What can one person do?
One person. Gavin Kenny. I'm one person who believes that he has the power to help bring about positive change in the world. I've been doing so for most of my adult life. Times of doubt are inevitable but if you develop a sense of your own inner power this will always carry you forward. If you've ever climbed a steep hill or mountain, even a relatively small one, you'll know what I mean.
I've written a personal view if you want to know more about me and how I've worked to match my thinking and world view to my own life.
About this site
What is the vision?
To generate positive thinking and action for a better world.
There are many influences and motivations behind the development of this site, but a very big motivation comes from being the father of three beautiful daughters presently aged 12, 15 and 17 years. My wife and I have always sought to give our girls a balance between understanding the problems and challenges we have in the world and seeing the good and beautiful things. Most of all we have raised them to be strong and independent with a belief that they have the power to help create a better world.
An important theme here is making the connection between the personal and professional, of our inner and outer worlds. This is something I've had major struggles with at times as I think many of us do.
- Think of things like creativity, inspiration, beauty, intuition, intelligence, compassion, love, fulfillment. We need to bring these qualities forward in whatever we do and work to trascend communication boundaries.
- Think of connecting what lives within yourself with what is happening in our world. If we all strive to be better people we all have the power to create a better world.
- Think of connecting with others who are like-minded. Work to understand and listen to others as much as you can. Listening to others matters a lot. If we can do this more and more we may just reactivate a capacity to really hear and deeply understand what is happening in our world and what we need to be doing.
Who is behind this?
Earthlimited.org is an initiative of Dr Gavin Kenny, who has spent much of the last 20 to 25 years thinking and working on agricultural ecology and climate change.
A very brief personal history
Dr Gavin Kenny is a fifth generation New Zealander. His parents were dairy farmers as were his grandparents. His great grandfather was a forest worker then farmer. Gavin grew up at a place called Mount Maunganui, on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. He has lived in various places around New Zealand and has travelled and worked overseas. In the early 1990s, after two years in the United Kingdon, he decided not to become a permanent part of the so-called brain drain from New Zealand and returned home. After eight years with a small research group he chose, from the beginning of 2001, to work independently. He presently works from a home office in Hastings, Hawke's Bay, where he lives with his wife and three daughters
Qualifications and work experience
Gavin studied at Massey and Lincoln Universities in New Zealand. He has degrees in Horticultural Science and completed his PhD in Agricultural Meteorology. Over the last 20 to 25 years Gavin has developed his interests in agricultural ecology and climate change. He has worked on climate change projects in New Zealand, Europe, Bangladesh and the Pacific Islands and a development project in northern Viet Nam. He has been based in Hawke's Bay since early 2001, working independently and focused on bridging gaps between science and practice.
Gavin has been a contributor to the IPCC since the mid 1990s. He was a lead author of the Agriculture chapter in the Second Assessment Report and has been a contributing author to the Australia/New Zealand chapters of the Third and Fourth Assessment Reports.
For the last five years Gavin has been working with farmers, Regional Councils, and others within New Zealand. This stronger grassroots approach was the culmination of two decades of thinking and experience and a realisation of the need to make the science of climate change more relevant and meaningful to people on the ground. Through this work Gavin has learnt:
- The wisdom of forward thinking and acting farmers
- The importance of listening to others and creating communication bridges
- The importance of positive thinking and positive language
- The importance of creative interaction between scientists, artists, farmers, psychologists, teachers, planners, everyone and anyone who cares about the future