INFASA seeks dialogue on sustainable agriculture

INFASA, a collaboration between the IISD and Swiss College of Agriculture (SHL), seeks to improve our understanding of sustainability and what sustainability means in agriculture, how it is measured, and how the knowledge generated can promote sustainable agriculture.

EU rethinks policy on biofuels

From the BBC today,

'Europe's environment chief has admitted that the EU did not foresee the
problems raised by its policy to get 10% of Europe's road fuels from plants.
Recent reports have warned of rising food prices and rainforest destruction
from increased biofuel production.'

Read more here and here.

Why this might be good news for countries in the global south.

The cutting Edge

The Eden Project in Cornwall, a Rural Action Research Partner of the Carnegie Trust, is in the process of creating a new informal learning space, the Edge, for some of the great voices of the age – artists, writers, scientists and musicians - to work with communities and families and share the best ideas they have for improving their lives and environments, now and in the future.

The Edge woud seem to meet the criteria that Oldenburg highlights for informal 'third place' learning spaces

Rural Community Carbon Network

The Rural Community Carbon Network is organised by RuralnetUK and raises the awareness of the actions that rural communities can take in response to the climate change challenge. It builds on existing, isolated community action and supports other rural groups who wish to take collective action by providing access to an online panel of community experts, good practice toolkits and a mentoring service linked to a small grants programme. The Rural Community Carbon Network will link up existing groups with nascent ones for peer-to-peer support and knowledge transfer.

Want to know more? Download this pdf.

Mind the gap!

'Gapminder is a non-profit venture
promoting sustainable global development and achievement of the United Nations
Millennium Development Goals by increased use and understanding of statistics
and other information about social, economic and environmental development at
local, national and global levels.'

There are a range of powerful tools and resources on the website. You can select various indicators and watch how they have changed over time.

Excellent resource, try it out!

The 100 countries most vulnerable to climate change

Read here

Spotlight on biofuels

Biofuels are certainly on the agenda for the N. Ireland Rural Development Programme 2007-2011 and will certainly have impacts locally. But what about the impact of biofuels globally?

'Biofuels are described by some as absolutely catastrophic because of their
potential consequences, while others see them as the driving force for
development in some of the world's poorest regions. This edition of SciDev.Net
picks a path between "doomsayers" and "utopians", and looks at the reality of
biofuels research and development in the developing world.'

The Trouble with Travel and Trees

Many of us will be familiar with carbon off-setting schemes as a potential mechanism for the reduction of the impact of air travel on greenhouse gases and climate change. Some of you may already have opted for such off-setting when booking air travel tickets. Certainly those delegates and organisations attending the recent Bali Climate Change conference made everyone aware that they were 'minimising' any potential impact by off-setting. A recent publication from IIED however highlights that such carbon off-setting schemes, involving tree planting and forest conservation, may lead to problems for people in rural communities in developing countries. Such problems as evictions and reduced access to forest products may arise especially for people and communities who did little or nothing to contribute to the problem of climate change in the first place.

Reinventing higher education: toward participatory and sustainable development

There is growing debate within higher education circles about the relevance of capacity building and enhancement with in universities and colleges in the face of globalisation. Among topics at the top of the agenda are the needs for new forms of learning, new institutional forms that support the attainment of sustainable development. Much of what is relevant to this debate will be discussed at this forthcoming UNESCO conference in Bangkok.

By the way, we are currently in the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.

Food for life

One of the largest studies of its kind has found that organically grown food is more nutritious and healthier compared to its conventionally grown counterpart. The Quality Low Input Food (QLIF) project, involving 33 academic centres across Europe and led by Newcastle University, analysed the 725-acre farm’s produce for compounds believed to boost health and combat disease.

'While the results show significant variations, with some conventional
crops having larger quantities of some vitamins than organic crops. But
researchers confirm that the overall trend is that organic fruit, vegetables and
milk are more likely to have beneficial compounds.'

According to Professor Carlo Leifert, Team Leader of the QLIF Project,

'the compounds which have been found in greater quantities in organic produce
include vitamin C, trace elements such as iron, copper and zinc, and secondary
metabolites which are thought to help to combat cancer and heart disease.'

Read more here.

For a more global perspective on the links between food, food production and health check out the latest issue of LEISA Magazine, Healthier Farmers, Better Products, available for download here.

A Feasta news on sustainability

'Feasta aims to identify the characteristics (economic, cultural and environmental) of a truly sustainable society, articulate how the necessary transition can be effected and promote the implementation of the measures required for this purpose.'

Environmental news

For up-to-date information on wildlife and environmental news in the British Isles, such as the recent announcement by the government's chief scientist on badger culling, visit the Habitat website. Very informative lots of resources by discipline and regions.

Campaign to Protect Rural England

The Campaign to Protect Rural England has been campaigning and working for some time now for a sustainable future for the English countryside, a vital but undervalued environmental, economic and social asset belonging to the nation. Their work highlights threats and promotes positive solutions for the environment and should be of interest to anyone working in sustainability and the countryside.

Sustainable Measures, developing community indicators

Sustainable Measures

'develops indicators that measure progress toward a sustainable economy, society
and environment. Sustainable Measures works with communities, companies,
regional organizations and government agencies at all levels.'

You can search their extensive database on indicators for various sectors and also download training materials.

Working towards a sustainable future

Some of you may be interested in the forthcoming special edition of the respected peer-reviewed journal "Organisations & People", containing new papers on sustainable development and organisational change. The papers explore issues arising from a number of questions including:

* What can change management specialists offer to sustainable development champions?
* What can organisational consultants learn from environmentalists?
* And how can we work together to get more change in the right direction in organisations?

For further information click here.

What cost biofuels?

The Global Subsidies Initiative (GSI), a division of the International Institute for Sustainable Development, has launched its report on subsidies to biofuels in the European Union in the hope that it will help stimulate 'an informed debate on the costs and benefits of the European Union's biofuel policies.

'The report, "Biofuels: At What Cost? Government Support for Ethanol and
Biodiesel in the European Union", questions the rationale behind the very large
sums of money being invested in support of this particular form of energy.'

Better food and farming

Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming advocates food and agriculture policies and practices that enhance the health and welfare of people and animals, improve the working and living environment, promote equity and enrich society and culture.

Sustain was launched at the UNED-UK hosted Healthy Planet Forum on 17 June 1999. It was formed by merging The National Food Alliance and the Sustainable Agriculture Food and Environment (SAFE) Alliance, both of which had been established for over 10 years.

'Examples of regional innovation projects'

Talking about that ecological footprint there might some sustainable solutions and lessons here. The European Union Regional Policy publication Examples of Regional Policy Innovation contains summaries of case studies of good practice from the regional programmes of innovative actions, 2000-2006.

'The case studies present the objectives and activities of the various projects,
the strategic context, the innovative aspects, partnership, obstacles in terms
of design or implementation, results and impacts.'

Detailed coverage of the various case studies, such as Food logistics: providing local food through individual transport and distribution systems can be found on the InfoRegio website.

Thanks to the Economic Development Resources blog for the information.

Big shoes to unfill

The first ever Sustainability Development Strategy for Northern Ireland (2006) reports

'at over 5.6 global hectares per person we have a slightly larger footprint than
anywhere else in the UK, principally as a result of over-reliance on imported
oil and coal for energy, imported food and food processing, on transport and our
reliance on the private car and our poor waste management and reliance on land
fill.'

Download the full report here to learn what we can do about it

Training for the future

There may be opportunities for those with exceptional leadership qualities and potential to apply for the internship programme at the International Institute for Sustainable Development. Check out their Training Young Professionals for Sustainable Development programme