Eco in World: One Day On Earth - Global Song Collaboration

My contribution to www.onedayonearth.org (One Day On Earth), the 2011-film.

Enjoy the natural habitat melting into an urban landscape, where nature encounter our civilization once again. Music is composed and recorded by me, and video is captured and edited by me with a simple cam. Watch it on my Music Youtube:

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Eco in Norway: The annual Zero Emission Conference 2011

Lord Anthony Giddens and me / Iselin Rolvsjord Fergestad (photo)

Speakers:
Einar Haandlykken, Executive Director of ZERO
Heidi Sorensen, State Secretary from The Ministry of the Environment
Erna Solberg, leader of the Conservative Party of Norway.
Anthony Giddens, sociologist member of Green Growth Council
Connie Hedegaard, European Commissioner for Climate Action
Arnold Schwarzenegger, former businessman, investor and politician
Bunker Roy, founder of Barefoot College
Martha Delgado Peralta, Head of the Mexico City Ministry of Environment
Ole Enger, President & CEO in REC Group
Representatives from the ”Powerhouse-alliance”
Johan Rockstrom, Executive Director of the Stockholm Environment Institute and the Stockholm Resilience Centre

Months have passed, and finally time for delivery again . :) Lots of work has occupied my life in all areas,this blog was a transition from travel to discovery, from meetings to life inventions and insight, and finally from past into presence. In a global, digital age, we need to keep up with the crowds, but not forget ourselves. To bring one`s imagination for real is not very far from computer generated reality of "other self exploration", either, as reality when it appears in nature is completely and fundamentally dependent on balancing energies. Human nature is to create human impact, in positive and negative sence. So the impact must be carefully designed in cooperation with natural flow of life assurements. In no other membership than our "Earth Company" where the executive is not the script writer, but the "structured improvisor".

Zero Conference:
I will give you excerpts from some of their best quotes. The conference http://www.zero11.no/ started out with its executive, Einar Haanlykken from the Zero Organization, and I will further promote his point with the growing abilities of China. As you might guess, Zero Conference is all-business.Or, maybe not. At least, this is macro economy ground zero.

Very similar to the german Econsense (my blog offer: http://ecoiselin.blogspot.com/2010/11/eco-in-germany-econsense-forum-berlin.html ).

Einar mentioned, that China was not the front runners of the industrial revolution. They were not ahead of the technology and media revolution, either. But, they apparently want to be the front runners of the renewables and sustainability revolution! So here they stand first in line, so that they are no longer the country "to be told what to do and where to move". Like Arnold Schwartznegger said at this conference; When we in the western countries have been driving cars for so long, we cannot suddenly tell the chinese to keep biking as usual, when we suddenly found out hundred years later that biking was a very good thing to do.:)

In Norway, we keep waiting for our target group and competitors to grow, before altering into anything like "front running". But with these huge world dominance-competitors and (previously) cold war-enemies like China and the US and Russia (and India), they have another attitude against innovation. We must not forget they are different in strategy than the power we struggle with around in Scandinavian countries.

From his speech to my point: It is important to remember that ethnographic study of innovation and industrial development in Norway, describes domestic innovation as mainly "need driven" . Which means that there are no innovation risks even though innovations exist in big volume (in opposite to Sweden)! As "we argue that innovation activity, by definition, will challenge and sometimes alter established boundaries" (quoted from this very important information of energy innovation and organizational establishment etc.: http://organizinginnovation.wordpress.com/ ).

When something is "need driven", we`d of course not pay attention to the strong rise of solar industry in the rest of Europe, increasing 42 percent in 2010 in Germany alone, with Italy straight behind at 21 percent.  It is soon becoming a competitive source of energy approaching grid parity with nuclear, and we don`t even know it!

In only 3 years, Europe has created 300 000 new jobs in the field of renewables (source: Hedegaard)! Apart from European rise, China wants to be the innovators, so their wind capacity is already on shore as the biggest consumer on earth of wind energy. By becoming a competitive part, China is now no longer a follower of the jet stream, the car industry or the industrial revolution, they are becomming leaders of some kind. And they are dangerously ahead of us, without us even knowing it. That is the price we`ll have to pay , by leaning on some "need driven" activity..

There are much things good, though, about the Norwegian patience. Our hope, is to become the "smartest solution"-maker and marketers. Norway has always been waiting. Always in great observation of others, maybe not carefully, but the observing role has been our brightest function also, with such a great student organization. But what is the fun of experts if experts are singular functional? This is why I cheer formost on entrepreneurs before anyone else.

In our orgs, specialized people with just the brightest ideas and history, remain inside their functional stabs maybe because of their social acceptance fright, and all the gold keep mourning inside with no matrixed crossfading solutions communicated in the public atmosphere to a man-next-door. But I am sure, that we have some golden opportunities here: In 2010, global green revenues increased by 7%,which is more than the Swiss GDP and a world record 400 billion EUR! (Source: Hedegaard)

We just have to look a little above our shoulders for a second, because the EU has a 20 percent renewables target combating the 15 percent emissions in Europe of global emissions, but increased as more industries in Europe are in other countries, so that we are also much more contributing. But the target is set. We have to keep following its tale.

How to develope our agriculture? Take a look at the Barefoot College as example: http://www.barefootcollege.org/ . Why is local contribution and knowledge important? Because, without the local knowledge, such as tribal togetherness, the agricultural spirit will never be delivered from grand-dads to grand-sons, and which is the rutine of the "undeveloped country"-style. So local feed, is needed. Sanitation, clean water, pure local electricity, and fair trade, is necessary. Creativity is not in our hands, but theirs. They already have it, as human beings. Give them the basic standards of life cycling sources, and they`ll soon be your employees! Why should we always think that by holding someone back in line, we come first? By bringing someone down, you hold yourself up?

Reality says: By constructing sustainable agriculture and functionality in developing countries, we give not only them the shed to self-help and sustainability, we also cut our own emissions so drastically, that we could perhaps fly another mile without feeling guilty by doing so. Because this strategy is very similar to Denmark`s shipping sector; pay its oil by offshore windmills giving the same amount ot energy back to the oil company (it is called carbon neutral strategy..), or when I visited the ecovillages last year - almost everyone seemed to agree to have a car in their household - because why not get the goods when you do so much good elsewhere? Like cleaning your waste water from the garage. It is smart - simply that !

Eco in Sweden: We're all Global Natives. The importance of keep travelling.

Gothenburg Museum of World Culture

I went to see an exciting exhibition at the World Culture Museum in our nabour country Sweden, which gave me some thoughts on the importance of travelling, and the reason why travelling does make you more aware of the environment if you're one of the globalized modern people. And also, that humans originally are migratory species and the idea of "Nations" is a relatively new idea historically speaking when we think thousands and not hundereds of years back- who would guess that! Evolution has it that prolonged settlement has a vertical axis of some ten thousand years, as explained on this badge:

Isolation, as we know it, is not very ecological. Permanent permaculture, maybe, if constructed in an international eco society. But most of us, do not live within permaculture or tend to think of the environment in every aspect, and therefor we have lost a lot of the experience since no grandfather is teaching us such anymore. Becoming more aware is not just for the political activists anymore, either. Some, even without activism in blood, might become even more active in the ecological field after travelling just a few places around the globe for getting the sense of another environment and culture, and we experience not only change in the culture shock, but also change within ourselves.

We will realize, that your homestead is largely influenced by your local supermarket instead of the wide inspiration on earth. My travel, has for sure expanded my horizons to become more aware. Even though it's not "to become aware", it became a result of the whole travel. The travel itself, was to get what I've felt is missing. And what is missing, lies within all of us. From this exhibition, images and words were explaining my travel sum-up.

Our late ancestors were local people with global economy ambitions; travel to conquer - not to explore, and to bring home the goods of another world, leaving traces in a rather brutal way.

But, our early ancestors on the other hand,  were more likely global people with no permanent homes, living with local economies.

We wandered all the way from early Stone Age to the previous ice ages, coping with environments we'd never dream of coping with today, sleeping with the Neanderthals, giving in to the mushroom feed and continuing with travel across Asia and the northern territory, continuing using our native drums in music all the way from Africa and bringing tents on animals who became our carriers, like donkeys and horses. Why did we travel or, did we?

When we are on travel, we are also at home. We are where we are. Present. I`d like to state that we need to remember that the continents in very early ages of humankind, looked quite different from today.. the Mediterranean was not there, and Africa was linked to Asia, South America to Europe (a new discovery of link between Palestine and Native Americans) and Australia to The Middle East and Egypt- making the tribes of Aborigine and Sumerian quite familiar at some points, that we can also spot in their spiritual habits of "free the soul"-rituals.

Further more, the islands of Fiji, Haiti, Easter Island and even Hawaii did not exist in the shape they are today, they were linked to the mainland, and which - made all native tribes more "in contact" with each other, and wandering between places for finding new "green areas" for their animals to feed them. In fact, there is a link through all natives in all countries in the semi-nomadic lifestyle. Why do they otherwise look so the same, to us? Why do we still call natives - "natives"? the cultures have changed, alongside nations, but we still know they like to keep some of their past traditions.

They all live from day- to- day-basis ,like using sun dials instead of daily clocks controlling time schedule. When building community for the future and now, their significance is especially to maintain a vertical family- and society structure. This is an opposite to our horizontal structure for forward-thinking.

Having vertical structure, means that their rituals or traditions (like cooking or music; in other words identity ) are based on ancient pride, while usage of resources and leadership-communities are based on future generations' and climate demands, often formed as spiral seashells in dialogue. Even their dance routines generally speaking, is often a spiral form dance. Based on ancestor-instincts, but also based on the fact that the whole Earth had ONE source (the very elements we all need to live), and not divided into several states and several powers.

Wheather-harmony; Sun Dials in most native societies.

When we started conquering other countries (mainly the British...erm), and separeted ourselves from nature, we also unfortunately made all our natives separate into many "different" tribes and conditions. WE as high-industrial nations, actually made them isolated. They were not, from the beginning, isolated from the rest of the world, even how local and soul-searching they might seem. So, this whole concept of ideas we have of isolated, primitive and not-so-global natives are completely wrong ideas. They were in fact our global citizens, that we are stribing to become today in all our adjustment to globalization and universal ideas, long before we started to name anyone a president or anyone a king.

The importance of travelling (in the aim of discovery) is therefor something we must not reconsider together with all the other things we are reconsidering today that are environmentally friendly. Yes, I am aware of plane traffics, but on the other hand - without transport of people in and out of other countries, how can we then become ecologically educated enough to provide politics or even make decisions that are affecting other countries? We NEED to get to know our roots and ourselves better by asking our neighbor, to understand that we are connected.

Not to mention, to appreciate the beauty of nature's diversity. When travelling, you are "forced" to look around. You can not escape from finding challenges in nature on your road, and you can not escape from meeting new people that are local experts on their own natural fields. I am all - into travel. And, I will continue with it. On the other note: Travelling has made me more aware of the many local economies out there. That the global economy we once were dependant on, is shrinking. This is extremely important. Learning is by experiencing differences and similarities, also.

Because life would never be able to evolve, without a knowledge and practice of a local feed, then on a global scale we need information of local climate to survive. And when you understand what is local, you might also start to build bridges between your own habitat - and - theirs, more like a winwin-union; where local opportunities meet global challenges and generational teaching can continue. This is when the Earth will evolve, I believe. When we understand that there are more roads than what is decided by your government or by your ruling company, when we see more than just 1 road which would more like to take personal advantages of your local resource than to develop it, honestly. To get into the depth of the soil we all came from, I guess the first step is to start exploring it, digging it, and if you can't access Google Mongolia or Google Amazon to breath the clean oxygen from trees and climbing mountains, you'd need to go and look for it yourself! Reading about it is one thing, experience is something quite different.



Apart from our civilized, organized and growing families within nations, we're all global natives from the very roots.

Eco in Germany: 10/10/10

I am in Berlin, folks! And I found out I must be alittle crazy, as when I entered Alexanderplatz at last after gardening at Pricessgarden in a completely other part of the city, (though I`ll have to thank the very extrordinary good subway-system here!), I came an hour late to join the Silent Climate Parade (http://www.climateparade.de/), and the organizers asked me to leave my passport in order to get headphones for the concept which I did not have right there by hand, and said I just arrived by bus from Copenhagen some hours ago and all the way from Norway- and they all looked surprised "aah.. well, you are very welcome!" Probably the only foreigner there, as every one was Berliner citizens!..surprising, as I now see myself as worldcitizen I actually felt kind of out-of-place, still. So I told them I came all the way from Norway JUST to join this event, and I did not need any other proof to make them believe I was gonna play safely at their event. :) Ah. I understand my purpose better now. I am wildly joining events in the world, and every map is a web for my sences to explore and to live. And last but not least, to make good traces - and bring this forward (like here in blogs or everywhere communicative!). The Silent Climate Parade was getting attention, even though the noise was as low as any blowing leaf. I would like there to be more people joining this parade, but even more surprisingly the Princessgarden and its low-profile marketing housed even just the same amount of energetic people!..hmm. The size doesn`t matter in this case. The concept of bringing locals in to participate in local green activites, seem to attract the people nearby just from the method of understanding the purpose of greening your neighbourhood. Inspiring, that is. Bring your local neighbour in for a coffee drink and a nice dig to harvest potatoes for a common dish. :) The great Silent Climate Parade was named "silent" because onlookers did not hear music, as the music came from headphones worn by the participants. And the wireless music again came from a storage of solar-energy captured by the dj-set. Remarkable and creative idea!

A nice cafè in the Princessgarden

Me dancing

The Broadcast Tower absorbing signals from space and the tree absorbing Co2 from air

Eco in Denmark: Motivation campaigns everywhere

The danish people, from private institutes and businesses -to governmental plans, are very good at public attitude campaigns through posters,products labels and commercials about global changes and personal growth, which we do not have this much in Norway.

It came as a shock to me to discover how well organized this informal arts-campaign works all over the region! In norwegian stores, the most common bag is a plastic bag when you buy something.

In a danish store, the most common bag is a recycled bag, and it is for the same amount of cost as a backwards-plastic bag in Norway, just alittle less than 1 DKK/1 NOK almost. Whereas recycled bags in Norways would cost 1,70 DKK/NOK almost and bags of other material than plastic - about 17 DKK/NOK.
I will post some examples of the messages printed. Even on the Coke bottle, which is made of recycled plant material by the way, one has a message. 

 And every train has a garbage bag with message, as well as every station has a poster with one. Shops and retails have recommended products with HUGE signs "Ecological" on the front row in the stores, and not hidden in the back of the store. I can name examples: Superbest, Super Brugsen, Lidl, and also the smaller ones.

CORE VALUES IN CULTURE: Without glorifying the danish people as one, it is something special of danish cultural spirit to do information like this, and few people complain about the informal arts because the individuals of danes have something rare in common; to develope common ground at the bottom-up philosophy. As it is not only governmental information, it shows that private businesses care just as much about core values of the people as any rural person does.

The danish people are very proud people of their core and stable social culture, so they keep feeding it to their citizens. If things like this happened in Norway, I think people would immediately start saying there are some few leaders trying to put an idealistic view into some peoples' minds. Instead in Denmark, it is a part of their culture to motivate and engage people in social core values.