http://development.thinkaboutit.eu/index.php/think3/post TH!NK ABOUT IT #3 en krennie1@gmail.com Copyright 2012 2012-03-07T23:11:51+00:00 http://development.thinkaboutit.eu/think3/post/climate_chaos._from_copenhagen_to_cancun/ http://development.thinkaboutit.eu/think3/post/climate_chaos._from_copenhagen_to_cancun/#When:12:08:19Z Climate chaos started in Copenhagen. Delegates, journalists and activists who appeared in increasing numbers in the Danish capital to attend the end of the summit gave headaches to authorities. The government has mobilized more than half of its police packs. The quiet streets of Copenhagen came to be blocked by police forces. Environment 2010-08-27T12:08:19+00:00 http://development.thinkaboutit.eu/think3/post/skeptically_yours_bjorn_lomborg/ http://development.thinkaboutit.eu/think3/post/skeptically_yours_bjorn_lomborg/#When:16:42:48Z A couple of years ago, just before some greedy banks were screaming out for bail-outs the developing world went through what was known at the time "the food crisis". I remember it was a boost for organic markets or for fair trade. In that context, I managed to squeeze out a phone interview from a person considered infamous by the majority of the radical environmental movement. However, after reading "The Skeptical Environmentalist" and "Cool It", I became less radical and tried to lend my ears to this guy. Bjorn Lomborg is an avalanche of pro-business platitudes, however his stance on R&D investments focus is quite appealing. And in the context of today's recession it is really cool to balance corporate greed and public spending. So this is a battle between keynesianism and neoliberalism washed in tonnes of green. Enjoy the reading! Environment 2010-07-19T16:42:48+00:00 http://development.thinkaboutit.eu/think3/post/yoruba_man_with_a_bicycle/ http://development.thinkaboutit.eu/think3/post/yoruba_man_with_a_bicycle/#When:22:24:40Z More than three decades of post-colonial Africa gave birth to a continent of confusion. African culture and African national politics became a hybrid heritage of the colonialism. The call for African unity after the fall of colonialism needs even today a strong continental cultural basis. In this essay I am trying to focus on the cultural determinations of African continental identity and to make a broad synthesis of the main strands supporting this type of unity. Postmodernist concepts such as neotraditionalism or ethnophilosophy and also the main culture based ideas about common and traditional religions, history, art and philosophy, explaining the long road towards African solidarity might clear the cloudy skies of the ‘black continent’. Education 2010-07-10T22:24:40+00:00 http://development.thinkaboutit.eu/think3/post/its_about_any_bike/ http://development.thinkaboutit.eu/think3/post/its_about_any_bike/#When:14:38:01Z “It was a Schwinn Mag Scrambler, which I got when I was about seven. It was an ugly brown, with yellow wheels, but I loved it. Why does any kid love a bike? It’s liberation and independence, your first set of wheels. A bike is freedom to roam, without rules and without adults.” Education 2010-07-10T14:38:01+00:00 http://development.thinkaboutit.eu/think3/post/cycling_and_giddens/ http://development.thinkaboutit.eu/think3/post/cycling_and_giddens/#When:23:25:40Z Cycling through Europe brought about Anthony Giddens’ approach on the politics of climate change. Together with pedals, cranksets and handlebars we are carrying environmental debate. So, in Regensburg, Bavaria, after a ‘blasting’ discussion with Andrea Klonschinski, an associate pilosophy professor at the University of Regensburg, I shall summarize the Giddens’ paradox from a discussion I had with the sociologist a year ago. Environment 2010-06-21T23:25:40+00:00 http://development.thinkaboutit.eu/think3/post/what_is_school_greening_video/ http://development.thinkaboutit.eu/think3/post/what_is_school_greening_video/#When:03:20:27Z Sean S. Miller is the Director of Education at Earth Day Network. He oversees Earth Day Network’s education programs and policies for students, educators, and a network of over 25,000 teachers interested in environmental issues, as well as the management of our National Environmental Education and Green School Campaigns. Last year alone, Earth Day Network’s Education programs directly saved over one million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. Education 2010-06-11T03:20:27+00:00 http://development.thinkaboutit.eu/think3/post/biotech_evil_or_wrong/ http://development.thinkaboutit.eu/think3/post/biotech_evil_or_wrong/#When:03:07:59Z The result of standardizations of plants and animals started over by the IMF in the 1970s were a continuous pauperization of almost a third of the world’s population, a decrease in the number of traditional farmers, and it gave absolute power to international trade, deteriorating people’s diets. Activist Vandana Shiva once said that the extreme image of today’s global development is composed by the obese American child and, on the other side, the skeleton-like body of the African. Agriculture 2010-06-11T03:07:59+00:00 http://development.thinkaboutit.eu/think3/post/cycles_and_green_jobs_video/ http://development.thinkaboutit.eu/think3/post/cycles_and_green_jobs_video/#When:02:58:07Z Lucian Contras, Vice-President and Sales Manager with the largest Romanian bicycle manufacturer, DHS, in a dialogue with 2Celsius on RideAcross, on charity programs that involve the bicycle and on local green jobs. "We encourage local industry. Why would we bring bikes from God knows where, from Asia, when we can make them right here. and all people employed are Romanians from the area". Environment 2010-06-11T02:58:07+00:00 http://development.thinkaboutit.eu/think3/post/lester_brown_4.0/ http://development.thinkaboutit.eu/think3/post/lester_brown_4.0/#When:02:51:23Z Lester Brown, author of "Plan B 4.0", shows a great deal of optimism while talking about reduction of carbon emissions in the US, at the Green Festival in Washington, D.C. Beyond economic shrinkage, Brown praises reduction in the American car fleet, a 9% reduction in CO2 emissions in 2008, installment of alternative forms of energy generation, and Obama's plans of dully measuring emissions of CO2 equivalent variations. Environment 2010-06-11T02:51:23+00:00 http://development.thinkaboutit.eu/think3/post/ride_across_europe/ http://development.thinkaboutit.eu/think3/post/ride_across_europe/#When:02:29:07Z Green collar economy can be promoted and can function on a bicycle. RideAcross.eu aims at donating mountain bikes to secondary school students in remote mountain areas in the Transylvanian Alps. Bikes are locally produced by local workers, in a factory that enjoys quite a big commercial success. In order to promote this pilot-project, the organizers will tour Europe in what is called RideAcross.eu. Education 2010-06-11T02:29:07+00:00