Towards climate neutrality and circularity-together

Climate change can be a quite vague and scary topic to grasp but we have to talk about it and with everyone, at work, at college and at our houses! So I attended The Week, where I learned how to do it in a provoking and collaborative way. This article goes deeper into these learnings for reaching climate neutrality and sustainability. Did you know that sustainable agriculture could potentially take enough carbon to offset the annual emissions of the entire global transportation sector? Author: Dilara Kutay

During my first week as an intern at Impact Hub Vienna, I had the opportunity to attend “The Week”, an event held at Impact Hub’s sister organization, the Climate Lab, in Vienna. It was a unique approach to raising awareness and motivating people to take action through informative and visually engaging videos. The event encouraged interaction with the audience, prompting discussions after the videos. Those discussions with people who have different academic/job backgrounds did also help me gain new perspectives about climate neutrality and sustainability. During three evenings, three main areas were thoroughly explained: consumption, food systems and production and energy. This text delves into the first two.

“The Week” is designed to be an U-shaped journey, in the sense that it brings you “down” to then deliver hope. It has shown all the incredible things we can accomplish when we work together as humans but also how destructive we can be for the environment.
 

 

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Una publicación compartida de The Week (@theweek.ooo)

Consumption and climate neutrality

First, we dove into the stories that we mostly hear through advertising. These stories try to convince us that more of everything is the best way. This narrative has influenced people to adopt an identity based on possessions and to define themselves by what each one owns. But as the Association for Consumer Research in the UK explains, “one’s identity should be a result of doing, being and having”. That is, not just having. 

“The Week” also spoke about human connection, which is far more valuable than the fleeting excitement of having more and new things, but it seems we’re forgetting about it. On social media, in series and newspapers, we get influenced by people who constantly promote their lifestyles just to make money, without contributing any positive impacts to society. According to the American Psychological Association (APA) there is a link between consumerism and increased levels of anxiety. The constant drive to acquire more possessions can create stress and dissatisfaction, as individuals often equate material wealth with personal success and happiness, leading to a cycle that exacerbates anxiety. Over the decades, the story of loneliness has also intensified, as people struggle to find genuine connections in a consumer-driven world​.

My Story 

In my life I have seen many people, specially influencers, promoting lifestyles just to make money, without contributing any positive impacts to society. The products or services being promoted don’t truly improve people’s lives; they only provide a temporary thrill. However, I believe that letting go of the need to keep up with certain lifestyles and the fear of missing out can bring peace of mind. 

Human connection is far more valuable than the fleeting excitement of getting new things. This is why anxiety and depression have reached alarming levels—we are being pushed to live in a way that goes against our natural instincts. The story of loneliness has intensified over the decades, accompanied by rising anxiety and depression. I have become much more aware of my consumption habits, focusing on what truly improves my life while considering the environmental impact and production processes involved. 

Food systems and their impact on sustainability

During “The Week” viewing, I was shocked to see that the existing food systems that only aim to produce more and more every day, do this by exploiting both the animals and the land. The overuse of excessive antibiotics and the practice of breeding only one type of animal or plant are leading to the emergence of epidemics and a decrease in biodiversity.

The Week features founding Farmer, John Arbuckle of Singing Pastures farm. He explains our current situation well: “Our modern food system is broken. Factory farms create problems for human health, animal welfare, and the environment. Equally important, millions of acres of soil across the country are rapidly degrading because of excess tillage, pesticides, and synthetic fertilizers. Degraded soil leads to diminished nutrition and the loss of important trace minerals in our food supply.” In short, we have become disconnected from nature and lost our understanding of how our food reaches our tables.

 

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Una publicación compartida de Singing Pastures (@singingpastures)

But what solution can be out there?

A plausible one comes from the Biomimicry concept, which is all about taking inspiration from nature to solve human problems. Applied to food systems, it means creating sustainable and efficient ways to produce and manage food by mimicking how nature works. This approach can help us achieve ecological balance and even regenerate natural environments. It’s a cool way to align our practices with how ecosystems naturally function, making everything more harmonious and sustainable. 

So, why isn’t it happening?

The question of profit might be the biggest discouragement for farmers to do more sustainable, regenerative farming. However, in the long term it is possible to create much bigger positive externalities by healing animals and the plants.

I was taken aback to recognise that everything is interconnected. Each element in our existing systems influence others through cause and effect. It also gave me hope that if we can once start to leave the old habits it can create a chain reaction for the better.  

Happier people share and collaborate within their communities, coming together to form connections rather than remaining isolated. This overall even helps the environment. “The Week” also lift me up by showing examples of repair cafes, tool and toy libraries. By just simply opening up a space for people to connect and to just “BE”; supports the community massively. Rather than living a life in a linear system of dig-make-trash, a circular one plays a big role for the change.

In 2024, dealing with climate change means we all need to take action together and integrate our lives accordingly. Being it either cutting down our carbon footprint by making eco-friendly lifestyle changes or joining protests for sustainable policies. The actions we take today and the radical shift in our understanding of climate change will add up to create a bigger positive impact and crucial steps for the future generations.

We need to pledge to be part of the solution and encourage others to join us in building a new story for humanity that supports our planet and our future.