Nov 22, 09
Worldchanging Timeline: 2003-2009
We here at Worldchanging just celebrated our sixth anniversary! In addition to publishing a series of "101" posts, highlighting some of the iconic pieces we've published over the years, and a primer on blogs and other resources we lean heavily upon, we though that it might also be useful to share a timeline of the project so far, noting some representative events, to give the interested reader a sense of where we came from and how we got here; perhaps knowing something of the evolution of...
The Lessons of Katrina: Global Warming Adaptation is a Cruel Euphemism and Prevention is Far, Far Cheaper
I’m updating this post from August 29, 2007, along with pieces of the adaptation trap — Part 1 and Part 2 from March 2008. The L.A. Times has brought to prominence (and fallen for) what I call the “adaptation trap”: The adaptation trap is the belief that 1) “it would be easier and cheaper to adapt than fight climate change” [as the Times puts it in the sub-head] and/or 2) “adaptation” to climate change is possible in any meaningful sense of the word absent an intense...
The Struggle Over Local Media: An Interview With Eric Klinenberg (Part One)
By Henry Jenkins Earlier this summer, I moderated a panel on "News, Nerds and Nabes': How Will Future Generations of Americans Learn About the Local" as part of a conference which the MIT Center for Future Civic Media hosted for the Knight Foundation. My panelists were Alberto Ibargüen, president and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and Eric Klinenberg, professor of sociology at New York University and author of Fighting for Air:The Battle to Control America's Media. Our...
Why Global Warming Means Killer Storms Worse Than Katrina And Gustav, Part 1
Hurricane season officially begins June 1 -- though global warming will ultimately move that date up just as it is moving up the spring snowmelt. Indeed, some evidence suggests the hurricane season has been getting longer for decades (see here and below). As Jeff Master, our favorite meteorologist and hurricane blogger, noted in November, "This year is now the only hurricane season on record in the Atlantic that has featured major hurricanes in five separate months" (see "A new record for...
Living In The Age Of Stupid
By Sean Pool London is underwater, New Orleans won't be rebuilt a third time, the arctic is ice free, and agriculture is failing, which leads to global food riots and ultimately the collapse of civilization... This is the premise of the new crowd-funded British independent film The Age of Stupid. Set in 2055, the film portrays a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by the worst impacts of climate change, and looks back at the critical period between 2005 and 2015 to examine why we didn't save...
Investing in Children is Investing in Our Future
This article was written by Alex Steffen and Sarah Rich in May 2007. We're republishing it here as part of our month-long editorial retrospective. Yesterday, Geoffrey Canada spoke at the Council on Foundations' annual conference. Canada is President and CEO of the Harlem Children's Zone, a non-profit community organization which has proven that given proper attention, structure and support, the most devastated communities can learn to lift themselves up. It must be said, first of all, that...
When 311 Broke: Gustav's Missed Opportunities
By Nancy Scola New Orleans' levees may not have broken during the recent Hurricane Gustav, but something else certainly did. The phone-based 311 system that the city activated to register evacuees collapsed under the all too predictable weight of tens of thousands of people needing help leaving the city. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal finally told frustrated residents just to get out and register "on the back end" -- i.e., wherever they happened to end up. It didn't have...
Creative Capital: Same stories, different models?
I spent yesterday in a conversation at the Berkman Center about possible models to support “difficult” journalism - important news reporting that’s hard to support fiscally. Today, I’m at an event at Williams College, my alma mater, at a meeting of Creative Capital, a summer retreat for over 200 artists, consultants and advisors. Creative Capital is investigating alternative models to support innovation in the arts. Supported by the Warhol Foundation and other arts funders, CC...
Bonobos, Berkeley and Mars
Several things I've meant to blog on and haven't: The Bonobo Conservation Initiative, which is not only saving our awesome laid-back, sexed-up little cousins, but is being smart about it, by building a network of local bonobo-supported villages, with outreach, jobs, microenterprise programs, a local technical college, cultural preservation help and a free clinic. And it's working: they've been instrumental in the designation of the Reserve Naturelle du Sankuru, a new 11,803 square mile...
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