„When you realize that you can create change, it becomes an addicting process.” – how a young activist became a part of the solution and why education matters so much.

Benjamin Roche, Manager Sustainable Living Project, Faculty of the Built Environment at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

“When I was an environmental and social activist I was against things. At the time, it seemed necessary to create awareness, but it was not deeply satisfying in the long term” - Ben Roche told us when we met him on the Campus of the University of New South Wales in Sydney and tried to imagine this smart young person as a long-haired trouble maker. Today, everything is much more about constructive solutions and serious education. In his job, Ben creates and implements programs that encourage and support young people to think about and develop practical sustainability solutions for everyday life. “Sustainability is the biggest challenge facing young people today and in their lives ahead, but at the same time it is also one of the biggest opportunities. Young people are best placed to seize this opportunity as it involves creative thinking whilst at the same time asking the hard questions and looking at our collective challenges with a fresh perspective. To create programs that stimulate a learning journey in sustainability and then being able to experience the inspiration and action that occurs when young people feel as if they can make a difference gives me deep satisfaction.”
Pushing the Sustainable Living Challenge, a national program that recognises teachers, students and their school communities for researching, designing and taking action towards making sustainable living a reality, is just one focus of Ben’s daily work and the results of these creative students engagement are incredible.

Enjoy reading selected thoughts and statements of our discussion with Benjamin Roche in the quotations below. You may be able to read more about him and the results his competition is bringing to light in our book “MyImpact”.

Benjamin Roche’s selected quotations:
"I used to be a very obvious environmentalist - an activist with long hair. At some point I decided to go a little more undercover and to be a little more strategic - so, I cut my hair short, read and listened a lot, and got into the serious stuff."

"My first actions stemmed from the fact that I was well-informed and interested. This combination become potent when combined with the feeling of invincibility common among young people."

"When you realize that you can create change, it becomes an addicting process. People in this process can even become quite radical."

“The process of change is a learning process that needs to inclusive and accessible to all. Thus, I believe that education is a very powerful and necessary tool and, therefore, this is the focus of our work.”

“When young people are engaged in the challenge of sustainability, in a way that positions it as about innovation, action and reflection rather than depression…the sky is the limit. We need to be very careful about how we engage young people in the pathway towards sustainability.”

“What young people can achieve is immense, real and significant. It is mind blowing to see the projects that are celebrated by the Sustainable Living Challenge, such as last years overall Sustainable Living Champion, who took on the challenge of designing a flat packed Solar Cooking Device for Tsunami regions that was sustainable, affordable, easy to construct and distribute. This is just one example of the potency of unleashing young minds on the real world as a part of their school experience.”

"I believe consumerism today has become a way of manufacturing identity."

“If we want to engage young people in sustainability, we need to start acknowledging that we are social beings! Not only do we need to appeal to their desire for fresh air and clean water, but if not more importantly, we need to appeal to their desire to be cool!”

"I like working with young people because they are still idealistic, they want a deeper meaning and they are willing to act. I want to support not just activists but pro-activists, change agents with constructive solution ideas."

“I am satisfied in two ways. The more superficial satisfaction comes from the joy of implementing projects, going forward and changing people's minds. The deeper satisfaction is the feeling of being a part of something, of being involved in a community of people who care about the bigger picture and then are prepared to take action!"

Some background on Benjamin Roche:
Ben was born and has grown up in a small Australian town and has always been interested in the big world - inside and outside of Australia. Very early he was interested in environment and geography, learning a lot from international experience at a time when sustainability was little known in rural Australia. Ben studied applied geography at the University of New South Wales in Sydney and was driven by the prospect of creating positive change towards sustainability.
After graduation, and a short stint working as a researcher and then a traveller, he joined a publishing company and worked with them to further their community and sustainability focuses. In 2002 he was asked by the University of New South Wales to join their sustainability efforts and develop education programs. In the last years, Ben has been working on ways to engage young people in creating solutions and actions for a sustainable future. This work has been largely based at the University of New South Wales in a variety of units and centres, whilst also providing input and advice to other education institutions. Ben has worked with the United Nations Environment Program in numerous capacities on sustainability education with young people, starting from collaboration on program development and delivery for the South Pacific in the Civil Society Engagement leading to “Tunza” (UNEP Youth Program) Youth Strategy processes.

Some background on the Sustainable Living Project at UNSW:
The Sustainable Living Project at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) is suite of interrelated programs based in FBEOutThere! at the Faculty of the Built Environment at the University of New South Wales. It seeks to engage young people, their teachers and their communities in the innovative learning challenges presented by sustainable living. One of its major components is The Sustainable Living Challenge, an exciting national education for sustainability program which rewards High School students for projects undertaken as a part of their school experience. It runs every year and encourages students to conduct projects that either research issues of sustainability, design sustainable solutions to environmental problems or take action on an issue they are passionate about. The Sustainable Living Challenge also rewards schools that take on the challenge of sustainability within and beyond the school gate.

If you would like to engage with the work of Ben Roche or get to know more about the Sustainable Living Project please visit www.sustainableliving.com.au, or, for more specific opportunities, contact joanna.stefanska@myimpact.ch or wolfgang.hafenmayer@myimpact.ch directly.