south america archives - planet forward - 克罗地亚vs加拿大让球 //www.getitdoneaz.com/tag/south-america/ inspiring stories to 2022年卡塔尔世界杯官网 tue, 20 feb 2024 22:22:36 +0000 en-us hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 at universities, interdisciplinary work is key to a more sustainable future //www.getitdoneaz.com/story/college-sustainable-future/ wed, 24 mar 2021 05:16:46 +0000 http://dpetrov.2create.studio/planet/wordpress/at-universities-interdisciplinary-work-is-key-to-a-more-sustainable-future/ nordic nations are known for their sustainability-first approach to life. now, universities in the united states are taking a similar approach when integrating sustainability into academia.

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nordic nations are known for their sustainability-first approaches to every sector of life. now, universities in the united states are taking a similar approach when integrating sustainability into academia.

“when we work with the swedish companies they often drive with this idea that in order for a new product to be viable, it has to be sustainable, because that’s what the people want,” said anna helm, associate teaching professor of international business at the george washington university school of business. 

“here, on the other hand, when we try to bring those products to the u.s., we have to be very careful to make sure that there is a business case, that the product is viable financially,” she said.

helm, who also directs the center for international business education & research, gw-ciber, and gw school of engineering professor saniya leblanc recently received a duke energy innovation grant, which they used to develop a course on sustainable energy. 

the course, currently being taught for the first time, features real-client consulting projects in the area of sustainable energy. students work across their disciplines of business and engineering to assist swedish sustainable energy startups with the development of u.s. market entry plans. under normal circumstances, the students would have spent their spring break in sweden, but instead virtual site visits were arranged with swedish companies and other organizations.

helm said that bringing this interdisciplinary work to an international stage gives students the opportunity to learn about sweden’s success, which can be attributed to a productive collaboration among academia, industry, and the public sector. and though some things aren’t directly transferable, helm said, “looking for inspiration, ideas, and systems that have worked elsewhere is really critical.”

rather than keeping sustainability on the back burner of their respective degree programs, schools are taking this “nordic” approach by placing sustainability at the forefront of conversations, ranging from business to fashion, from public health to law, stressing how environmental issues demand interdisciplinary integration.

dr. lisa allyn dale, lecturer at columbia university’s earth institute, shared how the institute’s structure is specifically conducive to interdisciplinary learning, being a program as opposed to a department.

the fact that the institute is not housed in a department, dale said, “gives us the space to sort of spread our wings a little and pull from departments all over campus and be …sort of agile and responsive to changes, and able to make changes on the fly.”

dale said that universities adopt this in various forms, providing students with a foundation for knowledge of sustainability beyond a mere disciplinary requirement.

thomas dean, professor of entrepreneurship and sustainable enterprise in the college of business and school of global environmental sustainability at colorado state university, said that along with faculty and student support, new programs need the support of donors.

“i’d encourage some of the donors out there who have the kind of funds that can support innovative programs to get on board, because that can really bring barriers down and make things happen,” dean said.

universities all over the country are integrating sustainability into their niche fields of study. gw’s milken institute school of public health’s department of environmental and occupational health has been very engaged with sustainability issues by bringing them into conversations of how the climate is impacting workers’ health, according to milken dean dr. lynn goldman. 

goldman also said that public health academia and research must work in conjunction with one another. 

“we want to bring our research into the world to make a difference, to make people healthier,” she said. “and it’s through working with people who are policy experts, legal experts, and other experts that we can do that.”

public health and policy can work together to combat not only sustainability issues, but issues of environmental justice, according to gw’s dean of the school of law, dayna matthew. 

during gw’s recent sustainability summit dean panel, matthew said that she is hoping to build an equity institute at the law school that will “begin to place law at the center of conversations about environmental justice and about health justice.” she said they may be able to build an environmental justice clinic to work with the environmental protection agency and move title vi cases that address discrimination in overly burdened communities. 

matthew said, “in this way we might also be able to build a medical-legal partnership that would address the processes under title vi that are very often disregarded. when we fix disparities without specifically aiming at racial inequity, we actually exacerbate that inequity.”

higher education in its nature is extractive, according to matthew, as it goes into communities to take polls, surveys, and data.

“we march back into our ivy towers and we produce papers and have conferences where we talk to one another but we have not left a tangible value, a tangible benefit in the communities of which we are apart,” she said. “i think if that changes we will change inequality around the country in all of the major research university venues in the country.” 

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plans to profit from argentine parks rocked by local response //www.getitdoneaz.com/story/protest-argentina-national-parks/ tue, 26 feb 2019 16:24:02 +0000 http://dpetrov.2create.studio/planet/wordpress/plans-to-profit-from-argentine-parks-rocked-by-local-response/ a governmental push to monetize the national parks of argentina faces scrutiny from residents protesting both the blatant grab for tourist dollars and the concern over commercializing pristine, natural areas.

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“nature is something very special, worth more than anything else, worth more than a building,” said angel silvero, a taxi driver in puerto iguazú, speaking in spanish. “nature is like family … it helps you, gives you anything you need.”

what silvero is referring to is the root of one of argentina’s recent causes of local fervor: a government push to monetize the national parks.

argentina is a nation that stretches across more than 2,200 miles from north to south, encompassing stunning national parks of varying land features. while the country hosts these astounding natural sites, the nation itself is facing a difficult economic period.

in late 2018, the argentine government announced a plan called “oportunidades naturales” (natural opportunities), what they deemed as “the call for sustainable tourism investments in natural areas throughout the country,” according to a translation of a government website.

the initiative “seeks to attract private investments for the development of tourist services in natural protected areas of the country.”

enter iguazú national park, a breathtaking wonder, home to waterfalls, plants and wildlife in the atlantic forest. the park is nestled along the iguazú river, which separates parts of argentina and brazil, though the falls stretch across both borders.

through this initiative, plans for constructing a tourist villa inside the famous iguazú national park were drawn out to increase profits from the national park. iguazú is just one of 20 parks impacted by this program.

the villa’s theme is “glamping” or “glamorous camping.” the attraction could be sited on land that has limited use, per the park’s management plan, according to a recent column in el independiente iguazú.

meanwhile, local residents of puerto iguazú, an argentine town near the park, have drawn their own line. and that line physically couldn’t be crossed when tourists tried to enter the national park in early february.

during the week of feb. 3, dozens of locals blockaded the entrance to the national park in protest of what the initiative could bring to iguazú national park.

dr. natalia vespa works with the institute of subtropical biology and moved from buenos aires to puerto iguazú 10 years ago. in february, vespa and jussara di benedetto, an outspoken resident of puerto iguazú, sat down with planet forward to talk about their experience within the park and the town.


jussara di benedetto, left, and dr. natalia vespa in puerto iguazú, argentina, in february 2019.

“for national parks in argentina, the objective is to preserve the natural resources. that’s it,” vespa said in spanish. “aside from this objective, there should not be exploitation of these resources within these parks.”

in a translation of an official statement to planet forward from the national parks administration in argentina, they state that, “oportunidades naturales project does not consist of the installation and development of tourist villages, but is based on small-scale, sustainable, distant implementations.”

the statement declares that the program “is aimed at positioning argentina as a world destination for nature tourism, integrating this development as a tool for growth and promotion of regional economies and generating foreign exchange,” per a translation into english.

town already offers tourism opportunities

vespa said locals already are facing problems within the town of puerto iguazú and she fears that these strains on the relationship between the town and the park will only escalate if construction of the tourist villa within the national park is pursued.

“the town already has bad issues with the lights, water, and internet,” vespa said in spanish. she noted that many neighborhoods in the town went without water for two weeks last month.

puerto iguazú is greatly frequented by tourists, as it is a short 11-mile drive to the northwest of the national park and is host to many restaurants, hotels, casinos, bars, shops, and, of course, residents. much of what the proposed tourist villa would offer could stymie not only business but the needed attention to keep puerto iguazú afloat as a town. vespa fears that if the villa is pursued, puerto iguazú would further augment these issues and lack of attention.

currently, there are hotels within the national park on the argentine side and on the brazilian side.

in an article by misiones online published on feb. 19, vespa is quoted to saying that the national park already has a large public with infrastructure and benefits for tourism.

“we consider the implementation of a project that has its main objective to generate opportunities of touristic development, without solving the current problems that need to be addressed to mitigate the impact of tourism in the natural area, unnecessary,” according to a translation of the interview.

the protests in early february reflect the current sentiment of some locals. according to radio cataratas, organizers from la asamblea vecinal sent a note that expressed their desires for the cancelation of the “natural opportunities” project in the iguazú national park as a whole, noting plans for future protests.

for di benedetto, she sees the aforementioned protests as being exemplary of how things go in south america.

“we know that in argentina and all of latin america, there’s this condition of reproducing things,” di benedetto said, citing past revolutions and movements in the southern hemisphere. “clearly, we want this (the protests against the villa) to mark a precedent.”

going forward

beyond infrastructure problems and competition for tourists, there’s another issue on the minds of protesters.

a look at isla san martin in iguazú national park in argentina.

a worker at the national park, who wished to remain anonymous, said he understood what drove so many puerto iguazú locals to protest the possible construction of the tourist villa in the park.

“many people think about the environmental impacts of the villa,” he said in spanish.

planet forward was told by the administration of national parks, “in the case of the iguazú national park, on a total of 67,000 hectares of total surface area, within the public use area, the actual utilization of the park visitation is reduced to 300 hectares (0.5%).

“in this sense, the oportunidades naturales project is studying interventions that, at most, foresee the use of only 12 hectares, previously intended for public use.”

but “the town (puerto iguazú) is small, too,” the anonymous park worker said. “because of this, people think that the tourists will only go to the tourist villa.”

while en route to town after a day spent in the national park with taxi driver silvero, planet forward interviewed him about his thoughts on reactions to the plans.

“we are going to have a lot of consequences that will hurt us if we don’t fight against this (the villa), and take care of nature,” silvero said passionately.

when asked if he fears an impact on his livelihood should the plans of a tourist villa be pursued, silvero said he is not. he simply wants nature to continue to be protected.

with the financial state that argentina is currently in and the promises for sustainability by the administration, ways to increase profits off of iguazú could offer benefits.

vespa, who has a doctorate in biological sciences, said, “the people of iguazú do want investments in tourism, but they should stay in puerto iguazú.”

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el buen vivir //www.getitdoneaz.com/story/el-buen-vivir/ wed, 20 feb 2019 20:57:04 +0000 http://dpetrov.2create.studio/planet/wordpress/el-buen-vivir/ the story i am telling does not belong to me, it belongs to the people on the island of taquile, peru. this story map tells of the concept of "el buen vivir" and how it breaks the ideas that some countries may have about sustainability. 

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i have designed a story map to describe “el buen vivir” — a term that’s very popular in the context of sustainability — using personal photos, quotes i collected, and information from research i have done and observed. the story map is based on my thesis paper of 49 pages, written in spanish, that focused on food systems and its sustainable practices using the understanding of the andean world view.

i set out to investigate how the food system was sustainable, by better understanding “el buen vivir,” but instead i came to understand how my definition of sustainability was different from the lifestyle meant by “el buen vivir.” though popularly used to describe sustainability, what it truly means does not seem to be fully embraced.

scroll through the story map below to learn more.

see a full-screen version of this story map.

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the fight for el oro //www.getitdoneaz.com/story/the-fight-for-el-oro-0/ thu, 08 mar 2018 13:53:14 +0000 http://dpetrov.2create.studio/planet/wordpress/the-fight-for-el-oro/ i traveled to huaquillas, ecuador to create a documentary on how the shrimp industry is impacting the environment and livelihood of the local community.

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upon arriving to the province of el oro, i met a man named don pedro ordinola. pedro would be my friend and guide throughout my one month stay in the southeastern border town of huaquillas. pedro is a lifelong environmental activist, who has devoted his life and risked his personal safety to defending the mangrove forest ecosystem that has been under attack by ecuador’s growing shrimp industry. the mangrove forests are important for a variety of reasons. they provide a natural barrier to the land, and they are the home to a lot of plants and animals. specifically, clams and crabs live amongst the mangroves, which provide job opportunities for local fishermen. a retired crab fisher himself, he spent years fishing for crabs and clams in the forests and selling them to the community. but the encroachment of the shrimping pools has not only caused the mangrove forests to dry out, it has also impacted the coastal ecosystem due to the high volume of chemicals poured into the water to help the shrimp grow faster and bigger. so now the ancestral form of fishing pedro and many huaquillas residents participate in to support their families, is threatened. and seeing as the shrimp industry is a huge money maker for ecuador, the government often looks the other way at environmental violations. but still, pedro fights for the land, the animals, and his community. 

the video here is a trailer to a documentary i made telling pedro’s story. 

more about pedro’s work can be found at www.ccondem.org.ec

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cutting cocaine for coffee //www.getitdoneaz.com/story/cutting-cocaine-for-coffee/ fri, 20 mar 2015 08:52:57 +0000 http://dpetrov.2create.studio/planet/wordpress/cutting-cocaine-for-coffee/ after seeing and experiencing first hand the destructive power of drugs and drug trafficking, santiago moncada began a redeemed life with a redeemed purpose: supporting sustainable coffee farmers.

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i’ll admit — i am a bit of a coffee snob. as a seattle-to-d.c. transplant, i am the first among my friends to have an opinion about a coffee shop or a certain roast, and likely am not humble in expressing my opinion. however, a couple of weeks ago i was at a local coffee shop, and stumbled upon a new roast from a new coffee company in town called redeeming grounds. sitting by the bag of beans was a stack of palm cards that said “cutting cocaine for coffee.”

a fair trade state of mind

in my hometown, madison, wisconsin, hippie culture isn’t a fad fondly remembered; it’s an attitude that prevails, easily identified in the aisles of the willy st. co-op or in the local shops outnumbering the chains on state street. as i grew up and found my home away from home in the numerous independent coffee shops, fair trade was a familiar term. i didn’t give it a second thought. it was just a part of the madison culture that i love so much. people would rather go to fair trade coffee than a chain coffee shop. 

but i realize that this is a privilege, and that’s a problem. why is fair trade so much more expensive than non-fair trade? the average coffee company charges 65 cents more for fair trade.

the basic premise of fair trade may give some explanation: fair trade means fair prices for the farmers and fair labor. there are no middlemen and the farmers receive more of the profit from their hard work. this doesn’t seem right; why should a system that promotes fair business practices be discouraged to consumers by price?

in a culture that already has a huge disconnect from the world around us, it’s important for americans to realize the good that buying fair trade can do. growing up in a city like madison, or going to school in a city like washington, d.c., imagining the lives of the farmers in colombia, growing the coffee i drink, remains difficult. i have no real idea of what their daily lives entail, and neither do most americans.

however, i do know that there is something fundamentally wrong with a system if we have to create a special specification for products that actually pay the people that created it fairly. 

 anna sumi

as coffee consumers, we rarely think about how sustainably our coffee is sourced or all that it takes to get from crop to cup. we may know whether or not it is fair trade, and where the beans are from (because it’s often advertised that way), but that’s about it.

a typical supply chain for coffee is as follows: the bean starts with the farmer. they grow and harvest the bean, and then it is sent off to one or maybe multiple cooperatives. from the cooperatives the bean goes to a central exporting collector, who then ships the coffee, an importer picks it up, and it is then taken in many cases to a fair trade certifier. then the bean goes to the commodity traders and hedgers, then to the industrial roaster, then to the labeler and sealer, and finally to the distributor that takes it to the store where you buy it.

at each point in the supply chain, the farmer loses money from his crop because money is going to each other cog in the supply chain. at many of these points, energy is also expended, contributing to further pollution.

redeeming grounds has significantly reduced all the points in the typical supply chain. they buy directly from the farmers, and the beans are shipped to them. they roast them in their own roasting facility, and label and package their coffee themselves. then it is distributed to you.

because redeeming grounds is a nonprofit, they give all their profit from the sale of the coffee directly to the farmers. with less cogs in the supply chain that suck money away from the farmers, and all the money from the sale of the coffee being funneled back to them, the farmers have a greater and more sustainable income that they can invest back into the community to build it up. and these communities do need to be built up, because they are riddled with the violence and destruction of guerrilla warfare.

as i sip from my coffee cup in the morning, i can know that not only are the beans i am drinking sustainably sourced and beyond fair trade, but they are also making a difference in the lives of farmers in colombia who are combating deforestation, guerrilla violence, and the cultivation and sale of cocaine. i may still be labeled a coffee snob, but at least i am now a snob with a cause.

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cities in focus: arequipa, peru’s move to pedestrian transit //www.getitdoneaz.com/story/cities-in-focus-arequipa-perus-move-to-pedestrian-transit/ mon, 13 dec 2010 17:04:39 +0000 http://dpetrov.2create.studio/planet/wordpress/cities-in-focus-arequipa-perus-move-to-pedestrian-transit/ in 2009, arequipa, peru closed its most important commercial corridor to car traffic. the pedestrianization project is part of the city’s larger vision to modernize transit services, develop a bus rapid transit corridor, and build additional bicycling paths to improve mobility in the city’s historic downtown.

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