The other side of the story

So what happens when you move 30 people’s lives from one continent to another? How do they settle in? Who do they meet? What do they experience together and on their own? You see, this outpost is not just about sustainability and the projects we do, but also about how we fare in a new setting. We’ve been here for two months now and so far new friendships and romances have been formed. We have explored and discovered. We’ve gone from being residents at the YWCA, testing the boundaries of our friendship and privacy, to renting swanky apartments in downtown high-rises.

I decided to ask my lovely classmates to tell me the highlights of their stay so far and apparently Team 12 has taken a liking of the fair city of Vancouver. Vancouverites are very friendly people and each of them has a story to tell. They chat on the bus and in the streets and aren’t afraid of giving compliments. If they like your hair they tell you so. This is something we plan on taking with us back home.


Vancouver has a big Asian population and the Kaospilots are definitely enjoying one of the many benefits this multi-cultural society has to offer, namely food. Sushi has fast become one of our favorites and every week we discover a new place that sells yummy sushi. But we are not just eating healthy and fresh sushi all the time. No, there are temptations everywhere. On Denman Street there is a little shop that only sells cupcakes, you can buy delicious caramelized apples at the Chocolate Factory on Robson Street and at Hamburger Mary’s on Davie Street you can get the best blueberry milkshake around. If you order a large one you could be sitting there for hours enjoying it because portions in this continent are quite bigger than what we are used to.






To burn off all those calories Team 12 hits the slopes. Whistler, Grouse Mountain and Cypress Hill have all been visited by Kaospilots either skiing or snowboarding. Ski sports are not the only thing we’ve been experimenting with; dodgeball, ice hockey and Tae kwon do are next on the list.


Right now spring is on it’s way. Proof of that are the beautiful Cherry Blossoms. The whole city is pink. The Cherry Blossoms are not the only pink you will see in the city. Davie Street, which is known as the gay street in Vancouver, has taken pink to another level. Pink bus stops and pink public trash bins make the street one of the most colorful ones in the city.

Now you’ve gotten a little peek into our life outside the projects. It’s a good life.

The Queen is here!!!

At least in our eyes. Karin Barett from KP Århus is here visiting to get a glimps of how we're doing. Velkommen til Karin.

Working in a dynamic project

The last week was somewhat of a rollercoaster for the One Day group. We have spent a lot of time in the last few weeks defining our task. The more freedom you have in a project the more time you need to decide in what direction you want the project to go. So to get some guidance we sat down with Peter McCleod who is a good friend of the Kaospilots. He had a lot of good input for our project. We discussed what is needed for public or social change to occur. Peter gaves us four ways in which those changes are initiated:
1. The Carrot – creating incentives for people to do something.
2. The Stick – creating disincentives for people to stop doing something
3. The Sermon – the lecture/dishing out shame/the entice - informing people on the situation
These three actions are the most common to initiate public change, but there is also a fourth, which Peter feels is the most effective.
4. The speedometer – showing people the effect of their actions. Creates empowerment when people are directly informed on what consequences their actions have.

The session with Peter was a very good one and many of us in the group started seeing the project in a new way. We will definitely take his input and make use of it in our project. This was not the only big thing that happened this week. We also had a workshop. We had an idea development workshop about how we can create incentives to become more sustainable in our everyday lives and what we can do to become more green in Vancouver. We invited Vancouverites to the workshop to get the local view and find out what they want for their city's future. We got a lot of new and exciting ideas from the participants that will most likely find their way into our project. So stay tuned for more news from the One Day group who is one big step closer to defining their project.

Sustainble buzz?

I ventured to the Epic Fair (http://www.epicvancouver.com) this weekend.

Quoting from their website:
"EPIC is a new kind of exhibition celebrating leading companies who care about the consumer. The community. The planet. And they're making great products and offering exceptional services that don't compromise style or function."

The entire fair hall is filled with different initiatives, all explaining their sustainable approach differently. Here is a list of the different angles:

Organic
Bio-degradable
Non-toxic
Renewable
Green
Carbon-neutral
Clean
Vintage
Recycled
Future-friendly
Natural
Environmentally responsible
Ethical
Transformed
Conserved
Botanically
Smart

What is the meaning behind all this buzz?

Change agency – what initiates behavioural change?

Awareness often comes before action.
Because knowing doesn’t seem to be the criteria for doing.
See, most people know that cars pollute, still the alternative of not driving just isn't a considered option. There are so many action-barriers, elements that make changing your current behaviour & choose an alternative, too difficult.

Examples are:
• It is inconvenient (Too far away, heavy etc.)
• It is unpleasant (Downgrading an experience. F.x some of the cheaper low-flow shower head turns washing your hair into a nightmare)
• Expensive
• Tasteless
• Un-trendy
• Difficult to use

So, what motivates the search for these alternatives and if they are present, when do we implement them in our lives? Do we follow heroes and trends?
In the search for the tipping point, one theory introduces the Hundredth Monkey Effect:

“The "Hundredth Monkey Effect" is the name for a supposed phenomenon in which a particular learned behaviour spread instantaneously from one group of animals, once a critical number was reached, to all related animals in the region or perhaps throughout the world. Largely due to popularisation of this story, the "Hundredth Monkey Effect" phenomenon is now thought by some to occur in human populations with respect to ideas and beliefs in general even though the original story has been discredited”
Source: Wikipedia

So, now all we need is 100 monkeys leading the way 




Change is also a perspective. Some see it as a new door they are opening in their lives, whereas others see it as a door closed behind them.
The motivation to change ones behaviour isn't about being robbed of options and opportunity. It shouldn't be about an authority telling us what we should do – or what we can’t do no more. Rather, it is about how we can turn the alternatives into something that we'd say YES to.

Furthermore change is connected to your self image. The way we perceive and think about ourselves as individuals, reflect our values. Attached to these values are thoughts on how one should act.
When your everyday actions (e.g. buying take-away coffee in a paper cup) are in strong contrast with the way you perceive yourself, changing your actions doesn’t seem that difficult. Because the alternative of not changing them will make you feel like a hypocrite. You become a walking paradox. This is where awareness and consciousness around ones actions do lead to change.

Still, is all change welcome, and should every un-sustainable practice in our everyday lives be abolished? In the quest to become The Sustainable Being - when are we giving up too much?
As an example we surround ourselves with products that has been produced all over the world, shipped all over the world – and often in very environmentally exhausting manners – but their presence also represent new opportunity, new connections.

As of now, we have just begun exploring this vast world of Sustainability and social change.

Kaospilot energetic outlet.

Creativity and hard work can make anyone go mad. Sometimes we all have to let out some steam. Here we have Malou (actress #1), Kathrine (actress #1) & Elisabeth (audio & film) giving it a go. Enjoy!

The One Day project on cultural sustainability

The One Day project can be seen in different perspectives. On one hand it deals with ecology and tips around how each individual can be in on saving the planet thru small steps. What catched our teams attention though was more the societal change aspect of the project. What does it take for a community of people to start taking these small steps? What's needed? Where's the tipping point? Societal change can emerge slowly or over night. What mechanisms makes it happen? What patterns in society can and should be changed?

These questions and more (they keep coming at us) made us see our role in the project and the project itself as one concerning cultural sustainability sparkled with ecology.