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POPSFather of India's Green Revolution Prepares for Evergreen Revolution
“In every crisis is an opportunity” Swaminathan is once again agitating for revolution -- this time a perpetual one. In the early ‘60s, India grew 12 million tons of wheat every year. Starvation was rampant and the country imported much of its food. Swaminathan, an agricultural geneticist, developed new strains of high-yield wheat for his country and the programs that led to an India that exports food. Today, India grows some 70 million tons of wheat and has become the world's second-largest wheat producer. He says that today India has reached a plateau in production and productivity because a problem of under investment in rural infrastructure. His M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture & Rural Development follows a pro-nature, pro-poor and pro-women orientation to a job-led economic growth strategy in rural areas through harnessing science and technology for environmentally sustainable and socially equitable development.
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POPSUrban Gardener Thinks Higher: A Rooftop Garden for Room to Grow Why should you consider a rooftop garden? * Increase access to private outdoor green space within the urban environment * Support urban food production * Promote individual, community, and cultural diversity * Improve air quality and reduce CO2 missions * Delay stormwater runoff * Increase habitat for birds * Insulate buildings * Increase the value of buildings for owners and tenants alike * Create job opportunities in the field of research, design, construction, Iandscaping, gardening, health, and food production
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POPS2030 Face It: Reverberate “No Coal” Body Paint Design Winners Students were told to spread the word about the negative impacts of coal on our natural ecosystems and its role on greenhouse gas emissions. Face Color Winner: Emily Bibler, Iowa State University. Face B+W Winner and Metropolis Ad Winner: Jackie Fabella, Cal Poly Pomona. Body Winner: Miles Courtney, Pratt Institute. The Reverberate competition brought together students from a range disciplines to take direct action on the topic of climate change. 4,500 attendees participated in a variety of activities relating to global climate change - ranging from architecture to agriculture; from politics to poetics; from green jobs to green food. Through their involvement, they put their ideals into action. As future environmental stewards, these students have every right to ask: why are we all not doing the same?
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POPSBeyond Zero-Energy: The World's 1st Positive Energy Building Generates more energy than it consumes. The building’s aggressive approach to sustainability enables it to offer the lowest energy consumption per square meter for its class. The complex will utilize sustainable materials and feature integrated wind turbines, outdoor air quality monitors. In addition to serving as the Masdar headquarters, the building will accommodate private residences and ‘early bird’ businesses starting up in the city. The Masdar development will be constructed over seven phases and is due to be completed by 2016.
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POPSIsland Wood: City Kids First Visit with Nature & Environmentalism An environmental learning center—nestled into a rustic 250-acre nature preserve—plays a dual role as symbol and teaching tool. "We envision a future in which all people view themselves as lifelong learners, and share an extraordinary bond of stewardship for the environment, for their communities and for each other." Raising of environmental consciousness, one child at a time. “The center is primarily for inner-city kids who don’t have an opportunity to connect with the natural world. And when kids are uncomfortable, they’re not open to learning. So we wanted them to be as comfortable here as possible.” The mission of IslandWood is to provide exceptional learning experiences and to inspire lifelong environmental and community stewardship.
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POPSWinning Design: Urban Farm Above & Music Festival Below Winning Green Design: The movement from industrialization to post-industrialization, from global to local, from the free market to the farmer’s market, and from sand to hay. To be built for Summer 2008 PS1 Festival Series. Work Architecture’s winning proposal calls for a series of cardboard tubes, each no more than a yard tall, being assembled next to each other to form a large platform. Some of those columns will be filled with a series of fruit-growing plants, everything from mint to peas, while some will remain completely open, from top to bottom, to allow some light to shine through. PS1 was founded in 1971 as The Institute for Art and Urban Resources Inc., to the transformation of abandoned and underutilized buildings in New York City into exhibition, performance, and studio spaces for artists.
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POPSA Green Utopia: World's First Zero-Carbon & Zero-Waste City Abu Dhabi: Masdar City aims to be the world's greenest city....and the most sustainable city. The Masdar development is a 6 km sq, car-free “walled-city” scheme. A challenging design that promises to question conventional urban wisdom at a fundamental level. Masdar promises to set new benchmarks for the sustainable city of the future
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POPSEco-Equity? Green Jobs Act Passed: Part of 2007 Energy Bill The Green Jobs Act is a crucial building block of the clean energy future. The Act creates a pilot program to train workers in the new skills required for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, and will help to alleviate the skills shortage that impairs growth of the clean energy sector. By requiring business and labor to work together in developing training programs, it ensures the high-quality training needed for high-wage jobs in this new growth sector. The Act also specifically funds training for low-income workers, providing a pathway out of poverty into emerging “green collar” jobs, helping to ensure that everyone has a chance to help our country build the new energy future.
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POPSDisaster Gives Birth to Greenest Town in America To leverage environmentalism to rebuild and sustain itself in the wake of near total destruction, it just may unwittingly be writing a modern survival guide for rural America. Currently, the town has completed town houses for working class families that are LEED gold certified. Gold certification means these places will be almost twice as efficient as they used to be. A lot of what's happening in Greensburg is some of the first in the country.