We’ve been catching up with key people who have helped build the Sustainability Festival over the last decade into what it has become today. Today, we’re speaking to founding member Jack Easton about what makes #SustFest so special, the impact on the local community and how it can help the future generations.
Reflecting on Impact
What sustainability achievement are you most proud of during your time with the group?
The first SustFest was immediately prior to the Paris COP. After months of work, we took over 2,000 postcards, mostly from the children of St Albans schools, to Paris, and delivered them to the UK government delegation to emphasise to them what they were negotiating for.
Although we had 200 or so really well thought out cards from local adults, it was the cards from the young people that tugged on the heart strings. Their cards had the children’s own drawings on one side, often showing penguins or polar bears crying out for their shrinking habitats, or pairing pictures of a sustainable future with a polluting past. They made the case for climate action in their own words on the other side. One child ended “I might be small, but you are big so go on, save us. Do all you can!”
After the conference, Amber Rudd, then Minister for Climate Change and head of the UK delegation, wrote to thank Transition St Albans (as we were then) and especially the children for their contributions. I am sure she knew that we didn’t really need reminding, but her letter did include an enduring mantra: “Every voice is important and every action can make a difference”
What project or initiative had the most lasting impact, in your view?
Who can ever forget the night we presented the climate emergency petition to the Council? However well you think the Council is doing today, the vote was unanimous and the climate emergency became and remains a defining element of the Local Plan!
In 2019 the new kids on the block were Extinction Rebellion and the climate emergency declaration was one of their big asks. With the agreement of the local XR group, and working with Friends of the Earth we took on the job of securing such a declaration here. Our petition asked the Council to propose a most exacting motion recognising the climate emergency and committing the Council to do everything in its power to minimise the carbon footprint of the District as a whole. Having collected over 1,700 signatures, many during that spring’s SustFest, the Council agreed to hear our petition on 10 July, and many of us gathered in the Council Chamber for the occasion. Amongst the meeting papers were draft amendments to the motion, but each of them only added to what was already written! All four party leaders spoke in favour of the motion, but the speech I liked best came from a veteran Councillor. Firstly because she said that she had spoken to constituents and they had asked her to vote in favour and secondly because she openly explained that she was new to the issue and asked to be brought up to speed with kindness and patience – which just seemed to validate everything we were doing.
Celebrating Collaboration
What did you enjoy most about working with other members?
One source of joy has always been meeting fellow travellers on the sustainability journey.
Were there any unexpected partnerships or collaborations that turned out to be especially fruitful?
We ran an event to explain and explore the Community Supported Agriculture movement. From that seed grew FoodSmiles, a shared growing group that flourishes to this day.
Learning and Growth
What’s one thing you learned from being part of the group that you still carry with you?
One of the founding tenets of the Transition network is to “let it go where it will go”. Allowing other people’s trade winds to fill the sails of your ship was a new approach to management for me!
Did your involvement change how you think about sustainability or community action?
One of the great thing about SustFest is that it reminds you that there is more community action happening than you realise.
Looking Forward
What opportunities do you see for future sustainability efforts in our community?
We have the groundswell to deliver a signature project – let’s find one that we can all get behind
What message would you give to the future generations, like those at Oaklands about the sustainability challenges ahead?
The only possible future is a sustainable one; stick with the programme.
Moments of Joy
What was the most fun or memorable event you participated in?
The first SustFest was in a bright and relatively warm November. Going from event to event that week was magical for so many reasons.
After a thoughtful and generous speech, the Mayor cut a ceremonial ribbon to launch the very first Sustainable St Albans Week. The crowd around the Clock Tower was small, but it was “an occasion” – after months of work, we were finally here – and the ukulele band turned it into a fun one. Two other highlights from that first event were a nature walk in Cassiobury Park (such geographic reach!) and the excitement of some school children showing us their newly built bug hotel.
What made being part of the group meaningful or enjoyable for you?
In 2009, we were the few, at a dark winter meeting in Fleetville Community Centre. Today, Sustainable St Albans is part of the local fabric …
… and we all know where the (national) Great Big Green Week got its DNA from.