Making Waves: EII in the News

Earth Island News

The Tomales Bay Institute, one of three new Earth Island projects adopted last October, has a mission to resurrect the idea of the “commons” in American public life so that it becomes equal to the market in terms of media reporting and public protection and support. The commons - our shared environmental and social heritage - is the unspoken link between many environmental and other problems that beset Americans today, from the decline of neighborhoods and communities to the commercial enclosure of the gene pool, knowledge and artistic creation.

The World Sustainability Hearings project [see advertisement on page 39 of the EIJ] is organizing a parallel event to the United Nations’ Rio+10 Summit on Sustainable Development, to be held in South Africa, September 2002, in collaboration with major global and regional NGOs. Ordinary people from around the world will testify as to what has happened in their communities in the 10 years since the 1992 Rio conference when the UN committed itself to address critical environmental and social-justice problems.

City Talk organizes debates on topical issues in sustainable development through meetings, print and broadcast media, and the Internet [see article “Africans Talk about Sustainability,” in this issue of the EIJ]. Debates are both local and international, introducing voices from the outside to question what has been taken for granted and consider the impacts on the outside world. City Talk has begun its work in Entebbe, Uganda, and will facilitate joint debates with a US sister city during 2002.

Global Service Corps is a founding member of Bay Area International Development Organizations (BAIDO), a network of 45 member organizations involving thousands of people in northern California and touching the lives of millions in developing countries. BAIDO members represent a wealth of in-depth knowledge and personal experience about the developing world. Together they promote an understanding of the challenges faced by people globally and the solutions people are finding. For more information see www.baido.org.

Climate Solutions co-hosted a press conference on November 16 with Washington Governor Gary Locke to publicize their report, “Poised for Profit: How Clean Energy Can Power the Next High-Tech Job Surge in the Northwest.” The report, and comments from Oregon’s governor, Portland’s mayor and other prominent elected officials, can be downloaded at www.climatesolutions.org.

Anne Brower, Dave Brower’s wife, companion and collaborator, died at home after a long illness on November 14, at the age of 88. With Anne’s passing, the EII community has lost another giant. Our prayers are with the Brower family who have lost both David and Anne in the space of just over a year. Anne was a devoted mother of four and grandmother of three, a sharp-witted editor and interviewer, a beloved member of the University of California Berkeley staff for many decades (including the Anthropology Department and UC Press, where she met Dave), an impossibly patient wife for more than 57 years, and the secret voice behind many of Dave’s best one-liners. Rest in peace, Anne. You will be missed.

Mangrove Action Project’s (MAP) 2001 International Children’s Art and Poetry Calendar is now available. MAP has created this colorful work in celebration of its 10th anniversary. The calendar features the art and poetry of children from 14 mangrove nations. Your contributions help support MAP’s ongoing work to protect mangrove forests. For samples of the calendar and ordering information, go to www.earthisland.org/map/calendar.htm.

Grassroots Globalization Network (GGN) held an open forum on California’s North Coast in November 2001 to promote an independent business alliance. GGN also recently published the article “Renowned US Economists Denounce Corporate-led Globalization” on CommonDreams.org. The article and GGN’s first working paper, “Economic Democracy in Practice: The Benefits of Cooperatives,” can both be found at www.earthisland.org/ggn.

WildFutures (formerly The Wildlife Network) has released a new film, On Nature’s Terms: Predators and People Co-existing in Harmony. Produced by awardwinning filmmaker John de Graaf, the film documents the uplifting story of how ordinary citizens, biologists, conservationists, agency personnel, ranchers and homeowners are protecting, maintaining and restoring large predator habitats in the western US. The 25-minute video showcases scenes from Wyoming to California of the US Forest Service removing roads, ranchers using non-lethal methods of predator control and biologists studying urban wildlife. To order, send a check or purchase order for $20 (includes tax, shipping and handling) to WildFutures/EII [353 Wallace Way, NE, Suite 12, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110, snegri@igc.org, or call (206) 780-9718 with credit card number].

Earth Island Journal was nominated for the UTNE Reader’s Alternative Press Award in the “Best Scientific and Environmental Reporting” category - an award it previously won two years in a row. In September, the Orlo Foundation conducted a survey of 49 environmental magazines and selected Earth Island Journal as “the number one environmental publication in the US.”

David Brower has been honored with a memorial sculpture designed by internationally acclaimed Finnish-American sculptor Eino [www.eino.org]. Entitled “Spaceship Earth,” the 15-foot-diameter, blue quartzite sphere will weigh approximately 350,000 pounds and will feature a life-size bronze figure of David near its apex. If you would like to suggest (or donate) an appropriate site for the sculpture, please contact Dave Phillips (415) 788-3666, ext. 145, davep@earthisland.org.

Seeking Inspiration? Have a glance at www.wildnesswithin.com, an elegant collection of enviromental essays, photos and news, compiled by Bob Brower in honor of his dad, Dave.

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