Visioning the future in a full earth

For some years it has been clear that environmental doom-saying, because it is a poor motivator, is a dead end. However true the prediction of global overheating, climate chaos, resource wars, pollution and disease (with consequent mass death or displacement), it leads most people to despair and denial rather than hope and resilience. Only a spiritual and emotional grounding (a transformation) gives humans the power to change our ways. This not only moral teaching, but sound neuroscience.

The "full earth"(1) invalidates all previous human experience. No longer can we migrate or innovate our way out of the dilemma posed by infinite economic growth on a finite planet. A number of the planetary boundaries have already been breached. The "developed" world of our generation is eating its way through the equivalent of 3 1/2 earths. If pond scum doubles every hour, at the last hour (when we could intervene) the pond still seems half clear. Apparently, not a problem.

And a peculiar limit of the human mind makes it harder to develop an overall vision of future, than to recall an (often imaginary) past Eden. Hard, but not impossible. Some of the worlds' best scientists, eco-activists, ethical thinkers and artists have been doing just that. This is a rough guide to their work.

One slogan should be discarded: "sustainable development", still a staple of United Nations and business thinking. But (as we see in para 2, and in successive reports to UNCSD) its elements are self-contradictory. A necessary compromise in the UN's Our Common Future, the 1992 Rio and subsequent Kyoto treaty, it is now outdated. Infinite growth is not sustainable. Quality of life, climate justice and right sharing are. The much-touted "green economy" of Rio+20 failed because it proposed to build the future on commodifying the Earth's commons; in fact it would finance climate action, and better life for the world's poor, by selling licenses to pollute.

The new watchword is "resilience" (2), the ability of biodiversity to repair the web of life. In time it may become overused and shopworn, but at this point it is a helpful guide.

Eco-economics was invented by Herman Daly (and others) emphasizing that production should serve social need, and human society within the planet. This blog has reported the astonishing variety of eco-economic thought (tagged EE) that has developed in event decades. Much was simply a critique of standard economics -- a critique of which Adbusters and Occupy have now made a protest movement. But some has been positive and transformatory.

Among these are David Korten's "great turning" (3), Vandana Shiva's "earth democracy", Via Campesina's fight for food sovereignty, Blue Planet Project's concept of water as a human right, the knowledge (and rights) of indigenous peoples partially recognized in UNDRIP (4), World Future Council's call for an Ombudsman for future generations. All of these show a significant move toward human inclusiveness -- ecojustice, to use the current term. Desirable, but still incomplete. In the long view, planetary ecojustice involves a spiritual, "cosmic" relationship that is also scientific and natural: the commonwealth of all life.

Key overall visions have begun to emerge in the last decade. Almost all include not only a set of proposals but a human process.

• Earth Charter Initiative, the earliest and most abstract;
• Peoples Sustainability Treaties, a bottom-up coalition emerging from the wreckage of Rio+20; its process is described in the Widening Circle; 
• Climate Justice Now! network of NGOs
• the CBD Alliance for biodiversity – see its 2010 Declaration;
• the Transition Town movement;
• international Degrowth conferences;
• the World Social Forum's creation of altermondial networks;
• the World Council of Churches' June 2012 Bogor call -- itself based on six years of AGAPE consultations by WCC and various churches,
• other ecumenical and interfaith bodies; Confucian, Hindu, Islamic and Sikh green movements
• Joanna Macy's Buddhist-inspired work that reconnects and active hope
• collaborative publications such as New Economics Foundation's Other Worlds are Possible, David Korten's Yes! Magazine, Orion magazine's Thirty Year Plan, and the Post-Carbon Institute's Post Carbon Reader.

Note to readers: What significant groups, thinkers or visions have we omitted from this list? We apologize in advance, and propose a collaborate process. Please send us your comments and suggestions.

Concepts

1. Full earth: not only in the sense of population, but of human (over)use of resources. The concept is Herman Daly's; further developed by Robert Costanza and others. Similar concerns are shown by those speaking of climatic tipping points; the nine planetary boundaries of Johan Rockstrom et al demonstrate that human appropriation is breaking limits of nature's resilience.
2. Resilience is a term from ecology, applied in the Transition Town movement to human recovery from oil dependency, and Via Campesina's principle of food sovereignty; in both cases, “localization” – local control – assures adaptability. Vandana Shiva's “earth democracy” shares the assumption that local control is scientifically and socially preferable to an uncontrolled world market.
3. The title of Korten's 2006 book, fundamental to collaboration by Yes! authors And BALLE green capitalists. Other thinkers such as Gus Speth, Paul Hawken, Bill McKibben call for ecosocial transition: see the US site greattransitionstories and NEF The Great Transition (2009).
4. United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007) declares such rights, especially Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) to the use of native knowledge or biology; but in many cases national and international respect of these rights is lacking. Indigenous groups have denounced the Rio+20 plan for a “green economy”, REDD, and CBD Nagoya “benefit sharing” which neglected such rights. The Oct 2012 Biodiversity conference in Hyderabad and 2014 World Conference on Indigenous Peoples promise to be flashpoints.

Bikers for sustainability

See the June issue of Toronto Now and search "bike" for backstories. The Vermont "Solar Rollers" are a nuke-free cycle group. Here is their latest campaign and a SAGE briefing on the outmoded Vermont Yankee reactor. Download the book of 36 bike tours by Vélo Québec: Le Québec en 30 boucles. Self-guided bike tours of Ontario by Bike ON Tours. Prairie, Atlantic and BC clubs. See these health tips and Wikipedia Cycling article which warns of common injuries and how to avoid them. 

Citizen Summit Day 2

Other breakout sessions over the weekend included green jobs, disaster preparedness, sustainable cities transportation, SCP, food security; local, state, provincial & regional action; interfaith and nonpartisan action, conservation, energy efficiency, fisheries, education; new indicators, measurement and verification, and "un-conference" proposals from participants. The overall emphasis was on developing citizen advocacy for Rio+20.

Kari Fulton, EJCC. Paul St Pierre-Plamondon, Génération d'Idées

I attended a breakout on climate justice by Kari Fulton of EJCC. Because of the long struggle of an Afro Americans and other minorities against environmental dumping in their neighborhoods, they have much experience to offer. She also urged international solidarity with grassroots Local Justice, Via Campesina, and Climate Justice Now. There is a historic misuse of power by the rich countries, allied with local elites in the poor countries–a situation protested by a Vandana Shiva in Earth Democracy. Evo Morales, the 1st indigenous president of Bolivia, held a world conference of the poor at Cochabamba in 2010. In the US there was almost no press coverage. Wiki leaks showed that the United States blackmailed governments to join the Copenhagen Accord; those that did not, had their aid cut. As a program of action she proposed the 10 principles for just climate policies in the US.

Plenaries in the 2nd day: coalition building for Rio+20 explored reasons for coalition, expanding beyond the local, pulling together resources and ideas, UN prepcoms, reaching new groups. There will be monthly conference calls you. A guide to house parties and other organizing methods is available.

In the afternoon, we heard from David Malone of the American Sustainable Business Council, who called for a combination of citizen and corporate greening, including environmental justice and indigenous stakeholders. Voluntary commitments are extremely important but systemic changes are also needed. How can we connect the indicators? How can we act within the required time? He was followed by Law Prof. John Dernbach of Widener University who said that what he was witnessing here was the merchants of sustainable development movement. I've been teaching this since 1992 and see increasing connections between different experts, you are now moving into citizen action. His new book is titled Acting as if Tomorrow Matters.

A number of other speakers offered visions and comments on the UN process. They are better seen in the live videos (links are to be posted on the Summit site) particularly those of Mexico's rep to the UNCSD, Jorge Laguna-Celis.

For updates and new contributions see:
Yale SFES Sage Magazine's blog from the summit
rio20-social-media@googlegroups.com
rio20.net
mobilize-us.org
citnet.org
earthsummit.ca
sustainus.org

Lifting hearts, raising money -- musician Maurice Kirya

Ugandan musician Maurice Kirya talks about the arts and how African youth can fight poverty.

Influenced by the beauty and unique spirit of his home, Uganda, Maurice Kirya’s ‘Mwooyo’ music blends soul, Afro, and R&B. A professional singer at age 15, he recorded with popular Ugandan gospel, rap, and jazz artists and as "Mister Deejay" hosts a radio show showcasing live acts from all over Africa. In 2007 he won a Pearl of African Music Award. In 2008 he and his friend Kawesa staged a “Music with Heart” concert to raise funds for open heart surgery at the children’s charity ward in the International Hospital Kampala.

Gung Haggis Fat Choy!

Todd Wong combines Chinese New Year with Robbie Burns Day: poetry slam with Kung Fu, highland dancers with sheng players, erhu and bagpipes, dragon boat racing, and a banquet with deep-fried haggis wonton. Seattle and other cities are copying.

"Toddish McWong" in the Sun Yat-Sen garden, Vancouver, with accordion and MacLeod tartan -- Deb Martin photo, courtesy of Globe and Mail 17 Jan 2011.

Gung Haggis Fat Choy! started in 1993 at Simon Fraser University when Todd Wong, a student and 5th generation Fascinated by the similarities of martial arts, ancient music and ancient foods, "Toddish McWong" created a Vancouver BC tradition. In 2007 he fund-raised to save Japanese-Canadian author Joy Kogawa's childhood home from demolition. Eighteen years later, he serves dinner for a thousand  and races with the GHFC dragon boat team, whose uniform is a Fraser Hunting kilt and a red shirt decorated with Chinese style "lucky" gold coins.
 
This Is Who We Are: Scots in Canada exhibition toured Canada and Scotland in 2009, featuring among other photos, Wong in a lion mask (right, a different pic from the one in the exhibition, tartan unidentified).








Left, Robin Hood tax mask from Adbusters mag.

For more cultural hybrids, see Todd Wong's GHFC webpage, a 2004 CBC-TV video clip, Brave Waves fusion music, Ricepaper (especially its green issue) and Adbusters magazines.

“Rural reality radio” covers climate change in India -- by Shravya Reddy

photo © 2008 Flickr/Russ Bowling CC CC BY 2.0

Cross-posted from climaterealityproject.org 27 Dec 2011.  
  As we work to build a global climate movement, we often rely on the latest technologies to get the word out fast. Case in point: In September, the Climate Reality Project’s worldwide event – 24 Hours of Reality – reached people instantly in their living rooms via the Internet. But of course, billions of people are not connected to the Internet, and many don’t even have electricity. To reach such audiences, radio is often the best means of mass communication.

Recognizing this, an environmental organization in India has taken to the airwaves to help rural communities prepare for the impacts of climate change – using the format of a reality show competition! Development Alternatives – also known as DevAlt – has rolled out a program called the “Rural Reality Radio Show on Climate Adaptation” (PDF).

To find out more about this, I had a really exciting chat with Zeenat Niazi and Vijay Chaturvedi, both Senior Program Directors at DevAlt [photo at right]. Over the past year, in over 100 villages in India’s Bundelkhand region, they’ve worked with groups of women who have been exposed to impacts of climate change like prolonged drought. These women were encouraged to devise special projects to help prepare for climate impacts, and were given airtime to discuss their projects on local community radio stations in a reality show format. Their projects – designed and implemented entirely by the women themselves – range from improved farming techniques to vermicomposting (using worms to turn waste into compost). The “contestants” were then shortlisted, and are up for winning a grand prize. One of the coolest features is that the judges are their fellow villagers who have been listening to the radio shows all along. Voting will start next month, and I’m already curious to find out who the winner will be!

This program was funded through a World Bank award, and its objective is to help rural communities change some of their traditions and practices in response to a changing climate. The program also aims to prove that simple measures can reduce climate risk.
By the looks of it, the initiative has already started changing attitudes toward climate preparedness. As Ms. Niazi told me, “when we see farmers switch from wheat to barley for their winter crop for the first time in decades, we know that the message is sinking in, and they know they have to be ready for change.” On a hunch that I may not have had much experience with farming (a very good hunch!), Mr. Chaturvedi clarified: “Barley requires much less water than wheat, and water availability has been dwindling in the region.”

DevAlt isn’t working solely on responding to climate change. They have a whole slew of projects that prevent carbon pollution in the first place. These low-carbon growth projects fall under the umbrella of their “Shubh Kal” initiative (which means an “auspicious tomorrow”). Ms. Niazi explained that even though these villagers have a negligible carbon footprint, her group still felt it was “important to demonstrate that they can lead by example,” and prove that communities can improve livelihoods while reducing carbon pollution.

An example of a Shubh Kal project is the building of greener brick kilns that reduce carbon pollution by up to 50%. A second example is the distribution of “carbon cards”, which contain a village’s carbon footprint as well as the amount of carbon prevented from entering the atmosphere though tree planting, forest maintenance and soil conservation measures. Periodically, the village’s performance in lowering its footprint is measured and recorded on these cards.

I couldn’t agree with Ms. Niazi more when she exclaimed: “These communities are showing others that they don’t have to repeat the same mistakes the rest of the world made, and can achieve prosperity without following the old model.” Three cheers to that! Now if only others – in the developed and developing world — figured this out too, and realized that economic growth can be achieved in a low-carbon manner. Hmm … Perhaps I need to get myself on a reality radio show soon and start spreading the word!

What do you think about this approach of showcasing communities’ climate preparedness efforts through radio programs? Would you listen to such a show, or even participate in a show like this in your community? If so, do pitch it to your local radio station. We’d love to hear what you think!

Guarding Eden -- new book by Deborah Hart

Deborah Hart is a mother of two and climate activist who left her day job in Australian arts and culture organisations to found LIVE, a local climate change action with more than 3,000 supporters and  CLIMARTE, for artist activists.


Guarding Eden brings together visions, actions, and life stories. Its themes include climate, water, food, animals, forests. The website is adding additional material for a series. See this list of contributors from Australia and around the world.

Allana Beltran as "The Weld Angel" forest guardian, March 2007, Weld Valley Tasmania - Photo: Matthew Newton

The site announces, "We follow the work of people who are driving change to implement sustainable solutions, and provide readers with the means through which to connect with a powerful, rapidly growing grassroots environment movement."

Urban peace testimony -- Elaine Bishop

This item is excerpted from Vince Zelazny's blog about CYM 2011, Wish you were here.

Elaine Bishop, Co-recording Clerk at CYM sessions, with Dave Grossman of Home Mission and Advancement Committee.

Elaine Bishop's Urban Peace Testimony developed around her neighbourhood and place of work, the North Point Douglas Womens Centre in Winnipeg. I asked Elaine to elaborate on what an urban peace testimony was.  Peace testimony has been a movement to abolish war, and later, grew to incorporate a movement to create or cultivate peace. Elaine credits Meredith Egan with coining the term ‘urban peace testimony’, but found on reflection that it makes sense as a focus of inquiry.


We have a poor understanding of peace in relation to urban life. We understand land poorly in relation to urban areas and land ownership. To cultivate urban peace, people need food, water, adequate housing, safety from domestic and other forms of violence, friendship, spiritual nurture, and a whole host of things.

In Manitoba, there has been a huge influx of aboriginal people into the city of Winnipeg from the northern communities. This movement parallels depopulation of rural areas and rural influx of impoverished people happening in many countries of the global south. There are issues of safety that are emergent and pose a danger to new arrivals in the city, especially young women.

The Point Douglas Neighbourhood was recently in the news due to an unfortunate event where a person set fire to a rooming house in which four people died. This was publicised nationally by nearly all media. What was not reported was that the Womens centre immediately became involved by organizing prayers, memorials,  and smudging ceremonies on the site where the incident took place. A similar thing was done a year earlier at a nearby bus stop where a person had died in a violent attack. Spiritual nurture and healing thus are central elements of an urban peace testimony.  The centre also undertook environmental projects and a walking school bus, in an effort to promote normal, peaceful life.  CFSC collaborated with the Womens Centre to present a level 1 AVP workshop, and a level 2 workshop is also planned.  Step by step, the outlines of an urban peace testimony in north Winnipeg is emerging.

Moral Ground -- a book review

Thanks to Lyn Adamson for suggesting this book, Moral Ground: Ethical Action for a Planet in Peril (Trinity University, 2010). 

It is a collection of reflections and eco-visions by over 100 thinkers. Since then, the Moral Ground website has added 14 bonus articles, as well as excerpts from the original book.

Like so many others in the ecojustice movement, the editors Kathleen Dean Moore and Michael P. Nelson feel that scientific data and government regulation are insufficient for the social and personal transformation that true earthcare requires. “What is missing is the moral imperative, the conviction that assuring our own comfort at terrible cost to the future is not worthy of us as moral beings.”

In a May 2011 survey, Climate Change in the American Mind, 82 out of 100 admitted they have made no changes in their lifestyle despite the gathering evidence of man-made pollution. Though climatologist James Hansen, biologist E.O Wilson,  preachers like Bill McKibben, University researchers and UN agencies report we are rapidly reaching climate chaos, with 300,000 human lives lost annually as a result of global change, species die-offs exceeding 100 times normal rates, planetary limits exceeded -- the majority of us do nothing.

How can we learn collective responsibility? How can we act out of concern for our grandchildren, and compassion for everything that lives, rather than individual greed, comfort, and convenience? That is the challenge of this book. MG's mission statement invites us to town hall meetings, study groups and actions, to start "a national conversation concerning our individual and collective responsibilities to the future."  

• Yes, it’s wrong to leave behind a ransacked and dangerously unstable world.
• Yes, our lives must be an expression of what we most deeply value.
• Yes, we can and must make conscience-driven choices about how we spend our money and time.
• Yes, we must provide a safe and thriving future for our children.
• Yes, tending to the Earth and reversing climate destruction are a moral, spiritual and religious imperative.

Bâtir le pays sacré -- par Diane Noury

Diane Noury, auteure-compositeure-interprète, fait partie du comité de citoyens de Nicolet-Yamaska et Bécancour qui demandent un débat public au Québec sur la question de l'énergie, l'amendement de la loi des mines, des mesures pour atteindre les objectifs de Kyoto, et le développement des énergies propres. Voir leur manifestation du nov 2010 et leur lettre au Ministre des Mines au sujet du gaz des schistes, et la mobilisation Vigilance Ènergie dont ils font partie. Face à un gouvernement laxiste dirigé par les intérêts fossiles pétro-nucléo-gazières, le mouvement populaire s'est élargi avec le congrès Cochabamba+1 tenu à Montréal la semaine dernière, là où Diane a redigé ce poème... bientôt une chanson? Elle fait également partie du Moratoire d'une génération et d'En vert et pour tous.

village de St-Grégoire       

Sommes-nous les seuls êtres humains qui se retournent vers
leur passé ?
Sommes-nous les seuls à penser qu’ils seront peut-être les
derniers ?
Sommes-nous tellement intelligents que nous seuls voyons les
choses aller ?
Sommes-nous tout seuls à aimer la terre comme une mère ?

parc de la rivière Gentilly          

Je sais que non, j’espère que non.
Je cherche l’autre du dehors, celui et celle de l’autre bord.
Je tends la main, je l’ouvre pour donner, pour recevoir, pour
échanger.
Pour être tendre avec la vie qui me porte.
J’aime l’humain, j’honore le vivant.

Et je me lève en ce jour pour marcher droit, le regard fier
Jusqu’à l’horizon d’un jour nouveau que nous allons refaire

Ensemble
Unis
Divers

Forts de nos différences et du meilleur de soi.*

centre nucléaire Gentilly-2 (réfection contestée)

Je veux me battre contre mes propres peurs et mes inhibitions

Et bâtir le pays sacré qui nous habite tous.
Je veux rejoindre le bien et le beau en tout.
Le voir renaître, grandir, mûrir et rebâtir le monde.

***

*Le meilleur de soi, un livre de Guy Corneau

à droite: le manoir Bécancour
à gauche: cuisine communale à Bécancour

Time for Creation & the Global Work Party -- by Bill McKibben

Sometimes 'climate change' can seem like an abstraction. That is, until you see it in action, as we have this summer in Pakistan, in the mountains of China, in Ladakh, and in the overheated peat bogs of central Russia.

This is all part of the reality we face in our current world of 392 ppm CO2. Our main work is to try and slow down the climate crisis before it gets worse--by getting to work on climate solutions that can get us back to 350.

But working to create a safe climate future doesn't mean we don't need to try and help the victims of the climate crisis along the way. When our comrades and colleagues issue a call for assistance, we do everything we can to respond.

Pakistan photos courtesy Ontario Medic
The recent floods in Pakistan have displaced 20 million people, and nearly a fifth of the country is literally underwater. The scale of the suffering is difficult to fathom--and though relief efforts are underway, reports from the ground indicate that the response has been far too small and slow to provide the level of relief needed.

That's why we hope you'll take a moment send some money to local groups helping the victims of climate disasters--and that you'll keep working in your community to build this movement.

Wildfire smog in Moscow: Lev Maslov-AFP-Getty

mudslides in Ladakh: The Travelling Librarian

All of the countries recently devastated by the floods, mudslides, and heatwaves were hugely active in the International Day of Climate Action last October 24 and they're involved in 40 days of prayer Time for Creation by the World Council of Churches, leading up to the Global Work Party on 10 October 2010. It's both tragic and inspiring to see disaster pictures--and in those same regions see amazing ideas and events for 10/10/10.

In the face of a changing climate, we hope you'll send some money to the victims of climate disasters--and that you'll keep working in your community to build this movement.

***

See McKibben's three -step strategy for world action in Yes magazine 4 Aug 2010

1. educate the public (talk to neighbours and friends) about global warming
2. demand science-based legislation and let lobbyists howl
3. start a mass movement to make it possible

In Canada, join People's Assemblies on Climate Justice (Council of Canadians, IEN, Kairos, CYCC).
Not to forget the needs of Haiti -- see Haiti: Canada for Haiti and CHAN-RSCH.
See also NASA scientist Dennis M. Bushnell's predictions of human overshoot and climate catastrophes.

Vote Climate Now video

This video is by a US group, Vote Climate Now. Similar campaigns are underway in Canada and in Australia.

Music "Realm Of You" by Marisa and Jonathan Brownfield, Fusion Fable. Photos: babies by Sean Dreilinger and AF-Photography, mosquito net by MikeBlyth, drought by safe democracy.

See also US Youth Summit for Climate Action.
Beware quick fixes, warn scientists in "Climate change: helping nature survive the human response" Conservation Letters 4 Aug 2010.

Développer des économies régionales -- Sylvie van Brabant

Mikael Rioux devant une machine vivante (purificatrice d'eau) de John Todd: photo de Olivier Cheneval

Extrait du blogue de Sylvie van Brabant, qui montre son film Visionnaires planétaires et répond aux questions des étudiants:

Je ne me souviens pas de toutes les questions mais ça n’arrêtait pas – j’avais à peine le temps de prendre mon souffle. Des questions sur la réalisation du film mais surtout sur l’environnement et les exemples de solutions dans le film. Ils avaient soif d’en savoir plus. Il y a bien sûr eu des questions sur le sujet de l’heure : quand est-ce que je pensais que la grande catastrophe allait arriver. J’ai répondu: ” Je n’ai pas de boule de cristal mais je pense comme Albert Jacquard qui dit : « La conscience du danger va sauver l’humanité. »

Je ne leur ai pas décris un avenir en rose, il y a urgence et il faut agir maintenant. J’ai été claire que chacun d’eux était interpellé à changer leurs comportements, à demander plus à leurs politiciens, à s’impliquer activement dans des causes, des mouvements. C’est leur avenir et celui de leurs enfants qui est en cause. Ils le savent, ils ont peur et ils ont besoin d’être encouragés et motivés. Ils n’attendent que ça et c’est pourquoi je crois qu’il y a eu tellement de questions.

Je représente quelqu’un d’engagé, qui ne lâchera pas, comme les visionnaires du film. Ils voulaient des exemples concrets : comment est-ce que je voyais l’environnement dans 10 ans par exemple. Je leur ai cité John Todd qui dit essentiellement: “Il faut développer des économies régionales, chaque région doit devenir le plus autonome possible”. Avec le prix de l’essence qui va grimper, nous ne pourrons plus recevoir tout de la Chine ou faire voyager nos carottes du maraîcher du Saguenay à Montréal pour ensuite être transporté de Montréal au Saguenay dans les épiceries. Cette façon de faire n’a plus de sens – elle crée des dépenses inutiles en plus de créer des gaz à effet de serre.

Par contre si nos économies seront plus régionales notre savoir lui sera mondial. Nous le voyons déjà avec l’Internet, nous avons accès à de l’information de partout. Nous n’avons plus raison de dire je ne le savais pas – l’information est là, les alternatives sont là. Il faut aller les chercher et les partager.

À la fin de chaque période je leur demandais ce qu’ils faisaient dans leur vie et à l’école pour améliorer la qualité de l’environnement et le bien-être de la société.

À l’école il y a un comité environnement et un comité solidarité. Ils participent à la marche 2/3 de Oxfam. Certains jeunes ont ramassé des fonds pour la campagne pour le cancer du sein en se rasant les cheveux. Il y avait d’ailleurs quelques têtes rasées dans chaque classe. La semaine prochaine ils vont fabriquer des boites de compostage qui sont déjà vendues à des membres de la communauté de Vaudreuil-Dorion. Ils encouragent donc le compostage. Il y a la minute de recyclage. Ils ont fait changer le styromousse à la cafétéria pour du carton recyclé. Ils m’invitent à rencontrer le professeur responsable du comité environnement, Kevin Beaumont, ce que j’ai fait sur l’heure du dîner.

*****

Voir aussi: John Todd ecological design, sa biographie, le projet de mini-central à Trois Pistoles de Mikael Rioux, son site Facebook, écoles verts Brundtland au Québec.

Snow is falling, community is breathing -- by Chris Corrigan

BC coast seen from Bowen: photo D. Millar

Bowen Island is 20 square miles of rock lying two miles off the west coast of Canada. It is home to 3700 people, three mountains, two valleys, four lakes, about 15 beaches, two species of salmon, one village and me and my family.

Excerpts from Bowen Island Journal and Bowen Island Ourselves:

Light flurries as I leave the island for my last trip of the year. If you are worried about the road conditions, have a look at the Road Status Map, and update your section to gift information to your neighbours.

13 Dec 09 -- Last night a lovely community gathering at the Library, where 100 of us gathered to hold a candlelight vigil in support of the global call for a real deal on climate change. Caitlin organized the whole thing and she and Aine spoke. Aine talked about the need for world leaders, especially older ones, to make decisions with their grandchildren in mind so that they can tap into the perspective of the youth who are to inherit what we leave for them. The choir sang Dona Nobis Pacem and I helped the group in a rousing rendition of With my own two hands, the great Ben Harper song [click to listen - lyrics here]. We even added an improvised verse, being islanders:

We stand with Tuvalu
With our own two hands
They're an island too
With our own two hands
They're sinking into the blue
With our two hands, we support them with our own two hands.

Pacific Islanders unite!

How a small community organizes

(from the Bowen Island Ourselves online forum)

NYTimes 12 Sep -- Athens on the Net “crowdsourcing”: put citizens’ policy ideas on the Internet and allow them to vote on one another’s proposals. Bowen Island forum is created.

Sally Freeman 15 Oct -- posted a Great Bear Rainforest video.

22 Oct -- twitter to discuss Official Community Plan and later on, Transition Towns.

Paul Rickett 30 Nov -- ideas from Chris Alexander, A Pattern Language.

Richard Smith 3 Dec -- more people idling in the ferry line up this morning (10:30 ferry, you know who you are...). And I picked up garbage on Adams' Road.

Brenda McLuhan 6 dec -- new island group True Green urges managed growth, higher density.

Fitch Cady 9 Dec -- I think we can speculate on future waves of immigration to the island till the two or three cows (that actually enjoy rural living here) come home. Let’s get a nice big clearly color-coded map of what’s already grandfathered - occupied and unoccupied - up on the internet.

James Glave 19 Dec -- video of ferry lineup, requesting drivers to turn off motors.

Suzanne Schoegl 20 Dec -- a potential locum [replacement] MD is interested in working on Bowen from January until May. One of the hurdles is accommodation.

Chris Corrigan 2 Jan 2010 -- a half day Open Space conversation on "What does Green mean for Bowen?"

*****

See also Chris' Bowen pictures on flickr.com

Indigenous Climate Portal opened by Tebtebba.org

Tebtebba video from Indonesian Borneo (Kalimantan) - see more here
See also Wikipedia on Dayak peoples and their Kaharingan religion.

A Philippines-based NGO has opened a new Indigenous Climate Portal to bring the voices of native peoples to public attention during COP-15 and REDD negotiations.

Tebtebbta.org says, "The last remaining tropical forests in the developing countries are those which indigenous peoples control or own." They have often had to fight against greedy multinationals, lumber pirates, mining companies, poorly conceived conservation and park projects, corrupt governments, military, police, and private death squads to displace them from their territories. Their strength is not in weaponry, but in "deeply rooted historic, cultural, and spiritual relationships."

"The lands, forests and resources which indigenous peoples' traditionally owned and used are the very basis of their livelihoods, social organization, identities and cultures. Thus, it is to their own interest that these forests are conserved and protected. If REDD is done properly, which means indigenous peoples are involved in designing, implementing and monitoring this and they will equitably share in the rewards and benefits from REDD projects and programmes, then [it will be] a win-win situation for the environment and for development."

Ngaju Dayak see the goddess of the earth and the god of heaven as separate but interdependent beings: in prayer they say, 'the snake befriends the hornbill' (tambon haruei bungai). Divine unity is shown by the sacrificial pole (sanggaran) erected at mortuary festivities (tiwah) in the centre of the village. It shows a snake with lances and above it a hornbill, symbolizing the fusion of underworld and upperworld in total divinity. -- A.H.Klokke.
Picture of the tiwah inscribed on a bamboo tube: the sanggaran is at centre right under an upside-down tree of life - click to see clearly

Citizens rag while world elites drag -- WWWViews

Connie Hedegaard, Danish Climate Minister set up WWViews to hold a worldwide citizen survey and discussion forum, on actions that need to be taken at Copenhagen. Their answers put political elites to shame.

4,000 participating citizens from 38 countries were chosen, reflecting the demographic diversity of their respective countries and regions. They were provided with unbiased information about climate change and the COP15 negotiations, and asked to discuss it with their friends.

Across nations, income groups and geographical regions, citizen responses are remarkably consistent:
· Seal the deal at COP15: an obligatory Copenhagen treaty to replace Kyoto
· Keep global warming below 2 degrees C
· Developed (Annex 1 countries) should cut emissions 25-40 % or more by 2020
· Fast-growing economies should also reduce emissions by 2020
· Low-income developing countries should limit emissions
· Establish an international financial mechanism for mitigation aid
· Punish non-complying countries
· Make technology available to everyone [no patent payments, corporate kickbacks, capture and control of export market share]
· strengthen and add to United Nations [not World Bank, giveaways and sales of offsets]

This sharply contradicts the niggling, higgling, and backwardness of national elites in the whole series of Bali-to-Copenhagen negotiations. Download the citizens' WWWViews Policy Report or view the questions and responses online, with further discussions on Facebook

See also the WWViews experts blog, Connie Hedegaard's biography, her June 2009 Greenland Dialogue, and the C40 "green city network" founded by Clinton Climate Initiative.
We do not recommend the WWWviews official video wrap-up, which shows a bundle of boring bureaucrats, among a handful of citizens. Its preparatory info videos are visually exciting but accompanied by numbing "father knows best" commentary.
For real grassroots opinions see Global Voices Online, and our previous posts on youth , online videos, and networking.

Environmental networking: groups and strategies

Click on the illustration for the full document.

This is an attempt to map many recent trends. I welcome your comments and criticism. Feel free to share the document with others. It may help to clarify discussions about cooperation or joint action with other civil society or faith groups. If you want to find which category a group is in, open the doc in a word processor, CTRL+F and insert the name to search. The web links in the document and "further reading" will lead you to details about that group.

For a review of current Copenhagen negotiations and US climate policy, see my previous post, which includes updates.

Neglect, or racism? - water and native rights

Water walk: courtesy of NWAC

On 13 April 2009 native women in Canada, the USA and and Australia held a National Water Day calling for action. Local events included traditional water ceremonies, vigils, feasts, prayers, and walks.

Black Tickle NF is a Métis community which depends for water on wells in summer and running brooks in the winter.” “In January, 2000, there were 404 visits to the clinic (out of a population of 268).
People know the water is not fit. But there is nothing else to get. It don’t taste proper. Sometimes it leaves a brown scum. But we still don’t have better water for drinking for sure. That’s where you get your sickness… from the water. There’s a lot of stomach sickness, stomach flus, vomiting and diarrhea.”
National Aboriginal Health Organization brief 2002

For decades, Ottawa dozed on similar problems in hundreds of native communities across Canada, issuing periodic “boil water” advisories. Provinces ducked responsibility, saying native health is a federal matter. Until 7 whites died of bad water in Walkerton Ontario in 2000, the media ignored the issue; but then for weeks headlines called for a public inquiry.

In October 2005, Kashechewan ON suffered from waterborne diarrhea, scabies and impetigo. Chlorination was increased to "shock" levels. Then residents had to be evaculated, at a cost of $16 million: CBC 9 Nov 06. Many native communities still run such risks.

The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples held five years of hearings in the 1990s. It said starkly, The main policy direction, pursued for more than 150 years, first by colonial then by Canadian governments, has been wrong. But the Harper government refuses to act on its numerous recommendations (see the RCAP CD in most libraries).

Opposing last year's declaration of aboriginal rights at the UN were Canada, Russia, USA, Australia and New Zealand.

*****

See also Council of Canadians World Water Day , BC-based Peace Earth & Justice news, Navajo Nation Water Haulers videos, Peoples Water Forum protests in Istabul March 2009; and subsequent PWF activities,

350.org: Bill McKibben in Shanghai, jovenes en Poznan

Bill McKibben takes 350 seconds to explain why 350 ppm is the most important number in the world, as he rides a riverboat through New Shanghai.


Unos jóvenes participando en las negociaciones internacionales envian un mensaje a los jóvenes sudamericanos de la iniciativa TUNZA-GEO, y ellos responden con su apoyo. (Youth participating in the international climate negotiations in Poznan, Poland send their message to South American youth from the TUNZA-GEO network, and they send messages of support back.)
Jóvenes internacionales unidos frente el cambio climático, en Poznan, Polonia al COP-14.
See other McKibben and Tunza videos. Links to Tunza: UNEP site, TakingItGlobal, Tunza-India on WiserEarth. The August 2009 Tunza International Youth Conference on the Environment in Daejeon, Korea will present its findings on climate, green jobs, human security and sustainability at COP-15 in Copenhagen.

Malaysia bloggers campaign for trams

Last spring, bloggers and webmasters in Penang, western Malaysia launched a Penangites for Trams campaign. Some tracks still exist from prewar days. A spirited exchange between advocates of trams, bus, LRT and mixed public transit ensued. Supporters admit that trams work best as part of an integrated public transport system, fed by an efficient and extensive network of buses -- certainly a better solution than the current polluting gridlock of private vehicles.

Kek Lok Si Buddhist temple, Penang: UK Daily Telegraph

"Trams are not just a thing of the past but of the future," claims local historian Khoo Salma Nasution, who wrote Penang Trams, Trolleybuses & Railways: Municipal Transport History 1880s-1963. She called the the tramcar "iconic identity for Penang" that could "revitalise the heritage of the inner city." Referring to a rival LRT proposal, Citizens for Public Transport (CEPAT) coordinator Dr Choong Sim Poey said, "There are many alternatives besides the intrusive overhead monorail system that are cheaper, more sustainable and suitable for Penang with its heritage city and tree-lined roads." He cited as a model the O-Bahn bus and rail links of Adelaide, Australia, and many German cities. The campaigners cite benefits of trams from the City of Edinburgh website .
- Trams don’t take up a lot of road space but they do carry a lot of people. As Edinburgh continues to grow, trams will be the most efficient way for people to travel about our city.
Downtown Penang; courtesy travelblog.org
- Trams show a city is a modern and well- connected place to do business which can lead to more investment, new jobs, regeneration and more prosperity for us all.
- an attractive option for motorists... 20% of peak hour and 50% of weekend tram passengers in the UK previously travelled by car.
- enhance the urban environment and generate civic pride.
- Trams will encourage shoppers to travel to the city centre which can lead to more investment by businesses and regeneration. Dublin saw a rise of between 20% - 50% in pedestrian footfall figures on Grafton Street, the city’s main shopping thoroughfare. Some retailers reported a 25% increase in trade.
Penang mosque, UK Daily Telegraph
- Residential and commercial properties may see prices increase beside tram routes. In some cities with trams, house prices have risen by up to 15% and rental prices by up to 7%
- no emissions from the vehicles.
- Trams will be accessible to everyone, with benefits of low level boardings at every stop and other easy-to-use features which particularly help the disabled and less mobile.
- safe to use as, in addition to a driver, every tram will have a passenger attendant on board to check tickets, answer passenger queries and ensure no anti-social behaviour occurs.
- offer concessionary fares.
- To which the Penangites add: electric trams, or light rail transit as they are known in many countries, do not require a licence from the federal government to operate but can be undertaken by the local council."

-- Thanks to bloggers Anil Netto, Sean Ang, and Southeast Asia e-Community for this story.