I encourage anyone reading this on New Year’s day to watch Simon Schama’s BBC TV series called “History Now” Schama is always a compelling presenter but in this series, he is more than a messenger, offering something of a call to arms as he emotionally recounted memories of watching Václav Havel address crowds of CzechContinue reading “HISTORY NOW”
Category Archives: Sustainability
Five options for restoring global biodiversity after the UN agreement
From the Conversation December 20th 2022 To slow and reverse the fastest loss of Earth’s living things since the dinosaurs, almost 200 countries have signed an agreement in Montreal, Canada, promising to live in harmony with nature by 2050. The Kunming-Montreal agreement is not legally binding but it will require signatories to report their progress towards meeting targets suchContinue reading “Five options for restoring global biodiversity after the UN agreement”
NEW ECONOMY based on NEW SYSTEMS
The role of human agency is an essential element of the authors of this new books analyses, evaluations, and prescriptions. If humanity is to live in harmony with itself, with other creatures, and in balance with the planet’s ecological systems, then we must be clear about what we can and cannot do, and what weContinue reading “NEW ECONOMY based on NEW SYSTEMS”
What can Sustainable Development do for World Heritage Sites like Cromford Mills?
‘Why bother?’ – if you have never thought about sustainability in terms of heritage and education, or have only touched on it, there are several reasons to engage, or engage further: – Public interest: Society is in a state of rapid change not least about rising energy costs and more generally the cost ofContinue reading “What can Sustainable Development do for World Heritage Sites like Cromford Mills?“
NO MORE FAIRY TALES
Research by Dr Denise Baden shows that stories which introduce climate change solutions in the context of an otherwise mainstream story are more likely to inspire greener behaviours than catastrophic tales of climate change. In her guest blog she introduces the latest Green Stories anthology No More Fairy Tales—Stories to Save Our Planet. Blog by DeniseContinue reading “NO MORE FAIRY TALES“
IS UNESCO STILL THE CONSCIENCE OF HUMANITY ?
According to a recent and challenging publication there are growing concerns that UNESCO might be being influenced by the prevailing neoliberal ideology( as neuroliberal) to the extent that its distinctive role as the conscience of humanity is being compromised : (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03057925.2022.2129956) As the paper argues UNESCO came into existence at a particularly prescient utopian momentContinue reading “IS UNESCO STILL THE CONSCIENCE OF HUMANITY ?“
Neoliberalism: the idea that swallowed the world
The word has become a rhetorical weapon and an ideological political meme, but it properly names the reigning ideology of our era – one that venerates the logic of the market and strips away the things that make us human. And its most recent admirer Liz Truss our much-reviled former PM became a celebrated maleficent proponentContinue reading “Neoliberalism: the idea that swallowed the world“
What is ‘transparent solar energy’?
Transparent solar is a cutting-edge technology that gathers and uses light energy through windows or any glass surface, regardless of the angle. It has the potential to be a game-changer in terms of broadening the scope of solar. In terms of engineering, researchers have created several means of transparent solar technology. Most generally though, most of them function more asContinue reading “What is ‘transparent solar energy’?“
HALFWAY TO 2030: HOW is the UK PERFORMING on IMPLEMENTING THE GLOBAL GOALS?
Early findings from the UN Global Compact Network UK’s Measuring Up 2.0 report suggest that the UK is only performing well on 21% of the Targets that are relevant to the domestic delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals in the UK. In the past four years there has been no change in the performance againstContinue reading “HALFWAY TO 2030: HOW is the UK PERFORMING on IMPLEMENTING THE GLOBAL GOALS?”
EARTH SUMMIT REFLECTIONS
This coming week is the 30th anniversary of the Rio Earth Summit (which launched the sustainable development paradigm) and the 50th anniversary of the Stockholm conference (which alerted world leaders to environmental dilemmas). Such anniversaries previously brought much fanfare from the UN. Not this year. The backsliding on poverty and the environment is so shocking and underminingContinue reading “EARTH SUMMIT REFLECTIONS”
