（photo by 李佳 Li Jia, from Left: Michael Norton, 绿光青年张如苑, CYCAN代表陈语)
On November 1, at the United Nations Climate Conference (COP26), which opened in Glasgow, UK, Liu Shan, Zhang Ruyuan and Han Weiyi, representatives of the Green Light Year Youth Group who participated in the meeting, had the honor to communicate with Michael Norton, the father of British social innovation, zero distance. Nearly 80 years old, as the founder of the Asian Environmental Innovation Forum (AEIF) in Shenzhen (CCTV interview video of him here), he has always had high hopes for youth participation in sustainable development and has provided various help. In November 2019, he also paid a special visit to the home of Mr. Ni Huan, founder of Green Lightyear, and met with Mr. Ni at Impact Hub Shanghai. The China Enterprise Pavilion organized by Vanke Foundation and Cteam has made this dialogue a reality, and I would like to express my special thanks! The following report comes from Ruyuan Zhang, a graduate student at Imperial College London:
A conversation with Michael Norton
This conversation is hosted by Cteam, CYCAN and Green Light-Year. The conversation brings Mr Michael Norton OBE, Director of the Centre for Innovation Voluntary Action (CIVA) and the 2014 recipient of the UK Charity Award for Outstanding Achievement, to the stage of China Corporate Pavilion in the COP26 in Glasgow. He is an extraordinarily encouraging visionary in social enterprise and an innovator in philanthropy.
(摄影：张如苑，左起：柳珊、韩炜祎）
On the 1st of November, the youth representatives from China, Elena, Shan and Ruyuan had an interview with Mr Norton on his motivationfor voluntary works and his suggestions for the youth who care about or are committed to turning the world into a better place. Mr Norton’s interest in social enterprise began at a relatively young age. After his academic journeyin natural science, he worked as a banker. Back then he was doing very well inhis job, however, he still devoted his free time to the voluntary work. During the conversation, he shared plenty of social innovation stories based on hisown experience, including fundraising, food waste and education inequality. He explained how the ideas have been developed starting from “a little bit of bloody-mindedness”. For instance, he set up a night school for those who cannot speak English, and also he promoted a programme which taught street children in South Asia the concept of banking. “When they start saving, they are thinkingabout the future. “ said Norton.
When we asked about his turning point to start his businessin the social enterprise, he shared a very touching story about how two young girls took an old lady out for a walk. Some of you may think it’s not a big deal, where is the touching point coming from. Bare with me. This old lady hadn’t been outside for 3 years. During these three years, many health professionals and social workers had come to visit her, but no one had ever taken her out. These two girls did it because they truly cared about her. With minimal assistance and some innovations, they created a comfy hand trolley and made the lady’s day.
Food waste-related questions have also been brought upduring the conversation. After introducing the "Ugly Food Party" organised by the Green Light-Year, Mr Norton is very supportive about the idea of utilising ugly food. He said that the actions on the food system are very good starting points to begin especially when we are amid a rising tide of environmental protectioncampaigns, projects and innovations. In fact, there are over 30% of man-made CO2 emissions are from the food system. Yet, around 40 per cent of the food are wasted from the field to our table. Finding the right way for the wonky vegetables and couple with good management of purchase desire is something we should look into.
“Failure makes better next time,“ he said, “that’s my motto and the advice for the young generation .
(Michael is also meeting online audience from China.)
No. 41, Beijing East Road, Xuanwu District, Nanjing
Nanjing China
