Use Your Initiative

Sign at Stanley Mill, King's Stanley near Stroud. A Grade 1 Listed building and a venue for the Stroudwater Textile Festival.

I have a choice of initiatives for you today. Firstly it's National Learn at Work Day. Part of Adult Learners Week (17-23 May - yay they know how long a week is for once!), this year's theme is Sustainable Workplaces. The above link has plenty of ideas for you to update your skills under the sub-themes of The Environment, Work/Life Balance and Learning Through Life.

Secondly, it's International Day for Biological Diversity. This year's theme is Biodiversity & Agriculture. You may think the two don't go hand in hand, but if sustainable agricultural practices are adopted, we have a chance to feed the world without impacting our natural heritage.

I feel strongly about both initiatives. I was quite scared of being bored at work, so always sought out work in different departments and projects. At appraisal time I always felt it had been a good year if I'd learnt something new. I studied Agricultural & Environmental Science at university, a relatively new type of course at the time. Back then it was thought the two subjects (and groups of people) were poles apart, but I like to think courses such as mine have gone some way to help develop our thinking on sustainable farming practices in general and organic farming in particular.

Comments

  1. Anonymous22 May 2008 at 15:24

    I hope you'll allow me to add to your comments on Adult Learners’ Week that the Esperanto Association of Britain offers a free Esperanto postal course. Suitable for those who would like a quick taster, this course gives an overview of the language in twelve bite-sized portions. Once you have received the first lesson, simply return your answers with an SAE. Your tutor will reply with guidance and the next lesson. All you pay is postage! Tel: 0845 230 1887 or write to:
    Esperanto Education
    Esperanto House
    Station Road
    Barlaston
    Stoke-on-Trent
    ST12 9DE

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rose22 May 2008 at 16:48

    Being a "farm girl" in the heart of corn and soybean country, I can tell you that most local farmers have adopted many conservation practices in the last 20 years to preserve the rich soil we have. I'm hoping to post something in about a week about this topic.

    By the way, congratulations on your Fork and Monkey Award! Your blog is always informative and entertaining.

    ReplyDelete
  3. VP25 May 2008 at 14:32

    Bill - thanks for the info. My father in law learnt Esperanto a few decades ago.

    Rose - I'm glad to hear it and I'll llok out for your article. Sounds like it'll be interesting. And thanks for the congrats and kind words too :)

    ReplyDelete

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