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#Achieving Goal 15: Life on Land for a sustainable planet
riyadial · 2 months
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Enhancing CSR impact through collaboration with Marpu foundation.
In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, Corporate Social Responsibility has emerged as a critical component. A strategic approach to CSR not only benefits the community, but also enhances a company’s reputation and stakeholder relations. Partnering with organizations, like the Marpu Foundation, can significantly amplify CSR efforts to create meaningful and lasting change.
Why collaborate with the Marpu foundation?
Marpu Foundation, established by the National Youth Awardee, Mr. Kadiri Raghu Vamsi, is renowned for its innovative, empathy-led projects aimed at promoting volunteerism, ecological mindfulness, and sustainable development. Recognized as "The Best NGO in India" in 2020, Marpu Foundation harnesses individual potential to drive positive change. By collaborating with Marpu, companies can leverage their expertise and resources to address pressing social and environmental challenges effectively.
1. Environmental Sustainability
One of Marpu Foundation’s key focus areas is environmental sustainability, aligning with SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 15 (Life on Land). Through projects like afforestation drives and water conservation initiatives, Marpu promotes ecological balance and resilience. Companies can enhance their CSR impact by supporting these initiatives, contributing to a healthier planet and sustainable resource management.
2. Economic Development
Economic development is another cornerstone of Marpu Foundation’s mission, addressing SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure). By fostering entrepreneurship and providing skill development programs, Marpu empowers individuals to achieve economic independence and contribute to their communities.
3. Social Development
Promoting social development is integral to Marpu Foundation’s vision, aligning with SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), SDG 4 (Quality Education), and SDG 5 (Gender Equality). Through educational programs, health camps, and gender equality initiatives, Marpu works towards creating an inclusive and equitable society.
4. Partnerships for the Goal
Marpu Foundation’s commitment to forming alliances with like-minded organizations reflects SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). By fostering collaborative efforts, Marpu maximizes the impact of its projects and drives collective action towards a sustainable future.
5. Making a Tangible Difference
Collaborating with Marpu Foundation allows companies to make a tangible difference in society while achieving their CSR objectives. By supporting Marpu’s projects, companies not only contribute to the SDGs but also enhance their corporate image, engage employees, and build stronger relationships with stakeholders.
#Csr #Marpufoundation #Csrimpact #Collaboration #Ngo
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Fast Fashion: SDG's and Us
Welcome to the final blog post of the quit fast fashion campaign. The sustainable development goals is something most of us IB students hear about. The SDG's are all about helping the world to become a better place so it makes sense that stopping fast fashion will help achieve an SDG right? Well though it doesn't say literally that, the answer is basically yes. Analyse this article together with me to understand this better.
The sustainable development goals, more commonly known as the SDG's are goals set by the UN to improve the planet and make our planet a better place in both the environmental and social aspects.
The SDG goals that are being worked towards while fighting against fast fashion include:
Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth. We know from previous blogs that fast fashion clothing makers/workers are severely underpaid and work in horrible conditions. Working against fast fashion will provide workers with better financial stability (economic growth) and better conditions to work in (making it decent work.)
Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and production. Something that fast fashion as you surely know does absolutely not abide to whatsoever. Working against it will limit the amount of fibres consumed and the production will also decrease, wasting less materials, extracting less resources and releasing less methane in the air. That is much more responsible for our environment.
Goals 14 & 15: Life below water and on land. As we know, the fast fashion industry causes millions and millions of microplastics to end up in the ocean, hurting a lot of ocean life. Also as seen in the long term consequences of fast fashion, drought and famine can also hurt all life on land (including us).
Working against fast fashion brings us closer to reaching the SDG goals. Actively going against the industry will also make sure that the governments get involved. So I encourage you to rise up, the future is waiting!
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greenthestral · 1 year
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Preserving Life on Land: Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 15
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Goal 15 of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is focused on ensuring life on land, recognizing the importance of preserving and restoring ecosystems, promoting sustainable land management, and halting biodiversity loss. With the global population steadily increasing and human activities placing unprecedented pressures on terrestrial ecosystems, achieving Goal 15 is crucial for the well-being of both present and future generations. This article delves into the significance of Goal 15 and highlights key strategies and actions needed to protect and restore life on land.
The Importance of Goal 15 for a Sustainable Future
Goal 15, "Life on Land," holds immense significance as a fundamental pillar for sustainable development. Terrestrial ecosystems encompass a wide array of habitats, including forests, grasslands, wetlands, and deserts, each playing a vital role in supporting life on Earth. These ecosystems provide essential services that are critical for human well-being and the overall health of our planet.
One of the primary services provided by terrestrial ecosystems is the regulation of essential resources such as clean air, water, and soil fertility. Forests, for instance, act as "green lungs" by absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen, contributing to the purification of the air we breathe. They also act as natural filters, regulating water quality by capturing and filtering rainfall, replenishing groundwater reserves, and preventing soil erosion. Furthermore, healthy soils support agricultural productivity, ensuring food security for communities around the world.
Beyond the provision of essential resources, terrestrial ecosystems also support biodiversity and cultural diversity. They serve as habitats for countless species, many of which are yet to be discovered or understood fully. Biodiversity is crucial for maintaining the resilience and adaptability of ecosystems, as each species plays a unique role in the intricate web of life. Moreover, diverse ecosystems offer valuable opportunities for recreation, tourism, and cultural practices, enriching our lives and connecting us to our natural heritage.
Unfortunately, unsustainable land use practices pose significant threats to terrestrial ecosystems. Deforestation, driven primarily by agricultural expansion, logging, and infrastructure development, leads to habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation. As forests are cleared, countless species lose their homes, pushing them closer to extinction. Moreover, the destruction of forests and other ecosystems disrupts the delicate balance of ecological processes, such as nutrient cycling, pollination, and seed dispersal, which are essential for the survival of ecosystems and the species they support.
Climate change further exacerbates the challenges faced by terrestrial ecosystems. Rising temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and more frequent extreme weather events pose significant risks to biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Many species are struggling to adapt to these rapid changes, leading to population declines and local extinctions. The impacts of climate change also contribute to land degradation and desertification, further compromising the productivity and resilience of terrestrial ecosystems.
By achieving Goal 15, we can address these pressing issues and protect the invaluable services provided by terrestrial ecosystems. Safeguarding biodiversity is crucial for maintaining the functionality and resilience of ecosystems. Preserving intact forests, restoring degraded habitats, and establishing protected areas are essential steps towards achieving this goal. These actions not only offer refuge to endangered species but also contribute to the preservation of genetic diversity and the restoration of ecological balance.
Moreover, achieving Goal 15 contributes to poverty eradication and the promotion of sustainable agriculture. Many communities around the world depend on healthy terrestrial ecosystems for their livelihoods, relying on agriculture, forestry, and other natural resources for income and sustenance. Sustainable land management practices, such as agroforestry, organic farming, and regenerative agriculture, can enhance productivity while minimizing the environmental footprint. By prioritizing sustainable agriculture and providing support to local communities, Goal 15 can foster economic resilience and ensure the well-being of both people and the planet.
Furthermore, achieving Goal 15 is crucial for the resilience of communities and economies that rely on healthy terrestrial ecosystems. Ecosystem services, such as water regulation, flood control, and climate regulation, are essential for reducing the vulnerability of communities to natural disasters and climate change impacts. By maintaining intact ecosystems, we enhance the capacity of landscapes to withstand and recover from environmental shocks, ensuring the long-term well-being and stability of communities.
Goal 15: Life on Land is a vital component of the Sustainable Development Goals, addressing the urgent need to protect and restore terrestrial ecosystems. By safeguarding biodiversity, preserving essential ecological functions, and mitigating the impacts of unsustainable land use practices and climate change, we can maintain the delicate interconnectedness between all forms of life on Earth. Achieving Goal 15 not only contributes to the preservation of our planet's natural heritage but also promotes poverty eradication, sustainable agriculture, and the resilience of communities and economies. It is an imperative task that requires collective efforts and the integration of sustainable practices into our daily lives and policy decisions. Only through our commitment to Goal 15 can we secure a sustainable future where life on land thrives for generations to come.
Preserving Biodiversity and Halting Deforestation
Biodiversity is the foundation of life on land, and protecting it is crucial for maintaining healthy ecosystems. One key aspect of Goal 15 is halting deforestation and restoring degraded forests. Deforestation not only contributes to greenhouse gas emissions but also disrupts ecosystems, displaces indigenous communities, and threatens the habitat of countless species. Governments, organizations, and individuals must collaborate to implement sustainable land-use practices, promote reforestation initiatives, and strengthen protected areas to conserve and restore forests.
Additionally, preserving biodiversity extends beyond forests. It involves protecting endangered species, conserving habitats such as wetlands and grasslands, and curbing the illegal wildlife trade. Ensuring the effective management of protected areas and promoting sustainable use of natural resources are vital components in achieving this goal.
Promoting Sustainable Land Management and Combating Desertification
Sustainable land management is essential for ensuring the productivity and resilience of terrestrial ecosystems. Degraded lands, soil erosion, and desertification pose significant challenges to achieving Goal 15. Land degradation not only affects agricultural productivity but also exacerbates climate change impacts, water scarcity, and food insecurity.
To combat these issues, sustainable land management practices such as agroforestry, conservation agriculture, and integrated watershed management must be adopted. These practices help restore soil fertility, reduce erosion, and enhance water retention capacity. Furthermore, promoting sustainable land management techniques can create employment opportunities, improve food security, and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Addressing Climate Change and its Impact on Terrestrial Ecosystems
Climate change poses a severe threat to life on land. Rising temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and extreme weather events can disrupt ecosystems, exacerbate desertification, and increase the vulnerability of species and communities. To achieve Goal 15, it is crucial to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions through renewable energy adoption, transitioning to sustainable agricultural practices, and promoting afforestation and reforestation efforts are vital steps in combating climate change. Additionally, enhancing the resilience of ecosystems and communities through nature-based solutions, such as the restoration of mangroves and wetlands, can provide multiple benefits, including coastal protection, carbon sequestration, and the preservation of biodiversity.
Promoting Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns
Consumer choices and production practices significantly impact terrestrial ecosystems. Unsustainable consumption, overexploitation of natural resources, and pollution contribute to land degradation and biodiversity loss. Achieving Goal 15 requires transitioning towards sustainable consumption and production patterns.
This can be accomplished through various means, such as promoting circular economy principles, reducing waste generation, adopting sustainable agricultural practices, and embracing eco-friendly technologies. Additionally, raising awareness among individuals and businesses about the environmental impacts of their choices and encouraging sustainable alternatives can drive positive change.
Conclusion
Goal 15: Life on Land is a critical component of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, aiming to preserve and restore terrestrial ecosystems, protect biodiversity, and combat land degradation. By halting deforestation, promoting sustainable land management, addressing climate change impacts, and embracing sustainable consumption and production patterns, we can ensure the long-term viability of life on land. Achieving Goal 15 not only benefits the environment but also enhances human well-being, promotes socio-economic development, and contributes to the overall sustainability of our planet. It is our collective responsibility to work towards a future where life on land thrives, and every individual can play a part in realizing this goal.
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superbars · 1 year
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Superbars: Innovating Sustainable Construction for a Better Future
At Superbars, our commitment lies in providing state-of-the-art solutions that correspond to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations. Our glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars offer a wide range of advantages that contribute to several SDGs. In this blog post, we will emphasize how our products align with specific SDGs, demonstrating our dedication to sustainable construction practices and a better future for everyone.
Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure:
Superbars stands at the forefront of innovation in industry and infrastructure. Our GFRP bars present a lightweight alternative to conventional steel bars, making them easier to handle, transport, and install. This not only reduces construction time but also enhances efficiency and cost savings in infrastructure projects. By promoting advanced materials like GFRP, we actively support Goal 9.
Goal 10: Sustainable Cities and Communities:
The creation of sustainable cities and communities is a shared responsibility. Superbars' GFRP bars play a significant role in accomplishing this goal by improving the durability and lifespan of structures. With their corrosion resistance, GFRP bars reduce maintenance needs and prolong the life of buildings, bridges, and other infrastructure. This contributes to the development of resilient communities and sustainable urban environments.
Goal 11: Responsible Consumption and Production:
At Superbars, we are dedicated to responsible consumption and production practices. Our GFRP bars are manufactured using eco-friendly processes that minimize waste and energy consumption. By choosing GFRP bars over traditional steel, construction projects can substantially decrease their carbon footprint, contributing to sustainable development and responsible resource management.
Goal 12: Climate Action:
Climate change presents a pressing global challenge, and Superbars actively supports Goal 13 by offering a solution that helps mitigate its impact. GFRP bars have a lower carbon footprint compared to steel bars, as their production emits fewer greenhouse gases. Additionally, the durability of GFRP bars reduces the need for replacements, minimizing construction waste and promoting a more sustainable approach to building and infrastructure.
Goal 13: Life Below Water and Goal 14: Life on Land:
Preserving our marine and terrestrial ecosystems is of utmost importance. Superbars' commitment to sustainable practices extends to these goals as well. Unlike steel bars, GFRP bars are non-corrosive and do not release harmful chemicals into the environment. This makes them an environmentally friendly choice for construction near bodies of water or in ecologically sensitive areas, ensuring the protection of life below water and life on land.
Goal 15: Partnerships to Achieve the Goals:
At Superbars, we acknowledge that achieving the SDGs requires collaboration and partnerships. We actively engage with stakeholders, including architects, engineers, contractors, and policymakers, to raise awareness about the benefits of GFRP bars and promote sustainable construction practices. Through these partnerships, we aim to drive positive change and contribute to the broader agenda of the SDGs.
Superbars takes pride in aligning with multiple SDGs through our innovative GFRP bars. By focusing on industry, innovation, sustainable cities, responsible consumption, climate action, and environmental preservation, we strive to make a positive impact on society and the planet. With every construction project that adopts GFRP bars, we move closer to a more sustainable future. Join us on our journey towards a world where development goes hand in hand with environmental responsibility and social progress. Together, we can make a difference.
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the-dream-beyond · 1 year
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Episode 12: Gratitude, Preparation and Accepting Help with Grant Korgan
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Nik Tarascio 
I want to start off with a question today. Which is how much do we actually have to lose to realize how much we have? And that's what today's guest really brought out for me is, so many of us, float through life unfulfilled, unhappy. And it's not until things are taken away from us, whether it's people, our abilities, our physicality, whatever that thing is, and we look back on our life and go, What a dumb shit I had so much, and I just didn't understand it. And so I hope you hear today's story.
And it's just a reminder of how much we do have how much we start from. Again, I hope this story is as meaningful to you as it was, for me, it was completely unexpected for me. And, again, I hope you enjoy the show.
Welcome to the dream beyond. I'm your host, Nik Tarascio. I'm a CEO, musician and overall seeker of Truth, inspiration, and simply put, how to live the most fulfilling life possible. Growing up surrounded by extremely wealthy and successful people gave me unique and unfiltered perspectives of those who have seemingly made it through on the dream beyond, we're letting you in on what it really takes to achieve your dreams. What happens when it turns out your destination isn't the promised land, you are expecting how to process the lessons from your past while mapping of course to true fulfillment. Let's get started.
My next guest, he went through some things that most of us hoped to never go through and after sustaining a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the waist down. He refused to be limited by this new condition. As the emerging face of spinal cord recovery, he heralds his message of choosing positivity through adversity. He's an author adventurer, a pilot, which is near and dear to my heart, and a highly requested speaker. And he's also the director of the moment Foundation, which is an aviation based nonprofit. Please welcome Greg cord into the show. Thank you for being here. Grab.
Grant Korgan 
I'm so honored to be here, Nick. It's great to see you. And I'm just I'm just real privileged and blessed to be on the podcast. Thank you.
Nik Tarascio 
Fantastic. Well, again, I I have to start with the big question of you do so many cool things. Like you again, the pilot thing, obviously, there's always that real like brotherhood, or sisterhood between people that fly airplanes, right. It's a special thing.
Grant Korgan 
Amen. Amen.
Nik Tarascio 
What was your earliest dream as you were growing up, and you were thinking about what you wanted to pursue in life? What, what was that for you?
Grant Korgan 
Wow, you know, I had the dream, as many of us do, as many of us aviators, there's, I don't know it's something we're born with. It's in our DNA to look to the sky and just wonder the fact that we're among what the fourth maybe fifth generation of, of human beings on the planet that have the gift, the ability to leave the ground to step off the ground, get in these amazing contraptions and go places literally looked down on the surface that gravity is held our kind to for, you know, 1000s of years. It's a mind blower and for me as a kid, I always had this mindset this this eye toward the sky, but it really clicked when I was about 15. I was on a trip with my dad. We had built a Jeep that Jeep CJ seven and I grew up in Lake Tahoe and amazing spot, incredible part of the world and like, the mountains in the Sierras. Amazing.
And so my dad and I this was our goal from the time I was a young teen was to build this Jeep so we could go do this trail together called the Rubicon Trail, and it's a multi day, sort of an overnight three day Jeep trail that you get to basically go from Sacramento in the foothills all the way into Lake Tahoe. And you arrive on the west shore and about halfway through and one of the nights. This guy rolls in and a bell jet Ranger, you know, he's got this cowboy hat and the perfect aviation mustache and he lands and of course, I'm all out as the dust is blowing everywhere.
And I'm just kind of wide eyed and he jumps out of his burden. He announces, hey, I'm giving helicopter rides, if anybody wants to go for a ride, and I don't know how it all worked out, but you know, 15 and a half year old me my dad put me in the front seat, I had the chance to go, this thing took off. And in seconds, we saw all of the backyard area that I had had ventured as a kid and played and it just it was rapid fire, you know, this montage of the amount of excellence I could see an experience. And when that thing landed, I was a different human being like it landed and I knew without question that was my path I was supposed to fly. And I remember my parents amazing, you know, very encouraging said you can do anything you want after you graduate college.
And so I carried on and I went on to college and it was amazing. I got my mechanical engineering degree. And I went on to work for Stanford at Stanford in a lab where we basically got spun out of academia by the Technology Transfer offices, because I had done an internship with Stanford's youngest nanotechnology professor and solve the standing problem basically, that led us myself and my business partners towards starting a company and we stepped out of academia and so we could serve the needs of academia from the private sector. After I graduated on a Saturday, and I was the president of nanotechnology company on a Monday, and life was just railing forward until I met my wife. I mean, I was I walked in this room. And there she was across the room.
And I knew without question, it was like, not a doubt in my mind that this was the person I was going to marry. And I'm kind of walking across the room, and I'm moving people out of the way. And I get to her, and I'd like to think that he and I could put a couple cool words together, but I got to her. And all that came out of my mouth was this, I took in a breath, and I'm about to deliver and I delivered this very awkward life. Like I was wet and weird and queasy. And like, oh, like, it didn't come out to me. But I just I just knew I knew. And it was amazing. Within a couple of weeks, we were on that path. And it was very obvious that the two of us I mean, soulmates colliding, found each other in life again, I mean, it's the greatest thing that's ever happened me period, bar none.
And in one of our first conversations, one of our very first conversations, she says to me, she goes grant. And she, I mean, this early on, pushes me back, says, Grant, if you could do anything in this life, I mean, anything, anything at all, and all your needs would be met, all the finances in the world would be in your bank account holdings, fulfillment, every box you needed checked to be to feel like you were the most successful you could possibly be. What do you do with your time? When I say, Well, I'm gonna be the president, no technology company is going very well. I know, that's what you do right now. But if you can do anything in life, all your needs are met. What are you doing with your time? And as foundational truth does, it just came out? I said, I'd be careful, I'd helicopter pilot, because that's what I wanted to be. That was me at 15 and a half, looking at my life, saying, I want to help people in their greatest time of need, when the only difference between life and death is the magic of aviation, these incredible machines that do these unbelievable things. And so it slipped out.
And she stood up out of the conversation. She said, Great. Tomorrow, you start working on your pilot's license, and she walked out of the room. And I was going, we worry because you know, when you throw something out, like, like a massive goal, like your body, protects you with excuses. It says, well, there's all these reasons you shouldn't What if you fail, what you know, all these elements that your body sort of throws these walls when she walked out of the room, and she's very strategic and very, I mean, she's, you know, this world traveling executive coach, so I'm very I was under gunned in this circumstance. But what she did very tactically, was make me realize that none of my excuses were valid. There was nobody to tell them to and so I realized as I went through them on my own, she's right. And within a week I bought into a Beechcraft C 23. I found an amazing instructor, a guy named Matt peak that just blew my absolute mind.
And I started, I bought my books, and I was on my way, and I made it all the way to that checkride where I had it scheduled DPE and I ended up in the ICU, I ended up with a spinal cord injury where I couldn't feel or move anything below my belly button. And this was March 1 2010. We were I mean, I was very blessed and that I lived a dual lifestyle. I was a scientist on one hand, and I was a professional athlete on the other we were out filming a movie snowmobile movie in the back country, and I overshot a jump. It was about 140 foot jump, and I just went two feet past the point of safety. And in my book, I wrote a book called two feet back because we hit the triple entendre had I landed two feet back, I'd be safe. I can't feel my two feet because of my back and I'm working on getting my two feet back.
Yes, triple entendre winning, nailed it. So that happened. And here I was in the ICU. And believe me, brother, here I was in the back country getting rescued by a helicopter by a Careflight pilot. And I'm strapped into the back of this helicopter, which is an entire story which I recommend you go watch we we have a movie out called the push and the push is I became the first spinal cord injured athlete in history to ski to the South Pole in Antarctica. And in that film, it goes on it 121 out of 29 International Film Fest, it's available on iTunes, Amazon anywhere you can rent a film.
But in that film, we go through the story and we have the actual footage of my spinal cord injury filmed in three different you know, camera angles and the whole element. But here I am, picture me strapped to the floor of a helicopter with the dream of being a helicopter pilot. And I can through my see color in my head strapped down corner of my eye, I can see that collective and cyclic movement. And I can see that gentleman up there living my dream, helping people. And I just ended up in the wrong seat in that helicopter. And it was soul crushing. I mean, absolutely soul crushing.
Nik Tarascio 
That is. Yeah, that's a pretty dark moment of having you talked about these triple entendres and, you know, again, these moments in life where the parallels are so strong, to literally have your dream staring at you from a couple feet away. I mean, your must have been a really painful moment.
Grant Korgan 
So painful. And what was crazy was, you know, the universe has a way of forcing you to stare down On the things you asked for, you know, I'm asking the universe for I want to live a life of aviation and I want to help people in that way. So wouldn't you know when I make it out of the ICU I was nine days in the ICU I was another couple days in the neuro floor. And then they put me in the inpatient rehab hospital for I was in the hospital for another month. And that month, my room had a giant window.
And sorry, man, no TV, none of that it was they were remodeling. It was a nice room, but the whole window faced the helipad now. So every single Careflight that came in and out, that's all I watched as I couldn't feel remove anything from my belly button down. And I woke up one morning in that hospital room, and it was probably, you know, 20 days into the hospital. And I could see my wife Shauna, and she's on the phone in the corner, and she's talking to somebody and I quickly put it together. She's talking to Matt, my flight instructor. And she's canceling my my test with the DPE. She's canceling my private pilot checkride.
And I heard her say, he's not going to make it yet. She threw the word yet in there and my eyebrows went up. I thought, girl, you are crazy out of your mind. I feel nothing. I moved nothing below my belly button. You know how planes work, man. We gotta push rudders and brakes and the whole thing and like, you gotta have your feet. And she saw me see her and hung up the phone. She walked over to me, I kid you not thumped me on the chest. And she said, You can borrow my confidence until you have your own. Damn.
But if she said you can borrow my competence until you have your own but you're taking that test. I was. I was, I mean, not just floored or aghast or whatever. explicative you want to throw in I just wasn't straight up disbelief. I thought, all right, cool. We'll put that little placeholder over here. And then you'll see kind of a thing but she was firm. And man, it took five years of her pushing me 10 hours a day, just seven days a week in the therapy room to get my legs to the point that I could push rudders. It took three years working with the FAA and they were amazing, by the way, and I got a class one medical and it was all done very systematically by the book through the work with the Fisto and everything and it was really well I mean, shout out to the FAA. They they have very specific rules regs and we just step by step checked each of these boxes, and then it took two years flying a Cirrus SR 20 out of Tahoe, getting that proficiency back and in 2019, I passed that private pilot checkride and it was everything to me.
I mean, it literally it was I shook the DPS hand, hugged him, the doors came open. I got yanked out of the plane like he's a jolly good fellow type thing by all the friends and family that were there. And then my instructor Chris Barbera, mountain lion aviation, unbelievable hero in my life. He grabbed me, he says, How do you feel? Do you feel like going flying? And I said, yeah, yeah, of course. I feel like going flying. He said, Shawna, you get in the passenger seat, threw me back in the pilot's seat and lay literally like shove me off. And here I am. I took up and I'm circling over Tahoe holding my wife's hand flying the plane tears and both of our eyes not even talking. Just soak in the moment in and aviation has been such a gift for me to pass on to others since that moment.
Nik Tarascio 
Incredible. Well, I mean, there's so many things I hear what you just said, you know, I'm in my line of questioning, I usually like to follow my curiosity. And so I hear a lot of stuff that sounds like you like most are meaning making machines, right? Like, that's one of the beautiful things about our life is we get to create whatever meaning out of it that we want it to. And I can't help but hear this meaning of this woman who shows up in your life like this soulmate who from like, jumped Street is just like, Hey, dude, no excuses. Yeah, then you have a life play out. Such that excuses would actually be excusable by most people. Like, again, 99.999% of people would have been like you have every excuse not to pursue this. Tell them? How do you process that? How do you process that? You have this woman in your life who was like, I don't care what happens in your life, there will be no excuses.
Grant Korgan 
You know, the answer is one word. It's gratitude. I mean, it is ultimate gratitude. Like, when I hit rock bottom, you can't talk about the top without talking about the bottom. And the top is we get to do these amazing things. And to your point, I have this accountability, a soulmate in my life that says you said this is what you're gonna go do you're gonna go do it and there's no matter what the excuse is, doesn't doesn't matter. The bottom happened not long after that call, you know, where I was in the hospital. And I was getting to the point I mean, I would cry. I mean, hours of crying and not crying like Oh, I think I messed up things were going bad. I mean, it was like Soul breaking crying where I just as an athlete, and a pilot, maybe in all all is a person who's so physical.
I mean, I was in body jail where nothing's moving or feeling below my belly button and I was all the realities were hitting me so hard, and it was fracturing my brain. In my soul, and in one of those massive cries were upside crushed so deep into it. And Shawna was there like, I'm here, I'm with you, we're going through this together. And she would just say to me, don't change a single one of your goals, not a single one, no matter what this is, we'll get through it. And she said in one of those moments where she just wanted to fix it and take the pain away, where she was kind of out of, oh, my, like, out of things to say, what do I how do I fix this?
And she said, You tell me three things you're grateful for right now. And I remember like, I like the tears wiped, and what and I was so confused. There's nothing to be grateful for. What are you talking about? She said, three things right now? Wouldn't let me off the hook. And I was like, no, no, no. And she said, there's zero getting out of this, I need three things from you right now that you're grateful for. And I, I mean, I just sort of said, You, you and you. And she said, Great. I can take that that's good enough for today. Next day, three things you're grateful for you you and you the day after that three things you're grateful for you you knew the date next day, three things you're grateful for I said, you you and the fact that I got to eat solid food. Okay, the next day, you solid food and the fact that I got to start PT, and then it was us all add food, pt.
And then I got to get into a reclinable wheelchair and get out of there and on and on and on. And you couldn't tell me that I wasn't that dude. 39 Days Later rolling out of the hospital, with a smile on my face in a wheelchair because I was so aware of all the little things I had to be grateful for. It's the little things that although our mind the things that we forget about all the time set, the big stuff, it's not the amazing rat, you know, super flight, it's the air we breed the friends, we have the connections, we make these incredible feelings of like when the hair stands up on your arm that goosebumps and you know, that little hit a coffee where it's just a little sweeter than it might have been yesterday, or the fact that you see a friend rising or going through a thing that they're just overcoming, there's so many little things in life that we can lock onto.
And when you put 1000 Little Things of gratitude in place, that's a foundation you can grow from rather than saying, I need this one giant thing with no foundation. And she put that in my life. And you're asking, you know, how do you move through that? How do you go and achieve the unachievable when everyone would let you off the hook including yourself, you'd let yourself off the hook. And in my case, I was so conscious to all the things I had to be grateful for that anything I needed to do between where I was and where I wanted to get to, for each of these goals, ski to the South Pole, become a pilot, etc, etc. was meaningless. I just had to lock into it and do the work and take myself out of the Oh, this isn't normal. This isn't right, it hurts all all the things you can say none of that's valid if you're just on that path. And, you know, as we're talking about path, I didn't stop at the private pilot. I mean, I shook that he and and I started my instrument the next day.
And it took me some time it took time to to be able to do it. But I went on to start the instrument I finished my instrument I finished my commercial, I got my tailwheel I went on to get my seaplane rating, I got my high performance my complex, all these been endorsements, and I just finished my CFI and the reason I've done all these red ratings is because now I get to gift that experience to others. Through the work of the moment Foundation, we begin an aviation based 501 C three nonprofit to extend experiential positivity to our first responders, our military vets, anybody who's had a life altering injury like myself, anybody that's been hit hard by like so I can throw them in the plane we can take off together and then I can hand them the thing that they lost when they had their struggle, which is control and freedom. Like you don't get to decide who comes in your room and puts their hands in your body. When you've had a spinal cord injury.
Every day people are coming in and touching you and doing things. You're going to appointments and meetings you don't want to go to and you start to numb out you you let go of that. That agency. And for me where I recognized that I was letting go of that agency was the very first time that my man Galen Gifford and Chris Barbera put me in that Cirrus put me in the left seat. We rolled down the runway, and I heard the word rotate. I pulled back the second that plane left the ground. It was like my eyes dilated. And I remembered that I'm in control. I can choose if I want to go left, right down up and it sounds super anecdotal.
But it was profound for me. Like I recognized all the places in my life. I was kind of going Ah, you can touch me here. Put your hands there TSA doing this. Yeah, we'll go to that appointment. What I just wasn't, I wasn't steering the ship. And the second I got aviation back into my vision. It was I mean, it was crystallizing how much freedom that I was going to expect of myself moving forward and that's the good If the foundation gives to others, we do it in three ways. We've got our our hero flight missions, which I just described, we've got our animal rescue. And then of course, we help with all Angel mission flights and Angel flights that we can and and it's it's just, it is such a privilege to do this work.
Nik Tarascio 
That's again, absolutely beautiful to hear. And I obviously personally resonate with so much of what you're saying it's a I got to fly a super decathlon and do some flying in my 20s. People said, like, was that different, I said, it was full three dimensional freedom to not have to, you can only turn this much you can only pitch up and pitch down that much be able to hang upside down from the seat belts are very much resonate with, with what you're saying.
And, man, there's again, there's just so much to unpack, and what you're saying, in my mind goes to almost this idea of like, it's unfortunate that so many of us have to lose, lose so much, to realize how much we have. And also this idea of, you know, like a lot in my life, it's been practicing surrender, and realizing that in so many ways, I'm not in control of my life. But it is really cool. When I hear you speak that I'm like, actually, being in the cockpit is the one place that I'm mostly in control. Again, we're always at the mercy of Mother Nature and those kinds of things. And she's pretty powerful. But it's really kind of getting to do that dance. And so I I'm curious to know more about what do you have to say to people that haven't had this major setback in their life, potentially, that they're actually kind of unconscious to? How unhappy or how ungrateful they mean, maybe in the moment, they're saying, I just don't know why, but this, isn't it. This, isn't it.
And before someone has to go through a setback like that, to get that perspective of what they lost, and maybe find the gratitude on the other side of the pain, what advice do you have for someone like that?
Grant Korgan 
You know, you said the right thing when you said, it's, it's unfortunate that we often have to lose so much to appreciate so much. And I think, I think aviation is kind of the great teacher. You know, my background before aviation was whitewater kayaking, and snowmobiling and climbing and mountain biking, you know, all these independent action sports that I was very, in love with and very proficient in.
And I learned so much about life from them how to approach a challenge, how to move through a struggle, how to be uncomfortable, how to thrive in spite of being uncomfortable. And then I got to put all of that into the great teacher, sort of the master class, your, your, your, you know, your PhD of learning to fly. And I think flying is the great parallel in what you're asking about, do you have to lose so much to appreciate so much what we do as pilots, as we train, we train for everything, every inevitability of, you know, wingtip fire engine loss, okay, we got smoke in the cab, and we've got, you know, all these things that we go through door pops open, like, and you practice them and you're ready. And then what it is, is, you're moving through life.
And you also said these words, you're most in control in the cockpit. But what it really is, is, you're most prepared in the cockpit for whatever life throws at you. So whether all of a sudden gives you a hit, okay, here's some wind shear, here's a little bit of wake turbulence that you you know, maybe we're off a bit or Well, unforeseen layer, you know, here's the deal, I was on this approach. And now, it should be at minimums, but it isn't. And like, it isn't that you're in control of the environment, it's that you're so prepared to deal with what the environment gives you. And I think that is the answer and how to live life efficiently, well, achieving goals without having to be stressed, strained, or face great loss to get there. I think there's this scenario of, you know, certainly as as a motivational speaker, at any minute, you can get a call, like, can you be here tomorrow, and this is the audience, this is what you're doing. There's no time to get ready. It's just be ready. And the same thing is true about piloting. Nobody's gonna call you and say tomorrow, that engine is gonna go out at 800 AGL. On you know, up wind, it's, you're never gonna get that call, but you're prepared.
And so I think there's this sense of, of being a moral prepared. Hyung, hungry, curious, conscious human being is certainly in the piloting world that leads you toward being so relaxed about what is happening in the world because you're so prepared to deal with it, whatever, whatever come and I think, just like, just like turbulence, you know, you've got an answer for everything as you're coming in on crosswind. Whatever the plane needs, you give it to land correctly. And I think we don't need to specifically answering your question. I don't think we need to lose big to gain big I think we need to prepare big or be ready through our preparation to avoid loss and me obviously, there's extemporaneous scenarios, spinal cord injury. There's sort of some hand to God stuff going on. But if we're Looking back on that, right? This is a really good point. If we're looking back on, say just my spinal cord injury for instance, one could say that's a tragic accident. Tragic scenario. I mean, yeah, an insane amount of pain, a total nightmare.
But if we look back from where we are today, and look back on that scenario, what did I tell Shauna I wanted to do when I was explaining my truth, when I said, Hey, my absolute truth is I want to help people in their greatest time of need, with the magic of aviation. And of course, it was Shana that brought this realization to me about a year ago. She said, What are you doing right now? Through the moment foundation, I'm helping people and paws through their greatest time of need, with the magic of aviation. So was that an accident? Was it a tragedy? Was it something that was unforeseen or unplanned? Or was this something that was just another training day, leading me toward the thing I asked the world for the universe, the, you know, this is what I want to achieve.
And this is what I want to experience but bigger than that, this is my offering my gift to the world. And it's been profound getting to realize that nothing really happens accidentally, as painful as it might be, or as much as it feels like a loss. Ultimately, it isn't if you just carry on your path and continue to achieve the things that you say, in your heart. Not No, not the, you know, the I'm kind of interested in this but your core fundamental foundational goals, you stay on your truth, your path. There's no wrong answers.
Nik Tarascio 
So there's two ways to go from that perspective is I really liked that I was actually going to ask you the question of what if you played the clock back from the moment of the injury, what were you not ready for in that moment? But in many ways, you've you've you've kind of like made the meaning of it. But if you if you had to look from that perspective, like you're in the air, in this moment of being on the snowmobile, what are you not prepared for?
Grant Korgan 
Okay. Your timing is kind of biblical right now. I was on a flight on Friday, so four days ago, and I was flying back from Monterey into Truckee, so back into Tahoe. And I'm flying along and I've got all these high feelings and I'm all alone in the plane. And you know, I'm just in cruise. I'm on autopilot. And I'm just appreciating the experience the sweetness of the smooth Eric's we just got through a week of like, read crosswind stuff. I mean, it was 30 knots everywhere. We were having a blast, like tons of stuff, but this was smooth and good. And I just happened to look over right at me at the right moment.
And I looked over at the mountains, the mountains to the east, and I looked up this canyon, that's a river that I had the privilege of running before my injury back when I was a professional whitewater kayaker called fantasy falls, the North Fork of the McCollum e river. And it just I mean it happenstance, I look to the right and I stared right up the canyon of this three day class five, you know, 30 ish foot waterfalls after 30 foot waterfalls experience, I mean that one of the highest achieving kayaking elements that you can do in the California foothills. And I lived up there no joke, I burst into tears all by myself, cruising at 11,000 feet IFR plan in full on sobbing tears. And at first I didn't understand why I was just letting it out. I'm just crying like, well, I'm full on release.
And then as I started to kind of chill out it, you know, I got a radio call, like five minutes or whiskey, contact Oakland center on 121, whatever. And I'm like, whatever, you know, like, I didn't even stop I kind of cleared myself out. And then I processed what was going on. And it was I had had such a shatter from the life I was living to walk this whole different program. And then I had built through belief through support of others. I mean, man, the people that have surrounded me and been my cheerleaders and been my support structure, and helped me be able to achieve my goals. It's one thing if you're willing to do the work, it's another thing to have people come behind you and say let's keep the tailwind going. I mean, I just did all hit me. So huge. And the thing to answer your question I wasn't ready for in a scenario like this with a spinal cord injury was the amount of help and support and love that was going to become open to me. I wasn't the dude that needed help wanted help. I was the guy you call when you're moving and I'm like, I'm showing up with my truck and I'll move everything for you.
And I'm giving you a hug out the door. I gotta run like that was my life I want to help you out. I don't I don't need help. And all of a sudden here I am. No feeling removed below my belly button strapped to a bed in Casten cement and people are like let me lift you let me take care of you. Let me and unlike beat it. I do didn't know how to accept help, I didn't know how to receive that and the art of, of recognizing that by saying no, I was robbing everyone around me of the joy that they were getting by helping me like the same joy I used to get by helping everybody loved it. Like it that was such an understanding of it was a part of how I understood the world. And now it was gone to me. So I started pushing back and I didn't allow in the beginning. And I, it took me a long time, you know, to take ego out, set it over here, take out self and all your understanding of your identity and who you are in Word.
None of that even matters. And what as I looked up that canyon, and I realized, you know, all the stories and the moments that I remember from being in there and helping others and helping myself over these amazing moments and just being at the top of my physical prowess, to then racking it down to where I had zero ability to help others to now being back where I'm at 11,000 feet on a red IFR plan, as I'm sending. You know, on the ground, I just finished sending emails about you know, three more pet rescues that we were going to go get these dogs that were on kill list, and they're all I mean, just all the greatness and awesomeness of everything that's going on right now. And the gratitude circling back to that hit me to the point that it broke me into tears. And I just, oh man, a good cry, especially like solo in the plane was some great music bump. And like, what's the one?
Nik Tarascio  
Well, your answer is biblical timing for me, because I literally just flew back from a breathwork retreat down in northern Georgia. And really the retreat, what came up with the breath work was just up ending how much armoring I have around my heart and my ability to receive people's love. And as you're talking, it just like slams me of like, wow, to think how many times I run away from people's love and to talk to someone who was made incapable of doing so. That's leveling for me, that's like leveling to feel that of like, what more needs to happen in my own life, to be able to receive it, to be able to receive it. So while...
Grant Korgan 
It's definitely what you just said is so self deprecating and vulnerable and red, let me just honor you, bro, I'm gonna put my arms through the screen and like, Hold you right now. Because, look, we're all bred in this life as we come through childhood to sort of wheat, you know, some things are really loving and amazing. Some things sort of break your heart, you're like, Whoa, whoa, whoa, so you're trying to figure out how much distance do I need around what and then to all of a sudden kind of hit adulthood. And recognize that all there is in this world is love. Like, that's all there is.
And of course, there's, there's all the subsets of it. There's there's hate and violence and people being awful and all those things. But it's all I mean, in terms of how close are those two emotions, it's passion. People are passionate, whether they're passionately yelling, or they're passionately loving, like, it's, it's just, it's 31 flavors, it's which ice cream are you taking. And if you can help people that are, you know, maybe have the wrong flavor ice cream, switch it, you're still eating ice cream, it's great, you know, and that's something that you and ideally, I humbly submit myself to this process, and others who are awaken, wanting of that process, man. The experience of being alive and being open to the straight up heart that people can pour into each of us.
That is that that success? You know, like all the the trappings and monitors and you know, metrics of success that the world would have us view as this is are you moving forward in your path? I mean, they exist, they're there, we can opt in or out, but like really, for talking about happiness and fulfillment, and an experience when we're 108 on our deathbed, and we're just like, you know, a peace signs in the air. Like what an epic life. Thank you, you know, when we just transcend to the universe, like, I think that comes from our ability to both give sure but also receive and receiving is the way harder one way harder. And I honor you for being on that path. And I'm just I'm humbly on that path as well, brother.
Nik Tarascio 
Yeah. And, you know, I guess because again, I see you as this adventure, you're this guy who's pretty dare devilish with the things that you've chosen to do in your life. Would you say for you, it's more courage of bravery. And I'll make a quick, you know, distinguishing between the two. This came up this weekend from you in the breathwork is they say people that are brave, don't have the fear. That's why they do things people that are courageous. Do it anyway. They are terrified and they do it anyway. Which one do you identify with?
Grant Korgan 
Wow, great question. I'm going to answer it with a dream that I I used to have this reoccurring dream that was the nightmare. It was honestly a nightmare. I was I was Working toward my pilot's license. And I was my dream and I every minute I got to be in that Beechcraft seat one three, I felt like I was following my path. And I'm in my truth. And it was, frankly, amazing. Like, it was just the air was sweet, and it was gold. And then whack life just shattered that you know, and I broke that. I did that I own that I took myself through an adventure and came back with half of me dead and strapped to me like that.
That was something I did. And I would in the very fleeting times, I get sleep in the years that followed. While I was working on getting my legs back, I would have this recurring nightmare that I was in the plane. And it was amazing. I'm like, oh my god, I'm back in the plane and I'm on the runway and I put the power in and powers in power set airspeeds alive in both places. Check us out, we're all in the green like, I'm going through all the stuff fuel flow is good, manifold pressures, good and then rotate. And the second I rotate the dream goes from this blissful dream to the straight up nightmare of Oh, my God, my legs don't work. I, I can't land this plane. How am I going to use rudders and brakes and all these things to get it on the ground?
And it was panic, panic, panic, panic to the point that I'd wake up sweaty, you know, totally bothered. And so you ask is, is was there fear, like, I mean, it went past, just a rational, hey, I'm awake. And I'm aware. And I know I'm about to do these things in the plane. And then this is the plains one a great example of many things in life. I mean, gosh, go into the South Pole, it's 50. below zero, there's no medical, anything out there. I mean, I have specific needs just in the bathroom category that are daily and very, very succinct and precision.
And so, you know, to go to a place like that, where there's no help your days from a helicopter rescue at best. And you're going to be in an environment where I can't feel my feet at all. And skin, if it gets below, you know, 32 will go black and frostbite, and you have to have your legs amputated, and I'm going to be a negative 50.
And then add wind to that negative 60, maybe lower, you know, ambience, in terms of was there fear, there was certainly awareness. And that dream that I kept having that was this reoccurring pilot dream. It happened until that day when I rotated the plane out of I mean, I just, and then all of a sudden, I told you my eyes dilate. I mean, it was like a whole it was it was a shift in life. I mean, it was a paradigm shift. For me, it's like a week and a half or it was on.
And then aviation said, boom, let's remember how great and how stress free and how freedom filled and how fulfilling the life you've chosen is is going to be let's remember that. And I just, I locked into that. And not only have I never looked back, but I've wanted so badly with all of my soul. To extend that to others. Anybody that I see that's going through a moment, I'm like, Oh my gosh, if you just jump in the plane with me, and you're gonna be flying, and the music's gonna be pumping, and you're gonna be so sagging. And it's it's not me but and you know, this, you you host people on the plane all the time. Like, I'm a mechanical engineer, by trade. I'm not a psychologist, I don't do any of the, you know, it's not me at all.
It's just, I curate the environment and the plane and the experience and the physics does the rest. And it always happens that when we land, it's laughing and tears and hugs and happiness and celebration. And I, I think there's just something so real about how blessed we are to live in a time where we can leave the ground. And we can do these things and to share them and to let other people receive that, as we've talked about. Wow, that is a special vibe.
Nik Tarascio 
Yeah, well, that is a that's a beautiful answer. I mean, it's, I think of the times when I was flying away from intimacy, connection, relationship receiving love. And then I think of that same transition I went through, which is I was pretty bored. By my mid 20s, I had done just about everything in an airplane, I was a mechanic, jet pilot, stunt pilot, all those things. But when I started taking friends up in the airplane, and you look to the right, and you see the jaw in their eyes, and your mirror neurons fire, and you're like it's like the first time all over for me, I get to relive that real awakening moment that you were talking about the eyes dilate, right? And I'm like, That's it. I want to give that awakening to other people too. And I want to experience that again and again and again. So touching to see the same tool that I use to fly away from people to escape situations became the tool that actually allowed me to build connection and deepen deepen intimacy with people. So I love that you're saying I mean, it's what a beautiful journey.
Grant Korgan 
That is. So ying and yang right there think about like every wave rolls up the beach, and then it rolls back to see and as much as you're like in the begin You get rolled up the beach where you're getting away. And now you're just rolling. You're bringing everybody with you back to your heart.
Nik Tarascio 
Yeah, that's right. Yeah. I mean, this is such a incredibly perfect time to conversation for me because I'm processing so much of my own shit. As you're kind of talking about your journey and what you've been through. And like I you know, I hear a lot of this. Just going back to that, like, if we choose it, let's just pretend we choose it. Right. I know, some people believe that some people don't. But let's say we choose our path. What an amazing story to say. You won't really know fulfillment until you are able to receive the love of others, you'll think you could do all the things you could do those crazy waterfall jumps. And I could do those crazy stunt flights on my own in a single seat airplane. But it's not until I actually am carried by someone else. Will they ever truly understand what real fulfillment is? That's, I mean, that's what I walk away from what you're sharing. I mean, my God, what a beautiful story that you tell, and a beautiful story that you live no less.
Grant Korgan 
Thank you. Well, we, we man, I'm putting that I'm putting your your we're walking lockstep shoulder to shoulder in that. And I think I think maybe you just worded the secret of life into that last three sentences you said, which is, you know, it's a whole nother experience in life who I don't know whose quote, this is something like, the first half of your life is the world's gift to you. And the second half of your life is your gift to the world. You know, whether that's you're raising children, and you're bringing amazing people into the world or you have charitable ideas, or it's just, it's not even tied to your actions. It's simply your understanding of the joy that comes from allowing others to help and connect and be a part of your heartstrings. You know, rather than it's a one way deal, like I'm gonna love on you, I'm gonna take care of you, I'm gonna make sure everything like is dialed but don't you go? Don't you go to turn it on me.
And it's a really beautiful thing to receive compliments and receive help and receive love and receive support and receive people's truth. Like, how are you going to know him? How are you going to know people if if you don't let them all the way in. And of course, I should put the caveat, you know, these are these are qualified, specific vetted people that you're letting all the way in. Right, and then you're holding space for the whole rest of the world to join that party when they're ready.
Nik Tarascio 
All I gotta say, I'm grateful to know you and watch your journey from a much closer position. And I have to ask being in a place of, I mean, I just feel your positivity I feel how fulfilled you are and where you are now. What is your dream beyond? What do you dream about now?
Grant Korgan 
Wow, my dream beyond i i just finished my CFI, which was a really, really, that was tied to a specific aviation dream. The reason I did the CFI was because as I'm doing these hero flights, which are so real for me to get to, as we've talked about, put people in those experiences, the beginning, it was they're in the right seat, I'm in the left seat. And then I start up by taxi, I take off, I climb to a safe spot and clear airspace, and I'm like, here's the plane, and they, you know, hold altitude, and you know, a heading. And it's been, it's amazing. It's amazing. I'm not trying to minimize that at all. But since achieving the CFI, the dream, the goal there was now they sit in the left seat, and I sit in the right seat, and they start the plane, they taxi it, they take off, they climb, they do the whole thing all the way down to the landing, and no matter what they do, to your point about your time in the Super decathlon. We're super decathlon brothers, I've been very blessed to get to do aerobatics.
And my spin training with a dear brother of mine named Kay Bolgar, in his super decathlon. And what he's taught me with that is, no matter what you do to the plane, no matter what goes on, and this has been so good for me in my CFI world, I'll undo and to the point that you can make a wonderful landing, and I'm over there just tweaking little things. And the change in that is profound. So in terms of us, what's your life dream, and what's what's far ahead, I kind of want to punt and say, what's right here, because I've worked so hard to get to this spot where I'm experiencing this right now. And I'm so proud of it. I'm really, really proud of, of watching people get to sit in the left seat, and just look over at me with wide eyes, like I did it and you're like, you did it.
And, you know, then it's amazing whether they they go on to fill out their eye, Accra you know or not, you're a student pilot, so I can say congratulations, you're a pilot and I know what it meant to me. I know what it meant to me to finish I'm getting a little misty eyed thinking about it. I know what it meant to me to finish my my pilot cert to get my private pilot's license. It was a it was a game change. And to think that I can put that word and other people's ethos and their landscape and their mindset, you know, whether they finish or not for that, that that hour and a half that whatever that time is there. There. pilot and it's profound.
Nik Tarascio 
Yeah, and for anybody who's wondering, the CFI means certified flight instructor. So grant has the privilege of being able to train other people to fly to let them actually work the controls. So, yeah, that's, again, beautiful to, you know, really take yourself through the process and not stop there and say now it's about letting other people experience and probably one of the better answers I've ever gotten to the dream beyond is just to be in the present. Alright, it's like very rom das be here now. So I really appreciate your perspective on that as well.
Grant Korgan 
It's crazy. You said rom Das, I was I was blessed and privileged when, when I first gone through the injury, my wife and I, we were, we had an opportunity to go work with an incredible team on the island of Maui. And we went there and I was training alongside of ROM Das was there going through some of his processing before we lost and moved on, but I had the privilege of while I'm trying to recover bodily function with this team and this facility in this experience, he was he was working to maintain his physicality with that beautiful, glorious brain and soul of his and I just I feel yet again, I mean, I never would have met a gentleman like rom das without the challenge without the scenario.
So I think, in addition to if the takeaways are, you know, be willing to receive that's actualization in this life, the other is, you know, lean into the hard lean into the struggles and the challenges because it universities balance, if it's really, really hard, you know, when it goes down, it's gonna go up the same height, it's a, it's the, it's the same principle in surfing, you cannot hit the lip of a wave without going to the bottom and bottom turning, you can only go as high as you go down. And so if you've got a struggle, if you've got a challenge, if you've got something that's feels unfair, difficult, I mean, the answer is, go there, don't fight it, minimize it, lean into it, go all the way to the bottom, so you can come hard off the bottom and then rail to the lip and do something amazing, the top of that wave.
Nik Tarascio 
Beautiful, thank you for succinctly stating, I think some of the biggest nuggets that we took out of this, and I hope everyone finds additional meaning for themselves and what grant shared. So in the meantime, if you're moved by what you heard, and I'd be amazed if you weren't, I don't imagine anybody could not be moved by by by by what you shared grant. You could go visit the moment foundation, it's moment foundation.org. Or if you want to go check out his film, which I certainly will, it's called the push. You can search the push grant Corgan online, you can find it on any digital platform. Again, they won 21 out of 29 International Film Fest that they were in. And you could also check out the American program Bureau if you want to come in and speak to you or a group where you could message them at info at core movement.com. Grant, thank you so much for being here. And again, I really hope we get a chance to fly together at some point soon.
Grant Korgan 
Nick, count on that brother. I can't wait man. I'll sit right next to you anytime.
Nik Tarascio 
Vice versa. Alright, thanks again for your time. Thanks, Nick blast. Thank you for listening to the dream beyond. I hope that you receive whatever message or inspiration you're meant to get from today's episode. I had a great time recording it for you. If you love the show, please take 30 seconds to subscribe rate and review it. That really helps get the word out. And if you want to connect with me, you can find me at:
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blogbytanvi · 2 years
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The Concept of Sustainability
When we break down this term 'sustainability' it means the ability to maintaining essential processes that support sustenance of civilization on the planet. It essentially means utilizing resources in a way that enough are available for future generations to come and at the same time causing no harm to the planet.
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Here steps in another concept that is essential to address: Sustainable Development.
Sustainable development has been defined in many ways, but the most frequently quoted definition is from Our Common Future, also known as the Brundtland Report:
"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
The Sustainable Development Goals were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a call-to-action for people worldwide to address five critical areas of importance by 2030: people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnership. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are a collection of 17 global goals aimed at improving the planet and the quality of human life around the world by the year 2030.
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The glimpse of these goals is as follows:
Goal 1: No Poverty: End poverty in all its forms everywhere.
Goal 2: Zero Hunger: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.
Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
Goal 4: Quality Education: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Goal 5: Gender Equality: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.
Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation.
Goal 10: Reduced Inequality: Reduce inequality within and among countries.
Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.
Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
Goal 13: Climate Action: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
Goal 14: Life Below Water: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development.
Goal 15: Life on Land: Protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
Goal 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels.
Goal 17: Partnerships to Achieve the Goal: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.
These are not just goals but yardsticks against which each country can measure its progress. And not only countries but as individuals we should always try to contribute to the progress: save on electricity while home by unplugging appliances when not in use; go online and opt in for paperless statements instead of having bills mailed to the house; reducing food and water wastage; sharing knowledge with others and spreading awareness; being a conscious consumer and a responsible citizen; and report bullying online when seen in a chat room or on social media.
Thank You
References:
Sustainable Development | International Institute for Sustainable Development (iisd.org)
Sustainable Development Goals | National Geographic Society
Five Easy Ways to Help Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals… (movingworlds.org)
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snothando-p-nxumalo · 3 years
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Uplifting the community using the sustainable developmental goals
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(Uplifting Community, n.d.)
By uplifting the community, I mean providing the society with strategies to overcome their barriers more especially those affecting their well-being and functioning at home as my aim is to improve the clients’ ability to perform their daily activities and meet their needs. We have Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to improve such areas and more globally. Let us first give the meaning of this term before we unpack some of these goals. According to the WHO definition, “the Sustainable Developmental Goals are a call for action by all countries – poor, rich and middle income – to promote prosperity while protecting the planet.” We have 17 SDGs, but I will be focusing on five of them on how I can implement them within the community.
Goal 3: Good health and Well-being, this goal ensures that every human being is able to enrich their knowledge through promoting health and ways to improve their well-being. I can achieve this by encouraging Health Seeking Behaviour within the community members by improving their understanding of health which is not just the absence of illness but rather to highlight health in terms of mental health, interactions and integration into the community. An attitude towards health is essential for sustaining a healthy lifestyle for a long time (Sabhlok, 2018). Doing health promotions at the clinic is how I can get through the community members and explaining our Role as Occupational Therapists of which will assist to be aware of different conditions and areas that might need intervention on.
Goal 4: Quality education. We all have a right to education, but we have a responsibility to ensure we learn, do our best and be cooperative in order to achieve our goals. Education is one of the principal elements that permit humans to develop as individuals. It teaches humans vital existence, and it opens their thoughts to quite a few thrilling components of existence (The Importance Of Education In Our Society, 2018). Within the community, I visit schools to provide intervention to learners who are battling with their schoolwork. Understanding how important education is, this propels me to give it my best when providing treatment which will allow them to perform better in class.
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(Dysgraphia, n.d.)
Goal 5: Gender Equality. No gender should be more superior than the other, opportunities should be presented equally to all humans. From my point of view, this goal is one of my favourites. I feel that as women we are not heard enough and not given the same respect as men receive. Encouraging women empowerment has a positive impact on reducing gender inequality. Achieving this goal means encouraging women to stand up for themselves and believe in their abilities of achieving greater things.
Goal 15: Life on Land. The Inanda Wilderness Park is a nature-based open space where we work at. It is amazing to work at a different setting other than a health facility, working at park has helped me appreciate nature more as we try by all means to do nature-based activity. At the clinic, I always encourage people to come and experience the greatness of nature.
Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals. We are working with the Lay Counsellor from Health Systems Trust at the clinic as we have a shared vision of insisting hope to the youth and addressing mental issues they might be facing. This is an informal partnership of which was formed as we saw a need to focus on such issues. We are going to have support groups for the youth which will give them a platform to express themselves in order for us to aid in those areas they are battling with. Our skills come in handy as we will share stress management tips, ways on improving self-esteem, career guidance and so on. These support groups we are hoping that they make a difference within the society.
These above goals work hand in hand to make the community better. The best way to achieve them is by in cooperating them with the OT skills I already have by providing optimal and equal intervention depending on the individual’s needs. Creating a better space for the society to excel is what I wish to do and by this my heart would be full.
  References  
Dysgraphia. (n.d.). Retrieved 2021, from Child Success Center:  https://childsuccesscenter.com/home/services/dysgraphia-struggles-with-handwriting/
Sabhlok, P.  (2018, August 29). The importance of a health seeking behaviour.  Retrieved from Health for the community: https://healthforthecommunity.wordpress.com/2018/08/29/the-importance-of-health-seeking-behaviour/#:¬:text=The%20attitude%20of%20health%20health%20seeking%20behaviour%20is%20Paramount,it%20off%20bud%20what%20is%20essential.
The Importance Of  Education In Our Society. (2018, February 19). Retrieved from Education News:  https://www.educationviews.org/the-importance-of- education-in our-society/
The World Health  Organization. (2008). Sustainable Development Goals. Switzerland.
Uplifting  Community. (n.d.). Retrieved 2021, from The Cause Collaborative:  https://www.thecausecollab.org/upifting-community
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multiverseforger · 4 years
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Unliving is shrouded in mystery, with rumors circulating that Nekron is darkness itself, existing before life entirely, or that he was created by the darkness as its protector. Another claim is that the Guardians of the Universe clashed with Nekron close to the beginning of the universe and were the ones to imprison him in the Land of the Unliving.
Krona War
Nekron gloats
Trapped in his own realm throughout most of eternity, Nekron first became aware of the world of the living through the deceased cosmic villain Krona. A rift was opened in the continuum between dimensions, caused by the death of an immortal. And Nekron looked upon the universe and saw all that was life itself, and determined that he would become its master. So that he might escape his prison, he resurrected and empowered Krona, with an army of the undead at his disposal, to slaughter the Guardians of the Universe and widen the rift.[2] It took the combined might of the entire Green Lantern Corps to defeat them, in a colossal battle that resulted in literally hundreds of casualties. Hal Jordan entered the Land of the Unliving on a suicide mission, and harnessed the souls of his fallen Lanterns to fight back against the great evil. Their combined willpower overcame Nekron long enough for the Guardians to seal up the rift, and Hal escaped, leaving the Lord of the Unliving once more condemned to his lifeless prison.[3]
Further Appearances
The Ultimate Opponent
Although largely confined, Nekron has made several more breaches into our world and had interactions with superheroes. After Captain Atom died briefly, he was introduced to several incarnations of Death, including Death of the Endless and the Black Racer. They were each presented as a component of death... and Nekron represented the concept as a cosmic certainty, death as the ultimate opponent.[1] In an attempt to gain control of the Quantum Field life energy of the planet, he had carefully engineered the hero's death. Although he absorbed a great deal of the power, Captain Atom used his connection to steal energy from Nekron's own personal field, and depower him enough to defeat him in physical combat.[4]
Underworld Unleashed allowed him another opportunity to gain entrance to the physical plane. Destruction of the Tower of Fate created another rift into our dimension, and Nekron fought Nebiros for the privilege of conquering the world. He won the battle, and the undead souls of the damned surged across the Earth as Hell literally broke loose.[5]Alan Scott and Fate teamed up against him. Nekron almost gained full access to our world, but fighting against him with the great supernatural strength of Fate gave Green Lantern enough time to demolish the portal with his green flame.[6]
Through the Rift
He was able to return to our world once more during Ghosts. An outside supernatural force brought a number of dead Green Lanterns back to life, calling themselves the Green Lantern Corpse. This created another crack in his realm, but still not one large enough for him to squeeze through. Taking control of the undead Lanterns, he sent them to capture the last remaining descendant of his original nemeses... Kyle Rayner. If Nekron had killed him and harnessed his powers, then he would finally have been able to leave his prison, but Kyle escaped back out through the crack and personally put each and every one of the rogue Lanterns down in single combat. Although it was a long and difficult battle, putting them back to rest sealed the portal and ended Nekron's threat once more.[7]
Nekron was accidentally summoned onto our plane by the supernatural hero Witchfire, who used his incantation without realizing the consequences it would have. She teamed up with Wonder Woman to prevent him from sucking the life-force out of any more innocents, while he was feeding. The combination of mystical energies and godlike blows was sufficient to drive him back into his own realm on that occasion.[8]
Blackest Night
 Main article: Blackest Night
Black Lantern Corps
Following the Final Crisis, Nekron makes his triumphant return during the Blackest Night, where he forms the Black Lantern Corps composed entirely of his zombies equipped with power rings to wreak havoc upon the universe. His plans for this stretched back toward the Sinestro Corps War, when he killed the Anti-Monitor and absorbed him to energize his own Central Power Battery on the planet Ryut in Sector 666.[9] The battery wouldn't become completely active until it was discovered and disturbed by Lanterns Ash and Saarek, his first new victims.[10] He has taken the fallen Guardian named Scar as one of his servants, for she was burned by the Anti-Monitor and poisoned by his touch, causing her to slowly die and come under his influence.[11] There is also evidence that he has been influencing William Hand, the criminal known as Black Hand, his entire life. His control over Black Hand was solidified when Hand killed himself and his family, with Nekron taking him as his herald.[12]
As his influence spreads throughout the universe, the dead rise and return to take revenge on the living, building his power by literally devouring the hearts and emotions of all those who still breathe.[13] Only those with emotional ties to superheroes and villains are resurrected, to achieve the maximum potential. The sheer quantity of death caused by his Black Lantern Rings charges the Central Battery to full power. At this climax, he transports himself and his forces down to Earth to personally command his army. Landing in the middle of Coast City, he turns every single dead citizen into a Black Lantern, announces that all owe their lives to him, and he has come to collect.[14] Many of Earth's mightiest heroes rally to defeat him, and representatives from all seven Lantern Corps. Atrocitus, Carol Ferris, Hal Jordan, Indigo, Larfleeze, Saint Walker and Sinestro pour their combined beams into his Power Battery, hoping to obliterate it with the full life-force energies of creation. This only makes him stronger, and he seems to have planned this. Nekron resurrects Batman as one of his most powerful agents, who then kills and revives Animal Man, Donna Troy, Green Arrow, Ice, Kid Flash, Superboy, Superman and Wonder Woman as Black Lanterns. These are all people who have come back from the dead at some point in their lives, and he claims they only escaped because he let them... to further his own goals. He plans to use his army to uncover a dark secret of the Guardians... and then return the universe to a state of quiet order.[15]
Nekron's goal is revealed to wanting to find and destroy the embodiment of life itself: the white Entity. He kills one of the Guardians and uses their blood to draw the Entity out of hiding, then attempts to kill it and with it, which will in turn kill all of life in the universe. Sinestro bonds with the Entity and attempts to battle Nekron.[16] Despite Sinestro destroying his physical form, another Black Lantern simply picks up his weapon, becoming Nekron's new physical form. Nekron then manages to take the Entity out of Sinestro. Hal Jordan bonds with the Entity and uses its power to restore the living heroes transformed into Black Lanterns to their normal selves. Hal uses the Entity to transform the heroes into White Lanterns, together they defeat Nekron by resurrecting Black Hand thus destroying Nekron's link to the living plane. The Entity resurrects the Anti-Monitor which destroys the Black Lantern Battery. With his link to the earthly plane severed Nekron's body is destroyed, ending the Blackest Night.[17]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
Unique Physiology: Nekron is a the personification of the absence of life and existence or the void before anything was. This gives him tremendous power as he is able to draw strength from the infinite abyss of darkness that predates existence along with the energy released at the time of death by beings he or his Black Lanterns kills. He is so powerful he can withstand an attack from the Anti-Monitor while sending him back to the anti-matter universe.
Immortality: Since he is not alive in the sense that we understand it, Nekron is technically incapable of being killed. As such, defeating him is extremely difficult; if defeated he will simply return to the Land of the Unliving.
Necromancy:Nekron's position as the Lord of the Unliving gave him a great number of powers that related to death itself.
Dark Lightning: He has the ability to fire bolts of a force called dark lightning from his hands, powerful enough to hurt and even kill the Guardians of the Universe. Despite being immensely powerful, it is not unstoppable. Wonder Woman was able to block it with her bracelets, although the force still threw her across the room.
Necrotic Empowerment: Nekron gains physical strength from the deaths he causes.
Reanimation: As the Lord of the Unliving, Nekron can reanimate corpses into fully functioning zombies working entirely under his control, and retaining semblance of their past personality.
Fatal Touch: The sustained touch of Nekron's hand can chill any mortal being to death, through supernatural means.
Reality Manipulation
Weaknesses
Dependency: For all his power, Nekron holds one great weakness: he cannot exist in this universe. In order to properly interact with the living, Nekron requires a link between between New Earth and the Land of the Unliving, such as a tear in space-time, or a mortal link such as Black Hand.
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Black Lantern Central Power Battery (Formerly)
Notes
Although this character was originally introduced during DC's Earth-One era of publication, their existence following the events of the 1985–86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis New Earth continuity, and should be considered apocryphal.
There is an unrelated monster named Nekron who fought the original Justice League of America.[18]
Trivia
It has been confirmed in official sources that his name is pronounced NEHK-Ron.[19]
Related
35 Appearances of Nekron (New Earth)
25 Images featuring Nekron (New Earth)
4 Quotations by or about Nekron (New Earth)
Character Gallery: Nekron (New Earth)
Footnotes
↑ 1.01.1 Captain Atom (Volume 2) #42
↑ Tales of the Green Lantern Corps #2
↑ Tales of the Green Lantern Corps #3
↑ Captain Atom (Volume 2) #43
↑ Fate #12
↑ Fate #13
↑ Green Lantern Annual (Volume 3) #7
↑ The Power Company: Witchfire #1
↑ Green Lantern (Volume 4) #25
↑ Green Lantern (Volume 4) #42
↑ Green Lantern (Volume 4) #44
↑ Green Lantern (Volume 4) #43
↑ Blackest Night #1
↑ Blackest Night #4
↑ Blackest Night #5
↑ Blackest Night #7
↑ Blackest Night #8
↑ Justice League of America #128-129
↑ Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #16
Green Lantern Villain(s)
This character is or was primarily an enemy of the Green Lantern of Earth, or the Green Lantern Corps as a whole. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Green Lantern Villains."
Black Lantern Corps member
This character is or was a member of the Black Lantern Corps. Those who have died may wield the Black Power Ring, symbolizing their lack of both life and emotion.
This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Black Lantern Corps members category."
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aryahawkz · 4 years
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Position Paper
The Kingdom of the Netherlands
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Addressing the 
King     : Nanda Yanuaraca
PM    : Juan Kusuma
Aulia Tamami                    (072011233011)
Benedicta Elanda K. N     (072011233006)
Arya Ahmad Afani     (072011233033)
Michelle Natania Listhy     (072011233038)
Nanda Yanuaraca        (072011233048)
Dita Hapsari Blegur        (072011233051)
Juan Kusuma            (072011233066)
Siti Riyanti Nur Fitria S.     (072011233092)
Arofa Nurrahman         (072011233099)
Shafa N. A.            (072011233105)
Made Ayu Septia P.         (072011233109
Food security, as defined by the United Nations’ Committee on World Food Security, means that all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their food preferences and dietary needs for an active and healthy life.
Over the coming decades, a changing climate, growing global population, rising food prices, and environmental stressors will have significant yet uncertain impacts on food security. Adaptation strategies and policy responses to global change, including options for handling water allocation, land use patterns, food trade, postharvest food processing, and food prices and safety are urgently needed. IFPRI’s work on food security includes analysis of cash transfers, promotion of sustainable agricultural technologies, building resilience to shocks, and managing trade-offs in food security, such as balancing the nutritional benefits of meat against the ecological costs of its production.
Food security is influenced by lack of availability, access, and stability for food. People need a sufficient quantity and diversity of foods to meet their nutritional needs but must also be able to eat and properly metabolise such food. Besides food, water shortage is one of the most serious constraints in crop production at global scale and almost all types of crops experience this problem at least during part of the growing season. Clean freshwater is an essential ingredient for a healthy human life, however not many people have access to this as well. The causes of these problems are usually climate change, such as altered weather-patterns, deforestation, pollution, greenhouse gases, and wasteful use of water.
As these problems occur, the Netherlands have already begun their development to combat food scarcity and water shortage as they also changed their policies. To address water shortage and food scarcity, the Netherlands is investing in better water management. As part of their aims for international water policy, various Dutch ministries have teamed up with national and international partners to improve water supplies, boost resilience and reduce loss in 15 countries. To improve food security, the Netherlands prioritize agricultural research and satellite monitoring to help farmers cope more effectively with climate change and adapt to shifting weather patterns.The Netherlands also change its policies from focusing on  increasing agricultural production and reinforcing international trade of tropical commodities towards activities that devote key attention to gender and nutrition, circularity and climate resilience, and upgrading of agro-food value chains. 
One of the main reason why the Netherlands change its policies is because there is a growing (inter)national recognition regarding the urgency to engage in concerted action against hunger and climate change in order to be able to reach the SDG goals within the time frames agreed upon. Hunger in the world is increasing again and temperatures are rising, and therefore we need to accelerate efforts toward Zero Hunger as well as to increase the effectiveness of interventions.Netherlands has been participating in various programs and organizations (FAO, for example) and created new policies on food and nutrition security which is outlined in five priority themes that together shape the food system transition : Combating hunger and malnutrition ; inclusive and efficient agro-food markets and value chains ; climate-smart and circular agriculture ; rural transformation for employment and income creation ; food security for stability and resilience. Lastly, for water sanitation, the Netherlands have joined in partnership with UNICEF, the Water Supply and Sanitation (WSSCC) and Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH).
Even in high-income Western countries like the Netherlands, there are people who cannot afford sufficient nutritious food to eat. Food insecurity can be defined as the lack of availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, or the lack of ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable way.
Food security is influenced by lack of availability, access, and stability for food. People need a sufficient quantity and diversity of foods to meet their nutritional needs but must also be able to eat and properly metabolise such food. Besides food, water shortage is one of the most serious constraints in crop production at global scale and almost all types of crops experience this problem at least during part of the growing season. Clean freshwater is an essential ingredient for a healthy human life, however not many people have access to this as well. The causes of these problems are usually climate change, such as altered weather-patterns, deforestation, pollution, greenhouse gases, and wasteful use of water.
The Netherlands is internationally recognized as an expert and innovative partner for agricultural development and food security. Its activities are in line with EU policy in this field and play a visible and distinctive role at the UN within an integrated approach to aid, trade and investment. Knowledge, capacity and activity are the common themes.
The letter explains that Dutch policy focuses on all dimensions of food security (people, profit, planet), with the following three main targets:
1. Eradicating hunger and malnutrition
The focus is on vulnerable people who experience hunger firsthand through being affected by poverty, natural disasters, conflicts and other crises. Besides the provision of food aid where needed, permanent access to adequate and proper nutrition is necessary.
2. Promoting inclusive and sustainable growth in the agricultural sector
The focus is on small and medium-scale farmers as well as other rural entrepreneurs who could potentially serve market demand. Increasing these people’s earning power is a powerful tool in fighting hunger and poverty and promoting economic growth.
3. Achieving ecologically sustainable food systems The focus here is on the sustainable management of international public (environmental) goods like water, soil, energy and biodiversity. The effects of climate change on food systems and vice-versa will be considered during all activities.
The government aims to strike the right balance between these three food security goals. The relationship between the goals throughout the activities will be investigated as much as possible.
The letter was discussed in the Dutch parliament on December 9, 2014, as one of 21 agenda items. The formal report of this debate is not yet available. An impression of the key issues discussed can be found on Viceversaonline (in Dutch).
As the rich and high level of input during the online consultation facilitated by the Food & Business Knowledge Platform could not be captured fully in the F&BKP report for the ministries, the F&BKP Office advised them to use this input in the next phase of implementing the policy through interventions and programs. In line with this advice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is considering organizing follow-up meetings with stakeholders to elaborate on the themes and ideas in the letter.
On 18 December, it was agreed in the parliament’s committee on Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, that a specific committee debate would be organized about Food Security, in the course of the coming months. A majority of committee members was interested to have such a specific debate, while some political parties indicated they didn’t have the intention to participate.
Netherland foreign policy to combat Food security, sustainable agriculture and water management.
Growing more and better food
To improve food security, the Netherlands supports organisations that train and advise men and women farmers and that supply them with more and better-quality seeds. Agricultural research and satellite monitoring are two ways to help farmers cope more effectively with climate change and adapt to shifting weather patterns.For example, the Geodata for Agriculture and Water programme helps sesame and barley producers in Ethiopia by advising them on weather and farming issues. In Kenya it is building a system that warns farmers when growing conditions are less than ideal.
Water management
To address this problem, the Netherlands is investing in better water management. In Mali, for instance, the Water Productivity Open-access portal (WaPOR) database provides real-time satellite monitoring that helps government authorities and farming cooperatives capture, store and reuse water.
As part of the Dutch aims for international water policy, various Dutch ministries have teamed up with national and international partners to improve water supplies, boost resilience and reduce damage in 15 countries. Through Partners for Water (Dutch), the Netherlands supports water management in densely populated delta regions in Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, Indonesia and elsewhere.
Drinking water and sanitation
To do this, it has joined in partnership with UNICEF, the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH). The Netherlands is also actively involved in the Water, Peace and Security project, which identifies potential conflicts over water and tries to prevent them from escalating.
In order to combat this issue, Netherland seeks to establish rigorous fundamental solutions. These fundamental solutions are key to reduce hunger, malnutrition, and food shortage. However, Netherland is aware that many countries still underestimate this issue. Therefore, the Netherland is proposing a few outline of solution as below:
Establish a transparent global platform for all states to share efficient and effective way to generate food and maintain agriculture as well as clean water supply.
Make a generalized standard for food and water to prevent malnutrition.
Supporting land management issue.
Funding research on new sources of food.
Promoting inclusive and sustainable growth in the agricultural sector
The Netherlands has decided how it can realistically contribute to SDG 2, identifying three long-term goals to be achieved by 2030. These are as follows:
1.end malnutrition for 32 million people, particularly children;
2.double the productivity and income of 8 million small-scale food producers;
3.achieve ecologically sustainable use of 8 million hectares of farmland.
Apart from activities directly targeting these goals, Netherland are also working to better ensure preconditions for food security. These include knowledge and capacity, land-use rights and the position of women, in cohesion with other sectors and themes. 
Netherland make some program
Bibliography
Ruben, Rued, 2019, Dutch Food Security Policies embrace Food Systems Approach. Food & Business Knowledge Platform (online). Available: https://knowledge4food.net/dutch-food-security-policies-embrace-food-systems-approach/
Government of the Netherlands, Food security, sustainable africulture and water management (online). Available: https://www.government.nl/topics/development-cooperation/the-development-policy-of-the-netherlands/food-security-sustainable-agriculture-and-water
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Food and nutrition security (online). Available: https://dutchdevelopmentresults.nl/theme/food-security#food_malnutrition
International Food Policy Research Institute, Food Security (online). Available: https://www.ifpri.org/topic/food-security#:~:text=Food%20security%2C%20as%20defined%20by,an%20active%20and%20healthy%20life
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empressempathidi · 5 years
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Interesting..🌴 "The Great Green Wall is an #African-led movement with an epic ambition to grow an 8,000km natural wonder of the world across the entire width of #Africa.  A decade in & roughly 15% underway, the initiative is already bringing life back to Africa’s degraded landscapes at an unprecedented scale, providing food security, jobs & a reason to stay for the millions who live along its path.  The Wall promises to be a compelling solution to the many urgent threats not only facing the African Continent, but the global community as a whole – notably #climatechange, drought, famine, conflict & migration.  Once complete, the Great Green Wall will be the largest living structure on the planet, 3 times the size of the Great Barrier Reef. The Great Green Wall is taking root in Africa's Sahel region, at the southern edge of the #Saharadesert - one of the poorest places on the planet. More than anywhere else on #Earth, the Sahel is on the frontline of climate change & millions of locals are already facing its devastating impact. Persistent droughts, lack of food, conflicts over dwindling natural resources, & mass migration to Europe are just some of the many consequences. Yet, communities from #Senegal in the West to #Djibouti in the East are fighting back.  Since the birth of the initiative in 2007, #life has started coming back to the land, bringing improved food security, jobs and stability to people’s lives. The #GreatGreenWall isn’t just for the Sahel. It is a global symbol for humanity overcoming its biggest threat – our rapidly degrading #environment. It shows that if we can work with #nature, even in challenging places like the Sahel, we can overcome adversity, & build a better #world for generations to come. More than just #growing #trees & #plants, the Great Green Wall is transforming the #lives of millions of people in the Sahel region.     #TheGreatGreenWall makes a vital contribution to the #UN Sustainable Development Goals (known as the SDGs) -  a global agenda which aims to achieve a more equitable & sustainable...👇🏼 https://www.greatgreenwall.org/about-great-green-wall . Credit from @alkalineveganfacts - Love this 💜 https://www.instagram.com/p/B19yHLHn4s_/?igshid=ex5m818bb8n5
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architectnews · 3 years
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OBEL AWARD 2021: 15-minute city
OBEL AWARD 2021, 15-minute city by Professor Carlos Moreno, Germany Design Show News
OBEL AWARD 2021: 15-minute city by Professor Carlos Moreno
4 Oct 2021
photo : Søren Bang Clemmesen
15-minute city Wins OBEL AWARD 2021
The 15-minute City Is Winner Of €100,000 Obel Award For Architecture
Carlos Moreno. Credits Mathieu Delmestre
Monday 4th of October 2021 – Urban theory and global movement the 15-minute city as defined by Professor Carlos Moreno is the third winner of young, ambitious architecture award.
A truly liveable and sustainable urban future that places each global citizen at the heart of their own city. This is the goal of the 15-minute city, an urban model, which was chosen by the jury to win the third ever OBEL AWARD.
image : Søren Bang Clemmesen
The idea behind the 15-minute city is that cities should be (re)designed, so that all residents are able to access their daily needs (housing, work, food, health, education, and culture and leisure) within the distance of a 15-minute walk or bike ride. This greatly reduces car traffic and CO2 emissions and increases the health and well-being of residents.
The model, which can be adjusted to local culture, conditions, and needs, has already been implemented with great success in cities like Paris, Chengdu, and Melbourne, generating a global movement.
According to the jury, the 15-minute city is a beautiful and intuitive vision that has the potential to vastly improve the lives of hundreds of millions of people worldwide and to help create a healthier planet.
Martha Schwartz, Chair of the Jury, says:
“Like the two previous OBEL AWARD winners, this year’s winner is about protecting the environment and making life better for people. We are living in a time of urgency to make a change and live more efficiently. The 15-minute city addresses the need for us to rethink how our cities can be reimagined, redesigned, and regenerated for the primary benefit of people and the environment. The 15-minute city is a real step towards the future – a bold and needed perspective.”
photograph : Søren Bang Clemmesen
On receiving the award, Carlos Moreno says:
“I want to thank the jury for giving me this award. In my opinion, it is in fact a triple recognition: On the one hand, it is a recognition of my academic work, but secondly, it is a recognition of the international movement generated by the 15-minute city. And thirdly, it is a recognition of the commitment by different mayors around the world in embracing the 15-minute city.”
The award ceremony will take place on 21 October in Paris at the Salle des Fêtes of the Hôtel de Ville of Paris.
15-minute city by Professor Carlos Moreno: photograph : Mathieu Delmestre
OBEL AWARD
About the OBEL AWARD
The OBEL AWARD is a new, international prize for architectural achievement presented annually by the Henrik Frode Obel Foundation, founded by Henrik Frode Obel (1942-2014). The prize is 100,000 Euros and a unique artwork by leading artist Tomás Saraceno.
The aim of the award is to honour recent and outstanding architectural contributions to human development all over the world – architectural contributions considered broadly as any contribution that helps change our physical, designed environment for the common good. The award is given to works or projects from the past five years. It can be given to an individual or a team, and the award-winning project can range from a manifesto to a masterplan and include buildings, landscape projects, and exhibitions.
City life – Copenhagen commuters: photograph : Emilie Koefoed for the OBEL AWARD
Each year, the jury will set a special focus for the OBEL AWARD. In 2021, the special focus is: seminal solutions to the challenges facing cities.
The 2021 OBEL AWARD jury consists of: Martha Schwartz, Chair (founder, Martha Schwartz Partners, USA), Kjetil Trædal Thorsen (co-founder, Snöhetta, Norway), Louis Becker (design principal and partner, Henning Larsen, Denmark), Dr Wilhelm Vossenkuhl (professor emeritus of philosophy, Germany), and XU Tiantian (founding principal, DnA, Beijing, China).
Copenhagen commuter: photo : Emilie Koefoed for the OBEL AWARD
Carlos Moreno
Carlos Moreno is French of Colombian origin. He is a Senior University Professor, a driving force behind Paris’s 15-minute city plan, and a Knight of the French Legion of Honour.
The outstanding career of Carlos Moreno is marked by an interest in people and a passion for cities and their complexity. Deeply committed to science, progress and creativity, Carlos Moreno embraces new technology for the common good, promotes cross-disciplinary collaboration between scientific disciplines and professionals in the innovation ecosystem, and participates in debates, working groups, and media interviews to discuss and disseminate new knowledge.
The 15-minute city Paris, France: photo : Micael
Carlos Moreno started his career with an interest in robotics. In 1983, he became a researcher and lecturer at the IUT in Cachan at the Université de Paris Sud, working in the computer science and robotics laboratory (LIMRO). In 1990, he began working at the Université d’Evry, where he became a Senior Professor, and in 1998, he created his own start-up, Sinovia, which centred on the intelligent control of complex systems with an emphasis on infrastructure. In 2006, Moreno turned his attention to cities – a complex system par excellence – and developed the concept of the ‘sustainable digital city’ as a viable platform from which to provide the services needed to ensure the well-being of a city’s inhabitants. In 2019, Carlos Moreno received the Foresight Medal by the French Academy of Architecture. In 2020, he was a scientific advisor to the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, during her re-election campaign. He also authored the book “Urban life and proximity at the time of Covid-19,” published by Editions de l’Observatoire, July 2020.
OBEL AWARD 2021 images / information received 041021
Previously on e-architect:
Past OBEL AWARD Winner
Water Garden at Aedes Architecture Forum Curated by Junya Ishigami & Associates photo © Courtesy of nikissimo Inc. OBEL AWARD 2019: Water Garden at Aedes
Further information: OBEL Award
Aedes Architecture Forum Exhibitions
Aedes Architecture Forum Exhibitions
Archi-Tectonics – Winka Dubbeldam & Justin Korhammer, New York Flat Lands & Massive Things – From NL to NYC & Beyond picture © Archi-Tectonics Archi-Tectonics Architecture Event
Active Buildings – Innovation for Architecture in Motion Aedes Architecture Forum Exhibition by falkeis²architects photo : Filmfabrik Active energy building in Vaduz, Liechtenstein
Woodland Sweden – Contemporary Timber Construction Härbret Summer House in Nannberga by General Architecture/Stockholm: picture © Åke E:son Lindman
Berlin Architecture
German Buildings
Architecture Exhibitions Europe
AEDES Network Campus Berlin Event
Architecture Whispers Paris
Danish Architecture Centre Events
MAXXI Rome Exhibition
Netherlands Architecture Institute Events
Tallinn Architecture Biennale
Comments / photos for the OBEL AWARD 2021: 15-minute city page welcome
The post OBEL AWARD 2021: 15-minute city appeared first on e-architect.
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adalidda · 3 years
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Illustration Photo: Vegetable farmer who uses solar pumps for irrigation in Sayapatri Tol, Budiganga Rural Municipality 7, Morang District of Nepal. (credits: Nabin Baral / IWMI / Flickr Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0))
iF Social Impact Prize for SDGs projects in Developing Countries
For Algeria, Ethiopia, Angola, Niger, Benin, The Gambia, Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Guinea, São Tomé and Príncipe, Burundi, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Cabo Verde, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Somalia, Central African Republic, Kenya, Chad, South Sudan, Comoros, Lesotho, Tanzania, Congo, Liberia, Togo, Côte d'Ivoire, Madagascar, Tunisia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Uganda, Djibouti, Mali, West Bank, Egypt, Mauritania, Yemen, Zambia, Eritrea, Morocco, Zimbabwe, eSwatini, Mozambique, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Federated States of Micronesia, Mongolia, Timor-Leste, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Vietnam, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Lao PDR, The Philippines, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Haiti, Honduras
The iF SOCIAL IMPACT PRIZE aims to publish and support projects that contribute to our society. The prize categories correspond to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. We do not charge any fees. The best projects will be honored with a share prize money of EUR 100,000 in total in 2021.
Publish your project in the iF WORLD DESIGN GUIDE (for free) and you will automatically compete for the prize in 2021! In addition, your project will reach the global design community through various communication measures by iF.
Categories | The UN Sustainable Development Goals https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/
Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere Since 1990, extreme poverty rates have been cut by 50%. But one in five people in developing regions still in live on less than $1.90 a day.
Goal 2: Zero Hunger It is time to rethink how we grow, share and consume our food if we are nourish today's 795 million hungry people.
Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages Sustainable development depends on ensuring healthy lives. More efforts are needed to increase life expectancy.
Goal 4: Quality education Basic literacy skills have improved tremendously, yet bolder efforts are needed for achieving universal education goals.
Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls Equality for women and girls is not only a fundamental human right, it will fuel sustainable economies and benefit societies at large.
Goal 6: Ensure access to water and sanitation for all Due to poor infrastructure, millions of people die from diseases associated with inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene.
Goal 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy The goal is universal access to modern energy services, improved efficiency and more renewable sources.
Goal 8: Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all The creation of quality jobs will remain a major challenge for almost all economies well into the future.
Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation Without technology and innovation, industrialization will not happen, and without industrialization, development will not happen.
Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries To reduce inequality, policies should be universal in paying attention to the needs of disadvantaged and marginalized populations.
Goal 11: Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable Cities enable people to advance socially and economically, but some cities face congestion, a shortage of adequate housing and declining infrastructure.
Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns Responsible consumption and production aims at "doing more and better with less", resource and energy efficiency and access to a better quality of life for all.
Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts Climate change is now affecting every country on every continent, disrupting national economies and affecting lives.
Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources Careful management of this essential global resource is a key feature of a sustainable future.
Goal 15: Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss Forests cover 30% of the Earth's surface and are key to combating climate change, protecting biodiversity and the homes of the indigenous population.
Goal 16: Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies Conflict, insecurity, weak institutions and limited access to justice remain a great threat to sustainable development.
Goal 17: Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development A successful development agenda requires inclusive partnerships — at the global, regional, national and local levels — built upon principles and values, and upon a shared vision and shared goals placing people and the planet at the centre.
Many countries require Official Development Assistance to encourage growth and trade. Yet, aid levels are falling and donor countries have not lived up to their pledge to ramp up development finance.
Your benefits
If you apply for the iF SOCIAL IMPACT PRIZE, you can benefit from many advantages which help to boost your project:
Your application is free of charge. Your project will be published in the iF WORLD DESIGN GUIDE forever. You can permanently update your projects with new photos, videos and information. Your project will be introduced to a global design community, media and the design interested public. You can win a share of EUR 100,000 in prize money.
Application Deadline: 18 November 2021
Check https://adalidda.com/posts/7LSpQmDpDQGHAwmfm/if-social-impact-prize-for-sdgs-projects-in-developing
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phumi22 · 3 years
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Occupational Therapy & Sustainable Development Goals at a community level
The United Nations in 2015 adopted or rather created a blueprint for the eradication of poverty and to move towards a more peaceful and prosperous world. In order to move towards this peace and prosperity goals had to developed in order to sustain and probable development, these were termed Sustainable Development Goals. In order to be effective and bring an end to poverty and hunger it is vital that all countries both developed and developing work hand in hand to achieve these goals. (United Nations, 2021). To capture the essence of what SDG ‘s are we can firstly look at what sustainable development, sustainable development it can be classified under five P's which classify the categories of focus, Peace, People, Partnership, Prosperity and the Planet.
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“As a profession occupational therapy has a deep knowledge of human occupations and adaptations of occupations” (Wagman et al., 2020). Many of the factors that contribute to unsustainability such as climate change, consumption and production have implications on human occupations, thus occupational therapy can contribute in many ways to meet the United Nations SDG’s by 2030. According to the World Health Organization (2009,2018,) climate change results in increased health risks particularly to the poverty stricken lower- socioeconomic contexts which currently we are working in during this community block. In my attempts to promote sustainable development at a community level and promote occupational justice I can firstly try to achieve some of the sustainable development goals to promote human occupations in a society of violence, crime, and poverty.
One of the first of the UN’s Sustainable development goals is to end poverty, this goal aims to end poverty in all forms everywhere by the year 2030. Covid-19 resulted in an increase in global poverty rates due to unemployment. As of 2020 many members of the community in which I am placed in share similar stories of unemployment since the global pandemic struck. Recently a young mother shared her story of poverty which she and her family are faced with because of the pandemic, she and her partner are unable to make ends meet as a result often going to bed on empty stomachs. Covid-19 is not the only contributing factor to poverty within the community, but the socioeconomic standing of the community that is predominantly made of disempowered and underprivileged black members of society. In attempts to end poverty within the community as occupational therapist we can provide a platform for which we support and growth, by probing community members to use the skills that they already have acquired such as the skill of gardening to enable them to gain a source of income by selling vegetables which they have planted at the communal parks. Also to decrease the level of poverty, as a therapist one can advocate for their client who has a disability to find an alternative jobs that cater for their disabilities or impairments.
When looking at the third goal of sustainable development, it focuses on promoting good health and well-being for all ages. With communities in South Africa having under resourced health care facilities and departments, many members of community do not receive the adequate treatment that should be offered to them at a PHC level. Many members of society lack knowledge of other allied health professions apart from the doctor, nurse or physiotherapist. Members of society lack knowledge of specialised services that they have the right to access, thus health seeking behaviour at a community level is negatively impacted on as members only seek help from understaffed and under resourced clinics. As a result of may South African public clinics being under resourced and not having specialised services offered to the community it is therefore, important that as a therapist I utilise the opportunity given to us to offer our services at a community level. In order to promote good health and well-being within the community at a PHC level, we can offer screening to those who attend the clinic and identify which members of community require our therapy and also refer those who require alternative forms of rehab or therapy to the MDT. Not only doing screening and therapy in the clinic promotes the health and well-being of the community, but also performing home visits to those community members who cannot access PHC facilities or the park we are assigned to. This SDG is a goal that we have been working towards from the very beginning of this block and hope that there will be an improvement in the health and well-being of the community as time goes on through the provision of our services. Maternal and child health have played a major role in our service provision to promote health and well-being at a community level as this serves as the backbone or foundation of life in a society.
When looking at the SDG of Gender Equality the focus is on achieving equality for all women and girls, and with community block being seen as a feminist block, great emphasis is placed on advocating for women and girls within their society and offering them the respect and opportunities which they deserve. Occupational therapy is seen as a feminist module that resonates with the principles of feminism, thus our aim in community is to enhance the lives of women, by providing them with spaces where they receive the support they require and addressing to health issue that women are faced with in violent societies that are filled with GBV. To achieve this goal as therapists at community it is vital to educate males in society and also in our multidisciplinary teams on the inequality’s women are faced with daily.
To achieve the goal of providing good education, as occupational therapists we play a role in the education sector. Here we provide interventions to children with the local community schools that present with learning difficulties in attempts to improve their performance in the academic curriculum. Interventions are conducted to enable individuals in the community to prosper within their school environments. Our interventions are being offered at the foundation phases to foster ECD and promote learning from a young age.
The last SDG that is impactful at this community level is goal 15, which focuses on protecting, restoring & promoting sustainable use of ecosystems and terrestrial ecosystem as well as reversing land degradation. This goal forms a major factor in the development and running pf the communal park, we are based in. With this park the aim is not only preserve the land and the nature there, but to promote community engagement through provision of therapy services and placing emphasis on nature-based therapy modalities that are readily accessible to the community.
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In ending, Sustainable Development is not an easy process at community level as there are many challenges and inequalities that may impact on the ability to reach the 17 SDG’s by 2030, however with the right attitude and determination the lives of those around us can be improved and Peace, Prosperity, Partnership between People, and the planet can be attained.
References
Sustainable Development. (2021). [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.iynf.org/2018/08/a-guide-to-sustainable-development-and-its-challenges-in-developing-countries/
United Nations. (2021). THE 17 GOALS | Sustainable Development. Retrieved 9 April 2021, from https://sdgs.un.org/goals
Wagman, P., Johansson, A., Jansson, I., Lygnegård, F., Edström, E., & Björklund Carlstedt, A. et al. (2020). Making sustainability in occupational therapy visible by relating to the Agenda 2030 goals – A case description of a Swedish university. World Federation Of Occupational Therapists Bulletin, 76(1), 7-14. doi: 10.1080/14473828.2020.1718266
World Health Organisation. (2009). WHO | Protecting health from climate change. Retrieved 9 April 2021, from http://www.who.int/globalchange/publications/reports/9789241598880/en/index.html
World Health Organisation. (2018). COP24 Special report on health and climate change. Retrieved 9 April 2021, from https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/276405/9789241514972-eng.pdf?ua=1
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sciencespies · 4 years
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Space challenges for President Biden: Four issues for the next four years
https://sciencespies.com/space/space-challenges-for-president-biden-four-issues-for-the-next-four-years/
Space challenges for President Biden: Four issues for the next four years
As Joe Biden begins the first year of his presidency, there is still much we don’t know about where he and his vice president, Kamala Harris, stand on major issues in civil and national security space. The pandemic and economic recovery are sure to drive Biden’s initial agenda.
There are, nonetheless, several key space issues the new administration will have to address. NASA’s Artemis program is now unlikely to meet its 2024 human landing goal, giving the administration the opportunity to revisit the program while enhancing the agency’s Earth science work. The growing population of satellites and debris may lead the administration to reexamine the Trump administration’s approach to civil space traffic management. The Space Force will continue to mature but faces growing pains. The Pentagon will also finish programs, from new launch vehicles to LEO constellations, started under the Trump administration.
NASA was expected to select a company this spring to proceed into full development of a crewed lunar lander but budget setbacks and a change in administration could alter those plans. Credit: NASA Human Landing System concept
The future of Artemis
Ever since Biden won the presidential election in November, the space industry has speculated what his administration will mean for NASA’s Artemis program to return humans to the moon in 2024. The Democratic Party platform in August endorsed in general terms “NASA’s work to return Americans to the moon,” but made no mention of either retaining or changing the 2024 goal.
That decision may already have been made for him. In December, Congress passed a fiscal year 2021 spending bill that included $850 million for NASA’s Human Landing System (HLS) program, just a quarter of what the agency requested. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine had warned for months that keeping a 2024 human landing on schedule would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, without full funding for HLS.
There was, even before Congress passed the bill, widespread skepticism that a 2024 landing was feasible. “It was a long shot to begin with,” said Gwynne Shotwell, president of SpaceX, shortly after the election. She speculated that the new administration would defer a human lunar landing to “slightly later than 2024.”
A new approach might look something like what NASA was pursuing in the first half of the Trump administration, when it was focused on first building out the lunar Gateway, followed by human lunar landings around 2028. NASA has continued to make agreements with Canada, Europe and Japan on elements of the Gateway, so broader changes to human spaceflight plans that do away with the Gateway could be geopolitically costly for the Biden administration.
NASA may have to make decisions on the future of Artemis soon, perhaps before a new administrator is in place. The three companies that received HLS contracts last year — Blue Origin, Dynetics and SpaceX — are waiting on NASA to select who will proceed into full development. The agency previously said it would make decisions in the spring, but both the limited funding and the change in administrations could alter those plans.
At the same time, the Biden administration is widely expected to put greater resources into Earth science programs at NASA, as part of a broader emphasis on climate change. The party platform called for “strengthening” NASA and NOAA Earth observation missions “to better understand how climate change is impacting our home planet.”
That could create opportunities not just for Earth scientists but developers of spacecraft and related technologies. “With the administration’s planned focus on climate change, we expect growth in spacecraft and information systems related to understanding weather and climate change,” Eileen Drake, president and chief executive of Aerojet Rocketdyne, said at the AIAA SciTech Forum Jan. 11.
Exactly what form that new emphasis on Earth science will take is not yet clear. NASA already has a lengthy list of recommended missions from the previous Earth science decadal survey published in 2018 but has been slow to implement them because of limited budgets. Additional funding could accelerate those missions and feed into a broader climate change initiative.
Some have bolder expectations. “Managing the Earth’s ability to sustain human life and biodiversity will likely, in my view, dominate a civil space agenda for a Biden-Harris administration,” said Lori Garver, NASA deputy administrator during the Obama administration, shortly after the election.
However that climate change initiative develops, it likely means that boots on the moon will have to wait.
While the incoming administration has offered no hints of its views on the subject, there is nothing that would stop it from moving civil space traffic management to the FAA or authorizing the Commerce Department to perform STM, making it easy for the White House to change its mind. Credit: SpaceNews illustration
Space traffic management
At the end of the Obama administration four years ago, the outlines of a civil space traffic management (STM) system were beginning to take shape. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation was starting preparations to take on that work from the U.S. Air Force after a consensus by the White House and other government agencies that it was the best agency for the job.
That changed in June 2018, when the Trump administration issued Space Policy Directive 3 on civil STM. The administration directed the Air Force to transition civil STM activities to the Commerce Department, specifically its Office of Space Commerce. It concluded that the office could take on space traffic management, freeing up the FAA to oversee increasing commercial launch activity.
Two and a half years later, the office was finally ready to take on that challenge. Congress provided the office with $10 million in the fiscal year 2021 omnibus spending bill in December — less than the $15 million it requested but the first time it received any funding for STM work. Up until then, the Office of Space Commerce was laying the groundwork for STM, including coordination with the Space Force and meetings with industry, but needed funding to hire staff and develop systems.
“Next year will be largely what I’ll call a ‘building block’ year,” Kevin O’Connell, director of the Office of Space Commerce, predicted in October during a 0SpaceNews webinar. If his office got its requested funding, he projected that by the end of 2021 “we will have an initial architecture that is up and running.”
That assumes the Biden administration continues on that path. While the incoming administration has offered no hints of its views on the subject, there is nothing that would stop it from moving civil STM to the FAA or authorizing the Commerce Department to perform space traffic management, making it easy for the White House to change its mind.
However, there is now a consensus in the public and private sector that Commerce is the best place — or, at least, a good enough place — to handle civil STM. A congressionally mandated report by the National Academy of Public Administration, released in August, concluded Commerce was a better agency for civil STM than the FAA, NASA, or Defense Department.
With the growing amount of debris in orbit, along with emergence of megaconstellations like Starlink, most just want the government to move ahead as fast as it can. “In the end, it doesn’t really matter who does it, just that it gets done,” said Chris Kunstadter, global head of space for insurer AXA XL.
Another question will be how much attention Commerce gives to civil STM. Biden’s nominee for Secretary of Commerce, Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, hasn’t been involved in space in any way or shown an interest in the subject. However, the same was true for Trump’s nominee, financier Wilbur Ross, who never attended a launch before 2018. Yet he became a vocal advocate for the department’s work on space, including STM.
Credit: U.S. Space Force
Next steps for U.S. Space Force
Among the final acts of the Trump administration was a celebration at the White House of the U.S. Space Force’s first anniversary, where Vice President Mike Pence announced the members of the service would be called guardians. The sixth branch of the armed forces was a darling of President Trump and no detail about the Space Force was too trivial to trumpet.
The Space Force will now enter its formative years with bipartisan support in Congress but under a new commander in chief with a different worldview. Biden is not expected to undo his predecessor’s prized achievement, but the Space Force will be lower on the totem pole.
“I don’t think the Space Force is in any danger of going away, but I don’t think it will be politically favored the way it was under Trump,” said David Burbach, associate professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College.
Over the next four years, the Space Force will stay busy building the service. In 2020, more than 2,200 former members of Air Force Space Command formally transferred to the Space Force. Another 3,600 are projected to transfer in 2021. The long-term goal is a Space Force of about 6,000 military members and 8,000 civilians. The service will be standing up a Space Systems Command to oversee acquisitions and plans to build a space intelligence center. The Biden administration later this year will have to provide recommendations to Congress on what space units from the Army and the Navy could be realigned under the Space Force.
More broadly, political appointees and military officials will continue to have to address questions on the Space Force’s role and reason for being.
“There is still a lot of confusion about the role of the Space Force,” said Burbach, noting that he does not speak for the government. Even though the space service’s job is to operate and defend U.S. satellites, “they run commercials showing astronauts going to the moon and exploring other planets. That’s not what the Space Force is going to do. They are not fighting laser battles in space.”
“The primary job for the Space Force right now is really focused on Earth,” said Scott Pace, former executive secretary of the National Space Council, during a recent National Security Space Association webinar. He noted the service has its hands full just carrying out its basic responsibilities to provide space-based services to U.S. military forces and allies.
A criticism often lobbed at the Space Force is that it created an expensive new bureaucracy to do the same work that the Air Force Space Command used to do, with the same people. But critics need to move on, said Deborah Lee James, former secretary of the Air Force during the Obama administration. “It’s not worth the bureaucratic churn to put it back the way it was,” she said last month at the Mitchell Institute’s West Coast Aerospace Forum.
Congress has made similar points and directed the Department of the Air Force and the Space Force to propose by May a revamped space acquisition process, a responsibility that will fall on Biden’s appointees. The fiscal year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act asks for specific recommendations for making space acquisitions move faster, in ways that capture innovations from the private sector.
The U.S. Space Force is counting on a smooth transition to ULA’s Vulcan Centaur rocket to help ensure the reliable delivery of national security satellites to orbit. Credit: United Launch Alliance
National security space modernization
During the Trump administration, the Pentagon took important steps to modernize key national security space programs. For now, there is nothing to suggest Biden’s appointees — many of them veterans of the Obama administration — will reverse course on major programs, at least until they have a chance to dig through budgets and submit new proposals.
“We see no reason to think it won’t be full steam ahead,” said Mike Tierney, industry analyst at the defense and space consulting firm Velos. In 2021, “we’re going to get a lot of the same” simply because the incoming leaders are not going to have time to substantially amend Trump’s budgets until their second year in office.
Over the next four years, Biden’s Pentagon will oversee the transition of the National Security Space Launch program to a new phase where SpaceX will have a more prominent role flying military satellites to orbit and longtime incumbent United Launch Alliance will be tested to introduce a new launch vehicle, Vulcan, that the company promised will be ready in 2021. It will fall on the Space Force and the Biden administration to help SpaceX and ULA clear this hurdle and assure Congress the nation has the domestic launch vehicles it needs to reliably deliver critical national security satellites to orbit.
Sometime in 2024, the Space Force will start planning for a new heavy-lift launch competition. Biden’s administration could be in a position to evaluate whether emerging players like Blue Origin, which tried and lost in 2020, can win a spot in Space Force’s stable of launch providers.
Another item on the space agenda is the resiliency — or lack thereof — of U.S. space systems. This has been a much-discussed issue during the Trump administration amid warnings that U.S. satellites are vulnerable to jamming, cyberattacks and threats from anti-satellite weapons.
Former undersecretary of defense for research and engineering Mike Griffin pushed the Pentagon to invest in proliferated low-Earth orbit constellations, like those being built by private companies, to provide resiliency. Under Griffin, the Pentagon stood up the Space Development Agency to take on the design and early development of military systems in LEO. The young agency, which was opposed by the Air Force Association and others, is preparing to launch its first 28 satellites in 2022.
“SDA will get a fresh look,” Tierney said, but there’s no sign that the Biden team will be opposed to it. Once the SDA shows it can deliver on its promise to field a constellation in just two years, he expects it will be seen as the “agile, innovative new arm of the Space Force focused on proliferated LEO.”
The large “exquisite” satellites that have been the bread and butter of Pentagon space programs will not go away even if the SDA’s proliferated systems come to fruition. Under Biden, the Space Force will continue to acquire multibillion-dollar systems for missile warning, secure communications, and navigation. But there will also be parallel efforts to diversify the space architecture and use cheaper, smaller platforms as the private sector continues to drive down the cost of satellites and launch.
How the military leverages commercial space technology for national security will remain an issue over the next four years. A recent Aerospace Corp. space policy paper aimed at the Biden administration noted that the “increasing commercialization of space is presenting new opportunities for national security acquisition.” A trend to watch will be whether U.S. intelligence and defense agencies begin to seriously consider alternatives to the traditional model of hiring contractors to develop bespoke capabilities.
This article originally appeared in the Jan. 18, 2021 issue of SpaceNews magazine.
#Space
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nandayanuaraca · 4 years
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The Kingdom of the Netherlands
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Addressing the
King : Nanda Yanuaraca
PM : Juan Kusuma
1. Benedicta Elanda K. N. (072011233006)
2. Aulia Tamami (072011233011)
3. Arya Ahmad Afani (072011233033)
4. Michelle Natania Listhy (072011233038)
5. Nanda Yanuaraca (072011233048)
6. Dita Hapsari Blegur (072011233051)
7. Juan Kusuma (072011233066)
8. Siti Riyanti Nur Fitria S. (072011233092)
9. Arofa Nurrahman (072011233099)
10. Shafa N. A. (072011233105)
11. Made Ayu Septia P. (072011233109)
Food security, as defined by the United Nations’ Committee on World Food Security, means that all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their food preferences and dietary needs for an active and healthy life.
Over the coming decades, a changing climate, growing global population, rising food prices, and environmental stressors will have significant yet uncertain impacts on food security. Adaptation strategies and policy responses to global change, including options for handling water allocation, land use patterns, food trade, postharvest food processing, and food prices and safety are urgently needed. IFPRI’s work on food security includes analysis of cash transfers, promotion of sustainable agricultural technologies, building resilience to shocks, and managing trade-offs in food security, such as balancing the nutritional benefits of meat against the ecological costs of its production.
Food security is influenced by lack of availability, access, and stability for food. People need a sufficient quantity and diversity of foods to meet their nutritional needs but must also be able to eat and properly metabolise such food. Besides food, water shortage is one of the most serious constraints in crop production at global scale and almost all types of crops experience this problem at least during part of the growing season. Clean freshwater is an essential ingredient for a healthy human life, however not many people have access to this as well. The causes of these problems are usually climate change, such as altered weather-patterns, deforestation, pollution, greenhouse gases, and wasteful use of water.
As these problems occur, the Netherlands have already begun their development to combat food scarcity and water shortage as they also changed their policies. To address water shortage and food scarcity, the Netherlands is investing in better water management. As part of their aims for international water policy, various Dutch ministries have teamed up with national and international partners to improve water supplies, boost resilience and reduce loss in 15 countries. To improve food security, the Netherlands prioritize agricultural research and satellite monitoring to help farmers cope more effectively with climate change and adapt to shifting weather patterns.The Netherlands also change its policies from focusing on increasing agricultural production and reinforcing international trade of tropical commodities towards activities that devote key attention to gender and nutrition, circularity and climate resilience, and upgrading of agro-food value chains.
One of the main reason why the Netherlands change its policies is because there is a growing (inter)national recognition regarding the urgency to engage in concerted action against hunger and climate change in order to be able to reach the SDG goals within the time frames agreed upon. Hunger in the world is increasing again and temperatures are rising, and therefore we need to accelerate efforts toward Zero Hunger as well as to increase the effectiveness of interventions.Netherlands has been participating in various programs and organizations (FAO, for example) and created new policies on food and nutrition security which is outlined in five priority themes that together shape the food system transition : Combating hunger and malnutrition ; inclusive and efficient agro-food markets and value chains ; climate-smart and circular agriculture ; rural transformation for employment and income creation ; food security for stability and resilience. Lastly, for water sanitation, the Netherlands have joined in partnership with UNICEF, the Water Supply and Sanitation (WSSCC) and Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH).
Even in high-income Western countries like the Netherlands, there are people who cannot afford sufficient nutritious food to eat. Food insecurity can be defined as the lack of availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, or the lack of ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways
Food security is influenced by lack of availability, access, and stability for food. People need a sufficient quantity and diversity of foods to meet their nutritional needs but must also be able to eat and properly metabolise such food. Besides food, water shortage is one of the most serious constraints in crop production at global scale and almost all types of crops experience this problem at least during part of the growing season. Clean freshwater is an essential ingredient for a healthy human life, however not many people have access to this as well. The causes of these problems are usually climate change, such as altered weather-patterns, deforestation, pollution, greenhouse gases, and wasteful use of water.
The Netherlands is internationally recognized as an expert and innovative partner for agricultural development and food security. Its activities are in line with EU policy in this field and play a visible and distinctive role at the UN within an integrated approach to aid, trade and investment. Knowledge, capacity and activity are the common themes.
The letter explains that Dutch policy focuses on all dimensions of food security (people, profit, planet), with the following three main targets:
1. Eradicating hunger and malnutrition
The focus is on vulnerable people who experience hunger firsthand through being affected by poverty, natural disasters, conflicts and other crises. Besides the provision of food aid where needed, permanent access to adequate and proper nutrition is necessary.
2. Promoting inclusive and sustainable growth in the agricultural sector
The focus is on small and medium-scale farmers as well as other rural entrepreneurs who could potentially serve market demand. Increasing these people’s earning power is a powerful tool in fighting hunger and poverty and promoting economic growth.
3. Achieving ecologically sustainable food systems.
The focus here is on the sustainable management of international public (environmental) goods like water, soil, energy and biodiversity. The effects of climate change on food systems and vice-versa will be considered during all activities.
The government aims to strike the right balance between these three food security goals. The relationship between the goals throughout the activities will be investigated as much as possible.
The letter was discussed in the Dutch parliament on December 9, 2014, as one of 21 agenda items. The formal report of this debate is not yet available. An impression of the key issues discussed can be found on Viceversaonline (in Dutch).
As the rich and high level of input during the online consultation facilitated by the Food & Business Knowledge Platform could not be captured fully in the F&BKP report for the ministries, the F&BKP Office advised them to use this input in the next phase of implementing the policy through interventions and programs. In line with this advice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is considering organizing follow-up meetings with stakeholders to elaborate on the themes and ideas in the letter.
On 18 December, it was agreed in the parliament’s committee on Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, that a specific committee debate would be organized about Food Security, in the course of the coming months. A majority of committee members was interested to have such a specific debate, while some political parties indicated they didn’t have the intention to participate.
Netherland foreign policy to combat Food security, sustainable agriculture and water management:
Growing more and better food.
To improve food security, the Netherlands supports organisations that train and advise men and women farmers and that supply them with more and better-quality seeds. Agricultural research and satellite monitoring are two ways to help farmers cope more effectively with climate change and adapt to shifting weather patterns.For example, the Geodata for Agriculture and Water programme helps sesame and barley producers in Ethiopia by advising them on weather and farming issues. In Kenya it is building a system that warns farmers when growing conditions are less than ideal.
Water management
To address this problem, the Netherlands is investing in better water management. In Mali, for instance, the Water Productivity Open-access portal (WaPOR) database provides real-time satellite monitoring that helps government authorities and farming cooperatives capture, store and reuse water.
As part of the Dutch aims for international water policy, various Dutch ministries have teamed up with national and international partners to improve water supplies, boost resilience and reduce damage in 15 countries. Through Partners for Water (Dutch), the Netherlands supports water management in densely populated delta regions in Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, Indonesia and elsewhere.
Drinking water and sanitation
To do this, it has joined in partnership with UNICEF, the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH). The Netherlands is also actively involved in the Water, Peace and Security project, which identifies potential conflicts over water and tries to prevent them from escalating.
In order to combat this issue, Netherland seeks to establish rigorous fundamental solutions. These fundamental solutions are key to reduce hunger, malnutrition, and food shortage. However, Netherland is aware that many countries still underestimate this issue. Therefore, the Netherland is proposing a few outline of solution as below:
1. Establish a transparent global platform for all states to share efficient and effective way to generate food and maintain agriculture as well as clean water supply.
2. Make a generalized standard for food and water to prevent malnutrition.
3. Supporting land management issue.
4. Funding research on new sources of food.
5. Promoting inclusive and sustainable growth in the agricultural sector.
The Netherlands has decided how it can realistically contribute to SDG 2, identifying three long-term goals to be achieved by 2030. These are as follows:
1.end malnutrition for 32 million people, particularly children;
2.double the productivity and income of 8 million small-scale food producers;
3.achieve ecologically sustainable use of 8 million hectares of farmland.
Apart from activities directly targeting these goals, Netherland are also working to better ensure preconditions for food security. These include knowledge and capacity, land-use rights and the position of women, in cohesion with other sectors and themes.
Netherland make some program
Bibliography
Ruben, Rued, 2019, Dutch Food Security Policies embrace Food Systems Approach. Food & Business Knowledge Platform (online). Available: https://knowledge4food.net/dutch-food-security-policies-embrace-food-systems-approach/
Government of the Netherlands, Food security, sustainable africulture and water management (online). Available: https://www.government.nl/topics/development-cooperation/the-development-policy-of-the-netherlands/food-security-sustainable-agriculture-and-water
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Food and nutrition security (online). Available: https://dutchdevelopmentresults.nl/theme/food-security#food_malnutrition
International Food Policy Research Institute, Food Security (online). Available: https://www.ifpri.org/topic/food-security#:~:text=Food%20security%2C%20as%20defined%20by,an%20active%20and%20healthy%20life
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kellycrawford93 · 4 years
Text
How do the Sustainable Development Goals link to the fashion industry?
The Sustainable Development Goals are a set of 17 goals, that represent a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals requires the partnership of governments, companies and citizens alike, to make sure that we leave a better planet for future generations. The fashion industry covers many of the 17 goals. SDG 1, is about eradicating poverty. According to IndustriALL global union, over 90 percent of workers in the global garment industry have no possibility to negotiate their wages or their working conditions. SDG 5, on gender equality. We know that about 75 million people work in the global garment industry and about 80 percent of these are women. SDG 12 is particularly relevant as it commits to ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns. SDG 13 says we must take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. A 2018 report issued by Quantis, says that clothing accounts for an estimated 6.7% of global climate impacts. SDG 14 addresses the issue of marine pollution. We know that clothing and textiles are the number one source of primary micro plastics to the oceans. They account for around a third of the global total.
SDG 15 is around life on land creating sustainable ecosystems and halting biodiversity loss. But the fashion industry has an often underestimated impact on the development of our planet, its closely linked to gender labour and poverty issues and it has a considerable environmental impact which is only going to increase in the 15 year period covered by the SDGs with rapidly increasing consumption and an increased population. Between 2015 and 2030 around 2 billion people who are currently living in least developed countries, we will see these countries moving into being medium developed countries and so those 2 billion people will have greater opportunities and more money to be able to become consumers within the fashion industry. We know that overall clothing consumption is projected to more than double by 2030 and currently 80 percent of all clothing produced ends up being either incinerated or ends up in landfill. So each of the SDGs has different targets and target eight of SDG 12 addresses the consumer's right to be informed in order to become better aware of sustainable development issues.
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