Introduction

[Osbert Lancaster]

Hi

I'd like introduce myself before adding some comments to the other
thread.

I've been involved in action and education for ecological
sustainability and social justice for over 15 years. I was one of the
founders of the Centre for Human Ecology in Scotland - a network for
ecological and social transformation, and was the executive director
for several years. http://www.che.ac.uk At that time we ran a Masters
Programme in Human Ecology, first in partnership with the Open
University and then with Strathclyde University.

I subsequently joined another ex-CHE person, David Key, and became co-
director of Footprint Consulting Ltd. Dave's work was in
ecopsychology, and using engagement with the natural world to develop
an embodied understanding of sustainability. A major project was
http://www.naturalchange.org.uk/ for WWF. I focused primarily on
sustainability consultancy with organisations and community groups.
After three years we decided, very amicably, to go our own ways, in
part because we are now living 600 miles apart.

I'm now a self employed consultant and facilitator, doing much the
same sort of work. But as I was developing my new business, I decided
to move away from the identity of 'sustainability consultant' because
it can mean so many things to different people, and indeed mean
nothing to some people! I got fed up having to define sustainability
before describing what I do! I spent a while trying to understand what
was the common thread to my work, what was core to my purpose; I came
to realise it's about change making in service to organisations and
groups working for sustainability and justice.

So I now describe myself as a change making consultant and
facilitator, which not only distinguishes me from people working on
the more technical aspects of sustainability, but also hopefully
positions me to develop more work which is explicitly about change for
sustainability. My site is here: http://changemaking.co.uk One of the
challenges for me is to articulate clearly to others, day to day as
well as in workshops etc, my approach to change making. My approach
has evolved over time, informed by a number of influences, many of
them absorbed osmotically through working with others, to the extent
that I'm often not aware of the original source of some of them!

I'm really interested in this project and keen to contribute, but also
wary of finding myself over-committing and getting sucked into lots of
discussion and work which doesn't lead to useful results - for me and
for other people. I realise this sounds negative, and I also realise
that such a project will inevitably involve some dead ends, some
frustrating discussions etc - it's all part of the process! Putting
this in a more positive perspective: I'm really keen that we develop
ways of working that are emotionally rewarding and lead to great
material that will make a significant contribution to the world.

Looking forward to the next steps!

Osbert