“We are What We Do”
We are what we do.
It’s a great saying.
But it’s also the name of an amazing movement.
I can do no better than quote what they say about themselves..
“We are What we Do - Who are we?
We’re not another charity. We’re not an institution. We Are What We Do is a movement. Our aim is to inspire people to use their everyday actions to change the world. Whoever they are. And wherever they are. And that includes you.
We live by the maxim small actions X lots of people = big change. It’s not rocket science but it does work!
We started back in 2004 by bringing together 100 simple, everyday actions that can improve our environment, our health, and our communities and make our planet and the people on it much happier. We believe that if enough of us do these actions we will start to make an impact on some of the biggest problems we are all facing. And in joining together in this way, we will create a new community of like-minded “do-ers”; people united by a belief in the possibility of change and our individual responsibility in making it happen alongside that of governments, corporations and other institutions and networks.
We began by putting the 100 actions into books - Change the World for a Fiver and Change the World 9 to 5 - but the books quickly burst their bindings and so far have sold nearly one million copies worldwide. Today we are books, bags, campaigns, education programmes, community development, public speaking, newsletters, more than one million actions pledged on this website, partnerships with a huge range of different organisations and a growing on-line community to which we hope to shortly add you!”
The website is here
Take a look for lots and lots of little things which, if we all do them, will make a difference
Something to share?
If you have a tool or a resource you would like to share, this is the place to do it!
It can be something that you’ve created yourself, or something of someone else’s that you use.
Keep it short, and, if appropriate, tell us if you are an affiliate etc
Copenhagen Consensus - Results
These are the results of the Copenhagen Consensus for 2008, as I promised.
1 Micronutrient supplements for children (vitamin A and zinc) Malnutrition
2 The Doha development agenda Trade
3 Micronutrient fortification (iron and salt iodization) Malnutrition
4 Expanded immunization coverage for children Diseases
5 Biofortification Malnutrition
6 Deworming and other nutrition programs at school Malnutrition & Education
7 Lowering the price of schooling Education
8 Increase and improve girls’ schooling Women
9 Community-based nutrition promotion Malnutrition
10 Provide support for women’s reproductive role Women
11 Heart attack acute management Diseases
12 Malaria prevention and treatment Diseases
13 Tuberculosis case finding and treatment Diseases
14 R&D in low-carbon energy technologies Global Warming
15 Bio-sand filters for household water treatment Water
16 Rural water supply Water
17 Conditional cash transfers Education
18 Peace-keeping in post-conflict situations Conflicts
19 HIV combination prevention Diseases
20 Total sanitation campaign Water
21 Improving surgical capacity at district hospital level Diseases
22 Microfinance Women
23 Improved stove intervention Air Pollution
24 Large, multipurpose dam in Africa Water
25 Inspection and maintenance of diesel vehicles Air Pollution
26 Low sulfur diesel for urban road vehicles Air Pollution
27 Diesel vehicle particulate control technology Air Pollution
28 Tobacco tax Diseases
29 R&D and mitigation Global Warming
30 Mitigation only Global Warming
There is lively discussion in The Times here and here
For myself, I think that I would like to have seen attention given to empowering people to change their own lives, rather than imposing on them what someone else thinks they should want.
