10th International Student Summit for Sustainability

The Corporation Grupo Tayrona and World Student Community for Sustainable Development are organizing the “10^th International Student Summit for Sustainability” that will take place in Bogotá – Colombia from 1^st to 6^th March – 2011 in Hotel Dann Colonial.

The Summit is a learning and exchange space for interaction between students and different stakeholders to enhanced understanding, inspired action and collaborative student-run projects focused on climate change. Delegates will have the opportunity to present poster and papers that will be compiled and presented in the next United Nations Conference of Parties COP17 in South Africa.

We are glad to invite you to participate in the upcoming Summit. Each participant should cover their flight to Colombia and the inscription fee that is $300 USD and cover accommodation and food.

.  I am annexing you the Paper and Poster format, the application format and the picture competion. I will appreciate your collaboration promoting this invitation in your university and in your country. Please contact me should you require any additional information related to the International Student Summit for Sustainability Colombia 2011.

Email: s3colombia@wscsd.org
Website: www.studentsummit2011.org

 

Global 100 most sustainable corporations in the world

Why they do it?

They “want to mainstream sustainability in the business community.  By applying objective corporate social and environmental measures that clearly show which companies stand above their peers, our aim is to create a virtuous cycle where the most sustainable companies attract the most capital and earn the best returns.

The Global 100 companies deserve to be recognized, because they are models for the art of the possible, living proof of how billion dollar entities can squeeze more wealth from less material resources while honouring the social contract“.

Check the list of the Global 100.

Understand the methodology they use.

Source: Global100.org

Youth are EcoBuilding for an International Competition

Youth from the University of Nottingham and other 19 universities from different countries from all over the world are participating in the International Solar Decathlon Europe competition to be held in Madrid, Spain, in June 2010.

The team – called “The Nottingham HOUSE” – is sponsored by Saint-Gobain, together, they have been building a Code Level 6* (zero carbon house) that is also a Passive House (requires almost no form of active heating) – an industry first for the UK. The house has been constructed entirely from materials supplied or approved by Saint-Gobain’s UK companies, which have joined forces to provide products and technical expertise; working with the students to optimise energy efficiency and create a home that is both eco-friendly and affordable.

A key objective for the students was to ensure that the Nottingham H.O.U.S.E will comply with the UK’s code for sustainable homes (carbon neutral for new build by 2016). The final design is versatile enough to work as a semi-detached house, terraced or even stacked as apartments – a highly marketable starter home – a major requirement in the UK.

This landmark achievement proves that it is possible to build a highly energy efficient, sustainable home that is comfortable, aesthetically pleasing, affordable and repeatable.

The competition

The Solar Decathlon is an International competition for universities to design and build Europe’s most attractive, effective and energy efficient house. Each will be judged on 10 separate environmental areas, from solar systems and sustainability to market viability and architectural merit – giving the competition its title, Solar Decathlon.

There are no short-cuts: each team must build and test a full scale house before transporting it to Madrid to be reassembled for the final. The students will also have to live in the house to demonstrate its effectiveness and energy efficiency (SolarDecathlon).

Ecobuild is the world’s biggest event for sustainable design, construction and the built environment.

Many companies will be present at the event to demonstrate their capacity in providing a wide range of innovative solutions that can help improve the energy-efficiency and sustainability of buildings. They will highlight the range of solutions available to enhance the energy efficiency of buildings in four key areas; new build and existing, residential, commercial and public sector.

Each company will also demonstrate how their products are designed to enhance quality of life by contributing to more comfortable living and working space as well as enhancing the aesthetics of the built environment.

*To learn more about the Code, check the publication bellow.

Further reading: Architect’s Journal Sustainable Products

Publications: Greener homes for the future (download file)

Photos by Katie Tokarski

The Amsterdam Global Conference on Sustainability and Transparency

Sustainability reporting is an indispensable tool for making the transition to a sustainable future.

Check the website: www.amsterdamGRIconference.org

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Microfinance. What is it ??

“The microfinance sector is one of the fastest growing multiple bottom-line arenas in the world: an inclusive financial space that brings together social and financial returns within an atmosphere of innovation.” (Microfinance Insights)

“Grameen Bank has reversed the conventional banking wisdom by removing collateral requirement and created a banking system which is based on mutual trust, strict supervision, accountability, participation and creativity. At GB, credit is the entry point and it serves as a catalyst in the overall development process. GB sees credit as an empowering agent, an enabling element in the development of socio-economic conditions of the poor who have been kept outside the banking orbit on the simple ground that they are poor and hence not bankable.

Professor Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank and its Managing Director reasoned that if financial resources can be made available to the poor people at terms and conditions which are appropriate and reasonable, “these millions of small people with their millions of small pursuits can add up to create the biggest development wonder”. This conviction of Professor Yunus had its root in the traditional bank’s structure which has been designed in a way that would never help the poor who constitute the largest segment of the society and the ones who are desperately in need of credit.” (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation)

“Microfinance offers poor people access to basic financial services such as loans, savings, money transfer services and microinsurance. People living in poverty, like everyone else, need a diverse range of financial services to run their businesses, build assets, smooth consumption, and manage risks.

Poor people usually address their need for financial services through a variety of financial relationships, mostly informal. Credit is available from informal moneylenders, but usually at a very high cost to borrowers. Savings services are available through a variety of informal relationships like savings clubs, rotating savings and credit associations, and other mutual savings societies. But these tend to be erratic and somewhat insecure. Traditionally, banks have not considered poor people to be a viable market.

Different types of financial services providers for poor people have emerged – non-government organizations (NGOs); cooperatives; community-based development institutions like self-help groups and credit unions; commercial and state banks; insurance and credit card companies; telecommunications and wire services; post offices; and other points of sale – offering new possibilities.

These providers have increased their product offerings and improved their methodologies and services over time, as poor people proved their ability to repay loans, and their desire to save. In many institutions, there are multiple loan products providing working capital for small businesses, larger loans for durable goods, loans for children’s education and to cover emergencies. Safe, secure deposit services have been particularly well received by poor clients, but in some countries NGO microfinance institutions are not permitted to collect deposits.

Remittances and money transfers are used by many poor people as a safe way to send money home. Banking through mobile phones (mobile banking) makes financial services even more convenient, and safer, and enables greater outreach to more people living in isolated areas.Financial services for poor people have proven to be a powerful instrument for reducing poverty, enabling them to build assets, increase incomes, and reduce their vulnerability to economic stress.” (CGAP)

You might be asking yourself…

… Aren’t poor people too poor to save?

… Who Are the Clients of Microfinance?

… Does Microfinance Help Poor People?

… When Is Microcredit Not the Answer?

Check out the links on the right side of this blog for more resources.

International Day of Climate Action – Oct 24th 2009

350 parts per million is what many scientists, climate experts, and progressive national governments are now saying is the safe upper limit for CO2 in our atmosphere.

Accelerating arctic warming and other early climate impacts have led scientists to conclude that we are already above the safe zone at our current 390ppm, and that unless we are able to rapidly return to 350 ppm this century, we risk reaching tipping points and irreversible impacts such as the melting of the Greenland ice sheet and major methane releases from increased permafrost melt.

On October 24, join people all over the world to take a stand for a safe climate future.

There is still time. Visit 350.org to take part in one of the actions around the world. Fore sure one it very close to you!

Source: Think Green Resources Blog

Giant !! For POSITIVE or NEGATIVE impact ??

Giant company = giant impact.

What is the impact that giant companies can cause in the environment?

Visiting a youth blog (one of those listed here on the right side) I found this video produced by the German energy company RWE which shows “it can be so easy to make BIG things happen once you are a GIANT”.

Isn’t it true ??

Then surfing on the internet and reading news I found this article about Google considering to align cost saving with sustainability using the natural motion of water. It might be not viable for now but as Rich Miller says in the article: “It’s really innovative, outside-the-box thinking.”.

Read it below:

Google search finds seafaring solution

Google may take its battle for global domination to the high seas with the launch of its own “computer navy”.

The company is considering deploying the supercomputers necessary to operate its internet search engines on barges anchored up to seven miles (11km) offshore.

The “water-based data centres” would use wave energy to power and cool their computers, reducing Google’s costs. Their offshore status would also mean the company would no longer have to pay property taxes on its data centres, which are sited across the world, including in Britain.

In the patent application seen by The Times, Google writes: “Computing centres are located on a ship or ships, anchored in a water body from which energy from natural motion of the water may be captured, and turned into electricity and/or pumping power for cooling pumps to carry heat away.”

The increasing number of data centres necessary to cope with the massive information flows generated on popular websites has prompted companies to look at radical ideas to reduce their running costs.

The supercomputers housed in the data centres, which can be the size of football pitches, use massive amounts of electricity to ensure they do not overheat. As a result the internet is not very green.

Data centres consumed 1 per cent of the world’s electricity in 2005. By 2020 the carbon footprint of the computers that run the internet will be larger than that of air travel, a recent study by McKinsey, a consultancy firm, and the Uptime Institute, a think tank, predicted.

In an attempt to address the problem, Microsoft has investigated building a data centre in the cold climes of Siberia, while in Japan the technology firm Sun Microsystems plans to send its computers down an abandoned coal mine, using water from the ground as a coolant. Sun said it could save $9 million (£5 million) of electricity costs a year and use half the power the data centre would have required if it was at ground level.

Technology experts said Google’s “computer navy” was an unexpected but clever solution. Rich Miller, the author of the datacentreknowledge.com blog, said: “It’s really innovative, outside-the-box thinking.”

Google refused to say how soon its barges could set sail. The company said: “We file patent applications on a variety of ideas. Some of those ideas later mature into real products, services or infrastructure, some don’t.”

Concerns have been raised about whether the barges could withstand an event such as a hurricane. Mr Miller said: “The huge question raised by this proposal is how to keep the barges safe.”

Further reading: Google cities progress on thermal solar

Google moves on plans to cheapen solar thermal