Earth Is Our Business by Polly Higgins

Author:Polly Higgins
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shepheard-Walwyn

COMMUNITY RESILIENCE

A typical example of market-led planning is to be found on the outskirts of towns which have enormous infrastructure problems for anyone with a penchant for walking to the shops, work and their local pub. Luxury eco-apartments are feted for their green credentials, however their sustainability record is severely marred by the fact that a car is a necessary prerequisite to living in their comfortable and non-toxic home. It is ironic that, in fact, their carbon footprint will be exponentially increased due to their need to drive everywhere. They also create a social imbalance because only those who can afford them have access to them. The social fabric of society breaks down where the community becomes ever more fractured. To place people in housing developments, no matter how ecological they are, without basic amenities nearby produces isolation and disintegration. Those who are living on more basic means are often more resilient than those with more economic cushioning: in lower income neighbourhoods, by dint of close proximity, people have a greater sense of their neighbours than those who are surrounded by high brick walls and gated communities. Children at public and private schools often have no means of interacting with local children because of complex travel and school arrangements. Their parents, who have paid enormous sums for the right education, do not recognise the disconnect that such schooling can sometimes engender. Schoolchildren who travel far from their homes have a less keen sense of their immediate surroundings and have less of a network embedded with other children in the neighbourhood. Their social circle can often, like their parents, be very restricted by their travel arrangements. When problems arise, the basic fabric of the immediate community is not there.

BANFF AND BUCHAN COLLEGE

Shell is working with Banff and Buchan College in Aberdeenshire as a sponsor for a unique technicians’ training programme based on an HNC in Mechatronics. It was set up to attract young people, which has become increasingly difficult in recent years, into the oil industry. As a result, the industry has experienced a skills shortage when their experienced staff retire. David Cook, Technology Sector Manager, heads up the programme at the College. One year full-time training results in a HNC qualification, two years and it becomes an HND engineering course which combines electronic, mechanical and computer technology with first-hand experience. The course aims to develop knowledge of mechatronics, and thereby skilling up a new generation with access to a wide range of engineering opportunities in the oil industry.

Shell’s contribution and knowledge of what employers want is vital to the development and improvement of this course. They have also built a testing platform at the back, to replicate what it would be like to work out at sea. Situated in Peterhead where there is lots of rain and wind, the students can get used to wearing thermal overalls and dealing with adverse weather conditions. What the Mechatronics course offers is first-hand experience that other courses don’t provide. Shell are looking to

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