Earth Day 2023: Nicole Afonso Alves Calistri on making change in the face of climate crisis

As part of our Earth Day celebrations, BaxterStorey has collaborated with the Climate Emergency Network and UAL Regenesis on an exciting vegan menu. 4 unique dishes, designed by students who attended UAL Regenesis’ workshop, will be available to purchase on Thursday 27 April.

What’s on the menu?

Camberwell

Rebirth Pizza (served with chestnut mushroom and plant-based cheese) by Rishkandha Tomar

CSM

Wild Sea Paella by Giulia Bartoli

Chelsea

Rhizome & Gut Health Velouté (Celeriac & sorrel velouté) by Jane Scobie

LCC

Rooted Risotto & Sea Salad (served at LCC with button mushrooms) by Agriti Goel

Nicole Afonso Alves Calistri, who studies MA Biodesign at CSM whilst also lecturing at LCC, spoke to us about why she co-created UAL Regenesis and where she finds her inspiration and passion for tackling the climate crisis head on.

Hi Nicole! Can you talk about your background and when your interest in sustainability emerged?

I studied BA Design Management at LCC, graduating in 2018. My final major project was a framework called ‘Environment-centred design’, which was where I started to move away from human-centred design. Looking back, I think it was wrong to dismiss my human-centred design work, as I value being intersectional and understanding how different elements of design can co-exist. But this project led to me becoming involved with Extinction Rebellion, where I took part in some of the early protests in April 2018. This initial activism led to the UK government declaring a climate and ecological emergency a few weeks after.

I have also participated in Animal Rising activism, including their ‘Plant-Based Universities’ campaign, which is where UAL Regenesis came into being. We’re keen for it to not feel like a top-down approach, which is why we want to engage with all the UAL community rather than just those in positions of immediate power. We put on a lot of talks tackling different aspects of sustainability, including activist speakers such as Bell Jacobs and Christopher Sebastian. We actually have talks planned for 27 April and 23 May.

You said that you value intersectionality. How do you weave this into your work?

Taking our campaign as an example, we are not focusing on individual diets and we’re not saying that individuals have to change. Some people may need to eat meat, whether that’s due to specific health requirements or ideology and belief. We’re saying it’s a systemic issue that needs to be addressed through systemic transformation.

It’s also really important that we are aware that many historically displaced people have been equated to and experienced the same treatment as animals. Christopher Sebastian says that we should ‘own that’ and refuse the attribution of ‘human’ as separate from other animals. Instead, he says that we should use it as an opportunity to reshape our relationships with other animals, rather than seek to be dominators ourselves. That’s the beautiful aspect of intersectionality for me, connecting other issues to animal liberation.

Can you tell me a bit about your role as an Associate Lecturer, what do you teach and how have you found the experience?

So, I’m now teaching on the Design Management & Change unit, at the BA Design Management course at LCC. I was a visiting practitioner from 2019 but only got the Associate Lecturer position this year. It’s been great having the opportunity to reflect on the various projects I've worked on over the past 5 years and share that with the students. It’s been really amazing to see how much things have changed and to be contributing to that change.

Another thing I enjoy about teaching is the chance to work on theoretical bits, as I’ve spent so much time working on practical initiatives since graduating. I think I had forgotten a bit how to think and connect dots, so that’s been a really nice experience for me. I love seeing an ignition in the brains of students and knowing that they’re going to go off and do their own research.

MA Biodesign explores bio-informed design strategies as a driver for sustainable innovation. How did this inform your decision to run the workshop?

The campaign, my course, my teaching and the workshop are all connected really.

What I like about Biodesign is that it brings together people with all sorts of different design backgrounds and we really spent the first year exploring and working with various living organisms such as algae, mushrooms and bacteria. Everyone makes use of their own particular skills and picks something to research. So, for a fashion designer, they may look into using living organisms to create new living materials, or processes that disrupt the dominant extractive and degenerative practices in the industry. For me, my Design Management background meant that I am used to organising, strategising, bringing people together and campaigning.

I decided to look at the microorganisms at the base of the trophic levels and ask the question, ‘what if people only ate these organisms?’ We could free up the land used for animal agriculture, which is currently around 77% of all arable land on Earth. We could create a food system that allows other Earth systems and species to thrive and flourish. I love to look into other things we could do with that land. For example, other forms of agriculture like agroforestry, where you combine forest with crops. They are more dynamic and create more of an ecology. We could also rewild and give back some space to natural systems. Imagine the new relationships we could facilitate if in Brazil, the country where I was born, we give indigenous peoples back the land they’ve been displaced from to make space for cattle pastures and soya plantations (of which 88% goes into animal feed all around the globe, including the UK).

Where did the idea of UAL Regenesis come from?

Initially, it came after seeing the new UAL Climate Action Plan and recognising that the dominant metric for success is calculating carbon emissions. Agriculture, dominated by the breeding and slaughtering of animals, is the second biggest emitter of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. I felt that our institution needed to take it into account. I also think that it came from the understanding that climate warming and ecological collapse cannot be changed by only addressing emissions.

Animal agriculture is the leading cause of global deforestation, wildlife loss, soil erosion, water use and pollution, and eutrophication, to name a few. In UAL Regenesis we want to create awareness of all these systemic and ecological issues and how they interrelate with the way we view and treat other animals and living systems. This is why we also advocate for ethical concerns, not only for ecosystems, but animals too.

I've always wanted to work on something in relation to animals and their rights. I shifted to veganism 5 years ago and really benefitted from changing my mindset to see animals as fellow earthlings who are here with us and not for us.

I follow an indigenous vegan activist called Yvette who has taught me a lot about other ways to view veganism. People talk about how veganism is so detached from cosmological and indigenous cultures but that’s actually a very Western view of veganism. Respecting and co-existing with other animals is a fundamental way of being for many indigenous cultures, who eat them to maintain health as often animals are the most nutritious and accessible foods. Many indigenous peoples recoginse and understand we can survive without consuming animals, and they do that. Indigenous cultures are as dynamic as any other cultures. They too transform and evolve.

Looking into different cultures viewpoints of veganism, coupled with attending the animal march in 2022, helped me realise my idea for the campaign. At this time, I started chatting with Rishkander Tomar from MA Applied Imagination and we decided to collaborate on this. We called it Regenesis after the book by George Monbiot, because it is the opposite of extinction. We got the 100 likes needed to get Arts SU involved and we’re now working with them to further the campaign. I’ll be graduating in July and whilst I want to remain involved, I hope that students from across UAL decide to get involved to help progress UAL Regenesis. We see it as a collective and so we do not follow a hierarchal structure. No one is ‘in charge’ and everyone has the opportunity to work across different parts of the campaign. Anyone reading this who might be interested in getting involved, please do reach out to me.

What was your favourite aspect of the workshop and what were you looking for from the student-created recipes?

I’ve reflected on the workshop a lot and there are things I would do differently next time. I would probably split it into 2 shorter workshops, one focusing on a general introduction to the effects of animal agriculture on the planet, and the second to delve into the concept of monocultures and how to change practices.

Attendees did seem really happy though and I enjoyed seeing them chat and mingle with each other at the end. I was also really pleased with the recipes they created but would like to have more time to go through prompts or educate on how to use hero ingredients as alternatives to more commonly used ones. Or other tricks, for example, flax seeds mixed with water can be used as an alternative to eggs in baking.

The main thing I wanted from the student-created recipes was lots of creativity in terms of what organisms to use. By organisms I mean different plants, their seeds, nuts, pulses, mushrooms, algae, and sea vegetables. The vegetables that we eat today have been bred to suit our palette but there could be so much more for us. There are over 300,000 different species of edible plants, but we need years to work with them and develop them. We could end up with a completely different agricultural system that champions biodiversity. So I was really looking for them to be thinking about the wide range of ingredients to make use of.

How did the student-created recipes takeover at UAL canteens come about?

I can’t remember if I reached out to the Climate Emergency Network or if they reached out to me, but I knew Abbi (Creative Producer: Climate Emergency Network) from when I started the UAL Regenesis campaign. Abbi introduced me to Fred Kavanagh (Post-Grad Community and Events Coordinator), who’s been behind the logistics of the workshop, and we chatted and came up with the idea of a student-led vegan takeover for Earth Day. Being able to collaborate and use the Climate Emergency Network’s connections within UAL has been a big help.

What does Earth Day mean to you? Any advice for students who are unsure how to mark the day or have impact as an individual?

Earth Day is a fairly recent concept as I think it’s only been around since the 70’s. I love it because it was one of the first coordinated, collaborative protests against the range of climate injustices taking place around the world. For me, it’s all about coalition. Although we should be concerned with these issues every day, it’s good to have this pocket of time where people are more aware and open to learning.

Giving students advice is tricky as everyone is so different. I think I would say try to understand what you are inclined to. If you’re an extrovert, you may enjoy meeting people at an event or activity. It could be as simple as volunteering to collect litter, forage, or garden with a group – it's all about making connections. On the other hand, if you’re more introverted, you might find it useful to spend some time by yourself surrounded by life – a forest, a park, another landscape. Take yourself somewhere nice and observe what you see, you might find it helpful to journal.

Otherwise, a practice that I recently started, is a “seating spot”. Find the wildest spot you can find near you. Start a habit of going there as many times as you can in the week, sit, and just be for at least 20 minutes. Apparently, that’s the time it takes for the life around you to get used to you. Magical feelings, intuition and wisdom come into you through this practice. Obviously, everyone is different so I think just try things out and find what works for you and you enjoy.

My final piece of advice would be to engage in discourses of justice and decolonisation. Always question things and don’t be afraid to do your own research.

What are your plans for Earth Day this year?

I’m gathering with some students to the Extinction Rebellion protest in London. It’s called ‘The Big One’ and there will be workshops, music, talks and other things to enjoy and learn from. I know that they’re trying to gather lots of different organisations to come together for this one, to unify everyone and make it the big deal that it should be. I’m also celebrating the CEN and UAL Regenesis recent achievement of removing cow’s and lamb’s meat from the CSM menu!