Stephen Hanna

 

Stephen Hanna is unique among winners of the Jean Forbes Award in that he received it as a staff member, rather than a student, at Shimna College. After graduating from university, he thought about a career in education and worked in a local primary school to get some experience, before getting a job with a secondary school in their Special Educational Needs Unit. After some time spent travelling abroad, Stephen returned to County Down and became a classroom assistant at Shimna in 2007. By then, he no longer aimed to be a teacher, and had started studying a part time HND in environmental science. Stephen asked Ellen McVea about setting up an environmental project within the school, and the Shimna College Eco Club was born.  As well as working with the Ulster Wildlife Trust to set up and maintain a wormery, the club planted trees and bulbs, put up bat houses and bird houses, and learnt about environmental management. Stephen was taken aback to hear he had been given the Jean Forbes Award, but delighted to be involved in promoting environmental studies.

Stephen first met Jean in person in 2008, about a year after they started corresponding by email. Jean had been involved with Shimna since the school was just an ambitious idea, and took a particular interest in the geography department, as an educationalist who liked to see young people ‘getting out and hands on’ . As well as helping set up projects like traffic studies and surveys of Murlough nature reserve, Jean was full of ideas for the Eco Club. Stephen was impressed by her enthusiasm and tenacity, and Jean was keen for him to get involved with more environmental projects outside the school. As Stephen got to know more about Jean’s work with groups such as Gateway 2000, and her continuing links with the University of Strathclyde, he realised the extent of her abilities and her tireless energy. Like many people who worked with her, he sometimes found himself ‘ashamed – look what this lady is doing with her time!’

Stephen found Jean ‘very sharp’ in conversation, drawing on her ‘rich knowledge base’ and never shying away from a debate. She was skilled at ‘taking people to task’ when necessary, pressing politicians and planners to try new things and adopt successful ideas from other parts of the world. Like many people who knew Jean only in her later life, Stephen was unaware of how widely she had travelled, taught and written in her field. She played an important role in reforming the Scottish planning system in the 1970s, and always kept an eye on the latest planning developments in Northern Ireland, contacting local MPs and other academics, and keeping up to date with the latest technology. Jean became a bit of a mentor for Stephen and he ‘can’t thank her enough’ for sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm.

Jean was a great advocate for environmental education, and had a big impact in this area, not least because she was involved in setting up the David Livingstone Centre for Sustainability and the School of Environmental Studies at Strathclyde University. As an academic, Jean’s work spanned science, geography, social science and education, with a special focus on integration and women in education.  Jean was an ‘ardent supporter of integrated education’, not just in terms of religion but also regarding disability and special educational needs, advocating a ‘whole school’ approach while she was working and writing in Scotland.  For Stephen, Jean ‘embodied the college motto’, Learning From Each Other.  Although academia was her vocation, Jean not only enjoyed her retirement but put her energy and experience into a wide range of local projects and organisations. Among these, she was particularly active in Gateway 2000, a group that incorporated many of Jean’s beliefs about planning and sustainability, such as energy decentralisation, which Jean described with typical elegance as a system of ‘suns and satellites’.  As well as taking on a public role in campaigning for a better future, Jean enacted her principles of sustainability and holistic integration through her own life, whether as an early adopter of solar water heating in her home, or as mainstay (and often host) of a plethora of interest groups and activists.

The many people who worked with Jean in the network of small groups in which she was ‘the lynchpin’ are saddened by her loss, but continuing with the projects she put so much effort into. Like Jean, Stephen sees environmental studies as a vital part of education which links many subjects together. Given ‘where we’re at as a civilisation and species’, Stephen sees resource management as a crucial problem, and is concerned that ‘we’re not preparing our children to deal with the obstacles that will be a reality in 15-20 years’ time’. Things have now moved full circle, as Stephen has recently  begun studying at the University of Strathclyde himself, doing an MA in Environmental Studies at the David Livingstone Centre for Sustainability that Jean set up.

Cary Buchanan

We caught up with ex-student Cary Buchanan just three weeks into her new job in London.  Enjoying the buzz of the city and working in a company that researches the sustainability of the built environment, she says her interest in geography can be traced back to her days at Shimna College. 

                  Cary and her family originally chose Shimna for many reasons, such as its reputation, academic results and closeness to home, but mostly because they wanted to support integration.  Given ‘the way society was’, they thought that integrated schools were a ‘positive step forward’.  Cary had attended a ‘fairly mixed’ primary school, and knew she wanted to continue her education in a diverse community. 

                  When she transferred to secondary school, Cary thought she wanted to be a vet or a teacher – ‘the usual first year ideas!’  By fifth year, however, when the time came to choose subjects, she had no idea what sort of career she should aim for.  Geography was already her favourite subject, and after studying a wide range of GCSEs, she settled on biology, geography and maths for A Level, with an AS in psychology. 

                  Cary’s interest in geography grew during her A Levels, which she puts down to ‘how well it was taught’ as well as her own love for the subject.  When Cary received the Jean Forbes Award for Environmental Studies she met Jean in person.  Jean was ‘absolutely lovely, passionate, enthusiastic’ and very encouraging about all the possibilities that university would hold. 

Cary’s choice of university came down to a final decision between St Andrews in Scotland and Queen’s in Belfast.  This was quite a dilemma, as Cary was torn between wanting to broaden her horizons and not wanting to leave her friends and familiar surroundings.  In the end, Cary decided that although for her, staying in Northern Ireland would have been an easier option, she couldn’t miss the opportunity to study at St Andrews. 

Her degree in Geography and Environmental Biology was a very happy time for Cary.  She loved living in Scotland, which was ‘brilliant’, and she’s glad she took the plunge and studied further afield.  While she was at university, Cary was able to really focus on the issues that excited her about geography, learning more about climate change and how governments and society can respond to it.  She had the chance to see cutting-edge research up close, and had some excellent teachers.  

While she was at school, Cary liked ‘rivers, tectonics and other physical geography topics’, but now she’s now fascinated by the ‘bridges in between physical and social geography’, like policy and sustainability targets.  After graduating in June she was delighted to get a job on a graduate scheme with a company that works in this area, researching how buildings and urban environments can be made more environmentally friendly.  They are currently involved in the Olympics redevelopment, among other things.  Cary thinks that sustainability will be one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy in future years, as producing the right balance between economic, social and environmental priorities becomes ever more urgent. 

London is ‘a big change for Northern Irish people’, but Cary is enjoying the buzz of being in such a huge city, as well as the career advantages of being where so many companies are based.  She loves that there is ‘so much going on’.  Still in contact with many of her classmates from Shimna, Cary says that not getting the 11+ marks needed for grammar school was ‘a blessing in disguise’, as she feels that she personally  ‘wouldn’t have done as well’ in the grammar school system.  She thinks that small class sizes benefitted her enormously, and says ‘Shimna is living proof of how much a good school can do for people’.