Heart, head and hand
[ The University of Melbourne Voice Vol. 5, No. 3
8 June - 12 July 2009 ]
Emma O’Neill discovers how University of Melbourne Forestry graduate Arron Wood has applied a new approach to raising awareness of environmental issues among Generation Y.
IDEALISTIC, in demand of instant gratification and in the pursuit of personal satisfaction: these are the characteristics commonly used to describe Generation Y and it’s a list that sounds ominous when you think this generation – all 70 million of them – have the future of our environment in their hands.
Getting this generation to become selfless enough and enthusiastic enough to make a difference to the state of the environment will be a challenge, but challenges are exactly what University Alumnus and environmentalist Arron Wood thrives on – and he is determined to transfer his passion for saving natural environments to the next generation.
“I grew up in Mildura and had the Murray River in my front yard, so it was easy for me to develop a love for our waterways. But I’ve learnt that to plant this kind of passion in kids, especially city kids, it’s a bit harder.
“You have to personalise things for them and make them think about the enjoyment they get from nature through stuff like fishing trips for example,” he says.
Arron did not lose sight of this local knowledge during his studies in forestry at the University of Melbourne.
He developed The Kids Teaching Kids Youth Environmental Conference program which provides hands-on student-centered learning about the environment. The inspiration for Arron’s program – which has already been delivered to more than 13 000 students Australia-wide – can be traced to one of his first environmental projects.
“I went with a small group of students to the Lock Island Trail, which is a little island two minutes from the main centre of Mildura. I developed a series of signs with the kids about why flooding is important to us and what it means, and it really taught me that when students actually get out there and get involved with something and take responsibility for their learning it’s a pretty powerful thing.”
This trip helped Arron realise that natural resource management is less about the science of managing the environment and more about managing people who have the potential to bring about change in their environment.
Considering Arron approaches his profession with this philosophy, it’s not surprising that the key to his program’s success was found in a book on psychology and not environmental sciences.
“My mum is a social worker and I was reading one of the books she had and came across this concept which involved an approach to problem-solving by using heart, head and hand.
“As soon as I read it I thought this would be a perfect way to approach the problem of changing people’s perception of the environment. The concept relies on balancing the three components: if you have too much heart you end up with no action, if you have too much head you end up being overwhelmed with a situation and if you have only hand and act without heart or head your actions will be ill-informed and not productive.”
Arron’s passion for saving our environment is infectious, and his dedication has earned him a string of impressive awards including the Prime Minister’s Environmentalist of the Year in 2007.
He has also applied his environmental knowledge to the business world and is the director of Firestarter Pty Ltd, an environmental communications and education consultancy business.
Yet beyond his passion and business prowess, it is his comprehension of the skills and ideas that the next generation require, and an innate understanding of the balance needed between heart, head and hand to halt climate change that makes him stand out from the wash of concerned environmentalists.
His practical approach is reassuring, and also shields a realistic comprehension of a dire future if programs like his don’t succeed in shifting perceptions of Gen Y.
“If we lose community support for a shift in our path it will wipe out life as we know it, but it will be easier for this generation to change because they are unfortunately already seeing tangible consequences of climate change on their communities.”
Arron Wood will be appearing at the Festival of Ideas on Wednesday 17 June for the forum: The New Generation and Climate Change: Repairing the Ills of the Old.
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