Humansolutions Bulletin - April 2nd 2020

This important new book emphasises the sociological aspects of resilience. It challenges the idea that resilience is purely a psychological phenomenon by exploring the wide range of social factors involved. Available for purchase here

Saying please and thank you is a basic part of what we are taught as children. But saying thank you is more than just good manners. It is a way of showing appreciation and of cementing cooperative working relations. While it is certainly not uncommon for people to say thank you to one another in the appropriate circumstances, there are also very many occasions when it is not said and when it could have been very helpful to do so. There are also many times when it is said in a curt or routine way that does not really convey appreciation – it comes across as just a social ritual, rather than a meaningful (and effective) communication. Try two things…

Try as he might, David Cameron was unable to get his idea of a “big society” to gain traction – perhaps because, as he was told at the time, top-down initiatives are less likely to take off, especially if they are perceived as a Trojan horse during a period of prolonged government cuts. When I arrived home to find a note on the doormat offering assistance with a range of tasks such as collecting shopping, or a phone call to break up a monotonous day or compensate for the lack of social interaction, I was neither dismissive nor distrustful – even though I didn’t need the services offered. That an individual, who had gone on to recruit a few friends,…

We are all facing challenges on a scale that would have been unimaginable only a few months ago. All over the country, people frightened for the health of their loved ones are also worrying how they will pay their rent, feed their families and keep their jobs or businesses going. At Greenpeace we are doing all we can to respond to this public health emergency – both for staff and volunteers, and the planet and its people. Our staff are working from home for the foreseeable future – over the years, our carbon-saving flight policy means we’ve got pretty good at video calls! – and of course, while this situation continues, we’ll be finding other ways to have our say…

With most people spending many hours at home, photographers are having to find new ways to express their creativity. And with fewer aircraft in the skies, those who venture out at night to photograph the heavens no longer have to spend hours removing passing aeroplanes from their pictures. "I usually end up spending a lot of time removing light trails caused by passing aircraft but I only had one plane to remove from these images, instead of the usual 20-30," says student Ben Lockett, from Staffordshire, who takes pictures such as the one above during his daily exercise. The pictures are taken using a long exposure, with the apparent motion of the stars due to Earth's rotation. Another photographer, Andrew…

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