Driven by a sense of purpose, Simonne Wood is chair of Sustainable Dunedin City.  Simonne has worked in fair trade, in international relations, in an ethical property company, and now Otago Polytechnic – all “organisations looking to change the world in a positive way”.
Talking points
A sense of it being possible to change things
Sustainable language has been co-opted by the elite
Collective impact, a sense that we can all take responsibility for small things
The big challenge is how to do values at scale
You can make a difference, or at least you have a right to try
Sustainable: Trying to live a life without waste and I think waste is what really upsets me, and that’s not waste in the narrow sense of rubbish but rather about people, resources and nature just being wasted. We’re trying to move to a sense of regeneration, interacting together.Â
Superpower: I’m an efficient hippie! Being someone who has fairly non-mainstream opinions and maybe quite idolising views about creating a better world, but someone who executes change in an un-hippie like, effective and efficient way.
Activist:I’m an activist in the sense that I strongly believe in our personal responsibility to take action, for me that mostly means doing things in a non-confrontational way. I believe that most people would like to do the right thing if they knew more about it, so instead of being an angry activist I work to educate people about the issue.
Motivation: The sense of not letting things go to waste as well as knowing that there is an intrinsic value in every person and the natural world that shouldn’t be spoilt and wasted.
Challenges: I would like to get more involved in climate change, water quality and the reduction of waste in the Dunedin City area.
Advice: Sign up to the SDC (Sustainable Dunedin City) newsletter and get involved with the events within the community.