My first stop beyond London was Asturias in Spain, for an Erasmus-funded course on the theme of living sustainably. Live Sustainably brought together 25 passionate youth workers from across Europe and over five days we lived together as a family, playing out exercises to help us reflect on the status quo, ourselves and sustainability. Although I’ve promised this blog will focus on my adventures to land-based projects in the UK, the theme of sustainability is such a core part to our journey, so I couldn’t think of a better way to start my adventure (or my blog) than with this course!

From before I’d even arrived, this course on sustainability challenged my thinking. We were asked to consider the carbon of travelling to the course, and with a bit of help from some inspiring friends Rebecca and Tim (running two very cool projects: One Tonne Living and One Less Flight respectively) found a 22 hour ferry ran from Plymouth to Santander, costing £269 return!

And this theme of challenging my thinking continued over the week. We started off with a warm and heartfelt welcome, meeting people from all over the world. Each was asking themselves what living sustainably meant and coming up with eye-openingly different answers, from zero waste festivals, to eco Vlogs and DIY cosmetics. As well as talk about it, we lived it- the course was conducted mostly outside breathing in fresh mountain air, and the food was delicious, organic and local (including cidre- an Asturian speciality!). We felt into the reality of our current situation, and with people, chairs and logs, we formed a shocking physical representation of the global inequality in terms of population, GDP and carbon emissions. I am someone can’t even bear to read the newspaper, but here, rather than turn away, as a group we turned towards the precarious, complex and sad situation faced in world today.

Another activity introduced us to Systems Thinking. We created our own ecosystem and witnessed how the whole system can be altered by one small change. Although this interconnection can have negative consequences, such as flooding or even species extinction, we saw how it can also have positive consequences. We watched the feel good French film Demain, and saw examples of people all over the world making inspiring, small changes, and how this could influence a community, or even a national policy.

A week reflecting on and ‘living’ sustainability in this way left me feeling more connected to this beautiful and fragile planet, opening my heart to the joy and sorrow of being alive at this unique and important time in our world’s history. I realised that when we live more sustainably, whether by supporting ethical companies, growing your own vegetables or enjoying the beauty of travelling by train or ferry rather than plane, it doesn’t have to be a miserable sacrifice. It can be a joyful way to live a more rich and aware life, and be part of an amazing family of inspiring people. By doing what we believe in joyfully, we also encourage others to do the same, and slowly, these individuals can become a movement.

I don’t know how long I will be able to maintain this inspiration, but one thing that will help is the network of youth workers for sustainability group we have created. We plan to stay in touch, share our ideas for living more sustainably and support each other to stay motivated. A huge thanks to the incredible facilitators, Esther, Sergio and Era, and all the rest of my sustainability family, for all the friendship, inspiration and hope for the future I found in a field beyond the sea in Spain.

As I set off on my journey around the UK, I’m looking forwards to meeting more beacons of sustainability out there working on regenerative land based projects. Here’s to helping them to plant trees, learning from their experience and dreaming about how I can try, in my own way to be a little flashlight of sustainability myself…