Press
By DON CUDDY
doncuddy@s-t.com
October 22, 2010 12:00 AM
NEW BEDFORD — The annual Bioneers by the Bay conference, sponsored by the Marion Institute, comes to downtown New Bedford starting today, and organizers have been working around the clock to ensure everything is in place.
"This is a lot for a small team to put on, and this is our biggest year yet, so I'm kind of holding my breath," said Marion Institute Executive Director Desa Van Laarhoven, who works year-round to plan the conference. "But it's exciting to be a part of this and be able to affect people in a positive way."
The Bioneers' stated mission is to develop innovative solutions to environmental problems, as well as working to promote social justice. This is the sixth year the conference has been held in SouthCoast and its third year downtown.
READ MORE: http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101022/NEWS/10220324&cid=sitesearch
By Curt Brown
cbrown@s-t.com
October 25, 2010 12:00 AM
NEW BEDFORD — Humanitarian Greg Mortenson wrapped up the Marion Institute's sixth Bioneers by the Bay conference Sunday with an inspiring message about the need to increase educational opportunities globally.
The 53-year-old Mortenson, co-author of The New York Times' bestseller "Three Cups of Tea" and co-founder and executive director of the nonprofit Central Asia Institute, which has established 131 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, brought his positive message of hope and sustainability to about 250 people at the Zeiteron Theater.
"There's no problem we can't solve," he said, adding that the hope for sustainability and change lies with children.
Through his Pennies For Peace program, which collects pennies from schoolchildren, the Central Asia Institute has built schools for 58,000 children, including 44,000 girls, in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
READ MORE HERE: http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101025/NEWS/10250319&cid=sitesearch
NEW BEDFORD — Greg Mortenson, author of “Three Cups of Tea,” Annie Leonard producer of “Story of Stuff,” and Van Jones, pioneer in human rights and the clean-energy economy will lead the list of speakers for the Sixth Annual “Connecting for Change: A Bioneers by the Bay Conference.”
The conference, to be held in downtown New Bedford, runs from Oct. 22-24 and is sponsored by the Marion Institute. Organizers said the three-day event is a “solutions-based gathering that brings together a diverse audience to create deep and positive change in their communities.”
“When we get in touch with the fact that we are all connected, and that we all have a critical role to create deep love, justice and sustainability in the world as well as in our own lives, we see the urgent need to connect for change,” said Desa VanLaarhoven, executive director of the Marion Institute. “When we build bridges from local leaders — and that's all of us — to other leaders from around the world, we inspire each other to do just that.”
READ MORE HERE http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100921/NEWS/100929968/-1/NEWS
NEW CANAAN, Conn., May 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Center for Environment and Population (CEP), with four leading US and global institutes, announces the appointment of the 2010 CEP Fellows on Population, Climate Change and the Environment. This is the first of a new, ongoing series of Fellowships to - a) advance the science, science-policy-advocacy links, and real-world science application, and; b) build a much needed cadre of outstanding new young leaders, scientists, activists, spokespersons and policymakers worldwide - on "Population and Climate Change" and other key population-environmental linkages, for example, with water, forests, biodiversity, habitat and land use.
To launch the program, this year CEP is partnering with:
-National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)
-Green Belt Movement, Nairobi, Kenya
-The Nature Conservancy, Washington, DC
-Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Colorado
The Fellows have been appointed and during 2010 will undertake cutting-edge research and/or analysis and reporting of key population, climate change and environmental issues to strategically advance the science and make progress on the science-policy-advocacy links in order to move the issues forward. They will:
-- Do research and/or analysis and reporting to both strengthen the science and help integrate it into US and international policy and advocacy -- Help determine how the science is linked to and can enhance women-centered approaches to climate change, and girls/women's empowerment, education and reproductive health issues
-- Become part of CEP's long-term, ongoing mentoring project to create and facilitate new young leadership and "influentials" on the issues in science, policy, and advocacy
Reports on the fellows research/analysis will be published in late 2010 and be part of CEP and partner institutes' activities associated with the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) and United Nation's Millennium Development Goals (UN MDGs) in Fall 2010. Following are summaries of the 2010 CEP Fellowships:
-National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR): work with Dr Brian O'Neill and his NCAR research team to help develop a global, multi-regional population/household projection model as the demographic portion of an integrated assessment model used for carrying out research on issues related to climate change. This will include projections of future greenhouse gas emissions and the response of the climate system. A continuing focus of this work is on understanding the effects on emissions of various demographic factors, including aging, urbanization, and population growth/decline.
-Green Belt Movement (GBM): work with the GBM in Nairobi, Kenya to determine the links and potential opportunities between "girls education, women/girls empowerment, reproductive health, and family planning", and the GBM's traditional approach to conservation and development.
-The Nature Conservancy (TNC): work with TNC's International Water Policy program to determine how population and gender issues are associated with water policy and climate change and water issues, and their MDG links.
-Institute of Behavioral Sciences (IBS), University of Colorado: work with Dr Lori Hunter and her research team on both internal country level (Mexico) and international population migration patterns relating to environmental change. A focus on gender, vulnerability, and adaptation will shed light on the potential migratory implications of climate change.
For more information go to www.cepnet.org or contact vmarkham@cepnet.org.
SOURCE Center for Environment and Population
Copyright 2009 PR Newswire All rights reserved.
Read the original article at Forbes.com.
Green Belt Movement is a Success Story of the Marion Institute.
GateHouse News Service
Posted May 10, 2010 @ 06:00 AM
MARION — The Marion Institute’s Sustainable Screening Series will present a free screening of the film FRESH Thursday, May 13, from 7 to 9 p.m. The screening will be followed by a question and answer session with Sarah Cogswell of SEMAP, Ann Richards, a community activist from Fairhaven, and Dr. Kumara Sidhartha, M.D. The screening and panel discussion will take place at Tabor Academy, Lyndon Hall South in the Academic Center, 85 Spring St.
Parking is available on Spring Street. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. Space is limited. Seating is first-come, first-served. For directions, go online to www.taboracademy.org.
The movie FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision of our food and our planet’s future.
FRESH addresses an ethos that has been sweeping the nation and is a call to action America has been waiting for. The film features several main characters including Will Allen, Joel Salatin, Michael Pollan and David Ball.
The film FRESH is the first in the Marion Institute’s Sustainable Screening Series and is sponsored by How on Earth store and restaurant in Mattapoisett and The Marion Institute. This is a film series that will be brought to the tri-town area every few months, with the goal of turning individual’s passion and ideas into community-wide conversation and action. The film will be a beginning to what will be an education film series that hopes to lend a hand in creating a more sustainable tri-town and Southcoast region.
Founded in 1993, the Marion Institute is a member based nonprofit that is dedicated to identifying, promoting and incubating programs and projects, both on a global and local level, that seek to enhance life for the Earth and its inhabitants. One such program is Connecting for Change: A Bioneers by the Bay Conference.
For more information on the Marion Institute and the Sustainable Screening Series visit, www.marioninstitute.org.
Copyright 2010 Wicked Local Marion. Some rights reserved
ISM* (*Inspired by Slow Money)
Shelburne Farms, Vermont
June 9-11, 2010
The beautiful grounds of historic Shelburne Farms. A phenomenal roster of speakers, including Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, Stonyfield Farm's Gary Hirshberg, Robert Zevin, the 'father' of the socially responsible investment movement, and Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm, made famous by Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma and the film Food, Inc. The chance to hear investment presentations from two dozen small food enterprises and collaborate with folks from around the country who are finding new ways to connect money, culture and the soil.
Slow Money. It's not an ISM - as in capitalism, socialism, consumerism, market fundamentalism. It's a new kind of social investing for the 21st century. It's what comes after industrial agriculture and industrial finance.
Join this emerging network of thought leaders, investors, donors, entrepreneurs, farmers, and activists for our Second National Gathering this June in Vermont. Together, let's fix America's economy from the ground up...starting with food.
Go to http://www.slowmoneyalliance.org/national-gathering.html for details and to register.
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