Tom Hayden – From the New Deal to a Green New Deal

In 2014, the legendary activist, progressive movement strategist and long time California State Senator Tom Hayden (1939-2016), gave a poignent, moving and incredibly prescient address as part of a Climate Leadership symposium that Bioneers hosted. In his remarks, Hayden delves into the history of the New Deal, the movements and drivers that presaged its development and the pressing need for a modern version, a Green New Deal, to be enacted to deal with climate change, the major existential crisis of our time. Pointing out the progress that California has made in many arenas, Hayden outlines the need for a movement that takes the road of justice, serves the needs of communities of color and labor, and realigns the political parties away from the funding and influence of the fossil fuel industry.

Hayden begins his presentation at 5:09 in the video.

Introduction by Bioneers Co-Founder and CEO, Kenny Ausubel.

This speech was given at the 2014 California Climate Leadership Summit. Explore all the talks from the summit here or download the free California Climate Leadership e-book.

Visit the Bioneers Green New Deal Media Collection.

Henk Ovink: Water by Design

Henk Ovink is one of the world’s leading experts on sustainable, resilient coastal infrastructure. Ovink served as a Senior Advisor to the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force and is the Principal for Rebuild by Design while serving as the first ever Special Envoy for International Water Affairs for the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Henk Ovink shares his vision of how we must change our entire culture to put water back into the center of our hearts and minds if we are to cope effectively with climate change, water crises, biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse, extreme weather events, and myriad environmental, economic, and sociopolitical crises. He illustrates how new approaches to design and politics are at the heart of a more resilient future.

Introduction by Paul Vosbeek, Founder of RealNewEnergy.

This speech was given at the 2015 Bioneers Annual Conference.

Sister Simone Campbell – Community: Healing for the 21st Century

Sister Simone Campbell is a poet, social justice attorney and one of the nation’s most influential faith-based progressive activists. She led the famous 2012 “Nuns on the Bus” tour to challenge Congressional budget proposals that radically slashed programs for the poor. She shares her vision of how we can heal our divisions and differences, create a renewed sense of community, and build a far
more just, peaceful, verdant and compassionate world. Introduction by Reverend Sally Bingham, Interfaith Power and Light.

This speech was given at the 2015 Bioneers Annual Conference.

Ben Knight: Self-Organizing Community Democracy for the Internet Age

Emerging in response to the need for a scalable way to make inclusive group decisions during the Occupy movement in 2011, Loomio, an activist-driven tech co-op, developed an open-source tool for democratic organizing now used by 80,000 people in 93 countries. Change-making communities, social movements and organizations have used it to make more than 25,000 decisions. In this digital world, Loomio is on a mission to empower communities and organizations everywhere to weave diverse perspectives into powerful collective action.

Introduction by Matthew Monahan, Namaste Foundation.

This speech was given at the 2015 Bioneers Annual Conference.

Lynnea Shuck – Youth Leadership | Bioneers

Lynnea Shuck, creator of the Junior Refuge Ranger Program and 2014 Brower Youth Award Winner, discusses her work with National Wildlife Refuges: Connecting Kids to Nature.

This speech was given at the 2015 Bioneers Annual Conference.

Since 1990, Bioneers has acted as a fertile hub of social and scientific innovators with practical and visionary solutions for the world’s most pressing environmental and social challenges.

To experience talks like this, please join us at the Bioneers National Conference each October, and regional Bioneers Resilient Community Network gatherings held nationwide throughout the year.

For more information on Bioneers, please visit https://bioneers.org and stay in touch via Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Bioneers.org) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/bioneers).

Paul Hawken – Project Drawdown

One of the most important thought leaders, activists and entrepreneurs of our era will illuminate the groundbreaking Project Drawdown. It’s the first systematic attempt to do the math on the most effective climate solutions and technologies that already exist, and the impact they would have if they scaled in a rigorous manner over the next 30 years. This coalition of NGOs, academics, scholars, scientists, businesses and government agencies has come together to measure the impact of 100 substantive solutions to mitigating carbon emissions to determine if, when and how we can achieve a year-to-year drawdown in the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. The news is good.

Introduction by Kenny Ausubel, Bioneers Co-Founder and CEO.

This speech was given at the 2015 Bioneers Annual Conference. To learn more about Paul Hawken’s work, visit Project Drawdown. 

Fania Davis – Restorative Justice’s Promise

Drawing on her lifetime of social justice activism, Fania Davis depicts the essence of Restorative Justice, an emerging approach that seeks to move us from an ethic of separation, domination and extreme individualism to one of collaboration, partnership and interrelatedness. Rooted in Indigenous views of justice and healing, this rapidly expanding global movement invites us to make a radical shift from either-or, right-wrong, and us-versus-them ways of thinking. It seeks to midwife an evolutionary shift beyond domination, discord and devastation toward healing, wholeness and holiness with one another and all creation.

Introduction by Cameron Simmons and Leanna Hudson of Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth.

This speech was given at the 2015 Bioneers Annual Conference.

Michael Meade & John Densmore – How Your Unique Genius Can Help Heal Nature and Culture

Legendary storyteller, author and scholar of mythology, anthropology and psychology, Michael Meade will show why we desperately need to awaken the genius within each of us – not only to achieve personal fulfillment, but to have any hope of addressing our global crises, restore the natural world, and heal our culture. Accompanied by John Densmore, legendary drummer of The Doors, he will weave storytelling, performance, mythology and street savvy. Introduction by Nina Simons, Bioneers Co-Founder and President.

This performance took place at the 2015 Bioneers Annual Conference.

Adrianna Quintero – Re-imagining the Environmentalist

Adrianna Quintero, a Senior Attorney at the NRDC and founder/Executive Director of Voces Verdes, says that if we want to have any chance of succeeding in securing a healthy future and a livable planet, it’s time to re-imagine the environmentalist. All of us have a connection to nature, and we need to embrace a new vision that reflects the realities of our time and the growing diversity in our country. As the U.S. moves toward being a minority majority nation and the Latino population asserts its very high commitment to environmental concerns, more and more of us need to feel welcomed and a part of the movement – even if we’ve never been on a hike.

Introduction by Kenny Ausubel, Co-Founder and CEO of Bioneers.

This speech was given at the 2015 Bioneers Annual Conference.

Xiuhtezcatl Martinez and Itzcuauhtli Roske-Martinez Perform with Jasi Sikora | Bioneers 2015

Xiuhtezcatl Martinez and Itzcuauhtli Roske-Martinez perform their original activist hip-hop with Jasi Sikora, all part of the Earth Guardians. This performance was given at the 2015 National Bioneers Conference.

Shannon Dosemagen – How the BP Oil Spill Inspired a New Citizen Science Model

Shannon Dosemagen will describe how communities worldwide are being equipped to use new tools to redefine expertise and mobilize local intelligence to protect public health and ecosystems. As Co-Founder/President of the multiple award-winning New Orleans-based Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science, she helped launch the Public Lab in response to the BP oil spill. Today it’s a groundbreaking platform and resource for citizen science environmental activism nationally and internationally.

Introduction by Joshua Fouts, Bioneers Executive Director.

To learn more about Shannon’s work, please visit The Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science.

This speech was given at the 2015 Bioneers Annual Conference.