A New Year is the time for being idealistic, before, we're told, all our resolutions go up in smoke (that'd be the one about

giving up fags) or belly up (diets). But it's worth a try, isn't it? Last week we asked for five

personal goals from everyone for the year ahead. This week, we're looking at the bigger picture and wondering whether

it's possible to change our world in 2008... and if so, how?

Just as William Blake could 'see the world in a grain of sand', then perhaps individual changes in the way we live can have an

effect on the wider world? In his New Year message on YouTube, The Archbishop of Canterbury asks each of us to be more

mindful of what we consume and discard. 'God does not do waste', he says. The RSPCA and celebrity chefs like Jamie Oliver and Hugh-Fearnley Whittingstall are appealing to consumers to change their shopping habits and pay more for certain foodstuffs, particularly chicken. And you'd have to have your head in a bucket

to be ignorant of the changes we're all being urged to make in our everyday lives to help reduce the apparent effects of global warming.

So, for this week's talking point, we ask:

• Can individuals really do things to change the world?

• Hey, who said the world needs changing?

• Are you planning to change your behaviour for the greater good for 2008?

• If so, what do you plan to do?

• What simple actions would you encourage others to take to help change the world?

• What aspects of our world do you think most need changing?

• (But let's not forget the bits we are getting right...)

• Can individual acts change the ecological future of our planet?

• Can individual acts help to shape our communities and society?

• What should we be teaching our children to help shape the future?