Growing Urban Food Systems
There is a growing buzz around strengthening urban food systems. Consumers want more transparency in where their food is coming from and how it is being made. They are voting with their dollars by purchasing from local producers. A University of Kentucky study shows...
Worker Cooperatives Emerging for Sustainable Development
Cooperative business models have gained traction as a catalyst for sustainable economic development over the past decade. The United Nations deemed 2012 the International Year of Cooperatives in order to “raise public awareness of the invaluable contributions of...
Brazil’s Copa Verde: Sustainability at the 2014 World Cup
It’s the 2014 World Cup, millions of people from all over the globe are flocking to Brazil to cheer from the stands. While the entire world is tuned in and watching, the question is what impact are the games having on the world? The biggest single-sporting competition...
Meal Sharing is the Newest Player in the Sharing Economy
The sharing economy is gaining momentum on the back of social and economic trends: the recession incentivizing sharing resources instead of owning goods, technology enabling transparency and social connection, and climate change increasing awareness about resource...
The Future of Urban Transportation
It is increasingly clear that for growing urban populations, personal vehicle ownership is not a viable method of transportation. The laundry list of externalized costs from driving includes: air pollution, accidents, traffic congestion, noise pollution, roadway land...
Laying the Groundwork for Urban Mobility and Social Connectivity
This blog post is a response to the Meeting of the Minds & Living Cities group blogging event which asks, “How could cities better connect all their residents to economic opportunity?” There are a few ways to think about connecting residents to...
Urban Centers and Climate Change: Implications from the IPCC’s New Report
Photo credits: IPCC On March 31st, 2014, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the second of three reports providing the most up-to-date scientific knowledge on climate change. The message of this behemoth effort from the international...
Silicon Valley is Incorporating Health into Green Building Design
For the Millennial employee, working at a mission-driven company is just as important as a steady paycheck. In the Bay Area, where the concerns for environmental and social sustainability run deep, this is even more so the case. In order for top companies in Silicon...
Stakeholder Engagement in Santiago: Chile’s Energy Future
The phrase “stakeholder engagement” does not exist in Spanish. And yet, in January of 2014, a group of 12 MBA and MPA students from Presidio Graduate School, myself being one of them, traveled to Santiago for a stakeholder engagement project, focusing on Chile’s...
Sustainable Olympics in Sochi: A Challenge of Olympic Proportions
Photo credit (above): The Nation In 1996, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) declared environmental protection as the third pillar of the Olympic Games. Since then, environmental sustainability has been successfully integrated into the construction and...
Buzzing Rooftops: The Ins and Outs of Urban Beekeeping
In the springtime in Provence, France, the countryside explodes with plush, fluffy looking purple fields. It’s lavender season. Even more miraculous than the aroma of sweet lavender is the sound coming from the fields – they actually buzz with honeybees....