Rio +20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development

Tidball recently led a team of 4 researchers from Cornell, funded by the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, all of whom participated in a number of activities in Brazil related to the Rio +20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. Team members included Kathy Bunting-Howarth, Josh Cerra, Marianne Krasny, and Tidball.

They all participated in:


Urban Nature 2-day conference in Belo Horizonte
ICLEI World Congress  http://worldcongress2012.iclei.org/  (a parallel event)—Belo Horizonte
Rio+20—various meetings and presentations as below.
In addition, Keith Tidball is part of the core team from ICLEI, Cornell, Stockholm Resilience Centre, and City of Jerusalem that prepared the Urban Biosphere (URBIS) designation system, which was signed on to by about 50 cities at the ICLEI side events and endorsed by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Finally, Keith organized the entire Cornell delegation’s participation.

Below is a list of specific Cornell contributions.

KEITH TIDBALL—Two presentations and core team member, URBIS

Tidball, KG. History of the Urban Biosphere initiative. ICLEI Urban Nature Forum. Belo Horizonte, Brazil. 14 June 2012.

Tidball, KG. Greening in the Red Zone. Cities and Biodiversity Outlook Workshop. Rio+20 meetings. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 18 June 2012.

KATHY BUNTING-HOWARTH—participant in three RIO+20 events and panelist in third event

Panelist: U.S. Side Event at Rio +20

Putting Words to Action: Implementing the Rio +20 Fisheries Recommendations

Participant: Global Oceans Day at Rio +20 (sponsored by the Global Oceans Forum and IOC-UNESCO) (a parallel event)  –below from attached draft agenda

Participant: Advancing Sustainability through Communication and Collaboration, (an official UN side event hosted by the University of Colorado)

Participant. Oceans at Rio+20: Toward Implementation of the Rio Ocean Commitments  (an official UN side event hosted by International Coastal and Ocean Organization, Secretariat of the Global Oceans Forum)

JOSH CERRA—one presentation

Cerra, J. Urban biodiversity: The contribution of science. ICLEI World Congress. Belo Horizonte, Brazil. 15 June 2012.

MARIANNE KRASNY—three presentations

Krasny, ME. Environmental Education and Social-ecological Systems Theory. ICLEI Urban Nature Forum. Belo Horizonte, Brazil. 14 June 2012.

Krasny, ME. Resilience, Learning, and Environmental Education. ICLEI World Congress. Belo Horizonte, Brazil. 16 June 2012.

Krasny, ME. Urban landscapes as learning arenas for sustainable management of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Cities and Biodiversity Outlook Workshop. Rio+20 meetings. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 18 June 2012



Those activities included (1) the official launch of the URBIS Initiative at the ICLEI World Congress in Belo Horizonte, (2) the pre-launch of the Cities Biodiversity Outlook at the Global Town Hall in Rio De Janeiro, and (3) interviews of key players in the biodiversity and urban nature arenas such as Oliver Hillel, Kobe Brand, Dr. Braulio Dias, and professor Thomas Elmqvist.

Bringing biodiversity back into cities 

Urban nature, local governance 

Pre-launch Cities and Biodiversity Outlook 

Urbanisation, biodiversity and ecosystems 

A Conversation with Students in Stockholm

I was invited to speak with a group of about a 100 young people attending Global College, an upper secondary school that is located in the center of Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. Global College is a public school with approximately 400 students between the ages of 16-19, and 25 teachers. All public schooling in Sweden is free of charge and co-educational.

Thomas Elmqvist from the Stockholm Resilience Center spoke about global change and teh importance of resilient strategies for the urban environment. I spoke with the students about New York City's Million Trees campaign. The questions these students asked were insightful and plentiful. I was impressed. And I was proud of New York City.

Presentation at Stockholm Resilience Center

Memory and disaster resilience src mar 2010

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NYC Million Trees Symposium a success

Click here for the Cornell Chronicle news story about the event.

Presentation at NYC Million Trees Symposium

Krasny & tidball mtnyc 2010

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Social Life of Trees- American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting 2009 presentation

Trees and Rebirth: Resilience, Ritual and Symbol in Community‐based Urban Reforestation Recovery Efforts in Post‐Katrina New Orleans

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Resilience presentation added to Urban Forestry South Expo Library

The presentation I made in Stockholm at the Resilience Conference in 2008 has been added to the Urban Forestry South Expo. Click on the image for more...

CFERP 2009 Poster and Presentation

Poster

C F E R P 09 Presentation

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A New Orleans Tree Trooper Speaks Out

 

Cornell College Of Agriculture and Life Sciences Fights for Urban Well-being

The Spring 2009 issue of CALS News highlights urban research and extension work within Cornell's College Of Agriculture and Life Sciences, including my work.

See the article here.

Million Trees NYC Workshop

Creating Resilience in Sustainable Communities

To see the presentation I gave, entitled Civic Ecology: Resilience Thinking in Urban Social-Ecological Systems, click here.

For a news story on my presentation entitled Civic Ecology: Resilience Thinking in Urban Social-Ecological Systems, click here.


The Syracuse Center of Excellence (SyracuseCoE) introduced Central Upstate New York to the best "green and clean" practices of urban development, neighborhood revitalization, technological innovation, and environmental stewardship at its 8th Annual Syracuse Symposium on Environmental and Energy Systems at the Oncenter, Syracuse, Sept. 29 and 30, 2008.

This year's Symposium theme was "Creating Resilience in Sustainable Communities." The two-day event surveyed the latest ideas and advancements in the fields of resilient human and natural environments (environments able to withstand both natural and human-made changes); sustainable design of homes, neighborhoods, and communities; and clean and green products and services that will benefit this generation and generations to come.

The keynote speaker was Majora Carter, one of the nation's pioneers in successful green-collar job training and placement systems. Carter founded Sustainable South Bronx in 2001 to achieve environmental justice through economically sustainable projects informed by community needs. She is a MacArthur "Genius" Fellow, one of Essence Magazine's "Most Influential African-Americans," one of the New York Post's "Most Influential NYC Women" for the past two years, a board member of the Wilderness Society, and she is recording a special National Public Radio series called "The Promised Land" for 2009 release. Learn more at majoracartergroup.com.

Other notable speakers included:

• Marty Anderies of Arizona State University's Global Institute for Sustainability, recognized as one the most comprehensive and integrated sustainability institutes in the nation;
• Paul Beyer, New York State's Director of Smart Growth, who is helping implement new groundbreaking policies at the state's town, county, and regional levels;
• Kevin Surace, CEO of Serious Materials, who leads his company's mission to reduce energy usage and CO2 generation of the world's largest contributor: our buildings;
• Keith Tidball, a recognized innovator at Cornell University's Civic Ecology Initiative, who will speak about how civic participation plays a role in urban resilience;
• David Doyle of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Kansas, who is helping tornado-stricken Greensburg, Kan. rebuild "green."
• Matt Raimi of Californian firm Raimi+Associates, who will address his work in the Syracuse's Near West Side neighborhood and its status as one of just a few LEED-Neighborhood Development projects in the United States;
• John Spengler of Harvard and Peter Nielsen of Aalborg University, Denmark, two of the world's leading experts in indoor environmental quality research and technology development.

Urban Community Forestry and Resilience

Click here for my presentation, or to see it recorded "live" click here (best with Windows Internet Explorer).