sustainability

Growing Communities pick-up point in the Dalston Eastern Curve Garden

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Sustainability embodies many facets; entwined in the common strands of energy and water efficiency and cutting carbon emissions sits food. As a nation a lot of the food we consume is non-seasonal and has to be imported. This has a tremendous impact on the environment through transportation pollution from increased food miles. We could easily make changes to our eating habits and more carefully choose the foods we eat to include more fresh locally produced seasonal produce. Making this change would have many benefits, such as supporting the local economy, reducing food miles and therefore environmental damage, involving local community groups in producing the food, and encouraging healthy eating.

In Hackney, this change is made easier for you by the work that Growing Communities does. It is a social enterprise which runs community-led box schemes that build community-led alternatives to the current damaging food system. In short, community groups grow vegetables which are delivered in boxes to various pick-up points in Hackney which you then go and collect. How does this work? You choose the size of your box, you place a standing order, and this guarantees you a box of fresh vegetables each week! This is a fantastic idea which means you are eating seasonal locally produced food, from carrots to cucumbers and leeks to beetroot, and lies at the core of the importance of sustainability.

We would like to know your thoughts of this scheme and whether you would use a Growing Communities pick-up point in the Dalston Eastern Curve Garden.

If you would like to know more about the scheme or to place an order, click on the link below:
http://www.growingcommunities.org/organic-box-scheme/pick-up-points/

If you are interested in a possible pick up point in the Dalston Eastern Curve Garden, please email: boxscheme@growingcommunities.org

Below is a link to the Eastern Curve garden where you could soon be collecting your veg boxes from!
http://www.dalstongarden.com/

Go to Arcola Energy

Vol. 3 in the Cultura21 eBooks Series on Culture and Sustainability

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This post comes to you from Cultura21

The Cultura21 eBooks Series on Culture and Sustainability presents findings from inter- and trans-disciplinary perspectives in research and practice. The eBooks are published openly online by Cultura21 Institut e.V. in order to support broad dissemination and to stimulate further debates in civil society and further action-research in the field.

The city today is increasingly conceptualized using terms such as ‘creative cities’ or ‘creative class’, stressing the importance of culture. The effects this can have on cities and neighbourhoods has been criticised from the wider field of sociology.  This critique can be examined and placed in the context of the analysis of a culture of unsustainability, in order to identify how the concept of creative cities may bring about unsustainable tendencies. Building on this, a re-conceptualization of creative cities, based on an understanding of the role of the artist in cultures of sustainability is possible. Rethinking terms such as creativity can help form possible frameworks, which support sustainable creative cities.

Julia Hahn (1981) studied Applied Cultural Sciences (2003 – 2010) at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg.

Vol. 3: Julia Hahn: Creative Cities and (Un)Sustainability – Cultural Perspectives (PDF download)

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura211 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21
Go to Cultura21

Cultura21 Launches New Website

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Dear all,

Today, I have the pleasure to announce on this list, two important news from Cultura21: Our relaunched, redesigned, multilingual website at cultura21.net, and the new Cultura21 eBooks series:

New Website: just launched

Please visit http://www.cultura21.net to discover our redesigned website. On this new website, you will find information not only about the activities of Cultura21, but also about other news relevant to Cultura21 themes. Don’t hesitate to browse through the 46 “pages” (top menu bar) and 100 “posts” (right-hand “categories” menu) already available on the website. You will also find a new ‘forum’ on the website (for which you will have to register, in order to contribute).

The website is currently available in the following languages: English, French, German, Spanish, and Esperanto. Further languages will follow (Danish and Turkish are expected for the future).

The web-magazine and the wiki remain available at the same web addresses as usual, and they are linked from the new website too.

With many thanks to the editors who made this possible, and most especially to Roland Prüfer, our designer and webmaster!

Cultura21 eBooks series: 3 volumes already available

The Cultura21 eBooks Series on Culture and Sustainability, edited by Sacha Kagan and Davide Brocchi, presents findings from inter- and trans-disciplinary perspectives in research and practice. The eBooks are published openly online by Cultura21 Institut e.V. in order to support broad dissemination and to stimulate further debates in civil society and further action-research in the field.

The eBooks, which are available as PDF files, are published as part of Cultura21’s Web Magazine and thus can be found at: http://magazin.cultura21.de/piazza/texte and the latest eBook from the series can be found also on our new multilingual website at http://www.cultura21.net.

So far (since December 2010), three eBooks have been released already, in three different languages (German, French and English):
– Vol. 1: Lisa Grabe. Das „Projekt Nachhaltigkeit“. Zu den Grenzen des Nachhaltigkeitskonzepts aus kultureller Perspektive. PDF direct link
– Vol. 2: David Knaute. Le Syndrome Karamoja: Repenser la crise des sociétés pastorales dans le contexte de la globalisation. PDF direct link
– Vol. 3: Julia Hahn. Creative Cities and (Un)Sustainability – Cultural Perspectives. PDF direct link

Kind regards,
Sacha

Vol. 2 in the Cultura21 eBooks Series on Culture and Sustainability

Cultura21, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

This post comes to you from Cultura21

The Cultura21 eBooks Series on Culture and Sustainability presents findings from inter- and trans-disciplinary perspectives in research and practice. The eBooks are published openly online by Cultura21 Institut e.V. in order to support broad dissemination and to stimulate further debates in civil society and further action-research in the field.

Karamoja, a semi-arid region located north-east of Uganda, is the land of Karimojong pastoralists. It is also a region in crisis: it is affected by arms trafficking, a demographic boom, climate change as well as other complicated development issues. More than that, Karamoja is a place where questions of “development” and “sustainability” intermingle in all their dimensions: environmental, historical, cultural, economic and political. This publication aims at presenting the complexity of all those challenges through the exploration of an innovative methodology to analyze environmental disasters: the Syndrome Approach.

David Knaute (1981) has coordinated in 2008-2009 an advocacy campaign on the crisis in Karamoja (www.karamoja.eu). He currently lives in Paris where besides his professional activities, he prepares a PhD thesis at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS).

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura211 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

Chain of arguments for the ecological identity of the international language Esperanto (& its organizations)

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This post comes to you from Cultura21

1.

Direct progress with concern to the “interna ideo” (“internal idea”) of Esperanto is the conscious integration of the concept of a “neutral international language” within the framework of the cultures of sustainability & according to the 3 criteria of

  1. Peace,
  2. Human Rights &
  3. Sustainability

2.

The criteria of sustainability (see UN, civil groups – NGOs etc.) are principally constituted & substanciated by  the limitation of the Planet’s material & detoxicating ressources. Hence sustainability means that one

  1. shouldn’t consume more of our geobisofere than can be regenerated &
  2. shouldn’t pollute the geobiosfere more than can be detoxicated by it.

A measure for the degree of consumption-pollution can be the so called“ecological footprint”, i.e. the mathematically kalkulatable excess (quantitative factor).
In addition there is a factor, which relates to the (also to a certain degree measurable) reduction of the biological & cultural diversity on this Planet & its world.
One of the mayor criteria of sustainable evolution is the so called “resilience”, a physical quantity which relates to the elasticity (or buffer capacity) of an autoekopoietic system of the geobiosfere, including the humane social systems. This, so to speak, guarantees the survival of the system. Herto belongs also the principle of prevention.

3.

Besides ecology, economy & the social, also culture is a decisive factor with concern to the ecologically sustainable evolution of the human society.

The culture of sustainability considers culture itself in all its aspects, & thus also communication, as part of a livable present & future. In regard to this transdisciplinarity & transculturality play an important role in the creation of a global  change of mindset, which finally should accomplish both social & ecological justice. This evidently relates to individuals and collectives.

4.

Nowadays all fields of human activity are submitted to examnination concerning their  adequateness in the context of a sustainable operation of our world.Retaxation of values & realignment of theoretical premisses & practical politics belong to the prerequisites of a safe & enjoyable future.  This also applies to the fundamentals of international communication & its acceptable traits & costs (ecological communication).

A nonethnical neutral international language as Esperanto represents the linguistic part of a sustainable culture in international communication.

The international languagein itself is ecologically sustainable with regad to 2 features:

  1. Qualitativly Esperanto minimizes social risks for the fact of  installing“democratic bilinguism”, i.e.  a setup of international communication, in which everybody speaks his own mother  tongue & Esperanto (Esperanto as the 2nd language for all.) Nobody suffers linguistic or communicative disadvantages.
  2. Quantitatively  Esperanto minimizes environmental risks for the fact of “ecological appropriateness”, meaning drastic reduction with concern to the dissipation of resources (consumption of material & energy in translation & interpreter services) & general pollution of the geobiosfere. (Just one figure:  within the EU every fourth official is in one way or another occupied with language & translation problems!)

A more detailed overview of the problem will be given in an article to come: “Esperanto – ecological, ecomical, social & cultural arguments for a neutral international language”.

Wolfgang Guenther (compilation)

* AVE (Asocio de Verduloy Esperantistay – www.verduloj.org)

* NULA HORO (Transnacia Artkoncepto kun Esperanto kile Komuna Lingvo, nula [dot] horo [dot] arto [at] web [dot] de)

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)

– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)

– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)

– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura211 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

Welcome eco|art|scot|land

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We’re revisiting our syndication partners at the CSPA to best reflect the changing field of sustainability in the arts. We are excited to welcome eco\art\scot\land.

ecoartscotland is a resource focused on art and ecology for artists, curators, critics, commissioners as well as scientists and policy makers. It includes ecoartscotland papers, a mix of discussions of works by artists and critical theoretical texts, and serves as a curatorial platform.

It has been established by Chris Fremantle, producer and research associate with On The Edge Research, Gray’s School of Art, The Robert Gordon University. Fremantle is a member of a number of international networks of artists, curators and others focused on art and ecology.

The Time Machine – Sustainability and Culture

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Internationally-known Expedition Artist Presents:  “The Time Machine – Sustainability and Culture ”  in Santa Monica on February 15
Presented in conjunction with the LA Chapter of the US Green Building Council

Danielle Eubank, internationally-recognized Expedition Artist, is presenting a lecture on Tuesday, February 15 at the Santa Monica Main Library at 601 Santa Monica Boulevard in Santa Monica.  The lecture, scheduled from 6:00 to 8:00 pm, will focus on Eubank’s experience sailing – and painting – the oceans of the world.

“Sometimes in order to move forward in a more sustainable way, we have to look back and explore how things were done in earlier times,” said Eubank.  “The Time Machine in my lecture title refers to how Phoenicia is a floating time machine – living archeology – that brings the past into the modern era.”

Eubank was Expedition Artist aboard Phoenicia, a recreation of a 2,500-year-old Phoenician boat that recently finished a two-year journey circumnavigating Africa. Eubank’s work as an Expedition Artist has taken her to Indonesia, Seychelles, all around the African coasts and throughout the Mediterranean.

Eubank lectures widely throughout Southern California and Great Britain on the intersection of art, the environment and sustainability.  Eubank’s perspective on “what green means in the world of art” brings a unique voice to the discussion of sustainability, with her most recent opinion piece running in the Los Angeles Daily News on November 15, 2010 in association with America Recycles Day.

This summer, Eubank has an important solo show at Thompson’s Gallery in London’s West End opening July 6, which will feature the very latest work from Eubank’s travels aboard Phoenicia.

The February 15 lecture is open to the public.  For more information on the event, please contact Dominique Smith at (310) 902-2811 or e-mail dsmith@usgbc-la.org by February 12.

London Global Teacher Network event

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Arcola is hosting the London Global Teacher Network event on Tuesday 8th February from 5-7pm. 

The London Global Teacher Network (LGTN) is an opportunity for London teachers to share experience, opinions and resources around global learning – online and through meetings and events hosted at various London venues. Membership and events are free.

At the event, as well as exploring the role of sustainability within education, participants will find out more about Arcola’s vision to become the world’s first carbon neutral theatre, the research work of ‘Arcola Energy’, and get a tour of the theatre. Participants will also hear about Arcola’s ‘Sustainability for Schools programme’, through which it offers workshops to schools around renewable energy. To sign up to come to the event go to: www.lgtn.org.uk

Go to Arcola Energy

Art show partners creation with science

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ASU Sustainability contest inspires paintings, sculpture and multimedia

Fertilizer is rarely an inspiration for an art show, but on Feb. 5, at the Desert Botanical Garden, sustainability, fertilizer and phosphorus scarcity will provide fertile fuel for creative vision.

The art show, a juried exhibition with more than 20 works by artists from Phoenix, Chicago, Portland and Houston, was created in partnership with scientists engaged in the Sustainable Phosphorus Summit, to take place Feb. 3-5, at ASU. The exhibition will include paintings, photography, sculpture, multimedia and innovative approaches to portraying sustainability through dance and music.

Free and open to the public, the art show starts at noon, with the top prizes awarded at 6:30 p.m. An RSVP is required to attend: sustainablePsummit+DBG@gmail.com.

The Sustainable Phosphorus Art Show is scheduled to take place from noon to 7 p.m., Feb. 5, at the Desert Botanical Garden, in Phoenix. Cash bar and reception will take place from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

If you miss the exhibit Feb. 5, the art show will move to ASU’s Step Gallery, in the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, in Tempe, from Feb. 14-18.

Additional information on the scientific program of the Sustainable Phosphorus Summit can be found here. For more information on phosphorus sustainability, visit sustainablep.asu.edu/p-info.

Peggy Coulombe, Margaret.Coulombe@asu.edu
(480) 727-8934
School of Life Sciences

Art show partners creation with science | ASU News.

Sustainable Revolutions — TCG Circle

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(This post was originally posted on the TCG Think It, Do It, Blog It as part of  The MetLife/TCG A-ha! Program.)

By Anthony Runfola, Childsplay

It’s been just over a year since we had our first meeting about our Think It! Grant. Today is my last day in the office for 2010 and I’ve spent it looking over the notes from those meetings as well as from our three sustainability summits.

At Childsplay, we will begin our 2011/2012 season planning in earnest next month. With that comes the opportunity to start laying the groundwork for some of the organizational changes we have been talking about throughout this past year.

So, in the spirit of the season, I present to you my Sustainable New Year’s Resolutions for 2011!

  • Encourage our artistic director to hire teams of designers that work on at least two shows within the season to see if each production can share resources.
    • Many theatres have been doing this already to address financial concerns. But a great side effect is that you may be reusing certain units between shows.
  • Challenge our designers to think about sustainability when designing.
    • As we noted in our post from this past May, designers thought differently about what they would design when challenged to “make it sustainable.” Of course, we are going to have to be more specific than that when we try to do this for real.
  • Include production staff in design meetings from the very beginning.
    • Not surprisingly, communication emerged as an essential component to creating more environmentally conscious scenery. I will venture to have our TD work along with the director and designer beginning at the very first meeting.
  • Ensure all metals used in scenery get recycled.
    • This really is a no-brainer. It will cost a bit more to make this happen, but certainly the price is nothing next to the cost of continuing to dump metal into the ground.
  • Be proactive in trying to find a taker for our used scenery before strike.
    • To be fair, I’ve tried this before without much luck. But I will keep trying!

via Sustainable Revolutions — TCG Circle.