6 Principles of Climate Leadership
Community Climate Action in Aotearoa New Zealand
by Silvia Purdie
What does climate change ask of people who work with people?
How might leaders of community organisations address environmental sustainability?
In this article, consultant and trainer Silvia Purdie advocates six principles for community organisations in Aotearoa New Zealand, that underpin climate action and uphold the Treaty of Waitangi.
Over the past three years I have been talking to ‘people-people’ about climate change. Those who lead in the community sector are aware of environmental issues. And they do care. But they are struggling to integrate care for the natural world into their work caring for people. Pandemic has not helped! My consultancy and training service, Place Consultancy, begins from values, and looks for the points of connection in order to incorporate climate action in dynamic and life-giving ways.
Leading in a climate crisis is not just about taking external solutions and applying them in your organisation. Yes, there are many practical and effective actions you can take. But I begin with the invitation to draw on what leaders know and value, starting with our bicultural commitment. Community climate action in Aotearoa New Zealand must be grounded in Te Tiriti o Waitangi. For me the Treaty of Waitangi is not a formula, but a foundation, and so must be the foundation of our climate response. It is not primarily a set of principles that need to be applied in different situations, in any kind of mathematical or prescriptive way. It is about relationship. From this foundation I want to suggest six key ideas which stand out for me as principles of climate action for community organisations.
1. A Long Story
Sustainability invites us to see ourselves in a long time-frame, remembering the past and acting with integrity toward the future. We find our place in a story that began long before us and will continue long after us. The Treaty invites us to remember. As a Pakeha I was brought up to forget the past and live in the present. Māori culture invites us to walk into the future facing the past; the past is 'ki mua', in front. The future is 'ki muri’, behind us. Remembering the long story is a critical ingredient of sustainability. Central to the concept of sustainability is the idea that our work will benefit future generations and not harm them; that our lives will not steal life from the future. To have integrity for the future requires us to have integrity for the past.
2. Courage
Courage is facing big problems, choosing to make a difference. It is being willing to constructively address conflict and push-back when we need to. As a counsellor I am drawn to the mental health effects of climate crisis. I agree with Mike Hulme who says that “fuelling eco-anxiety and despair is not the way to design good policy or generate positive action towards solving our problems; morally, it is not fair on young people.”[1] I am passionate about finding ways to motivate and empower people in the face of climate change, and this requires both honesty and hope. On the one hand, facing the facts and holding the fears. On the other hand, finding somewhere to stand, something to do, people to stand with. We cannot tackle this alone.
This is why I am passionate about the vital role for community organisations. Don’t leave climate to the scientists and the activists and the government. As you find the courage in your own heart to engage with massive environmental issues, so you will en-courage others and enable others to fight through their anxiety into positive collective engagement.
3. Creativity
Creativity is encouraging innovation, safe space to give things a go and explore new possibilities. Anxiety is the enemy of creativity, and creativity is a great antidote to anxiety.
As a community group, what enables your people to be creative?
What conditions are most conduce to think new thoughts, try new things?
I’m all about laying out space with heaps of margin of error, where we welcome glorious stuff-ups! It’s OK if things fall over or don’t work out how we planned. Climate emergency is deadly serious, but you and I and the people you work with and care for, we’re all only human, and human beings need fun and community. So let’s play in the face of climate crisis.
4. Participation
Participation is valuing a diversity of contributions, keeping it positive and energising. I promote collaboration, and I believe we need to deliberately uphold Māori and Pasifika voices in this space. As a Treaty principle, participation is about including Māori in decision making in genuine ways.
As a climate governance principle, participation is about collaborative process, rather than top-down imposed decisions. Or maybe there’s a place for both. A leader of a social service agency might decide that from now on her agency will only buy hybrid vehicles. But reducing petrol use will also involve changing systems and staff behaviour, maybe helping clients in the community access better public transport. Leaders can’t just rule on those things. That requires collaborative process. Which means team-work, and cups of tea, and engaging people in these conversations. Which is hard to do when everyone is busy busy busy! I suspect that the sheer volume of workloads is the main issue limiting participation in collective climate action.
How do you motivate and sustain participation in your organisation?
5. Protection
Protection means working for justice for vulnerable communities and environments and intergenerational justice. Protecting the interests of Māori aligns well with protecting the natural environment. At least, I hope it does. But how do I know? Unfortunately the agendas of Pākehā conservationists to protect natural environments have not always honoured the Treaty or upheld tino rangatiratanga or “full and undisturbed possession”. My friend Mina Pomare-Peita described to me how her people are the kaitiaki for their ngahere and maunga, the Warawara up in the far north. Up till now the Warawara has been free of kauri die back, but it is just starting to encroach. One government strategy has been to keep people out of kauri forests. But Mina and her community want to keep gathering food and medicines from the Warawara. Banning them from their own forest is a violation of the Treaty. Protection of both culture and climate leads us into deeper understanding of kaitiakitanga.[2]
6. Partnership
Central to being community is partnership, and here I am talking about both honouring Treaty partnership, and growing new partnerships around environmental action. Sustainable community development creates new partnerships: with artists and activists, gardeners and cooks, with community groups and funders. It requires national networks and on-the-ground give-it-a-go.
An excellent example of Treaty partnership and climate action hand in hand is with assessing climate and disaster risks. You need to know what the risks are in your local community, and so does your local iwi. Why not work on this together? Marae are a vital community resource in times of emergency, and having a strong relationship will make your organisation ready and able to function well when the shit hits the fan - which it will!
So, there are my top six principles for collective climate action that seeks to honour the Treaty of Waitangi. We stand in a story begun by our ancestors and we ourselves want to be good ancestors. We see the times we are in and know that this requires of us both courage and creativity. It would be great if solutions to climate crisis were easy or someone else’s problem, but I invite you to reach out and take hold of them yourself, alongside the people you work for and with. And I invite you to have fun with it.
Participation, Partnership and Protection are the our nationally agreed principles of living out the Treaty in action. I am suggesting that they also work really well as principles for climate action. And holding these together creates a shared framework, dare I say synergy. I hope so. We absolutely need synergy. We can’t just pile in extra workstreams and add more expectations on our staff. Climate action for community organisations has to be about incorporating this lens and these questions, in ways that energise and inspire. We can all be climate leaders!
Contact Silvia Purdie
Place Consultancy: www.place.net.nz
Email: [email protected]
Notes:
[1] Dr. Mike Hulme, ‘Presenting at Nobel Conference 55’, 2019.
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBEJ2fq7Ir4
[2] Mina Pomare-Peita, ‘Tiakina te Taiao, Tiakina te Iwi’, pages 232-245 in Awhi Mai Awhi Atu: Women in Creation Care, edited by Silvia Purdie, Philip Garside Publishing, 2022.
Photo is of a kowhaiwhai painted roof panel in Maungarongo Marae in Ōhope (taken by Silvia Purdie).
by Silvia Purdie
What does climate change ask of people who work with people?
How might leaders of community organisations address environmental sustainability?
In this article, consultant and trainer Silvia Purdie advocates six principles for community organisations in Aotearoa New Zealand, that underpin climate action and uphold the Treaty of Waitangi.
Over the past three years I have been talking to ‘people-people’ about climate change. Those who lead in the community sector are aware of environmental issues. And they do care. But they are struggling to integrate care for the natural world into their work caring for people. Pandemic has not helped! My consultancy and training service, Place Consultancy, begins from values, and looks for the points of connection in order to incorporate climate action in dynamic and life-giving ways.
Leading in a climate crisis is not just about taking external solutions and applying them in your organisation. Yes, there are many practical and effective actions you can take. But I begin with the invitation to draw on what leaders know and value, starting with our bicultural commitment. Community climate action in Aotearoa New Zealand must be grounded in Te Tiriti o Waitangi. For me the Treaty of Waitangi is not a formula, but a foundation, and so must be the foundation of our climate response. It is not primarily a set of principles that need to be applied in different situations, in any kind of mathematical or prescriptive way. It is about relationship. From this foundation I want to suggest six key ideas which stand out for me as principles of climate action for community organisations.
1. A Long Story
Sustainability invites us to see ourselves in a long time-frame, remembering the past and acting with integrity toward the future. We find our place in a story that began long before us and will continue long after us. The Treaty invites us to remember. As a Pakeha I was brought up to forget the past and live in the present. Māori culture invites us to walk into the future facing the past; the past is 'ki mua', in front. The future is 'ki muri’, behind us. Remembering the long story is a critical ingredient of sustainability. Central to the concept of sustainability is the idea that our work will benefit future generations and not harm them; that our lives will not steal life from the future. To have integrity for the future requires us to have integrity for the past.
2. Courage
Courage is facing big problems, choosing to make a difference. It is being willing to constructively address conflict and push-back when we need to. As a counsellor I am drawn to the mental health effects of climate crisis. I agree with Mike Hulme who says that “fuelling eco-anxiety and despair is not the way to design good policy or generate positive action towards solving our problems; morally, it is not fair on young people.”[1] I am passionate about finding ways to motivate and empower people in the face of climate change, and this requires both honesty and hope. On the one hand, facing the facts and holding the fears. On the other hand, finding somewhere to stand, something to do, people to stand with. We cannot tackle this alone.
This is why I am passionate about the vital role for community organisations. Don’t leave climate to the scientists and the activists and the government. As you find the courage in your own heart to engage with massive environmental issues, so you will en-courage others and enable others to fight through their anxiety into positive collective engagement.
3. Creativity
Creativity is encouraging innovation, safe space to give things a go and explore new possibilities. Anxiety is the enemy of creativity, and creativity is a great antidote to anxiety.
As a community group, what enables your people to be creative?
What conditions are most conduce to think new thoughts, try new things?
I’m all about laying out space with heaps of margin of error, where we welcome glorious stuff-ups! It’s OK if things fall over or don’t work out how we planned. Climate emergency is deadly serious, but you and I and the people you work with and care for, we’re all only human, and human beings need fun and community. So let’s play in the face of climate crisis.
4. Participation
Participation is valuing a diversity of contributions, keeping it positive and energising. I promote collaboration, and I believe we need to deliberately uphold Māori and Pasifika voices in this space. As a Treaty principle, participation is about including Māori in decision making in genuine ways.
As a climate governance principle, participation is about collaborative process, rather than top-down imposed decisions. Or maybe there’s a place for both. A leader of a social service agency might decide that from now on her agency will only buy hybrid vehicles. But reducing petrol use will also involve changing systems and staff behaviour, maybe helping clients in the community access better public transport. Leaders can’t just rule on those things. That requires collaborative process. Which means team-work, and cups of tea, and engaging people in these conversations. Which is hard to do when everyone is busy busy busy! I suspect that the sheer volume of workloads is the main issue limiting participation in collective climate action.
How do you motivate and sustain participation in your organisation?
5. Protection
Protection means working for justice for vulnerable communities and environments and intergenerational justice. Protecting the interests of Māori aligns well with protecting the natural environment. At least, I hope it does. But how do I know? Unfortunately the agendas of Pākehā conservationists to protect natural environments have not always honoured the Treaty or upheld tino rangatiratanga or “full and undisturbed possession”. My friend Mina Pomare-Peita described to me how her people are the kaitiaki for their ngahere and maunga, the Warawara up in the far north. Up till now the Warawara has been free of kauri die back, but it is just starting to encroach. One government strategy has been to keep people out of kauri forests. But Mina and her community want to keep gathering food and medicines from the Warawara. Banning them from their own forest is a violation of the Treaty. Protection of both culture and climate leads us into deeper understanding of kaitiakitanga.[2]
6. Partnership
Central to being community is partnership, and here I am talking about both honouring Treaty partnership, and growing new partnerships around environmental action. Sustainable community development creates new partnerships: with artists and activists, gardeners and cooks, with community groups and funders. It requires national networks and on-the-ground give-it-a-go.
An excellent example of Treaty partnership and climate action hand in hand is with assessing climate and disaster risks. You need to know what the risks are in your local community, and so does your local iwi. Why not work on this together? Marae are a vital community resource in times of emergency, and having a strong relationship will make your organisation ready and able to function well when the shit hits the fan - which it will!
So, there are my top six principles for collective climate action that seeks to honour the Treaty of Waitangi. We stand in a story begun by our ancestors and we ourselves want to be good ancestors. We see the times we are in and know that this requires of us both courage and creativity. It would be great if solutions to climate crisis were easy or someone else’s problem, but I invite you to reach out and take hold of them yourself, alongside the people you work for and with. And I invite you to have fun with it.
Participation, Partnership and Protection are the our nationally agreed principles of living out the Treaty in action. I am suggesting that they also work really well as principles for climate action. And holding these together creates a shared framework, dare I say synergy. I hope so. We absolutely need synergy. We can’t just pile in extra workstreams and add more expectations on our staff. Climate action for community organisations has to be about incorporating this lens and these questions, in ways that energise and inspire. We can all be climate leaders!
Contact Silvia Purdie
Place Consultancy: www.place.net.nz
Email: [email protected]
Notes:
[1] Dr. Mike Hulme, ‘Presenting at Nobel Conference 55’, 2019.
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBEJ2fq7Ir4
[2] Mina Pomare-Peita, ‘Tiakina te Taiao, Tiakina te Iwi’, pages 232-245 in Awhi Mai Awhi Atu: Women in Creation Care, edited by Silvia Purdie, Philip Garside Publishing, 2022.
Photo is of a kowhaiwhai painted roof panel in Maungarongo Marae in Ōhope (taken by Silvia Purdie).
