Well-known environmentalist and former district and county councillor Edward Acland calls for a worldwide radical shift of attitude

Last May The Westmorland Gazette published a Podium piece describing the formation of a new Kendal-based group called Open Space.

We meet about once a month with no agenda and the doors are open to anyone who wants to come, to talk about current concerns, whether they be local or global.

We discuss possible ways of overcoming such concerns. Much emphasis is put on carefully listening to each other’s point of view, without getting heated or defensive. We can hear people with opposing points of view without falling out with each other. We have realised there won’t be peace in the room unless there is peace in each of us as individuals.

The following scenario has arisen from discussion within the Open Space group and represents the collective position of those attending our gatherings. Some people may find the following comments extreme, but it’s how we feel, and now, we know, how others are feeling too.

Our species lives in increasingly dangerous times. For example, military build-up and climate change threaten our ultimate survival unless substantially checked and controlled.

A run-away world-wide nuclear weapons exchange, together with a run-away global climate collapse, will bring life, as we know it, to an abrupt end.

To avoid reaching such a tipping point an urgent reappraisal of how we model and conduct our affairs should be rapidly initiated, in all countries, world-wide, hopefully and ideally via a restored United Nations.

The most important part in any major shift in attitude is to recognise that humankind needs to move towards being a single cooperative family, rather than troubled, rival, ‘tribal’ factions.

A world-wide recognition of such a need should be followed up by rapidly dismantling weapons of warfare, especially illegal weapons of mass destruction, and replacing same with dialogue, diplomacy and friendly cooperation of dispute resolution mechanisms between all countries of the world.

Furthermore, living within the limits of planet Earth’s ability to support us all must lead to a new doctrine approach, based on working in harmony with the resources of the biosphere, and following nature’s leadership. without upsetting its delicate balance. We must do so in ways which understand that we are part of the interconnected web of life and not separate from it.

The above scenario relates to the primary need to recognise that an 'intelligent' species, in this case, homo sapiens, only has one chance of securing a long-term evolutionary survival strategy.

To neglect such a call would be the ultimate folly and abuse the possibly unique privilege of being allowed to evolve to the point we have currently reached. Such a challenge serves as the final test, wherever offered, in the universe. Let us make us possibly the first, of our type, to crack it!

One possible way of cooperating between nations of the world might be by following the behaviour of bees.

A colony of bees demonstrates a remarkable system of unity, where all individuals contribute to the well-being of the whole unit, producing a state of calm and harmony.

Perhaps we could all follow their lead and treat the whole of Planet Earth as a hive, which, let’s face it, is our one and only home!

Humankind can work together as a single cooperative unit for the protection of all of us.

There are signs of this togetherness happening in Kendal, and other parts of the world through events involving cooperation and compromise, including those at a party-political level.

At a recent Open Space meeting, we had ten participants. We invite more people to join us to help develop positive and uplifting dialogue. Contact Rosie Whiting for more detail (rosienaish@gmail.com)