Archive for October, 2007
Emerging models – Urban biospheres reserves?
Posted in Models, Research, Visions by fedwards on October 17th, 2007
According to the article, “City of Kandy and its hinterlands as an urban biosphere reserve“, by Dr. Nimal Gunatilleke, Daily News, 4 October 2007, biospheres may soon be introduced to urban areas and hinterland.
Biosphere Reserves (see http://www.unesco.org/mab/BRs.shtml) aim to achieve a sustainable balance between the conservation of biological diversity, economic development, and maintenance of associated cultural values. There are currently 507 biosphere reserves distributed in 102 countries across the world. By expanding the Biosphere Reserve (BR) concept into urban centres, it is expected they will contribute towards conservation and sustainable development through urban planning and management focusing on ecosystem approach of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
To find out more about Urban Biosphere Reserves visit:
http://www.dailynews.lk/2007/10/04/fea01.asp
Resource – More on Food from Grist
Posted in Models, Movements, Research by fedwards on October 16th, 2007
The most recent edition of Grist has a special series on food and farming. It can be found here: http://grist.org/feature/2007/10/09/intro/
Topics include:
Your Food Doesn’t Come From the Store: A journey into the heart of industrial agriculture
A Tale of Two Counties: In the farm belt, a look at the extremes of agricultural production
Images of a sustainable-food revolution: An audio slideshow
Plus a fine essay by comfood contributor Kurt Michael Friese on running a local-food restaurant in industrial-ag country: http://grist.org/feature/2007/10/11/friese/index.html
Model – FutureBOSTON
Posted in Events, Models, Movements, Research, Visions by fedwards on October 15th, 2007
“FutureBOSTON” is a project of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in association with State Street Corporation, Distrigas/Suez, Blue Cross Blue Shield and the Boston Foundation which offers participants the chance to propose solutions to issues to help design Boston’s future. A multi-layered project, it launched recently with WCVB-TV5′s “Chronicle” television series which features city case studies of Dublin, Vancouver, Portland, and Seoul to show how they each dealt with their own urban challenges.
This television series will be followed by three online competitions or “Interactive Symposia” designed to harvest solutions to the critical challenges facing Future Boston in the areas of health, design and environmental sustainability.
To find out more about the project visit:
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2007/future-boston-1008.html
http://www.boston.com/news/specials/futureboston/
Today is World Food Day – The Right to Food for All!
Posted in Events, Models, Movements by fedwards on October 15th, 2007
Today, October 16th is World Food Day, a day coordinated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). This year’s theme is the “Right to Foodâ€.
Stories about food – on issues of hunger, urban agriculture, food miles, water and carbon costs, food security and sustainability, etc – are welcome to be posted on SustainableCitiesNet.com to raise awareness of this issue in the media. To post a story simply email fedwards @unimelb.edu.au or visit the “Contribute a post” tag at the top of SustainableCitiesNet.com.
Food related stories that have been submitted on SustainableCitiesNet.com include:
Model – A Call to Farms – SPIN-Farming
Model – The Vertical Farm project & discussion group
Research – Design project investigates local food
Model & Launch – “A Growing Movement: A Decade of Farm to School in Californiaâ€
Model & Review – New Book on School Food Gardens Published
Model & Resource – How Cuba survived peak oil
And more! Simply click on the ‘Food‘ tag to see what’s happening around food issues in our world’s cities.
Model – A Call to Farms – SPIN-Farming
Posted in Models by fedwards on October 15th, 2007
A Call to Farms
By Roxanne Christensen
Co-author, SPIN-Farming
Submitted for post to SustainableCities.net for World Food Day, October 16, 2007
In a world that is finally facing up to the challenges of climate change and finite resources, a growing corps of unlikely activists are, quite literally, taking matters into their own hands by taking up SPIN. SPIN stands for S-mall P-lot IN-tensive, and it is giving rise to a new class of citizen-farmers who are showing that agriculture can be incorporated into our built environments instead of being segregated in living museums outside of it.
What makes SPIN different from other vegetable farming methods, and uniquely suited to the citizen-farmer, is that it makes it possible to generate significant income from sub-acre – less than an acre – land masses. With SPIN, commercial farmers do not need much land to start their commercial operations. More importantly, they don’t need to own any land at all; they can affordably rent or even barter their land base from neighbors, friends and relatives. .
SPIN also greatly reduces the need for capital. Minimal infrastructure, reliance on hand labor to accomplish most farming tasks, utilization of existing water sources to meet irrigation needs, and situating close to markets all keep investment and overhead costs low. SPIN therefore removes the 2 big barriers to entry for new farmers – they don’t need a lot of land or money.
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Research – City stories – recent news stories about cities and sustainability
Posted in Research by fedwards on October 12th, 2007
Below are abstracts from a series of recently published stories about cities – in China, Nicaragua and Tibet – which all relate to issues of social and environmental sustainability in the developing world. These stories highlight some of the drivers for sustainable change – issues of economic development and competition, dramatic weather events exacerbated by global warming, and the politics of urbanisation.
A Tale of Two Cities: High-Profile Events Push China’s Urban Development
Ling Li, October 2, 2007, The WorldWatch Institute
From: http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5383
“As Beijing counts down to the 2008 Summer Olympics, Shanghai, another modern city on China’s east coast, is gearing up for its own big event: the 2010 World Expo. This marks the first time that developing-country cities will host both high-level world events. Beijing and Shanghai hope the activities will help accelerate their urban development through infrastructure investments, environmental improvement, and public participation.
China’s booming economic growth has led to rapid industrialization and urbanization, as well as to associated damage to human health, natural resources, and the environment. Half of all Chinese people will live in cities by 2010, up from some 44 percent of the population in 2006. But air contamination, lagging environmental infrastructure, and the lack of effective pollution controls remain major challenges to China’s urban environment.”
Flattened by hurricane, Mosquito Coast faces hunger and disease: Destruction of rainforest heralds long-term misery for impoverished villagers
Rory Carroll, September 26 2007, The Guardian
Abstract from http://www.guardian.co.uk/naturaldisasters/story/0,,2177270,00.html.
“It is no longer a rainforest but a tree cemetery. As far as the eye can see there are uprooted, bare and broken trunks. The canopy, a roof of foliage so lush you could walk over it, is gone. The few remaining bits
of green are no bigger than broccoli.
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Seeking scholars – Postgraduate research in sustainable futures
Posted in Research, Visions by fedwards on October 11th, 2007
I thought readers of SustainableCitiesNet.com might be interested in this callout for scholars in sustainability. Please read on for more information below or visit the website at www.isf.uts.edu.au/postgrads.
Are you interested in creating change towards a sustainable future?
Are you inspired by the idea of working across disciplines to explore complex sustainability challenges?
Then postgraduate research at the Institute for Sustainable Futures might be for you!
We are currently seeking postgraduate students for our 2008 intake in our Masters by Research in Sustainable Futures and PhD in Sustainable Futures.
Research supervision is available in diverse areas that relate to sustainability, including sustainable resource use (energy, water, materials, nutrients etc), climate change response, sustainable urban infrastructure, social and cultural dimensions of sustainability, international development and futures studies.
If you are interested, then visit our postgraduate website at www.isf.uts.edu.au/postgrads.
Model – Greensburg Green Town, Kansas
Posted in Models by fedwards on October 10th, 2007
Following the May 2007 Tornado, the Greensburg Green Town, a nonprofit organization, was established to provide the residents of Greensburg, Kansas with the resources, information and support they need to rebuild Greensburg as a model green community.
According to their website, http://www.greensburggreentown.org/, their objectives include:
1. Make it easier for residents to ascribe to, and adhere to, green practices and to make green living appealing to residents.
2. Engage as many residents as possible in the enthusiastic pursuit of making Greensburg a model green community.
3. Establish incentives in order to maximize the participation of businesses and residents in rebuilding Greensburg as a model green community.
4. Bring in resources and support from around the country to make the dreams of Greensburg as a model green community a reality.
5. Make it easier for builders, building supply companies and all local businesses to do business as green as possible.
6. Work to spur economic development with a green emphasis.
7. Serve the residents in an unbiased consumer advocate capacity, striving to get them the best value for their money as they rebuild their homes and businesses.
These goals strongly co-relate to the Sustainable Cities project goals! To find out more about the Greensburg GreenTown project visit their website at http://www.greensburggreentown.org/.
To find out more about the philosophy of the Sustainable Cities project, visit the “About” section above. The “Code of Practice” detailing the philosophy of the project will also be online soon. If you would like more information about the Sustainable Cities project, please contact Ferne Edwards at fedwards @unimelb.edu.au.
Model – The Vertical Farm project & discussion group
Posted in Models, Research, Visions by fedwards on October 9th, 2007
The Vertical Farm Project (http://verticalfarm.com/) investigates the future possibilities of growing our food indoor in vertical towers within the cities. The drivers for such a movement include rising urban populations (“By the year 2050, nearly 80% of the earth’s population will reside in urban centers”) necessitating new land for food production (“An estimated 109 hectares of new land … will be needed to grow enough food to feed them, if traditional farming practices continue as they are practiced today”). If the price of petrol also continues to rise, the need for increased urban food production will also be accentuated. Vertical farming could provide one possible option to address this need.
Visit http://verticalfarm.com/ to find out more about the project.
Alternatively, a discussion group has recently been started by Kelsey Wagner with Columbia University´s permission and support at http://groups.google.com/group/vertical-farm. The goal of this discussion group is to build a global community of activists, scientists, organizations, and common citizens to debate the project and to make it a reality in a socially responsible way.
Event – Call for papers – Sustainable Food Systems: A Global Perspective – by 26 October
Posted in Events, Models, Research by fedwards on October 7th, 2007
Below are the details for the Call for Papers for the Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition. Topics may appeal to our readers as hunger is strongly connected to issues of social and environment justice/ sustainability in both rural and urban environments.
Call for Papers
Special Double Issue: Sustainable Food Systems: A Global Perspective
Guest Editors: Angie Tagtow, MS, RD, LD, Consultant, Environmental Nutrition Solutions and Alison Harmon, PhD, RD, Assistant Professor of Food and Nutrition and Director Dietetics Program, Montana State University
Manuscripts Due: October 26, 2007
Examining hunger and the interconnectedness among individual, political, and institutional factors that govern how people produce, procure, and consume food and the implications on nutrition and health.
The Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition is the premier, peer-reviewed journal among professionals interested in the growing connection between the environment, food, nutrition, and health. It comprehensively examines local, national, and international hunger, and environmental nutrition issues ― specifically, food and water security, agriculture, food production, sustainable food systems, poverty, social justice, and human values.
The Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition is currently accepting manuscripts for consideration for a special double issue focusing on global perspectives on sustainable food systems. Manuscripts from Canada, the European Union and the United States are specifically sought. The deadline for manuscripts for this special theme issue is October 26, 2007. This special issue will be published in August 2008. Manuscripts that are accepted but are not published in this double issue, will be published in future issues of the Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition.
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