Sustainable change is all about doing things today, so people can live better tomorrow. And by people, we mean children: my children, your children! Sustainable Change is often termed sustainable development. But these are two words in conflict: development infers growth or expansion, sustainable implies smaller scale and inbuilt harmony – a healthier balance – for this planet we live on.

Confronting the climate crisis is a major leap for most people; they have other things to think about … like food on the table and electricity bills. I started to reflect on this when a passenger went to throw a plastic bottle out of the car. “No, don’t do that,” I said. “I can use it again at home.” “OK, if that’s what you want,” came the blank reply ...

This was a question I selected from a two-page screed put out by the college i've enjoyed working with over the past 20 years, in Mumbai: Kapila Khandvala College of Education (KKCE). The online document advertises KKCE's International Webinar on the subject - Exploring the Transformative Potential of Education: The Choices We Make. The Webinar is set for March 2nd and 3rd.

Our Kenyan coast is a tropical paradise stained by the scourge of plastics, brought in by tide and discarded by tourists: a local reflection of a global epidemic. This plastic menace has grown over recent decades to become the environmental hazard we see today. It reflects an alarming increase in single-use plastics - bottles, containers, cups and straws - with little planning for collection and recycling ....

Like a punch-drunk parrot, Trump ducks and weaves, hurling insults back at his assailants. Yet he remains there on his perch. No one person, no one incident, or collection of incidents - now stacked up to the rafters - able to deliver the final blow. Quite a paradox then, that in the end he could be toppled by a microscopic virus: that Covid-19, this tiny speck of life, could finally knock him out for the count!

From March 1st, 2020, Luxembourg became the first country to make all public transport free. This was done to ease congestion caused by commuters travelling within the tiny principality, as well as to and from neighbouring countries. The reaction from many was: “Wow! Really? What a brilliant idea! Why can’t larger countries do the same? It makes so much sense.”

On either side of the Atlantic there is an air of despondency amongst those who support true democracy and the pillars it stands on: equality, freedom of speech, rule by majority, minority rights … and so forth. The political centre and left-of-centre cannot comprehend the mess they have got themselves into and the gloom stretches as far as Australia ....