The Environment – under our care
Environmental changes
Seven year Old Olivia Binfield stands before thousands to send a message with Lucy, her snake coiled around her little neck. She thinks she wants to become a zoologist when she grows up; but she doesn’t have to wait that long; she is one of the best zoologists already, and the best poet too.
Watch her as she tells you why she thinks “man’s such a fool.” Olivia asks that you may listen to her “passion, although it may not be in fashion.” She is the voice of all the endangered animal species.
Soil erosion, environmental degradation, desertification, climate change all sound synonymous. But are they? Not really, but they are all parasites that feed almost the same way.
I’ll let pictures speak for Baringo and Elgeyo Marakwet counties. Degradation there, and particularly soil erosion, is at massive scales. The rills have turned into death traps for livestock and the larger gullies highways for the nutrient rich top soil that ends up in the Kerio River and the Lake Kamnarok. Poverty level continues to rise in Kerio Valley.
The results? Siltation and the subsequent effects. As we speak the lake is becoming smaller, and a less favorite spot for the wildlife (elephants especially) that loved to quench their thirst there for fear of getting stuck in the muddy shores.
Is hope really lost here? Is this place damaged beyond repair? Really? The degradation has been going on for years, but no one seems to notice. I see people run to rehabilitate other places that aren’t really bad and I’m left wondering why they keep neglecting this. UNCCD has it’s focus on prevention of land degradation and desertification. World Agroforestry Center is a close partner. We have the Vetiver Network in our midst. The UNEP headquarters is in our city? Let us pool resources and convert this place into one breathtaking sight of nature.
The goal of this DO School Challenge is for the selected Fellows to create a Green Store prototype in ten weeks.
This prototype must be sustainable in terms of materials, construction, energy, operation and other aspects and will be realized in Germany. It should be scalable to H&M stores worldwide, be economically beneficial and make the idea of sustainability tangible for customers and employees.
By answering to the Challenge, you will have learned hands-on how to turn an idea into action during the ten-week Incubation Phase. This process is supported by participation in Challenge Lab, a course which offers the knowledge, skills, and tools necessary to successfully solve the Challenge.
Successful candidates may come from, but are not restricted to the fields of engineering, architecture, fashion and design, as well as environmental activism, retail and human resource management.
While solving the Challenge, you work on turning your own venture idea into a viable social venture plan which will be ready for implementation during the following ten-month Implementation Phase.
The DO School offers offers a unique one-year fellowship program for emerging social entrepreneurs who look for training, mentoring and empowerment to start their own ventures. Selected Fellows receive a full scholarship covering the tuition fee for the year.
From September 2013 to January 2014 the DO School invites applications from motivated individuals aged 18 to 28 from around the world to participate in the DO School Green Store Challenge. Successful applicants will show exceptional motivation to contribute to solving the Challenge and developing and starting their own social venture.
Selected Fellows will spend the first ten weeks of their one-year program on the DO School campus in Hamburg from April to June 2014, and the following ten months in their home countries implementing their own ventures.
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THE DO SCHOOL
The DO School is an innovative educational institution. We offer a unique one-year program enabling talented emerging social entrepreneurs to launch their own innovative and sustainable ventures. The program allows its participants – our Fellows – to learn from passionate peers, engage with current leaders and experts, and create change by implementing their social start-ups in their home countries.
Learn more about the DO School here.
Please click here to find out more about the Green Store Challenge on our website and to apply!
If you need a break from modelling the effectiveness of bed nets, with and without insecticide, then Nathan Myhrvold has a 15 minute answer for you.
Warning: mosquitoes may have been harmed for the making of this TED talk
The United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies has released a Video Series on Traditional Knowledge and Climate Science
With deep connections to nature, the world’s indigenous people and local communities are experiencing some of the most pronounced affects of climate change. This video series focuses on some of the key links between traditional knowledge and science regarding climate change.
Relevant topics include:
1. Land Use and Adaptation (18:15 mins)
2. Energy (8:54 mins)
3. REDD+ (9:47 mins)