Dear PIRC Team,
I was very excited to see this opening at PIRC. I would be honoured to contribute the skills I have developed through over a
decades work in sustainability and social change to PIRC’s purpose of working towards a more democratic, equitable and
sustainable society.
PIRCs social justice profile resonates strongly with my 11 years of working in organisations in the environmental and food
production sector. The holistic wider aims, especially of PIRCs on-going work with framing, reflect my profound desire to engage
with the emergent social and environmental issues that we face in the Anthropocene. Having campaigned widely on food waste for
a number of years, I then returned to complete an MSc. My research and activism has more recently focused on Food Sovereignty,
working with the international social movement La Via Campesina to create a different frame and story for food, one that
recognises its multifunctional role within society and refuses to reduce it to a mere commodity. This work matches the emphasis of
PIRCs new Open Framing Project, but is equally relevant to many issues of social justice globally.
My commitment to equitable and sustainable social change, at both a grass-roots and policy level, led me to found This is
Rubbish, a policy-focused campaign that tackles the negative social and environmental effects of industry food waste. My approach
to campaigning has been shaped by my creative communications background at Glasgow School of Art. My work at This is
Rubbish focussed on generating participatory and artistic methods to engage the public in complex issues. In 2011 we
toured Wales, stopping in many communities to facilitate workshops, have discussions and host three course celebratory
FEASTs on food waste. During this time I responsible for a huge variety of roles from strategy to food sourcing, brand and
publication design to social media and organising teams of up to 30 volunteers. I also worked as part of a small team where
collaboration was the key to our success, and saw us work alongside much larger charities such as, FareShare, Action Aid, Feeding
the 5000 and Save the Children.
My roles in This is Rubbish and the Food Sovereignty Research Group as well as the experience I gained over my MSc have given
me excellent writing skills. My work with Food Sovereignty allowed me to collaborate on the research and writing of a
commentary for the CAP reforms in 2013, a critique of DEFRAs sustainable intensification platform, and a publication detailing
and requesting policy changes to support ecological farming in the UK. My MSc gave me experience of designing, carrying out
and writing up primary research, especially the use of participatory, qualitative, reflective and ethnographic approaches to data
collection. I feel equally capable of writing quick articles and blogs, and developing other web content and communications
for social media. I have maintained twitter profiles, and created regular blog posts for Cultivate and This is Rubbish.
My roles as a project worker in schools, youth worker for Forest School Camps, and with This is Rubbish gave me ample
opportunity to facilitate workshops on a variety of topics, to wide range of audiences. From creative and practical workshops
such as outdoor education or designing interactive kinetic food sculptures with teens, to delivering complex factual information
and explanations through game play. I am also happy giving formal presentations and I have given lectures on aspects of my MSc
research, and delivered talks about the various organisations I have worked for, including presenting research from This is Rubbish
in the houses of Parliament.
My work has often used artistic methods and modes to communicate social and environmental messages. Creating visual minutes
has become a great tool for artistic communications in many contexts. I have collaborated with other artists to create large live
artworks at events, including whole day conferences such as the Art of Behaviour Change at Aberystwyth University, and a series
of “Earth Talks” at Schumacher College. Other collaborations have seen me work for Greenpeace at Glastonbury to create
interactive installations for various campaigns. My undergraduate degree in Visual Communication has given me useful skills in
graphic design and layout for web and publication with a good understanding of design software including Indesign,
DreamWeaver, Flash, Photoshop and Illustrator. I was responsible for the design and layout of reports for the This is Rubbish
IFWAP research project, and have worked to create branding for several organisations.
My experience in co-ordinating projects stems not only from This is Rubbish, but also from my work for Green Isle Gowers and
Cultivate. I am a voluntary Director of Green Isle Growers and responsible for the on-going strategy and management of the
organisation. We are committed to cooperative and collaborative working, and I have been responsible for organising
groups of worker and community led committees responsible for the day-to-day decision-making. At Cultivate I was responsible
for designing and leading programmes of work to enable the development of key skills and experience for regular volunteers, and
apprentices. I was head of a department, taking responsibility for a budget, writing fundraising proposals and managing staff.
Although I feel confident in this role, my preference is for non-hierarchical structures, and I am excited about the potential to
work collaboratively with a team in all aspects of the organisation: whether this constitutes devising on-going directional strategy or
ordering the right office supplies.
I feel confident with the financial aspects of working within small organisations having been the treasurer of This is Rubbish for
three years which meant managing budgets of up to £50,000, doing the day to day book keeping and submitting accounts to
Companies House. I am currently the treasurer for Green Isle Growers.
Working in diverse and disparate teams has made flexibility and multitasking essential and I feel capable of managing many
roles and projects simultaneously. I was able to study my MSc whilst working for This is Rubbish and the Food Sovereignty
Network at the same time. Currently I am managing to maintain my role as a Director of Green Isle Growers, contribute to the
Food Sovereignty Research Group alongside being a full-time mother and a part-time vegetable grower.
I would be delighted to contribute my relevant skills to any of the Core groups, and feel that I would bring a clear and organised
working style to the more infrastructural roles within Resources, Communication and Programming. I would relish the opportunity
to work within the more future-focused Core groups considering PIRCs People and Direction. I would contribute new ideas and
my experiences of a diverse range of organisations and their varying approaches for creating step-change: from global outreach, to
the personal mindful, and spiritual.
I must admit Frisbee can cause an internal values clash between my ambition (competitiveness) and my freedom to act as I desire
(lack of skill), however I am willing to address this especially if there is a K-pop soundtrack.
Through my communications, research and project co-ordination skills I would bring an enthusiastic approach to this role.
Furthermore, I feel dedicated to the charity’s aims and would relish the opportunity to apply my knowledge in realizing them.
Yours Faithfully,
Rachel Solnick