Working together will overcome populism.
Unless you have been living under a rock for the past year, you will know that politics has taken on a defiantly populist flavour of late. The recipe seems to involve finding hairline cracks in society and making them wider through a combination of fear and uncertainty. The problem with wide cracks is that we can all fall into them if someone strong is not holding our hand.
The issue is not just about primal, tribal thinking. We are also having to fight the ‘people are tired of so-called experts’ trend. Suppression of knowledge and learned thinking is the last thing society needs in a time of ‘fake news’ and ‘alternative facts’, and there is no intellectual or moral argument to support this view. It is beyond uncomfortable; it is a concerning sign of division winning over unity.
So what do we do about it? The challenge for the environment and sustainability profession – one which thrives on learning and enables the right decisions and outcomes in everything it does – is a steep one. I think what we need to do is confidently offer professional counter arguments to policies, regulations and political shifts that we know are wrong – and we will have a stronger voice if we do that in partnership with other professions.
Over the past few months, I have been meeting chief executives of various professional bodies to explore how IEMA can work with accountants, architects, marketers, health and safety experts and others to create a loud, coherent and unwavering expert voice that kills the belief that the voice of the expert is dead. We know it is alive and well, and the world has never needed us more than it does now.
My thinking is that when we combine the 70,100 years, which equates to 204.7 million hours, of experience that IEMA’s membership has with the experience and expertise of other professional body’s memberships, we will create a powerful force that trumps populist politics.
Those discussions are still in their early stages, but the signs are good. Interest in taking back the agenda appeals to professionals everywhere it seems, which is reassuring. We need to make sure whatever the sound of these aggregated voices, they remain passionate yet professional. That is our strength. That is the power of the professional.
So, where the world is seeing too much division, we seek unity – in thinking, of voice and striving for the right outcomes. Stay with us to ensure you are part of this, and ensure someone strong is there to hold your hand.
