Rural villages around the world lack reliable access to water and technology. Like a broken record, a common mistake made my aid groups that go into such communities is the failure to properly teach local groups how to properly care for, use, and integrate complex, expensive equipment. It breaks and becomes a physical reminder of [...]
Science teachers, looking for an engaging way to get students acquainted with inquiry-based investigations? GLOBE is an evolving worldwide network of schools and scientists interested in expanding enthusiasm for environment and earth system learning. The Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) mission is to promote the teaching and learning of science, enhance [...]
How should we engage the disenfranchised? The organization “Participación Ciudadana” is addressing this issue, aiming to involve Ecuadorian society in processes of social transformation. The approach is to inform citizens of news who are often forgotten about by the centric-national media. The project, Participación Ciudadana, is an electronic newspaper produced by regional news agencies in [...]
SciDev.Net reports the success of a mobile phone application that can be used by low-cost feature phones to monitor local water quality via SMS. The Water Quality Reporter (WQR) can be used to check microbiological contamination, and carry out residual chlorine and hydrogen sulphide tests. The application was developed using open source programming and iCOMMS [...]
The Ukrainian minister of ecology introduced a proposal to implement a new satellite environmental monitoring system to the country’s president the first week of April. This is a major step for Ukraine in independently setting its environmental protection agenda and integrating ICTs for sustainable development. The satellite, which offers better resolution, will be used to [...]
Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is growing in popularity worldwide as a way to provide faster, more efficient transportation that is lower in carbon emissions than traditional bus routes and less costly than light rail. BRTs are growing in popularity particularly in Latin America and Asia. BRTdata.org was launched at the end of March by EMBARC, [...]
Integration of environmental data is critical for water. WISDOM, a Vietnamese-German project, is an inspirational model of how watershed management leads to sustainable use and preservation of water resources. WISDOM combines information from hydrology, sociology, information technology, and earth observation for its implementation of an Information System for the Mekong Delta. The Mekong Delta struggles [...]
WaterWiki.net, a UNDP, UN-Water initiative recently relaunched and added more features such as a LinkedIn discussion forum. WaterWiki is a useful resource and popular forum for practitioners and agencies. It features over 800 articles, case studies and reports. Some of the best features: articles with embedded videos on specific projects over a hundred national case studies [...]
The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in partnership with the Centre for Development Informatics (CDI) released a report entitled, Building the Evidence Base for Strategic Action on Climate Change: Mexico City’s Virtual Climate Change Centre. The report critiques the development and execution of Virtual Center for Climate Change in Mexico City (CVCCCM). Mexico City has [...]
Save the Elephants is celebrated for its conservation work in Kenya, Congo, Mali, and South Africa. The four pillars of Save the Elephants are research, protection, grassroots, and education. Each of these pillars is taken seriously in a comprehensive way, keeping in mind that the ultimate approach to conservation is through local knowledge and understanding [...]
