Environmentalism and Advocacy

Barcamp on Environmentalism and Advocacy Leonardo Bonanni & Grant Kristofek

Description:

The public dialogue around these issues is stunted; at the same time there is a critical need to advocate around environmental sustainability. How can we unravel, understand and represent the environmental issues affecting local communities given our current channels of communication? What tools are missing for advocacy around environmental issues? There are a number of approaches to dealing with environmental problems in the social context - which are effective? Journalism, policy, education, and science all play a role: how do we avoid the inconsistencies and inaccuracies that plague our current discourse?

It would be great to bring together a number of individuals working on various themes of advocacy and the environment to discuss their approaches, collect references and brainstorm new techniques that could enrich this domain. Let us know if you'd like to attend, what you think you could bring, and what you'd like us to contribute from MIT.

Backgrounds

Leo:

http://www.sourcemap.org - supply chain visualization and carbon footprinting tool

http://www.futurecraft.org - class on culturally sustainable design

Grant:

http://www.dcontinuum.com/Colorblind/ - consumer research into how people think, act and feel about 'green' products

http://www.sustainableminds.com - life cycle assessment tool

http://www.scienceblogs.com/energygrid - blog discussion on future energy systems

Open discussion / Questions:

What is missing from the dialogue on environmentalism?

What resources, channels of communication exist?

Who has access to the information?

What educational resources exist?

What is missing?

How do we educate (ourselves/others) effectively?

How do we write about sustainability? What are the metrics?

Issues:

Greenwashing

Jevon's Paradox

Transparency

Environmentalism and the press

Muckraking

Advertising

Radical Sustainability

Cradle to Cradle

Life Cycle Design

Environmental Sustainability vs Social, Cultural, Economic Sustainability

Resources:

http://wattzon.org - personal power calculator

http://treehugger.com - leading environmental blog http://www.zeri.org/ - zero-emission research and initiatives

http://www.idsa.org/whatsnew/sections/ecosection/okala.html - industrial design guide to sustainable design

http://www.thegortcloud.com/ - visualization of green communities and networks

http://www.designersaccord.org/ - a global coalition to create positive environmental and social impact

http://globalreporting.org/ - a framework for coorporations to assess and share their environmental and social practices