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"No country in the world currently meets the basic needs of its citizens at a globally sustainable level of resource use. Our research, recently published in Nature Sustainability (and summarised in The Conversation), is the first to quantify the national resource use associated with achieving a good life for over 150 countries. It shows that meeting the basic needs of all people on the planet would result in humanity transgressing multiple environmental limits, based on current relationships between resource use and human well-being. The chart below demonstrates the profound challenge nations currently face. National performance on seven environmental sustainability indicators is plotted against eleven minimum social thresholds for a good life (see About page for further details). Ideally, nations would be located in the top-left corner with no biophysical boundaries transgressed and all minimum social thresholds achieved."

"Besides focusing on production, sustainable food systems need to address waste, crop-grass-livestock interdependencies and human consumption. None of the corresponding strategies needs full implementation and their combined partial implementation delivers a more sustainable food future."

"To revert the current ecological overshoot and build a sustainable society, we have to collectively engage in changing our economic model. "Sufficiency: moving beyond the gospel of eco-efficiency" suggests introducing hard limitations to unsustainable trends-in particular to overconsumption-and putting emphasis on distributional justice. Seven chapters written by sustainability and economics experts plus a foreword by Janez Potočnik (Co-chair of the International Resource Panel and former European Commissioner for the Environment) shed light on different angles of sufficiency and formulate concrete recommendations to EU policy makers. The booklet ends with a discussion of several eco-social policies that can start the transition towards an "economics of enough". Many new ideas for an economic paradigm shift have been developed and discussed at the academic and grassroots levels in recent years. The aim of this booklet is to build on a rich body of knowledge and bring these ideas to the attention of engaged citizens and policy makers in order to advance the debate on how to implement sufficiency."

"Generating electricity is not only inefficient, it also makes pedal power less sustainable, less robust and more costly. To begin with, batteries have to be manufactured, and they have to be replaced regularly. This requires energy, which can completely negate the ecological advantage of pedal power. According to this research paper (pdf), the embodied energy of a 150Wh lead-acid battery (like the one offered with the Windstream pedal power generator) is at least 37,500 Wh, which equals 250 full charges of the battery (more sources: 1/2). In other words: if you can deliver 75 watts of power to the battery, you have to pedal for 500 hours in order to generate the energy that was needed to manufacture the battery. Because the life expectancy of a lead-acid battery can be as low as 300 discharge/charge cycles (sources: 1/2), you are basically pedalling to produce the energy required to manufacture the battery. If you also factor in the embodied energy of other electronics and parts, the ecological advantage of a pedal powered generator connected to a battery becomes rather doubtful. It might costs more energy than it delivers."

"Select a country to view its environmental sustainability and social performance relative to the "safe and just space" framework and see how it compares with other countries. Blue wedges show social performance relative to a threshold associated with meeting basic needs (blue circle), green wedges show resource use relative to a biophysical boundary associated with sustainability (green circle), while grey wedges show indicators with missing data. Wedges with a dashed edge extend beyond the chart area. Ideally a country would have blue wedges that reach the social threshold and green wedges within the biophysical boundary. See the tables below for country-specific details."

"Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a gas essential for life- animals exhale it, plants sequester it. It exists in Earth's atmosphere in comparably small concentrations, but is vital for sustaining life. CO2 is termed a greenhouse gas (GHG) - a gas which absorbs and emits thermal radiation creating the 'greenhouse effect'. Along with other greenhouse gases, such as nitrous oxide and methane, CO2 is important in sustaining a habitable temperature for the planet: if there were absolutely no GHGs, our planet would be simply too cold. It has been estimated that without these gases, the average surface temperature of the Earth would be about -18 degrees celcius.1 Since the Industrial Revolution, however, energy-driven consumption of fossil fuels has led to a rapid increase in emissions of CO2, disrupting the global carbon cycle and leading to a planetary warming impact. As an international community, UN member parties have set a target of limiting average warming to 2 degrees celcius above pre-Industrial temperatures."

"In terms of energy conservation, the leaps made in energy efficiency by the infrastructure and devices we use to access the internet have allowed many online activities to be viewed as more sustainable than offline. On the internet, however, advances in energy efficiency have a reverse effect: as the network becomes more energy efficient, its total energy use increases. This trend can only be stopped when we limit the demand for digital communication."

"there is no live teacher engagement... Currently, just 10 percent of MOOC registrants complete their courses. Where Will MOOCs Be Just Two Years From Now? Within the next two years, MOOCs will quickly evolve from lacking teacher engagement to having a lot of teacher engagement. Right now, it's essentially a model where computers are teaching students. This model is simply not sustainable in the long run without live student-teacher engagement. Teachers are the key that unlocks learning in these courses. They help students resolve issues and problems. Will the biggest change in online education moving forward be putting live teachers at the center of the MOOC (not just on video)? We will know the answer very soon."

"... In addition to serving as a great explanatory example of the potential danger of AI, I have realized that paperclip maximizer is also a perfect allegory for capitalism. Where the artificial intelligence sought to maximize paperclips, the capital maximizer seeks to maximize capital. ... While this story of the capital maximizer might strike some as the anti-capitalist rantings of socialist idealism, it is not meant as such. Capitalism is the most powerful machine that humans have ever created. It can realize the benefits of technological progress and leverage them to improving the human condition better than any other economic system yet devised. The problem is in viewing the growth of capital as an ends and not a means. If we do not demand that our systems maximize the well-being of humans and the environment which sustains us, then all is lost."

"Our smartphones enable-and encourage-constant connection to information, entertainment, and each other. They put the world at our fingertips, and rarely leave our sides. Although these devices have immense potential to improve welfare, their persistent presence may come at a cognitive cost. In this research, we test the "brain drain" hypothesis that the mere presence of one's own smartphone may occupy limited-capacity cognitive resources, thereby leaving fewer resources available for other tasks and undercutting cognitive performance. Results from two experiments indicate that even when people are successful at maintaining sustained attention-as when avoiding the temptation to check their phones-the mere presence of these devices reduces available cognitive capacity. Moreover, these cognitive costs are highest for those highest in smartphone dependence. We conclude by discussing the practical implications of this smartphone-induced brain drain for consumer decision-making and consumer welfare."

"... Soil is the bedrock of civilization (Perlin 1991, Ponting 1993). Biofuels are not sustainable or renewable. Why would we destroy our topsoil, increase global warming, deplete and pollute groundwater, destroy fisheries, and use more energy than what's gained to make ethanol? Why would we do this to our children and grandchildren? Perhaps it's a combination of pork barrel politics, an uninformed public, short-sighted greedy agribusiness corporations, jobs for the Midwest, politicians getting too large a percent of their campaign money from agribusiness (Lavelle 2007), elected leaders without science degrees, and desperation to provide liquid transportation fuels (Bucknell 1981, Hirsch 2005). ..."

"Evaporative coolers have been known to purveyors of low-cost, sustainable technologies for years. Without the need for electricity, these cold containers have kept produce fresh from farms to tables, protecting against post-harvest losses in the field and food spoilage in hot pantries worldwide. Now the concept has been applied to air conditioning. Manoj Patel Design Studio in Vadodara, Gujarat (India) has built evaporative air conditioners that can cool a room for days on a single tank of water. The studio designs new products from recycled materials, and they built their air conditioners from ceramics and stone, integrating them with potted plants. By filling rows of ceramic tubes with water, the prototypes maximize their surface area for optimal evaporation while retaining a small footprint. ..."

"The time is now. For decades, scientists have been raising calls for societal changes that will reduce our impacts on nature. Though much conservation has occurred, our natural environment continues to decline under the weight of our consumption. Humanity depends directly on the output of nature; thus, this decline will affect us, just as it does the other species with which we share this world. Díaz et al. review the findings of the largest assessment of the state of nature conducted as of yet. They report that the state of nature, and the state of the equitable distribution of nature's support, is in serious decline. Only immediate transformation of global business-as-usual economies and operations will sustain nature as we know it, and us, into the future."

"¿Te gustaría cultivar tus propios alimentos en tu casa? Si la respuesta en sí, la empresa francesa Myfood te lo pone fácil para que cumplas este deseo y produzcas hasta 500 kilos de fruta y verdura anuales y, de paso, te surtas también de pescado con tres modelos de invernadero innovadores. La estructura más pequeña ocupa tan solo 3'5 metros cuadrados por lo que, si te interesa, saca el metro y comprueba si tienes hueco en el balcón para instalar este espacio de cultivo que se abastece íntegramente de energía solar."

"This is not an environmental book, even though it is concerned with the environment. It is not a book to save the world, even though the world is clearly in trouble. Ultimately, A Matter Of Scale is a book about survival; about ensuring that every individual human has the means to save herself or himself from the crisis that is unfolding. And there most certainly is a crisis; like the waves of a surging river; small and irregular at first, but growing larger, creating whirlpools, rising in treacherous white water, and eventually inundating everything in its path. People know that the climate is changing, that species are being removed from the Earth at a rapidly increasing rate, that entire ecosystems are becoming shadows of their former richness; they know, but they do not understand. The environmental crisis is closing in on humanity from all directions, yet the crisis barely registers on this culture's list of problems. As we stand, humanity is doomed to a collapse that will leave only a few nomads, and a toxic, barely survivable Earth in its wake."

"Since 1995, four years after India opened its doors to free markets, according to India's National Crime Records Bureau, NCRB, nearly 270,000 Indian cotton farmers have killed themselves. The 'Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India,' has placed the death toll for a cumulative 16-year at 256,913 deaths, the worst-ever recorded wave of suicides of this kind in human history. "

""Alimentando otros modelos" es un proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje multidireccional que FUHEM desarrolla desde el curso 2013/14 en sus tres colegios (Hipatia, Lourdes y Montserrat). Además de transformar la dieta escolar y familiar, se trata de un proyecto de sensibilización sobre cuestiones que explican el sistema alimentario, la crisis ambiental y social en curso, y la necesidad de encontrar alternativas que avancen hacia un modelo alimentario justo, sano y sostenible. Para abordar estas cuestiones complejas es de gran ayuda contar materiales específicos, pensados para todos los miembros de la comunidad escolar: desde los más pequeños a los más mayores del alumnado, pasando por los adultos que les acompañan en las comidas (su familia o el personal de comedor), o también el alumnado y equipo docente de Formación Profesional de Cocina y Restauración. Con el fin de compartir los nuevos materiales producidos en el marco de este proyecto, dos guías didácticas y tres video cuentos animados, que pueden servir para que otras comunidades lleven a cabo procesos similares Nuevos materiales educativos para trabajar la alimentación en todas las etapas En este acto público, se presentarán los últimos materiales que FUHEM, en colaboración con Garúa, ha desarrollado en el marco de este proyecto. Entre ellos: la web serie "Cuentacuentos que alimentan otros modelos", con tres videos de animación que sirven para explicar el proyecto a los más pequeños; y las guías didácticas tituladas "Alimentar otros modelos", destinada a alumnado de Infantil, Primaria y ESO; y "La agroecología en el currículo de hostelería de Formación Profesional: un enfoque transversal". eb serie "Cuentacuentos que alimentan otros modelos" Producidos por FUHEM y Garúa, incluye tres cortometrajes cuyos títulos son: "Cuidar las raíces", "A la huerta de la esquina" y "Las grandezas de la pequeña producción", dirigidos por Mariola Olcina Alvarado.

"La crisis ecosocial en clave educativa. Guía didáctica para una nueva cultura de paz Autor: Antonio Hernández, Yayo Herrero, Águeda. Ferriz, Luis González, Charo Morán, Alberto Brasero y Ana María Ortega Editor: FUHEM Ecosocial Año: 2009 Formato: guía didáctica + fichas Sinopsis: Guía didáctica para profesorado de secundaria y bachillerato. Expone una visión crítica de la actual crisis ecológica y social, sus causas, impactos e interrelaciones. Concluye con propuestas para el cambio hacia una cultura de paz. Ofrece más de 60 actividades y otras tantas fichas guiadas, incluyendo propuestas de investigación, documentales y juegos de rol. El punto de partida de la guía es el análisis crítico de las causas y manifestaciones de la crisis de sostenibilidad actual, que remiten a patrones y prácticas de la actividad humana y, muy especialmente, de la cultura occidental. Esta Recurso didáctico constituye una herramienta teórica y práctica para interpretar la crisis ecosocial desde una visión crítica y proporciona pautas para mirar la realidad de un modo ecológico, de tal modo que profesores y profesoras puedan, desde una perspectiva transdisciplinar, abordar la problemática global en el aula."

"Acabar con la pobreza extrema. Luchar contra la desigualdad y la injusticia. Solucionar el problema del cambio climático. Los objetivos mundiales son importantes, son objetivos que cambiarán el mundo y para los que será necesaria la cooperación entre los gobiernos, las organizaciones internacionales y los líderes mundiales. Parece imposible que las personas de a pie puedan influir en algo. ¿Va a rendirse sin más? ¡No! El cambio empieza por usted. De verdad. Todos y cada uno de los seres humanos del mundo, hasta los más indiferentes y perezosos, forman parte de la solución. Por suerte, hay cosas facilísimas que podemos introducir en nuestra rutina y, si todos lo hacemos, lograremos grandes cambios. Se lo hemos puesto fácil y hemos recopilado tan solo unas cuantas cosas de las muchas que puede hacer para obtener resultados."