Module 6 - Mapping the opportunities

Critical Collective Mapping

The Orangotango collective is concerned with the critical collective mapping of social spaces. Starting from the awareness that most land and city maps are instruments of power that represent, divide, and depict spaces according to dominant viewpoints about which places are worth knowing or where it is worth going, collective mapping is a way of representing space from the perspective of what matters to the people inhabiting it. Alternative maps allow us to make certain, even marginalized places visible or to display the distribution of certain things in space (e.g., NGOs and institutions of social welfare). By knowing a territory differently, new ways of acting can be engendered. For example, a map for solidarity economy initiatives may encourage people to buy more regionally or fairly produced products.

Collective Mapping: How To?

Collective mapping serves to map a particular social space or habitat in a new way so it becomes known and is seen differently. The process requires collective debate and invokes swarm knowledge. A central part of collective mapping is agreeing what goes on the map or not.
 
Orangotango proposes following a number of steps in the process:

• Preparation: Prepare a case with workshop materials (flipcharts, pens, colorful cards, scissors, adhesive strips, glue, photos/flyers/icons/stickers, etc.) and an actual geographical map of the area to be remapped for reference.
• Gathering: Gather collectively in a place suitable for a material-intensive workshop.
• Workshop Opening: Open the workshop with organizational information and a statement about the aim and purpose of the workshop.
• Primary Decisions: Encourage the group to make some important decisions: Who is mapping where, what, how, why and for whom? and to determine the criteria for selecting the places that go on the map.
• Map Creation: The group works on the collective map, or in small groups: discussion, research, drawing, painting, pinning, etc.
• Physical Tour: Optional exploration tour of the city. Group enters new findings in the map.
• Presentation: Group(s) present the (different) map(s) in the plenary.
• Conclusion: Publishing of different maps by each group separately or creation of one joint map.

Mapping Opportunities for Sustainable Career and Training Choices

The economy is a key lever for achieving the ecological turnaround. Companies and employers have a major impact on society through the products they sell or the services they offer, but also through the social relationships they promote within and outside the company. Companies that hold up values of fair and equal payment, promote sustainable workplaces or reduced working hours, have a direct (positive) impact on the lives of their employees, and sometimes even on society.

However, some official definitions of green jobs are quite narrow and consider only jobs that directly contribute to a political or social solution to the climate crisis. The reality today is that the sectors with the highest recruitment rates for green skills are the ones considered especially harmful to the climate (e.g. the energy sector, manufacturing industry). This shows that the bandwidth for green jobs is enormous: it ranges from jobs that serve to combat global warming to jobs that are intended to curb the climate-damaging effects of otherwise energy-intensive and material-intensive industries. Between these poles are jobs with companies that work comparably more sustainably than others within the same sector. There are also jobs in the fields of education, social work, or with NGOs that strive for a just society and a world worth living in.

In our effort to map the opportunities for young people on the lookout for green jobs or training opportunities, we opt for a broader definition. We suggest, thus, that these green job and training opportunities may go on our map:

• Green job opportunities that are directly concerned with solving the climate crisis.
• Green job opportunities with ecologically and socially conscious employers.
• Green job opportunities in the service of social change and a just world.
• Education and training facilities for green skills.

Other Relevant Services for Youth

The map should also contain locations where youth can get information on sustainable jobs and training opportunities:

• Career counseling or job centers that provide advice on green jobs and training opportunities.
• Job fairs that provide information about green jobs and sustainable companies in the area.
• Experts (individuals, counselors, representatives of trade unions, etc.) on legal issues concerning labor rights and environmental laws.

Examples of Companies and Initiatives in Europe

Here are a few examples of companies and initiatives in Europe with high ecological and/or social standards. They were chosen randomly from a vast collection:

• Ratisbona: A property developer with branches in Germany, Spain, and Portugal that follows the cradle-to-cradle principle. The materials used are binding carbon instead of causing emissions, are non-toxic, and recyclable.
  https://ratisbona.com/
• WeFair: WeFair is Austria's largest sustainability fair, assembling the latest fashion trends, brand new innovations, and ingenious gadgets – all fair, ecological, and sustainable.
  https://wefair.at/
• Recicleta: Recicleta is a service provider working with persons from vulnerable groups who collect paper, PET, and aluminum from businesses and buildings for recycling in Bucharest.
  https://recicleta.ro/
• Βιος Coop: The Greek farming cooperative focuses on the procurement of mostly local and domestic products in order to contribute to the development of agricultural production and to the needs and wellbeing of its members in terms of social justice.
  http://www.bioscoop.gr/
• Amazon: Even though the international multi is far from being a flagship company for social and ecological sustainability, we have decided to list it as an example of a company that was pushed to become greener by their staff. In 2018, almost 9,000 employees successfully pressured their boss to use 100% green energy and to become climate neutral by 2040.
• Sebastian Fuchs Bad und Heizung: The company emphasizes the use of environmentally friendly heating systems. It uses environmentally friendly building materials and recycles waste. For the installation of every heating system, a tree is planted.
  https://www.sanitaerfuchs.de/
• Peipsi Center for Transboundary Cooperation: The Estonian NGO Peipsi was established in 1994 in the field of global and environmental education, sustainable local resources management, and border research topics, focusing on the Estonian-Russian border region, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia.
  https://ctc.ee/peipsi-ctc
• Neue Regensburger Hütte: The first mountain hut in the Tyrolean Alps that serves exclusively vegetarian food.
  https://www.regensburgerhuette.at/

The following checklist can help assess the sustainability of an employer:

• Energy efficiency:
  • Use of renewable energy sources (solar, wind, geothermal)
  • Measures to reduce energy consumption (e.g., energy-efficient appliances, building technology)
• Conservation of resources:
  • Efficient use and reuse of materials
  • Avoiding waste and promoting recycling
• Climate protection:
  • Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
  • Compensating unavoidable emissions through climate protection projects
• Water management:
  • Reduction in water consumption
  • Use of rainwater or greywater
• Environmental protection:
  • Minimisation of environmental pollution (air, water, soil)
  • Protecting biodiversity and preserving natural habitats
• Product design:
  • Development of environmentally friendly and durable products
  • Use of environmentally friendly materials

• Working conditions:
  • Fair wages and salaries
  • Safe and healthy working conditions
• Equality and inclusion:
  • Promoting diversity and equal opportunities in the workplace
  • Measures to prevent discrimination
• Labour rights:
  • Compliance with international labour standards (International Labour Organisation standards)
  • Respect for freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining
• Community involvement:
  • Supporting local communities and social projects
  • Promoting education and social development
• Transparency and ethical business practices:
  • Disclosure of business practices and corporate governance
  • Combating corruption and unethical behaviour
• Supply chain:
  • Ensuring fair working conditions and ecological standards in the supply chain
  • Cooperation with suppliers who assume social and ecological responsibility

• Sustainable business strategy:
  • Integration of sustainability into the corporate strategy
  • Long-term goals for ecological and social sustainability
• Stakeholder involvement:
  • Involving customers, employees, investors, and communities in sustainability initiatives
  • Regular dialog and collaboration with stakeholders
• Sustainability reporting:
  • Regular and transparent reporting on sustainability targets and performance
  • Use of recognised sustainability standards such as GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) or SASB (Sustainability Accounting Standards Board)

Module 6 addressed the link between social and environmental sustainability and career planning for young people. It presented a tool that youth workers can use with young people to map their living areas for opportunities of sustainable careers and training. The tool of ‘critical collective mapping’ involves several steps and aims at localising and visualising green jobs, career advice centres and job fairs in the area. A checklist was presented to evaluate employers or training centres according to environmental and social criteria, including energy efficiency, fair working conditions, transparency and a sustainable business strategy.