The march in Oxford was part of a worldwide march to demand Climate Action. It was timed to be midway through COP26. The most moving thing about the march was the fact that so many different factions and types of people marched together. We marched for each other and for the earth and that was an amazing thing. Extinction Rebellion, Greenpeace, The Green Party, the Labour Party, Oxfordshire COP26 Alliance, Oxford Trades Council, Oxford Friends of the Earth, BBOWT, Unison and Oxford Youth Strike and many others including nature movements such as Rewilding Britain and anti racism groups such as Stand up to Racism. People of all races: Old people, young people and even animals making up 3,000 plus people walked from the Cowley Road to Broad Street in Oxford where there was a rally with speakers including George Monbiot, MPs Anneliese Dodds and Layla Moran, youth climate activists and councillor leaders and scientists. Chants and banners were mainly concerned with leaving fossil fuels in the ground, systemic change being the way forward and the importance of the natural world. Having felt a lot of shame about being a human being who has contributed to Climate change, I felt a surge of pride to be part of a movement to push for real change in the way we address what is an existential crisis for all of us.
fossil fuels
A Small Farm Future
by Chris Smaje
It has always been a dream to own a smallholding. In recent years I have been growing vegetables, making soap and generally learning to be self sufficient. Reading this book has inspired me to start really thinking about how this could probably become a reality for us all. Smaje describes a world in which our future as we know it cannot be sustained. Capitalism which relies on consumerism, powered by fossil fuels, can only come to an end. It is all of our responsibilities to create ways in which we can allow the human race to continue. As artists I believe we play a significant role in outlining these ways and getting them out into the public sphere. Artists already have access to a means by which to get their ideas across to people. It is just a matter of using this.