Watering Down: Water Management Strategies for Climate Change

From rangeland to metropolis, these brilliant innovators are watering down, developing ground-breaking water management strategies for a climate changed world.  Hosted by Sarah Newkirk, Coastal Project Director, Nature Conservancy, developing natural infrastructure solutions for coastal resilience (Sarah begins at 1:01:45) with Andy Lipkis, founder/president, TreePeople, biomimicking forest watersheds for climate-resilient cities and water supplies (Andy begins at 2:30); Courtney White, co-founder, Quivira Coalition, building bridges among ranchers, conservationists, public land managers, scientists and citizens for economic and ecological resilience on working landscapes (Courtney begins at 36:00).

Recorded at the 2014 National Bioneers Conference in San Rafael, California.

Your Brain On Water

Hosted by marine biologist Wallace “J.” Nichols, research associate, California Academy of Sciences; co-founder, OceanRevolution.org; author of Blue Mind. New ways of understanding our relationship with the world’s oceans and the ability of healthy waters to provide health, happiness and creativity will be considered by a panel of athletes, scientists, artists, and adventurers. With: Kevin Weiner, post-doctoral fellow, Stanford University and Director of Public Communication, Institute for Applied Neuroscience; Nik Sawe, doctoral candidate, Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources, Stanford University; and Andi Wong, Teaching Artist, Rooftop Alternative K-8 School.

Recorded Sunday, October 19, 2014 at the National Bioneers Conference in San Rafael, California.

The Frontlines of Greening Educational Systems: Achieving Environmental Literacy for All

Schools, colleges, and universities can become community models for sustainability, inspiring innovation and teaching environmental literacy for the next generation. Learn from leaders and practitioners how to achieve political, financial, and student success. Hosted by Deborah Moore, founder, Green Schools Initiative. With: David Orr, renowned eco-educator and author, Senior Adviser to the President of Oberlin College; Jennifer Seydel, Executive Director, Green Schools National Network; Nik Kaestner, Sustainability Coordinator, and Elishama Goldfarb, Environmental Literacy Specialist, San Francisco Unified School District.

Recorded Saturday, October 18, 2014 at the National Bioneers Conference in San Rafael, California.

The Choir and Beyond: Media and Social Change

How are media innovators propelling social change by reaching out to diverse constituencies and across political divides? Hosted by Jeremy Kagan, award-winning filmmaker, USC professor and founder of Change Making Media Lab. With: Bryan Welch, Publisher and Editorial Director, Ogden Publications (Mother Earth News, Mother Earth Living, Utne Reader) Arisha Michelle Hatch, Managing Director of Campaigns, ColorOfChange.org; John S. Bracken, Director of Media Innovation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Recorded Friday, October 17, 2014 at the National Bioneers Conference in San Rafael, California.

Re-Localizing the Food System

Three leading innovators show how to transform the food system to expand local economies and nurture vibrant community cultures. Hosted by Arty Mangan, Director, Bioneers Restorative Food Systems program. With: Michael H. Shuman, expert on community economics, author of Local Dollars, Local Sense; Severine v T Fleming, farmer, activist, filmmaker, founder of Greenhorns; Karen Brown, Creative Director, Center for Ecoliteracy.

Recorded Friday, October 17, 2014 at the National Bioneers Conference in San Rafael, California.

What’s Good for Life Wins: The Biomimicry Scientific Revolution | Janine Benyus, Jason McClennan…

Bathing suits modeled on sharkskin that win the Olympics. Low-energy display screen based on peacock feathers. Nature has done everything human societies want to do technologically – without mining the past or mortgaging the future. Acclaimed author, naturalist and biomimicry leader Janine Benyus uncorks a mind-boggling bouquet of breakthrough innovations that, like nature, create conditions conducive to life. The astonishing work of biomimics Stephen Dewar, Jason McLennan and Bob Hawkins in this genuine scientific revolution shows why preserving nature and biological diversity is our best survival strategy.

Explore our Biomimicry media collection >

They Don’t Call Her Mother Earth for Nothing: Women Re-imagining the World | Shinoda Bolen…

Transformational women leaders are restoring societal balance by showing us how to reconnect relationships – not only among people – but between people and the natural world.  This astounding conversation among diverse women leaders provides a fascinating window into the soulful depths of what it means to restore the balance between our masculine and feminine selves to bring about wholeness, justice and true restoration of people and planet. Join Alice Walker, Jean Shinoda Bolen, Nina Simons, Sarah Crowell, Joanna Macy and Akaya Windwood to imagine a future where women, children, men and the planet can thrive.

Just Like A Woman: Nature, Chemicals and the Feminization of Science | Charlotte Brody

There is a fundamental need to restore a female perspective to the male-dominated world of science.  Is it any accident that the first person to sound the alarm about chemical pollution was Rachel Carson, a woman? These dangerous chemicals are “feminizing” all us critters by disrupting our hormone balances. How did we get here? And what can we do about it? Environmental health advocate Charlotte Brody suggests that female scientists, with a different way of seeing problems and solutions, may lead us toward a new and healthy approach to the connections between human health and the health of the planet.

The Green-Collar Economy: Jobs, Justice and Prosperity | Van Jones and Majora Carter

Just how dumb do they think we are? Who would believe that destroying the ecosystems on which all life depends, while dis-employing more and more people, is somehow good for the economy? But exactly that fiction of jobs versus the environment has been successfully marketed to us. Community organizers Van Jones and Majora Carter propose a radically simple solution for both environmental destruction and social inequality: Bring the rising green revolution to low-income, urban America.

Eco Schools: Educating for Sustainable Communities | Fritjof Capra, Cheryl Charles, and David Orr

Most American schools are flunking out when it comes to how well they integrate ecological literacy across the curriculum.  And many are doing no better than a C average with the idea that schools should be actively engaged in sustaining the natural and social communities in which schools exist. Fritjof Capra, co-founder of the Center for Ecoliteracy, and leading environmental educators Cheryl Charles and David Orr explore what’s working for the A+ schools that are successfully integrating ecological awareness, understanding and practices through the curriculum and the community.

Designing a World for the 100%, by the 100% | Elizabeth Thompson, Erin Meezan, Jane Harrison, and Dawn Danby

Leading women designers gathered by the Buckminster Fuller Institute (BFI) explore the principles of participatory design—inclusion, cooperation, community, regeneration—and how we can design a human world that meets everyone’s needs without harming the bio- sphere. Hosted by Elizabeth Thompson, BFI Executive Director. With: Erin Meezan, VP of Sustainability, Interface, Inc.; Jane Harrison, co-founder, PITCHAfrica/Waterbank Schools; Dawn Danby, Senior Sustainable Design Program Manager, Autodesk, Inc.

Recorded Friday, October 17, 2014 at the National Bioneers Conference in San Rafael, California.