Blog 2
Watching all the Better Lives lectures has really opened my eyes about one thing. If I don’t start making the changes in my own practice, then I can’t complain about the rest of the world. This unit opened my eyes on how bad the situations are around us. As bad as it sounds, I thought we are getting somewhere with environmental, sustainable and ethical factors just because I like to keep up to date about it, and I see a lot of “success stories” and new emerging “ethical/ sustainable brands” however, when I took a step back I realised that that is a tiny percentage of the world (close to 1%).
I’m very motivated to learn more about making the world a better place, in any way possible and as a PR Student I will aim to work with, and/or encourage companies that I meet along the way to be as ethical and sustainable as possible. I currently intern for a company and they’re very strong on only working with companies who give back to our planet, the workers and people who need it the most. I really like this mindset, however I also feel like companies who don’t do these things shouldn’t be left out, they should be brought into the circle and influenced so they can try and do better. It’s very easy for large companies to turn a blind eye to problems, especially if it means more money.
I really liked Jekaterina Rogaten talking about a social study where people got to listen to other peoples’ stories and walk in their shoes. I really feel like that is a smart way to get people to understand what one may be going through, as it’s hard to imagine it without the push.
Another thing that I took from the Better Lives lectures is being more cultural. The world is very big and I feel like most of us get sucked into our Western ways. It’s important to learn, to understand and to pay attention to other cultures, histories, religions and people in general. I want to go and travel to learn about different countries, and why they do what they do. This was always my plan, to go after uni and see the world but now I even want to start a project of some sort to incorporate into my travels. This way other people could learn what I learnt if they wanted to and relate to people and places. It feels empowering when you know more than just your own culture ways of living.