Roger Higman
Intergenerational Conversations: Roger Higman, Director at Network for Wellbeing
Activism has its challenges, but luckily for us there are plenty of people who are doing the work.
That’s why today we’re hosting a series of intergenerational conversations with changemakers who are doing the work, all of whom also volunteer their time to mentor our Resilience Project Co-Hosts.
This week we have Roger Higman. Roger has almost 40 years' experience of working in the environmental movement, mainly at Friends of the Earth. He is passionate about creating a truly sustainable civilization that helps everyone to thrive. For the last eight years, he has been the Director of the Network of Wellbeing, which gives him a key role in a growing movement that uses wellbeing science to drive social change for the benefit of people and the planet.
Activism can take many forms. How do you see the work that you do making a change in the climate and wellbeing sector?
In two ways: Firstly, I work at the Network of Wellbeing, and our core mission is “connecting people, supporting projects and inspiring action for the wellbeing of people and the planet.” This puts the wellbeing of people (and the planet) centre-stage in everything we do. This means I’ve really had to think about what wellbeing is,(and isn’t), based on psychological evidence, and how people achieve it. This thinking leads us to a broad understanding of wellbeing, that is:
Inclusive, because everyone deserves to have equal access to the things that support our wellbeing.
Collective, because we can’t have wellbeing alone – our wellbeing depends upon our relationships and the communities in which we live and work.
Systemic, because wellbeing needs to be embedded in our economies, governmental policies and throughout wider society.
Sustainable, because human wellbeing relies upon the long-term health of the natural world.
It then subtly transforms our understanding of what is needed to tackle climate change.
Specifically, there is nothing in the science that suggests that we need to be fantastically rich to enjoy good wellbeing - quite the opposite. It is far more important that our economy provides life’s basics for everyone. Furthermore, once we have these basics, we gain little from further economic growth but lots from a better work-life balance, good social networks, opportunities to develop our full creative potential, opportunities to fulfil our sense of purpose, opportunities to take physical exercise, access to nature and so on.
Part of our mission is to promulgate this understanding.
Secondly, through our Wellbeing for Changemakers’ programme, we are directly involved in helping changemakers improve their wellbeing. We have led online events and a retreat that help changemakers, including in the climate and wellbeing sectors, to monitor their wellbeing and to take simple steps to improve it.
We have plans for further work in this direction in the future (and are open to partnerships to achieve this).
Sustaining activism and change-making work can be difficult in many ways. Please share any uncertainty you may have faced that threatened continuing your work in climate and wellbeing and how you manoeuvred that uncertainty.
I’ve worked on climate and wellbeing-related issues for almost forty years. That has bought me much joy but also led to periods of sadness. These periods have never threatened my commitment to working on climate and wellbeing - I’ve not got the skills for much else - but they have weakened my effectiveness by lowering my morale.
On many occasions, such episodes can be overcome by talking to others, taking a holiday, or engaging in a new challenge. I learnt to enforce something of a work-life balance, including both giving myself time to socialise and time to be on my own in nature. I was very fortunate that every five years or so, Friends of the Earth would offer me or allow me to apply for a new role. Taking on new challenges can be inspirational!
A really important period to mention though was when I entered my late forties. By that time, I was a senior manager on the organisational management team. I was single. My father was dying. I was living in London and feeling increasingly like it no longer met my needs. I clearly remember looking at myself (in a monitor of a tv studio) and thinking, “I don’t want to do this anymore”.
Fortunately, after a difficult period, three things happened over 18 months. My father died. I met my partner. Friends of the Earth went through a financial crisis that gave me the opportunity to take voluntary redundancy. I did so and moved from London to Plymouth to help my partner bring up her three daughters.
After a difficult time (it’s not easy finding employment in Plymouth), I got the job I’ve been doing ever since.
What does no one talk about around change-making?
Sustaining it for the long term - including by creating good careers with progression and pensions. (these now exist, btw, which wasn’t true in the 1980s).
Inner change - this is beginning to happen and is crucial for the long term. Some people are driven to changemaking because they are broken in some way. This can be very dangerous for them.