POST #15 PATHWAYS TO A MORE SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
Feedback is the flow of information resulting from our interactions with our environment that helps us understand whether what we are doing is having the desired effect or impact. This information then feeds into our sense of satisfaction which in turn influences our motivation and decisions to continue doing what are doing, change what we are doing, reduce our involvement or stop, what we have been doing.
According to John Dewey, everything we try to do, especially if it is something that we do for the first time, is an experiment. The only way of seeing if our experiment has worked is to experience and observe it and perhaps measure and record what happens. In other words gain feedback from the environment and participants about the effects of what we are doing.
In the last month I have experienced several different types of feedback from the activities I have been undertaking to help nature, the environment and sustainability.
The first type of feedback was an invitation by Surrey Wildlife Trust, an important player in managing and supporting wildlife where I live, to give a short presentation at their community workshop in early June. They wanted me to talk about the work we have been undertaking for our Betchworth biodiversity-line and it was well received by participants and SWT staff. This was followed by SWT making a short video film using our work as a case study and then our RE-B charity being shortlisted for an award.All these things helped me form a judgement that the work we are doing is seen as being valuable by an important organisation in the local natural environment and by my peers working in community action for nature groups.
The second type of feedback was from an event we organised on National Meadows Day (Juky 1st), which we called Wildflower Wander. A total of 20 residents participated in two walks I organised to visit three types of wildflower meadow in our biodiversity line. The thanks we received at the end of the walk and in emails showed me that participants valued the experience and what we were doing more generally.
The third type of feedback I received was from the wildflowers growing in my garden. Throughout June my family and I have been treated to the most spectacular sight of tens of thousands of Oxeye Daisies and towards the end of the month hundreds of wild Orchids. By not cutting the grass this is the visual reward and its aesthetic value cannot be quantified. To say it is uplifting is an understatement and to see the insects foraging reinforces the value to nature of this resource. This feedback means that I will continue to manage the garden the same way each year and continue to expand the area by scattering the seed I collect around the edges of the meadow.
As for my new wildflower cultivation, I spent most of March digging up the turf in about 300m2 of field and then sowing wildflower seed. I knew that sowing in spring was not the best time to sow and my optimism was further dented with the wet cold spring weather. Through April and May I could see quite a lot of germination but little growth. It was only towards the end of June after some warm weather that I can now appreciate that, although patchy, my wildflower cultivation will succeed and I can measurably see an increase in the diversity of the flora in this field. Furthermore, I can see that there are plenty of bees, butterflies and other insects are foraging amongst the flowers, which is one of the reasons for trying to help nature and a sign that my efforts have been worthwhile.
It is fair to say that all these forms of feedback have had a positive effect on me. They tell me that the task I set myself – to encourage and cultivate more wild flowers to grow in order to support insect pollinators - is being accomplished. Furthermore, the efforts of my RE-B team to help nature within our community are being recognised both inside and outside the community. This feedback is motivating me to not only continue doing what I am doing but to go further.
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