Short Stories

Saturday the 24th July 2021 Avoiding emissions, reducing our footprint… – life today is really a lot about mindfulness. Mindfulness? asks one of ours volunteers who comes in on a Friday morning to water the trees she looks after in the Botanical Garden. What is it I should be mindful of? The birds in the forest, for instance. Listen to this nightingale over there singing its song. Remember its song, make it your own. This, claims 84-year-old German professor Gernot Böhme*, is to find art in ecology. Böhme is virtually unknown in Portugal to date, his many books not available …

Saturday 17th July 2021 At the moment, several climate lawsuits dealing with the pollution of the atmosphere by emissions of CO2 and other gases are either pending before the European Court of Justice, and other national European courts (the Netherlands, Germany, Austria etc.), or have already been won. The plaintiffs, mostly young people active in the global www.fridaysforfuture.org climate justice movement, see their very future threatened by climate change. Oil production companies and refineries like the American ExxonMobil (BP, Shell, Galp etc.) and banks such as the English Standard Chartered which continue to finance the construction of coal-fired power plants …

Step One: Learn to cook vegetarian food… So here I am sitting at the breakfast table, set with bread, butter, cheese, an egg – just the way we’re used to in a hotel – the cup of coffee, the orange juice, the granola mix. I’m thinking back to the previous evening and trying to put myself in the place of a meat eater told that as from the next day there would be no more meat for them, no more sausages. For ethical reasons, say, or because the climate is out of kilter. Everything is at stake, I’m told. If …

You’d better believe it. This one is not about counting humans, their houses or their cars – but about gulls, their nests and their chicks: the first census of urban gulls has only just begun. This citizen science initiative organised by the Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds (SPEA), is asking all residents of Portugal to register online the gulls, nests and chicks to be found in their respective towns. All this information will contribute to the census of the yellow-legged gull. The main goal is an estimate of the number of breeding pairs and the distribution of its …

The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, PIK for short, is a scientific institution whose renown extends far beyond country borders. Currently working with 356 international scientists from countries from all over the world, the Institute uses an interdisciplinary approach to look for realistic solutions – even advising governments – and publishes information on current developments in scientific journals. Four research departments are working on what is known as the Earth System Analysis (oceans, atmosphere, biosphere), on climate resilience (the consequences of climate change and adaptation), transformation paths (climate risks and development) and complexity research (machine learning, non-linear methods and …

Saturday 10th July 2021 Do we know the extension of the protective layer we call the atmosphere that envelops planet Earth? Yes? No? I’d be happy to tell you. It is ten kilometres. This pouch of air, which extends up a mere ten kilometres above the earth, provides the living space for all life forms on this planet. For you, for me and for all other living beings too. We breathe in and we breathe out, in and out, and in and out once more. And when we get into a car and start the engine – wait a minute …

Saturday 3rd July 2021 Really? And the first step is taken in which direction exactly? These days I only watch weather forecasts where meteorologists will actually shed light on the background to our chaotic weather events and explain how things are connected. You see, this is not only about WHAT happens WHEN, HOW and to WHOM, but also about WHY we are seeing variations in temperature of 15 degrees Celsius, for example. It’s about cause and effect. And that only works if you have the desire to learn and to pass on what you’ve learned. Think of a car accident. …

Saturday 26th June 2021 One of the things we do here at ECO123 is to come up with ideas for tomorrow’s democracy. My Via-Algarviana represents in fact another project to protect the climate. To start with, walking is climate neutral. This now is a challenge to see whether we can join forces to achieve something positive that people will still talk about in 100 years’ time. This is about our nature and whether we are able to give her something good of ourselves – instead of always just taking from her. It’s a special skill, to inspire, sensitise and motivate …

Saturday 19th June 2021 Today the question is not which job I go for. It’s about a single principle which is a part of every job: to end the burning of fossil-fuels, while at the same time using cleanly produced energy. With a farmer it’s about the use of the tractor, the combine harvester, of tools powered by petrol or diesel fuel. This is also about whether I treat animals with respect; if I transition my farm to organic agriculture or continue to poison nature with glyphosate. This is also about natural fertilisation and so much more. Piloting a plane …

Saturday, 12th June 2021 Portugal wasn’t handed democracy on a plate. And the way we treat the planet is the way we treat other people. We take what we can get. Somehow, humans are by their very nature exploiters and thieves, staring enviously at the things others have and they don’t. Only when we look into the mirror and question and challenge ourselves are we given the unique opportunity to reflect. Are we really the person we think we are? If you want to be treated well, why do you treat other people, animals and nature badly? This is a …