Education

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

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

Community Based Radiation Monitoring

How can people to do respond to crisis, when they don't trust official responses? Japan towns, villages, and cities around the Daiichi nuclear plant. The 20km and 30km areas had evacuation and sheltering orders, and additional administrative districts that had an evacuation order are highlighted. From wikipedia. In 2011, the Great East Japan earthquake triggered a large tsunami that killed over 15,000 people and triggered meltdowns in the Fukushima Daiichi [...]

Garry Peterson2016-04-11T00:03:31+00:00community, Education, Food, Food system, health, Skills Development|Comments Off

MEGA

Can an online gaming platfom lead to real-world learning and behavioural change? How widespread can its impact be? MEGA Game is a gamified web platform & smartphone app that give you knowledge, skills, and power to create sustainable world by playing for impact. The Moldovan Environmental Governance Academy (MEGA) represents an innovative solution to the world’s most pressing social and environmental issues, such as inefficient natural resource management, environmental pollution with [...]

ciararh2015-12-11T21:29:39+00:00Education, Skills Development, Social-Ecological Seeds, sustainable living|Comments Off

GIVEWATTS

Can aid that focuses on decreasing reliance on traditional energy sources be a sustainable solution? GIVEWATTS is a non-profit organisation / Social Enterprise bringing clean and safe energy to people in developing countries, starting with East Africa. GIVEWATTS distributes solar lamps and efficient stoves in places that would otherwise rely on daylight, firewood and kerosene. The GIVEWATTS vision is to make renewable energy available to all households across the off-grid [...]

ciararh2015-12-02T21:10:50+00:00climate change, community, Conservation, Education, health, infrastructure, Integrated social-environmental, sustainable living, Technology|Comments Off

Schyst Resande (Fair Travel)

Can tourism be remodelled to encourage learning about sustainable, ethical travel? Tourism is a global industry, and also seen as an important part of economic growth, especially in developing countries. It can be a very positive thing, but it needs to be done in a fair and sustainable way. That is not the case in most places today, and getting the information on how to be a responsible traveller out [...]

ciararh2015-10-29T16:50:55+00:00business, climate change, Education, Integrated social-environmental, Social Seeds, stop destructive action, sustainable living|Comments Off

The Farm

Can new communities founded on novel personal beliefs lead to lasting change? The Farm is an experimental community founded in 1971 when several hundred 'hippies' moved from San Francisco to Tennessee to develop a new way of living. The Farm is a long-lasting example of an intentional community that has evolved and produced a number of world influencing innovations. Ina May Gaskin, a founding resident, became a world famous innovator in midwifery. And both she and the NGO Plenty International, [...]

Garry Peterson2015-10-09T16:02:23+00:00community, Education, health, Social-Ecological Seeds|Comments Off

Trees for Life: Rewilding Scotland Forests

Trees for Life is a rewilding project that aims to restore the wildness to ecosystems and the human spirit. Doing this requires it to work to change how people view what is natural and possible in Scottish nature and it has done this by building a broad effective coalition to achieve a long term task. The project works with extensively with volunteers to combine landscape transformation with education.

Garry Peterson2015-09-11T11:00:00+00:00Conservation, Education, europe, Social-Ecological Seeds|Comments Off

Common Ground

Are people more likely to be inspired towards stewardship by a love for their local surroundings and cultural connections to nature than by traditional conservation movements? Common Ground is a charity that explores the relationship between nature and culture through music, sculpture, poetry, film, markets, photography, architecture, gardening, publishing and pamphleteering. The idea of Local Distinctiveness, pioneered in 1985 by co-founders Sue Clifford and Angela King, is at the root of all Common Ground projects. [...]

ciararh2015-07-08T18:03:11+00:00Conservation, Education, Social-Ecological Seeds|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.