Melissa Harward: COP22- Highs and Lows of Days 1, 2 and 3

The first day of COP included only one shock event- Turkey’s request for more money. The G77 (a conglomerate of developing nations) have long been requesting more money for adaptation, mitigation and capacity building. The technicalities of Annex one and two countries (criteria setting developing countries into least and more developed) mean that funding is allocated differently.

Posted on November 18, 2016 and filed under UN Climate Talks 2016.

Sasha Rasmussen: Reframing Femininity: What the French Revolution can tell us about the work for Gender Equality (#hireahistorian)

To offer a harsh metaphor, putting individual women in high-powered positions is to gender equality what trickle-down economics is to poverty: real change needs to address the system as a whole, to change the foundations and assumptions on which our institutions are built.

Posted on September 2, 2016 and filed under Women Deliver 2016.

Ihlara McIndoe: Save the Humanities

Creativity is what keeps the world we live in today going. It’s what leads to constructive critique. It’s what leads to solutions. It’s what leads to bettering the living standards of people world wide. It is extremely important to have creative young minds leading society, and integral to enabling this is the access to a wide variety of education areas. Creativity comes from a variety of sources and influences. It comes from medicine, it comes from science, it comes from law, and performing arts, and humanities and sports. We do not live in a tunnel visioned world, where technological evolution is the one stop answer to solving global issues. It is the interconnectedness of a wide variety of educational areas that is essential for the flourishing of society. 

The humanities today are more important than ever.

Posted on August 30, 2016 and filed under Women Deliver 2016.

Piet Ubels: Calling all city geeks - join me at Habitat III in Quito!

Attending the Habitat III negotiations is such an amazing opportunity on so many levels. This is a once in 20-year chance to be at the table that decides the New Urban Agenda for the world. It's your chance to see - and maybe even influence - whether our generation's uncertain future is set in the right direction.  

Posted on August 29, 2016 and filed under Habitat III 2016, Institute Updates.

Robin Singh: A Brief Reflection

Visiting Nairobi and attending the UNEA-2 (United Nations Environmental Assembly) conference has been quite an experience for me. It is evident from the visit the amount of potential Africa holds as a global growth engine and opportunity for Kenya to be a leader in this drive.

Posted on June 3, 2016 and filed under UNEA 2016.