Theme: Interdependence

Key Learning: During this session, we first looked at what interdependence is. It is defined as the way in which two or more living things depend on each other to grow and remain healthy. There are three components; economic, social and environmental.

Economic interdependence refers to a society or macro-economy with high levels of division of labor, such as global market and trading, multinational/global financial institutions, and stock markets.

Social interdependence works on individual level, as well as within media, cultural integration and advertising.

Environmental interdependence involves the need to look beyond local impact, as there is global repercussions and responsibility. From early human cultures, there has been an awareness that their existence depended on utilising the environment for resources, while also understanding that there are limits in doing this as nature can only provide so much until there are consequences, ie environmental damage. Slight changes in an interconnected system can mean great fluctuations in other parts such as weather.

During our lecture, we also looked at symbiosis. It is defined as the close and long-term relationship between two different organisms that has evolved over hundreds of years. There are three types; mutualism, commensalism and parasitism. Mutualism involves two species that work together to benefit each other. Commensalism is when only one of the two species benefits from this relationship, whilst the other is not affected in a positive or negative way. Parasitism is when one organism benefits, and the other is affected in a negative way, for example weakened or damaged. This reminds me of the relationship between a herbivore and the plant that it eats.

During our workshop we learned about Soil Association Scotland; particularly looking at the importance of soil in our ecosystem. Some key facts and statistics that I gained from this included:

• Healthy soils store more carbon than all the forests in the world; helping us to combat climate change.
• 95% of our food relies on healthy soils.
• One quarter of the world’s biodiversity is found in the soil, which supports most of the food chains on our planet.
• In general, soil is made up of 45% minerals, 25% water, 25% air and 5% organic matter.

This workshop highlighted to me how essential soil is, and that without it our environment would suffer greatly.

During our visit to Strandhead Farm, we were educated on a great deal of advanced technology that is involved in the success of this dairy farm. It is the most technologically advanced dairy unit in the UK, with robotic systems that transport hay, carry out milking the cows and an automated cow handling system.

Strandhead Farm is also known for having the best animal welfare. The technology involved ensures this; for example shutters that automatically move allowing air to move through the barn depending on the weather outside. The cows also live within the barn, rather than staying outside. Alterations have been made to ensure that they have a better living situation inside than they would have out, for example sleeping on hay is more comfortable than grass.

Impact on my views/lifestyle/practice: Learning about interdependence has emphasised to me how everything in our environment is linked in some way or another. If one aspect were to be removed, then it would have very negative consequences. This is something I have already been aware of in some ways. Bees are an essential part of our ecosystem. The production of plants, berries, seeds, nuts and fruits would not be possible without insect pollination. This is a very relevant issue right now with recent reports of honey bees becoming endangered. This stretches as far as being very political; governments are approving harmful pesticides to be used on farms that are poisonous to bees, causing them to die out when in contact.

Soil is something I have never given much thought to, but the workshop relating to this has made me realise how much importance lies beneath the ground I walk on every day.

To conclude, being educated on interdependence has encouraged me to pay more attention to what may seem to be minor parts our ecosystem.

Areas of interest to further develop/explore: I found the visit to the dairy farm very interesting, as I was introduced to such advanced pieces of technology that I was not aware existed. It is somewhere that I would be interested in visiting again as a school trip, so that pupils could be educated on this as well.