This year’s IDFA (International Documentary Festival Amsterdam) is off and racing. For those interested in keeping abreast with documentary’s new media “genre”, check out their rich IDFA Doclab 2009.

Their blog says “IDFA’s Doc Lab investigates the relationship between documentary film-making and new media. The program is open to all media that can be used to tell a documentary story. During the festival, Doc Lab presents films, web documentaries, and installations that innovate the documentary genre.”

From the projects I’ve explored so far, I am impressed with multi-format, interactive “choose you own adventure” story of  The Big Issue (although the content is very graphic and confronting). The global film wiki idea behind Man With A Movie Camera: The Global Remake could definitely be applied to other globally themed topics. The beautiful serenade Waterlife, shows us an example of how tone can be achieved in new media. And, for documentary boffins, dig deep into a lively discussion about Capturing reality: the art of documentary.

We are delighted to announce that for the third year in a row we have been recognized with an award from the Society for New Communications Research.

This prestigious awards programme honors individuals, corporations, nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and media outlets that are pioneering the use of social media, ICT, mobile media, online communities, and collaborative technologies in the areas of business, media, journalism and professional communications, entertainment, education, social initiatives, government and politics.

It was announced on 9 November 2009 that the United Nations University recieved the award in the New Media Creation category (academic division) for the Our World 2.0 webzine.  According the Jen McClure, President of the Society “These winning case studies provide impressive examples of how organizations are successfully using new tools, technologies, solutions and practices in innovative ways to enhance their communications, relationships and improve their organizations.”

Other awards included Amazon.com and Lab126 for the Kindle as the SNCR Innovation of the Year, the Iranian political bloggers as the SNCR Humanitarians of the Year and David Plouffe, President Obama’s campaign strategist as the SNCR Visionary of the Year.

This is the second award for the Our World 2.0 webzine, which also won the best blog design in the 2008 Weblog Awards.

TIAN SHAN MOUNTAINS, KYRGYZSTAN – Outside, the hot sun beats down. A flock of sheep, horses, and cows munch summer highland grasses. Inside our little felt yurt, it is cosy. Kyrgyz shepherd Dootkasy and his wife Anarkul, head our small circle. We sit crossed legged around a smorgasbord of fresh cream, butter, wild berry jams and homemade bread. Later, Anarkul brings the boiled goat’s head. The eyeball is a treat.

For over 2 months now, Russian filmmaker, Ivan Golovnev and I have been travelling through rural Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Russian Altai. Working closely together with local storytellers, NGOs and scientists, we are recording and screening local people’s perspectives of climate change for the United Nations University and The Christensen Fund.

[Picture: An informal Our World 2.0 screening in Dootkasy and Anarkul’s Kyrgyz Yurt]

Grassroots perspectives on climate change are valuable and most importantly local. With deeply spiritualized and centuries old knowledge of the earth’s systems and cycles, local people guide livestock, plant crops, and shift winter camps. Often, none of this knowledge is written down. The traditional songs, carpet motifs, clothing, architectures, daily rituals and the mythological epics of these places are encoded with the survival information. Moreover, these cultural peculiarities provide an ancestral code of how to live harmoniously with and within the local nature.

Imagine, at minus 30, when the sacred mountain pass is blowing its blizzard and you’re bringing home the sheep, great-great grandpa’s knowledge of how to live is useful… you remember his pattern of conduct or perhaps sing his specific clan song.

Today, the national assessment reports flowing into the UNFCCC (UN Framework Convention for Climate Change) website are chock full of statistic, long term modeling projections, and serious expert recommendations. The country’s leading scientists add their Institute’s research whilst Government’s task force committees implement achievable solutions and damage control.

Out in the fields and pastures where the livestock is born and dies, people are also talking and taking stock. Everybody has an opinion about the weather… as if they know life depends on it.

“The glaciers that provide all life are getting smaller or have disappeared completely.” “The rich sunny slope grasses are drying out and changing species variety”. “Dry highland animals like yaks, camels and horses are being incorporated into sheep flocks”. “Rain patterns are extreme and unreliable”. “Sacred totem animals, plants and geographic sites are taking on new behaviors”. “Sun’s radiation is increasing and damaging the children’s skin.” “Planting calendars and thanksgiving ceremonies are moving weeks later. Unseasonal heavy rains are eroding valuable time and soil… “.

Further towards the bigger villages and power lines, government built community housing and infrastructure is sinking into melting permafrost. River levels and their hydro-electric power outputs are decreasing. The fresh produce yield in the markets and bazaars is not as big or as juicy.

All the while, the old people try to remember and teach great-great grandpa’s language, whilst their young immerse themselves within foreign entertainment screens.

[Picture: Our World 2.0 climate change video festival screening where a big crowd gathered in Khorog Park, Pamir Mountains, Tajikistan]

After travelling many miles and sharing tea in many rural kitchens, it can be observed, those amongst us still living closely with nature, are consciously and rapidly participating in a process of short-term survival and climate change adaptation.

Remarkably, its can also be observed, swift local awareness and adaptation often correlates to how well a community has maintained its bio-cultural relationships. Noticeably, this ancestral survival knowledge also bestows the custodian with a guidebook to wise climate adaptation.

In some places, traditional resource management systems, almost eradicated with the event of techno-industrialization are being discussed, revitalized and even systematized. From diversifying crops, flocks or architecture, an ancient encyclopedia of simple adaptations is being identified. For example, there is much to learn from traditions that understood and culturally enforced zones of environmental conservation centuries before today’s ecological movement.

[Picture: Interviewing Altaian Telengit leader and shaman, Slava Cheltuev about their knowledge of the inter-connectivity of natural systems, and human behaviour]

At such a time in history, the harmonic and responsible knowledge of our ancestors should not to be discarded or arrogantly overlooked as folklore. There is no used by date on age-old proven methodologies.

Today, traditional knowledge custodians are as diverse as all the spoken languages on the earth. With this and climate change adaptation in mind, a large challenge lies ahead. Can we globally recognize, nurture and enhance these diverse communities with disappearing traditional knowledge systems?

For the benefit of those generations ahead of us, we must responsibly act like those generations before us. Pay heed to great grandpa’s wisdoms, and re-energize it as a respected opinion and pillar of our globalized culture’s way of being, doing, and of knowing.

[Our World 2.0 climate change video screening to the young minds of Gorno-Altaisk State University, Russia where climate scientists, government officers and local television were also present.]

In the last months the Media Studio team has been exploring the mountains and valleys of Central Asia to produce a series of videobriefs dealing with energy, land management and climate change issues.

Two of the videobriefs are part of the activities of the Sustainable Land Management in the High Pamir and Pamir-Alai Mountains (PALM) project, a United Nations initiative to support the communities of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in the conservation of their environment during their  difficult transition from the Soviet Union into the globalized economy.

The videobrief on Tajikistan traces the problems people face to access energy on the Eastern Pamir mountains after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The high cost of heating and cooking fuel has prompted people here to massively uproot the few shrubs that grow in this high altitude environment, severely degrading the land and drastically reducing its capacity to feed domestic and wild animals.

The videobrief on Kyrgyzstan show the changes in the use of land of Kyrgyz herders after Independence in 1991, which have led to increasing numbers of livestock which in turn is degrading the land, threatening its ability to feed the animals the people here depends on.
It also shows Kyrgyz, Tajik and UN experts and officials  as they try to bring in solutions to the situation.

The videobriefs were shown on October 5 in a PALM project meeting to a group of Kyrgyz, Tajik and UN researchers and officials in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where they were well received. The videobrief on Tajikistan was particularly shocking to participants, as although they were aware of the situation they did not know to what extent the lives of people were being affected by lack of access to energy sources.

The two videobriefs will be soon published in UNU’s webmagazine Our World 2.0

In 2008, the world faced rapidly rising oil prices peaking at US$147 per barrel and a global food crisis with riots and unrest in a number of countries as prices increased. At the same time, total annual emissions of CO2 stood at 31.5 billion tons, the highest ever annual emissions, and the concentrations in the atmosphere now stand at 388 ppm, far higher than at any point since human civilization began. These three issues – climate, energy and food – present immense and daunting challenges for the region. They are further exacerbated by the fact this region is home to 65% of the world’s population and has two of the largest oceans on Earth.

About the Course

The course is divided into three parts – (1) understanding climate change, (2) exploring the interactions between climate change and other issues such as food, energy, health, biodiversity and (3) examining possible solutions. The course is multi-disciplinary in nature and will appeal to students from the sciences and humanities. It is designed to inform experienced policy-makers and practitioners, and to enlighten graduate students, keen to learn more about how the world works and how we can make it a better place.

Details

The classes are organized via video conference and hosted in the Media Studio of the United Nations University. Classes begin on 25 September 2009 and continue every Friday for 15 sessions. Each session is one and a half hours in length from 13:oo-14.30.

How to enroll?

To enroll you must be a student at one of the following collaborating institutions: Asian Institute of Technology, Aoyama Gakuin University, Keio University, Waseda University, Okayama University, University of the Ryukyus, United Nations University, University of Hawaii, National University of Samoa, TERI University and University of Gadja Mada. If you are resident in the Tokyo Metropolitan area you can enroll in the course via Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development. For further information please contact the UNU Media Studio. Photo Credit: World Bank

The United Nations University-Institute for Sustainability and Peace (UNU-ISP)  is delighted to announce the 2009 Advanced Seminar Series on ‘Disaster Management and Humanitarian Affairs’.  The Course is offered under the aegis of ‘Asia-Pacific Initiative (API)’ which is a multi-institutional/university collaborative education programme.  This Course has successfully been offered for the last six years in collaboration between prestigious education and research institutions from the Asia-Pacific region and has benefitted over 350 participants. Partner universities from Japan, USA, Pacific,  Thailand, Indonesia, India and many other countries participate in the Course which is  offered through a multiple site video teleconference system that connects all participating educational institutions with students on their respective campuses.

The course offers graduate students and in-service professionals in the Tokyo area interested in disaster management and humanitarian assistance issues, an opportunity, to learn from a diverse faculty from throughout the region as well as distinguished guest lecturers from regional and international organizations. Students are expected to prepare for each class session by completing assigned readings, web-searches and/or recommended readings.  Students should be prepared to provide perspectives from their home countries related to the nature of the issues under discussion, including the legal and institutional policy frameworks that exist, or that or lacking, to address these issues. Students will be able to access the ‘eCourse Management System’ for reading assignments, discussion forums, quizzes and other materials and activities for this Course.

About 12 ‘one-class-a-week sessions’ will be conducted this year beginning from 29th September which is scheduled to finish by mid-December. In the Tokyo, the classes are hosted in the Media Studio located on the ground floor of the UNU (http://www.unu.edu/access/).

The Course, which will be offered in English, covers a range of topics.  Introduction to the concepts and models of disaster management will be followed by focused lectures on specific hazards prevailing in AP Region. Discussions on social vulnerability, community resilience, early-warning, institutional response, disaster recovery and rehabilitation will help developing better understanding of this emerging discipline. Interlinkages between disaster management, climate change, poverty reduction,  migration etc is also expected to arrest participants’ perspective on cross-sectoral development context.  A certificate of completion will be awared to the participants upon satisfactory completion of the Course.

The deadline for applications is 21st September 2009. Please send your CV (maximum 3-4 pages), one-page write-up justifying your interest in the Course and its relevance in your future endeavor, and one relevant publication (if any). Please note that we receive high number of applications from highly qualified candidates every year. The review and selection process may involve short telephonic interview (please mention in your CV your preferred date and time for telephonic interview on working days between 22-26 September).  Following this,  only the selected candidates will be informed individually.  Please keep in mind that selected candidates will be required to visit UNU Media Studio once a week (most probably on Tuesday afternoons for about 2 hours) for receiving the lectures and interations offered during the entire Course period.

For further inquiry about this Course, please write to Dr. Akhilesh Surjan at: mbox@unu.edu

It has been a busy few weeks and a very hot summer.

The good news is that Our World 2.0 is now part of the Guardian Environment Network. The purpose of this network is to bring “together the world’s best websites focusing on green topics. The network connects sites from across the globe that provide high-quality news, opinion, advice, blogs, data and tools.”

This is a big step for the Our World 2.0 team and we are delighted to part of this network that includes GRIST, SciDevnet, the Ecologist and the World Resources Institute, amongst others.

The other news is that Our World 2.0 was listed on the Best Green Blogs website from 21 August 2009. Someone was kind enough to nominate us!

Finally, the other big news is that Our World 2.0 is now accessible via the newly redesigned “Gateway to the UN Systems Work on Climate Change.” Just go to the navigation menu on the right hand side and click on “blog.” That will bring you to Our World 2.0.

The First International Undergraduate Conference on Climate, Water, Weather and Society was held last week in Shanghai, China.  The conference was attended by about 50 talented students from countries including China, Korea, Indonesia, Nepal, Kyrgyzstan, Romania, Australia and the United States.

The students learned about climate systems and society’s responses, including positive ones, to environmental challenges, and also presented on their own initiatives such as Three Degrees.  They pledged to partner across borders to strengthen the student movement’s role in addressing climate change.

China, with 20% of the world’s population, is not just another country.  If China’s coal fired power plants continue to grow in number at the present rate, the world’s temperature will rise 3 degrees Celsius by 2100, regardless of what anyone else does.  So, in solving climate change, the Chinese dragon must be understood.  In short, history, culture and language do matter in international negotiations.

I attended this conference to seek out exciting stories from young leaders from all over the world.  Establishing a more even playing field in reporting of global affairs, especially the climate crisis, is critical.  The vast majority of scientists, writers, academics and policy makers are either from, or located in developed countries (yours truly included).  However, 80% of the world’s population is not.
Despite our best intentions, we cannot honestly address global problems without a truly global conversation that empowers the majority world, including those marginalized within South countries.

Likewise, despite immense good will and camaraderie, simulated international negotiations between the students demonstrated the depth of the challenge to democratize environmental advocacy, through the web and in international institutions and forums.

That is why, building upon this philosophy, I am eager to see creative communicators from the global south penetrate though the cyberspace mire and reach audiences consumed by happenings in their own backyards.

I am particularly inspired by the young and articulate Chinese undergraduates I met.  We should hope that these future leaders continue to champion real progress in the world, and are not lured by the comparatively better re-numeration in the corporate sector.

While these human distinctions are important, the planet does not care whether we are from Sweden or Swaziland as it goes on breathing under the stresses we place upon it.  It is tempting to feel helpless when people speak endlessly about the extent of the glacial melt or the predicted rises in global temperatures.

However, I was encouraged by the face that despite their lack of experience, some members of the “eco-generation”, so-labeled by their professors, are ready for the fight for what they believe in.  They are armed with open minds and open eyes, and if the Chinese Government allows, open tools for communication.

Today’s 20 year olds, “digital natives”, can better visualise a world beyond the growth economy.  They are not responsible (yet) for the broken system we have.  I believe that they, and not the current generation of leaders who will meet at Copenhagen this December, will have the credibility and courage to stand up against the vested corporate interests of the fossil fuels, forestry, farming and fishing sectors.  Experienced scientists who presented at the conference (including Ilan Kelman – photo above) confessed that they had learned much from the students’ collective imagination and attitude – I certainly did.

Let’s not be complacent.  The potential leaders of tomorrow are already struggling against our biggest enemy: the apathy of the masses.  My Chinese colleagues tell me that this is as much a problem in their society as it is in Western democracies.  More climate education is needed at the school and university level to inculcate a progressive mindset about planet Earth into society.  This has been a longtime passion of Professor Michael Glantz from the University of Colorado’s Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), the brains behind the conference.  INSTAAR and the organizers from the East China Normal University deserve credit for enabling such a collaborative, intimate and activist vibe for the conference.

While the fruits of this conference will not be seen immediately, I don’t feel this was just another conference.  Keep an eye on Our World 2.0 in the upcoming weeks for more upbeat stories from conference attendees.  We also look forward to more of your positive tales about how our world responds to climate change, peak oil, food security and biodiversity challenges.

In recognition of World Environment Day 2009 which takes place on 5 June, UNU is collaborating with YouTube Japan to support a special channel called Think Green.

More than 15 million users access YouTube each month in Japan. In order to help this community find videos that encourage them to think about environmental topics, YouTube has collaborated with some of its premium partners to create this new channel that will remain active for one year.

In addition to the UNU, the content partners include NHK, National Geographic, Asahi and Diginfonews. Around 100 videos are showcased in the channel, including five video briefs published in Our World 2.0 produced by the UNU Media Studio.

World Environment Day (WED) was established by the UN General Assembly in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment.

WED is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action. The day’s agenda is to:

- Give a human face to environmental issues;

- Empower people to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development;

- Promote an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes towards environmental issues;

- Advocate partnership which will ensure all nations and peoples enjoy a safer and more prosperous future.

The theme for WED 2009 is ‘Your Planet Needs You-UNite to Combat Climate Change’.