Wednesday 10 September 2014

A weekend of lightbulb moments!

Finally getting round to summing up the most inspiring weekend I've ever had.

A Vision For Nature Conference was held at the Department of Engineering in Cambridge on the 5th and 6th of September. Organised by Lucy MacRobert and Matt Williams from A Focus On Nature, the event was to bring together conservationists from around the UK (and a few from overseas), allowing the next generation to network with those with years of experience in the field, and share ideas, experiences and opinions on Nature Conservation.

I traveled down to Cambridge the day before and met with Matt, Peter Cooper and Tom Mason for a pre-conference drink, chatting about our expectations for the weekend, what were were looking forward to, and already getting the ball rolling on some new ideas for the future.

Friday started early, with the doors opening at 8.30 we arrived around 7.30 to help setting up. It was great to see so many people coming through the doors and registering, and I was happy to finally meet many of the regular contributors to the AFON facebook page.

After a quick introduction, the first talk was a showcase of AFON members, and featured Beth Aucott, who ran the first University Birdwatch Challenge, Ed Marshall, who visited the Isles of Scilly on a 6 week internship with the Wildlife Trust, stayed for longer and is on his way back there to carry out more conservation work, and finally Madison Wales, whose dissertation on Ladies for Nature won the Award in Environmental History. All these short talks provided an insight into the opportunities that AFON members have access to, and did an excellent job of setting the tone for the rest of the conference.

Next on the programme was the first debate of the conference. Andy Clements (BTO) chaired the session on "Should science have the final say in Conservation?" Andy was joined on stage by Debbie Pain (WWT), Rob Lambert (University of Nottingham) and Ralph Underhill (Common Cause For Nature), who all largely agreed that science is an important part of conservation, but probably shouldn't have the final say. The general feelings of the panel were that the majority of people connect with nature without science, and that science can be "dull and boring" to the general public. It is possible to work with nature without graphs and tables, and several points were raised about taking the non-scientific route into conservation - through Psychology, Environmental History, Education, but also Computing, Marketing, and the Arts. It was pointed out that NGOs have become a very professional front to the conservation field, and that more and more less-likely openings are becoming available to those with passion and enthusiasm for the Natural World.

Half an hour for a break was spent networking over tea and biscuits, then we were ushered into the first round of workshops. The choices were a debate on "Natural Capital: are we putting a price on nature?", Wildlife Filmmaking, Introduction to Moth Trapping and The Esssential Path for Wildlife Education. As someone with an interest in Education, I chose the latter, which was run by Stephen Le Quesne. It was very interesting hearing his experience of using the Forest Schools program on Jersey. He set us the task of planning an activity for a group of children with a set list of resources - I must admit that I already had plenty of ideas from my previous work at Chatsworth as soon as he mentioned "blindfolds, strips of cardboard, empty plastic bottles..." The group I was in came up with a whole day of fun (based on one or two of my ideas but expanded hugely!) and I was happy to get some new ideas from them and the other group. Stephen provided plenty of background reading and papers on the topic of Wildlife Education and I loved his use of "You can't buy a stick in a toy store" - definitely given me some food for thought!

Lunch was spent networking with more people, and all too soon the first talk of the afternoon was about to start. "So you want to work in nature conservation?" was led by Nick Askew (Conservation Careers) and featured Niall McCann, Neil Prem, James Borrell and Pamela Abbott. They each had tips and advice on getting into this field, and how to gain the most valuable experiences to help you follow your dreams. Niall and James both spoke of their amazing adventures abroad, while Neil and Pamela spoke more about discovering what matters the most and the journeys that they all took to be where they are now.

After another chance to network over refreshments, the afternoon workshops began, with a debate on "All Creatures Great and Small: species conservation in Britain", Wildlife Photography, Attitudes and Values in Communications and Developing a Career in Ecological Consultancy. This was a really tough choice and I was almost glad that the workshop spaces were filled, which left me to attend the debate. Chaired by the legendary Hugh Warwick (hedgehogs), the panel consisted of Sarah Henshall (Buglife), Jenny Leon (Froglife), Tim Mackrill (Rutland Osprey Project) and Ian Rowlands (Whalefest). Each person had 10 minutes to champion their species and explain why single species conservation is a good idea, then there was a chance for questions from the audience.

To wrap up the day, everyone was invited to Wagamama's for dinner, then we finished the evening at a local pub. I was very happy to see the younger members of AFON there, and spent a good deal of time speaking with the Wilde family (Findlay and Harley) and Mya-Rose. I also chatted to Josie Hewitt, a fellow member of Next Generation Birders who will be attending the Bardsey trip in a few weeks time. It was also nice to speak to several locals who had attended the conference out of interest. I enjoyed sharing the idea behind A Focus On Nature and the overall feeling was that it was about time something like this existed on such a large scale to hold a conference. Hopefully they will continue to support AFON and I hope to meet them again at the next conference!

As ever, the pub is where the best ideas are laid out, and I was collared by Rob Lambert, one of my mentors through the AFON scheme. We discussed my lack of job opportunities and he gave me a literal push in the direction of Stuart Benn, an RSPB worker from the Highlands office who was visiting the HQ at Sandy. I then spent the next hour or so chatting to him, discussing my options and listening to the advice he was giving me. The essential thing that I will have taken away from this conference was the opportunity to speak with the people in the field and have them point out my strengths to me and channel me in that direction...

So... from now on, I will not be applying for every conservation job that sparks my fancy - whether that is as a reserve warden, a fundraiser, office worker, data analyst, conservation officer, ecologist, biodiversity officer, or even field research assistant (even though I loved it!). I will be concentrating my efforts on Education roles, on reserves, at visitor centres but mostly outdoors. I know that I have a lot to do to get there, but having more than a couple of people tell me that my passion and enthusiasm for nature are my strengths, and the fact that I could literally talk for Britain, I would like to use this to enthuse and engage the next, next generation of conservationists to continue the work that has already started.

Right, enough lightbulb moments! Back to the conference!

Saturday started more-or less by being thrown into workshops, with choices from a talk on "What Colour is Nature? Politics in nature conservation", Storytelling, Online Communications and "What can conservation NGOs do differently to engage with young members?" Following the "lightbulb" of the previous day, I had to attend the latter, which was run by Adam Cormack and Ruth Grice from the Wildlife Trusts. We had a quick introduction to young members schemes and benefits across the main NGOs in the UK, and I was surprise to learn that WWF and the Woodlands Trust have nothing in place for young members, while the WWT do not appear to offer much specifically for young members. The RSPB have the Wildlife Explorers, a dedicated youth magazine and careers advice pages on the website (but this had previously been mentioned by people at the conference to not cater for all age groups). The National Trust runs Youth Discovery Holidays and works with the Duke of Edinburgh Award in encouraging young people to volunteer. The Wildlife Trusts run Wildlife Watch groups for up to age 16, with some groups being run with students. We then split into groups to discuss what NGOs should offer young members to encourage membership/ participation, and also how to engage the next generation who may not know how to begin looking at nature. MANY brilliant ideas were shared, and I'm intrigued to see what will be done with our suggestions. I think overall the current ideas need a chance to grow, but one that I loved was that volunteers could gain "credits" for the work they do, to spend on useful nationally recognised courses (ID skills, first aid, brush-cutting etc). I could easily write a whole blog on the ideas that were discussed in this workshop, and may do so later, but for now I'll continue with the conference.

Stephen Moss chaired the next debate, called "Teen Wolf: Unleashing the wild connection in children", so I knew we would be in for some thought-provoking discussions. With Derek Niemann (RSPB), Brenna Boyle (Wild Capital), Sarah Blackwell (Forest Schools) and Ross Crates (Ecologist), there was a good variety of topics for discussion. Stephen started by talking about the "Death of a Naturalist" idea and said that if he was asked 5 years ago, he would probably have agreed with this, but that looking around the room, it made him change his mind. The main reasons for the disconnection between youth and nature were discussed, namely the increased "red tape" for working with children, technology, stranger danger, and having no time for hobbies. Education was also highlighted, with suggestions that Wildlife/ Outdoor/ Environmental Education should become a compulsory part of the curriculum, which I wholeheartedly agree with! The price of nature was also discussed - with it being free, it apparently lacks value and cannot compete with brand marketing. But, because it is free, it is open and available to everyone, so many people maybe take it for granted until it is too late.

After yet another busy lunch networking, the final workshops available were Introduction to Campaigning, Storytelling, "Waxwinging Lyrical: nature writing and environmental journalism" and a debate on "The Lie of the Land: land management in the UK". Once again, the workshops had been filled before I got the chance to choose, so I sat in on the debate, chaired by Aidan Lonergan (RSPB) and accompanied by Robert Law (Farmer), Jane Rickson (Soil Scientist) and Simon Tonkin (Conservation Grade). This debate was not what I had expected. The focus was all on farming, and while I accept that farms make up the vast majority of landscape management in the UK, I was disappointed that other practices were not mentioned - such as woodlands and forestry, hunting estates and the use of renewable energy. Having said that, I was encouraged by Robert's views and efforts to make his farm as wildlife friendly as possible, and that he believes that he is still a Custodian of the Countryside. I do sympathise with farmers who have the goal posts moved every few months by the government for one reason or another.

While everyone filed out for the final tea break, it suddenly occurred to me that I was participating in the next debate, and I had no idea what I would say! Lucy and Matt had asked me a few weeks back if I would like to join in, which didn't take a seconds thought! Now I would be taking part in "Our Vision for Nature: future conservation challenges". Lucy was chairing the debate and I was joined on stage by Matt, Ross, Simon Phelps and Jeff Knott. I told the audience that I represented the number of graduates who were struggling to get that first job in conservation, which seemed to go down well. After quick introductions, we were immediately thrown in at the deep end with questions from the audience, covering what the greatest challenges facing conservation, international vs UK conservation, Patron Saints and role models in conservation, politics, nature reserves and the gender imbalance. As us girls were mostly outnumbered by the guys all weekend, this had sparked some serious discussions over the weekend and I was questioned directly as to whether the lack of female role models in conservation was an issue. Personally, it hasn't influenced my decision making and I had to agree with the audience member who said that by using feminism to try and encourage equality, all you're doing is highlighting that men and women are different and isolating them further. Yes, we should be equal, but calling it feminism isn't the way to increase the number of women in conservation jobs. Also, I don't see this just in the conservation field - most jobs are male dominated, so maybe conservation is actually ahead of the times by recognising there is a problem?

So, after a gruelling question session we were each asked for our Vision for Nature. Mine is for greater youth engagement and education, and allowing them to enthuse others. Simon said he would like a world where you don't have to explain why it's wrong to persecute birds of prey, and for AFON to continue to grow. Matt wants young people to lead the conservation world and for greater connection with nature. Jeff wants an AFON conference where the word "young person" isn't mentioned once. Ross wants every child to be given the opportunity to experience nature.

After we were finished, there was supposed to be a summing up of the workshops by Peter, Matt Collis and Tom. Peter talked about his nature writing workshop, then Matt stood up and spoke about the storytelling workshop that he had attended. Then Tom got up and said that he wasn't going to talk about the workshops at all, but the two people behind the whole conference - Lucy and Matt. They both work full time, and Matt has only just returned from 12 months in Indonesia, so what they had successfully organised and planned is a HUGE achievement and they definitely deserved the recognition. Tom's speech of thanks was heartfelt and emotional and I'm sure that Lucy was not the only one with tears in her eyes by the end (pass the hankie!)

After being presented with a few gifts from AFON members, Lucy and Matt had to close the conference, and revealed that there will be a Vision for Nature report being produced over the next 8-10 months, with the hope of presenting it to the next government stating what we want for Nature. I am very excited about this, and can't wait to help out however I can with this - I have already e-mailed a few of my ideas through, and hope to start the wheels turning on a new project over the coming week or two.

On a personal level, I would like to thank everyone who attended the conference (hopefully the first of many!), the speakers, the workshop leaders, the reps from NGOs and other nature related organisations and companies, the audience and the organising committee.

Hope to see you all next year!