K. Nicole Kindred – Sustainability Consultant

On Tuesday I had the opportunity to attend World Pulse LIVE at the Paley Center for Media in New York City.

World Pulse is an organization that strives to bring a voice to women around the globe using new technology and media. One example of this was in the My Camera and Me against a Regime video – a video that was uploaded from a mobile phone by a women who was arrested during a Sudanese protest. World Pulse allows for an online area where women can come together to find and share their success stories.

For World Pulse LIVE, Martha Llano from Colombia, Beatrice Achieng from Uganda, and Sarvina Kang from Cambodia were selected to come to the US to discuss how they are using new media and technology to facilitate them as grassroots leaders.

The women told powerful stories of how they found their voices. In Martha’s talk she spoke about the dangers of living in the Columbia cloud forest and how she had learned to overcome the dangers. When people told her she should carry a gun, she refused, saying “I will not take a gun to speak for me, because I have my own voice and words”. She emphasized the importance of thinking globally and acting locally.

Sarvina told her story of being the only literate individual in a family of 35. She was the only girl in her family and her village to go to college and now has her Master’s in NGO leadership. She emphasized the importance of education for women in creating change and preventing social problems like sex trafficking.

Beatrice told her story of growing up in Uganda and her emphasis on HIV prevention and education. She emphasized how if you give hope to one girl, a grassroots leader will emerge. She told the story of how when her last brother died of AIDS, her mother lost all hope because only men can own land in Uganda; however, after she told her story on the World Pulse platform, the World Pulse members emphasized that they were behind her and she stood up to her village for the land and was able to keep it.

When asked what the women thought would be most beneficial to their communities in spreading their voice, all three women emphasized that their was a lack of technology in their communities, and solar panels would be an easy remedy.

World Pulse LIVE is also available launching an online tour for individuals who are not able to attend the event in person.

This week, as the US celebrates Independence Day – when the country stood against the most powerful empire of the time and declared freedom.

But the oil bleeding into the Gulf of Mexico reminds us that America is not yet truly free. The USA must still win our independence from the dirty, deadly fossil fuels that are polluting the country and costing Americans their livelihood.

The oil spill’s destruction of the Gulf of Mexico is a devastating reminder that the price of our fossil fuel dependence is far too high. Don’t let history repeat itself. Visit http://dirtyenergyfreedom.org/ to pledge your independence away from dirty energy and commitment towards clean technologies.

On Tuesday I had the opportunity to attend a panel discussion on Fundraising and Community Organizing through Social Media.

The panelists included Laura Kozien of ACCION USA (@accion_usa), Danielle Silber of the International Rescue Committee (@theIRC), and Angela Jackson with the Global Language Project (@GlobalLang). The panel was moderated by Ben Jervey, “The New Ideal” columnist at GOOD Magazine (@GOOD).

Each of the panelists had taken part in an online fundraising contest. For example, Sam’s Club Giving Made Simple grant challenge, American Express Members Project, and the Pepsi Refresh Project.

The panel discussed ways in which to evaluate whether an organization should enter a contest, ways to get your donors and networks on board to support the contest, and ideas on how to follow up with supporters once the contest has finished.

When it comes to engaging social media for support, one of the main questions that comes up is how much contact is too much contact. Determining how often you should reach out to your social media contacts is always difficult. Too often may seem nagging and needy. Not enough looks like you’re not engaged. While this varies from organization to organization, there are number of tools available for social media which will allow you to program how often you contact your online connections. However, one of the main fears that I’ve come across is that too much automation removes the personal aspect of social media.

One of the participants recommended the book Share This!: How You Will Change the World with Social Networking by Deanna Zandt. The book discusses how Social Networks can be powerful tools for mobilizing communities to rally behind causes. 

 

Hands Across the Sand is a movement made of people of all walks of life and crosses political affiliations. This movement is not about politics; it is about protection of our coastal economies, oceans, marine wildlife, and fishing industry.

Hands Across the Sand is now international. Any person in any country may plan events on their website. This is a peaceful gathering of the people of the world.

Planning an event is as simple as this:

• Go to your beach on June 26 at 11 AM in your time zone.
• Form lines in the sand and at 12:00, join hands.

The image is powerful, the message is simple. NO to Offshore Oil Drilling, YES to Clean Energy.

PLANT-A-TREE takes a stand against uncontrolled building to protect the historical, cultural and landscaped patrimony of earth and the health of its citizens while promoting the birth of new green spaces that serve to balance the destruction caused by urban development.

This campaign uses stickering and other guerrilla art tactics to spread the message. Stickers like the icon above are placed in cities around the world.

Earth Day has been happening for the past 40 years and is now bigger than ever!

The Earth Day Network is the global coordinator or Earth Day events and activities. One can find out what events are taking place in their area by doing a search on their site.

I have recently relocated to New York City and was thrilled to see that the “Be the E” campaign is being promoted throughout the city. The E campaign creates the opportunity for individuals to speak out about what they are doing to take positive action for the Earth. E action can be manifested in many forms  -conserving energy, composting, planting a tree, consuming local/organic food, biking, recycling, installing solar panels, protesting environmental degradation, and/or saving rain forests. Be the E is a call to action that evokes Gandhi’s plea to “be the change you want to see in the world.” I am E is rooted in the notion that everything on Earth is dependent on everything else and that the Earth is one living organism.  Learn more at earthdayny.org.

February 6-13 is International Development Week (IDW) in Canada. IDW is an initiative of CIDA which is implemented by the various councils for international cooperation around Canada.

The motto for this year’s IDW is “Be Yourself, Be Bold, Be the Change!” As part of this, councils around Canada are profiling youth, ages 15-30, who are doing their part to be active global citizens.

In British Columbia, the BC Council for International Cooperation has profiled eight youth on their website.

To learn about events that are taking place around the province, visit CIDA’s website.

TckTckTck is a global movement for a unified voice against climate change. The combined efforts of millions of people and member organizations hope to deliver a clear message that we demand meaningful leadership and action against climate change.

TckTckTck calls on the leaders of the world to come together at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, a meeting of world governments in Copenhagen, Denmark on December 7, 2009. TckTckTck unites people from around the world, from all walks of life, to tell the leaders that climate change is already costing lives. The poorest countries are suffering the most even though they didn’t create the problem. The world has the ability to turn this around and the solutions are available. We have the opportunity to create a new, strong economy based on clean jobs and energy for all. An ambitious, fair and binding climate agreement by world leaders is our single best hope.

Learn more and sign up at tcktcktck.org.

Unless we can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million, we will cause huge and irreversible damage to the earth.

350.org is an international campaign to create awareness around this target so that political leaders can feel real pressure to act. Reaching the 350 ppm will require unprecedented international cooperation.

Read more about the science behind 350 including additional references at the end of the article.

A new campaign created to end the widespread use and abuse of cardboard cups for hot beverages.