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The PelicanWeb's Journal of Sustainable Development

Research Digest on Integral Human Development,
Education for Sustainable Development,
and Related Global Issues

Vol. 6, No. 2, February 2010
Luis T. Gutierrez, Editor

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SIGN OF THE TIMES

UNITY IN DIVERSITY

EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

INTEGRAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

RELATED GLOBAL ISSUES

KNOWLEDGE TAXONOMY


Going Forward on Sustainable Development

SUPPLEMENT OUTLINE

The following are reminders that sustainable development has a human face:

1. Suggestions for Prayer, Study, and Action
2. News, Publications, Tools, and Conferences
3. Role Models for the Transition to Sustainability
4. Surveys on Education for Sustainable Development
5. Advances on the Path to Sustainable Development
6. Climate Interactive Scoreboard (Courtesy of the Climate Institute)
7. Carbon Footprint Calculator (Courtesy of Carbonify and Michael Bloch)
8. International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (WCC 2011)
9. The Lord's Prayer in Aramaic (Courtesy of Spirit Quest)


1. Suggestions for Prayer, Study, and Action

SUGGESTION FOR PRAYER

"Lord, help me choose a simpler life-style that promotes solidarity with the world's poor, helps me appreciate nature more, affords greater opportunity to work together with my neighbors, reduces my use of limited resources, creates greater inner harmony, saves money, allows time for meditation and prayer, and incites me to take political and social action."

From Visions of a World Hungry, by Thomas G. Pettepiece, 1979.

SUGGESTION FOR STUDY

Buy and study this book (a bargain at $19.95):

State of the World 2010:
Transforming Cultures from Consumerism to Sustainability

By Erik Assadourian & Staff, Worldwatch Institute, 2010
ISBN 978-0-393-33726-6

SUGGESTION FOR ACTION

Investigate some of the many organizations mentioned in the State of the World 2010. There are some directories or sustainability / sustainable development organizations that may be useful in your search:

  • EcoEarth Directory of Sustainability Organizations
  • Second Nature's Directory of Organizations Involved In Education For Sustainability
  • NAIS Directory of Sustainability Organizations
  • WebDirectory of Sustainable Development Organizations
  • Directory of the Sustainable Business Movement
  • Select the one that appeals to you the most, join, and start participating!


    2. News, Publications, Tools, and Conferences




    RECENT NEWS

    cooltexticonnews

    MDGs . . . Why Germany is Collaborating with Northern States

    Progress On MDG Targets Is 'Key Priority' In 2010 For U.N. Secretary-General

    Renewed Commitment to Reproductive Health Has Implications for Global Environment

    Atheism is killing Creation, says Pope

    We must face religion's role in oppressing women

    Environmental Health News

    Natural Resources and the Environment - Dot Earth Blog

    Haiti: Up to 200,000 feared dead

    The thrilling potential of SixthSense technology

    Bristol Bay Drilling: Truth and Consequences on the Last Frontier

    New Green Transition Scoreboard Finds Over $1 Trillion Invested in Green since 2007

    Keep government out of promoting gender equality in religion

    Cutting 10% of emissions in 2010

    Financial crisis is also a crisis of values - WEF Poll

    Past decade the hottest on record

    Happier living that happens to be more sustainable

    Developing nations continue to lead post-Copenhagen

    Do religions oppress women?

    Climate of suspicion: With climate-change sceptics waiting to pounce on any scientific uncertainties, researchers need a sophisticated strategy for communication.

    The real holes in climate science

    Glacier estimate is on thin ice

    The dollar's share of world reserves has dropped

    CLIMATE CHANGE: Small Islands Await Haitian-Type Disaster

    BOLIVIA: More Women in Parliament, With Their Own Agenda

    BRAZIL: 'Colonisation Made Us Poor,' Say Indigenous Peoples

    GHANA: Quietly Extending Options to Women

    CLIMATE CHANGE: Polluters Dragging EU Back

    MALI: Small Farmers in the Carbon Market

    KENYA: Clash Over Abortion Rights in New Constitution

    U.S.: Community in Crisis Looks to its Agricultural Roots

    Greens embrace enzymes in climate change fight

    India unveils rules to boost green power investment

    UN Introduces Website for Partnerships with Business

    Valuing the environment

    Climate is investment chance of a lifetime

    Seeking a Consumer Culture Revolution

    NASA Launches Solar Dynamics Observatory

    China and Google: Searching For Trouble – Part I

    China and Google: Searching for Trouble – Part II

    Beyond Minarets: Europe’s Growing Problem with Islam

    The New Rules: Globalization's Next Wave of Integration

    PERU: Victims of Military Rapists Wait for Justice 25 Years On

    Mauritania fatwa bans female genital mutilation

    Majority of street children face sex abuse in India

    A Global Innovation Commons for Clean Tech

    Rethinking Poverty Reduction

    Top Five Sociopolitical Business Risks for 2010

    Nigeria: 'Gender Equality is Crucial to Progress'

    Global Carbon Emissions Market Could Reach $1.4 Trillion in 2020

    Ocean Energy Could Reach 200 GW of Renewable Capacity by 2025

    Fuel Cell Industry Could Create 700,000 Green Jobs Worldwide by 2020

    World economic growth at odds with climate targets

    World's glaciers continue to melt at historic rates

    The business opportunity in water conservation

    A consumer paradigm for China

    What does it take to make integrated care work?

    What they’ll be talking about in Davos

    Church leaders are wrong on equality

    Global Environment Index Downgrades U.S. and China

    UN To Start Discussions On New Billion Dollar Agency

    Alcatraz is giving birth to a new Solar Eco-Village

    Learning to share: By opening up its database of potential malaria drugs, GlaxoSmithKline has blazed a path that other pharmaceutical companies should follow.

    ZIMBABWE: One Million Casualties of Land Reform

    ZIMBABWE: Water Scarcity No Obstacle To Bulawayo Farmers

    Iran Hangs Two Sentenced In Postelection Trials

    Rethinking how companies address social issues: McKinsey Global Survey results

    Developing economies are some of the world leaders in clean technology

    Environmental Refugees or Economic Migrants?

    Cop beheaded: ‘If you fight for poor, why kill our son?’

    Where things stand on the Copenhagen Accord and international climate politics

    Climate groups grapple for a path forward from Copenhagen

    RECENT PUBLICATIONS

    cooltexticonpubs

    America’s Century-Long Love Affair with the Car May Be Coming to an End

    The five attributes of enduring family businesses

    Past Decade the Hottest on Record

    Congo Basin Rainforest ecosystems: The State of the Forests 2008 Report

    Radical Islamism: An Introductory Primer

    Statistical Review of World Energy 2009

    Flash Eurobarometer on Water

    OECD Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard 2009

    Millennium Assessment of Human Behavior

    An Inconvenient Democracy

    Irreversible climate change due to carbon dioxide emissions

    Real Climate: Climate Science from Climate Scientists

    Climate Data Links

    An Overview of the Climate Change Problem

    GardenWorld Politics: Development without Growth

    The female brain

    How corporate branding has taken over America

    International student security

    Green Transition Scoreboard

    Faith and the Global Agenda: Values for the Post-Crisis Economy

    The Tao of Liberation: Exploring the Ecology of Transformation

    Data Highlights: U.S. Feeds One Quarter of its Grain to Cars While Hunger is on the Rise

    Africa Policy Outlook 2010

    30 Years at CEDAW

    An Institutional Architecture for Climate Change

    Gender Equality and Inclusive Growth in Developing Asia

    Global Innovation Commons

    The Right to Move Conference Papers

    Woman as “Other” in Monotheistic Religious Discourse

    THE MUTSINZI REPORT

    Forthcoming March 2010: Engaging Students in Language, Literacy and Global Issues - Facing the Future

    Are Judaism and Christianity as Violent as Islam?

    Environmental Performance Index 2010

    ILO Global Employment Trends, January 2010

    ILO Global Employment Trends Report - Janaury 2010

    Mounting Stresses, Failing States

    TerraViva World Social Forum 2010

    2010 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) Report

    2010 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) Summary

    Business Responds to Climate Change

    Privatizing Climate Policy

    Down to the Wire - Confronting Climate Collapse

    To Perpetuate Their Dictatorships, Arab Rulers Resort To The Islamic Creed

    Women Survey on the Role of Women in Development 2009

    Study on freedom of religion or belief and the status of women in the light of religion and traditions

    Confronting the Long Crisis of Globalization

    Growth Isn't Possible


    USEFUL TOOLS

    cooltexticontools

    World Bank Geographic Analysis Tool

    GlobalEdge International Business Resource Desk

    BP Global Energy Charting Tool

    HumBox Repository of Resources in the Humanities

    Natural Capital Project - Developing tools that make it easy to incorporate natural capital into decisions

    InVEST: Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs

    Ecoinformatics: Online Resource for Managing Ecological Data and Information

    Disaster Relief 2.0: Tech Tools Help Focus Haiti Resources

    Principal Global Indicators

    Guidelines International Network (GIN)

    Use and Diffuse


    FUTURE CONFERENCES

    cooltexticonconf

    2nd International Symposium on Information Management in the Changing World

    Millennia 2015: Women actors of development for the global challenges

    Research Methods in the Study of Contemporary Religion - 6th-10th September, 2010

    Geoinformatics Forum Salzburg

    Geographies of Religion Conference

    2010 Conference on Media, Religion, and Culture

    Ethos Institute opens registration for its 2010 International Conference

    Global Health & Innovation Conference at Yale

    15th Annual Conference of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies “Peace at Home, Peace in the World” in Istanbul, Turkey, 28th - 30th April 2010

    Earth Science Week 2010

    International Conference 2011 on Spatial Planning and Sustainable Development, 29-31 July, 2011

    Emerging Technologies for Online Learning A Joint Symposium of Sloan Consortium and MERLOT with MoodleMoot July 20-23,2010 Fairmont Hotel San Jose, California

    The Promise and Practice of Blended Learning A conference devoted to the purposeful, strategic and comprehensive approach to blended teaching and learning April 19-20, 2010

    10th Annual Brick and Click Libraries November 5, 2010 Northwest Missouri State University, Maryville, Missouri

    28th International Conference of the System Dynamics Society -- July 25–29, 2010, Seoul, Korea

    March 2009, the 2nd annual FT Investing in a Sustainable Future international conference

    WSIS Forum 2010 Open Consultation Process

    World Energy Technologies Summit 2010

    XIV World Congress of Comparative Education Societies

    Peoples’ World Conference on Climate Change and Mother Earth Rights

    Social dimensions of environmental change and governance



          3. Role Models for Sustainable Development

    IN MEMORIAN
    donellameadows
    Donella Meadows (1941-2001)
    Pioneer systems theorist and environmentalist:
    Biophysicist, PhD Harvard University, 1968
    Team Co-Leader, Limits to Growth Research Project, MIT, 1970-1972
    Professor of Systems Sciences at Darmouth College, 1972-2001
    Founder of the Sustainability Institute, Vermont, 1996

    Major works:
    The Limits to Growth, Report to the Club of Rome, Potomac Associates, 1972
    The Electronic Oracle: Computer Models and Social Decisions, Wiley, 1985
    Global Citizen, Island Press, 1991
    Beyond the Limits: Global Collapse or a Sustainable Future, Earthscan, 1992
    State of the Village Report, Sustainability Institute, 1997
    Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System, Sustainability Institute, 1999
    Limits to Growth-The 30 year Update, Chelsea Green, 2004.

    About her way of thinking and acting:
    she often referred to herself simply as "a farmer and a writer." When she founded the Sustainability Institute, she described it as a "think-do-tank." The Institute combines cutting edge research in global systems with practical demonstrations of sustainable living.


          4. Surveys on Education for Sustainable Development

    The Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) research project is moving forward as a series of surveys to identify the critical issues that sustainable developers must be ready to face. During the year 2009, survey test versions V0 to V1.7 have been posted. The survey is structured around the "key action themes" proposed by UNESCO for the "Decade of Education for Sustainable Development" (2005-2014):
    The survey's design is based on:
    • Paulo Freire's educational model of recursive questions and answers
    • Ken Wilber's integral model of experience, behavior, systems, and cultures
    • René Girard's mimetic theory of scapegoating behavior
    • Note: For a complete description of the design evolution, click here

    The survey of the design is stable. However, the questions still need more work pursuant to an optimal combination of brevity (maximum of 16 questions), neutrality (unbiased questions), and questionnaire coverage of the most critical issues in sustainable development. Thus far the responses have been as follows:

    • As of 24 April 2009, 61 persons had taken the V0 test survey.
    • As of 27 May 2009, 129 persons had taken the V1 test survey.
    • As of 27 June 2009, 263 persons had taken the V1.5 test survey.
    • As of 31 July 2009, 513 persons had taken the V1.6 test survey.
    • As of 29 August 2009, 36 persons had taken the V1.7 test survey.

    Links to the forms, data, and analyses for the initial series of surveys are listed below:

    TEST SURVEY VERSION 0 (40 QUESTIONS) - APRIL 2009

    TEST SURVEY VERSION 1.0/1.1 (40 QUESTIONS) - MAY 2009

    TEST SURVEY VERSION 1.5 (40 QUESTIONS) - JUNE 2009

    TEST SURVEY VERSION 1.6 (16 QUESTIONS) - JULY 2009

    TEST SURVEY VERSION 1.7 (32 QUESTIONS) - AUGUST 2009

    TEST SURVEY VERSIONS 0 TO 1.7 - APRIL TO AUGUST 2009

    TEST SURVEY VERSION 2.0 - IN PREPARATION

    • ESD 2.0 Consultation Form (TBD 2010)
    • ESD 2.0 Consultation Spreadsheet (TBD 2010)
    • ESD 2.0 Consultation Summary Report (TBD 2010)
    • Analysis of ESD 2.0 Survey Test Data (TBD 2010)

    SHORT THEMATIC SURVEYS - IN PREPARATION

    • ESD Brief Consultation Forms (TBD as required)

    Posting of the ESD 2.0 comprehensive survey is still under consideration, but there is much information yet to be analyzed in the 1004 responses received during the 2009 series. Rather than posting comprehensive surveys, the plan going forward is to post short surveys as required to support further analysis of the transition from consumerism to sustainability.


          5. Advances on the Path to Sustainable Development

    State of the World 2010:
    Transforming Cultures from Consumerism to Sustainability

    By Erik Assadourian & Staff, Worldwatch Institute, 2010
    WWSOW2010COVER
    From the book cover:

    "Worldwatch's flagship publication, State of the World, has educated a broad audience of students, journalists, policymakers, and concerned citizens about trends in sustainable development for a quarter century. The book has been published in 36 languages, and over the years it has authoritatively assessed issues ranging from population, energy, and agriculture to materials use, health, and trade policy. Topics are covered from a global perspective, with an emphasis on innovation and problem-solving. State of the World is recognized as a classic of environmental literature, having attracted luminaries from Kofi Annan to Mikhail Gorbachev to write forewords for the book. News media, policymakers, and NGOs worldwide cite the book for its cutting-edge analysis, reliability, and careful documentation of its arguments, all marshaled to speed the global transition to a sustainable world."

    15-year review of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) and the outcomes of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly (2000)

    For the more information about Beijing+15 and CSW54, click here.

    Point of contact: UN Division for the Advancement of Women, daw@un.org.

    The World Survey on the Role of Women in Development is the flagship publication of the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women. The theme for the World Survey in 2009 is "Women’s control over economic resources and access to financial resources, including microfinance."

    To download the final report, click here.

    Point of contact: UN Division for the Advancement of Women, daw@un.org.

    Millennial assessments of the environmental problems confronting people of all nations have shown that the problems are severe and, in large part, the product of human activities.

  • Climate change,
  • Decline of food security
  • Loss of biological diversity
  • Depletion of water and other vital resources with consequent conflict
  • Use of unsustainable and environmentally malign energy technologies
  • Deleterious changes in patterns of land use, and
  • Toxification of the planet with unregulated pollutants that may be dangerous even in traces

    All threaten the human future. Yet society stubbornly refuses to take comprehensive steps to deal with them and their drivers,

  • Population growth
  • Overconsumption by the rich, and
  • The deployment of environmentally malign technologies.

    For the complete mission statement, click here.

    Point of contact: Douglass Carmichael, doug@dougcarmichael.com.


  •       6. Climate Interactive Scoreboard (Courtesy of the Climate Institute)

    This automatically updating widget reflects the current state of negotiations in Copenhagen, and the resulting temperature increase. Watch the video (top-right corner) to learn how this simulation calculates the long-term climate impacts of proposals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.


    Courtesy of The Climate Institute


          7. Carbon Footprint Calculator (Courtesy of Carbonify and Michael Bloch)

    Calculate your carbon footprint. With a bit of research, you may be able to gather the data required to calculate the footprint of your place of work, your school, your church, your local government, and any other institution that might benefit from becoming aware of how much carbon they are using. Sometimes this information is enough to trigger a shift to consumption habits and work practices that would decrease the carbon footprint.

    CO2 CALCULATOR

    Need to convert from metric?

    kilometers = miles
    cubic meters = cubic feet
    liters = gallons

    Enter your data in imperial units:

     

    Quantity
    Total Tons of
    CO2 annually
    Small car
    (40 mpg fuel economy)


    miles per month

      
    Average/medium
    car (21 mpg fuel
    economy)

    miles per month

     
    SUV/4 wheel drive
    (15 mpg fuel economy)

    miles per month

     
    Electricity usage 

    kilowatts/month

     
    Natural/propane gas 


    cubic feet/month


    Fuel oil heating 

    gallons per month
     
    Air Travel 

    miles per month
     
    Train Travel 

    miles per month
     
    General waste - how many people in your household?


    no. of people


     

    How many people in your household have meat in their diet?

    no. of people
     

    Total annual emissions

    tons
    Total monthly emissions tons
    No. of trees to offset per year

    trees

    No. of trees to offset per month

    trees

    Carbon Dioxide Calculator v1.2 
    Copyright (c) Carbonify.com and Michael Bloch


          8. International Ecumenical Peace Convocation


    WCC2011BANNER
    Visit the World Council of Churches

    Kingston, Jamaica, will be the host city for the World Council of Churches' International Ecumenical Peace Convocation in 2011. The convocation will meet under the theme "Glory to God and peace on earth". It will be the culmination of the WCC's Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV), which has sought to network and bring attention to the peacemaking initiatives of its various member churches.


          9. The Lord's Prayer in Aramaic



    Abwoon D’Bashmaya – The Lord's Prayer in Aramaic
    Courtesy of Spirit Quest

    Translation by Spirit Quest:

    O, Birther of the Cosmos, focus your light within us — make it useful Create your reign of unity now
    Your one desire then acts with ours,
    As in all light,
    So in all forms,
    Grant us what we need each day in bread and insight:
    Loose the cords of mistakes binding us,
    As we release the strands we hold of other’s guilt.
    Don’t let surface things delude us,
    But free us from what holds us back.
    From you is born all ruling will,
    The power and the life to do,
    The song that beautifies all,
    From age to age it renews.
    I affirm this with my whole being.

    For other translations, visit The Lord's Prayer web site.


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