Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs’ Post

This powerful story on “effective environmentalism” was shared with me today by one of our faculty at Virginia Tech’s XMNR graduate degree program that teaches strategies for leading systems change. The essay makes a strong case for impact professionals in the public and private sectors to be deliberate, make difficult decisions, set priorities, and focus our individual and collective attention on environmental, natural resource, and sustainability challenges and opportunities that really matter. It is worth a read, reflection, perhaps some redirection of our work together: https://lnkd.in/epSsQsxB

Julie's Bicycle together with Arts Council England (ACE) presents the 2022-2023 Annual Environmental Responsibility Report. Report findings include: 94% of funded organisations include environmental sustainability in core business strategies 74% have programmed or produced work exploring environmental themes Overall, there has been a 20% reduction in energy use across the portfolio over the last five years, and a 50% emissions reduction since reporting began in 2012 From the report: "The Environmental Programme has both contributed to and witnessed wide scale awareness, commitment and action from the cultural sector on environmental responsibility. This programme has a transformative agenda to build a fit for the future arts and culture sector, aiming to: empower leadership at a governance level, decarbonise at scale and speed, build resilience and adapt to our changing climate, put climate justice at the heart of climate action and inspire wider action on the interrelated climate, justice and nature crises." https://lnkd.in/djWaXHtA

Time for change. Time for earth empowered leadership. Time for wisdom to return to leadership. Time for a new consciousness, to see, think, feel and do differently. Time for conscious leadership. Time to return to unity far beyond equality. Time to restore balance to people and planet through returning the way of the matriarch to the out of balance patriarch. Time to end the separation and divide. Time to know there is no scarcity or lack the planet is uber resourceful we have just lost our connection to it. Time to end the out for oneself, grab it before it’s all gone way of leadership. Time to remember who we truly are - we do not need AI people, we need to return to our own intelligence within. Time to reconsider the global definition of success. Time to seek your own definition of success in your leadership. That is where you find true fulfilment. Time to consider the priority and importance of your leadership positioning. Time for a new way of being in life and leadership. Time to set a a new system and structure. Time to create a new education and understanding. Time to stop accepting the unacceptable. Time for seed a different footprint. We are running out of time. The future generations are in our hands. I’m fed up seeing the same old narrative, is there anyone out there who wants to lead the change? Please say hello. I’d love to hear from you. Here’s a link to my website, I’ve no agenda other than to create change, I’ve a lot of wisdom to share - (freely too) that will lead to change because now is the time I remembered who I am and what I am here to do. https://lnkd.in/eiSinAF5

I am pleased to share my research paper accepted in an Issue, Advancing Sustainability, Battling climate change, in the journal of Frontiers the Built environment.😊

🌏 Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Summit 🌎 📢 Join us in June 2025 for a global dialogue on climate & human rights!  In partnership with Right Here Right Now Global Climate Alliance, University of Oxford, UN Human Rights, and in collaboration with universities around the world, we will bring together leading thinkers and practitioners at the intersection of climate change and human rights to; 📈 Advance human-rights solutions to the climate crises  🎉 Celebrate and elevate the voices of environmental human-rights defenders  🌱 Reinforce and bring together key elements of the global climate justice movement while minimizing carbon footprint  🎓 Empower and inspire people, especially students, as agents for climate justice now, and in future careers Learn more & Register Interest Now! 🔗 https://lnkd.in/g3a-5Xn6 UNSW, Monash University, University of Cape Town, African Climate & Development Initiative, University of Nairobi, USP - Universidade de São Paulo, University of Colorado Boulder, Oxford Net Zero #Diversity #KnowledgeExchange #GlobalImpact #Equitable #Multidisciplinary #RightHereRightNowClimate #RHRNClimate #Oxford #UN #UnitedNations #ClimateAction #ClimateJustice   

It is crucial to acknowledge the pivotal role #IndigenousPeoples have played—and continue to play—in #ClimateJustice, environmental conservation and cultural preservation. Their(our) efforts, often undertaken at significant personal risk and expense, embody a profound commitment and relationship with the Landscapes and Seascapes they(we) are situated within. A recent publication from Cambridge Press highlights the disproportionate contributions of Indigenous communities to the sustainable stewardship of the natural world through traditional governance systems. This recognition is a step forward, but it's only the beginning. True progress lies in affirming the #sovereignty of Indigenous Nations. It's about honoring the many Nations and leaders, respecting wisdom and Intergenerational knowledges, and ensuring a decisive voice in matters that impact the lands, waters, and skies. Reparations may offer a form of redress, but they cannot replace the need for genuine partnership and shared decision-making. As we look to the future, let's commit to amplifying #Indigenous voices and integrating their insights into the global dialogue on climate action. Knowledge is not just a resource—it's a legacy that we must protect and elevate. #IndigenousLeadership #ClimateAction #Sustainability

Serious question: How many countries in the world have a woman president who is also an IPCC scientist and with an academic career in climate change and renewable energy? I am proud to share that Mexico just made history electing it's first woman president, also an accomplished scientist who has served on the IPCC contributing to science for climate change mitigation. I am hopeful that her leadership will bring Mexican scientists, policemakers and creative minds to the forefront of international efforts for environment conservation and climate change adaptation! Let's continue to work towards a sustainable future for all🇲🇽🌱 #Mexico #ClimateAction #Sustainability #IPCC

Environmentalism for Sustainability in the Primary School Years: looking to better understand how practitioners and children experience and talk about the environment. I have written a blog: https://lnkd.in/eAvwvQFM

May 9, 2024 - By James Devitt - New York University, "Global Experiment Reveals Surprising Common Ground in Environmental Activism. ---- The division between liberals and conservatives on both climate-change beliefs and related policy support is long-standing. However, the results of a newly released global experiment show that despite these differences, the two camps actually align when it comes to taking certain actions to combat climate change. The study, led by researchers at NYU, finds that when given the opportunity, liberals and conservatives take action to address climate change at roughly the same levels—and that this is due to conservatives choosing to take action despite their climate-change beliefs rather than liberals failing to act on theirs. “Our work shows a disconnect between #beliefs and #behaviors among #conservatives when it comes to environmental matters while, at the same time, revealing common ground with #liberals when it comes to taking action,” explains Madalina Vlasceanu, an assistant professor in NYU’s Department of #Psychology who led the study, which is published (https://lnkd.in/eSpMThvz) in the journal Nature Communications. Additionally, the researchers identified which messages—or interventions—can be effective in boosting beliefs in climate change and policy support among both conservatives and liberals. “These results paint an optimistic picture for policymakers and climate activists in their efforts to influence public opinion on climate change and related policies,” says Michael Berkebile-Weinberg, an NYU doctoral student and the paper’s first author. “Several interventions were effective in altering beliefs and policy support across the ideological divide, in liberals and conservatives alike.” However, the study’s authors caution that the impact of interventions was not uniform. For instance, framing certain actions as a climate change solution can backfire and decrease conservatives’ engagement. For example, informing conservatives that a majority of Americans are concerned about the #climatecrisis led to them planting fewer trees. “This suggests that interventions aimed at increasing conservatives’ pro-environmental behaviors should not involve their #climatechange beliefs,” explains Danielle Goldwert, the study’s co-lead author... “Instead, framing climate-change actions as beneficial for ideologically consistent reasons might be more effective in spurring action.” The findings stem from an experiment involving 50,000 participants..." ...."The researchers found that three interventions—emphasizing effective collective actions, writing a letter to a future generation member, and writing a letter from the future self—boosted the climate beliefs and policy support of both liberals and conservatives. Notably, emphasizing scientific consensus stimulated liberals’ willingness to participate in a tree-planting initiative, but this message had no impact on conservatives." Continue reading

As the co-founder of a student journal, I am excited to see that the research for my master's thesis is not going to waste. Instead, it was taken up by ClimaTalk in their climate@uni section. On their website, you can gain some insights into my work on the EU's and the UN's #biodiversity strategies both in terms of content as well as the research process. 🌻 🌿 🦎 Here are three main points on what I found out: ◽ The EU and the UN have both passed biodiversity strategies for the current decade – the first in a top-down, the latter in a participative policy-making mode. ◽ The thesis has analysed whether the policy preparation made a difference in the strategies’ ambition and comprehensiveness. ◽ Expert interviews revealed that the participative process made the UN Biodiversity strategy more comprehensive, while the ambition of the two strategies did not differ much. Read the article on it here: https://lnkd.in/dyxvkq-4