Cities Nature Justice is a 3-day international symposium addressing the social science and science of sustainability. A key question for conference attendees will be: Can social sustainability be achieved at the same time as environmental sustainability? Building on the success of the Landscapes of Meaning symposium hosted in October 2006, Cities Nature Justice will similarly bring together environmental activists, advocates and communicators from India, China, South East Asia, Australia and the United States to discuss new approaches to understanding city environmental issues by bringing both social science and science to bear on key questions of public space, water and social justice.
17 August 2008
25 Tips to Make Your Apartment an Eco Friendly, Sustainable, Green Paradise!
Renting an apartment should not make you feel exempt from doing your part for the environment and saving yourself some money while you are at it. It may seem like most of the world is talking about “Going Green” but they are talking about their own homes and their cars. What about the apartment dwellers? Sydney's Pyrmont Village community website brings you 25 Tips to Make Your Apartment an Eco Friendly, Sustainable, Green Paradise!
Eco-shout exposes the green underbelly
Eco-shout was founded by an individual who found that, at the end of her student career as a green student, there was little information on what to do next; as a green volunteer it was hard to know where to match her interests and skills; as a green activist, resources were always thin on the ground; and in everyday life it was hard to find the alternatives available to an intensive consumer lifestyle. On her ensuing voyage through unemployment, organic gardening, urban green exploration and wild forest adventure, she discovered that there were a lot of people doing a lot of amazing things to protect, conserve and rehabilitate the unique Australian environment. She also met many people who, like her, wanted to apply their skills, meet like minded souls and ensconce themselves in earthy goodness, but were not always able to make the connections.
"With the environmental problems that Australia is facing today, it is unacceptable that people who want to apply their skills and energy to addressing these problems are missing out on the opportunity to do so due to lack of resources and support. It is also quite vexatious that so many great environmental groups and alternatives exist, yet are being underutilised because people don’t know about them." And so, with such thoughts in her head and still fresh from her discovery of Melbourne’s green underbelly, she set out to EXPOSE THE BELLY. Eco-shout Melbourne was created, followed by offspring Eco-shout Tasmania and Eco-shout Sydney.
Green Maps Around the World
Green Map System promotes inclusive participation in sustainable community development around the world, using mapmaking as the medium. Over 350 vibrant Green Maps have published to date, and hundreds more have been created in classrooms and workshops by youth and adults. Both the mapmaking process and the resulting Green Maps have tangible effects that:
- Strengthen local-global sustainability networks
- Expand the demand for healthier, greener choices
- Help successful initiatives spread to even more communities
Melbourne's natural environment under the microscope
In a media release on 30 June Victoria's Environment and Climate Change Minister Gavin Jennings announced that the Brumby Government will ask the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council (VEAC) to undertake new investigations of how Crown land can contribute to Melbourne’s liveability and native vegetation. Minister Jennings said the Metropolitan Melbourne Investigation and the Remnant Native Vegetation Investigation would help Victoria plan for the future.
“The Metropolitan Melbourne Investigation will help inform the Brumby Government on how Crown land can enhance our city’s liveability and its natural environment,” Mr Jennings said. “The Remnant Native Vegetation Investigation will help identify Crown land that contributes to biodiversity. Climate change is predicted to have serious impacts on our biodiversity, so these patches of native vegetation will become increasingly important. By looking at remnant vegetation we can link critical habitat to help animals to move between areas of native vegetation that are now fragmented or to better protect existing habitat.”
