In January, Ridge Shinn and Lynne Pledger joined us to discuss their new book, Grass-Fed Beef for a Post-Pandemic World.
While the last few tumultuous years have heightened uncertainties about our food supplies, there’s some good news coming out of the regenerative agriculture movement. Regenerative practices restore degraded land, increase soil productivity, sequester carbon and store water. These authors and practitioners explore how regenerative grazing can help build resilience in our food systems. Watch the recording here.
A series of virtual and in-person community events in 6 locations in the U.S. and Canada
Our latest installment of Redesigning Our Communities for Life After Fossil Fuels took place on Saturday, January 21 with national and local speakers from Los Angeles. Check out the conference program and stay tuned for the recording and for our next event in Cleveland OH.
It’s time to scale way back, redesign how we’re living and roll up our sleeves to restore our ecosystems, biodiversity and connections with our neighbors. Join in on this event series to find your place in this transition.
In December, author Kristin Ohlson and restoration ecologist Jim Laurie shared their wisdom in Sweet In Tooth And Claw: Cooperation And Generosity In The Natural World.
They discussed Ohlson’s latest book, in which she explores the way symbiotic relationships between individuals and species fundamentally shapes our planet. In contrast to narratives of competition and dominance, understanding nature from a systems perspective can help us return to harmony and solidarity with other living beings that is crucial to restoring the Earth. View the recording now.
We were honored to host Jess Alvarez-Parfrey, Nathan Lou, and William Wildcat (Coakí) for an exploration of ancestral connections, and transformative opportunities to nurture a truly regenerative, just, joyful, and climate resilient future. Bringing together diverse cultural backgrounds, skills, and experiences, our panel of practitioners shared their stories, and perspectives the theme of “regeneration” as it relates to our connection to place, purpose, and community.
Droughts and flash floods are becoming a new normal in our warming world. What changed? Our landscapes are losing water as people alter the environment, cut trees, drain wetlands, and use chemicals that destroy the soil.
And we’re feeling the heat.
On October 21, we hosted Anastassia Makarieva, Jan Pokorny, Andrei Nefiodov, and Jon Schull to explore the ways we can support nature and a functioning water cycle to cool and rehydrate the Earth. View the recording now!
Youth leaders across the globe are advocating for people and the planet in various ways including on-the-ground ecosystem restoration, artivism, and promotion of regenerative agriculture.
On September 17, Biodiversity for a Livable Climate hosted three youth leaders from Colombia, the United States, and Brazil to amplify their stories of regeneration and environmental advocacy. Check out the event recording to hear what inspired these leaders to join the climate movement and how they’re making a difference for their communities and the Earth.
This July as Massachusetts, like many other parts of the world, reckoned with serious drought, we held a lecture to explore how we can address drought conditions on a local, regional, and global scale. Check out the recording and related resources here!
Drought warnings in Massachusetts are a stark reminder that we are part of a global climate system where warming trends are accelerating. Is there something we can learn from adding a global lens to our local and regional mitigation efforts? Danielle Dolan, Deputy Director of the Mass Rivers Alliance, and Beth Lambert, Director of the Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration, joined Slovakian hydrologist and Goldman Environmental Prize winner Michal Kravčík in conversation about our connection to the global water crisis. Dr. Kravčík introduced the new water paradigm, which explains the role of small water cycles and the importance of restoring them in urban, agricultural and forest settings to prevent drought and floods, and to cool the planet.
This discussion was the latest in our Life Saves the Planet lecture series with GBH Forum Network.
This June, Hannah Lewis visited the Cambridge Public Library to discuss her recent book, Mini-Forest Revolution: Using the Miyawaki Method to Rapidly Rewild the World. Hannah was joined in conversation with Maya Dutta, project manager for the Danehy Park Miyawaki Forest planted in North Cambridge in September 2021. Together, they discussed the Miyawaki Method and the opportunities to use it to build cooler, greener, more resilient communities in Cambridge and beyond. Watch the event here!
Lewis offered a look into her book, in which she shares the stories of mini-forests that have sprung up across the globe and the people who are planting them―from a young forest along the concrete alley of the Beirut River in Lebanon, to a backyard forest planted by tiny-forest champion Shubhendu Sharma in India. Cambridge’s own Danehy Park is home to the first Miyawaki mini-forest in the northeastern United States.
On Monday, May 30 at 12pm ET, we welcomed Miyawaki method advocates Hannah Lewis and Daan Bleichrodt to talk about Miyawaki forests and their role in climate resilience, urban beautification, and connecting all of us to nature. Stay tuned for the forthcoming talk recording!
Hannah Lewis is the author of the upcoming book Mini Forest Revolution: Using the Miyawaki Method to Rapidly Rewild the World. Daan Bleichrodt has worked with IVN to lead the Tiny Forest movement in the Netherlands, working with children in establishing school forests through the country. They discussed the benefits and strategies to grow this movement and spread the Miyawaki method, a timely tool in building climate resilience and ecological knowledge as we face our environmental challenges.
This April, we hosted EcoRestoration Alliance members Atossa Soltani, Rob de Laet, and moderator Jon Schull for Amazon Deforestation: Why it matters to us. This is an essential discussion on the restoration that can repair this critical system of planetary regulation. If you didn’t catch it live, watch the recording here!
The Amazon Rainforest is known as the “lungs of the earth” because it draws in carbon dioxide and breathes out oxygen. But it is also the biological heart of the planet’s hydroclimate system, the planet’s rain making machine. We have lost almost 20% of the forest and are close to reaching a tipping point where it will turn to grassland. What will that mean for us, and how can we prevent the dieback?
On Monday March 28, our Life Saves the Planet speaker series continued with a panel on Introducing the EcoRestoration Alliance. Members Jon Schull, John D. Liu, Ilse Koehler-Rollefson and Valer Clark introduced the groundbreaking new alliance that aims to advance the global case for regeneration through cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary partnership.
This March, we held the latest installment in our Nature’s Solutions as National Policy conference series, Code Red Water: Two Global Perspectives. Atossa Soltani and Michal Kravcik discussed how improved water management can support functioning water cycles to meet the needs of living systems and cool the planet.
Does it seem as though the weather gods have gone crazy lately? It is not your imagination. The question on everyone’s minds is why? And is it related to climate change? In Arctic Meltdown: Why It Matters To Us, Dr. Jennifer Francis explains how increasing extreme weather events are connected with the rapidly warming and melting Arctic during recent decades. Check out the recording on the GBH Forum Network.
Evidence suggests that Arctic warming is causing weather patterns to become more persistent, which can lead to extremes such as prolonged droughts, cold spells, heat waves, snowy winters, and flooding events. After her presentation, Dr. Francis took part in conversation with Heather Goldstone and answered audience questions.
Watch Dr. Francis’ presentation below:
Dr. Jennifer Francis’ interest in Arctic weather and climate was sparked by a summer spent sailing near Svalbard in her 20s. Throughout her career, she has pioneered the use of satellite data to understand the dramatic changes taking place in the Arctic, and how disproportionate warming there is affecting temperate regions on Earth—where billions of people live. Her groundbreaking work suggests that rapid Arctic warming may be linked to shifting weather patterns in North America and Eurasia, driving more persistent weather regimes that can generate periods of extreme temperature and/or precipitation.
Dr. Heather Goldstone oversees Woodwell Climate Research Center’s communications activities. She has extensive experience as both a scientist and a journalist, and is passionate about melding data and narrative in climate change stories that build awareness and inspire action. Dr. Goldstone came to Woodwell Climate from WGBH, where she founded and hosted a weekly science-focused radio show, Living Lab Radio. Previously, she wrote the Climatide blog about coastal communities facing climate change. Her extensive reporting on science and the environment has appeared in outlets ranging from Cape Cod Times and Commercial Fishery News to NPR’s Morning Edition, The Takeaway, and PBS News Hour.
This presentation is the latest in our Life Saves the Planet lecture series. Watch the recording here!
On Tuesday, December 14 at 7pm ET, we hosted an interactive workshop, Climate Emotions: Facing the Storm Together to share and process our complicated climate emotions. Read more and check out the recording here!
This November, our mini-conference series on Nature’s Solutions as National Policy continued with a discussion on the Glasgow COP26 summit. We welcomed Andrew Revkin, Joseph Michael Hunt, and Dee Woods onto a panel to address where grassroots movements to protect and restore ecosystems factor into global plans for climate action. Read more and view the recording here!
Fred Tutman joined our Life Saves the Planet lecture series on Monday, November 15 to discuss environmental movements and the importance of decolonizing our attitudes, actions, and leadership. Check out related resources and the talk recording on our GBH page.
As the planet faces existential threats from multiple sources, the people raising movements aimed at greening the planet must first learn how to discard ideals and notions about the environment founded upon capitalism, racism and classism. This will be a frank talk with case studies about how to build truly equitable, compelling and inclusive conservation movements by first unpacking and ground-truthing the inherent values behind the slogans, fundraising appeals and strategic aims of “insider” Green movements.
Fred Tutman is a grassroots community advocate for clean water in Maryland’s longest and deepest intrastate waterway. He holds the title of Patuxent Riverkeeper, sharing that name with the organization that he founded in 2004. He also lives and works on an active farm located near the Patuxent that has been his family’s ancestral home for nearly a century.
Prior to Riverkeeping, Fred spent nearly 25 years working as a media producer and consultant on telecommunications assignments all over the globe, including a long stint working with and advising traditional healers in West Africa and coverage of the Falkands conflict in Argentina on assignment for the BBC. After a late life sojourn into law school, in addition to his duties as a Waterkeeper, Fred also teaches and advises in the Graduate Studies program of Goddard College in Plainfield Vermont and has also taught classes in Environmental Law and Policy at various Colleges, Universities and Law Schools.
In his spare time, he does trail maintenance on the Appalachian Trail when not exploring the Patuxent River by kayak. Fred is the recipient of numerous regional and state awards for his various environmental works on behalf of communities. He is among the longest serving Waterkeepers in the Chesapeake region and the sole African-American Waterkeeper in the nation.
Dr. Felicia Keesing joined our Life Saves the Planet lecture series to discuss biodiversity loss and its impacts on health. As a biologist at Bard College, Keesing studies the consequences of interactions among species, particularly as biodiversity declines. She described what we know about the sources of new human diseases, and the potentially surprising role of biodiversity loss in fueling new outbreaks.
If you couldn’t join for the discussion live on October 18, you can tune into the recording, which will be posted shortly on our GBH page.
COVID-19 is one of hundreds of infectious diseases of humans that have emerged in the past 75 years. Many of these diseases have something in common — they are “zoonotic”, meaning that they are caused by pathogens that can be shared between humans and other vertebrate animals. But does this mean that animals are dangerous to us? Do areas rich in wildlife diversity serve as hotspots for disease emergence, and if so, what should we do about it? Keesing will describe what we know about the sources of new human diseases, and the surprising role of biodiversity loss in fueling new outbreaks.
Carl Safina, Fred Provenza, and Tania Roa joined us for Bio4Climate’s second mini-conference of 2021 on implementing nature’s solutions in climate policy. The video recording is available here.
On August 16, Alice Friedemann and Adam Sacks joined our Life Saves the Planet lecture series to discuss moving beyond fossil fuels and how our civilization can rise to meet this inevitable transition we face. Check out the recording of their challenging and timely conversation.
Fred Provenza and Ninna Piiksii joined our Life Saves the Planet lecture series to discuss animals, their intelligence and culture, and the way human attitudes toward food can be enriched by expanding our sources of wisdom. Read more on our WGBH page.
Walter Jehne, Vijay Kumar, and Rep. Chellie Pingree spoke at Bio4Climate’s first mini-conference of 2021 on implementing nature’s solutions in climate policy. Read more and watch the recording here!
Dawn Knickerbocker and Juan Martinez joined our Life Saves the Planet lecture series for Racial Equity & Environmental Justice:Centering Indigenous Wisdom and the Power of Place. They discussed centering Indigenous wisdom in environmental stewardship and the opportunities to empower new generations of leaders to tackle the intersecting challenges we face in creating a flourishing world.
Ridge Shinn, cattle farmer and founder of Big Picture Beef, joined our Life Saves the Planet lecture series on GBH Forum Network. He discussed how grazing can help build healthy soil, sequester carbon, and lead to agricultural systems that improve environmental health and farmers’ livelihoods over time. Read more and view the recording here!
Tropical ecologist Mike Hands and soil scientist Rattan Lal joined our Life Saves the Planet lecture series to discuss the Inga Alley Cropping technique and the promise of agroforestry for promoting biodiversity, sequestering carbon, and providing food security for farmers.
Ecosystem Restoration Camps, in partnership with Biodiversity for a Livable Climate, hosted a symposium on the steps we need to take to restore the earth over the next several years. The event featured speakers Daniel Wahl, John D. Liu, Precious Phiri, and Jim Laurie with opening remarks from Tim Christophersen from the UN Environment Program. Watch the Video.
Vijay Kumar and Didi Pershouse joined our Life Saves the Planet series to speak on community managed natural farming in Andhra Pradesh, India and the hopeful prospects of regenerative farming for the future of our planet. Watch the video.
Massachusetts farmers and NOFA community members came together for the NOFA/Mass Winter Conference. Workshops included popular and timely topics like composting, soil testing, beekeeping, food preservation and more. View event details.
The Real Organic Project presented a virtual series of talks and panels with more than 50 prominent organic farmers, scientists, and climate activists each Sunday in January. View event details.
Dr. Anamarija Frankić, Marine Biologist and founder of multiple restoration organizations and initiatives, shared her expertise on oyster habitat restoration, discussing why this keystone species plays such a critically important role in climate resiliency and exploring the lessons of biomimicry in this installment of our Life Saves the Planet lecture series. Watch the video.
MAPA hosted a virtual gathering of leaders from the Massachusetts peace, climate, and racial and economic justice movements to discuss what comes next in our fight for a better future. We are participants in a global struggle where our voice is needed to grow understanding that peace and justice are not possible without abundance, that pandemics cannot be avoided without biodiverse and healthy habitats, and that regenerating the natural world is essential if any of our other struggles are to succeed. We put together the breakout session Managing the Anthropocene and Stopping Pandemics Before They Start. View event details.
Bill Reed, a planner, facilitator, and teacher of sustainability and regeneration, hosts an online workshop on regenerative design. View event details.
A virtual conference exploring the routes to a regenerative future for life on the planet, featuring Executive Director Adam Sacks giving a talk on November 6 at 10:15am ET, titled “Still So Human An Animal.” View event details.
Author Didi Pershouse discusses the relationships between human and planetary health and her new book The Ecology of Care as part of our Life Saves the Planet lecture series. Watch the video.
First talk in our GBH Forum Network series, Life Saves the Planet, with author Judy Schwartz discussing her new book, Reindeer Chronicles.Watch the video.
A collaborative crowdfunder highlighting the relationship between spirit and science, with Spirit of Resilience, an organization of women of color. View details.
June 13, 2019, 6:00 p.m., Potluck, Presentation and Discussion in Cambridge: “The Heat Planet: A New Approach to Climate with Christopher Haines.” View event details.
Tar Sands Songbook, a documentary performance about music, memory and oil, will be performed by Tanya Kalmanovitch, viola, with Ted Reichman, accordion, on April 13, 2019 at 7:00 pm at the Harvard-Epworth Church, 1555 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge. All proceeds will benefit the Better Future Project and Biodiversity for a Livable Climate. View event details.
March 24, 2019, 6:00 p.m., Potluck, Presentation and Discussion in Cambridge: “Red-Green Revolution: The Politics and Technology of Eco-socialism.” View event details.
January 27, 2019, 6:00 p.m., Potluck, Presentation and Discussion in Cambridge: “Agroecology: The Low-Hanging Fruit for Climate Stability and Biodiversity.” View event details.
Symbiotic Earth is a documentary of the life and work of revolutionary evolutionary biologist Lynn Margulis, a scientific detective story of scope and beauty that will leave you breathless!
Join us from 6:00-9:00 p.m. at 1 Fayette Park in Cambridge for a Holiday Potluck + Meetup: Reviewing 2015, the International Year of Soils. View event details.
Potluck, Presentation and Discussion in Cambridge: “A New Water Paradigm: Restoring Water Cycles to Reverse Global Warming (Preview).“ View event details.
Hope for a Livable Climate: The Promise of Restorative Grazing & Other Ecological Innovations to Regenerate Soil, Secure Food & Water, Revive Rural Economies and Reverse Global Warming
