How do we Make Light Matter?

Science makes it clear that light is a crucial driver of our health. So what’s preventing us from consciously managing our exposure to light and managing our health?

This question is what began Make Light Matter’s journey. Find out more about our story, and how we’re helping people Make Light Matter to themselves, their families and the people in their care.

How do we Make Light Matter?

Science makes it clear that light is a crucial driver of our health. So what’s preventing us from consciously managing our exposure to light and managing our health?

This question is what began Make Light Matter’s journey. Find out more about our story, and how we’re helping people Make Light Matter to themselves, their families and the people in their care.

The story so far…

Make Light Matter is growing out of a journey of discovery and imagination. Join us?

Picture the scene. It’s 2016 and our founder, Neina Sheldon, is at her first One of manyTM One Woman Conference. She’s been asked to go on a journey of imagination, to seven generations future. What she sees there changes the course of her life.

It’s a pretty unremarkable picture, at first. A woman sits in a park using a laptop, while a family plays nearby with a ball. Only when Neina steps closer to the present does she understand that it was a completely artificial environment. And it was, in fact, remarkable. Because it felt completely natural.

The reality is that our world is changing. Our climate is becoming increasingly unstable and technological progress is speeding up. Neina didn’t know if that vision was even on Earth. Maybe it was another planet, under a dome, on a spaceship… But humans had learned how to create artificial environments that felt entirely natural. We had learned to create the light conditions that we need to support our body’s rhythms, so we could be happy, healthy and productive all year round.

So, how do we make that vision a reality? That’s the journey we’re on. And we start with where we are now.

Neina conceptualised the light nutrition ecosystem as she began to explore a simple question: What prevents us from consciously managing our exposure to light, so that we effectively manage our health? 

She knew this vision was not hers alone. It’s going to take the whole ecosystem working together. All the sectors and professions. Everyone from scientists and academics uncovering and sharing new insights – to individuals understanding and managing their behaviours and environments – to employers and service providers supporting them to do so – to building standards and health policies, and the professionals that bring them to life.

And like any good story, we have some ‘villains’ of the piece that contribute to poor light nutrition:

  • A lack of awareness at all levels of the ecosystem – because this is an emerging science that isn’t fully understood yet.
  • A lack of joined-up thinking and collaboration for the same reason, and it’s natural that we get silos.
  • Bandwagons, which a minority of individuals and organisations are quick to exploit and which harm public perceptions of certain industries and professions.
  • Other ‘dark forces’ at play, where there may be a vested interest in preventing progress on this approach.

So, how do we get everyone working together on light nutrition for the good of individuals’ wellbeing? How do we give people a trusted place to find the information and solutions they need to understand and manage their light nutrition needs – or help people in their care?

Well, you create a hub. And here we are. A social enterprise with a name that does what it says on the tin. We Make Light Matter. We start by building awareness, and we support the success of the ecosystem.

Find out more about…

You can contact Neina by email or on LinkedIn with any questions, suggestions or requests.

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