Sustainability & Emotions’

www.qualispace.es

‘Sustainability & Emotions’

www.qualispace.es

Irene Gil from Grasp (www.grasp.es) invited us to take part in NOW

Madrid again.

After brainstorming ideas and having a Google ‘hangout’ with

Jonas from Now Sweden (https://www.facebook.com/nowisus) we

set to work.

We contacted a random sample asking them what they thought…

44 people took part, aged 18-75

A Discussion Group with Fine Arts students aged18-20 was

conducted on a beautiful Spring morning.

Everyone one has collaborated free of charge, as have we, with

the hope of ‘being listened to’.

Thank you for coming along and taking part!

Jesus Anguita & Anita Fuller

ANTONIO SOTO, PALOMA GRIÑÁN, INMA ARAGÓN, TOMÁS CAMARERO,

JAVIER MIRÓ, MERCEDES RODRIGO, SUSANA MONSÓ, MARTA FRAY,

MÓNICA SCHULTZ, ROCÍO ABELLA, DIEGO, JOSE JUANCO, MILA BENITO,

ELENA MERAYO, FRANCISCO ANGUITA, JAVIER NOGAL, PILAR

HERNÁNDEZ, MARTA TORRECILLAS, NATALIA HERRERO, CARMEN NIETO,

MARJA OBERG, ENRIC MUR, HILDA ROMANO, BELÉN JIMÉNEZ, ALEJANDRA

BORCEL, ANITA FULLER, JAVIER RINCÓN, PALOMA GUILLÉN, MªLUISA

LÓPEZ, CRISTINA SANDÍN, JESÚS VALDERRABANO, ANA BARBOSA,

BERNARDO LANUZA, MAITE RUFFO, JULIO VIDOSA, MONTSE VIDAL,

CAMILA BORES, PAZ URUÑUELA, LOURDES MÁRQUEZ, ALEJANDRA

ANGUITA,

AND TWO ANONYMOUS PARTICIPANTS.

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www.qualispace.es

A SEA OF

DOUBTS…

HUMAN

BEINGS

POWERFUL,

INTENSE,

EMOTIONS …

THEIR TENDENCY TO ‘HUMANISE’ EVERYTHING

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Primary emotions (universal, quick, solid,

spontaneous, evolutionary adaptation):

Surprise

Fear

Repulsion

Anger

Happiness

Sadness

Secondary emotions and combinations

(more recent, modern, slow. Less easy to

identify in non-verbal, mixed with other

emotions):

Hostility

Humour

Enjoyment

Love

……

Guilt

Shame / embarrassment

Pride

……

Anxiety

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THINGS WHICH SHOULDN’T

BE ALIEN TO US … OR SHOULD THEY BE?

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We’re seduced by its image

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We observe it

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We can love it

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And destroy it

Profiles /

Ways of feeling

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Recover our place in the universe, not as the epitomy of evolution, but as

another being among millions of others.

Make life self-helping … nature doesn’t need additives to taste better.

It’s a tall story It’s absurd, it doesn’t make sense. In life, nothing is

sustainable apart from death. Life is about change,

variation, evolution i.e. unsustainability. However, it’s a

concept that politicians have made fashionable by

justifying their actions – whatever they are – in the mid-

term, as if this guarantees of the goodness of their

actions. They’ve all jumped on the bandwagon of

‘political correctness’. It’s very sad.

Sustainability means weighing up both sides of

the story (the objectives and the unwanted side-

effects) so as to make a more balanced

decision.

Hope

Or existence evolves very

distant from

sustainability.

Contradictory feelings (in fashion?)

Awareness, solidarity, commitment to

others, respect, efficient productivity,

profitability... It‟s a vaccuous concept if you think about it

seriously. If you look at what those who

shelter under the canopy of „sustainability‟

have achieved, you might as well forget it …

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Above all we have to take responsibility for our actions and stop

waiting for the powerful and greedy to change their attitude. We have

to be aware that, as consumers, we have responsibility and power. We

vote several times each day for the system we want and support, each

time we consume. We have to leave the “but what can we do?”

attitude to one side and decide that we‟re going to do the right thing,

as far as we can with what we have around us. We should aim for

responsible consumption and treating others as we would like to be

treated (not just human beings but all forms of life).

Generate enthusiasm around

this concept, make it sort out,

motivating and fun.

I think it will be costly – as

well as a requiring sacrifice

and hard work – I also

believe we’ll achieve it. Communicate the term

‘sustainability’ in a way

which is clear and

understandable to

everyone.

Declared commitment (demagogic and hypercritical) gives way to real commitment.

Adopting guaranteed and effective rules regarding this subject.

Identification of sustainability as a social right of each individual through education from schooldays.

Showing that current societies (both established and

emerging) not just Eskimos or bushmen) can be sustainable. For example, by de-industrialisation.

The curious thing is

that in order to

enhance that feeling,

we need to feel it It’s

as simple as that,

feeling it, and not

talking about it so

much. When we feel

something in our

hearts, actions come

immediately and

naturally.

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Hope-filled

Optimist

Rational

Intellectual

Ironic Sceptic

Guilt-laden Pessimist

• Full of energy, feels strong

and capable!

• Acts, takes part in everything

related to the subject, has a

point of view

• Doesn’t give up – ‘every little

grain of sand counts’

• Seeks to reunite self with the

planet and all its beings

• Maximum ‘respect’ – all

human beings have the same

rights!

Happiness, love,

pride, anxiety

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• Wants to return balance to the

world, ‘everything that’s taken

out should be put back in’

• Trusts science 100%, applies

his/her concepts

• Defends exhaustive control

(Governments? Companies?

Markets?...)

• Rational, suppresses emotions

• Trusts human justice, that people

will achieve what they propose

• Change is knowledge and

technology.

Surprise and pride

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• Doesn’t believe in the

concept, suspects constant

manipulation

• Laughs at the idea / distances

self from it

• Has little confidence in

control, objectivity and

people. Nothing is trustworthy

• Plays with words, enjoys

playing

• ‘Sits on the fence’ but can be

an active communicator of

‘his/her truth’.

• Humour, hostility, disgust.

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• Afraid and overwhelmed by

the concept and the future

they envisage

• Accepts his fatal destiny

• Feels guilty about the

damage and errors

committed

• Saving humankind isn’t

possible / ‘it’s the cancer of

the planet’.

Sadness, fear,

guilt, shame.

Sustainability is impossible, an entelechy. It’s

something which will never be achieved as

people go full-speed ahead in the opposite

direction. If only I were wrong!

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Remember, we’ll say time and time again: Take your time, breathe deeply, Take a good look around you, calmly Enjoy the air, the sun and the rain. Listen to others, to ‘all’ the others Listen to the planet! See how it understands you. Thank you, let’s move on!