STATUS NOTE: Thank you for all of your contributions and thoughtful comments to this specific consultation forum on the draft CODES flagship report. The moderation of this specific forum page was finalized on June 30 2021, and this thread was closed accordingly. All of your inputs are taken note of. Based on inputs, the CODES Co-champions are compiling an Action Plan, which will be brought back to the stakeholders for comments by early 2022 through a new forum. |
The UN General Assembly is going to have an historic thematic debate on Digital Cooperation and Connectivity on 27 April. It will include a dedicated segment on greening our digital future.
More information is available here.
What is the signal most important issue that you would want to raise at this debate concerning environmental sustainability and digital transformation ?
Great questions Régia. I was listening to David's interview on the podcast that he posted. He talked about how the old ways (the top-down government approach has not worked, the bottom-up grassroots approach has not worked either) and they also talked about a third approach which also has not worked. David said that all sectors and approaches need to be utilized. I think the digital world can play a role in connecting a lot of the dots. They also talked about this in the podcast. He said that a lot of initiatives at UNEP are siloed. I think that a lot of people are doing amazing things but they are not connected and thus the impact is not that big. if we can somehow start connecting the dots more things might change. Soil for example. I mentioned that I'm interested in soil health. I'm developing a film called Salt of the Earth. I realized the best way to convert farmers is to show not tell. Like the book Soil Revolution, the farmers are seeing the benefits of no til. Your expertise in soil can play a big role. Like what I mentioned in my earlier post, we need to create a vision that people can feel inspired to act. The urban poor refugees that I talked to, I told my colleagues that we should involve the college students in helping define and realize a super local vision that will benefit the poor themselves. Using the collective power of the poor to change their own ideas of themselves. I got this idea from reading the Grapes of Wrath when the farmers started forming their own rules and implementing it themselves when the police were not able to mess with them anymore inside the government camps. it doesn't matter who will make a difference, big CEOs or government or grassroots, we all need to start coming together and find our place in that big vision. We need the coalition to start spreading stories of small people making a difference. I think if the poor can empower themselves, then the rest of us can. I know there are inspiring stories and solutions all over the world. Westerners tend to think as individuals and come up with solutions that target the individual. Filipinos like myself come from a collective culture. We tend to think as a collective. We need both paradigms to cover the north and the south. What will help us if we can identify resources we can use like land that can be converted into demonstration farms. We can make demonstration projects for different things like the points you raise in your post like literacy and water and food. like what they like to say in Hollywood, show don't tell. I think the CODES coalition needs to show what has been done, what is currently being done, and what can be done, since the UNEP along with the other agencies and governments like in Germany, have a lot of experience in sustainability. We just have a problem talking to each other. I think the digital transformation can be like a universal language of 1s and 0s that allow all of us to talk together and share stories and inspire small and big projects that can inspire the poor who are usually left out in the digital world.
James Castillo, for your comment. I'm going to follow Mr. David's podcast. I agree that no strategy has worked so far in terms of reaching the igualitary society. That is why I advocate that no one be left behind in this process. I find this format of discussion group interesting, involving professionals from various areas of knowledge and degree of study. I watched a video of you about poor residents of a neighborhood, but now I don't remember the title of that video. Anyway, I found your video interesting and maybe following this model of approaching different themes that involves today's society is an interesting path for you. It will be a way for you to draw the attention of society to the necessary transformation. I agree that there are many people developing incredible projects, but in an isolated way.
Currently, after completing my doctorate, I am working on the university humanitarian project YouthMappers, founded by four American universities. I'll leave the link here in case anyone wants to know this project: https://www.youthmappers.org/
I act as a regional ambassador for Brazil, but I also collaborate with the activities of groups in this project in other countries in Latin America. The idea of this project is to develop open geospatial data for local communities, to facilitate the actions of humanitarian institutions that need to bring aid to vulnerable populations, in addition to helping to train young leaders who can help to build a more just and conscientious society. All this through collaborative mapping, where university students in different parts of the world are mapping roads, streets, highways, houses, commercial buildings, schools, hospitals, agricultural areas, areas of natural preservation, areas at risk of flooding, areas at risk of landslides, areas with cultural heritage, mobility, green areas in cities, issues related to COVID-19 and many other related topics.
On environmental issues, I am looking for help to develop two projects:
1- Mapping desertification areas in the semiarid region of Brazil and comparing them with land degradation areas in the Midwest region of Brazil.
2 - Development of a global digital platform on agricultural climate and production data. It would be something that anybody could enter data in and also benefit from.
As you know, Brazil is currently going through an obscure phase in science, politics and other topics, but I don't want to get into a political discussion here. However, I am willing to help in whatever is necessary to build a more just world.Mr. James, do you know the HUMAN documentary series? Anyway, I will leave the links here, that will help some people to have good ideas.
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3