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Nicholas Shehadie (39)
Good on Al.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environm...1228584839284.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
http://www.smh.com.au/news/environm...1228584839284.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
Standing up for the planet
December 10, 2008
A former rugby player is one of many spreading the word about the perils of climate change, writes Steve Meacham.
When Al Kanaar was a second-rower playing for the NSW Waratahs, he regularly ran out in front of 30,000 fans at the Sydney Football Stadium.
So giving an Al Gore-inspired address about the perils facing the planet to a sympathetic audience of 20 or 30 should not cause too many problems, should it?
"Giving the talks make me a lot more nervous," he admits. Still, having delivered nine such lectures in the past 12 months, at least he is getting more polished in his performance as he works through the maps, graphs and photographs which illustrate the challenge of global warming.
"These days I can roll off the stats by heart about Cyclone Larry or the ice caps melting," says the 25-year-old after finishing an 80-kilometre cycle ride - his favourite form of exercise since a chronic knee injury cut short his professional rugby career this year.
Before each talk he sits down, for the umpteenth time, to watch An Inconvenient Truth, the Oscar-winning documentary about Gore's lifelong mission to warn the world about climate change.
A year ago Kanaar was chosen by Gore to be one of his Australian ambassadors, trained to deliver Gore-like lectures to whoever will listen. In all 250 Australians were selected to be Climate Project "presenters", through the Australian Conservation Foundation.
Seven, including Kanaar, were filmed for another documentary, Telling The Truth, which shows them coming to grips with the challenge of following in Gore's footsteps. The Telling The Truth DVD itself is a new tool in the Climate Project recruitment kit. Those who are concerned about climate change but do not feel comfortable about giving a full stand-up talk about it can now sign up as a Climate Project "connector". This commits them to four tasks:
■ Screening the DVD at least three times - to workmates, neighbours, clubs or community groups.
■ Hosting a discussion about the lessons learnt.
■ Persuading members of the audience to sign a declaration supporting Climate Project's objectives.
■ Reporting back to Climate Project's headquarters in Melbourne about how to get the message across even better.
Since the call went out for connectors on October 28, 795 people have signed up. The aim was to have 1000 screenings of the DVD by December 1 to send a clear message to leaders heading off to the United Nations meeting in Poznan, Poland - leaders such as the Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong.
"My sister Rebecca is a connector," says Kanaar. "She's a teacher in the Southern Highlands and has shown the DVD three times now to different groups. The DVD can be shown so easily. It doesn't need a good presenter. It talks for itself."
What makes Telling The Truth so effective is that it shows Gore's central message can be communicated by "ordinary" people who don't have Gore's communication skills or political weight. In the documentary, Kanaar addresses a group of his Waratah teammates, including Lote Tuqiri and Phil Waugh, who pay attention precisely because he is a peer.
The other "stars" of Telling The Truth vary in their approach. One is a professional comedian able to use humour to keep a large theatrical audience both entertained and educated. Another is a blue-collar worker in Kalgoorlie whose neighbours respect as a quiet man who would only speak out if he had something important to say. A third, a young indigenous woman, brings the science of global warming to a remote community which has already noticed its practical effects.
What they all share is a conviction and a bond with their audience.
Kanaar - who joined the cardboard king Richard Pratt's Visy empire in April as its environmental sustainability manager - is now able to combine his career with a private passion, much as he was able to when he was a professional rugby player. And becoming a Climate Project presenter was part of the learning curve.
"I took it on not expecting too much out of it," Kanaar concedes. "I knew I'd be learning a fair bit. But I'm amazed what it has given me. I was passionate about the environment, and knew that I wanted to make a difference.
"With the content training Al Gore gave us, and the support of the ACF, I've made huge leaps of knowledge about climate change and sustainability. I've had great results, addressing a wide range of people."
A wide range, indeed. Perhaps the most surprising audience he has addressed was a group of young offenders at the Frank Baxter Juvenile Justice Centre, near Gosford.
"They were really into it," Kanaar says. "I showed them how there were huge opportunities for them, in getting their lives back on track, if they focused on green jobs. There will be lots of new opportunities for young people in sustainable industries.
"And they took that on board and were excited by it. They know climate change is happening and I was able to tailor [my talk] to their lives."
To read about the connectors program and to sign up to become a connector: http://connectors.acfonline.org.au. To view a trailer of Telling the Truth: http://connectors.acfonline.org.au/trailer.
