Daniel Mittler, from Germany, is a Pearson College alum (1990-1992) and a member of the German UWC National Committee. Even before heading to UWC Pearson College he was an environmental activist. As a young boy he one day played with sticks in the river Rhine - and woke up with a bad skin rash the next morning. “That’s the first time I realized that if we don´t take care of nature, we are harming no one more than ourselves”, he says. Daniel was 13 when the Chernobyl nuclear disaster happened in 1986. From that moment onwards, Daniel spent most of his time outside of school organizing and joining demonstrations, writing about the environment and peace and being politically active.

After studying Politics, African Studies and urban planning in Edinburgh, London and Kingston, Ontario, he was lucky enough to turn his activism into a career and was able to start and lead many fascinating projects. As Head of International Campaigns at Friends of the Earth Germany (BUND), he initiated McPlanet.com, the biggest discussion forum on environment and globalisation issues in Germany, for example, and also organized one of the first ever mass demonstrations on climate issues in Germany. Daniel spent two years as Earth Summit Coordinator for Friends of the Earth International, preparing the organisation for the UN conference on environment and development issues (Rio+10), which took place in Johannesburg in 2002. 10 years on, in 2012, he led the Greenpeace delegation to the follow-up “Summit on Sustainable Development” in Brazil (Rio+20). Today, as Political Director of Greenpeace International, he leads the global network of political and business experts within all Greenpeace offices worldwide, gives internal strategy advice and represents Greenpeace at global political and business fora, including the global climate negotiations.

“If we share resources rather than fight over them, we can deliver a decent life for all without ruining our planet. But the clock is ticking and we need everyone to get involved. The current political rules still benefit environmental destruction. Billions of taxpayers money are spent every year, for example, to subsidies coal and oil industries to cook our climate further. In order to change this - and fund a sustainable future instead - we need to shift power, globally. This is a big task, but as Robert Hunter, one of the founders of Greenpeace, observed: “big change looks impossible when you start, and inevitable when you finish”. What matters is that we act now - and with urgency. The best and most urgent thing anyone can do is to get active politically. We need rules that drive sustainability forward rather than maintain the destructive status quo”.

Daniel feels that UWC made a huge contribution to him becoming who he is today. He says: “The impact that UWC has had on my life is truly multi dimensional. I met my wife through the voluntary work I do with the German UWC National Committee. We now have two kids together, which makes the task to ensure a liveable planet also in 50 to 100 years very personal indeed. For my kids - born in 2009 and 2012 - UWC is a lived reality already. For them, UWC stands for group of people and friends from all over the world - and a lot of laughter.

“Professionally, my interest to work on a global level came from my UWC experience, which made it easier for me to work cross culturally. To remain culturally sensitive in a pressurised work environment is a real challenge. I am aware that Germans are perceived as being very direct; what is culturally acceptable at home, does not necessarily ‘translate’ well. I have worked a lot with people in Asia, Africa and Latin America and am delighted when they comment that I am good to work with, or may be even more considerate of their needs than other Germans they have worked with in the past.

When you have the chance to meet people from around the world at such an early age, you learn to adapt and be aware of your surroundings. Certainly sharing a very small room at UWC with three other boys from around the world makes you accept that there are many ways to do things.

I was at UWC during the 1991 Gulf War and organised a peace fast for four days as well as published a book of poetry with poems from many UWCs called War No More. There were students at the College whose family members were in the front line and, of course, this created real tension. The war was brought home to us but despite these tensions, there was also still an ability to communicate; dialogue within the College remained possible, even though that dialogue had broken down in the world of politics. It was a time when UWC lived up the rhetoric that humans are human and individuals above all else, irrespective of religion and nationality.

One of my favourite UWC memories occurred at Victoria bus station. I was at the beginning of my second year, and there were first years arriving from all over the place. The bus to College was taking its time – so many of the newcomers waiting picked up their bags and headed for the door with a sign ‘Restrooms’ on it. They clearly thought this would be a place to rest – but quickly discovered that they were in fact heading for the toilet. These cultural confusions that we experienced together caused a lot of laughter in the first few weeks of each year.

A more difficult early memory was when my roommate from the US arrived and immediately put up a poster of Lenin in our room, which he had picked up on a visit to Moscow. When my other roommate, whose parents had fled from Prague and the Soviet tanks in 1968, entered the room he went very white indeed. After a bit of hectic negotiation, we found a compromise: Lenin hung upside down for the rest of the year. My American roommate could thus be reminded of his fascinating trip to Moscow and my Czech-Canadian roommate could rest assured that our room was not about to endorse the Soviet regime – and we had all learned a bit more about what it means to respect different ways of viewing the world.”

In the end, whatever our differences, we depend on one planet to survive. UWC´s mission statement calls on us “to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future”.

We simply cannot achieve a sustainable future, if we don´t work today to end unsustainable practices. An economy based on nuclear energy, oil and coal, genetic engineering, toxic chemicals or the overexploitation of our forests and seas will never be sustainable. I get up every morning because I am convinced there is a better way.”