I look forward to continuing to build on the bond that was created at the end of the Earth.

...by Stacey McDaniel

C-Learnthe freely available version of the C-Roads simulator

By Sabine Ziem

3

There is an intense buzz coming from three groups in the room, one sitting around a low table on armchairs, others sprawled across the floor, cross-legged and leaning against each other. Among the chatter, words like “reduction”, “emissions” and “deforestation” are pronounced with great frequency, and proposals for the transfer of technology are written on flip charts with remarkable confidence and mastery of the topic. This workshop is the result of the usability of the C-LEARN climate simulator and the supporting session materials developed by Climate Interactive.

What is C-LEARN?In Ushuaia, we used the more complex climate simulator C-ROADS during our preparatory talks, and C-LEARN is based on the same underlying calculations and assumptions. The simulator allows users to play through negotiations of proposals for CO2 emission targets with three country groups, each composed of relatively similar countries with regards to their emissions. For each country group the user can set different targets for emissions reductions (if any), different start years for the reductions, and even set targets for reforestation.

When used in an interactive workshop, C-LEARN lets the participants explore the complex problems underlying climate change negotiations, and the materials available

on the Climate Interactive website are a great basis from which to develop and customize sessions for different audiences.

How can I get involved, and what can we do?During July, a group of seven expedition participants and a few other interested individuals joined Phil Rice from the Sustainability Institute in a virtual meeting, during which he showed us the ins and outs of the C-LEARN simulator, and gave us time to ask questions and share ideas.

Given the interest from several more expeditioners, we aim to hold another session with Phil in October in order to become experts in the use of the simulator in workshops.

Going forward, we hope to share session materials and experiences to innovate and help more and more people understand the mechanics of climate change and the actions needed by governments, business, and individuals.

If you would like to be part of the next session, please drop me an email. We will have to prepare our session with Phil, and need to have concrete questions or topics ready to make sure we take full advantage of our time with him. We would also like to figure out how best to share the session materials and other related resources, and of course need to keep track of the number of individuals we manage to involve between all of us with the C-LEARN simulator.

ChallengeConsumers not citizens, material prosperity not wellbeing, economic growth not ideals, unsustainable consumption not sustainable living – is this how we wish to live and is it a conscious choice?

Four years ago I was largely unconscious of the environmental and societal impacts of the daily choices that I was making. Now such considerations are at the forefront of my decision making process. This mental transformation began with just one lecture on atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and since then I have sought out countless lectures, books, articles, people and films to educate my growing concerns.

I am sure that many of you have experienced a similar process of learning that has sculpted your current mind set. It has resulted in you challenging the path that mankind is unconsciously sprinting along. Once challenged, our habits lose their hold over us.

Yet when we communicate with those around us we fail to realise the magnitude of the shift in our mindset and fail to appreciate the necessity of our learning process; we find ourselves rapidly firing disjointed fragments of our learning expecting immediate mindset shifts to occur in those around us. Clearly this fails and we find ourselves frustrated at why everything just continues as usual.

If there is any chance of achieving sustainable retreat for developed countries and sustainable development for developing countries towards a life truly in harmony with the living Earth then we must achieve similar mental transformations by the masses. This

is the very heart of the Challenge movement which has the goal of nurturing a sustainability-literate population – a necessary education for a necessary revolution.

Sustainability literacy is articulated clearly by the UK’s

leading sustainable development charity Forum for the Future saying

that a sustainability-literate person would be expected to:

• understand the need for change to a sustainable way of doing things, individually and collectively;• have sufficient knowledge and skills to decide and act in a way that favours sustainable development;• be able to recognise and reward other people’s decisions and actions that favour sustainable development.

So how are we going to achieve the necessary re-engineering of our current growth driven and consuming mindsets? Apocalyptic

environmentalism does not appear to be the answer; in fact the majority of people are put off by this doom and gloom rhetoric. We must seek to inspire the masses and show that the changes are desirable. Imagine how different the world would be if Martin Luther King decided to start with “I have a nightmare…”

To foster interest we must articulate clearly the relevant consequences of the unsustainable path that we are on. We must be a source of factual clarity in discourse full of confusion, contradiction and chaos. To show that the changes are desirable we must give a bold vision for the future relating the shift towards sustainability to improvements in wellbeing. Challenge will be launched this winter in Cambridge with the initial target of making the citizens of Cambridge sustainability-literate. How exactly this will be achieved is an unknown and is part of Challenge. Undoubtedly such mental transformations will take different forms with different people. Some minds may be transformed by a shorter learning process while others may require more time and more information. For some people, books may work the best whilst for others it may be interactive websites or a series of documentaries or discussion groups.

Along with others I hope to develop a series of learning resources that will aid an individual to become sustainability-literate. We will visit schools, communities, try door to door knocking, maybe a mobile library, free film screenings, the list of ideas goes on. By 2012 I hope that Challenge will have visited every household in Cambridge and that other communities will follow suit.

Challenge is very much in its infancy as a movement and I’d like to hear what you think – please drop me a line on Skype on email me at w.rayward.smith@gmail.com

by Will Rayward-Smith

4

News from 2041“It’s been so inspiring to see what everyone has done in these short months since Antarctica. When I lead expeditions down to the Antarctic, I only hope everyone is as motivated to get on with it back home as you all are, and I hope you’ll keep the mission alive in the months ahead. Keep in touch, and Carry On!”

Message from Robert

Robert Swan, OBE

The E-Base

Our E-Base on King George Island has weathered the Antarctic winter well, and is keeping us digitally connected with our company lodestone – Antarctica. Daily weather and frequent photo updates, sent directly from the E-Base, are broadcast on our website. We look forward to continuing to develop the E-Base as a global digital educational resource and as a place to test new renewable energy technology during our next expedition season.

Robert’s New Book

Robert Swan’s latest book – Antarctica 2041 – will be released October 27, 2009 through Broadway Books, a division of Random House. A personal biography of Robert’s journey and ever-evolving commitment to promoting renewable energy and combating climate change, the book is ultimately an upbeat and timely call to action. Co-authored with Gil Reavill, his book will be available nationwide this fall through all major retailers. Stay tuned for more information regarding the upcoming book release, including book tour dates and media events in the USA.

New ExpeditionFor the first time, 2041 is offering an early Antarctic-season expedition. In addition to 2041’s ‘Leadership on the Edge’ Program, the International Antarctic Treaty Expedition (IATE) in November 2009 will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the 1 December 1959 signing of the Antarctic Treaty and will include discussions of legacy lessons from the Treaty and the importance of encouraging all nations to preserve Antarctica for the years to come. As 2041’s mission statement is closely tied to supporting the Antarctic Treaty System and its aims towards environmental preservation, this is an exciting opportunity for us to lend geo-political context and background to our expedition and program. We still have a few places available, so please contact us if you would like to know more about getting involved and what fundraising for the expedition would entail!

In other news...

Our Voyage for Cleaner Energy – a worldwide lecture series aboard our intrepid yacht the ‘2041’, which was retrofitted to run on renewable energy and incorporate recycled materials and eco-friendly technology, is in the long-awaited final planning stages for Phase III of the Voyage – Europe. After successful runs on the West and East coasts of the USA (and a storied past that includes a circumnavigation of Africa and participation in the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race), the ‘2041’ will be making the Atlantic crossing in the coming months – stay tuned for dates and events surrounding her European arrival. Also, initial planning stage ideas are being developed and technology researched for Robert Swan’s 2012 ‘Return Journey’. This renewable energy powered, anniversary expedition will be a cornerstone project for 2041 in the upcoming years.