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| Amanda Woodman-Hardy (third from left) with Cabot Institute volunteers |
In conversation with Amanda Woodman-Hardy, Communications and Engagement Officer at the Cabot Institute for the Environment.
What
is your role at Cabot Institute?
Hi there!
I'm responsible for all our communications and running our biggest
events and public engagement activities. I’m in a job share with the lovely and wonderful Adele Hulin.
How long have you been part of Cabot?
I’ve
been part of Cabot since the very beginning, 10 years ago! It’s
been my baby for sure. I’ve watched the Institute grow, learn valuable lessons,
and mature into a beautiful thing.
I’d
say we’re at the young adult stage now but thankfully past the awkward teenage
stage where we were learning who we were and what our purpose was.
Now
we are moving forward with our awesome tagline - Many Minds, one mission –
protecting our environment and identifying ways of living better with our
changing planet.
What is your background?
I grew up by
the sea on the Devon/Cornwall border in a working-class family. I spent a lot of time outdoors
because my home was depressingly cold, mouldy, and noisy as it was under a
constant state of DIY. My parents took out a mortgage on a very cheap derelict
bungalow as it meant I could be in the catchment for a good school...and they
do like a challenge! It took them 20 years of hard graft, with their own
hands, to finish the home! I spent a lot of my free time on the beach, in or on the
sea, cycling around, hiking across Dartmoor, roaming around my local fields
with the neighbours’ kids or digging up mud and looking at insects in our surprisingly
ok garden. My connection to nature and the environment started at a young age,
it was the place I could be happy and completely free, and I was always in awe
of how beautiful and powerful it was.
I was the
first in my family to go to university. My dad had dropped out of school at 14
to work as a mechanic and my mum got a diploma from college but no
one had ever gone onto university before, so it was all new to me! I studied
Geography at the University of Plymouth, living at home and working two jobs to
help pay my way. It was hard but I had the time of my life! I moved to Bristol
to find work after graduating. I got a temp job as an Admin Assistant at the
Soil Association. I stayed there for 5 years, moving to Business Development
and then into Policy and Standards as Administrator and PA.
This gave me a good background in the organisation of multiple working groups
and boards under several different environmental themes. It helped me
understand the importance and value of bringing in different voices of people who lived
and worked the subject areas, who had hands-on expertise, not necessarily lots
of qualifications.
Towards the
end of my time at the Soil Association, I decided I wanted to study part-time
for a Masters in Sustainable Environmental Management at the University of
Plymouth. I would be a mature student! I started a second job in a coffee shop to help me pay the fees and
associated costs of doing a masters and then a year later I was made redundant
from the Soil Association just as I was about to start my thesis. The
redundancy was a complete shock but unfortunately the whole organisation had to
be downsized due to the financial crash. I finished up my Masters and then did
some temping in Payroll at UWE. I moved to a local job
as a Library Assistant for the next 18 months and did some voluntary blogging
for an environmental consultancy on the side to keep my CV relevant to the
environmental sector.
I then got
quite ill. After 9 months of severe weight loss, vomiting and absolute agony and an emergency admission to hospital I was told I
needed to have my gall bladder removed. Two weeks into my convalescing after
the surgery, I saw a job at the Cabot Institute and thought it was too good to
be true. It certainly looked like my dream job and I had all the skills
required. To my delight I got an interview and I attended with bandages still
on my tummy and my suit trousers smarting around my surgery wounds. I managed
somehow to smile through the pain, and I got the job as PA and Administrator! After I settled into the role, I found there was a need for more and more communications and engagement of what Cabot academics were finding out through their research and so I naturally fell into the role of doing communications and engagement. It's an absolute privilege working at the University of Bristol as they encourage training and learning so I've been able to do lots of courses and learn on the job for my current role. I also work across many departments so I learn lots from the super talented people I collaborate with too.
Why did you want to join the team?
I wanted to
join Cabot because of what it was standing for. It was like a beacon of light
in so many ways. I am so passionate about the research areas and working here
means I can support people who are positively changing the world. It has been an
absolute privilege to be a part of and I thank my lucky stars that I get to
spend every day with such an incredible bunch of people on the biggest issues
of our time.
What do you think is the biggest environmental challenge facing us
today?
Without a
doubt – justice.
Justice for
all.
There will be
no saving the planet or indeed a safe planet unless there is justice for
everyone. There are so many valuable voices that need to be heard that my white
privileged colleagues and I need to amplify, and bring into our research
agenda because ultimately, those people, those communities, are resilient AF.
They have been living at the sharp edge forever, dealing with many horrors and
traumas, yet still somehow living. Living in their environment and within their
means. They know how to solve the environmental problems we have.
We just must
listen to them; ensure they are brought fully into decision making and act
quickly. We have to ensure everything we (Cabot does) is fair and just. I'd also like to see more people of colour hired by the University, especially those working on environmental research.
There is A
LOT of work to be done but I’m up for the challenge!
What is your favourite part of your job?
That’s a
tricky one as I love so much about it. I love working with my colleagues and
the people I meet on the job – they inspire me every day and I’ve learned so
much from them. I love the public
engagement aspects of my job, where I get to communicate the work of our
researchers and put it into Plain English or support work with an artist so
that academics complex work can be understood by everyone.
When you see
people approaching an artwork for example, or they come and talk to you about
some research they’ve read about, their eyes go wide and their mouths drop open
in awe and wonder, and something clicks in their brain that makes them more
engaged with environmental issues.
I love that
side of the role. That’s why I do this. The more I can communicate what our
academics do, the more people will see that there can be a positive outcome for
our planet if we all work together.
What are you most looking forward to
over the next 10 years of Cabot?
I can’t
actually believe I’ve done ten years already; it’s been an incredible decade! Just this year we’ve
had some really cool stuff come out in the run-up to COP26 including Cabot
Conversations, and the Annual
Lecture in October 2021. A few months ago we had a collaboration between
Cabot academics, Rising Arts
Agency and the incredible artist Emma Blake Morsi which lead
to the creation of artwork which was displayed on billboards
across the City of Bristol to highlight environmental issues in the run up to
COP26.
As for what’s
coming up next year, watch this space! Plenty of events, public engagement activities and fingers crossed more collaborations with creatives around the city.
Looking
further ahead, I would hope that we have really nailed the justice side of our
work, fully embedded equity and inclusion into everything we do and help to
positively influence policymakers and government on just how crucial this
aspect of environmentalism is. I would also love to see us known the world over
for our excellent quality research and expertise. I think we’re getting there,
but there’s much more work to be done!
Come and join us,
we’ll do it together!
Find out more about Amanda here.
You can follow her on Twitter @Enviro_Mand and find out more about her
background on LinkedIn.