d'Arcy Lunn Visits Dulwich International High School Suzhou
On the 21st of May 2021, we were delighted to receive a visit from d’Arcy Lunn, the Dulwich sustainability consultant, keynote speaker, and founder of Teaspoons of Change. d’Arcy has been travelling around all the Dulwich schools for the last few years, but this was his first, long overdue visit to Dulwich International High School Suzhou, which the COVID-19 epidemic had delayed.
Sustainability and global citizenship are part of the DNA of our school. Our goal is to encourage our school community to make informed choices, take inspired action, and positively impact the world. d'Arcy has his own organisation to promote the concept of teaspoons of change. You can find out more about this at the teaspoons of change website: https://teaspoonsofchange.org/.
Teaspoons of change are the small personal choices, decisions, and actions we can make that positively impact people and the planet. Throughout the interview, d’Arcy was very clear that this process isn’t prescriptive or judgemental. It isn’t about telling people what to do. It’s about encouraging them to be mindful of their own actions so that they can change them. This can be as simple as remembering to turn off lights when you leave a room or bringing a reusable coffee mug to work. The essence of d’Arcy’s message is that small changes can make a massive difference if millions of people apply them.
d'Arcy is a confident speaker who clearly has a great depth of environmental knowledge. He is passionate about sustainability and has plenty of actionable ideas. One of the critical points d’Arcy drove across during the interview was how understanding sustainable development goals isn’t just a nice thing for the planet. It can also have a direct impact on your ability to get into a good university or get a good job:
“I like to use the terms global literacy and competency. We have literacy in language and numeracy, but one of the critical competencies in the world today is global literacy. If students do very well in their exams but don’t have global literacy, they will get lost very quickly. If they don’t get lost, their efficacy and ability to make a positive change in the future will be diminished. We need global literacy and competency to live worldwise, graduate worldwise, and get places at the best universities in the world. Global literacy will guide us to make a positive change when we get there.”
d’Arcy believes that top universities such as Harvard, Oxford, and Cambridge aren’t just looking for intelligent students. They look for students who show care and global awareness who are already doing exciting things with a drive and passion. d’Arcy referred to a report from the World Economic Forum that explained that the most important thing would be global citizenship and global literacy in schools in the future. d’Arcy thinks that intentionality is essential. Once you begin to focus more on sustainability and make good choices and good decisions, these will positively impact every area of our lives. As more and more people do this, the positive environmental impact will grow exponentially. After the interview, d’Arcy kindly agreed to record a short inspirational video message for our readers!
