Tag: Sustainable

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A New Website Curates The Best Sustainable Shops, Restaurants, Retreats, And Conscious Events Around The World

A New Website Curates The Best Sustainable Shops, Restaurants, Retreats, And Conscious Events Around The World

Born in Indonesia and raised in Sydney, Mel Nahas left a successful career in the music industry and launched Conscious City Guide in 2016. Since the site went live, Nahas has featured more than 6,000 events on her community-powered platform.

How did you get the idea for Conscious City Guide? At the height of the design and fashion blog era, I started a blog about conscious lifestyle called The Bharani Effect, just for fun. Every week I would email subscribers about the new interview feature, alongside a list of conscious events I had researched.

I then decided to leave my full-time career in the music industry, with a seed of an idea inspired by the conscious events I was listing in that newsletter. I put my music industry experience to work and pivoted the blog into what it is today, with the help of my co-founder Kiki Falconer.

What does Conscious City Guide offer that wasn’t already available? It unifies a fragmented market of conscious events, retreats, workshops and experiences. For example, unless you follow or subscribe to every meditation, sound bath, or regenerative agriculture school or practitioner, how do you know what’s on ? Yes, you can follow certain teachers, but where do you go to learn and more? I saw that people still needed a place that was curated for their own discovery.

What is your selection process for what gets featured on the website? It’s community powered, meaning anyone hosting a conscious event can list it on Conscious City Guide.

How has the concept evolved since you launched? And what are your plans for the future? It started as a newsletter, morphed into an events marketplace and now it’s a platform. Add to that, we now include editorial from our event-creator community, sharing their guidance and stories about their practices. The plan is to get as many people to conscious events as possible, so that we all become more connected to ourselves, each other and the planet.

What makes an event “Conscious”? We look for events offering connection, expansion and transformation to either the self, our communities, our earth—or, better yet, all three.

How has your background in music and entertainment helped and informed what you do now? Music and the music industry are definitely a muse for me. The way music inspires and moves people, it changes them. In a very literal way, we were grateful to receive support from the Live Nation Women fund.

Beyond the events and experiences, tell me about the resources you offer and how you source and create those? We introduced articles on the site recently because we found that some people didn’t know enough about a particular event to want to go experience it.

Tell me about some of the experiences, retreats and practitioners you feature that you are most excited about and why?

Amy Yeung from 4Kinship, a Diné (Navajo)-owned sustainable artwear brand that does a huge amount of fundraising and awareness-raising for its community. We produced and promoted their Voices of Siihasin concert with Jewel and Lyla June during the pandemic, as the Dinétah were one of the hardest-hit tribes. It’s inspiring the way Amy raises funds and awareness through fashion and art.

I adore Julie Piatt (Srimati). From her monthly online group meetings, retreats at sacred sites around the world, as well as her plant-based cheese line Srimu, I am grateful to play a part in producing and expanding all of these offerings.

Mercado Sagrado is a large creative and healing arts fair that also hosts smaller gatherings, which I cherish. Co-founder Mia Luciano has created a platform that shares ancient knowledge and presents it in such a thoughtful and artistic way, it speaks to an audience who might have otherwise overlooked it.

One of our original team-members, Lenea Sims, started her own community care club for creatives seeking collective liberation called Outer Work. It’s amazing because it’s collaborative, holds its members accountable. It’s membership based, but for those who want to get a taste of it, drop-in spots are available through Conscious City Guide.

Finally, one of our first creator partners, Spirit Weavers Gathering, its founder, Mea Woodruff, has just hosted the groups ninth annual gathering, and the way she honors and builds an inclusive community is something we can all learn from.

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Launch event of the Coalition of Action on Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems for Children and All

Launch event of the Coalition of Action on Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems for Children and All event flyer

Launch event of the Coalition of Action on Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems for Children and All event flyer

Background

Health, nutrition and environmental sustainability need to be core, cross-cutting foundations of food systems transformation. During the United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) of 2021 the call for action to deliver healthy diets from sustainable food
systems echoed through dialogues, social movements and national pathways. Formed as an outcome of the UNFSS, the Coalition of Action for Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems (HDSFS) brings Member States, UN Agencies, Civil Society Organizations,
Academic Institutions and social movements together to deliver on this call. 

The Coalition will strive to act as a mechanism for coordinated action on healthy diets from sustainable food systems that provides countries the opportunity to share, learn and inform. It will foster, maintain and gain momentum from multiple stakeholders
on the issue, and allow for all to inspire and be inspired. 

The workplan of the Coalition revolves around three key functions.

  1. Mobilise and coordinate existing expertise and stakeholders to align action across food systems for collective impact at the country-level.
  2. Facilitate peer-to-peer learning among countries. 
  3. Manage special projects on integrating nutrition, health and sustainability through food, determined by country priorities 

This official launch event aims to celebrate the formation of the Coalition and provide an update on its progress and future activities, inspire current and new members of the Coalition and catalyze supportive action towards its vision. 

Objectives

  • To share the vision, collective expertise and actions of the HDSFS Coalition and thereby establish the Coalition as an impactful mechanism for coordinated action on healthy diets from sustainable food systems;  
  • To launch the Coalition’s 2022 work plan and present  the progress on different functions, added value and
    modalities of collaboration; 
  • To gauge interest of new Member States and others to engage with the HDSFS Coalition; and, 
  • To inspire supportive action towards the vision of the HDSFS Coalition at the country, regional and global level.

Agenda

Moderator – Abigail Perry, Director Nutrition, WFP

14:00

Opening remarks, Beth Bechdol, DDG, FAO 

14:10

Opening remarks, Zsuzsanna Jakab, Deputy Director-General, WHO

14:11 – 14:15

Opening remarks, Frontrunner country

14:16 – 14:19

Coalition Video

14:20 – 14:30

Corinna Hawkes, Centre for Food Policy, City, University of London, representing the core team. Remarks highlighting the work plan and what the coalition will accomplish in the short and long term 

14:31 – 14:45

Remarks from 3 Front runner countries highlighting action for 2022, interest, and expected impact of the Coalition (4 minutes each)

14:45 – 14:48

Remarks from youth representative, Lana Weidgenant

14:48 – 14:52

Remarks from Coordinator Hub,Stefanos Fotiou

14:52 – 15:00

Next steps and closing – Brent Loken, Global Food Lead Scientist, WWF

Register

Register for the launch event here: https://fao.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9EPxqoYuSfmNCmjTJLPTJw

Or watch the live stream: https://www.fao.org/webcast/home/en/item/5840/icode/ 

Interpretation: available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish

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Advancing towards an efficient, affordable, sustainable future in Latin America – Event – IEA

Advancing towards an efficient, affordable, sustainable future in Latin America - Event - IEA

Securing clean, affordable, modern and sustainable energy for all is critical. Globally, 785 million people lack access to electricity and 2.6 billion people do not have access to clean cooking. Energy efficiency and renewable energy must work hand-in-hand to reach this important goal.

This opening event will focus on the challenges and opportunities to achieve equitable clean energy transitions in Latin America and the Caribbean. It will launch a week of capacity building and exchange among policymakers and experts from around the region focused on energy efficiency.

The launch event will bring together leaders from the region to discuss how to advance energy efficiency. Speakers will include global and regional leaders on energy, energy efficiency, and energy transitions. It will be fully open to the public and streamed in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

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ASU to dedicate $192 million sustainable facility amid full slate of Earth Week events

ASU to dedicate $192 million sustainable facility amid full slate of Earth Week events

Arizona State University will punctuate a week of Earth Day events on Tuesday with a dedication ceremony for its new, $192 million research and teaching facility, currently known only as “Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building 7.”

The school has kept mum about who it will honor when it names the building, even among faculty of the interdisciplinary research effort comprising the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, who started moving into the building’s sleek offices and laboratories in January.

Diane Pataki, director of ASU’s School of Sustainability, which now falls under the expansive umbrella of the Global Futures Laboratory, is excited for the public to learn more about the innovative work being done at the university to address the climate crisis and the opportunities for students to build careers in the field.

She says the green job market just keeps growing and that ASU is leading the charge on preparing workers for employment in sustainability fields, and attracting top researchers along the way. She moved her Urban Greening Lab to ASU from the University of Utah last year.

“It’s all supposed to now be more than the sum of its parts, by linking all of these schools together,” Pataki said. “So that’s why I came here and there’s no other university that I know of, especially in the U.S., that’s made this kind of commitment to have an impact outside of academia and to serve the public good. It’s really exciting.”

The new building and laboratory initiative bring together natural scientists, social scientists and experts in humanities and business, among others, with stakeholders and decision-makers to help chart the best path forward in the midst of warnings about climate change that grow louder with each subsequent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

More: Climate experts say the world ‘is at a crossroads,’ but offer hope with concrete actions

ASU brought in Peter Schlosser, a leading Earth scientist, to enact the vision in 2018. As the Global Futures Laboratory’s vice president and vice provost, he says the work being done by the assembled experts is happening not a moment too soon. 

“We are looking for a global future in which lives thrive on a healthy planet. The mission simply is to design options for sustainability and to improve well being for all humankind, very straightforward,” Schlosser said.

“We see the pressures on the Earth system from the growing population. We are looking for solutions that are economically feasible and we’re looking at whether or not we have the institutions to implement them. That’s a lot of work that is absolutely necessary,” he said. “If we are not doing that, we just will keep going down the road and rolling toward the abyss, with very dire outcomes.”

More: ‘Medical school for the Earth’: New ASU lab to focus on sustainable solutions for the future

Schlosser and Pataki are optimistic that humanity can roll back from that abyss with the type of work and leadership happening at ASU. In addition to the events being curated for the public for next week, the university offers undergraduate and graduate degree and certificate programs in various aspects of sustainability science, including sustainable food systems, sustainable energy and sustainable economics.

“You need a lot of information and a lot of methods and a lot of partners to make sustainability happen,” Pataki said. “I think, personally, that it was ASU pushing sustainability as a concept that led to some of the popularity in these programs that we see now. But it’s going to be even bigger. We’re moving into global futures territory, which is even bigger than sustainability.”

Earth Day is celebrated annually on April 22 to mark the anniversary of the modern environmental movement, according to the organization Earthday.org,  which aims to “diversify, educate and activate the environmental movement worldwide.”

This year, April 22 falls on a Friday. But starting on Monday, ASU has lined up a full slate of educational events on what its leaders are doing to advance the field of sustainability research and what the public can do too.

Highlights of Earth Day activities

On Monday:

  • At 9 a.m., Schlosser will welcome Earth Week revelers in the ISTB7 auditorium with a panel discussion on “how we think about and approach energy in the context of building better futures at a global scale.”
  • At 11 a.m., a panel titled “Don’t Look Down” will discuss the need to engage diverse voices to make sure scientific and technological advances benefit everyone.
  • At 12:30 p.m., the judge of a competition for female entrepreneurs will guide a discussion of sustainable business practices.
  • From 2 p.m.-6 p.m., youth are invited to learn how to use spatial data to create the type of maps needed to address issues in global resilience. Free pizza is included.
  • At 4:30 p.m., a panel examines “Arizona’s Energy Journey” through recent legislation.

More: Climate report draws an arc toward environmental justice, seeking equitable emissions cuts

On Tuesday:

  • After the building dedication at 10 a.m., tours of the facility will be offered from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
  • At 2:30 p.m., a session on “The Future of Conservation” will include a “photographic journey” and input from global-thinking authors, scientists and even a surfer.
  • At 4:30 p.m., a presentation will highlight “Opportunities for Climate Solutions and Green Careers.”
  • At 6 p.m., former Vice President Al Gore will deliver a live virtual address on how threats to democracy impact climate activism.

On Wednesday:

  • 9 a.m.-1 p.m.: Exhibits offer more information on the Global Futures Laboratory while food trucks keep visitors to sustainability booths sustained.
  • The ASU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is hosting a “Democracy and Climate Change Conference” all day in the Pima Ballroom at the ASU Memorial Union.
  • At 2:30 p.m., a panel will explore the role a $620 billion sports industry plays in the search for sustainable solutions.
  • At 4:30 p.m., Diné chef Brian Yazzie will host a session on cooking and food sovereignty. Register online. 

On Thursday:

  • At 10 a.m., experts will discuss the decision-making structure for global solutions and how to decide who those decision-makers should be.
  • At 1:30 p.m., three Indigenous women sustainability scientists will talk oceans, languages, science and culture.
  • At 4:30 p.m., students in ASU’s College of Global Futures will share highlights from sustainability-related internships and projects.

More: The EPA released state-specific emissions reports. Arizona isn’t on the list

On Friday:

  • At 8:30 a.m., a collaborative panel between Kings College London and ASU will discuss “Ecologies and Infrastructures of Environmental Management.”
  • At 10 a.m., Schlosser will lead a panel on the importance of staying hopeful in a climate-ravaged world.
  • At 11:30 a.m., winners of the inaugural “Climate Narratives Prize” will be announced and their work discussed.

On Saturday:

  • Between 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., ASU will celebrate the end of its Earth Week events — but not the end of its commitment to the Earth — by inviting volunteers to help clean up the Salt River. Those interested should register online and meet on the west side of 91st Avenue, one mile south of Broadway Road.

Joan Meiners is the Climate News and Storytelling Reporter at The Arizona Republic and azcentral. Before becoming a journalist, she completed a Ph.D. in Ecology. Follow Joan on Twitter at @beecycles or email her at joan.meiners@arizonarepublic.com.

Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

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Week of Events Highlights Sustainable Development Goals

The campus community is invited to participate in a variety of events that increase awareness of and encourage actions that advance the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Celebrating the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG) Action and Awareness Week

Celebrating the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG) Action and Awareness Week

Sustainable Development Goals Action and Awareness Week 2022 is Feb. 28 – March 4. The campus community is invited to participate in a variety of events that increase awareness of and encourage actions that advance the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The SDGs were adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. They address the world’s most monumental challenges, including poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, and peace and justice. Some of the objectives are improved industry, innovation, and infrastructure; affordable and clean energy; and sustainable cities and communities. The SDGs appear by name in the Institute’s strategic plan as long-term goals that should guide teaching, research, and operations.

SDG Action and Awareness Week 2022 will begin with an interactive campus discussion, titled Engaging With the SDGs Across Campus, focusing on how the goals are being realized across the Institute and ways to better work together across disciplines and departments to amplify our impact. President Ángel Cabrera will moderate the discussion with participants from the College of Sciences, Serve-Learn-Sustain, Interdisciplinary Research, and Engineers Without Borders.

Other events during the week include a Tech Dining Sustainability Showcase, a panel on Infrastructure and Sustainability, Changing Relationships: You and Your Aging Parents, Toilet Talk With Shan and Shannon, A Healthy Georgia: Exploring the Impact of the Energy Transition on Public Health, the Association for Sustainable Investment Podcast Club Kickoff, and Engaging With the SDGs to Advance Sustainability in Atlanta. View a full listing of the week’s events.

In Fall 2020, a panel discussion and keynote address by Cabrera introduced the Tech community to the 17 goals. The event covered their relevance to the Institute and emphasized how Georgia Tech can lead the region in implementing and advancing these goals.

“If we are committed to improving the human condition, then we should embrace the SDGs to guide our actions as a university,” Cabrera said when introducing the SDGs.

SDG Action and Awareness Week is part of a larger global effort through the University Global Coalition, whose partners are hosting a variety of online events that are open to all.