Welcome new Enve students!

Welcome new students to TAMK! Here is the basic information you should know about G.L.O.B.E.:

GLOBE is a student club for Enviromental Engineering students in TAMK. We organize different sorts of events, gatherings and trips for all ENVEs. We also try to influence on important environmental issues in our surroundings. Everyone is free to join us and also to bring in new ideas.

Board members 2010

Magdalena Gerlach
chairperson
magdalena.gerlach[at]env.tamk.fi
044 262 2691

Olga Garmash
vice chairperson
olga.garmash[at]env.tamk.fi

Kaisa Valkonen
secretary
kaisa.valkonen[at]env.tamk.fi
040 751 7574

Intern -Economic justice campaign

Intern place available. Full time and working in the FoEE office in Brussels. See more here

Nokia - Sustainability report 2009 - Reporting - Corporate responsibility

Nokia - Sustainability report 2009 - Reporting - Corporate responsibility

12%. The percentage in Carbon Dioxide emissions cut from 2006 levels. Three years early. A modest target, but how many companies manage to hit these sort of targets on time, let alone early? A good start from Nokia, but we all need more!

Utter garbage - an average Helsinki resident produces 340 kilos of household waste each year

Helsingin Sanomat - International Edition - Metro

A very good article in my opinion but what I want to know is what is going to happen to all that plastic once the installation is taken down? And also, why on earth does the largest city in the country not have it's own plastic recycling centre?

Thoughts and comments, as always, more than welcome!

BBC News - In pictures: Alien clean-up

BBC News - In pictures: Alien clean-up

Indeed a worthy effort being made to tackle an important issue!

Seminar: Displacement induced by Environmental Problems and Development

Interesting seminar in Helsinki! Seminar language is English, Check out details below:

Seminar: Displacement induced by Environmental Problems and Development


Date: 10-11.6.2010
Location: Balder Hall, Aleksanterinkatu 12, Helsinki

Programme:

Thursday, June 10th

8:30 Coffee and registration
9:00 Opening
9:30 Session I - INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
12:00 Lunch
13:00 Session II - AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SOVEREIGNTY
15:30-16:00 Conclusions

Friday, June 11th

8:30 Coffee and registration
9:00 Session III - MINING & INDUSTRIAL PLANTATIONS
11:30 Lunch
12:30 Session IV - CLIMATE CHANGE
15:00-16:00 Conclusions and closing

Speakers:

Suman Koreti, India Parivartan
Rajendra Prasad, India PAD - Peoples Action for Development
Pen Raingsey, Cambodia NGO Forum on Cambodia
Carlos Vicente, Argentina Acción por la Biodiversidad
Rivani Noor, Indonesia CAPPA – Community Alliance for Pulp Paper Advocacy
Zainuri Hasyim, Indonesia Mitra Insani
Bakary Doumbia, Mali Kilabo
Prafulla Samantara, India South Asian Dialogues on Ecological Democracy

Run to ends the run

Run to Ends the run

Running for water is in, in many parts of the world.

"A gaggle of celebrities just climbed Kilimanjaro to promote awareness of the clean water crisis. This April, in hundreds of cities around the world, runners will take to the streets for 10 km-the average distance a woman walks to collect water from a dirty source-to raise money and awareness of the water crisis." (from runtoendtheruns...)

Nobody runs for toilets, except these two Kate Fogelberg and Matt Santo, read more of their issue here...

The Pulitzer Gateway on Water Wars

"The Pulitzer Gateway on Water Wars is a place where students and teachers can interact directly with Pulitzer Center reporters — and with each other — to learn about and discuss the importance of water around the world.

The public is also invited to explore the reporting, post their own story about water, and participate in special features, such as the “Ask the expert” section."

picture: Public domain picture by author Jon Sullivan

Hands-On practical training in Ethiopia

Our enve-students travelled to Ethiopia.

Read more here

YouPEC 2010

Have you heard of YouPEC? YouPEC is the YOUth PErspective Conference on Biodiversity, a unique seminar that will be bringing 150 people from all over Europe to Belgium from the 1st to the 6th of July, to learn about, discuss and share knowledge and experience on biodiversity.

Though applications have been closed a while ago there are still a number of places for young people from: *Belgium, Estonia, France, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania, Latvia, Luxemburg, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, UK.

To learn more go to (latest applications for the second round by 10th May): www.youpec2010.eu

Mother Earth's favorite timepiece - the Sprout watch

Mother Earth's favorite timepiece - the Sprout watch

And from ionised water to watches! When you stop to consider what goes into even a mid-range watch let alone a high end one you start to wonder. Now a lot of people will point out that vintage watches are big market these days, primarily for the real high end ones. And that is to be commended, after all, if people would rather have something that was made twenty, thirty, forty years or more ago than something made last week then I will not stand in their way. But so much of today's society don't want this. They want it new and now. And this is right where these rather funky watches are aimed. My eldest daughter will be starting pre-school in about four months and I am firmly of the mind that one of these will be her first watch, these watches are so good for that sort of thing in my opinion. And yes I am seriously considering one for myself as well. After all, the one I have now doesn't do that much more than these!

So spread the word, if you are on the look out for a good watch, then look no further than the Sprout!

Oh and for those of us not in the USA, Amazon is your friend!

Activeion spray bottle uses water as a disinfectant

Activeion spray bottle uses water as a disinfectant

Now as someone who wrote about Triclosan for his final dissertation at TAMK this is a product that most definitely appeals to me! And having just checked the companies web site I am happy to see that a European subsidiary has been set up to market and sell the cleaners over here.

The science behind this is not new to me, but the concept and application thereof is. I can't really see where this is going to go wrong. Of course it has an almighty fight on its hands to convince people that "water with a bit of electricity" is really going to be better than chemicals for cleaning, but I believe the European market is more ready to acknowledge this fact and go for this. Yes it is a steep initial outlay, but then, apart from some new rechargeable batteries, you never need buy anything new for it again. Just keep pouring water in it!

So this is on the shopping list as well as making sure that if I ever need new sports shoes in the near future I will buy Puma!

The New PUMA Fuseproject Packaging

Now this I think is really the type of thinking that will go a long way to helping us all! Well done Puma! Now come on Nike, Addidas  et. al.!

Flee market event in Keskustori on Sunday 18.4.!

Flee market is on again in Keskustori area on Sunday 18.4. at 10-15

All kind of equipment and clothes for prices to bargain, lets hope for a sunshine for Sunday morning :)

Sama suomeksi:

Moron supersuosittu peräkonttikirppis järjestetään Keskustorilla jälleen sunnuntaina 18.4. Tällä kertaa myyntipaikat arvotaan. Uutta on myös pyöräilijöille ja jalan liikkuville myyjille tarkoitettu oma myyntialueensa..... read more here

British Council seeks for new Climate Advocates

The British Council’s Challenge Europe project brings together motivated people who want to make a lasting impact on climate change debate. Challenge Europe enables these ”Climate Advocates”, coming from 13 different European countries and all walks of life, to improve their knowledge of climate change issues and provides a platform for them to develop innovative and practical projects to reduce carbon use. The project will harness the power of arts and cultural exchange to make the message more effective. As part of the Baltic Sea Action Summit in Helsinki the British Council made a commitment to focus the Challenge Europe in Finland not only to mitigating climate change but also to helping to recover the Baltic Sea. By focusing on the effects of climate change on one of our dearest natural resources, we hope to motivate people to take concrete steps towards combating climate change. We are now recruiting 15 passionate young people in Finland to become Climate Advocates. As a Climate Advocate you will benefit from capacity building by experts from Finland and UK and possibility to take part in international networking events. In exchange for the chance to participate in the project, you are asked to commit approximately 150 hours of your time. Over the period of one year you will be part of a multidisciplinary country team working together in developing concrete ideas which have the potential to bring about carbon reductions and help to recover the Baltic Sea through changes in policy, business or human behaviour. Supported by the British Council, the project teams will then pitch their ideas to broader publics, specifically reaching out to decision-makers and organisations, campaigning for implementation and support in an effort to make the ideas become reality. If you wish to apply to become a Climate Advocate go here to find out more and find application forms. Deadline for applications is Friday 23 April. The selected Climate Advocates will meet for the first time on Saturday 8 May when we organise a climate seminar in Helsinki together with Dodo ry. This seminar is open for all who are interested in climate change and how it affects the Baltic Sea.

World Water Day: Why business needs to worry - BBC News

World Water Day 2010 started for me just like any other Monday and by 08:30 Finnish time I was ready to check ou the headlines from around the world on the BBC news website. One of my personal favourites is to check out what the sites "Top 10 most read" are, and this is the list that greeted me:

The headline at number two, was a particular surprise. Now bare in mind, it was 06:30GMT and 07:30CET so a lot of Europe hadn't had much time to check it's news on the BBC yet, so it was being read by people from places like India, China and Australia. I already had the page open on another tab and immediately clicked through to it.



And was greeted by Peter Brabeck-Letmanthe, the Chairman of none other than Nestle! Well that was a shock for a start. A quick scan of the first few lines confirmed that yes this was indeed a World Water Day story, and that yes a World Water day story was trending second on the BBC news website, well immediately my interest was increased even further. For while we do indeed have some Nestle branded products on our shop shelves here in Finland, we don't get there chocolate products. And those, along with some of Nestle's recent actions in the field of Social Media related to their production of such have given Nestle's enemies in the environmental NGO's a field day and a mass of extra publicty! Most of which has passed by the mainstream media here in Finland. Those stories are the subject of another blog post so for now we will only say that Nestle are on the back foot in the press.


With the publication of this article however I think that Nestle, despite what you think or what people accuse them of, are not that blind to the problems around the world and that face us all with relation to water in the 21st century. After all they were not forced into joining the 2030 Water Resources Group back in 2008, but they saw themselves that it is in everyone's best interests that water scarcity be given some serious thought and discussion. The report that has been produced by the group and the scientists involved runs to a 198 pages and is called "Charting Our Water Future, Economic frameworks to inform decision making" and should be a must read for all of us!


So pile in and over the coming days let me know what you think. You can find the report here. The full report is a 5.3MB pdf format file.


Before I finish a personal message to all of those first year Environmental Engineering students of TAMK who are reading this. I hope that your first World Water Day in TAMK was a glowing success, I am sure it was!

Corky the Kinetic Mouse - no batteries required

Corky the Kinetic Mouse - no batteries required

Now the last product that I blogged about could actually be brought there and then. But this you can't. Not right now anyway.

But I really, really hope I can get one soon! Over the years that I have had a personal computer that has needed a mouse I must of brought, used and disposed of (not always in a green way) about a dozen or so computer mouse. And until I read about this mouse I had not really heard of any that were designed and marketed on their green credentials. With both it's outer and it's plastic parts made from, locally, recycled parts and with its, hoped for, ability to generate enough energy internally to never need a new battery this could be the first in a long line of green mice.

As soon as more details are available I will update you.

Water Day at TAMK 23.3.2010

The first year Environmental Engineering students are arranging the Water Day happening at TAMK on 23.3.2010.

The day includes lectures, info and contests.

The Opening Ceremony is at 12.00 in the Teiskontie main lobby - Program ends at 16.00.

The event is open for all interested!

Further information
Olga Garmash
olga.garmash (AT) env.tamk.fi

For more detailed information about the event, see TAMK's English blog

Luontoliiton leiriohjaajakurssi Tampereella - course to be a leader for environmental camps and env. education

In case any enves are interested, there is Finnish Nature League's course for leaders for environmental camps and courses and of environmental education in Tampere. Its in Finnish, but those interested and can manage with Finnish, read more below.

Learn more about The Finnish Nature League


17.-18.4. Leiriohjaaja- ja johtajakurssi Tampereella, HLP:n toimistolla, Varastokatu 3.

Kurssi tarjoaa tietoa ja käytännön vinkkejä luontoleirin suunnittelusta, järjestämisestä ja vetämisestä. Kurssi on tarkoitettu uusille luontoleirien ohjaajille ja johtajille. Kurssin käymisestä on etua, jos haluaa leirityöntekijäksi Luonto-Liiton leireille.

Kurssin ohjelmassa:
- Luontoleirien tavoitteet ja erityispiirteet
- Ympäristökasvatus teoriassa ja käytännössä
- Leirin tekijät
- Lasten kohtaaminen
- Leirin turvallisuus ja ongelmatilanteet
- Ohjelman suunnittelu teoriassa ja käytännössä

Kurssihinta: Luonto-Liiton jäsenet 20 e, muut 40 e. Hintaan sisältyy ohjelma, materiaalit ja kahvitarjoilua. Tukea kurssiin ja matkoihin voit kysyä omasta piiristäsi.
Lisätietoja ja ilmoittautumiset: reetta.salminen (AT) gmail.com

Water Pebble watches you (and your water usage) in the shower

Water Pebble watches you (and your water usage) in the shower

Now I try to refrain from using this blog as a place to punt services and advertise products but something about this little gadget and the really rather cool thinking behind it has made me decide to make an exception in this case.

I except that I may well be preaching to the converted on this front but how many of us know a family member or friend that always seems to be taking excessively long showers. I like this so much, and as a more "fun" way to teach my girls about taking care of how much water they use I shall be buying three! One for our house, one for my for brother and one my parents!

A brilliant device that I hope can help a lot of people save a lot of water!

EARTH HOUR Tampere on March 27

Earht Hour is here again! Switch off your lights to save energy on Saturday March 27, the time in Finland is 20.30-21.30. There is also programme organised by the city for the evening, such as music and a fire performance in the central square.

More info about the happening (in Finnish) can be found through the links in the Earth Hour website:
http://earthhourtampere.wordpress.com/

as well as in Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Earth-Hour-Tampere/300123893996?ref=ts


-kaisa

Talk about Climate change (... in Finnish)

Surely an interesting discussion on next week's Friday, unfortunately only in Finnish:

Sampolan juhlasalissa perjantaina 12.3. klo 18.00 alkaen.

* Pentti Linkola, Suomen kuuluisin kalastaja ja toisinajattelija, jolla on omakohtaisia luontohavaintoja 50-luvulta lähtien puhuu Elämänsuojelusta.
* Oras Tynkkynen,valtioneuvoston ilmastopoliittinen asiantuntija kertoo Miksi ilmastonmuutoksesta pitäisi olla huolissaan – ja mitä sille voidaan tehdä
* Jukka Leskelä, Energiateollisuus ry:n johtaja visioi Hiilineutraalia sähköä ja kaukolämpöä
* Tilaisuuden alussa Pirkanmaan Jätehuolto Oy:n toimitusjohtaja Pentti Rantala palkitsee parhaat Kelaa Vähän elokuvat
* Klo 17.00 alkaen samassa salissa nuorten ilmastonmuutosaiheisia lyhytelokuvia

Vapaa pääsy. Kaikki tervetulleita!

 

 

 

-Kaisa

Water and sanitation to all - Join the queue! - World Water Day 22.3.2010

World Water Day - 22 March 2010

is approaching...


Taken from here, read the following:

"World Water Day, 22 March 2010, is a crucial moment in the fight against the global sanitation and water crisis that’s killing 4000 children every single day.

Just one month later, politicians from across the globe will gather in Washington DC. to discuss what they need to do to fulfil some of the most basic rights of the world’s citizens – access to a safe toilet and clean water.

They must act, and so must we.

The World’s Longest Toilet Queue is a mass mobilisation event and Guinness World Record attempt bringing together thousands of campaigners from across the world to demand real change at the meeting.

We need your action too!

Join in on World Water Day by organising or joining a Queue of people to demand action from the world’s governments! You’ll find everything you need to get involved – ideas, resources and advice – in this site. So go ahead and make a stand for sanitation and water!"

Dont forget to Join the queue here

Climate Change & Invasive Species

Invasive Species Thriving in Period of Climate Change

Invasive Species Thriving in Period of Climate Change

February 5, 2010 /EIN PRESSWIRE/ According to a study by Harvard University scientists, invasive species appear to thrive during times of climate change, meaning the species could become more prevalent and more destructive.

The study suggests that the invasive species are more apt to thrive because they're better able to adjust to the changing timing of annual activities such as flowering and fruiting.

"These results demonstrate for the first time that climate change likely plays a direct role in promoting non-native species success," says study author Charles C. Davis, assistant professor in organismic and evolutionary biology at Harvard.

One of the control elements for the study was a dataset from author Henry David Thoreau, who cataloged the plants of Walden Pond in the 1850s. His meticulous notes, including flowering times and species occurrences, were compared to present-day conditions at Walden Pond, where plants now bloom as much as three weeks earlier due to early spring thaws.

"In the United States alone the estimated annual cost of invasive species exceeds $120 billion," says Davis.

Read more about this story at Environmental News Today:

Latest Invasive Species news - http://environment.einnews.com/news/invasive-species

Climate action tracker

How ambitious are the countries' goals to reduce emissions?
Can we keep the temperature below 2 degrees? See really interesting Climateactiontracker

"The current pledges leave the world heading for a global warming of over 3°C above pre-industrial levels by 2100. "

Guest lecturer to share newest research information on climate impact of aerosols

Researcher Eija Asmi from the Finnish Meteorological Institute will be lecturing in TAMK about aerosols and their impact on climate systems and their connection to current climate change.

The visit will be part of a free-choice Climate change -course (Global Climate Change - Sources and solutions) arranged for the first time in TAMK by the degree programme of Environmental Engineering.

Aerosols (fine, airborne particles) play an important role in the global climate balance and can therefore be important to climate change. Climate forcings due to aerosols are not well known yet, especially the indirect radiative forcing they can cause. Aerosols are one of the greatest sources of uncertainty in interpretation of climate change in projection of future climate change.

Everyone is welcomed to join and listen the guest lecturer's speech on

Friday 5.2.2010, 1 pm at A3-27 in TAMK (Teiskontie 33).

QualityLowInputFood - food safety researched

The Integrated Project QualityLowInputFood ended in April 2009.

Interesting information about food safety for all of us.

"The project aims were to improve quality, ensure safety and reduce cost along the organic and "low input" food supply chains through research, dissemination and training activities. The project focused on increasing value to both consumers and producers using a fork to farm approach."

Check also: http://www.pan-europe.info/

How much are we willing to take and why shouldnt everything show in the product contents when we buy the food. Really glad there is the organic garden and food project beginning at TAMK and within GLOBE and environmental engineering students. Something really needed.

Nokia Climate Mission - Game Trailer

ECOVILLAGE DESIGN EDUCATION TRAINING FOR SUSTAINABILITY IN ITALY

THE FEDERATION OF DAMANHUR in partnership with GAIA EDUCATION presents the first

ECOVILLAGE DESIGN EDUCATION
TRAINING FOR SUSTAINABILITY IN ITALY
April 17 – May 18, 2010

*The application deadline for funding through Grundtvig for EU
participants is 15 January 2010**

Endorsed by *UNITAR (United Nations Institute for Training and Research)* and based on the *Gaia Education Ecovillage Design Curriculum*, this seminar is an official contribution to the *United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development 2005–2014*.

GOALS OF THIS COURSE INCLUDE for example:

• exploring solutions and experiencing effective models to transform society
• sharing 35 years of experience in creating a sustainable society
• transmitting design and implementation skills for effective projects
• restoring nature and building community on our planet
• developing an artistic approach to life and problem solving

YOU WILL GAIN:

• a Gaia Education Certificate as EDE designer
• integrative design skills in four areas of sustainability: ecology, economy, social aspects & worldview
• basic tools for setting up EDE-courses in your region
• personal coaching and empowerment
• new friends, ideas, inspiration and hope!

The course will be held in English.

*FOR MORE INFORMATION

Macaco Tamerice and Giada Chi*
Federation of Damanhur
10080 Baldissero Canavese (TO) Italy

*macaco at damanhur.it / giada at damanhur.it*
*phone: +39 348 6432318*
http://www.damanhur.org/
http://www.gaiaeducation.org/

Gaia Education is a program associated with the Global Ecovillage Network