Footprint Network Blog
Stiglitz Report
The Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress — created by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and chaired by Nobel Prize winning-economist Professor Joseph E. Stiglitz of Columbia University – has recently issued a report with recommendations on how to find a more comprehensive approach toward gauging a country’s success, beyond Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Among the indicators mentioned was the Ecological Footprint, marking an important milestone. Global Footprint Network praises its members for this valuable work and confirms their call for more biophysical indicators. Please join us in sending comments on the report and its findings, and recommending that the Ecological Footprint be a part of a micro-dashboard of economic performance and social progress indicators, please here.
Categories:
Calgary Personal Calculator Launched
Global Footprint Network has launched the latest addition to its popular Ecological Footprint calculator with data specific to Calgary, Canada. Click here to take the quiz.
Categories:
Ecological Limits
Call for Abstracts
State of the Art in Ecological Footprint Theory and Applications
Footprint Forum 2009. Colle Val d’Elsa, 9-11 September 2009
Global Footprint Network is calling for abstracts for presentation at Footprint Forum 2009 – The Opportunity of Limits to be held September 9-11 in Colle di Val d’Elsa, Italy, just outside of Siena, Italy. Submissions are welcome on a range of issues and disciplines related to the Ecological Footprint (i.e., carbon, trade, and biodiversity and water). Nine abstracts will be selected in total – three to be presented at each of the Forum’s three 75-minute sessions. If your abstract is selected, you will have the opportunity to speak at the session for up to 15 minutes, followed by at least 10 minutes of discussion. In addition, a special issue of Ecological Indicators will include extended versions of a selection of papers presented at Footprint Forum 2009.
About Footprint Forum:
As our financial systems and our relationship with the natural world are being re-examined, our work at Global Footprint Network grows increasingly crucial. Now, more than ever, there is a need for innovative, breakthrough ideas – and our upcoming Forum will be designed to stimulate just that. Members of our partner network, selected thought leaders and influencers will gather from around the world to participate in this intimate and interactive event held in Colle di Val d’Elsa. Together, they will learn, share and create solutions as they tackle the most pressing issues humanity is facing, and take action toward creating a world where we can all live within the means of our planet.
Learn more about Footprint Forum 2009.
Deadline: July 31, 2009 (Early submissions are strongly encouraged)
Details of Submission:
Proposed topics should focus on NEW developments on the Ecological Footprint in areas of:
1. Theory;
2. Applications; or
3. Communication/policy relevance.
All submissions must be a two-page abstract, and include an introduction, summary of methods and results, and a discussion section.
Click here to download the template.
Click here to download the abstract submission format and guidelines
Note: If your abstract is not selected, you will have the option of having it presented as a poster at the Forum.
Email submissions to footprintforum2009@unisi.it
Categories:
Footprint Standards
Future-proof Your Business: Understanding Business Strategy in the Face of Ecological Limits
Global Footprint Network is pleased to announce two sessions it will lead at the Sustainable Brands 2009 Conference in Monterey, Calif., May 31-June 4.
On June 4th, Global Footprint Network CEO Susan Burns will lead a special workshop on the topic Future-proof Your Business: Understanding Business Strategy in the Face of Ecological Limits. The workshop will help business leaders prepare for the key resource challenges humanity will face in the coming years, and uncover ideas and opportunities for pioneering the way toward a resource-efficient future. The discussion marks the first of our Global Footprint Dialogues, which will bring together leading thinkers and change-makers to foster the innovation we will need to end ecological overshoot.
On Monday, June 1st, 12:15 - 12:30 pm, Global Footprint Network Executive Director Mathis Wackernagel will speak on the subject: Thinking Beyond Carbon; Understanding Carrying Capacity and the Full Ecological Footprint of Business.
The Sustainable Brands Conference is the premier place for business strategists, product designers and brand executives to stay on the cutting edge of the discussion about sustainability as a driver of business opportunity and brand value. Both the program and the faculty serving this year’s conference are simply outstanding. I urge you and your team to consider joining me in Monterey to fuel your strategic thinking as well as strengthen your company’s sustainable design and brand communications skills.
Click here to check out the stellar list of speakers.
Click here to see the Conference Program.
Click here to see who will be attending.
Categories:
The Ecological Footprint: Achieving Systems Change
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is pleased to invite you to a lecture on the Ecological Footprint by Mathis Wackernagel, Executive Director of Global Footprint Network, on Monday, May 18 at the IUCN headquarters in Geneva.
Dr. Wackernagel will speak about the Ecological Footprint, what it tells us and why it is more important now than ever. The current economic downturn has brought home the consequences of living beyond our financial means. But we are also living beyond our ecological means, and the time is upon us to take stock of our ecological balance sheet and right the books on our use of nature. Learn how the Ecological Footprint is helping to spark the systemic shifts and breakthrough thinking we will need for a sustainable human future.
The lecture is free to attend. Details are as follows.
Monday, 18 May 2009
17:30 Welcome by Christophe Bouvier, Director, UNEP Reigonal Office for Europe
17:35 Lecture by Mathis Wackernagel, Co-Creator of the Ecological Footprint and Executive Director, Global Footprint Network
18:30 Questions and Discussion
19:00 Reception
Where: International Environment House II
11-13 chemin des Anémones, CH-1210
Châtelaine, Geneva, Switzerland
Tel: [41-22] 917-8326
www.environmenthouse.ch
Categories:
Calls Grow to Move Beyond GDP
Recent headlines such as “A Measure Remodeled” (Financial Times) and “Time to Order a New Economic Order” (the Huffington Post) reflect a growing call to reform GDP, our standard measure of economic performance. On Huffington Post, a popular political news Web site, an article read: “Most, if not all, ministers of finance and conventional economists don’t account for how the planet works, or even that the economy exists on a finite planet.”
Categories:
Ecological Limits, Footprint for Government
New Africa Factbook Looks At Countries In-Depth
Three years ago, Global Footprint Network and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation joined together to launch the multi-phased Human Development Initiative, focused on Africa. Its purpose: To explore how ecological limits affect human development.
Africa: Ecological Footprint Factbook 2009, released in February, was the latest result of that ongoing initiative. The 20-page report features three countries: Egypt, Tanzania and Zambia, and includes Ecological Footprint and biocapacity trends, as well as guest perspectives on each country’s environmental issues and challenges.
Categories:
Human Development
Helping Women in Zambia Manage a Vital Resource
On the shores of Zambia’s Lake Bangweulu, 26 young women stooped by the water with an assortment of gadgets, learning how take measurements of pH, depth, visibility, current and temperature. One student lowered a rope with a brick on the end and used it to gauge depth. Another used a clear, flat instrument called a secchi disk to measure visibility, while a third navigated the position of each data point using a GPS.
Categories:
Human Development
Initiative on Biocapacity Launched with First Workshop in Lima, Peru
Kicking off an initiative that could redefine how we value and negotiate resources in the 21st century, key policy experts and opinion leaders met April 10 in Lima, Peru, for the first workshop of Global Footprint Network’s Ecological Creditor Initiative. World Bank representatives, policy experts and opinion leaders met with representatives from Global Footprint Network and the Community of Andean Nations to begin a series of workshops on the growing significance of biocapacity and its potential for competitive advantage in a resource-constrained world.
Categories:
Footprint for Government
Public Comment Period Open on New Footprint Standards
The Ecological Footprint Standards Committee is inviting public comment on its proposed 2009 Ecological Footprint Standards. The standards are designed to ensure that Ecological Footprint assessments are produced consistently and according to community-proposed best-practices. These new methodological standards focus on Ecological Footprint studies for organizations and products. They were created over the past six months by the Ecological Footprint Standards Committee and the Standards Working Group.
Categories:
Footprint Standards