Sustainable Schools Network - Katie Norman

08/18/21 • 42 min

Educating our children and making them aware of how to live their lives sustainably is no mean feat. In this episode, I speak with Katie Norman about her business called the Sustainable Schools Network (SSN).
Katie is the chief steward for the organisation that has been in operation for almost two years. The SSN philosophy on Education for Sustainability (EfS) is to engage in an ongoing reciprocal dialogue that explores playful possibilities in our collective educational spaces. As much as this is an inward, and at times, personal journey for us all, it is very much about creating a shared path and a shared vision that engages curiosity, critical thinking and creative expression. Although they started this organisation with a focus on sustainability, the more they lived the experience of sustainability, the more they realised that sustainability is about learning.

In this interview, we discuss how:

the Sustainable Schools Network came about
sustainability requires a whole-of-school approach that involves everyone from the kids to the teachers, school staff and parents
the journal that they produce quarterly to educate students on a wide array of subjects around sustainability is becoming a great success and a useful tool
this program is available to all schools throughout Australia
children can influence change, not just for themselves, but for the people around them, including their parents
schools that engage with this program and educate children about sustainability has a ripple effect, with 9,100 schools throughout Australia using it, shaping our future leaders
change starts with us as individuals
sustainability wasn't included in curriculum for student teachers as part of their core subjects.

I really enjoyed this interview with Katie and am sure that you will too.
Links
Sustainable Schools Network
Facebook
Linkedin

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In this interview, we discuss how:

the Sustainable Schools Network came about
sustainability requires a whole-of-school approach that involves everyone from the kids to the teachers, school staff and parents
the journal that they produce quarterly to educate students on a wide array of subjects around sustainability is becoming a great success and a useful tool
this program is available to all schools throughout Australia
children can influence change, not just for themselves, but for the people around them, including their parents
schools that engage with this program and educate children about sustainability has a ripple effect, with 9,100 schools throughout Australia using it, shaping our future leaders
change starts with us as individuals
sustainability wasn't included in curriculum for student teachers as part of their core subjects.

I really enjoyed this interview with Katie and am sure that you will too.
Links
Sustainable Schools Network
Facebook
Linkedin

Previous Episode

Living Well, Dying Well - with Hermione Elliot

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In this week’s episode I am excited to welcome guest presenter Andia Cally. Together, we interview Hermione Elliot, who shares her wisdom and wealth of experience and knowledge on a subject that eventually impacts us all—death. Based in the UK, Hermione is an End of Life Doula and the Director of Living Well, Dying Well, an organisation that pioneered (and continues to offer) the only certified end of life training in the UK, since 2009.

It was a rich and very rewarding conversation. Hermione’s compassion, experience and insight around the importance of preparing for, and creating, a positive end-of-life experience was humbling.

We touched on many topics, including that:

the role of a End of Life Doula is to create a calm, comforting, safe and loving space to help the dying person and their family let go
death itself is brief and much of their work is around supporting the preparation for death and what comes after
for the dying it is often important to tie up loose ends and let go of attachments to things and people
every death is unique and often reflects how a person has lived
end of life can be harder for the ones being left behind than the one dying
we can rehearse for death by regularly ‘stopping to listen to the whispering of [our] soul’ rather than waiting for deathbed regrets
death is a human, rather than a medical event, which is why hospitals and institutions don’t do death well
the end of life is treated differently in various cultures
death and permanent brain injury can affect people at any age, so it’s worth creating an advanced health care directive a.s.a.p
Covid-19 has made people more aware of the importance of having loved ones with you as you die
every person that does their training is doing a public service as they normalise and expand the conversation around death
including children in the conversations and experiences of death will help them to face the inevitable in the future
healing rituals, like washing the body of a loved one, or bringing them home for a few days can be very healing.

Death is a challenging topic for many of us, including me. I hope that like me, you find this interview enriching and feel reassured that it is possible to die well.

Bio of Hermione Elliot

After a career in nursing, midwifery, palliative care, training, health coaching and mentorship, Hermione brought all her interests and experience together to develop the End of Life Doula Training in 2009. She established Living Well, Dying Well as a not-for-profit organisation to further this work. She is passionate about engaging with people from all walks of life, encouraging them to become more informed and confident about being with death and dying – recognising it not as something to be feared, but as a natural and normal part of life.

Links to training and information

Home | Living Well Dying Well – End of Life Doula Training (lwdwtraining.uk)

Home End of Life Doula UK – Death Doula in the community (eol-doula.uk)

Next Episode

Living a rich and purposeful life EP1

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Are you ready to to live a rich and purposeful life?

In this episode of the podcast, I sit down with Stephen Armytage to discuss his upcoming program, Living a Rich and Purposeful Life. Stephen has spent the last 15 years developing a universal approach to helping people live a fulfilling and thriving life. During the conversation, Stephen shares his personal journey of hitting rock bottom and how it led him to reinvent his life. He also discusses how COVID-19 has presented an opportunity for deep reflection and how his program can help people move into a new phase of their lives. Living a Rich and Purposeful Life is a four-night retreat, aimed at those who feel disconnected and are asking questions like "Is this all life's about?"

The program is designed to assist people in living a rich and purposeful life, which for Stephen, is a thriving life. We also delve into the importance of taking purposeful steps towards the kind of life you want to live, and how his program can help people do just that.

The episode concludes with Stephen sharing a snippet of how his program came about and how he has evolved over the years. We delve deep in a three part interview that will provide you with an insight into how he got to where he is now.

If you're feeling a little off-color or disconnected, then this episode is a must-listen. It's a great opportunity to learn about how you can start living a more purposeful and fulfilling life. For more information about the upcoming retreat visit. https://larpl.com.au/

Beaming Green - Sustainable Schools Network - Katie Norman

Transcript

Jeremy Melder 00:00

Hello, my name is Jeremy Melder, and I'm the presenter from Beaming Green. Before we start, I would like to acknowledge that this podcast is being held on the traditional lands of the Bundjalung people and paying our respects to elders both past, present and emerging. The Beaming Green podcast is a podcast that will help you take out some of the stress and confusion about how to live your life more sustainably. We do this by introducing you to inspiri