What a blast!
I, and the whole Idealists Quarterly team, thank all of you who came to our Drinks & Talks event last Thursday. We were delighted to welcome each and every one of you.
We enjoyed fantastic talks from four speakers, who dove into some of the systems that make up the world we live in:
- Edel Shanahan on biodiversity, which should always be considered when we talk about sustainability and climate.
- Janique-ka John on plastic waste, which does not subscribe to regional divisions, and usually ends up polluting the homes of those people who have the least resources to deal with it.
- Gabriela Chang Valdovinos on financial resources, and how the people who produce most of our food do not make enough to secure their livelihoods – and how web3 can help.
- Dominique Roch on how the circumstances and locations in which we live dictate how we should approach sustainability.
Here are some snapshots of the evening (thanks to Mubarak Masae)
A thousand ships
They say you can’t change something from the outside. However, we also all know that it is not always that easy to try and change an organisation, sector or industry from the inside either. It can feel like trying to single-handedly push a giant tanker ship onto a different course: it’s a big job, will take a long time and you might strain your back in the process.
Rather than fight big fights we are likely to lose, let’s work together to win as many small victories as we can – as the saying goes: “Do what you can, with what you’ve got, where you are.”
Each of us in our own contexts have a significant amount of power, privilege and influence – even though they feel like a drop in the ocean sometimes. But we can use that small drop to just slightly readjust our own little ship. To help steer it a bit closer towards being environmentally, socially and financially regenerative. With a bit of luck, we will then have a thousand ships sailing in the same direction. Maybe they will overtake the giant tanker and maybe, just maybe, even force it to follow suit.
Am I being overly optimistic? Yes I am, and that’s a conscious choice.
The best networking event in town
Activist Srđa Popović says: If you want to change the world, you have to throw the best party in town.
I took notes: To help change the conversation and trajectory in our respective industries – be it tech, policy or sustainability – Idealists Quarterly aims to be the one of the most fun networking events in town. One that welcomes everybody and gives a voice to people with diverse perspectives. One that re-energises you instead of burning (or boring) you out. And one that makes it easy for you to reach outside your own bubble and collaborate with others.
Stay tuned for our next event in autumn!
How you can help
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- With a short sentence describing your experience at our event – your feedback will help us make our events better.
- If you’d like to suggest a topic or speaker for our future events.
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Or post about our event on social media, using the Hashtag #IdealistsQuarterly.
Thank you to our partners
The biggest of Thank Yous goes out to our sponsor Belgian Spirits Company. Their Madame Pommette mocktails were so popular with all of you, they were the star of the evening! The #1 crowd pleaser was Spiked Passion (passion fruit, apple, vanilla, chilli and orange), followed by Razzle Dazzle (fresh raspberries, apple, violet, chilli and orange) and Black Orchard (blueberries, apple, violet, lavender, chilli and orange). Check out their webshop here.
We also thank Conversation Starter for partnering with us to help you forge deeper connections with the other attendees. 40 people signed up to use the tool, many engaged in one-on-one conversations and even stayed in touch beyond our event.
We thank our media partner The Green Fix – a free and independent climate justice newsletter providing information and practical resources to help you fight the climate crisis and build a greener, fairer world.
Finally, our gratitude goes out to Mubarak Masae, our community photographer, for the fantastic snapshots and reels. Follow or reach out to him here on Instagram if you want to work with him.
Share this newsletter with a friend, and see you September! (Date and location to be announced)