Just Sustainabilities in Policy, Planning and Practice

Tufts ENVS

Sep 10, 2020
Julian Agyeman, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, Tufts University

In his talk, Professor Agyeman will outline the concept of just sustainabilities as a response to the ‘equity deficit’ of much sustainability thinking and practice. He will explore his contention that who can belong in our cities will ultimately determine what our cities can become. He will illustrate his ideas with examples from urban planning and design, urban agriculture and food justice, and the concept of sharing cities.

Julian Agyeman, Ph.D. FRSA FRGS, is a Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University. He is the originator of the increasingly influential concept of just sustainabilities, the intentional integration of social justice and environmental sustainability. He centers his research on critical explorations of the complex and embedded relations between humans and the urban environment, whether mediated by governments or social movement organizations, and their effects on public policy and planning processes and outcomes, particularly in relation to notions of justice and equity.

He believes that what our cities can become (sustainable, smart, sharing and resilient) and who is allowed to belong in them (recognition of difference, diversity, and a right to the city) are fundamentally and inextricably interlinked. We must therefore act on both belonging and becoming, together, using just sustainabilities as the anchor, or face deepening spatial and social inequities and inequalities.

He is the author or editor of 12 books, including Just Sustainabilities: Development in an Unequal World (MIT Press, 2003), Cultivating Food Justice: Race, Class and Sustainability (MIT Press, 2011), and Sharing Cities: A Case for Truly Smart and Sustainable Cities (MIT Press, 2015), one of Nature’s Top 20 Books of 2015. In 2018, he was awarded the Athena City Accolade by KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden, for his “outstanding contribution to the field of social justice and ecological sustainability, environmental policy and planning”.

Noam Chomsky – Conversations with History

University of California Television (UCTV)

Feb 1, 2008

On this edition of Conversations with History, UC Berkeley’s Harry Kreisler is joined by linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky to discuss activism, anarchism and the role the United States plays in the world today. [6/2002] [Show ID: 6568] More from: Conversations with History (https://www.uctv.tv/cwh)

Yanis Varoufakis: Is Capitalism Devouring Democracy?

GBH Forum Network

May 17, 2018

In is address to the Cambridge Forum in Massachusetts, Economist and fierce EU critic Yanis Varoufakis considers the need for a radically new way of thinking about the economy, finance and capitalism. WGBH Forum Network ~ Free online lectures: Explore a world of ideas (Thumbnail Photo: Marclozanobosch/Flickr)

‘We’re looking at Billions of People not being able to Survive’ | Peter Carter, Expert IPCC Reviewer

Extinction Rebellion

Nov 11, 2020

Peter Carter, M.D. and Roger Hallam discuss the science and ethics with regards to climate emergency for all of us struggling to understand what’s actually going on, what needs to happen and what we need to do. (abridged version, full discussion here: https://youtu.be/R3DHJa-IH3I)

Every month now records and disasters are happening and we don’t have the time to sit around and pretend it’s all going to go away – because it’s not and Peter’s mission now is to spread the full terrible truth about the extreme risks and magnitude of the global climate and ocean disruption emergency.

Peter Carter, M.D. is a retired family physician who practised medicine first in England and then on both coasts of Canada (in Newfoundland and British Columbia) for almost 40 years.

When his sons were born, Peter became actively involved in peace, environmental and sustainable development issues, especially as they relate to children’s health. (Fatherhood created that urge to leave the world a better place as a legacy for his children.)

As a founding director of CAPE (Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment) and, more recently, as founder of the Climate Emergency Institute, Peter has presented on sustainable development, environmental health policy, biodiversity, and climate change and ocean issues at international science and climate change conferences in Canada, the United States, Europe, Asia and South America.

Peter has been following the global warming and climate change research since 1988. His approach to assessing climate change is based on environmental health and human rights protection. He provides climate science information to several websites and organizations, and synthesizes climate change research for laypeople.

Peter was an expert reviewer for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Climate Change Assessment (AR5, 2014) and the IPCC’s 2018 Special Report on 1.5ºC. Also in 2018, Peter published Unprecedented Crime: Climate Science Denial and Game Changers for Survival, which he co-authored with Elizabeth Woodworth.

*We would like to clarify, around 18mins in Roger and Peter talk about existential risk, which can be used to refer to human extinction but can also be used to describe the following: “An existential risk is one that threatens the entire future of humanity… Some scenarios in which humanity survives would also be existential catastrophes if they involve a permanent and drastic destruction of humanity’s future potential” https://www.existential-risk.org/faq….

Extinction Rebellion has always aimed to communicate and explore climate and ecological risks, including fat tails of probability analyses. We appreciate all experts including those who explore possibilities, compounding effects beyond physical sciences and look at these ideas through the lens of the precautionary principle. Often these perspectives are discussed by those taking an inter-disciplinary approach.

Peter Carter: https://www.climateemergencyinstitute…
IPCC: https://www.ipcc.ch/
UNFCC: https://unfccc.int/
NOAA Artic Report card: https://arctic.noaa.gov/Report-Card

Some scenarios in which humanity survives would also be existential catastrophes if they involve a permanent and drastic destruction of humanity’s future potential” https://www.existential-risk.org/faq…. Extinction Rebellion has always aimed to communicate and explore climate and ecological risks, including fat tails of probability analyses. We appreciate all experts including those who explore possibilities, compounding effects beyond physical sciences and look at these ideas through the lens of the precautionary principle. Often these perspectives are discussed by those taking an inter-disciplinary approach. Peter Carter: https://www.climateemergencyinstitute… IPCC: https://www.ipcc.ch/ UNFCC: https://unfccc.int/ NOAA Artic Report card: https://arctic.noaa.gov/Report-Card

Top U.S. & World Headlines — November 19, 2020

Democracy Now!

Nov 19, 2020

Geospatial Technology | Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy today launched a new enterprise to expand the use of advanced technology for land and water conservation—The Center for Geospatial Solutions (CGS). The center will give people and organizations the tools they need to manage land and water resources with precision, at the scale required to confront pressing challenges such as climate change, loss of habitat, and water scarcity.

The center will provide data, conduct analysis, and perform specialized consulting services that enable organizations of all sizes in the nonprofit, public, and private sectors to deploy geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, and other geospatial technologies. The center will help practitioners to overcome barriers such as a lack of staffing, resources, or expertise, which have hindered the adoption of geospatial technology, especially in the nonprofit sector.

“If land and water managers, conservationists, and governments are to meet rapidly accelerating social, economic, and environmental challenges, including climate change, they need to work together at larger scales and make use of every possible tool,” said Anne Scott, executive director for the Center for Geospatial Solutions. “The Center for Geospatial Solutions will enhance collective access to better data and analysis, so that practitioners and decisionmakers can act collaboratively on the best information available.”

…(read more).