Exploring the Thrilling Blend of Fashion, Art, and Interspecies Communication
Lagos-based Sustainable Green Environment (SGE) Initiative has a catchy motto – Think Green, Act Green, Sustain Green – and Dr Sanmi Olowosile, SGE Board Chairman, proudly tells us “We’ve gone from zero to hero in three years!” SGE’s mission is to train thousands of youngsters and professionals to spread awareness of the need for sustainability in our natural and built environments. We caught up with Ruth Olowosile (SGE Co-Founder and Director) and husband Dr Sanmi, our generous Global We portal hosts, to hear their experiences of connecting with UN Live friends all over the world.
Husband and wife team
Ruth, Dr Sanmi (at front) with Oyinade and Tioluwani after a workshop on Mouth-Beak communication with the Copenhagen Portal (courtesy of the Bureau for Interspecies Communication, Denmark).
A passion for sustainability brought Ruth and Dr Sanmi together, and the success of SGE is a testament to their tenacity and skill. Its members, who cover everything from green tech and construction to civil society and business leadership, are active in 26 African countries, educating citizens on topics ranging from global recycling and vegetable planting to river restoration and solar appreciation. “SGE is all about action”, says Dr Sanmi. “Our people sustain their actions; they don’t act and forget. It’s a cycle and that makes our work powerful.” Adds Ruth, “No shade, but the older generation could have done better. We feel responsible for future generations. UN Live’s Global We programme gives a megaphone to our strategies – local, national, international – and adds empathy and a sense of community.”
Climate impact: Lagos
SGE tree planting initiative.
Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation and urbanisation is expanding cities onto flood plains and coastal regions. This, combined with rising sea levels, has made flash and seasonal flooding an ever-present threat. “Flood displacement affects women and children most of all”, says Ruth. “They can’t afford to move somewhere else. Farmers are affected. Rice farms get swept away, so the price rockets upwards.” Waste disposal is another issue because the country lacks an efficient method of sorting urban and rural waste, but Dr Sanmi tells us the idea of sustainability is starting to take hold. “There’s been a big effort by public bodies and people are starting to feel accountable. Procurement funding is tied to sustainability now. Suppliers have to be climate policy-compliant. If they don’t have a sustainability policy, they don’t get funding.”
Pre-loved clothes exchange
Sustainability has been slow to impact the global fashion industry, but Lagos – whose streetwear leads the world – is buzzing with young designers who repurpose clothes to sell at thrift markets. A Global We conversation with Joburg fashion and art creator Samson highlighted how this helps the economy, avoids landfill, and builds a community. “Many people don’t have funds to buy new clothes”, he said, “so every two weeks we send call-outs telling people about the next swap exchange. We say: ‘Please come along with 5 or 10 items that you no longer wear’. They bring their pre-loved clothes to the store and there’s always something that they want to swap for. One section sells denim, another sells skirts. You bend down to select what kind of garment you want.” Cue immediate recognition from Ruth: “Yes, in Nigeria thrifting is called bend and select!”.
Art-fashion crossover
Global We portal participants in Lagos.
Culture is the key ingredient. Says Ruth: “Ask someone to come along to a climate change talk and they’ll say no. Invite them to a music concert and they’ll say yes, even if they have to pay!” She sees the enormous potential in the crossover between fashion and art in Lagos. “There are lots of creatives and artists in our community and we’re encouraging them to work with garments”, says Ruth. “They can add artistic ideas to pre-loved garments and make a name for themselves while also making ends meet. It tackles environmental issues and helps people grow at the same time.”
Fresh perspectives on biodiversity
Dr Sanmi’s Global We conversations gave him different food for thought. A memorable session with the UN Live Copenhagen portal, at the Natural History Museum, the Copenhagen based artist at Hello Fellow Species suggested an intriguing way to communicate with other species through the heart, feel responsible for their survival and appreciate biodiversity. Using low-cost materials like a stick and resin or a piece of bamboo, portal guests made instruments – bird flutes and insect flutes – that replicate the sound of birdsong or the friction sound made by insect wings. “It’s so beautiful”, says Dr Sanmi. “You can take these instruments out into the wild and birds and insects will respond! It’s such a perfect way to enhance our sense of belonging. Using crafts to communicate makes us more open to hearing and learning”. There’s another benefit, too. “If you ask kids to make these instruments, they go completely quiet and focus for an hour. Then the parents arrive, and you find a 40 year-old banker getting into the spirit of it with his kids!”
Thinking back over their UN Live portal sessions, Ruth and Dr Sanmi suggest the following ideas which they would like global decision makers to action.
Message to decision makers
“Develop a sense of empathy and emotional intelligence. Propose policies that can be accepted easily by people. Build a network of connections through environmental policies.”
- Ruth (she/her)
Take immediate action. Invest in clean energy, work together as global leaders, encourage public participation. Address social equity and prioritise it.
- Dr Sanmi (he/him)
Global We sessions bring together under-represented voices whose shared climate solutions have the power to change lives. From artists repurposing street fashion to simple methods of species communication, these creative minds are adding diversity to the global climate conversation.
We are deeply grateful for the collaboration, support and leadership that Sustainable Green Environment (SGE) Initiative has given to the Global We programme.
You can join the Global We conversation at the SGE Initiative UN Live portal here. The portal is located at University of Lagos (UNILAG), Faculty of Social Sciences, University Road, Akoka, Yaba Local Government, Lagos.
The Global We programme is supported by IKEA Foundation and powered by Shared Studios.
UN Live portals facilitate connections between people, collectives, initiatives, NGOs, organisations and leaders from all over the world. Join the Global We for Climate Action.