Sustainable Development

INEX and the Earth Charter - a new partnership

The Earth Charter Volunteers Network is bringing about very positive results! An example is the fruitful partnership that the Earth Charter Secretariat is starting with an Austrian-based NGO called INEX (International Network of Educational Exchange). INEX offers summer university programs to several European universities; one of the programs is a short course on Sustainable Development for Master’s students of different disciplines, which takes place in Costa Rica. This year, it brought in 19...

Toyota's Top Engineer on How to Develop Thinking People

The August 4, 2008 Nikkei Business Online article titled Top Engineer Explains How Toyota Develops People (技術最高職が語る「トヨタはこう人を育てる」). The article is an interview with Nanpachi Hayashi, Toyota's top engineer. He was a student of Taiichi Ohno, and much what he talks about sounds like it came out of the pages of Taiichi Ohno's Workplace Management. The importance of making people think and struggle on their own, following up, and going to see are a few of the ...

Ski Industry Releases Environmental Report

The National Ski Areas Association has released its 8th Sustainable Slopes Annual Report. Over 75 percent of resorts, or 187 resorts have endorsed the NSAA’s Environmental Charter. Its main focus during 2007/08 was to continue promoting the industry’s Green Power program, which supports renewable energy purchases and development by resorts and its guests. To date, 68 [...]

The Slow Food Nation Victory Garden Takes Root

In the first event of Slow Food Nation, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Alice Waters, and Anya Fernald, executive director of Slow Food Nation, officially opened the Slow Food Nation Victory Garden at the San Francisco Civic Center on July 12. Coordinators and more than 250 volunteers worked to transform the heart of the Civic Center into an ornamental edible garden. Naomi Starkman's description of the day can be found on the Slow Food Nation blog. Planted on the same site as a World War II-er...

ASEAN Ministers Agree to Focus on Climate Change, Energy and Food ...

[CLIMATE-L.ORG] The meeting, held under the theme “One ASEAN at the Heart of Dynamic Asia,” was chaired by George Yeo,Minister for Foreign Affairs of Singapore and Chair of the forty-first ASEAN Standing Committee.In the Communiqué, Ministers underscored the importance of the ASEANSocio-Cultural Community in working towards improving the well-being of itspeoples through, inter alia,enhancing food security and safety, protecting the environment, and increasing people’sresilience to disas...

Weyerhaeuser, Lenzing Partner On Sustainable Non-Wovens

Weyerhaeuser, a forest products company, and Lenzing, a cellulose staple fibers producer, signed a Memorandum of Understanding recently and will work together on the development of novel lyocell-based non-woven fabrics. The goal of the partnership is to develop a technology for large-scale industrial production of a sustainable cellulose-based material for industrial and personal care applications; and [...]

Spotlight on Natalie Portman: Vegan Shoes with All Profit Dedicated to Environmental Preservation and Animal Rights

While we’re on the topic of ethical footwear this week, Natalie Portman has recently designed a line of vegan shoes for Té Casan, and she is having a sale. In between being a superstar, a main feature in Elle and speaking out for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), she has also found the time to design darling animal-free footwear. Her designs are cute, classic and sophisticated. I dig the Potok and the Pixie (shown here), both on sale. Natalie has been a vegetarian since age ...

Is user-friendliness a sure marketing bet?

Yann Gourvennec, head of internet and digital media at Orange Business Services, wonders whether making users’ live easier is a sustainable marketing argument for the development of a business. The article’s premise intrigued me but it was a disappointing read. Gourvennec just presents the typical and tired argument that user-friendliness is subjective and personal [really?], [...]

EXPO Zaragoza - Austria Pavillon

The Water and Sustainable Development Editorial Programme includes a series of publications focusing on the general theme of the event, Water and Sust..

UAE's Vice President is an Advocate for Sustainable Water

On Sunday, General Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces (pictured), opened the first Arab Water Academy, which is being organized by the Abu Dhabi Environment Agency in conjunction with the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture. General Shaikh Mohammed called on officials to evolve strategies for rational and sustainable use of water resources. He stressed the need to consider water resources' impact on the e...