#Its4U - Education is everything, with Inger-Mette Stenseth

Inger-Mette Stenseth is a co-founder of the World Climate School, and she works across the world to get climate education front and centre in education curriculum. With a creativity energy at the core of all she does, Inger-Mette is encouraging all of the artists, designers, weavers and more to come on board to Its4U, because creative expression is central to the core message of this whole campaign.

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Transcript

0:10

Well, welcome to day 2 of 12 days of cult. My name's Andrea Edwards, and today I am delighted to introduce you to someone who I have found incredibly inspiring, And that is Inga Mette Stemseth. Have I said it right? You said it right. Inga Mette Stemseth. You are the cofounder of the World Climate School, and I since I've come across your work, I you you you I mean, you're working fast and furious all the time, traveling a lot and doing amazing work. Would you be willing to share, you know, what you do, why you do it, and what you're hoping to achieve? Yes. I can do. Let me start with the the co funding first. We started out during COVID And we met during COVID, the the 3 founders, Rob Delet and Haskerv Nystuen Rasmussen. And 1 Norwegian, 1, the Rob lives in Brazil and me living in Norway. So we we they were just like, let's do the let's start. Let's do. And we started off by having online, online meetings and online webinars, and especially with Pakistan as a big, supporter of the work that we did, and that is actually coming together during this cup as well. So I was on the, I was invited to come at the to Pakistan and a digital seat road In into 2019, 20. So that started off like Fridays for Pakistan meetings. So we have more than 300 Fridays together with, with the team on SDGs, academy of Pakistan, every Friday throughout the COVID period. And and for 1 hour to almost 2 hours, every Friday. So we it's it was a little bit aligned with Fridays for future with Greta Thunberg. We we we talk a little bit another stand. Let's not be let's get back to school And may let's make that cool. How can we do that, with the World Climate School? And and then again, we my my life is connecting me to Zimbabwe, so I'm connected very strongly to Southern Africa. And then we have, And then we really engage on the biotic pump, like the the Amazon forest. How is that really, in a more interesting way? How is the big, sky rivers influencing the climate system, the Earth system of of of the planet. So so that's how it's kicked off, And then the before this organization is formed here in Molde with me and and we have been connected to the Norwegian Climate Network and, The climate festival here in Norway. And at the the time before COVID, we have 25 cities in Norway and a parallel conference to have, to look at how climate, and and anchoring into a law system on Nor recalled paragraph 112 in the Norwegian constitutions, In our duties to look after our common home. And and, so that was so we had that kind of backing for a movement in Norway before COVID. So we're in 25 cities on a climate festival anchored in the Norwegian constitution 112. And if you want to take that a step further, it goes back to Gluharen Blundgren in 1992 and Back to the work that was done in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 with the first, agenda 21 conference And the future in our hands, agenda that has come has been cultivating its, maturity Into 2022, 23, where we really can say that we we really have to get our acts together and And, speed up. So, my background is from fashion. I come from fast fashion, so I'm really dedicated to go into Fast learning. So how can we do that? Interesting. There might be a little bit of a rumble. I've got some work workers in the background, but, I didn't realize you're coming from fast fashion, so that's, that's a very challenging industry at the moment, right, as far as the the amount of waste produced Off off the back of, you know, companies like, you're you're you're thinking. Yeah. Yeah. So no. Absolutely. Absolutely. And I've been in fact working a lot with, or Connexion, I would say, to Australia And, both in the fashion industry and the fashion for good initiatives, but also I've been connected to Australia On all the fires that you had for the last years and and the flooding that you had, and and we I'm I'm connected with artists across border borders, social arts, how that can be influenced on social media, how we can have virtual collaboration that is co led by Artists and theater people. So so it's a lot going on, I tell you. Yeah. No. It's amazing. And, yeah, I I'm and the artistic side that comes through in the way you communicate and share ideas is something I I I really, instantly, resonated with. So, but Pakistan you're mentioning Pakistan start from 2019. So then, of course, last year, you would have seen the drastic impact of the glacial lake outburst, which It's still attributed in mainstream media across the world as a, as a heavy monsoon rains, and they it's It's like you know, it's a glacial lake outburst, and there's 33 more at risk in Pakistan. I'm surprised we haven't seen another one go, but we did see A glacial like out lake outburst in India just a couple of months ago. Did did you notice that one? But it must have been interesting working with your Pakistani connections Just as I would as the country was going through such a catastrophe. I see that, You know, it's, to working with the grassroot, let's let's be honest. We are an NGO. We are grassroot people, but, yeah, we are not coming from An activist, like, like a social activist in the streets who come in let gets our act together. But to be honest, At COP 27 in Egypt, you know, Pakistan had a strong voice because of the flooding. But, you know, we need to break out of the circles of, of, climate concern people And really engage communities and our leaders, definitely. But and that's why we're saying it is for you that we have to, like, Open the circles. Open to a new way of talk about the ecological movement and and to modernize the ecological movement, into, mainstream, and that's, climate education should be mainstream. That's my My strongest voice for COP 28, let's go mainstream with climate education. It gets into everyone. Let's go back to school. That's the mantra. Let's go back to school. You know, I've been also working with India. And for the last See, I've been connecting with Sunita Gandhi in India, and we were working with, David Sansthan, the Digital Education Vision International. And we are working on, out of the city of Lochner with the with the family having the City Montessori school as the biggest school on the planet with over 60,000 pupils. But with Suneet Uganda, we're saying, let's make it even faster, And if we can have it, an earthquake or to revolutionize or to turn around the way we teach children, How that can affect in, the way we can speed learn in this, urgency. And and and and that's my point here. If you're having After COVID, especially the girl children, a girl child is not in school because, You know, the poorest people didn't go to school. They didn't have the tech to sit on Zoom and and Google educate or whatever kind of tech to connect to schools. So the the consequences of COVID is act actually that increased 10 years old children Not being able to read or know mathematics is increased. So as by numbers by World Bank and UNESCO is saying that More than 250,000,000 children at the age of 10 is not able to read. And you can imagine what that consequence it is in 10 years. It's going to multiply. You know? Yeah. Yep. So but so so the methodology we call this is called accelerate learning for all. So that is foundational literacy and numeracy. Like, let's learn math and to read As as fast as we can, and we can do it in 45 days. So we turn around the classroom, the teacher the children is not The classrooms are children led. It's it's, children teach. They teach each other fast. So you have big influences and you're they learn in pairs And they, they learn in pairs, and we have, 45 days, we have pilot schools with, with Sunita Gandhi, where We have it is, it's it's doing research on it, so you can see that the highest school commodes the the the school a and school b, and one is doing Literacy and one is doing mathematics and you can test it towards methodologies test. And and that is literacy, Foundational literacy, and then you can have then we have climate literacy or green school or environmental concern citizens. So you have this thing about Creativity, critical thinking, citizenship in your community, project engagement in your community, and and and how we can really accelerate this the skills of collaboration, creative collaboration. How do we do that? Yeah. Amazing. Amazing. In huge numbers. So thank you for for for the amazing contribution to humanity to you and and Your cofounders. So It's For You is, the antidote to cope. That's how David and Richard speak about it. So, What what does what does the whole It's For You campaign mean to you, and what are you hoping to see over over the coming weeks as far as people participating in this campaign? Yes. Yes. Yes. I you know, it's for you. I it's not an antidote like David and Richard will say, I'm slightly more, positive to cope. I think it's tremendously important event. Mhmm. Extremely important event. It's the biggest event on climate on the on on the planet as such. So and no doubt about it. And, my experience Hope is that, I was in Paris for for COP 21. So we've been working on the fashion industry since then, and I know that I I I could see the tour I fell With the blue and the green lights, I could see understood the blue zone and the politic political stage that, the negotiation is going on, you know, how to To ever to how to get together or acts together on a on a nation national and governmental structure. It's it's a huge job. It's not easy. Nice. And and then you have the green zone, which is the most amazing song because it's like all the NGOs and and it's like a festival and a marketplace, and And people are working and celebrating, fighting. You know, their the energy is there to fight for something. You know? But But what we see, and also then my experience for for for Glasgow at COP 26, I was there. So And, then I worked with the with the Erasmus plus and youth projects. So we had, like, a project called c six that we presented and it's about creative collaborative culture to combat climate change. And we have more than 6 youth organization in Europe That was allocated her energy to say that ideas do really matter, and that is a quote from from from Adam Smith. You know? The ad, what is the wealth and the health of our nations? And and in the new era of of your human corporation and and and concern about the planet. So so the wealth of nation, how do we take economics into the into the circles of, NGOs, and How do we can can create a livelihood that is look local in local projects? And that's where I see that COP 28 is also coming forward, that That the legacy of of COP 26 is coming with the the they said the education climate education is important. It was repeated in at the Shamash Sheikh in in Egypt in 27 with also the emphasize of Pakistan and a Political way to say we have to get, the the the the people suffering on the frontline of climate change. We have to finalize To pay or just to bring economics to the the crisis. You know? Yep. Yep. And and then that comes again now for, the the legacy of climate education for COP 28 and action on the ground, you know, In where people live. And and and, my biggest concern and biggest awakening was actually Katrina in the in your leads area that that That, situation is not solved yet. You know? People suffer even from Katrina are still in the streets. So on the forefront of climate change and the the the the wild winds of nature and the fires and the floods and the storms and And the heat waves, we can't stop that as humans. We have to adapt. And that's where where I really agree with, Richard and David is that dignity first now. Yeah. With dignity, how can we work together, and how can we really engage people outside the circles of climate activists or climate concern Citizens or or Net Zero consultants selling us carbon credits. How can we really engage, and and get voices to localized pro projects. And that is the reason why the The tremendous effort that David and Richard has done to to the partnership with the youth in, In Nairobi and the Eastern African, campuses and and universities network pre network, In more than 8 countries and 36 universities and time college, that's where we really can see that we're amplifying. It is for you. It is for everyone on the planet. And and for COP 28, I'm I'm back in Norway. My priorities is really to say, Let us get funding to youngsters from from the front lines, from Nairobi, from from Zimbabwe, from Kenya, Uganda, Egypt, let them speak up. They are the leaders. You know? When you're 20, 25, you're you don't see yourself as a youth. You're actually leading your life. You know? They are the leaders. Yeah. So so that The whole reparations thing, it's so because I'm sitting in Thailand, and the the risk is in my in front of my face every single day. So the extreme heat waves that are gonna come through next hot season, so from February onwards, and we saw how bad it was Like, this year, India suffered terribly, but next year, it's gonna be hotter, and people live in tin shucks. And what The the the northern countries in particular, the wealthy countries in particular need to understand, if we don't invest in Helping people stay where they are and doing what we need to do, those people are gonna be on the move, and then we're gonna have more societal breakdown than we're seeing at the moment. So we gotta get ready. We gotta prepare homes for people so they can move to based on where we think the best chances are, but we've gotta take care of the people and give them The financing to just do simple things like painting roofs white or or just education, you know, on what you what what they need to do to get them homes prepared, Cooling centers for communities that that are off the grid because the grids are gonna fall over because they're all above ground. You know? But the main most important thing is it benefits everyone If we do everything we can to to just let people stay where they are, because people don't wanna move. No. And No. No. No. No. No. They don't. They don't. So but, you know, the, I can say that I I know Thailand a bit and, Not much, but I've been but, you know, I've been in India twice this fall, and I'm working with different, a different, No. We had no. It's not true. I've been in India, last month, and I've been to the The biggest school in the planet inviting more than a 100, leaders of justice and governments coming to the biggest school on the planet To look after 2.5, children on the planet and generations to come. So it's it's a lot about law and enforcement of of holding leaders accountable in one way or another. So so but did that again, you know, I've been to New Delhi in the heatwaves, this fall. I've see I've seen the you know, I had a very strong reaction to my eyes. The haze is terrible. Right? It's terrible. Yeah. It's gotten worse and worse and worse. So, if you go there, this the last one was one of the worst. I I in Singapore, they get the haze from the fires in Indonesia. In February, like, this year, we got the haze from the north of Thailand that came down south and It, you know, it hurts your throat. You're always itching. Your eyes sting the worse it gets. You know? It's terrible. So so so so that is, that's a tough one, and, And, it is I'm I'm just moving a bit. I don't Yeah. I don't because I was thinking I wanted to look to you, But if I look like this, it sounds it's it's it has to look like we're talking together. So so let me get back to India. But, you know, then again, talking about, To understand the difference between the linear economy and the circular economy. Nature do not have waste. You know? And in the waste problem of our our consumption, and the plastic waste, Especially because we can see it, like, you know, it's popping more up. But, you know, there is no the waste management system in Culture of the crowd is also crashing. So so so all the rivers and the and the landfills and the streets, You know, it gets overwhelming. People are not able to cope with it, you know, especially in in areas where you're trying to cope From one day to another, you can't cope with all the rubbish and and the sewage system that is cramped, and then the floods comes and the rain comes and, You know, it's overwhelming. It's, it's too much for people to to handle in many way, and that's why we really have to come together and assist. Talking with youngster in India in in in the city lock now, they'd like to be environmentalist and say, oh, let's clean the river, And then the find liars of plastic and rubbish, mud, layers, layers, layers, mud, you know, and it's impossible. You have to have big tools to clean up. Yeah. So on that investment scale? It's shocking. It's shocking. You know, it's and, you know, the individual contribution by each Indian citizen It's significantly lower than the Western countries, especially Americans. But, you know, I do beach cleanups all the time and, And, people are blaming Asia for for a lot of the problem with the waste, but, so many countries in Asia are accepting waste from wealthier countries. Australia has just started again because they failed on one of their big, recycling initiatives, so they're importing their waste into Asia again. There is no infrastructure here apart from places like Singapore. There's no infrastructure here to deal with it. So if they wanna ship their waste, Build build the plants that need to be built to deal with the waste. You know? It's just just we need global cooperation on that because it doesn't stay here. You know, it's No. It goes everywhere. Right? So So so to climate education, let's Let's talk about the weather. You know? It's more extremes. Yeah. So so right now here in Norway, we we we It will probably turn up to 20 minuteers this weekend in in the highlands or up in the mountains inland. But then again, in next, day next week, it could be 3 plus. Yeah. Right? And then that fluctuate fluctuations from the extremes in in the cold weather pattern It's also scared then the the the the avalanche from the mountains will come. You know? And that takes big trees with it that has been Growing in the summer now is strong, but heavy when it comes as full of snow and the the mild weather turn the The the the ice cold winter turns into a a rainy spring. So and and these extremes, and then, and then the heat waves are just like scaring all the clouds away, so it goes away. There's no clouds for years. You know? That's the drought in Africa. It's for years. Yeah. The the rain the rain didn't come. And when it does come, it comes in huge floods. There's 1 1 in the region of Africa today. It's yeah. I mean, we've got massive, complex problems, but, My my impression of IT'S FOR YOU is it's about sort of remembering what what what we're fighting for and being positive. And so what are you gonna what's your focus gonna be? You know, obviously, The importance of education, but how are you gonna be stay grounded in your in your hope for the future? I've been talking with my, artistic friends. So to to really, get from activism into the action, how we can ground us in our own communities. So it's a lot about community based learning and development and to engage in in local communities Where you have circles of trust that is, is working on food security and in creative ways, not because it's, Food security, but it's really beautiful and fun. I learned from the slow food movement from Italy, Bring new recipes, improvise, work with seaweed. You know, the there's more people going off the The the the the meat, but, you know, still we are in Norway, we have fish and the the reindeer is here or the The the deers are here. You know? There is like a hunting culture in Norwegian still. And and and And, but do you know to stay stay grounded in the local communities? And we see that communities that learn together and networks that learn together. And that's where we're using the disciplines of of new mastery, personal mastery, Like, and what is the shared vision that we can create together, how to bring creativity, and and understand the mental models that we have in our heads, So we can really look at what we can do locally to make, small projects to be good. And and this is the same message that I had with the it's for you, circles when we interviewed, young Women that's going traveling to COP, you know, they really they they they it's for you. They're traveling on behalf of their community to COP, To say, we have 500 women here in in in Kenya as small farmers. We like to have a livelihood. We we would like to plant trees, but we need to stop cutting down trees because that's the only way we can fuel our kitchen. So my message is a lot that it's a lot of things that's going on in the kitchen and in the homes and the way we live and the lifestyle. I'm calling from the fashion industry also saying that the fashion industry is also my hope for for COP 28, by the way. It's a lot of redoing and rethinking. And and, but as Coco Chanel said, you know, A fashion is not one dress. It's the way we think, the way we style, and the way we live our lives. So what's happening in the streets and happening in the city, And that's where really change is happening on a global scale. And that's my optimistic, view on On the self organizing strategies of NGOs and the grassroots. And also, in addition to that, you have the all the development goal, the SDGs that you can see that local governments, local communities, city councils are using as a framework for thinking. But in addition to that, you have the inner development goals, and that is the inner transformation. So you kind of take a stay a stake and a hold on the global Problem of climate change. And and sometimes, I mean, thinking it is for you. Please come and own the problems and the complexity of our challenges Together with us, you know, because we are all in the same boat as to use a cliche, it we're in it together, you know? And and that's why I think it's Andre, to speak with you, Australian living in Thailand is, is of importance and And the way you are skilled in interviewing people and to get get the flavor out of, it is for you. I'm I'm doing it for you, as a journalist, you know. How can journalists be without being, back in white solutions, you know. It's the it's the it's really the all colors and all Shades of green and and purple and yellow and orange, we need all colors on the planet Yeah. To really get these things together. Totally agree. Totally. Yeah. It's the the it's a it's so complex, and there's so much nuance. And, you know, so much of the conversation is Is the black and white, and and you sit in the middle in this gray space, and you're like, yep. No. You've got a point. You've got a point. Everyone's got a point. So where where do where do we find that compromise? And, you know, where do we where do we just make a start? And I think everyone individually just coming together, making a start, Doing their thing, whatever it is. Some Not in fear, but And I think, I think, what I like to say at the end, like, We have a lot of streams in the it's for you, and, we like to say that it's like knitting a, a textile fabric, For example, you you know, what's what everybody is doing it is like, it's as big as an elephant. You know? They were Complaining on who about the trunk and the toe or the elephant, you know? But it's the same big animal we're kind trying to solve Or create, you know, we try to create something. That's why we the the the knitting of a fiber or weaving our textile comes as a metaphor that's useful. So it's probably addressed to an elephant. Terrible. It's an impossible problem. Nobody's done that. But, anyway, and the the one of the trends of communication is, of course, dignity and education, but The other one is is called, book of trees. Yeah. I love this. Yeah. And and if you And and that is like collecting a 1000000 stories of trees and and how you have a personal relationship to a tree or or a tree in a forest. And and that is a story that everyone can connect to. You know? And it connects the Amazon together with Australia, together with Thailand, Norway, Africa, it's the story of trees. And and I like to say that, if we can do people engaged and saying, it is for you, and and they put a picture of them, a story about the tree. And and and the trees are cleaning the air for us, so it's about Clean air and oxygen. And and, so so this story for It's For You that everyone can Let think about the tree or the ecosystem that they're really in love with, like a garden and and a forest close to their home, and they take a picture and say, it is for you, and it's for for humanity and the generations to come that it is for you. And and it it that is like it comes forward as a gifting economy to future generation, and that's what I love the most of it. It's for you. Yeah. And I think I I think at the even if for the world leaders of today can say, yes, it's for you. And even if they say it to the the partner or to the the future generation or the future grandchildren or The neighbor's grandchildren if they don't have their own children. You know? It's it's like it is for you. It's for the future and for Yeah. For the planet. Yeah. Alright. So we'll just finish up with if, people are looking to get involved, I've got the sign up link here. So it's bit Bitly. Sign up to It's For You. So, two number, four number. I I can I'll put it in the show notes as well. But can everyone get involved? What would how they can get it, you're asking me how they can get involved, right? Okay. What is extremely interesting these days with It's For You is that we're getting requests from everywhere. And, and, we have to do make it accessible for people to feel that they can they can do it without being getting Instructed to do something, but it comes from an internal, desire to do something. So the biggest way to to join us is actually to To hashtag us in your actions, local action, it's for you. The other way we do, we are really going to streamline the 12 days of COP. So we're having multiple outreach and invitations to join us in in social engagement, like on on Zoom and conversations. And and and we we'll be multi multiplied to more than 10, platform at the same time. And and the interest we have from from the the youth of Kenya and and and, is also going to COP 28 is that we connect back into COP. So we're getting the the news into, into our our daily 12 days of engagement. This was a little bit difficult there, my dear. Let me see. Let us see. What's help me, Andrea? How can I express this as better better and more clear? No. No. You're doing great. And I think using the hashtag, it's for you with the number 4 Yep. I think I think it's great. There's the Facebook page is is it called? It's for you? Yeah. I can Yeah. Yeah. The face, and, you, you connect to to us easily on the Facebook page and on social media. It is for you. Yeah. And, and then And everything's there. Every everything's there. There is there. And, of course, the World Climate School is also So get in touch with me directly as well, and get in touch with me on enrollment in in in Kenya and in Zimbabwe and Pakistan, in In Thailand, in India, in Sri Lanka, in Norway, Europe, in general, in the US, in Brazil, in Peru, It is for you. Yeah. Yeah. Love the work that we're doing in Peru is also very beautiful. So we are connecting the world in many ways. Yeah. It's beautiful. Yeah. So it's a it's a place for inspiration. It's a place for ideas. It's it's a place where People are gonna talk about what's beautiful in the world, you know, and I think while we're fighting a hard battle, so I've got that drilling. I'm sure you can hear it. How about I mute And you talk, but, yeah, we're we're fighting a hard battle. It's a complicated battle, but it's about really being present. I feel that it's about being present and, engaging with people, you know, more deeply and remembering what life's really about. Right? Would you would you agree? The beauty. The absolutely. It is, it is, it's for you. It's to really take care of what we have And really an an you know, to to to care for for for or a ride that's close to us, To care for what we love and and to to help each other. And and that's also the beautiful logo of it's For you, it's the 2 people holding hands with the 3rd one or is 1 person inviting, 2 others to join. And and this is a little bit like, Come, let's do it together, you know, and to to to get action on the ground together. You have more fun when you come together, when you engage in learning and and you engage in the climate's battle, it it gets also Less as a battle, it gets more into, having fun. Gardening is fun. Food cultivation is fun. It's Fun to eat while while it's fun to come together. And and and the way we say that on the bigger scale, help each other on the other side of the planet. That's that's we're living in a techno technological renaissance of connecting People on the ground together that is going fast, and that's why we're learning fast as well, and and that's it's for you. And so I'm saying, yeah, join us. Yep. Join us. It's an we can't do this if we don't do it together. It's there's no possible path to success if we keep separate. And I'm sitting in the global south, And, I'm fighting for the people in this in this part of the world because they're some of the most magnificent human beings you'll ever meet in your life live in this part of the world, and they're they're at Huge risk. Everyone is, but they are, so I'm fighting for them. So, Ingemete, thank you. It's so nice to finally be able to really talk to you. Yes. And, I really, really admire the work that you do, and, follow follow Inga Mete on LinkedIn, and, come and join. It's for you. It's for you. Alright? It's for you. Alright. Thank you, Jen. Thank you. Bye, everyone.