Greening The Islands" Conference

"Greening The Islands" Conference & Awards (Applications due May 10th)

Greening The Islands Awards gives the opportunity to present viable and innovative projects in the field of sustainability and circular economy. All the islands of the world are allowed to participate as long as they have worked on projects related to the following topics:

• Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency
• Sustainable Mobility andTransportation
• Water

http://www.greeningtheislands.net/2018/02/12/awards-rules-minorca-home/

Report and Event on Adaptation in Human Settlements: A Launch-pad For Action

UN Climate Change News 30 April 2018 - A newly released UN report details practical ways of adapting to climate change impacts such as increased flooding or intensifying storms in human settlements, from mega cities to villages.

Importantly, the report provides hands-on tools that national and subnational governments can use to build climate resilience in collaboration with communities, civil society organizations, research centres and the private sector.

Released by UN Climate Change and prepared under the Nairobi work programme, the report called “Adaptation in human settlements: key findings and way forward” aims to share good practices and lessons learned to date and will be taken forward at an event at the May Climate Change Conference.

The report is timely as both the contribution to climate action by cities as well as urbanization are increasing world-wide. Already more than 50% of the world’s population lives in urban areas, a number which is expected to near 70% by 2050.

Climate change is exacerbating the vulnerability of human settlements to natural and human-made hazards globally to a disproportionate degree, especially in developing countries, coastal and delta regions and small island developing States (SIDS). Read More

Can strong foresight orientation make a nation successful?

Can strong foresight orientation make a nation successful? - Demos Helsinki

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Can the Cayman Islands Benefit from Foresight Orientation? Redefining Our Economic Survival
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Finland is a future-obsessed nation: it was the first country in the world to offer a masters degree in futures studies; it has a parliamentary committee dedicated to matters of the future; and the government is required by law to produce an official review of the future every parliamentary term (previous reports have focused on issues like climate change and an aging population).

The need for forecasting stems from Finland’s troubled past on the outskirts of Europe. Faced with economic shocks and a quickly changing geopolitical landscape, an understanding of the future has always been vital. Finland’s heavy investments in public education, R&D, infrastructure, and innovation are all indicative of the government’s strong commitment to the future.

This forecasting is partly what allowed Finland to rapidly develop from one of the poorest countries in Europe to one of the most successful ones in the world – all without great reserves of oil or minerals.

Demos Helsinki has previously documented the Finnish approach to future in the Finland Country Brand Report, <https://goo.gl/PdYZo4> a 20-year plan on how the existing strengths of Finland and Finns could be better used to solve wicked problems and benefit humanity. The report names expertise and creativity as Finland’s soft power and suggests fixes like exporting the famed Finnish education system abroad. Read More

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