Honouring the Children: We bequeath them the Earth. What do they need from us in this time of transformation?

“No decision shall be made and no action taken unless it holds the good of the children of all beings, of this generation and seven hence, at its heart.”

How would our world be if we based every act on the impact it would have down the generations?  What do our children - and their children - need us to do now, to grant them a flourishing future?  A simple video asks that question and invites our children to answer.  We talk to its makers. 

When David SmartKnight heard that the G7 summit was coming to Cornwall in June 2021, he went to the land and asked of it ‘What can I do?’  That night, he had a dream… and as is the way of things, when we align ourselves with life, the world joins our actions. Pretty soon he and his co-producer, Klaudia van Gool had a team of people, who came together to make a beautiful, moving 3 minute video and a project of awe-inspiring scope, to bring the words of the world’s children to the world’s leaders in ways they cannot ignore. 

As for David himself: Following a thriving career as an IT consultant, for 25 years David has asked: “What does it mean to live sustainably?”. This has resulted in studying & applying Permaculture, shamanism, Non-Violent Communication, storytelling, teaching, social enterprise, running a smallholding, planting and managing coppice, making greenwood furniture, keeping livestock and holding ceremonies.  All woven into a second career as an environmental educator, devising and delivering a European-wide teacher training program, creating and piloting a sustainability curriculum for secondary, establishing two award-winning Environmental Education Centres and running eco-build projects as community empowerment exercises.
“Sustainability”, he believes “is a completely inadequate ambition:  what we actually need is regeneration, which, by necessity, requires both personal fulfilment and social justice.”
Between his deep-nature connection business, the complexities (and joys) of single-parenting two teenagers and devoting much of his time to supporting the Regenerative Cultures strand underpinning Extinction Rebellion, David currently is spearheading “The Children’s Fire Project” – an ambition to bring the 7th Generation Principle to the heart of global economic thinking.

And this is Klaudia: I grew up on the edge of a village in the south of the Netherlands, considering the fields out the back my play ground. I had an urge to garden and made small gardens around the house.  I signed myself up as a youth member of a national nature conservation charity.
It wasn’t until I decided on an Environmental Science degree after moving to the UK and having children, that things came together for me and I realised i couldn’t think of anything better to do than work in the field I loved, which I have continued to do ever since.
I worked as an Environmental Business Services Adviser for the  Groundwork Trust for eleven years, after personal experience of various small businesses ranging from construction to food processing.
In addition to the degree in Environmental Science, I attended many trainings in the fields of business, permaculture, education & teaching, facilitation, management, sustainability skills and personal development.
I have gathered many skills through training and practical experience: gardening, preserving, foraging, basketry, living willow structures, strawbale and cob building, bushcraft, herbal medicine and more.

Once I started on the permaculture path, I got hooked, started  teaching permaculture in 2007 and have taught 31 PDCs to date. This path had led to a social permaculture interest, see more here.

In recent years I have been involved with Extinction Rebellion, mostly focussing on regenerative cultures and deepening my curiosity for ceremony and herbal knowledge and skills.  

The Children’s Fire Website: https://childrensfire.earth

Video Link to 'Honouring the Children's Fire': https://youtu.be/4SO6dS1Qa9I
Klaudia van Gool: http://klaudia.co.uk