James Samuel

New Zealand had one hour of the 24 hour project, which was presented live from the Auckland Museum on Thursday night. Most of the hour was taken up with a 45 minute slide show, and then a few people including myself, were given 60 seconds and a single slide each to bring a message of the work they are involved in.

Here’s the Prezi I created to guide the five hour Social Media session with Otago Polytechnic’s heads of department. I’m posting it here as a resource for the people who attended that event, as there are a number of videos and links we didn’t have time to explore fully on the day. View this on [...]

There has been a distinct increase in dialogue around energy in the last year, and I hear a growing acceptance of the idea that we live on a finite planet and will either reduce the amount of energy we demand from this planet, or hit some version of a brick wall when that demand cannot be met. Maybe we’re there already, we’re just not hitting the wall at a speed and therefore we’re not recognising it.

After 30 years, and a lot of work, my mother is moving on. If you’re looking for land (or know someone who is) then check this out. This is an off-the-grid 66 acre rural property in the Far North of New Zealand, with a beautiful river, established orchard, comfortable home, and so much more.

The buzz in the TelstraClear events stadium was palpable from the minute we arrived for the ACDA Regional Communities Summit. First the enthusiastic ushers directed people to the table where we were requested to offer a single word, to describe our response to the theme of the day: “Act locally, work regionally, work together.”

Earlier this year, Loo was awarded the Prime Minister’s Science Media Communication prize. This enabled her the time and resources to invest in a exploration of New Zealand – the people, their visions, their needs, their sense of identity. It is my [Jaime's] job to help Loo, uncover the ways to make it possible. To unravel the ecosystem of amazing people and abundant opportunities.

Yesterday was momentous. If you have been following Ooooby news, you’ll know that a number of people have been beavering away on this one for the last three months. Well yesterday we delivered.

Growth in grass roots projects focused on improving social or environmental well-being, is some kind of phenomenon. Paul Hawken, in his video presentation at Bioneers in April 2007, referred to the hundreds-of-thousands of organizations that address social and environmental justice, as “the worlds largest movement.”

Nothing beats an organic, nutrient dense beet grown in your very own backyard. But what if you can’t grow everything you eat?

How do you decide which is the next best?

Human growth has strained the Earth’s resources, but as Johan Rockstrom reminds us, our advances also give us the science to recognize this and change behavior. His research has found nine “planetary boundaries” that can guide us in protecting our planet’s many overlapping ecosystems.