by Matt Ball on January 19, 2012
The Federal Biodiversity Fund was approved in December with funds to reimburse landowners for improved vegetation and diversity management on their properties. The six-year program has $946 million in funds that are aimed at reforestation, tackling invasive species, and also close management of lands of high conservation value. This biodiversity fund is part of a [...]
by Matt Ball on January 19, 2012
The Living Labs Global Award aims to improve the living standards of more than 100m citizens through an effort to find innovative urban solutions. There are twenty global cities participating in this challenge, including Barcelona, Cape Town, Lagos, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro and San Francisco. Th challenge is organized by Living Labs Global with [...]
by Matt Ball on January 18, 2012
A team from China’s Department of Climate Change toured the United States last week hosted by the World Resources Institute. The tour focused on low-carbon development, and the need for a climate-conscious path to urbanize China. China’s urban population is expected to grow to 1 billion people by 2030, with 350 million more people moving [...]
by Matt Ball on January 13, 2012
It’s no secret that the removal of troops from Iraq, and eventually Afghanistan, will reduce the need for military personnel and geospatial analysis. There has been a great expansion in the number of professionals that practice geospatial intelligence, and inevitably many of these workers will be looking for a new vocation. Indeed, just today we [...]
by Matt Ball on December 6, 2011
As part of Forest Day at the COP 17 talks, the Collaborative Partnership on Forests released this short video commemorating the life and work of Professor Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement, and Nobel Peace Laureate. Maathai passed away on Sept. 25, 2011 after a battle with bone cancer. She started the Green [...]
by Matt Ball on November 8, 2011
Greg Bentley discusses the next wave of digital city modeling as the “Semantic City,” where connections and interactions between systems accomplishes better continuity and better performance. With greater interoperability, there is also the opportunity to better model and simulate the holistic performance of the city, particularly in response to events. The key to achieve this [...]
by Matt Ball on October 24, 2011
SAP and the United Nations Population fund have put together a web-based interactive map to explore the milestone reached this month, with a world population that has reached 7 billion people. The site contains details on births, deaths and growth rate, as well as demographic details on youth, children and seniors. The site is part [...]
by Matt Ball on October 13, 2011
The Urban Design Lab of the Earth Institute at Columbia University has pulled together a regional model for New York City’s regional capacity to produce food. The New York City Regional Foodshed Initiative incorporates land use, soil type, transportation infrastructure, and climatic conditions to assess production at several scales, as well as actual consumption data [...]
by Matt Ball on October 4, 2011
The World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) have just launched two new standards to help businesses manage, measure and report their greenhouse gas emissions. The Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) and Product Life Cycle Standards aim to help companies save money, reduce risks, and increase global competitiveness. “The [...]
by Matt Ball on August 29, 2011
A Boston-based startup Sourcemap uses mapping software to calculate the carbon used to produce the things we eat, use and wear. The project began as the MIT PhD thesis of founder Leonardo Bonanni, and was first registered as a .org site, but has since become commercialized as a means for companies to communicate their environmental [...]