The International Tribunal on the Right of Nature - by GARN (Global Alliance on the Rights of Nature). Spurred by the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth that took place in Cochabamba, Bolivia in 2009 and on the basis of the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth thereby adopted, social movements, communities and academics have started to develop and implement legal instruments for the recognition of the rights of Nature, the so-called Earth Jurisprudence. Building up on the unprecedented inclusion of the Rights of Nature in the Ecuadorian Constitution and in Bolivian legal systems, and of legal actions seeking the recognition of legal personhood of endangered ecosystems, a global movement has been taking shape. First in New Zealand with the Whanganui river, and in Ecuador with the Vilcabamba river, as well as in Colombia first with Atrato river or in Bangladesh and India with the Yamuna and Ganges rivers and watersheds, have been granted legal personhood or have been recognized as living beings with their own rights, and the number is constantly growing. Furthermore a The Universal Declaration on the Rights of Rivers was also developed, and global coalitions such as the GARN (Global Alliance on the Rights of Nature) been established.
The International Tribunal on the Rights of Nature, was established by GARN and has been analyzing many cases related to ecosystems at risk and their rights, in its sessions this far. Still, it is with rivers and their rights that the drive to develop systems of law, and new categories or rights, that complement the traditional anthropocentric human rights systems with a more biocentric approach, has been spearheaded.
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Kiss the Ground is a feature length film about how powerful healthy soil is and how we can regenerate our planet. The film shows how, by regenerating the world’s soils, we can completely and rapidly stabilize Earth’s climate, restore lost ecosystems and create abundant food supplies. Using compelling graphics and visuals, along with striking NASA and NOAA footage, the film artfully illustrates how, by drawing down atmospheric carbon, soil is an important missing piece of the climate puzzle.
Available on Netflix and Youtube.
Our World In Data concludes that In Order to Protect the World's Wildlife We Must Improve Crop Yields. Habitat loss is causing is the greatest threat to species survival and farmland is the greatest cause of habitat loss. It is also continuing to expand.
Horizontal gene transfer in plants.
As the amount of plant genomic DNA sequence increases, scientists have detected DNA sequence information that simply does not conveniently fit into genome assemblies, and clearly appears to be from somewhere else. Dr. Lara Pereira from the University of Sheffield explains the surprising frequency of lateral gene transfer between grass species. The mechanism of crossing the species barrier is discussed, along with the frequency of horizontal transfer. We discuss the ramifications of unregulated integration of DNA into plant genomes and the perception of transgenic plants in the EU and other locations where crop genetic engineering is not viewed favorably. The results also suggest additional care when monitoring gene escape in transgenic grasses like maize.
We've seen alternative protein take off with shocking speed. Just a few years ago I remember thinking it would take decades to be affordable, maybe never reach scale, and doubted people would accept it. It was another wildly exaggerated technology. A few years later, not only was it was available in burger chains and grocery stores but most people had tried it once. Now its rapidly becoming hardly noteworthy, like it was inevitable, obvious, and normal. I'm forgetting how weird and unlikely it sounded.
But what if I'm not thinking big enough? What if alternative proteins were just the start, and growing all our ingredients in vats is vastly more cost (and land) efficient than modern agriculture. Even with precision automated agriculture, we still grow the whole plant, raise it for years, and then harvest a tiny percentage of it. What if we just grew the part we needed, or better yet, just grew the nutrients we needed and then sold that. Wouldn't that make more sense and be cheaper once we have the technology? Don't we already have the technology? So isn't it the future we are heading toward? This is Precision Fermentation and what Reboot Food is about.
And it raises even more questions. What happens to the people who farmed? Who is in control of the food supply? How does this change our relationship with animals? Who will get there first? How will it spread to the rest of the world? Will it even happen?
There is enormous potential for good. It would be so easy to stop the factory farming hellscapes for animals. It would free up enormous tracts of the most fertile areas to transform into beautiful landscapes. It would make food enormously efficient and cheap and safe. There is enormous potential for harm too. Watch Precision Fermentation- Reboot Food to learn about historical food revolutions, technological ethics, how precision fermentation works, what is wrong with our societal structure now, and what our future might look like. The People Need People (PNP) and Warm Data Lab is created to help release and revitalize sensitivity to the sacred processes of the life that have been fragmented by the last several hundred years of history. People Need People and Warm Data Lab are made for a broken world. The PNP and Warm Data Lab Host training is led by Nora Bateson and accredited by the International Bateson Institute in Sweden. There are different forms generating warm data. One is research on complex issues, this form of research generates inquiry that does not get caught in either time frozen or decontextualized research projects. Another form of participation is the Warm Data Lab and its online version called People Need People. It was originally designated for helping communities begin to perceive and articulate the possible projects which would be responses to the complexity of the issues they are facing, as opposed to silo-ed solutions. The training is challenging. It is a rich blend of theory and practice, both of which are essential to a deep grounding and upskilling to run People Need People sessions and Warm Data Labs. During the course, you’ll learn about: The structure, timing and form of the Warm Data Lab including troubleshooting, guidelines of what not to do, etc.
People Need People and Warm Data Lab hosting is a critical qualification for leaders, business professionals, educators, healers, social and environmental activists and anyone who longs to live in a more harmonious and joyful world. As a PNP and Warm Data Lab Host you will see and feel differently. You will understand more deeply and model better behaviour. There is no goal in a PNP session or a Warm Data Lab. Only warmth, and Life. The rest takes care of itself, in ways that are radically different from traditional ways of intervening to effect change. The theoretical underpinnings of the Warm Data Lab & PNP process will be discussed and explored, including:
When
Mon - Fri, April 24th - April 28th (homework April 26th) 6pm - 9pm CET Mon - Fri, May 1st - May5th (homework on May 3rd) 6pm - 9pm CET Mon - Fri, May 8th - May 12th (homework May 10trh) 6pm - 9pm CET Mon May 15th - (special Tech and Care session) 6pm - 9pm CET Where The training is delivered online in 12 sessions over three weeks, plus a special session for “Tech and Care”, where the three Wednesdays will be used for “homework”, readings and reflections, but no online sessions. Each online session is three hours long. Course fee The course fee is €1500.
Theory of change, longtermism, and ambition.
• Will humanity likely converge on good values as we get more educated and invest more in moral philosophy — or are the things we care about actually quite arbitrary and contingent? • Why are so many nonfiction books full of factual errors? • How does Will avoid anxiety and depression with more responsibility on his shoulders than ever? • Should we focus on existential risks more or less the same way, whether we care about future generations or not? • Are potatoes one of the most important technologies ever developed? • And plenty more. Highlight at 55 minutes.
February 9 at 4-6pm EST
Regenerating Bioregions: Co-Designing Our Future Together A Community Gathering with guests Joe Brewer and Penny Heiple from Barichara, Colombia Attend here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/regenerating-bioregions-co-designing-our-future-together-tickets-523171218197 NOTE: This event can be attended in person OR virtually by accessing a livestream channel. If you wish to attend virtually, just select a virtual ticket at checkout and a link to the livestream channel will be provided with your order confirmation.
Join us on the Case Western Reserve University campus for an interactive dialogue exploring the intergenerative diversities (science, arts, business, health, civics & more) that make our communities so rich! There is no cost to attend this event.
We will co-create visions of our region's future. Using the regenerative lens of bioregionalism, this perspective integrates the cultural and natural features of land areas often defined by their watersheds and encompassing Indigenous perspectives. Joe Brewer and Penny Heiple (Bioregional Activators Network, Barichara River Watershed, Colombia, South America) come to us emergently — a just added stop on their two-week journey through the largest freshwater basin on the planet — our beloved Great Lakes. Activating bioregions with free talks and workshops along with field site visits to different landscapes, they join us through the broad systems work of the Legacy Project in Toronto, decade-long collaborators of the bioregion’s Intergenerational Schools in Cleveland’s Collinwood, Buckeye and Ohio City neighborhoods. Joe and Penny's additional stops include Toronto, Canada, and Rochester, Ithaca and Binghamton, New York. Also check out Possible Planet's activities for more regenerative culture. Or thecalendar of events for Earth Regenerators.
The economist Kate Raworth says the aggressive pursuit of G.D.P. is trashing the planet and shortchanging too many people. She has proposed an alternative — and the city of Amsterdam is giving it a try. How's it going?
Commentary 1: My main purpose in sharing was my increasing suspicion of simple short term cost benefit analysis, and this was helpful, showed how it’s tied up with GDP which itself has inherent problems, which it’s creator warned against. The practical doughnut solutions DO seem better than cost benefit, and a better way to approach ‘externalities.'
Commentary 2: The doughnut is more like a goal. It's a bit like the SDGs: of course it's good to strive for these things, but the reason that we don't live in an ecological utopia yet is because it's challenging to figure out how to get there.
Common failure modes:
https://www.greenbiz.com/article/quest-carbon-offsets-almost-anything-goes Some more stats on how much things are failing and poorly measured: https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/news-insights/carbon-offsets-cannot-be-our-primary-solution-to-climate-change/ Some underlying forces that are not being considered from this opinion letter in Nature: https://www.nature.com/articles/484007a A great report on the issues: https://www.fern.org/fileadmin/uploads/fern/Documents/Unearned%20Credit_0.pdf And offsetting in general: https://policy.friendsoftheearth.uk/insight/dangerous-distraction-offsetting-con An ethical lens on how offsetting is fundamentally unable to work: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8048868/ Greenpeace's take on GreenWashing: https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/news/golden-age-of-greenwash/ ClientEarth's response to carbon offsets: https://www.clientearth.org/latest/latest-updates/stories/the-legal-risk-of-advertising-carbon-offsets/ George Monbiot's thoughts on carbon offets: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jan/26/carbon-offsetting-environmental-collapse-carbon-land-grab Most Rainforest Credits are not improving anything, and carbon is 400% exaggerated by one of the 3 biggest carbon credit verifiers "Verra" https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/18/revealed-forest-carbon-offsets-biggest-provider-worthless-verra-aoe Nature Based Solutions on carbon offset misuse: https://www.naturebasedsolutionsinitiative.org/news/on-the-misuse-of-nature-based-carbon-offsets |