Spring 2018 Virtual Seminar Series: Practitioners Communicating Sustainable Consumption and Production

The Sustainable Consumption Research and Action Initiative (SCORAI) and the Future Earth Knowledge-Action Network (KAN) on Systems of Sustainable Consumption and Production announce their jointly organized virtual seminar series with the theme Practitioners Communicating Sustainable Consumption and Production.

Conducted by webinar, each of these sessions will include a brief (approximately 25-minute presentation with slides and/or video) followed by a moderated online discussion. The aim is to strengthen the “A” perspective (meaning Action) that is part of the mission of both SCORAI and the KAN.

Each webinar will begin at 11pm in Japan/4pm in Europe/3pm on the East Coast of the US* and will be recorded and subsequently accessible via the SCORAI and KAN websites.

All participants should register for one (or more!) of the sessions in this seminar series by filling in the form here.  This process ensures that you will receive a link to access the webinar.

Download a flyer.

April 17: Shareable.net: The Case for Solutions Journalism as a Catalyst for Sustainable Consumption and Production

Neal Gorenflo, Executive Director, Shareable

This seminar will focus on Shareable’s history and mission, its approach to news reporting on sustainable consumption, its impacts on readers and the movements they have catalyzed, its recent book entitled Sharing Cities: Activating the Commons, and its top lessons from nearly ten years of reporting on sharing-based solutions to social isolation, overconsumption, and resource inequality.

May 15: Equity Considerations in Sustainable Urban Consumption and Production

Thomas G. Dallessio, AICP/PP/FRSA, President, CEO and Publisher, Next City

Cities and metropolitan regions are critical locations for consumption and production. Unfortunately, they are also often the places where inequity and injustice have limited the opportunities of lower-income residents and others who have been disadvantaged and marginalized. This webinar will use the lens of equity to explore the challenges and opportunities of sustainable urban consumption and production, and present new conceptual approaches and methodological tools through case studies and solutions-oriented journalism that challenge the historic patterns of inequality and seek to promote true sustainability.

June 12: Can Beauty Save the World?

John de Graaf, Independent Documentary Film Producer

Doug Tompkins, the environmentalist and founder of the Esprit and North Face clothing companies, thought that beauty could save the world. John de Graaf has been testing Tompkins’ hypothesis with a new campaign called And Beauty for All. He will make the case that working for environmental restoration and community revitalization through a focus on beauty can reach beyond current polarization to create more just and sustainable, less-consumptive communities. He will share his new theory that the history of the United States is a “Bread and Roses cycle,” roughly 30-year periods when the pendulum shifts between an emphasis on wealth, consumption, and economic growth to an emphasis on quality of life and greater sustainability. Join him for a provocative conversation (and a short film clip)!

Questions regarding the seminar series can be directed to Philip Vergragt.

*11pm Japan, 4pm Europe, 3pm UK/Ireland, 10am Eastern (US) Time Zone, 9am Central (US) Time Zone, 8am Mountain (US) Time Zone, and 7am Pacific (US) Time Zone. Participants in other time zones should use this information as a guide to determine the appropriate starting time in their own region.