New Vision for Earth Film Festival 2025: FORESTS POP-UP!
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Event Theme: Measuring Progress
Findings from a New Global Assessment on Forests for Social and Economic Resilience
Given the increasingly rapid, unpredictable, and unprecedented global changes linked to the Triple Planetary Crisis of pollution, climate change, and biodiversity loss, fostering resilience has become a key policy issue. Forests as Pillars of Social and Economic Resilience. A Global Assessment Report responds to this urgent context. It has been developed by a team of internationally recognized scientists from varied professional backgrounds and geographical contexts under the IUFRO-led Global Forest Expert Panels (GFEP) Initiative of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF).
The report is the first of its kind to comprehensively explore how forests contribute to social and economic resilience in the face of disturbance and change, and how societies can, in turn, support and steward resilient forest systems.
By focusing on the dynamic interlinkages between forests, people, and policy, the assessment provides a knowledge base for decision-makers, practitioners, and researchers seeking to understand and strengthen just forest-based pathways to resilience.
The release of the assessment will take place on World Environment Day – a timely moment to elevate science-based knowledge in support of more integrated and equitable approaches to forest policy and practice.
Join this online roundtable on 5 June to explore key assessment findings and engage in interactive discussion with experts from science, practice, and policy.
Array ( [0] => Europe/Vienna )FOOD. NATURE. PEOPLE.
Our world is in crisis!
And the evidence is clear: humans are the cause. From climate change to biodiversity loss, to land degradation and inequalities, our actions are putting life on earth at risk.
Yet the good news is this: since humans are the cause, then surely we can fix it. Just how we’ll do this is the focus of a digital event on 2 September 2021, as CIFOR-ICRAF and partners present solutions to tackle the food system crisis.
Join us and learn more about nature-positive solutions, based on science, that will diversify our food systems, improve their sustainability and increase equitable access to the nutrient-rich food that supports health and wellbeing. Only by ensuring the benefits are fairly shared with everyone can we also ensure that our landscapes are now, and remain, productive.
Hear from a range of speakers, from policymakers to smallholder farmers to researchers, who will highlight ways the world can advance towards a system that makes the wisest use of forests, trees and other healthy landscapes and forge a new alliance on nature-positive solutions.
Join efforts that underscore the crucial role of smallholder agriculture, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, youth and women play in the transition to nature-positive solutions for food production.
2 September
Food, nature and people are the three essential elements of our food system. When these elements are in balance, our food system provides nutritious food and livelihoods and supports natural systems like biodiversity, nutrient and water cycles and a stable climate. Unfortunately, our food system is out of balance, threatening people and communities around the world. To reverse this dangerous trend, we need to implement solutions at scale, quickly. This half-day digital event will show the way forward, by providing actionable scientific evidence to build sustainable landscapes and by connecting with people on the ground to share knowledge and experience and fundamentally transform agriculture and land management. By rebuilding resilient food systems, supporting sustainable use of forests, trees and other healthy landscapes, we can adapt to the crises we have created. Join this event on Sept. 2 to become part of the solution.
12:00-12:05 PM (UTC)
Master of Ceremony Vania Olmos Lau is a Mexican biologist employed as a technical advisor at Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in Mexico City. Lau has a particular interest in how agricultural development can work in parallel with nature conservation at the landscape level, and holds a double master’s degree in agroecology and organic agriculture from Wageningen University (Netherlands) in partnership with ISARA-Lyon (France). She has been active with the Youth in Landscapes (YIL) Initiative and other youth organizations, and has field experience with rural communities and conservation organizations in Mexico, Uganda, the Netherlands, France and Paraguay. Lau is now working with public-private partnership promoting good agricultural practices to protect pollinators and native flora within natural protected areas.
MASTER OF CEREMONIES
Vania Olmos Lau
Biologist
12:05-12:15 PM (UTC)
Prime Minister Marape, who is also a former finance minister of Papua New Guinea (PNG), will deliver the first keynote address during the digital event Food. Nature. People. The Prime Minister will discuss how the world can move “Towards a greener economy that recognises stewardship of land as a nature positive transformation of development.” This is a cause he has championed and reflects this event’s theme of encouraging bold policy and institutional change to support food system transformation. Prime Minister Marape has earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, a post-graduate Honours degree in Environmental Science, and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Papua New Guinea. He was first elected to Parliament in 2007 and previously worked as Acting Assistant Secretary of Policy with the Department of Personnel Management from 2001 to 2006.
SPEAKER
Right Hon. James Marape
Prime Minister of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, Minister for Bougainville Affairs and Minister of Defence
12:15-12:25 PM (UTC)
Bronaugh, who is passionate about the advancement of youth leadership in agriculture, will be discussing the key role of youth in agriculture amid work to transform agriculture, forests and land management in the face of multiple global challenges. She also has a deep interest in food security: in autumn 2020, Bronaugh helped to establish the Virginia Food Access Investment Fund and Program in the U.S. state of Virginia, the first statewide program of its kind to address food access within historically marginalized communities. Empowering communities with decision-making skills is an important theme of this digital conference, which will examine recent research on food systems in the context of working with nature and people. That approach is a key success factor to sustainably manage land and transform food systems. Transformation of agriculture is also vital, given that it is a major driver of climate change while at the same time farmers struggle to adapt to its impacts. Integrated ecological, economic and social principles can help smallholder farming systems move towards greater resilience through diversification, recycling, and improving connections between producers and consumers. But adaption must be driven locally, with solutions led by local conditions and not imposed from outside.
SPEAKER
Dr Jewel H. Bronaugh
Deputy Secretary of USDA, United States of America
12:25-12:35 PM (UTC)
Dr Rajiv Kumar is Vice Chairman of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog. He holds the rank and status of a cabinet minister. Kumar is also Chancellor of India’s Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics. In his keynote address, he will discuss how NITI Aayog has become a leader in Natural Farming and agroecology; how this agro-ecological approach has supported the transformation of agriculture in India; and what further steps and behavioral changes are necessary to avoid eventual social and environmental collapse in the agricultural sector.
SPEAKER
Dr Rajiv Kumar
Vice Chairman at NITI Aayog
12:40-01:20 PM (UTC)
Food production and consumption differs from region to region, depending on rainfall, geography, soil and a host of economic, social and cultural factors. If agriculture is to become more sustainable and equitable, it will be critical to establish the policy frameworks that are appropriate for the conditions and circumstances of different regions. This discussion will hear from some of the policymakers who are enabling this critical transition. The value of this approach is underscored by the premise that working with nature and people – including their networks, relationships, solidarity, knowledge of local people – is a key success factor to sustainably manage land and transform food systems.
PANELISTS
Gary Juffa
Governor of Oro province Papua New Guinea
Kathleen Merrigan
Professor & Executive Director, Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems, Arizona State University
Mr Vijay Kumar Thallam
Vice Chair Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (RySS), Special Chief Secretary, Govt of Andhra Pradesh
Christophe Kouame
Regional Coordinator, West & Central Africa, CIFOR-ICRAF
Bahar Dutt
Associate Professor, Shiv Nadar University and Independent journalist
01:20-01:25 PM (UTC)
Break
01:25-01:55 PM (UTC)
Empowering communities with decision-making skills, establishing farmer-centered learning systems and putting monitoring tools into the hands of people on the ground: these are among the many innovations to come out of recent research on food systems. This discussion will feature both scientists and practitioners as they look at the surprises and discoveries in research and science that have emerged and are leading to a food-systems transformation that produces food sustainably, equitably and affordably. Such farming, in accordance with nature, can bring together local and scientific knowledge, in order to focus on the interactions between plants, animals, humans and the environment. This, in turn, can provide nutritious food and sustainable livelihoods while helping to address the negative impacts of conventional agriculture on climate change and biodiversity loss. In addition, there are numerous ignored, under-valued and under-researched plants producing fruits, vegetables, legumes and grains that are often very nutritious and can help diversify the current agricultural system to one that provides more balanced, more nutritious and healthier diets and is less prone to environmental shocks.
PANELISTS
Melissa Pinfield
Executive Director, Just Rural Transition Secretariat, Meridian Institute
Cheikh Mbow
Director of Future Africa at the University of Pretoria
Gabriela Lucas Deecke
Director General, CIASPE Mexico
Robert Nasi
Managing Director, CIFOR-ICRAF Director General, CIFOR
Danielle Nierenberg
President and Co-Founder, Food Tank
01:55-02:05 PM (UTC)
Break
02:05-02:45 PM (UTC)
Smallholder farmer initiatives demonstrate some of the fastest changes that are taking place around the world. This panel will feature innovators who are pushing for large-scale transformation of land management for food production. They will present their nature-positive agricultural solutions to the food system crisis. These innovations will be presented alongside sustainable investors who will share insights into how innovative farmers can accelerate their businesses and ideas with financing.
PANELISTS
Mr Satya S. Tripathi
Secretary General, Global Alliance for a Sustainable Planet
Tabi Joda
Executive Director, GreenAid
Nafkote Dabi
Climate Change Policy Lead for Oxfam
Chantal Marijnissen
Head of Unit C2 Environment, Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Wildlife, European Commission DG for international Cooperation and Development
Tony Simons
Director General, World Agroforestry (ICRAF) Executive Director, CIFOR-ICRAF
02:45-02:55 PM (UTC)
Alexander Müller is Founder and Managing Director of the ThinkTank for Sustainability (TMG), a former FAO Assistant Director-General and State Secretary for Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture in Germany. He has extensive experience in global sustainability governance, as Chair of the UN Standing Committee on Nutrition; member of the UN Environmental Management Group; and Lead, Voluntary Guidelines for Responsible Governance of Land.. As our digital event concludes, Müller will outline the next steps that have been identified by our keynote speakers and panellists during Food.Nature.People; and discuss how we can transform the insights and ideas outlined during this event, and the vision presented here, into action on the ground.
SPEAKERS
Alexander Müller
Founder & Managing Director, TMG Think Tank
Iliana Monterroso
Scientist, Co-Coordinator of Gender and Social Inclusion Research at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)
03:05-03:15 PM (UTC)
Closing remarks
Eden Festival of Action 2021
The Eden Festival of Action is an environmental action gathering combining practical ecosystem restoration work like tree-planting, with a full line-up of workshops, talks and activities from sustainability experts. The evenings are filled with campfire sessions, storytelling and music from some of South Africa’s finest musicians.
Be part of a growing, global, green movement. Visit www.festivalofaction.com for more information or APPLY NOW
Check out the Facebook event page here for announcements, pre-events and competitions.
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Mainstreaming Youth – The good, the best, and the ugly
Youth. They are the next generation of leaders — but what does that mean for us right now?
What are the advantages and practical challenges to engaging youth through targeted programs?
Youth mainstreaming is the strategic tool and strategy for effective youth development. Mainstreaming requires a comprehensive approach that can often be difficult to implement.
In this Digital Summit, we’re taking the rose-colored glasses off and taking a hard look at what it takes to operationalize youth integration. We’re bringing together leaders from both youth and professional organizations to discuss different perspectives, initiatives, and challenges. This conversation will describe shining examples and opportunities for young people while sharing the most common pitfalls when devising your own program to include youth.
We’re sharing best practices to be easily implemented in multiple scenarios and at different levels.
Whether you are a young person looking for your next opportunity or part of an organization seeking to learn more about youth programs, this Digital Summit will tell you both where to start and what to avoid.
If you have been a part of a great (or bad) youth program, please share your stories and experiences online with us before Dec 12th by using #GLFYouthConvo.
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