Richard Louv writes …

ON THE RIVER: The Restorative Power of Nature in Difficult Times This essay was published last year, but in these weeks it may be timely again. Have a great holiday. On the banks of Owens River, my younger son, Matthew, then 23, and I were trying to cure our nature-deficit disorder.  That day, we staggered across the…

Global Learning update

Here are some highlights from Think Global’s recent activities: 1 – Speaker tour schedule is filling up As mentioned in our last newsletter, between 26 February and 3 March we are organising a ‘social and solidarity economy’ speaker tour to coincide with Fairtrade Fortnight 2017. Working with our partners at Zaytoun, we’ve had a great response and the…

Mini Waste Warrior

Jungle Creations is producing a mini-documentary sponsored by Iceland about the current food waste epidemic. Each year around 50% of all food produced in the world gets thrown away, costing the global economy $1 trillion and individual families £700.  The film will follow a passionate child as they learn more about the food waste problem and…

Plastics update from Davos

The Ellen Macarthur Foundation says: More than 40 industry leaders have endorsed a new action plan to tackle global plastics issues, and have begun working together to create a more effective global system for plastics.  The plan, laid out in The New Plastics Economy: Catalysing action, which was launched today by the World Economic Forum and the…

News from Natural England and elsewhere

1. These are links c/o Natural England of recent research about the natural environment and health. Links between natural environments and physical activity: evidence briefing EIN020 – Links between natural environments and physiological health: evidence briefing EIN021 – Links between natural environments and obesity: evidence briefing   2. These are links to Public Health England resources Active…

Insect migration

The Times reported in December that trillions of insects fly across southern England each year in unseen migrations.  Their collective weight is some 3,200 tonnes.  The weight is more than seven times that of the 30m songbirds that fly between UK to Africa each autumn.  Researchers from the University of Exeter have used radar for more…