California Water Crisis--Institutional Innovation for Sustainability Success

The key question from a sustainability perspective -- does current water planning account for likely local and regional effects of climate change -- particularly the decline in surface water? A quick review of the PPIC report below, does not indicate such factors being a core component of the analysis, although, the topic was at least entertained through a chapter on the drivers of change (shifting rainfall patters in the west over the past 50 years and increased sea level rise of 29-39 inches by 2100 with one-third occurring by 2050. The key question for large hardware investments is whether they make sense or not in an environment of shrinking water supplies. In any case, the analysis and initiatives below are good examples of the institutional innovation requird for sustainability success--increasing the intelligence and long-range problem-solving and management capacity of our organizations and institutions.

A recent analysis from the Public Policy Institute of California suggests a peripheral canal may be the "least bad" option given that the current approach is adversely affecting the ecosystem, reducing water supplies, and putting the delta at risk of seawater intrusion from a major earthquake, which could reduce water deliveries to Bay Area residents by 30 percent for months, even years. The report is entitled Comparing Futures for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is available at www.ppic.org.

An on-line policy simulation game was developed by, Lisa Pickoff-White, a recent graduate  of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism for the Chronicle. It's available at www.sfgate.com/ZGSR.

Rep. George Miller D-Martinez, a member of the House leadership, and Lois Wok, State Senator, D-Davis, Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Delta Stewardship and Sustainability and a member of the Delta Protection Commission, argue that before spending billions on a new peripheral canal or other hardware solutions, for which the stae Dept. fo Water Resources is now spending $1.1B on canal and water project palnning off budget with no legistlative oversight or public accountability, putting the right policies and strategies in place to correct years of mismangement is essential. They argue that initial steps now should include expanding proven and cost-effective strategies such as conservation, recycling, groundwater cleanup, desalination ehahnced coordination between reservoirs, and regional water supply projects. They also suggest that a smarter organization needs to be created to solve the problem and for on-going smart managment of the resource. They propose a Delta Stewardship Counciil whose twin goals should be water supply reliabilty and ecostyem restoration. Sate Must Rescue Delata From Crisis, Insight, SF Chronicle, April 12, 1990.

YouthActionNet Global Fellowship Program

YouthActionNet: Global Fellowship Program, Application Deadline: April 20,
2009

YouthActionNet seeks to develop a new generation of socially conscious
global citizens working to create positive change in their communities,
countries, and the world. Each year, 20 exceptional young social
entrepreneurs are selected as YouthActionNet Global Fellows following a
competitive application process. Supported by Nokia, the yearlong fellowship
focuses on the fellows' personal growth and leadership abilities, provides
instruction in specific skills required to manage innovative, world-changing
organizations, including communications planning, media outreach, message
development, presentation skills, and innovative uses of new-media
technologies. The fellowship also provides access to global-advocacy
platforms, media coverage, volunteers, mentors, and grant opportunities;
yearlong networking with peers, international and national aid agencies,
NGOs, and corporate partners; and a seven-day leadership retreat for 20
selected fellows. For eligibility information, visit: http://www.youthactionnet.org/

Variation Normal in Spite of Strong Global Warming

Study: Cool Spells Normal in Warming World, By ANDREW C. REVKIN, April 3, 2009, 2:15 PM, www.dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com

A valuable short paper that has been accepted for publication in Geophysical Research Letters (subscription required) shows [that global warming will not proceed in a straight-line fashion, with each successive year warmer than the last], . . . that we can get a 10- or even 15-year period with no real change in globally averaged temperature even though in the end we have strong global warming.

. . . Recent records and projections using computer simulations show how normal it is to have decade-long variation in temperature, up and down, on the way to a warmer world. The paper is titled simply, “Is the climate warming or cooling?” It is written by David R. Easterling of the National Climatic Data Center and Michael F. Wehner of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

The bottom line? “We show that the climate over the 21st century can and likely will produce periods of a decade or two where the globally averaged surface air temperature shows no trend or even slight cooling in the presence of longer-term warming,” the paper says, adding that, “It is easy to ‘cherry pick’ a period to reinforce a point of view.”

I asked Dr. Easterling why they pursued this effort, which somewhat replicates findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, but perhaps with a more pointed goal. Here’s his reply:

To show, in a peer-reviewed scientifically defensible way that there is no reason to expect the climate to warm in a monotonic type fashion, that there is natural variability along with anthropogenic forced warming and we shouldn’t expect each year to be warmer than the next or even a run of 10 years always to show warming. That we can get a 10- or even 15-year period with no real change in globally averaged temperature even though in the end we have strong global warming.

Dot Earth Blog

About Dot Earth:  http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/

By 2050 or so, the world population is expected to reach nine billion, essentially adding two Chinas to the number of people alive today. Those billions will be seeking food, water and other resources on a planet where, scientists say, humans are already shaping climate and the web of life. In Dot Earth, reporter Andrew C. Revkin examines efforts to balance human affairs with the planet’s limits. Supported in part by a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, Mr. Revkin tracks relevant news from suburbia to Siberia, and conducts an interactive exploration of trends and ideas with readers and experts.

Climate Science Literacy

What is climate science literacy?

Climate Science Literacy is an understanding of your influence of climate and climate's influence on you and society.

A climate-literate person:

• understands the essential principles of Earth's climate system,
• knows how to assess scientifically credible information about climate,
• communicates about climate and climate change in a meaningful way, and
• is able to make informed and responsible decisions with regard to actions that may affect climate.

http://www.eoearth.org/article/Climate_Literacy~_The_Essential_Principles_of_Climate_Sciences

New Basis for Environmental Protection

From Sierra Club's recent Thank you letter to Obama Administration, Lisa Jackson, EPA Administrator and Nancy Sutley, Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), Chairwoman, March 30, 2009

Thank You for Taking Action on Mountaintop Removal

Dear [Decision Maker],

Thank you for taking action to protect the streams, mountains, and communities of Appalachia. I am heartened by the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to apply the best science in thoroughly reviewing pending mountaintop removal permits, and I commend your commitment to enforcing Clean Water Act rules and to environmental justice.

Mountaintop removal coal mining has already destroyed close to 2,000 miles of streams, flattened more than 500,000 acres of mountain landscape, and degraded the quality of life of residents across the coal fields of

Appalachia. For three decades this practice has proceeded largely unchecked. Your actions demonstrate a welcome and long-awaited change in direction.

This decision will stop the bleeding; however, long term policy changes are necessary to ensure that communities and streams are fully protected from the most devastating effects of mountaintop removal coal mining.

In keeping with your agency's renewed focus on sound science and enforcing our nation's environmental laws, I ask that EPA begin a rulemaking to keep waste out of the definition of "fill" material, and out of our waterways.

In addition, regulatory activity should shift to protecting the natural environment as the essential, non-substitutable natural capital of the human economy, not simply for its intrinsic, aesthetic, or health value, as worthwhile as they are.

To this end, one project to undertake would be to produce an annual natural asset accounting of the human economy's effect on the natural economy, capital, and infrastructure. Done correctly, this could be the basis for accurately adjusting GNP calculations and price corrections to address external costs.

Scott T. Edmondson, AICP, Sustainability 2030 Solutions, Sustainability Strategy / Environmental Review, (415) 992-6473 scott-e22@earthlink.net.

From Crisis to Sustainability

COMMENT

The key component continually omitted even from the presentations of some ofthe best thinkers is how the shift to sustainability can be the spark andfuel that reignites the economy and simultaneously shifts the economytowards the sustainability transformation.

The developed world's international development funding of developed world sustainability investment would come back to the developed world's economies as demand for new goods and services, thereby, if done correctly, setting the world economy on a new trajectory to a transformed economy that enhances ecological integrityand leverages it into the design of the sustainability economy's tools andprocesses.

_____

From: sfp@igc.org [mailto:sfp@igc.org] Sent: Wednesday, March 25, 2009 10:10 AMTo: Scott EdmondsonSubject: FYI: From crisis to sustainability

From crisis to sustainability -- It is in the long-term interest of wealthy countries for developing nationsto truly develop, By Jeffrey D. SachsThursday, Mar 26, 2009, Page 9

The global economic crisis will be with us for a generation, not just a yearor two, because it is really a transition to sustainability. The scarcity ofprimary commodities and damage from climate change in recent years contributed to the destabilization of the world economy that gave rise tothe current crisis. Soaring food and fuel prices and major natural disastersplayed an important role in undermining financial markets, household purchasing power and even political stability. Viewed in this way, anessential policy that developed and developing countries should pursue inovercoming the crisis is to build infrastructure suitable for the 21st century. This includes an efficient electricity grid fed by renewableenergy; fiber and wireless networks that carry telephony and broadbandInternet; water, irrigation and sewerage systems that efficiently use andrecycle fresh water; urban and inter-city public transit systems; saferhighways; and networks of protected natural areas that conserve biodiversityand the habitats of threatened species.

"In practice, the global crisis means that sustainable investments are beingcurtailed rather than expanded in the developing world."

These investments are needed in the short term to offset the decline inworldwide consumption spending that underlies the global recession. Moreimportantly, they are needed in the long term because a world crowded with6.8 billion people (and rising) simply cannot sustain economic growth unlessit adopts sustainable technologies that economize on scarce naturalresources.

In practice, the global crisis means that sustainable investments are beingcurtailed rather than expanded in the developing world. As access tointernational bank loans, bond flotations and foreign direct investment islost, infrastructure projects talked about in the past are now beingshelved, threatening the political and economic stability of dozens ofdeveloping countries.

In fact, every part of the world has a huge backlog of vital infrastructureinvestments. It is time for a concerted global effort to bring thoseprojects online. This is not easy to do. Most infrastructure investmentrequires public-sector leadership to forge partnerships with the privatesector. Typically, the public sector must enter into contractual agreementswith private firms not only to build the infrastructure, but also to operateit as a regulated monopoly or on a concession basis.

Governments generally lack the needed technical capacity to design suchprojects, opening up possibilities of favoritism and corruption when majorcontracts are awarded. Such charges are likely to be hurled at governmentseven when they are not true, though all too often they are.

Still, the backlog of such projects is now wreaking havoc with the worldeconomy. The world's major cities are clogged with traffic jams andpollution. The atmosphere is filling with greenhouse gases from heavy use offossil fuels. Water scarcity is hitting virtually every major economiccenter, from North America to Europe, Africa, India and China.

Governments should thus strengthen their ministries of infrastructure(including power, roads, water and sanitation, and information andcommunication technologies), as well as their national development banks, sothat they can properly design long-term infrastructure projects andprograms. The ability to offset the crisis in a constructive manner throughexpanded public-private partnerships will determine the subsequent successof countries and regions. Interestingly, the US is about to create aNational Infrastructure Bank for the first time.

Nevertheless, US and European economic advisers generally believe that ashort, sharp stimulus will be enough to restore economic growth. This iswrong. What will be needed is an overhaul of the world economy towardsustainability.

Moreover, policymakers in the rich world believe that they can continue toneglect the developing world, or leave it to its fate in global markets.This is also a recipe for global failure, and even future conflict.Developed countries will have to do far more to help poor countries throughthe transition to sustainability. Whereas most of the "stimulus" legislationto date has been short-term and inward-looking, increased funding forsustainable infrastructure in poor countries would provide a powerful boostto rich-world economies.

Developed countries should agree to channel considerable savings todeveloping countries to finance the scale-up of sustainable investments.This can be done directly on a bilateral basis, for example, throughlong-term loans from developed countries' export-credit agencies. It canalso be done multilaterally by raising infrastructure investment flows fromthe World Bank and the regional development banks (including theInter-American Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, the AfricanDevelopment Bank and the Asian Development Bank). Both channels should beused.

Developed countries also fail to recognize that without much greaterfinancing of sustainable infrastructure in the developing world - especiallysustainable power generation and transmission - a global agreement onclimate change later this year, or any time soon, will be impossible. Therich world expects poor countries to restrict use of fossil fuels withoutany significant help in financing new and sustainable sources of energy. Inalmost all of the rich-country proposals about targets, limits, commitmentsand permits for greenhouse gases, there is hardly a word about helping poorcountries to finance the transition to sustainable technologies.

The G-20 meeting in London next Thursday offers hope for a true globaleffort to repair the failing world economy. This is the time and place tolaunch the global drive toward sustainability. If we fail to meet thechallenge, the global crisis will endanger the world for years to come.

Jeffrey D. Sachs is professor of economics and director of the EarthInstitute at Columbia University.  COPYRIGHT: PROJECT SYNDICATE

Slide Show -- Mobilizing to Save Civilization

Earth Policy Institue -- Slide Show for Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/PB3/presentation.htm

At Earth Policy Institute (EPI) we often receive requests for a visualpresentation to accompany Lester Brown's latest book, Plan B 3.0: Mobilizingto Save Civilization. The reasons vary widely, from people wanting to spreadthe word within their communities, to teachers looking to relay the messageto their students, to individuals seeking to quickly get the gist of thebook. Because of this interest, EPI has created a slideshow illustrating intext, pictures, and graphs why and how we need to mobilize to savecivilization. Our aim in producing this presentation is to provide a brief but engagingsummary of the book's key concepts. By helping interested parties spread thePlan B vision, we hope to encourage social and political involvement incritical environmental issues--for example, banning new coal-fired powerplants or implementing an economy-wide carbon tax to help stabilize climate. You are welcome to use this presentation and modify it to suit your needs.It is designed to be shared, so feel free to pass along the link to otherswho might be interested. We ask only that you appropriately credit EPI andthe photographers, notably Yann Arthus Bertrand (www.yannarthusbertrand.com/v2/yab_us.htm), eminent French photographer andfriend of EPI, whose works appear within. To reach the download page, direct your Web browser to http://www.earthpolicy.org/Books/PB3/presentation.htm. Please note that thepresentation is a large file (6 MB), so it may take a moment to download. If you find this tool useful, please let us know how you are using it inyour community, classroom, congregation, or with other groups by sending ane-mail to epi(at)earthpolicy.org. We may add your example to ourever-growing list (at www.earthpolicy.org/Books/Reaching.htm) of the manyways folks around the world are spreading the Plan B vision. Now let's getto work! Media Contact:Reah Janise KauffmanTel: (202) 496-9290 x 12E-mail: rjk (at) earthpolicy.org

"Greening" Trade Policy?

How Environmentalists “Greened” Trade Policy: Strategic Action and the Architecture of Field Overlap

Authors: Evans, Rhonda;Kay, Tamara Source: American Sociological Review, Volume 73,Number 6, December 2008 , pp. 970-991(22) Publisher: American Sociological Association

ABSTRACT:

This article examines why and how environmental activists, despite considerable political weakness and disproportionally few resources, won substantive negotiating concessions that far outstripped labor achievements during NAFTA's negotiation. Despite a trade policy arena hostile to their demands, environmentalists gained official recognition for the legitimacy of their claims, obtained a seat at the negotiating table, turned a previously technocratic concern into a highly visible populist issue, and won an environmental side agreement stronger than its labor counterpart. We argue that this unexpected outcome is best explained by environmentalists' strategic use of mechanisms available at the intersection of multiple fields. While field theory mainly focuses on interactions within a particular field, we suggest that the structure of overlap between fields—the architecture of field overlap—creates unique points of leverage that render particular targets more vulnerable and certain strategies more effective for activists. We outline the mechanisms associated with the structure of field overlap—alliance brokerage, rulemaking, resource brokerage, and frame adaptation—that enable activists to strategically leverage advantages across fields to transform the political landscape.

The OECD and SD

A few recent resources from OECD:

OECD Insights: Sustainable Development provides an essential introduction to the complex relationships between the economy, society and the environment. As global inequality and climate change become mainstream concerns, it asks the questions our generation needs to ask in terms everyone can understand.

OECD senior economist Candice Stevens on sustainable development(also available inHD)

Earth Institute's NYO SD Column

RE: Steve Cohen's Weekly Columns in the New York Observer.  E-Mail Cross-Posting From: the Earth Institute at Columbia University invites you to gain critical insight into pressing current environmental and sustainable development issues including climate, energy, and sustainable development from Professor Steve Cohen's (Executive Director ofthe Earth Institute at Columbia University) weekly column on the NewYork Observer.com. He brings years of experience in environmental and sustainable development policy and management to his weekly columns.

• In recent weeks he has covered issues of sustainable development and how this is more than a trend in his column titled, "Developing a SustainablePlanet: The Basics"(http://redir.targetx.com/cgi-bin/email/redir.cgi?id=0000598359-85605689).
• He has also drawn on his own experiences at the Environmental ProtectionAgency and how the new administration has already begun affecting agency in"Measuring Emissions of Greenhouse Gasses: EPA Takes a Critical First Step"(http://redir.targetx.com/cgi-bin/email/redir.cgi?id=0000598358-85605689).
• Professor Cohen's most recent column, "Public Service Private Greed" isonline now at:http://redir.targetx.com/cgi-bin/email/redir.cgi?id=0000598360-85605689.
• To read the latest work, updated every week, go tohttp://www.observer.com/author/steve-cohen/, or search for Steve Cohen inthe Green Pages of The New York Observer.

Contact: Columbia Univ. School of Int'l & Public Affairs, 420 West 118thStreet, New York, NY 10027

Meeting the Climate Change Challenge

8th John H. Chafee Memorial Lecture
John P. Holdren
President and Director, Woods Hole Research Center
Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Enviornmental Policy, Harvard University

Meeting the Climate Change Challenge

Report (PDF)

Video (WMV)

Slides (PDF)

Biography

6:00pm, Thursday, January 17, 2008 
Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center

The National Council for Science and the Environment

The National Council for Science and the Environment is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the scientific basis for environmental decisionmaking. We envision a society where environmental decisions by everyone are based on an accurate understanding of the underlying science, its meaning and limitations, and the potential consequences of their action or inaction.  http://ncseonline.org/

New Report on Sea Level

A SINKING FEELING, Mar 12th 2009 (Economist)

Sea levels are rising twice as fast as had been thought

SCIENCE and politics are inextricably linked. At a scientific conference on climate change held this week in Copenhagen, four environmental experts announced that sea levels appear to be rising almost twice as rapidly as had been forecast by the United Nations just two years ago. The warning is aimed at politicians who will meet in the same city in December to discuss the same subject and, perhaps, to
thrash out an international agreement to counter it.

The reason for the rapid change in the predicted rise in sea levels is a rapid increase in the information available. In 2007, when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change convened by the UN made its
prediction that sea levels would rise by between 18cm and 59cm by 2100, a lack of knowledge about how the polar ice caps were behaving was behind much of the uncertainty. Since then they have been closely monitored, and the results are disturbing. Both the Greenland and the Antarctic caps have been melting at an accelerating rate. It is this melting ice that is raising sea levels much faster than had been
expected. Indeed, scientists now reckon that sea levels will rise by between 50cm and 100cm by 2100, unless action is taken to curb climate change.

Konrad Steffen of the University of Colorado, Boulder, leads one study of the Greenland ice sheet. He told the conference that this sheet is melting not only because it is warmer but also because water seeping through its crevices is breaking it up. This effect had been neglected in the earlier report.

The impact of the melting ice has been measured by John Church of the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research. He told the conference that satellite and ground-based systems showed that sea
levels have been rising more rapidly since 1993 than they were earlier in the 20th century. He is  concerned that more climate change could cause a further acceleration in this rate.

Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research has examined data stretching over 125 years that link increases in sea temperatures to rises in sea levels. He told the conference that, based on past experience, "I expect that sea-level rise will accelerate as the planet gets hotter." He was supported in this view by the fourth expert, Eric Rignot of the University of California, Irvine, who called for the world's leaders to slash the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

Advance negotiations on the UN Climate Change Conference are due to begin in Bonn in just over a fortnight's time. The scientists hope that their startling warnings will change the outcome of that pre-meeting meeting. With much still to argue over, they hope that a clear scientific lead will both help to narrow the room for disagreement and galvanise the desire to get a treaty agreed.

See this article with graphics and related items at http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13277407 Go to http://www.economist.com for more global news, views and analysis from the Economist Group.

What will the new normal economy look like?

FYI. Click the "The new normal" link, below. To read the whole article you
need to register, but it's free and one of the few worthy sources of
intelligence in the media today.

_____

From: The McKinsey Quarterly [mailto:editorial@e.mckinseyquarterly.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 10:16 AM
To: scott-e22@earthlink.net
Subject: Conversation starter: The new normal

The McKinsey Quarterly
<http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/newsletters/image/logo.gif>

<http://e.mckinseyquarterly.com/W0RH002369997B3E6DF152F01805F0> The new
normal

The post-crisis world will look dramatically different from the pre-crisis
one, with less leverage and more government involvement in the economy,
writes McKinsey's worldwide managing director, Ian Davis. What other changes
can we expect?

This article is a conversation starter. Read what the author has to say,
then tell us what you think the new normal will be. We'll publish some of
the responses to keep the conversation going.

_____

You are receiving this mailing because you are a registered member of
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FW: Berkes March 23: Putting People into the Picture

-----Original Message-----
From: Stockholm Seminars [mailto:stockholmseminars@albaeco.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 3:26 AM
To: Scott Edmondson
Subject: Berkes March 23: Putting People into the Picture

------------------------------------------------------
THE STOCKHOLM SEMINARS:
FRONTIERS IN SUSTAINABILITY SCIENCE AND POLICY
------------------------------------------------------

We have the great pleasure to invite you to the seminar:

Social-Ecological Systems and Conservation: Putting People Back into the
Picture

Prof. Fikret Berkes
Distinguished Professor of Natural Resources, University of Manitoba, and
Canada Research Chair in Community-based Resource Management

Monday, March 23, 2009, 11.00–12.00
Please note the location: Room 312, Stockholm Resilience Centre, Kräftriket
2 B, Stockholm University

Download the seminar announcement as a pdf-file at:
http://albaeco.se/sv/images/stories/File/berkes0323-09.pdf

Please, post or circulate the announcement among your colleagues or put it
on the note board. The seminars are open for all interested and free of
charge. No registration needed.

Very welcome!

---

ABSTRACT:
Most of the world’s biodiversity is not in protected areas but on lands used
by people. Therefore, biodiversity conservation requires an understanding of
social systems and their interactions with ecological systems. In involving
people in conservation, attention must be paid to political and social
objectives, such as livelihoods, and creating a local stake for
conservation. It also requires maintaining cultural connections to the land,
and at times restoring and cultivating new connections. Traditional
conservation and management systems, such as sacred groves and agro-forestry
systems in the Western Ghats biodiversity ‘hotspot’ in southern India, are
an integral part of conservation strategies. Experience with two new
indigenous-led protected areas in subarctic Canada (a World Heritage Site in
northern Ontario and a Biodiversity Reserve in northern Quebec) can be used
to illustrate how local and indigenous knowledge can be combined with
science, indigenous rights and livelihoods taken into account, and
local-level planning integrated into national and international conservation
planning.

ABOUT PROF. BERKES:
Prof. Berkes is interested in commons, social-ecological systems and
resilience. His work on the conditions under which ‘the tragedy of the
commons’ may be avoided has led him to the study of community-based resource
management and conservation in northern Canada and internationally. His
recent publications include the books, Sacred Ecology (Routledge, 2008),
Adaptive Co-Management, with Armitage and Doubleday (University of British
Columbia Press, 2007), and Navigating Social-Ecological Systems, with
Colding and Folke (Cambridge University Press, 2003).

ABOUT THE STOCKHOLM SEMINARS: FRONTIERS IN SUSTAINABILITY SCIENCE AND POLICY

The Stockholm Seminars cover a broad range of perspectives on sustainability
issues and are focused on the need for a sound scientific basis for
sustainable development policy. The Stockholm Seminars is arranged by seven
interdisciplinary institutes to communicate scientific results on
sustainable development. The seminars are given at the Royal Swedish Academy
of Sciences and are visited by a large audience, including scientists,
students, media and policy makers in the public and private sector.

The lectures are free of charge and open for all interested. For more
information: contact Albaeco (08 - 674 74 00) or e-mail: info@albaeco.com,
or www.albaeco.com/sthsem

ARRANGED BY:

- The Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics, the Royal Swedish Academy of
Sciences

- The Stockholm Resilience Centre

- The Stockholm Environment Institute, SEI

- The International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, IGBP, the Royal Swedish
Academy of Sciences

- The Stockholm International Water Institute, SIWI

- The Swedish Biodiversity Centre, CBM, at the Swedish University of
Agricultural Sciences and Uppsala University

- The International Foundation for Science, IFS

--------------------------------------------------------------------

WANT TO UNSUBSCRIBE?
Follow this link http://www.albaeco.com/subscribe/unsubscribe.asp?id=3

Albaeco 2009, http://www.albaeco.se

UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme

The UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB), proposes an interdisciplinary research agenda and capacity building aiming to improve the relationship of people with their environment globally. Launched in the early 1970s, it notably targets the ecological, social and economic dimensions of biodiversity loss and the reduction of this loss. It uses its World Network of Biosphere Reserves as vehicles for knowledge-sharing, research and monitoring, education and training, and participatory decision-making.  http://portal.unesco.org/science/en/ev.php-URL_ID=6393&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

FW: Earth Policy News - PEOPLE IN ACTION: Spreading the Plan B Vision

-----Original Message-----
From: Earth Policy News [mailto:Earthpolicynews@earth-policy.org]
Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 5:24 AM
To: scott-e22@earthlink.net
Subject: Earth Policy News - PEOPLE IN ACTION: Spreading the Plan B Vision

PEOPLE IN ACTION: Spreading the Plan B Vision

http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/Reaching09.htm

The spirit of change is in the air as President Obama has taken office and
is working for solutions to the problems facing America. He has called for
mobilization in all communities to help remake the country.

One of the challenges the United States, and indeed the world, is facing
right now is how to alleviate the mounting pressures on the environment,
including climate change, dependence on oil, and the exploitation of natural
resources. As Earth Policy Institute President Lester Brown says, "It
depends on you and me, on what you and I do to reverse these trends."

We have highlighted people who, inspired by Lester Brown and Earth Policy
Institute, are taking action to build a better future for generations to
come. Visit www.earthpolicy.org/Books/Reaching.htm for more examples.

*Seeing Plan B 3.0 as an inspiring, comprehensive blueprint for saving
civilization, Colin Grant and his team at Vancouver, Canada-based software
firm Visible Strategies have brought the book to life with their unique,
visually-engaging SEE-IT software. Their interactive multimedia presentation
allows users to quickly and clearly see the goals and strategies outlined in
Plan B 3.0. See http://epi.visiblestrategies.com.

*TEMA, an NGO (non-governmental organization) in Turkey that focuses on
reforestation and soil conservation efforts, has distributed 4,250 copies of
the Turkish edition of Plan B 3.0 to members of Parliament, universities,
political leaders, volunteers, the media, mayors, libraries, and NGOs. See
http://english.tema.org.tr.

*Al and Anne Mielen established the NGO Save Our Ship Environmental
specifically for giving lectures on Plan B 2.0 and now Plan B 3.0. They have
also produced a series of books on environmental issues geared for pre-K and
K-2nd grade. Eco-Bean and his helper L'il Sprout teach kids the "need for"
and the "how to" conserve at school and at home. See www.ecosplace.com.
Contact: al@milenbooks.com.

*The Center for Ecological Living and Learning (CELL), based in Maine, has
developed coursework centered on the Plan B books for use in its college
abroad programs. The founders of CELL were so moved by the message from Plan
B--that the solutions to our global problems are being implemented today
around the world but need to be made systemic--that they incorporated Plan B
into their college curriculum. Learn more at www.cellonline.org.

*Neal Whiting of Alberta Canada has developed "To Save Civilization," a
website that summarizes Plan B 3.0 chapter by chapter. He is currently
promoting it by e-mailing a synopsis of the book along with links to his
website and to EPI's website to 1,200 ministers of his church, the United
Church of Canada, along with members of Parliament, provincial legislatures,
and corporate executives in Canada. Visit www.to-save-civilization.com.

*Jacqueline McMakin was inspired by the Plan B books to call people into
action, and so published a booklet entitled "Our Defining Moment: A Call to
Create the Future We Truly Want." The booklet provides strategies for what
individuals can do on the issues of restoring the earth, poverty, peace, and
creating awareness. The booklet is available for free downloading at
www.theglobalrenaissance.org.

*Eduard Oliemans along with his design firm Action Radius created Aspen Plan
B, a comprehensive strategy to restructure Aspen, Colorado's downtown area.
Aspen Plan B proposes redesigning streets and transit systems in order to
help eliminate traffic congestion and improve air quality, and to create a
more vibrant downtown landscape designed for people instead of cars.

Are you involved in disseminating the Plan B vision? We'd love to hear from
you. Please write us at epi@earthpolicy.org and tell us your story.

Thank you for being involved,

The Earth Policy Institute team

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Natural Capitalism Principles

1. Radically increase resource and energy efficiency.

2. Biomimicry: closed loop, no waste, no toxicity, nature as mentor.

3. Solutions-based production and services economy.

4. Reinvestment in natural capital.

Rocky Mountain Institute presentation on natural capitalism at a Canadian pollution prevention roundtable.

Green Portal - Cross Org Collaboration

 Go to: http://www.greenportal.org/

The Green Portal connects and aligns people from various manufacturing, engineering, scientific, government, investment and public policy organizations in a secure web portal outside of their organization’s IT infrastructure as a way to enable inter-enterprise collaboration, relationship building, knowledge sharing, project management and group learning.
We have modeled our collaborative platform and toolkit on Michael Porter's Cluster Network concepts to support decentralized, peer-to-peer process and project management to advance the inter-enterprise and cross-sector collaboration that is required to start-up and manage sustainable business initiatives.

Portal groups include distributed energy, point of use biopower, LFG to Methanol, wind power, biomass processing, bioremediation, emissions management, waste recovery, “green credits” trading, waste water treatment and other sectors of renewable energy and “green” technology.

To get access to the Green Portal contact: simon@iprismglobal.com.