Subject Adviser
Hi
I am John Baxter and I am the u3a Subject Adviser for Climate Change and Environment. I am a member of Barnet u3a.
A Subject Adviser, according to the Subject Adviser Handbook, has three main responsibilities:
- to support members looking to expand their learning around the subject area
- to support members looking to set up a new group
- to support existing groups by facilitating the sharing of knowledge, resources, and idea, and bringing together the group leaders and members who are interested in the subject.
I shall try and do all of these things.
I did train as a scientist, but in physics, not climate science. I can (most of the time) understand what the experts are talking about. My only qualification for the role is forty years reading around the subject, and a fascination for writing and talking about it.
Expanding learning, and sharing knowledge, resources and ideas
Fortunately I don't have to do this on my own. The Countdown to CoP group has already assembled content in Resources, Tool kit, and Recordings. I intend to leave these for Countdown to CoP to maintain. I add my new material mainly in pages New and FAQ.
I send a newsletter to the climate network every couple of weeks or so. Sign up to join the network if you would like to subscribe to these. You can unsubscribe at any time using a link in the email footer. You can find past issues of the newsletter online. Member CH emails me to say Thank you so much for your bulletins which are both erudite and entertaining. These alone are worth my U3a membership.
You can email me as Subject Adviser to give feedback or if you have specific questions. I will make reasonable efforts to provide useful replies to any emails. I may keep your emails and delete them when they are no longer useful.
Support members looking to set up a new group
This is what I usually say to group leaders:
Don't beat yourself up if you don't seem to be changing the world. As I see it, there is a 'spectrum of activism', with at the left-hand end groups where the members meet to inform themselves about climate issues, and towards the right-hand end activist groups like FoE and GreenPeace and then XR and Just Stop Oil. There is a place for all of these, but u3a is always going to be near the left-hand end, because we have to be nervous of anything that might be labelled as political and threaten our charitable status. If members want to take a more active position there are groups towards the right-hand end of the spectrum eager to welcome them.
That means I think that we can live with modest ambitions, If members get together and talk about climate and environment then they are being nudged in the right direction; they are more likely to make changes in their own lifestyles and to support government action, if and when our politicians take the subject seriously. I think u3a should be a place where members who are neutral about environmental action, but who may be worried, can come for information that may lead them to make those lifestyle changes. In my newsletter I quoted climate scientist Kimberly Miner who said although small actions might not solve the climate crisis, they remind us that we are intrinsic parts of the world and its ecosystems. We can promote those small actions.
I am an adviser, not a campaigner. If you are looking for leadership go to your local group or to Countdown to CoP.
I've posted a Discussion Note Objectives for a CCE Group on this, and would welcome feedback. We have 1030 u3as; to the best of my knowledge only 108 of these have groups devoted to climate or sustainable living. I should stress that it is not my vision that all u3a climate groups should be clones of each other or need have the same goals and objectives.
Countdown to CoP have created a Getting Started page as part of their tool kit.
General advice
For general advice on safety, legal or committee matters contact the Advice Team on 020 8466 6139 (Mon-Fri 09:30 to 16:30) or email them at Advice Team.
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