Anna Kusmer, Author at Seeds of Good Anthropocenes

About Anna Kusmer

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So far Anna Kusmer has created 15 blog entries.

Melbourne, Australia: A model for how cities can lead the energy transition

Over half of the world’s population lives in cities, and rates of urbanization continue to increase. In the Anthropocene, cities are significant players. Dense concentrations of people and resources, while sometimes environmentally taxing, are also fertile grounds for cooperation and models of sustainability. Melbourne, Australia started turning heads in 2015 when they put forward a simple, yet revolutionary, model for renewable energy transition. Thirteen of the largest institutions in the [...]

Anna Kusmer2017-05-12T15:32:34+00:00infrastructure|Comments Off

Students activating recycling awareness: Eco-savers in Marikina City, Philippines

How can a municipality create a waste recycling program where there is none? Yes, municipal recycling programs need bins, and trucks, and recycling plants, which money can buy. However, one of the most important ingredients needed is community buy-in. In the Philippines, recycling is not a very popular pastime. Many people are actively skeptical of recycling programs because they find waste separation messy and difficult. Recycling programs are often temporary, [...]

Anna Kusmer2017-05-03T18:30:20+00:00infrastructure|Comments Off

Green Wave: The Future of Ocean Farming

Imagine the future of farming. You are probably envisioning rolling hills, tractors, and green fields. Now turn your attention to the seas. For some, this is the frontier. The sea is the future of farming. Green Wave is realizing this vision. They are developing and promoting a new form of marine aquaculture which they call “3D Ocean Farming”. This method consists of using the whole ocean column to create a [...]

Anna Kusmer2017-04-06T13:17:34+00:00Food, Food system|Comments Off

Iron and Earth: Changing the narrative about Canadian energy futures

Canada’s oil sands, located in the province of Alberta, are a source of tension when it comes to envisioning the future of Canada’s environment and economy. To some, this resource represents jobs and wealth, with oil reserves worth an estimated $285 billion dollars. To others, the oil sands have no place in the future of the Canadian economy due to regional environmental degradation and climate change impacts. Also, unstable global [...]

Anna Kusmer2017-03-14T19:24:02+00:00Education, Skills Development, stop destructive action|Comments Off

EcoPeace Middle East: Environmental Peacemaking for transboundary water management in Israel, Palestine, and Jordan

Citizens of Israel, Palestine, and Jordan know about borders. Crossing between these regions requires rigorous checkpoints and determination. However, the waterway shared between these neighbors, the Jordan River, knows no political boundary. Recently, the Jordan River Basin has experienced massive declines in quality –93 percent of its original flow has been diverted by neighboring states; it is also affected by pollution from sewage, agricultural runoff, and fish pond effluent [...]

Anna Kusmer2017-03-02T17:30:58+00:00community, Conservation, Integrated social-environmental, Social-Ecological Seeds|Comments Off

Grassroots Economics: Complementary Currencies for community resilience in Kenya

Money is a powerful force in complex societies. It represents access to food, security, and health. In some cases it represents freedom itself. Money is credit, and in the case of national currencies, a piece of money (whether it be a dollar, a rupee, or a yuan) represents an IOU from the government. Money’s ultimate power lies in our collective faith in its value. The movement of money allows products [...]

Anna Kusmer2017-02-22T23:03:59+00:00community, Social Seeds, Technology|Comments Off

Yachay City of Knowledge: A New City of Technology, Research and Innovation

“New Cities” are planned cities, generally conceptualized and constructed in partnership between government and corporate actors. While this phenomenon has resulted in a mixed-bag of mostly non-sustainable boondoggles, there is no doubt that these cities represent a vision of the future – new ways of people living together and relating to one-another. While these visions of the future may not be shared by all, they are visions worth noticing. Yachay [...]

Anna Kusmer2017-02-14T21:40:54+00:00infrastructure, Urban|Comments Off

Seeds at the World Economic Forum

In June 2016, project co-founder Elena Bennett presented Seeds of Good Anthropocenes at the World Economic Forum - Annual Meeting of the New Champions, in Tianjin, China. Bennett was one of dozens of researchers who attended the meeting to present transformative and innovative science to world leaders in business, policy, academia, and communication. The World Economic Forum is a chance for change-makers and innovators from vastly different fields to come [...]

Anna Kusmer2019-10-10T12:23:29+00:00News, Project News|Comments Off

Farm Hack: open source technology for small-scale resilient agriculture

How can small-scale farmers network to share ideas, innovations, and inventions to increase the resilience of sustainable agriculture and rural economies? Before the industrial revolution, low-input agriculture was the norm, but now, farmers must make a conscious choice if they want to avoid large scale mechanization. Many small-scale farmers in the US are discovering new means of food production and in the process, innovating tools and equipment. Innovations can range [...]

Anna Kusmer2016-08-02T14:00:42+00:00sustainable living, United States|Comments Off

Social change through “Social Ecology” in Montreal

By Théo Rouhette How can a citizen community use popular education and social action in order to transform society and its institutions toward an ecological, egalitarian and democratic future? Challenges such as climate change and global inequity can be so overwhelming, individuals may feel powerless to respond and create positive change. But what if there was a way to organize ourselves so that together we can make more of a difference than [...]

Anna Kusmer2016-07-12T17:34:34+00:00Education, social movement, sustainable living, Urban|Comments Off

Seeds are existing initiatives which hold potential to shape the future. They are likely not widespread nor well-known. They can be social initiatives, new technologies, economic tools, or social-ecological projects, or organisations, movements or new ways of acting that have that appear to be making a substantial contribution towards creating a future that is just, prosperous, and sustainable.

We gather seeds from diverse research disciplines, communities of practice, and individuals that have different world-views, values, and problems. This diversity means that not everyone will agree on the importance or value of every seed.