One Island One Earth - Lelum Sar Augh Ta Naogh
8 videos • 3 views • by Kris Krüg - Future Proof Creatives Small island communities such as Galiano are unique: we lack the data and resources of larger municipalities, but we have strong social bonds that make us resilient. This makes it extremely difficult to calculate a meaningful ecological footprint with existing methodologies. With help from the BCIT EcoCity Centre and the Galiano community, we are working to develop a framework for collecting local, relevant data, to build an ecological footprint for Galiano from the ground up. To calculate the biocapacity of the Island, we will be receiving help from the Global Footprint Network. Looking at these two pieces together, we will be able to find out how many people Galiano Island can theoretically support (given the per capita footprint of a Galiano resident), and how many ‘Islands’ we would require to support the needs of the community. Having an awareness of what our ecological footprint is, and what components of our lifestyles contribute most to our footprint (e.g., driving, eating meat etc.) is a useful tool. It can help us to effectively reduce our impact on the Island and the Earth, and it can help guide initiatives and policy by highlighting areas that require the most attention. But while metrics such as the ecological footprint can influence individual lifestyle choices and the initiatives that move forward in a community, both are still dependent on the intrinsic values and attitudes of community members towards sustainability. In 2012, two German researchers – Dr. Beate Ratter & Dr. Jan Petzold – gave these intrinsic values that guide behaviour a name: the ecological fingerprint. They were successfully able to calculate the ecological footprint & fingerprint of Helgoland, a small island in Germany. The Galiano Conservancy hopes to repeat their success here on Galiano. To capture the ecological fingerprint of Galiano Island, we will be running surveys and conducting interviews to gather stories that will shape community member profiles. It is the ecological fingerprint of an island that stimulates action, and that drives a community to fight for policy that instigates lasting change. Our goal is that other small islands in the Salish Sea and beyond will be able to use the ecological footprint & fingerprint framework developed for Galiano Island so we can share results, learn from one another, and come together to drive sustainable action!