Erin Remblance
on Redefining Hope
“Try not to focus on hope. Instead, focus on the work that needs doing and the love you have for those humans or the other-than-human-life who will be most impacted.”
Erin Remblance believes hope brings us back to the individual, in a world that has become far too much about the ego.
If we shift our perspectives and look at the work that needs to be done, whether we have hope or not, will determine our actions - or inactions. If we just act, “independently of our feelings, we will have a far greater impact.”
That’s what Erin does through her journalistic materials for illuminem and at (re)Biz, her online workshop & emergent-creation-lab designed with Ra James to reconnect business to Earth. A community for all those who are ready to build a regenerative and post-growth world of beauty and thriving life for humans and more-than-humans.
She thinks we are not here “to save this civilization”, but to transform it into something far less harmful. We do not need to “save our way of life”, but to protect the planet, and its inhabitants, from our current way of life. Because hearing that “the planet will be fine, it’s humans we need to worry about” can be exhausting and boring. A limited perspective that is completely dismissive of “all the millions of species we are exposing to a mass extinction event.”
Erin does not think in terms of optimistic or pessimistic, as she found a more relevant approach: not wanting her actions to be contingent on how she feels about the situation, because it’s not about her. It’s about “doing everything in our power to bring about the changes we need, regardless of whether we have hope, or not, whether we will succeed, or not.”
Stick to her piece of advice and... just act! Because it is the right thing to do, and because “the fate of so much of life on earth depends upon what we do right now.” Most importantly, act out of love for all the life this planet sustains.
Read Erin Remblance’s answers for this edition of #inspirators and understand the systemic issues at play while we are trying to “build the world that comes next”!
Thank you, Erin, for being a (re)Biz(er)!
#INSPIRATORS QUESTIONNAIRE
Name: Erin Remblance
Company / Institution: I am the co-founder of (re)Biz, a 31-day online workshop & emergent-creation-lab designed to reconnect business to Earth. It is for those who are ready to build a (re)generative & post-growth world of beauty, community and thriving life for humans and more-than-humans.
Title: Co-Founder
Website: www.rebiz.io
LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-remblance/
Country of origin: Australia
Country you currently live in: Australia
Your personal definition of Sustainability: Sustainability is ensuring that each generation leaves the planet in at least as good a state as they found it. That would be being good ancestors (and, sadly, we are a long way off that right now).
Main business challenge you face: Ensuring people know that (re)Biz is unlike any other business leadership workshop currently available. We cover topics that many other sustainability courses would see as outside of their remit, but we know are an integral part of any personal, organizational and systemic changes we need to make if we are to live in harmony with nature once more.
Main driver that keeps you going: Fear of what the future holds unless we make some significant changes.
The trait you are most proud of in yourself: I am true to what I feel is important, even if it isn’t popular.
The trait you most value in others: Honesty and courage.
Passions & little things that bring you joy: My family, good food, chance encounters, conversations that ignite my soul, reading something that changes how I see the world, the chance to have a nap uninterrupted, anything to do with nature, especially seeing beautiful views and young animals. I could go on, there is so much that brings me joy.
The #inspirators who determined you to take the sustainability path: My friend, MJ. Without her influence, I would be living a very different life, but I’m so happy she shook me out of my slumber.
A hint or starting point for companies or professionals that are taking the first steps in the sustainability journey: It is important to understand the systemic issues at play and try to “build the world that comes next” with your sustainability journey, as opposed to trying to extend this consumerist way of life, which ultimately means causing more harm.
Most used and abused clichés in sustainability that bother you: That we “need to save this civilization”.
What we really need to do is to transform this civilization into something far less harmful. We do not need to save our way of life - we need to protect the planet, and its inhabitants, from our current way of life.
I also struggle with “the planet will be fine, it’s humans we need to worry about”, because that is completely dismissive of all the millions of species we are exposing to a mass extinction event. Yes, the Earth as a rock that spins around the sun can survive any climate, but there are millions of species who will not survive a ‘Hothouse Earth’ and we owe it to them to try and avoid such a scenario.
An honest piece of advice for young people who lose hope: Try not to focus on hope.
Instead, focus on the work that needs doing and the love you have for those humans or the other-than-human-life who will be most impacted.
Hope brings us back to the individual, in a society that has already become far too much about the individual. In this way, whether we have hope - or not - will determine if we act for the planet - or not. If we just act, independently of our feelings, we will have a far greater impact.
Books that had a major impact on you:
Jason Hickel’s books - Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World; The Divide
Bright Green Lies by Derrick Jensen, Lierre Keith and Max Wilbert.
Must-reads for any Sustainability professional: The three books above.
Movies / Documentaries you would watch all over again: Not because they bring me joy (they don’t, they can be harrowing), but because they are important and have changed the way I see and act in the world:
The True Cost
Dominion
Breaking Boundaries: The Science of our Planet
The Economics of Happiness
Seaspiracy
Blogs / Websites / Podcasts etc. you visit frequently: Twitter (I have an alert when my favourite people/accounts post, so I spend a bit of time looking at that feed).
I enjoy The Great Simplification podcast with Nate Hagens.
I’m also on LinkedIn a lot (I’m guilty of being a prolific poster there).
Music that makes you (and your heart) sing: Anything I know the words to and can sing along to!
Places you travelled to that left a mark on you: Vietnam, what a special place full of beautiful people. Being Australian, it was eye-opening for me to see such happiness with far less material wealth.
Global Sustainability Voices you recommend us to follow:
Jason Hickel
Timothée Parrique
Jennifer Wilkins
Zoe Cohen
Julia Steinberger
Aaron Vansintjan
Giorgos Kallis
Dr Mike Joy
Robert Christie (The Hopeful Realist)
There are so many amazing people to follow, but that’s a good start!
Trends in Sustainability we should keep an eye on:
Degrowth (although it’s not a trend, rather one of our best chances of avoiding ecological collapse and a humanitarian catastrophe).
For anyone not familiar with the term it means a planned and democratic reduction in the material and energy throughout of wealthy nations while simultaneously improving the wellbeing of people in those nations. It is about small being beautiful, and wealthy nations leaving space for developing nations to improve their living standards, but it’s also recognition that our minds and imaginations have been captured by growthism and it’s limiting the solutions we seek.
It is about breaking free of growth altogether and recognizing that there is a vast tapestry of alternative ways we could be living on the planet, many of which are more ecologically sound than the way in which the dominant culture lives on the planet today.
Best places for business networking (online or offline): LinkedIn and our (re)Biz community.
Events we should attend: I haven’t attended an event in the longest time, I don’t have any recommendations I’m afraid!
Associations, business clubs, tribes you belong to – and why: At the moment, I am only an active member of a couple of Signal groups. The other members of the groups are just as passionate as I am about the changes we need to see and are very honest with themselves about how big those changes are. They are a huge source of solidarity when it’s helpful for me to remember that I’m not alone, and I learn so much from this group of friends virtually every day.
Sustainable Development courses / trainings / certifications that really teach us how to have an impact: I’m biased but would have to say the course I have co-created with Ra James, (re)Biz. It’s unlike anything else I have come across. It covers the full breadth of the personal, organizational, systemic and cultural changes we need to address our ecological crises in small, easy to digest modules, with access to a huge breadth of resources for those who want to delve further.
It is also a community of like-minded people, and it’s wonderful being a part of a community that cares passionately about the future we are creating and want to help support each other in that process.
Reasons to feel optimistic about our future in 2030: I try not to think in terms of optimistic or pessimistic. I don’t want my actions to be contingent on how I feel about the situation – it’s not about me. It’s about doing everything in our power to bring about the changes we need, regardless of whether we have hope, or not, whether we will succeed, or not.
We should act because it is the right thing to do, and because the fate of so much of life on earth depends upon what we do right now. We should act out of love for the planet and all the life it sustains.
Regenerative Leadership qualities much needed today: I think a willingness to acknowledge the science and the implication of that science is really important. Being able to do this will require resilience, tenacity, courage, curiosity, and a commitment to be honest with ourselves and others.
Quote that inspires you: I have three, if you’ll indulge me:
“We don’t have a right to ask whether we’re going to succeed or not. The only question we have a right to ask is what’s the right thing to do? What does this earth require of us if we want to continue to live on it?”
(Wendell Berry)
“Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.”
(The Talmud)
“No matter how weary, your heart is still beating. Listen to it. Whatever work it is calling you to do - for democracy, for human rights, for animals and the earth, for the girls and the grasses—it is sacred work. Because life itself now hangs in the balance. When the call of your heart becomes the work of your hands, that may be what tips the balance back toward life. So never give up. Whatever you love, it is under assault. But love is a verb. May that love call us to action.”
(Bright Green Lies, Jensen, Keith and Wilbert)
Your own quote that will inspire us:
