The Need for a Great Re-Skilling of Pioneers

When we look at the origins of the problem we see one fundamental cause is the separation of the land from its people. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution people have become increasingly urban based. Surrounded by a man-made environment we can only see man-made solutions i.e. technology.

The Industrial revolution took off with the availability of fossil fuels and our populations grew. Before that the annual crop of wood fuel was the limiting factor on industrial activity. As wood was the major source of fuel.

A big part of the solution is to start a social movement that recruits pioneers to re-skill and move out from towns and cities to rural areas to engage in sustainable livelihoods.

Sustainable food and farming are key areas to focus on if we are serious about reducing our GHG emissions by 80% and reducing our dependency on fossil fuels.

True sustainable livelihoods in food, farming and woodlands are not economic at present. A whole raft of unsustainable regulations and laws dominate the economy and society. So that is why we need to be part of a social movement which can apply its collective resources to the struggles involved. We are talking about setting up a process that can take unskilled people or with the wrong skill set and provide work clothes, shelter, reskill training and an opportunity for a wider self led education that leads to a collective.

If we look at the practicalities of re-ruralisation as a project and start breaking it down we find that it can begin without need of substantial initial resources and assets. Here are some of the main elements:-

 What is Involved

Skills Training/Training Organisation: Rural Skills Trust

Shared Understanding

Shelter/workspaces

Access to land

Earning a living/in kind giving

Access to funds