Is there anyone who believes that humanity can go on polluting the planet to such an extent that we are causing the climate to change without it having rather nasty consequences somewhere along the line?

Or that we can increase the rate at which we are using oil and gas every year for ever without it running out?

Or that the thousands of species which we are causing to become extinct are, somehow, inessential components in the web of life and therefore don’t matter?

Or that the persistent poisonous chemicals that are accumulating in human body fat and are passed on to babies in their mother’s milk are doing no damage?

But if we all know that the way we are running our affairs is wrong and is grossly unsustainable, why do we continue to behave this way? There are two schools of thought. One is that our greed is responsible – we are never content and always want more.
The other school, the one to which Feasta belongs, thinks that many of the world’s problems are mainly the product of an economic system which needs to grow continually if it is not to collapse into a serious depression. It would be great if this was so because an economic system can be changed fairly quickly whereas, if human nature is the cause, there’s not a lot we can do. The world’s religions have been trying unsuccessfully to change us for years.

Feasta has assembled a toolkit – a pack of books, readings, videos and audio recordings - to enable a group as small as four or five friends or as big as 15-18 students to explore over a period of ten weeks whether human systems rather than human greed are primarily responsible for the acute problems we are facing and, if so, what can be done about it.

We imagine the explorers meeting once a week in one of their homes or some other convenient place having read the week’s readings over the previous few days. They will drink a little wine, discuss the readings and watch the videos together, and see if they can answer some of the week’s questions from the study guide, which was designed to focus their thoughts. They will then choose the readings for the next session, say their goodbyes, and disappear into the night.

The toolkit was developed to allow people to explore what sustainability really means and how it can be achieved. Over the ten weeks, the course covers sustainability indicators, how money is put into circulation, whether economic growth is good, the world’s energy prospects, climate change, the security of our food supplies, the global/local balance, new forms of democracy, the use of common resources like land, the air and the seas, and, finally what a truly sustainable world might be like.

The toolkit was tried out in eight places around the country earlier this year. These included the Cultivate Centre where fifteen people took part. Feedback was very positive, although some people said that they found it difficult to read all the material suggested for each week’s theme. These readings come on a CD included in the kit so that whoever is co-ordinating a group can print out as many copies as required.

We found that the best discussions were in weeks when a film or a recording of a Feasta lecture was shown before the discussion started so, in this autumn’s version of the kit, we have included one for most weeks. The CD itself costs €50 – we only charge so that we can keep the material in it up to date – and groups can buy the books and DVDs when they need them if they don’t have them already. Ring Feasta on 01 – 405 3615 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for more details.