Environmentalist Jonathan Porritt – Inspiring People series

Ilana Cope and Reha Soni consider the experience of listening to well-known environmentalist Jonathon Porritt.

On 9th May we were lucky enough to hear Jonathon Porritt (an environmentalist, writer and green party advocate) speak about the environment and what he does to protect it. The structured yet natural presentation contained three sections in which Porritt spoke about three key topics to do with environmentalism: radicalism, responsibility and reconnecting.

He began by speaking about how he has saved forests in Sheffield and the process that this entails. Next, he described what our responsibility is to the environment and the significance of a meat-based diet to the natural world. He then spoke about the importance of finding the time and the space to reconnect with nature in the busy 21st century world that we live in.

This presentation was followed by a question and answer session, in which Porritt answered questions from the audience. These questions ranged from the Green Party movement to electoral reform, and even the link between the feminist movement and the environmentalist movement. The evening was fascinating as it offered a perspective on a subject of increasing global relevance, outside the confines of the school curriculum.