In a 2007 speech to the Royal Geographical Society, Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr Wangari Muta Maathai shared a powerful parable about a hummingbird that perilously fights against a fire that threatens its forest home. The tale of the hummingbird traces its origins to the Quechuan people of South America and has been well documented in book format as a powerful metaphor for rising up to challenges despite how overwhelming they may seem. In many ways the hummingbird speaks largely to Dr Wangari’s experiences with environmental activism in Kenya. Dr Wangari faced an uphill battle, as she stood her ground against a government that was hinged on encroaching protected forest reserves in the country. She was denounced as a ‘madwoman’ and deemed a nobody despite her sound call for environmental protection. Still, like the hummingbird Dr Wangari’s resilience and small efforts cascaded into a watershed movement that stalled all government plans and ensured protection for natural reserves in Kenya.
Many of us are here because we are drawn in by the same vision - a world without poverty and inequality. We know that this vision is achievable but we also recognize just how deeply rooted and complex problems can be. To help guide our work at the Chapter level we developed the Impact Framework as a series of broad thematic areas that could help us focus our efforts. With broad impact areas it can still be tricky to determine what initiatives to carry out at your Chapters that can help move the needle. First, it is important to understand that your initiatives whether big or small do make a difference. Like the hummingbird metaphor it is ultimately collective efforts and active participation from all members of our community that will help bring us closer to eradicating the root causes of poverty and inequality. To determine what initiatives and projects you’d like to kick off as a Chapter it helps to think through the participate, elevate and initiate goals that can bring you closer to realizing your goals.
At the first level, participate, invites you to put forward time and resources towards a topic that matters to your Chapter. The topic can fall under any of the Impact Framework areas and can include ideas like setting up a panel or workshops that discuss the SDGs. Or hosting a panel of Engineers who are working in the sustainability and social impact space. This level encompasses hosting member learning sessions, and engaging in conversations that bring people together to speak to an important topic. Additionally, participating in EWB aligned events and programs including the Canada-Africa Innovation Fellowship, National Conference and advocacy campaigns falls under this level of engagement.
The second level, elevate, involves deep commitment and involvement of time to support an initiative and understand its impact. This could involve participating or setting up design challenges and hack-a-thons at your Chapter that involve an impact target like Energy, Climate and Environment. It could also involve setting up a design team at your Chapter that volunteers its skills and supports the incredible work our partner ventures are engaged in on the African continent.
Finally the third level, initiate, recognizes the deep commitment Chapters have to particular causes and encourages them to focus their efforts on developing a new idea, or work on a project that can be scaled on the regional, national or international level. The EWB UBC initiative Smoke Free Homes is an example of an scaleable initiative whose impact will address the Energy, Climate and Environment target.
We often get asked what constitutes impact and believe that using the framework of participate, elevate and initiate could help guide the level of engagement your Chapter can take part in. We also welcome any suggestions from the broader Chapter community and would love to hear the kind of initiatives you are having success with at your Chapters. Help us build a database and share your best practices by sending an email to bernicemwaura@ewb.ca