A new, 24-minute film called Nations United has been created by the United Nations on its 75th Anniversary and to mark five years since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals. In the midst of a pandemic radically transforming our world, Nations United tells the story of the world as it is, as it was, and as it could be. It focuses on the solutions and action we need to tackle poverty, inequality, injustice and climate change.
Climate change may feel formidable, and people worldwide are already experiencing its effects, but our future is not yet decided. Catastrophe is not inevitable.
Countless people around the world, recognizing the urgency of this moment, are taking climate action in a way that draws from their personal experiences and passions. A new PBS video series in collaboration with the Arizona State University Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory is telling the stories of some of these courageous, innovative and captivating people.
In April, Arizona State University’s Narrative Storytelling Initiative invited people worldwide to write a short story on what they think the future holds, based on our current world. No science fiction, no fantasy, but an imagined future reality.
The results are in, and they’re illuminating. Enjoy the top five in a new magazine displayed on Issuu: Envisioning the Future, Volume 1.
The initiative received 43 submissions from around the world — with 20 from the ASU community — for its story contest in partnership with the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory. Adaptation to a changed reality was one of the recurring themes among most of the stories, which ranged from 400 to 700 words, said Steven Beschloss, director of the Narrative Storytelling Initiative.
In our latest piece on Medium, co-authors Peter Schlosser and Steven Beschloss examine the wildfire outbreak across the western US and if this is finally the climate-oriented moment that will move people to take that next step towards impact and change. "In short, are these fires, is this deadly pandemic, is another round of pounding from hurricanes, capable of awakening a reluctant, distracted public? Has the alarm bell grown so loud that it can’t be ignored any longer? Have we reached a tipping point when Americans and others walk to their proverbial window and shout: 'I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore'?"
You can read the piece on Medium. To ensure you don’t miss any Global Futures Laboratory Medium posts, follow our Medium channel directly, or follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn where we announce all new posts.
As harmful atmospheric carbon dioxide levels continue to increase, understanding the planetary carbon balance has become the single most important scientific question.
A new report by two leading ecological scientists at Arizona State University quantified the global soil carbon sequestered by roots plus the amount leached into the soil. They revealed that climate and land-use are major influencers of belowground carbon sequestration. The study, “Global patterns and climatic controls of belowground net carbon fixation,” also found that the amount of carbon sequestered belowground changes with precipitation but its effect varies among large vegetation types.
The Inter-Parliamentary Union and the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory at Arizona State University are co-hosting an informal panel debate for International Day of Democracy. Can parliaments learn from the past six months to become stronger and more effective institutions that impose checks and balances on executive powers to better serve the people?
Featuring experts from around the world, the panel will be moderated by Foreign Policy managing editor Ravi Aggarwal. Read the flyer for more information and register online to attend and receive the recording.
This year has changed the way we move about our cities and communities, and what that movement means. As cities roll out and begin to implement their reopening plans, we find ourselves at a crucial moment to examine and rethink the inequality blueprinted into the roads, tunnels, sidewalks and bus stops of urban areas like Mexico City and Phoenix.
Panelists include sustainability scientists Diana Bowman, professor in the School for the Future of Innovation and Society and associate dean for international engagement in the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, and Ram Pendyala, director of the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, as well as Fátima Masse, project coordinator, Instituto Mexicano para la Competitividad.
Join a Sept. 22 binational discussion to consider the future of mobility in a pandemic- and climate change-battered world. The event will be held in English. More information and registration.
Join the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory Tuesday, September 15, 10:00 - 11:30 am AZ time, for a panel discussion with members of the Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative team working on advancement and implementation of the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI). This team has worked with countries around the world in designing and computing National MPIs.
Learn about the MPI and gain insights into the personal perspective of key figures working around the world to address the missing dimensions of poverty in global development policy and practice. This event will consider links to the informal economy / human economy, inequality and justice challenges, and explore implications for addressing compounding global crises related to COVID-19 and the "new and differently poor" in terms of future development processes. More information and registration.
This event is being hosted by the Human Economies Focal Area of the Global Futures Laboratory. All are welcome to attend.
When FABRIC, Tempe's fashion incubator, learned of the urgent PPE shortage, they stepped up and to date have sewn over 200,000 reusable isolation gowns that meet FDA regulations. Join us Sept. 15 (1-2 p.m.) for a virtual talk with 2 business & fashion innovators from FABRIC. More information and to register.
ASU faculty, staff and students are invited to register for the livestream of the 2020 Global Governance Forum, Sept 16-18. The event features a session, Global Governance and the Emergence of Global Institutions for the 21st Century, moderated by GFL’s Amanda Ellis at 9am AZ time on Sept 18. In connection with the world body’s 75th anniversary, the UN75 Global Governance Forum seeks to promote a more inclusive and effective United Nations through dialogue and recommendations that better harness the ideas, capabilities, and networks of both state and non-state actors for achieving the UN’s commitment to peace, sustainable development, human rights, and a stable climate. More info and register.
The Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory has signed on as a host institution for this year’s Global Conference on Sustainability in Higher Education. As a host institution, we have unlimited registration passes for the ASU community. Sign up using the instructions below to gain free access to this great event.
Click here to register. If you are a Presenter or Student Presenter, use the Presenter link provided in your acceptance email and add the Discount Code to receive a free registration.
Fill out all the relevant fields. Be sure to use your institutional email address only (@asu.edu or @thunderbird.edu).
On the Submit Payment page, enter the following Discount Code: ASUEDU091020. This will drop your total to $0.00.
Complete your registration.
GCSHE is a virtual conference taking place on October 20-22 that offers 3 full days of live content and networking, plus thirty days of on-demand access (through November 22). Explore the session types and tracks, and view the schedule.
Arizona recently received a drought one-two punch: The state will receive another reduction of Colorado River water and the Farmer’s Almanac has predicted a dry winter in the Southwest.
Last year the state received its first-ever cutback of Colorado River water under the Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan. The cuts are a plan to keep Lake Mead, a reservoir at the Arizona-Nevada boundary, functional. Water levels for both Lake Mead and Lake Powell have precipitously dropped as a result of historic overallocation and a drought that started in 2000.
Read the ASU Now Q&A with Sarah Porter of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at the Morrison Institute on how these new developments will impact the Copper State and its residents.
American cities represent part of the nation’s long and grim history of discrimination and oppression against Black people. They can also be part of the recovery from all that harm.
Thus begins a new essay in The Conversation penned by sustainability scientists Mark Roseland, director and professor in the School of Community Resources and Development, Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions, and Christopher Boone, dean of the College of Global Futures.
The piece, published Sept. 10, addresses how cities can partner with community land trusts to provide affordable housing and help low-income and historically oppressed families.
The Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory represents the next quantum leap in the evolution of Arizona State University as one of the world’s premier centers for studies of sustainability, Earth's life-supporting systems and the future of life on our planet.
In rethinking traditional approaches to academic work and public engagement — often too slow to ensure needed impact — the Global Futures Laboratory aims to engage with speed and urgency to address the existential threats facing the planet and global society. To complete these goals, the lab encompasses a new College of Global Futures, a major research institute called the Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation, a solutions service called the Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Service, and engagement initiatives.
The Global Futures Research Accelerator launched on September 4, 2020. The inaugural cohort includes 28 faculty participants representing 13 college-level units across all four metropolitan ASU campuses. The faculty have diverse expertise across the sciences, engineering, humanities, and social sciences.
Dr. Neal Woodbury, Interim Executive Vice President and Chief Science and Technology Officer for ASU’s Knowledge Enterprise, welcomed the participants and provided an overview of university research strategy. Dr. Woodbury stressed the importance of developing an enterprise research strategy, seeking out mentors, and highlighted the learning model developed specifically for the Research Accelerator. The participants also heard from Ann McKenna Vice Dean of Strategic Advancement for the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, who highlighted the importance of linking individual scholarship to college and university research infrastructure. Future speakers and discussions will explore topics ranging from promoting justice, equity, diversity and inclusion to developing corporate partnerships and influencing policy.
The sustainability challenges facing society require novel approaches to use-inspired science with local-to-global impact. The Global Futures Research Accelerator empowers ASU Sustainability Scientists and Scholars to develop an enterprise research strategy to increase competitiveness, funding success, partnerships, and societal impact.
The Department of Defense is one of the largest single consumers of energy globally, and the Air Force is the largest user of fuel energy in the US Government. The way they generate, transmit, store, and use this enormous amount of energy today is both a paramount combat enabler and a potentially crippling vulnerability. The time has come for the DoD to reimagine its usage, generation, transportation, and storage of energy.
Submit your ideas: big, small, ambitious, conservative, terrestrial and space-based – all are welcomed and encouraged. Registration is required to submit.
The City of Phoenix Street Transportation Department recently initiated the Cool Pavement Pilot Program. With this project, the city plans to apply the product CoolSeal by GuardTop®, which is a water-based asphalt emulsion seal coat designed to achieve lower pavement surface temperatures through its lighter color and reflectivity.
A joint study between Arizona State University researchers — led by Ariane Middel and Jenni Vanos — and the City of Phoenix, and sponsored by the Healthy Urban Environments Initiative, will quantify and evaluate the effectiveness of the CoolSeal product in mitigating urban heat considering various heat metrics (air temperature, surface temperature and radiant temperature). This one-year project will also assess the product performance and life cycle.
In this Sept. 29 event, Stephanie Brewer explains how a community land trust uses public and private funding to build or rehabilitate houses, and then sells them under an agreement that allows first-time homeowners to build equity while ensuring that the homes will remain affordable for future buyers. From 1:00-2:00 p.m. via Zoom. Registration and more information.
The Office of Health Futures at ASU Knowledge Enterprise and Rachel Levinson (Executive Director, National Research Initiatives at ASU in DC) have developed a living document to help faculty and researchers across ASU:
Find, track, and win COVID-19-related funding opportunities (including but not excluded to NIH funding)
Rapidly form interdisciplinary teams around funding opportunities and targeted research areas
The Knowledge Enterprise understands that this will be the first of many iterations of this tool and welcomes your feedback on how it might be improved. Due to the time-sensitive nature of these opportunities, however, they wanted to get this tool into your hands as quickly as possible, and therefore, have added a sheet in the document for you to log your comments and questions, which they will review and respond to on a weekly basis. You may also email your thoughts and suggestions to Michelle Villegas-Gold directly
A new, 24-minute film called Nations United has been created by the United Nations on its 75th Anniversary and to mark five years since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals. In the midst of a pandemic radically transforming our world, Nations United tells the story of the world as it is, as it was, and as it could be. It focuses on the solutions and action we need to tackle poverty, inequality, injustice and climate change.
In our 
