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Nature as a solution to respond to climate change challenges

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Researchers, practitioners and policy makers from the Mediterranean region and the European Union met to discuss the benefits and challenges of implementing Nature Based Solutions (NbS). From 22 to 24 January, 2019, the city of Marseille  hosted the workshop entitled “Implementation of Nature-based Solutions(NbS) to Tackle Climate Change: Focus on the Mediterranean Region”. The event provided attendees with an opportunity to identify new collaborations while sharing European and Mediterranean best practices and challenges related to NbS. It also provided policy-makers with increased awareness regarding the importance of healthy ecosystems for effective adaptation to climate change. Organized by Plan Bleu, IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation, the IUCN French Committee, Conservatoire du Littoral, Tour du Valat, MedWet and Wetlands International, the workshop bring together a diverse group of more than 100 participants from the Mediterranean region and the European Union, including researchers, practitioners, policy-makers, local authorities, civil society, and NGOs. Participants had a chance to share and discuss their perspectives regarding opportunities and challenges related to implementation of Nature-based Solutions.

Mediterranean societies are currently facing a wide range of challenges stemming from unsustainable urbanization and impacts on health, including degradation and loss of biodiversity, lack of clean air, water and soil, and climate change impacts which are resulting in an alarming increase of natural disasters. However, through actions that restore natural or modified ecosystems, nature itself can provide adaptive solutions that address societal challenges. These nature-based solutions offer sustainable, economical, versatile and flexible alternatives to the more traditional civil engineering developments or technologies. They can also help create new jobs and stimulate growth, all while protecting or enhancing biodiversity. For more information visit the website.

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BE.Hive: Climate Change Needs Behavior Change

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BE.Hive: Climate Change Needs Behavior Change is a one-day summit to explore global climate change through the lens of human behavior.
Climate change is the most pressing threat facing our species and our planet. Human behavior lies at the center of the challenge. But it also may be the solution. At the BE.Hive: Climate Change Needs Behavior Change summit, you will learn about the latest insights from behavioral science, get inspired by the world’s leading environmentalists, be ignited by artists, storytellers and explorers, and tap into some of the most promising approaches for shifting human behavior to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Whether you’re looking to change yourself, nudge your peers, or move society,  join a growing community of environmental changemakers, behavioral scientists, conservationists, designers and thought leaders at this one-day summit at the intersection of behavior-centered design and climate change.
Register here

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School strike for climat, Greta and the others

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Tout a commencé en août dernier quand une jeune suédoise de 15 ans (elle en a 16 aujourd’hui) désormais célèbre, Greta Thunberg (photo) a décidé de faire la « grève de l’école pour le climat » au motif que pour un jeune cela n’a aucun sens de préparer son avenir alors que l’inaction des adultes quant à la crise climatique prive précisément la jeunesse d’avenir.

Dans le sillage de Greta

Comme une véritable héroïne, elle était seule assise sur les marches du parlement suédois. Elle est revenue avec sa pancarte semaine après semaine. Puis elle a été rejointe, puis des élèves en Australie ont fait grève eux aussi, puis elle est allée à la coop 24 où elle a eu des parole fortes, puis des élèves en Allemagne, en Suisse, en Belgique… se sont mis en grève et on manifesté pour le climat en se revendiquant de ce mouvement de grève de l’école pour le climat, agissant de façon explicite dans le sillage de Greta. Cela n’est pas encore enclenché dans la réalité en France mais les décisions sont prises, ça va bouger. Les jeunes belges sont en particulier impressionnants. Ils ont décidé de se mobiliser tous les jeudis. Ils sont passés de 3 000 à 35 000 en 3 semaines à défiler pour le climat à Bruxelles. Certains manifestants n’ont pas plus de 10 ou 12 ans ! Greta à fait sensation à Davos, le mouvement ne cesse de se renforcer. A l’appel de Greta, le 15 mars sera une journée internationale de grève de l’école pour le climat.

Les profs entrent en action

En France un collectif des enseignants pour la planète s’est constitué. Ils se sont rencontrés dans le tout nouveau mouvement extinction rébellion. Ils disent « L’urgence écologique n’est plus à démontrer. Elle est à enseigner, et elle doit nous mobiliser à chaque instant, dans nos salles de classe, salles des profs mais aussi dans la rue et dans nos luttes! C’est le sens de la création de ce collectif Enseignant.e.s pour la planète! » Ils sont déjà en quelques semaines près de 3 000 à avoir signé.

Un appel circule dans les milieux de l’éducation

“…nous déclarons que nous ne voulons plus être les instruments d’une propagande rassurante, qui rend invisible la catastrophe écologique. Nous devons au contraire dire à nos élèves que la situation est gravissime, sur le climat qui s’emballe, la biodiversité qui disparaît, la pollution qui pénètre jusque dans nos cellules, et qu’aucun diplôme ni aucune formation ne les protégera contre cela…”. L’excellent quotidien de l’écologie Reporterre a publié un article sur le sujet.

Le développement durable en question

Nous pouvons aussi lire dans l’appel : “…Les médias, les scientifiques nous l’ont assez répété. Nous le savons mais nous nous taisons. Dans nos salles de classe, nous avons accepté trop longtemps d’enseigner le « développement durable », entretenant chez les élèves l’illusion que la situation était sous contrôle, prise au sérieux par les gouvernements du monde…”. Beaucoup d’acteurs de l’éducation à l’environnement apprécieront cette remise en question du développement durable. Ce concept, parachuté du haut dans les années 90, a encombré les réflexions, les échanges et les actions en faveur de l’environnement dans le monde éducatif depuis plus de 20 ans. Adoptons pour de bon le terme « transition » qui lui vient de la base et clairement aujourd’hui, à toutes et tous, s’impose.

Les Educations nationales n’ont pas assuré

De voir tous ces enfants et ces jeunes dans l’émoi cela devrait nous alarmer au plus haut point. Ils disent l’incapacité des adultes à mettre en œuvre ce qu’il faut pour stopper l’effondrement que nous vivons. Il n’y a pas qu’en France, il semble bien que ce soit dans tous les pays que les systèmes éducatifs étatiques n’ont pas assuré. Ils n’ont pas tenu compte des recommandations faites par les grandes conférences internationales sur l’environnement. Dés à Stockholm en 1972, il avait été dit et acté dans le principe 19 qu’il est  « essentiel de dispenser un enseignement sur les questions d’environnement aux jeunes générations aussi bien qu’aux adultes … »cela n’a pas été fait ou alors vraiment du bout des doigts. Il faut totalement repenser l’éducation.

En nous, on le sent, l’espoir renait

Nous n’avons pas besoin de jeunes obéissants qui savent apprendre par cœur et bardés de diplômes. Nous avons besoin de jeunes autonomes, confiants en eux, sachant prendre des initiatives, sachant travailler en groupe, des jeunes créatifs, proches de la nature pour l’avoir beaucoup fréquenté dès leur plus tendre enfance. Il y va maintenant de la survie de l’espèce humaine. Soit nous savons prendre les bonnes initiatives, nous-mêmes, pour notre économie domestique et celle de nos territoires locaux partout dans le monde ou alors nous continuerons d’aller à la catastrophe. Avec Greta, avec ces dizaines de milliers de jeunes qui se lèvent dans tous les pays, en nous, on le sent, l’espoir renait, aidons les !

Roland GERARD

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The street photography of Anthony Hernandez

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Fundación MAPFRE is launching its 2019 season with the first exhibition to be held in Spain on the American photographer Anthony Hernandez (born Los Angeles, 1947), which will also be the first major retrospective devoted to him. Featuring more than 110 photographs, “The confusing gaze of Anthony Hernandez” will offer an extensive survey of Hernandez’s lengthy and prolific career while also celebrating his distinctive and unique style of street photography and its significant evolution over time.
The exhibition has been organised by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), an institution with which Fundación MAPFRE has collaborated since 2015 when it presented the exhibition Garry Winogrand at its Madrid exhibition space. At the present time Fundacion MAPFRE’S exhibition Brassaï can be seen at the SFMOMA, where it is on display until 17 February 2019.


Hernandez was born in Los Angeles in 1947, the son of Mexican immigrants. Without specific photographic training or further education, his career began in the streets of his home city at the end of the 1960s. After his beginnings which followed the great American tradition of street photography, his work rapidly evolved towards an approach that used different techniques and aesthetics.

In his early career he used black and white photography, concentrating on the human figure. He switched from 35 mm to large format and from 1984 he turned to color photography, excluding people from his images to the extent of capturing details that verged on the abstract. His work on various series, which can span several years, maintain their consistency thanks to an artistic vision that is hard and direct, yet full of formal beauty. Today, Hernandez maintains his interest in things and places that don’t initially appear to be suitable as subjects for photography.

In his photos of Los Angeles, Hernandez avoids any overt form of cliché, using his camera to capture anonymous citizens going about their business, waiting for buses or engaged in simple pleasures designed to help cope with their daily lives. Neither does the photographer shirk from more distressing issues such as homelessness, evictions and those affected by economic crises. However, his images go far beyond mere social documentation, in that all his work reaffirms his interest in formal beauty and composition.

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Two postdoctoral position in Sweden

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The first one is for a Postdoctoral researcher in sociology with focus on International expert organisations: the School of Humanities, Educational and Social Sciences is seeking a postdoctoral researcher in sociology for a fixed-term appointment.
Eligible for the appointment as postdoctoral researcher are applicants holding a doctoral degree in sociology or in related subject areas. The doctoral degree should have been awarded no more than three years prior to the application deadline. Candidates who have obtained their doctoral degree prior to that may however also be considered if special grounds exist (leave of absence due to illness, parental leave, clinical duties, an elected position in a trade union, or other similar circumstances).
The application deadline is 15 March 2019

For information and application use this link

The second position is Postdoctoral researcher in sociology with focus on Environmental expertise. The subject area of the position is sociology with a focus on international environmental governance. The work will form part of a research project on interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary challenges for the intergovernmental expert organization IPBES, which synthesizes and assesses knowledge about biodiversity and ecosystem services. The project is part of the research conducted by the Environmental sociology group. For further information about this group, please visit its website.

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Call for Research Associate in Colombia

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SEI (Stockholm Environment Institute) Latin America is recruiting a highly motivated early-career colleague (Research Associate) who is committed to conducting quantitative research to support the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Latin American countries. The Research Associate will work under the leadership of the SEI Latin America SDGs program manager.

The main responsibilities will include:
– Contributing to SEI’s current portfolio of research projects, for example; reviewing literature, carrying out interviews and other socio-environmental data collection, data analysis and reporting
– Support the development of scientific research, models and tools related to topics covered by the SDGs
– Support the development and application of user-friendly tools and activities for stakeholder’s engagement, capacity building and decision making for SDG implementation, including organizing workshops and dialogues
– Support the preparation of reports, scientific publications, guides and manuals and presentations, among others.

The candidate’s profile
To succeed in this role, the candidate has to be organized, collaborative, solution oriented, proactive and have excellent communications skills in both Spanish and English. He/She must have the ability to work independently and is good at meeting dates and deadlines. The candidate should be able to, on occasion, work on the field (inside and outside of the country).

Qualifications and experience
B.Sc. in engineering, statistics, environmental- or earth sciences, with 1-3 years of work experience, or hold a relevant M.Sc. with no professional experience
Experience in quantitative research. Experience related to statistics, data and development is a plus
Familiarity with conducting desk research and navigating academic sources and online databases
Knowledge of network analysis software (e.g. Netdraw, Pajek and Gephi)
Excellent writing and communication skills in Spanish and English
Knowledge of socio-environmental conditions in Latin America is desired.

How to apply
Aapplications are reviewed on an ongoing basis so please submit your application as soon as possible, however no later than 8 February 2019 23:59 Colombia standard time.

Applications are accepted only through the recruitment system, you could apply online using this link and include cover letter highlighting relevant qualifications and experience, curriculum vitae.

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Feeding a Hungry Planet, now an online course

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It is possible now to enroll in the open, online course (or MOOC) entitled Feeding a Hungry Planet: Agriculture, Nutrition and Sustainability, which will run for the third time starting on February 11, 2019. This 7-week course examines key questions for the sector, including how do we ensure healthy and sustainable diets for a growing population, and how should agriculture adapt to support the Sustainable Development Goals? All the course materials are available for free; a small fee is charged should you wish to receive a certificate of completion.

What you’ll learn
– How the field has developed and shifted over time, and how recent developments like advanced technology impact farming.
– What is food security? How do poverty, inequality and other factors affect the nutrition of not just individuals, but entire countries?
– All about regulations influencing production, trade and other aspects of agriculture.
– Examples from industries ranging from rice to livestock, and the experiences of smallholder farmers.
This course is supported by faculty based at Cornell University, Johns Hopkins University, Rothamsted Research, Tufts University, and Wageningen University and Research.  The International Fertilizer Association (IFA) supports the course’s Teaching Assistants.

Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=NvbDeMOKGmc

 

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Last minute opportunity at the Oxford Spring School in Ecological Enonomics

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One extra place is available at the Oxford Spring School in Ecological Economics to take place 24 – 30 March 2019, the deadline has been extended until 31 January 2019.
Mr Marco Lambertini, Director General of WWF will be giving a special talk at the School to take place at St Hilda’s College, Oxford. This year the School is devoted to Green Economy for Countries, Cities and Regions: Ecosystems, Economy, Policy. The programme includes interventions from The Club of Rome, Sustainable Europe Research Institute The Open University, Imperial College London, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Institute of Sustainable Development Strategies and Environment Europe.

DG Marco Lambertini (WWF), Prof. Joachim Spangenberg (SERI), Dr Stanislav Shmelev (Environment Europe Ltd), Prof. Herbert Girardet (The Club of Rome), Prof. Dave Elliott (The Open University), Prof. Erik Gomez-Baggethun (University of Life Sciences, Norway), Prof. Victoria Hurth (Plymouth University), Dr. Stanislava Boscovich (Imperial College London), Prof. Irina Shmeleva (Institute of Sustainable Development Strategies) have confirmed their participation in the School.

The School will take place at St Hilda’s College, Oxford and will address key elements of the green economy transformation with a particular focus on ecosystems, economy and policy, exploring the cutting edge methods and policy applications in ecological economics. With a clear sustainable development focus, it will draw on the expertise of a range of disciplines: economics, ecology, physics, environmental sciences, finance, politics, international relations, sociology, psychology, complex systems theory, etc. to address the current challenges: climate change, biodiversity loss, resource depletion, water shortages, social cohesion and achieving sustainability.
The course will be composed of theoretical and applied modules and will address the key elements of the environment-economy interaction: the foundations of ecological economics, methodological approaches of input-output analysis, multi-criteria decision aid, ecological conflicts around the world, regenerative cities, smart cities, sustainable transport, sustainable urbanism, renewable energy, urban planning, ecosystem services and case studies from around the world. The Summer School will feature interactive simulation games.
The course is designed for multiple points of entry and could be helpful for PhD students, government experts, representatives of international organizations and business. The course will give participants an opportunity to explore key methodologies for ecological-economic analysis and to apply these to various case studies.
Oxford Summer, Winter and Spring Schools in Ecological Economics organized by Environment Europe attracted participants from  53 countries, including Canada, USA, Mexico, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Argentina, UK, France, Germany, Austria, Switzeland, Spain, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Albania, Latvia, Ghana, Nigeria, Jordan, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, China, India, Bhutan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Philippines, and Australia, including representatives of UNEP, UNDP, IUCN, OECD, ILO, DEFRA staff, NGOs, academia and business, including Shell and Deloitte.

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Trees around literature: a call

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“I’m interested in the particularity of each Tree – it’s ‘thisness’ (haecceitas)”, claims Canadian land-artist, photographer, and poet Marlene Creates, thus hinting both at the specificity of each singular tree and at the uniqueness of certain species at different latitudes. Literature, among other arts, such as film, photography, the fine arts, is one of those privileged terrains where Trees definitely enter our field of vision, our epistemic knowledge, our sensorial experience. In literary and artistic productions, Trees are ethically and aesthetically called into question (evoked, invoked, iconized, prized, iven attacked), with the aim to identify, describe, or allegorize their singularities and specificities, or to pay homage to their material, literal, cultural, ethnic, and symbolic meaning through a variety of textualities, including the new media.
Similarly, pioneering forest ecologist Nalini Nadkarni reminds us that in order to be fully understood and appreciated Trees should be looked at in multiple ways, thus fostering the interplay of science and the humanities. Intertwining the symbolic with the personal, the scientific with the spiritual, the mythic with the functional, Nadkarni invites us to consider a Tree as axis mundi, an imaginary line that connects Earth and Sky, but also the individual with the communal. Trees, in fact, are at once single entities and part of a wider community and environment that secretly communicate with each other (Wohlleben 2016, Mancuso 2017) through their roots and a fungal network nicknamed Wood Wide Web.
Silently and invisibly, trees share information, register pain, learn things, and even protect themselves and each other to the point of becoming arboreal cybercrimes by hijacking the whole system and sabotaging their rivals. Finally, Trees are sites of naturecultural memory: their rings record generations of human and nonhuman encounters and narrations, together with their mutual interference in the shaping of our identities.

The aim of this one-day international and interdisciplinary colloquium is to  attract scholars, artists, experts in various fields to explore and assess the presence, value, and stance of Trees and Tree-like epistemic structures (arborescence vs ryzome, tree-shaped flows) in the Anthropocene.
It is intended that selected papers will be developed as chapters for an international publication.
Proposals from any discipline are invited and may address but are not limited to the following topics:
– Trees and their representations in literatures and the arts
– Metamorphoses of humans and non-humans into trees
– New (invented/fantastic) species vs extinctions of Trees
– Trees and identity, ethnicity, nationality

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Equator Prize 2019, the call for nominations is open

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The Equator Prize 2019 will be awarded to outstanding community and indigenous initiatives that are advancing nature-based solutions for local sustainable development. Each winning group will receive USD 10,000 and will be invited to participate in a series of policy dialogues and special events during the United Nations General Assembly and the Secretary-General’s Climate Summit in New York in September 2019, culminating in a high-level award ceremony at the beginning of Climate Week.

The Equator Prize 2019 will have a special focus on

–        initiatives that protect, restore or sustainably manage natural environments
–        initiatives that promote local models for climate-smart food and agricultural production systems
–        innovative ways to finance nature-based solutions for sustainable development and climate change

The nomination deadline will be 26 February 2019.
Nominations can be submitted in 8 languages. For further information and to nominate visit the website or contact prize@equatorinitiative.org

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