Osbert Lancaster
Exploring what works in the polycrisis
https://thrivablescotland.com
- That was weird. The bread pudding we just had for dessert with cream cheese, turned out to be savoury with herbs, not sweet! The excitement of a surprise bag from our local artisanal bakery on @toogoodtogo.bsky.social !
- [Not loaded yet]
- I’d love to see @bsky.app add geographical locations to posts / accounts. Point above is very important, but I want to be able to filter my feed to find local news etc.
- Believe that road building just creates more traffic and shifts bottlenecks to another junction? You might want to sign this petition. pentlandhouse.com/cbxpetition/...
- “I don’t think I want a map of everything I’ve ever read. I want a mind free to read what it needs. I want memory that forgets gracefully. I want ideas that resurface not because I indexed them, but because they mattered.” bulletjournal.com/blogs/bullet...
- Fascinating story, and in the light of political chaos and machinations these days, great to see two public bodies standing firm on transparency in face of bullying. (Scottish Environment Protection Agency + Scottish Information Commissioner) www.theferret.scot/navy-try-kee...
- If you cycle tour then you now have an alternative to ScotRail / Citylink / Flix for bike transport. Ember routes now go as far north as Wick & Thurso Bikes are easy to prebook on Ember site. They don't insist on bike bag but not too muddy as bike may go in hold. @spokes.org.uk @edi.bike @sw20.info
- Bad news ... Local bus interchange only operating winter hours now. 😔 Post Brexit Highland economy = Bridge of Cally Hotel bar only open Fri & Sat. Good news .... Ember e-bus to Dundee only 30 mins late due to snow - changed ticket to next bus for free. @sw20.info @transform.scot @edfoc.bsky.social
- Ember is?
- Seeking out positive news stories is often promoted as an antidote to doom scrolling. I’ve tried it, and I continue to do it, but I often find that instead of being inspired, uplifted and given hope, I feel unsettled and disempowered. notes.realise.earth/archive/why-...
- This would improve the quality of most meetings immeasurably cw AI notes: 👉an alternative is to “agree on shared actions or headline summaries to be shared with others or as an input into project-management processes.”
- If people in your team or organisation are using AI notetakers as a way of coping with too many meetings and a culture of presenteeism, there's not a technological fix for this. The answer is to have fewer, better organised meetings www.careful.industries/blog/2025-11...
- Polycrisis bingo! Climate, nature, inequality, food supply, pollinators, ocean currents, democracy… What else should be on the card?
- [Not loaded yet]
- Last I heard, there was unfortunately no electricity at all in the Northern Isles!
- Podcasters of Edinburgh! Let’s talk podcasting on Monday at One Canon, Canonmills. www.heylo.com/event/-Oc9wO...
- I’ve just called on the UK to cancel its £1 billion of funding for a climate and human rights disaster in Mozambique. Add your voice: act.globaljustice.org.uk/node/4383?ut...
- Can you suggest a guest - working in Scotland - for our new podcast? Thrivable Scotland, Thrivable Planet is a podcast for people building a better world, people hungry for genuine hope and meaningful action amid the climate, nature and political crises.
- [Not loaded yet]
- Great! Can you suggest a guest? Perhaps yourself? If you DM me I can send you more information about the podcast.
- [Not loaded yet]
- Love this! I’m developing a podcast, Thrivable Scotland, Thrivable Planet. Transparent collective action is a core aspect I want to cover, but hadn’t thought about it in those terms. Very helpful.
- Transparent collective action, including *equitable* rationing, pricing and subsidies: - A 50-liter daily limit per person was imposed - Tariffs rose steeply, with high-use households paying up to ten times more - Low-income households received additional subsidies to ensure fairness
- [Not loaded yet]
- What if we saw our purpose as helping create the conditions for people and the rest of nature to thrive – whatever happens? Join me as I explore the idea of working for thrivable places and a thrivable planet. notes.realise.earth
- [Not loaded yet]
- I do like photos taken through train windows!
- [Not loaded yet]
- What IS the annoying type of fireside chat?
- [Not loaded yet]
- What has sometimes worked for me is trying variations of "I want to speak to a human".
- [Not loaded yet]
- Never been, as Leith is a long way from Portobello, and we have the excellent @portybooks.bsky.social. But I'd be equally annoyed if Waterstones came here. I imagine a petition might get some traction and attention.
- [Not loaded yet]
- [Not loaded yet]
- Indeed! Good overview of digital sovereignty and what to do here from @parismarx.com techwontsave.us/episode/300_...
- If I wasn’t an enthusiastic user of a Europe based, independent note taking app that only runs on Mac, I’d shift to Linux right away. agenda.com
- [Not loaded yet]
- On the rare occasion I click a link you share from that site I use Reader Mode.
- No Substack, I did not enjoy this post - it was f@cking depressing. But worth reading all the same.
- These are the 10 Steps that have led Britain to Fascism | Facing the Unthinkable open.substack.com/pub/fiftysix...
- [Not loaded yet]
- I can’t bring myself to listen. Can anyone else? What on earth are his arguments? He’s my MP and seemed soundish when he spoke at a local event. I should probably write to him.
[Not loaded yet]- Rowing forwards into the past?
- Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (“SLAPPs”) are abusive lawsuits which suppress public participation; used by powerful actors to suppress freedom of expression in the public interest. Scottish Govt has committed to adopting anti-SLAPP legislation www.abdn.ac.uk/law/news-eve...
- Tax justice is human rights justice. Professor Angela O’Hagan, Chair, Scottish Human Rights Commission, sets out why fair and progressive taxation is essential to realising rights like housing, health, and education in Scotland. #TaxJusticeScotland taxjustice.scot/blog/tax-jus...
- [Not loaded yet]
- Yes, alright - but that’s for, not “them”.
- What's the difference between an "executive" summary and a summary? Surely we've got beyond the 1970s idea of flattering people by refering to them as "executives"? (cf Likely Lads for those of us old enough to remember)
- [Not loaded yet]
- Because we don't trust you. We want to see the chain of evidence on which your views are based. (Despite the fact that today much of the report, the quotes and citations will be 'hallucinations')
- “Being difficult needs us to be compassionate and collaborative. To build systems, processes, and indeed societies that meet everyone’s needs, rather than the needs of a dominant few. It’s much more difficult than being competitive. It’s hard work, requiring patience, empathy, and understanding.”
- This is worth yr time adsei.org/2025/11/17/t...
- Dont forget Christmas merch available in the NPixts store! All profits go to Northern Picts research! npixts.teemill.com/collection/x...
- Cool sweat shirt! But if that’s some kind of trumpet, why is he blowing in to the wide end? If it’s a drinking horn, why is he emptying it over his beard?
- [Not loaded yet]
- [Not loaded yet]
- I’ll let you know!
- Just came across, and bought, Drifting North in this very shop when looking to spend a birthday book token. The joys of serendipity in a local bookshop cw algorithm. And Amazon doesn’t give the dog biscuits when she sits nicely.
- [Not loaded yet]
- No coincidence I suspect that he spent a long time working in Southern America, where Max-Neef deveolp his framework of Fundamental Human Needs
- Difficult to find a good overview online, this isn’t bad urbanstudies.institute/ecology-envi...
- [Not loaded yet]
- [Not loaded yet]
- No! We just share the same name! I wish it was a font that I’d like to use though.
- “Other PR execs want to “cash a big cheque from some company that tests on animals,” he says. “We walk down the street and somebody goes ‘my granny loved her care home, thank you for keeping it open’. That’s worth its weight in gold.”“ www.heraldscotland.com/news/2562480...
- I have my own font, but I don’t actually like it much… befonts.com/osbert-font-...
- [Not loaded yet]
- Wonderful! I especially like the dog in a boat apparently being towed by another boat with two rower, top right.
- [Not loaded yet]
- Nice! The thriller based on the theft of the stone “Romanno Bridge” by Andrew Greig is a good read! Though the earlier book with the same characters, “the Return of John Macnab” is better!
- [Not loaded yet]
- Sounds good! I’ll get in touch with her, many thanks!
- Back in the studio, me, co-hosts and sometimes an invited expert, listen to the interview and discuss how the guest’s approach could be shared and scaled, and applied in different contexts, helping the listener and their organisation build resilience, regenerate nature and heal society.
- As well as practitioners, we're also keen to hear about experts in Scotland who are either researching relevant topics or who have a deep understanding of the relevant policy landscapes. Can you suggest a potential guest or project? Perhaps it's you and your work?
- In each episode I take a walk with someone who’s working in Scotland to create the conditions for people and nature to thrive – whatever happens. We talk about what they’re doing, what works, and why it matters.
- This is an excellent, nuanced discussion of an important and emotive subject. (And incidentally about how research outputs can take on an unexpected live of their own.) All dog and climate lovers should read!
- 🐕 The climate paradox of having a dog in @grist.org 🐶 The story includes the tale of the wild and misleading media circus that followed one of our recent papers, which @dgoldwert.bsky.social navigated brilliantly! It also features @kimberlynicholas.bsky.social! grist.org/culture/the-...
- On days like today I like to recall some wise advice: hope is not a fleeting emotion, it is a discipline.
- [Not loaded yet]
- In that case you might like… notes.realise.earth/archive/cris...
