🌎Conference of the Parties
Hello…and welcome to…Issue #008!
Reading Time: < 5 mins.
TL; DR: A 2nd draft of my book is well underway. An employee-owned printing co-op is setting up an online store to sell Designing Nature's Half merch. We're getting closer to kicking off our podcast: Designing Nature's Half: The Landscape Conservation Podcast.
“Humanity has finally done what is long, long, long overdue.”
— Wopke Hoekstra, European Union Commissioner for Climate Action
Welcome to our corner of the world!
We’re glad you’re here!
In the last issue of Designing Nature's Half: The Blog, we shared some of the milestones made in the development of Rob Campellone’s author's website and a new, upcoming podcast: Designing Nature’s Half: The Landscape Conservation Podcast. In this issue, we will bring you up to date on progress being made in Rob’s book, an online store, and more about the podcast; and we’ll share a few thoughts about COP28 (the 28th Meeting of the Convention of the Parties [better known as the UN Climate Change Conference] now that it's concluded for the year.
Milestones
1. Book
Title: Designing Nature's Half: A Practical Guide to Conserving 50% by 2050
Rob continues to make daily progress on the book. He’s spending 4-5 hours writing each day. He enjoys the art and science of crafting a story, but admittedly, it's a slow and painful process.
A 1st draft of all of the chapters has been completed, and Rob’s made significant progress on a 2nd (Alpha Review) draft of the Prologue, Introduction and Chapter 1. He has also completed the Preface, which is a personal reflection on his relationship with 'landscape.' Here's a snippet:
"Time gives us many gifts, some of which are feared, undesired, accepted, welcomed, and gloriously celebrated, but none are as meaningful, beneficial, and long-lasting as the age-old gift of having the time to reflect on one’s life and to use that knowledge to chart a path forward, not for oneself – a wise planner does that continuously – but for the next generation. This book is that for me: a moment of reflection during a period of social upheaval and environmental uncertainty."
2. Website
Commonwealth Press is helping us set up an online merchandise store to spread the word about Designing Nature's Half. Best of all, the t-shirts, caps, and stickers will be union-made right here in the USA! More info to come in the weeks ahead, but for now, my graphic designer, Lucas Ghilardi, is hard at work getting the artwork prepared for printing. You can follow the store's development here.
3. Podcast
Co-hosts Tom Miewald and Rob Campellone continue to make progress in setting up: Designing Nature's Half: The Landscape Conservation Podcast. They recently had the pleasure of working with Tom Askin at PonderRosa Studios, who recorded the pod's intro and outtro segments. They also recorded a trailer, started to record our introductory episode (S1E1), and have scheduled episodes with many of their guests! It's a lot of work on top of writing a book, but it's all good work, and it’s for a great cause: designing sustainable and resilient landscapes!
Where it all happens (with a little help from a Cup o’ Joe)
News: Climate Crisis
You already know the climate crisis is one of the reasons why it's important for us to "conserve at least 30% of our lands and waters by 2030" (President Joe Biden) and that landscape conservation design gives us the best hope for achieving that goal, but did you know....:
Conference of the Parties, 28th Meeting (COP28)
What did the global community accomplish at COP28?
Basically, it took the global community 28 years to agree on a non-binding compromise deal to "transition away" from fossil fuels. 130 nations (out of 199) wanted "phase out" language included, which would have been huge, but petrostates, like Saudi Arabia, blocked its inclusion.
Scientists said the agreement doesn't go far enough to meet the Paris Agreement (i.e., keep the planet from heating 1.5C above pre-industrial temperatures). Here's a very good article on what that means: What happens if the 1.5C target for global heating is missed?
...and here's a very good summary of the agreement overall: Good Cop, bad Cop: what the COP28 agreement says and what it means.
Maybe I'm just in a pissy mood, but despite the media telling us this is a good deal, I'm just not feeling it is.
What is the COP anyway?
COP stands for the “Conference of the Parties,” with the word “parties” referring to 199 countries that agreed to a 1995 international treaty called the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
What does the COP do?
The COP is often referred to as the UN Climate Change Conference. Diplomats meet every year (since 1995) to review inventories of greenhouse gas emissions submitted by each country. They assess the effectiveness of actions taken to reduce emissions, negotiate, and make decisions on the next steps the global community will take to lower emissions.
This marks the 28th time the COP has met to discuss the climate crisis, so this year's meeting, which started on November 30 and ended on December 13 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), is referred to as "COP28."
An Invitation
If you think you have something to offer to the conversation and would like to be a guest on our pod, drop me a note at: info@lcdinstitute.org and put "Guest" in the subject line.
Sharing is Caring
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Join the Designing Nature’s Half Community
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Thanks for your interest and support!
We’ll keep you posted on how our projects are coming along via future issues of Designing Nature's Half: The Blog.
Until next time,
Dr. Amanda Sesser, the Coordinator of the Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy (SECAS) Partnership, discusses the need for inclusive design and decision-making processes that involve diverse stakeholders and empower communities. By bringing together various sectors of society, such as transportation, energy, and conservation, sustainable landscapes can be co-designed, created, and managed for people, planet, and prosperity. The episode emphasizes the need to balance human well-being and ecological integrity – a challenge that requires a new governance model that breaks down silos in traditional planning and decision-making. It addresses historic patterns of inequality and injustice to create a more inclusive and equitable society and highlights the concept of reciprocity and the importance of engaging indigenous and other disenfranchised people.