Podemos and the Indignado Movement
Are more democratic systems necessary before important social-ecological transformations can occur on a large scale? Podemos is a Spanish political party that appeared in early 2014. The relevance of Podemos as a seed lies in its potential to democratize politics by challenging the two-party system that has ruled Spain for 30+ years. The most remarkable aspect of this initiative may be the degree to which Podemos has been able to activate [...]
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. [...]
Lufa Farms
What combination of food production innovations will allow us to feed a growing global population sustainably in the future? Objective: To grow food where people live, and to grow it sustainably. To Lufa Farms, this means growing food on no new land; capturing rainwater; recirculating 100% of irrigation water and nutrients; reducing energy use; composting green waste; using biological controls instead of synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides; and delivering produce to customers [...]
Greenmatter
How important is skills development around biodiversity conservation in the good anthropocene? Greenmatter is an initiative aiming to drive transformation in graduate level skills for biodiversity conservation in South Africa. In 2010, the South African government’s Economic Cluster convened the first Green Economy Summit, to map out a green growth pathway that creates jobs while reducing pollution and using South Africa’s natural resources wisely. There was growing recognition that economic growth cannot [...]
TRANSMANGO
Is research and collaboration around sustainable food production a key component of building a good anthropocene? Objective: Identifying a range of current practices in the context of European food systems that have the potential to contribute to transitions to sustainable food and nutrition security in Europe. TRANSMANGO (http://www.transmango.eu/index.html) is a research project supporting the goal of sustainable food and nutrition security in Europe. Scenario work is employed to explore a [...]
