In this first guest episode of On Becoming the Change, I chat with Amelia Cookson. Amelia and I worked together for 2 years as the Sustainability team at the B Corp, Oddbox. In this conversation, we reflect on our time working in sustainability. We talk about our experiences with eco-anxiety and developing emotional resilience, the evolution of their approach to sustainability, and how understanding our values has shaped our career choices.
If you've experienced any of the below, what we talk about might resonate:
>> If you've noticed the heavy emotional toll of working in or trying to live sustainably..
... we talk about how we have learnt to manage emotions, to understand what's 'ours to do' and to find peace with what we can and can't do
>> If you've struggled on how to communicate effectively on sustainability...
... we talk about how our approaches have evolved from being judgemental and fact-based to talking more about the joy of being sustainable and connecting on an emotional level
>> If you struggle balancing optimism with the harsh realities of global issues..
... we talk about how we approach this and how we stay positive and energised
>> If you are wondering how to support others on climate emotions...
... we talk about how organisations can create safe spaces to process climate emotions and facilitate open conversations
>> If you have been learning about systems thinking, regenerative principles, degrowth, doughnut economics and are wondering how to apply it to your work..
... we talk about how we think about these and how learning these concepts shaped the work we do
>> If you feel like your work doesn't align with your values...
... we talk about our experiences with coaching and how better understanding our values helped us align our careers with what really matters to us and the impact we want to make.
Thank you to Amelia for joining the podcast and sharing insights, learnings and reflections that I am sure will help others going through similar experiences.
I hope you enjoy this conversation. I would love to hear what resonated with you. If you know anyone who might enjoy this conversation then please do share it.
Amelia Cookson is currently campaigning for sustainable and just food systems, working as a Campaigner at Feedback, focusing on Industrial Aquaculture (fish farming). Previous experience includes working in sustainability teams within a range of food businesses, dealing with net zero strategies, sustainability data, comms and all things B Corp. However, with the growing belief that systems change best occurs best in the 'fringes', rather than a corporate setting, made the transition to campaigning. Outside of work you may catch her running around London or volunteering at her local Friends of the Earth group. Here are some links we talk about:
- Sign the petition to ‘Wagamama: Stop supporting a food crisis in West Africa. Take farmed salmon off the table’. here
- Accompanying paper on how the Norwegian salmon industry extracts nutrition and undermines livelihoods in West Africa
- Sign up for the '2040' Free Film Showing with Wandsworth Friends of the Earth - 29th September
- Find your local climate group
A few updates from me:
Sustainability professionals group coaching programme - Katherine and I will be running a 4 week group coaching programme for sustainability professionals in November. We will meet for 1.5 hrs every Friday to collectively work through the common challenges experienced by sustainability professionals based on our research findings. Sign up here to hear more.
1:1 Coaching - If you are interested in exploring how coaching could support you with understanding your values and work towards aligning your life with your values, you can book a free discovery call with me here.
Conscious Changemakers walk - I host a relaxed, mindful walk in the beautiful Surrey Hills to reconnect to nature and have heart-felt discussions with like-minded people. The next walk dates are 20th October and 24th November, 10am, Reigate, Surrey. You can sign up here
Conscious Evolution Collage - A transformative workshop exploring new ways of thinking and being to create a sustainable and desirable future for all - I’m facilitating this online workshop on Friday 18th October 8-11am. Sign up here
The next episode of On Becoming the Change will be released next Thursday. I will be speaking to Sean Andrew from the School of Systems Change all about systems thinking and the inner work needed to work with complexity.
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