nektarina (s)pace april 2013 issue
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Nektarina (S)pace April 2013 IssueTRANSCRIPT
NEKTARINA
(S)PACE
ISS
N 1
847-6
694
Apri
l 2013
Earth
Day
In this issue: The Plitvice Lakes,
Liveable Cities, Rivers in Urban
Areas, Supernatural Festival,
Wellgreen Lewes Skincare and more
Every year on April 22, more than one billion people take part in Earth
Day. Across the globe, individuals, communities, organizations, and
governments acknowledge the amazing planet we call home and take action to
protect it.
Climate change has many faces.
A man in the Maldives worried about relocating his family as sea levels
rise, a farmer in Kansas struggling to make ends meet as prolonged drought rav-
ages the crops, a fisherman on the Niger River whose nets often come up empty,
a child in New Jersey who lost her home to a super-storm, a woman in Bangla-
desh who can’t get fresh water due to more frequent flooding and cyclones… And
they’re not only human faces. They’re the polar bear in the melting arctic, the
tiger in India’s threatened mangrove forests, the right whale in plankton-poor
parts of the warming North Atlantic, the orangutan in Indonesian forests seg-
mented by more frequent bushfires and droughts…
Every person who does his or her part to fix the problem is also a Face of
Climate Change: the entrepreneurs who see opportunity in creating the new
green economy, the activists who organize community action and awareness
campaigns, the engineers who design the clean technology of the future, the
public servants who fight for climate change laws and for mitigation efforts, the
ordinary people who commit to living sustainably…
These faces of climate change are multiplying every day.
For many, climate change can often seem remote and hazy – a vague
and complex problem far off in the distance that our grandchildren may
have to solve. But that’s only because they’re still fortunate enough to be in-
sulated from its mounting consequences. Climate change has very real effects
on people, animals, and the ecosystems and natural resources on which we all
depend. Left unchecked, they’ll spread like wildfire.
Luckily, other faces of climate change are also multiplying every day.
On April 22, 2013, more than one billion people around the world will take
part in the 43rd anniversary of Earth Day. From Beijing to Cairo, Mel-
bourne to London, Rio to Johannesburg, New Delhi to New York, commu-
nities everywhere will voice their concerns for the planet, and take action to
protect it. We’ll harness that power to show the world The Face of Climate
Change. And we’ll call on our leaders to act boldly together, as we have, in
this pivotal year.
Between now and Earth Day, we’ll collect
and display images of people, animals,
and places directly affected or threatened
by climate change – as well as images of
people stepping up to do something about
it. We’ll tell the world their stories. But
we need your help. We need you to be cli-
mate reporters. So, send us your pictures
and stories that show The Face of Cli-
mate Change.
On and around Earth Day, an interactive
digital display of all the images will be
shown at thousands of events around the
world, including next to federal govern-
ment buildings in countries that produce
the most carbon pollution. The display
will also be made available online to any-
one who wants to view or show it. Togeth-
er, we’ll highlight the solutions and
showcase the collective power of individ-
uals taking action across the world. In
doing so, we hope to inspire our leaders to
act and inspire ourselves to redouble our
efforts in the fight against climate
change.
Nektarina
(S)pace
NEKTARINA (S)PACE IS A WEBMAGAZINE PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY
NEKTARINA NON PROFIT, A NON PROFIT, NON GOVERNMENTAL
ORGANIZATION. WWW.NEKTARINANONPROFIT.COM ISSN 1847-6691
April
Greens
NEKTARINA (S)PACE IS A WEBMAGAZINE PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY
NEKTARINA NON PROFIT, A NON PROFIT, NON GOVERNMENTAL
ORGANIZATION. WWW.NEKTARINANONPROFIT.COM ISSN 1847-6691
Nektarina (S)pace, Web Magazine
Year 2, Issue # 8, April 2013
Published by Nektarina Non Profit
ISSN 1847 - 6694
Under Creative Commons Licence
Working together towards a sustainable future.
www.nektarinanonprofit.com
Nektarina Non Profit is a non governmental, non profit organization, and
most of our projects are based on volunteer work. Our articles are a compila-
tion of data (where we always provide the source) or articles / opinion pieces
(in which case there is a by-line). We come from different backgrounds, and
English is not the first language for any of us, so there might be an
occasional flop :). If you are using any of our content, it would be great if
you could link it back to us, and if you are using other people’s content (that
you found in this magazine) please make sure to copy the source links we
provided. Thank you!
In this
issue: Earth Day 2013
Priti Rajagopalan—A Woman of Substance, Exhibition : No
Borders, Interview: Jean Paul Brice Affana - Inspiring Afri-
ca, The Balkans—Connecting Point, Education for Sustaina-
ble Development—Positive Examples: Status and perspec-
tives in Montenegro, Planet Ocean—Yann Arthus Bertrand,
The Bookshelf: Tony Juniper—What has nature ever done
for us?, World Nature Heritage Site: The Plitvice Lakes,
Wellgreen Lewes—A skincare ideology, River Runs Through
It—Belgrade Rivers Photo Essay, Liveable Cities: Lugano,
Switzerland, Supernatural Festival, Pretty Funky Creative—
Arts and Crafts, The Olive Tree Inspiration, Delish! Recipe
of the Month: Cottage Pie, and more
/pieces Pains and Laughs of Fundraising and Sustainable Agriculture
will be published in our May issue/
Mustered by:
Publisher: Nektarina Non Profit
Creative Director & Editor-In-Chief: Sandra Antonovic
Lead Researcher & Contributing Editor: Livia Minca
Content Contributor: Yula Pannadopoulos
Journalist: Alyosha Melnychenko
Photography: Sandra Antonovic
Contributors for the April Issue:
Daniela Arnel and Tjasa Oresnik
A very special “thank you” to amazing and inspiring:
Priti Rajagopalan
Amanda Jane Saurin
Andjelka Ilic
Rozana Mihovilovic Perc
Jean Paul Brice Affana
for sharing their thoughts, crafts and photographs with us
Contributing photographers:
Martijn Deijl (pages 24/25 “Where Gandhi used to meditate”; and pages 36/37)
Biljana Ilic (The Balkans and pages 104/105)
Snezana Antonovic (River Runs Through It)
Miroslav Bukorovic (Montenegro)
All photographs on pages 142-157 Copyright Wellgreen Lewes
All photographs on pages 194—211 Copyright Andjelka Ilic
All photographs on pages 213—221 Copyright Olivetta.biz
Content and visuals on pages 2—11 provided by Earth Day Network
Cover page photograph: Plitvice Lakes, Copyright Sandra Antonovic
Plitvice Lakes and Lugano photographs, Copyright Sandra Antonovic
Further Notes & Acknowledgments - Please refer to pages 234/235
Contributors: This could be you!
If interested, email us to [email protected]
This issue has been done in A4 format, and it is printable. However, we urge
to consider your environmental responsibility before printing. Choose reading
it online, or download it for free to your device and read it offline.
From our
desk:
By Yula Pannadopoulos
Spring is here (although it doesn’t always feel like it, brrr!) and we are
diving deep with our eighth issue . Things are spicing up, and we have some
very cool content this month, from great interviews to World Nature Heritage
Site, from Liveable Cities to Education for Sustainability, from inspiring
crafts to thought-provoking exhibitions.
This month we celebrate Earth Day, we are talking about what has
nature done for us, and we are sharing information on things to read, visit
and see. We are certain you’ll find them inspiring, thought-provoking,
beautifully amazing and educational.
We carried over two pieces that were announced for April - Sustainable
Agriculture and The Pains and Laughs of Fundraising. We will publish
them in May issue - we had such an amazing influx of great content for
this issue, we thought it might be a good idea to leave something for upcoming
months too :).
We’d like to thank everyone who helped make this issue - last few weeks
have been challenging behind-the-scenes, but with the help of so many lovely,
happy, positive people we managed to produce a great issue (and deliver it on
time :) )
Enjoy!
A woman
of substance:
Priti
Rajagopalan
Beautiful, smart, determined, thought provoking - she captures your
attention the very moment you meet her. Priti Rajagopalan, an inspiring
young woman from the city of Nagpur in India, is our Woman of Substance
choice this month. Priti was kind enough to find time in her busy schedule
and share some thoughts with us.
Our favourite one? “The realist feels, there is going to be injustice,
there is going to be societies that come out of them. But for every injustice
done may it be environmental degradation, racial , political or economical
there will be one or many who will stand up to it and fight for what is right
for you, me and all around us.
Read full interview →
Nektarina (S)pace: You are from India. Most of our readers haven't been to In-
dia (yet). They see it as a place of hardship, but also a place of an amazing
beauty. What is your perception of India? How do you see it.
Priti Rajagopalan: As a child who grew up in a middle income family, we kids
were aware of times (grandparents and parents) where education and food was
a luxury. Despite that, they remain some of the happiest and the most content-
ed people I have known in my life. The thing about growing up around in a so-
ciety that has people from every social and economic status is typical of most
developing nations and so it is for India. My perception of India has changed
with my years. It used to be of green trees, chirping birds, playing gully (street)
cricket, watching Indian mythology (Ramayan and Mahabharat) on weekends
and enjoying absolutely amazing food during cultural events like Diwali
(festival of lights), Holi (festival of colours). It is only recently, after having
traveled around, have i realised the incredible unity India has managed in the
past century. I confess, a lot of how i problem solve or think is based on what I
have seen around me and the experience of growing up in a small town. To sum
it up in one sentence, I do not like a lot of things happening in the country but
definitely am proud of a lot of what we have achieved and what we are capable
of.
Nektarina (S)pace: You spent some of your academic years in India and some
of them in Abu Dhabi. How would you compare the experience of studying in
these two countries, with cultures that (seem) so different ? What were the
main differences and what were the similarities? How did you adjust?
Priti Rajagopalan: I did most of my life in India and an extremely brief period
in Abu Dhabi. At first, it was absolutely different and a difficult transition.
But, more so infrastructure wise - fast cars, cheap petrol, really high buildings
and outward exuberance that I was not used to nor liked much. Culturally, the
Indian diaspora in Abu Dhabi is huge so the cultural shock was minimal. Def-
initely though, the way people thought Indian or otherwise was different in
terms of luxury of affording things as well as how the luxury changed their
opinions and the way they lived.
Nektarina (S)pace: What would you say is the main thing India and its peo-
ple can teach the rest of the world? Endurance, the life so very dependent on
the nature, or something else?
Priti Rajagopalan: Indians are extremely hard working people. Similarly, In-
dia and Indians have always stood for deep humanitarian values which forms
an important part of our cultural heritage. Our tribes have given birth to
some great environmental movements, great men like Swami Vivekananda
and Gandhiji have derived their teachings from our faith and rich cultural
heritage of compassion, empathy and oneness.
Nektarina (S)pace: You are quite young, but you are a very eager activist for
many years now. Could you tell us something about your work / volunteer ex-
periences?
Priti Rajagopalan: I have been involved with climate change related work for
5 years now. It began as a small waste management and composting project
which made me a British Council Climate Champion. After that i worked in
rural India on solar projects and also traveled to Bangladesh to do adaptation
work in coastal areas. My values and ideals have been driven by what I have
seen on ground during my work. I have always been interested in Math and
Economics thus got into policy and have done my bit of policy work in re-
search institutes. Having said that, I feel policy should be derivative of
ground realities and social and economic reality of the masses and not the
other way round and that is that i strive to do.
Nektarina (S)pace: You worked for the World Bank as a research assistant,
but you were also an Indian youth delegate for UNFCC. How would you say
these two complement each other (if they are)?
Priti Rajagopalan: Both are multilateral agencies which try to bring in vari-
ous perspectives and blocs on the same table. There are countries that require
help and there are countries that want to help and this synergy is the healthi-
est part of both these forum. As an Indian youth delegate my work was more
policy and networking and the linking of international negotiations to Do-
mestic policies. World bank was more on building real-time solutions on the
ground. Like I have previously mentioned there is no use of a policy that can-
not work for the masses and help in making positive changes to a society.
What that policy or the positive change is subjective and that’s where most
problems begin.
Nektarina (S)pace: How does your work and volunteering impact your life,
your thoughts and perspectives?
Priti Rajagopalan: My work and volunteering have impacted my life mostly
positively. Sometimes you travel and see a lot of things that you don't like for
example disrespect for women, atrocities towards a particular group of people
or simply corruption which indirectly ruins important sectors like agricul-
ture and food security. There are moments like these that make you feel help-
less but then you realise " you can either sit and cry or try doing something,
whatever you can to make a small change". This mantra has won me a lot of
friends and the greatest reward in knowing there is a network of people work-
ing towards making small or big but significant changes to people and socie-
ties around them and that nobody is alone in doing what they are. And, i can-
not thank my two greatest strengths - my partner and brother who have been
the biggest support of my professional life. They keep me grounded and that
sometimes is the most important thing.
My values and ideals have been driven by
what I have seen on ground during my work.
I feel policy should be derivative of ground
realities and social and economic reality of
the masses and not the other way round and
that is that i strive to do.
Nektarina (S)pace: You travel quite a lot for your work and volunteering ac-
tivities. In which way does travel impact (enrichen) you?
Priti Rajagopalan: First of all, the choices I make as a traveler have been af-
fected by the person I am. I have managed to stay a vegetarian, keep my car-
bon footprint to the minimum I can and respecting cultural and social norms
of the places i visit. Also, I believe I have learnt an incredible amount of life
lessons and perspectives from my travels and meeting people. Once you travel
someplace you might physically leave that country but a part of it always stays
with you. And all these parts assimilate themselves over time and before you
know you have changed a lot as a person.
Nektarina (S)pace: What inspires you? What moves you? Where do you find
your energy?
Priti Rajagopalan: My greatest inspiration is every single person who is com-
ing up with amazing ideas to integrate the world and change the way things
work. What moves me most is when a person takes up an initiative to create a
change and empowers scores others out of passion and nothing else. That per-
son has had to come out of a comfort zone and out of a lot of selflessness. That
is my greatest inspiration. Passion gives you infinite energy. It will show you
sides of yourself that you never knew existed.
Nektarina (S)pace: How do you see the future of India and your hometown
Nagpur? How do you see the future of this planet?
Priti Rajagopalan:
There will be lesser trees, fewer birds to chirp, more
technology to give us an illusion of development. The
pessimist me says this.
We will have a just , fair political and economic
system. Happy people all around who love environ-
ment, social justice and economic parity as much as
they love their blackberry or iphones. My incredibly
unrealistic optimistic self tells me that.
The realist feels, there is going to be injustice, there is
going to be societies that come out of them. But for
every injustice done may it be environmental degrada-
tion, racial , political or economical there will be one
or many who will stand up to it and fight for what is
right for you, me and all around us.
Exhibition:
No Borders
by Adrian Tahourdin
A thought-provoking exhibition recently opened at the Bristol Museum and Art
Gallery, in partnership with Arnolfini. “No Borders”, featuring a dozen modern
artists from the Middle East, Asia and Africa, “reflects upon the globalised con-
ditions of the world today and the particular histories and contexts that inform
current art practices”. The show runs until June and is free. Greeting the view-
er in the hall of the gallery are five panoramic photographs, “Peripheral Sto-
ries”, by Hala Elkoussy of the outskirts of Cairo (all taken before the Arab
Spring): waste ground, half-built tower blocks, electricity pylons, dusty roads -
unpeopled. Elkoussy describes her native city as one that “is changing at a very
fast pace” (below). The Mumbai-born artist Shilpa Gupta’s mesmerizing “In
Our Times” consists of two seesawing old-fashioned-looking microphones
mounted on a stand, one intoning Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s first speech as Pres-
ident of Pakistan in 1947, the other Jawaharlal Nehru’s inaugural address as
the first Prime Minister of newly independent India, all overlaid with plangent
vocals. “I would not like to be called a ‘political’ artist, rather just an ‘everyday’
artist as politics is part of our daily lives . . . “.
Yto Barrada’s photographs show economic migrants asleep in a park in Tangier
as they prepare to undertake the dangerous journey to “fortress” Europe. Barra-
da explains that "to cross" is called "to burn": “you burn your past, your identity,
your papers, because if you're caught on the other side if you're from Algeria
you may get permission to stay, because of the political situation; if you're from
Morocco you're sent back right away. So there's this obsession to get on the oth-
er side where the grass is greener that animates the streets of the city of
Tangier, that governs everything you do from the morning to the night”.
Further south we see stark photographic portraits of sugar-cane cutters by the
South African Zwelethu Mthethwa. The Lebanese artist Akram Zaatari’s
touching and witty film “Tomorrow Everything Will Be Alright” depicts an
epistolary dialogue between two former lovers: we watch as one types out ques-
tions about their relationship on a manual typewriter and, in a nod to the fact
that they haven't communicated for a decade, the responses instantly arrive on
-screen.
The Delhi-born Amar Kanwar’s half-hour film “A Season Outside”, about the
violence and disruption on the Kashmir border between India and Pakistan
(only last week two Indian and two Pakistani soldiers were killed in skir-
mishes), opens with the extraordinary flag-lowering ceremony that takes place
at the border gates at sunset - an apparent show of strength on both sides - and
develops into a personal meditation on the intractable problem.
There are striking works by the Pakistani miniaturists Imran Qureshi and
Shahzia Sikander - “I think that in the West you have a false idea about Pa-
kistan. It’s believed and wrongly so, that we are gagged and limited in our
artistic production”, writes Imran Qureshi.
Elsewhere we have Ai Weiwei’s compacted, lightly scented and all-too-tactile
(my companion was gently admonished for fingering it) cubic metre “A Ton of
Tea”, apparently made of “Pur Er blend of tea as it is drunk by ordinary
Chinese citizens across the country”.
No Borders reflects upon the globalised conditions of
the world today and the particular histories and
contexts that inform current art practices.
Inspiring
Africa:
Jean Paul
Brice Affana
Nektarina (S)pace: You are from Cameroon. Could you tell us something
about your country?
Jean Paul: Cameroon is known as the ‘‘Africa in miniature’’ which means that
in the country you can find so many different things at the same time, such as
biodiversity, people, culture, languages, values, etc. As a small Africa, Came-
roon offers people the opportunity to find themselves comfortable while en-
joying the nature. With over 20 million inhabitants, Cameroon has two offi-
cial languages – French and English – with over 100 local languages. This
makes us special.
Nektarina (S)pace: Africa is a mesmerizing, maybe even mysterious continent
to many people. What is your perception of Africa?
Jean Paul: I’m African and I’m happy to be from this amazing continent
where daily life is definitively not something you take for granted. When you
go out of the continent, you discover sometimes with high disappointment that
the idea others have about Africa is not what the reality is about. In many
countries worldwide, Africa is however synonym of poverty, diseases, crime,
corruption, HIV/AIDS, and all this makes me sad. Because all these issues
and problems are present in other countries as well, not only in Africa! But so
many media, politicians and even families prefer to ‘‘teach’’ this image of Af-
rica to the public, their citizens, their children, so that later they have no re-
spect for Africans. Thus, racism, xenophobia and all related behaviors are
happening. Why? Just because people don’t want to know the truth about Af-
rica, or they just don’t care.
Nektarina (S)pace: Can the rest of the world learn from Africa?
Jean Paul: The most important thing Africa can teach to the rest of the world
is ‘‘Survival’’. Yes, survival is our daily dish in Africa and this is something
that people don’t experience everywhere in the world. There are several places
in the world where life conditions are so good and amazing that young people
for example take it for granted and do nothing for their communities. If they
ever decide to do something, they only contribute to problems. But in Africa,
those young persons who contribute to crime for example, do it only because
they have to survive, not because they have so much good life conditions that
they don’t know what to do out of it. We struggle a lot in Africa and this
makes us good fighters for our survival. Every day, every week, every month,
we struggle to survive. That is the main thing according to me that my conti-
nent can teach to others.
Nektarina (S)pace: You are quite young (26 years old), but you are a very ea-
ger activist for many years now. Could you tell us something about your work /
volunteer experiences?
Jean Paul: The truth behind my work and volunteer experience and why I al-
ready achieved so much while still being that young is that I became aware of
my possible contribution to address global challenges as a global citizen very
early. I can say that I was lucky enough as this was in 2004 and since then I
have had a long way. But this was not the only reasons. I also had the chance
to meet with people and other leaders who knew how to motivate me and to en-
courage me. My elder sister for example has played an important role here. I
will never thank her enough.
First when I joined volunteer activities in Cameroon, mostly in the cities of
Yaoundé and Ngaoundéré, I discovered that when working with others we can
achieve more and have a better impact. Then I have been working with many
community projects and youth-led initiatives which gave me this strong expe-
rience and work achievements I already have while also being so young. I con-
nected later with the global community and supported in the best of my capac-
ity many projects and campaigns, speaking at global events, sharing my experi-
ence and skills as trainer of facilitator, coordinating youth networks and
youth-led projects, meeting with high leaders and Heads of State, etc. I did
quite a lot already and this encouraged me to keep going and achieve even
more.
Nektarina (S)pace: You are a founder of Vital Actions for Sustainable Devel-
opment (AVD). Could you share with us more about that part of your work?
Jean Paul: I co-founded Vital Actions for Sustainable Development (AVD) in
2008 in Cameroon. The idea came to my minds when I was in University and
discovered that I needed a platform where I can express myself and transform
into actions and projects all the ideas I developed in my head since 2004. I had
many on them and they keep coming in. The NGO has permanent members
and volunteers who work together to implement activities that raise awareness
about environmental issues and the importance of achieving sustainable devel-
opment for all. Through informal educational activities and learning for
change, we train, inform, educate and empower people to become eco-citizens
in our cities so that they support sustainable development and save our envi-
ronment. In 2009 the World Bank recognised my work when I shared my vi-
sion of a world where young people can be positive agents for change in ad-
dressing sustainable development by participating to the World Bank Essay
Competition 2009.
I went to South Korea and met there with other young leaders sharing the
same vision as I do. That also encouraged me later to connect the work of AVD
with other global youth so that we can work together in achieving great suc-
cess. Today AVD is growing in its achievements and is one of the most success-
ful youth-led NGOs in Cameroon, and even in Central Africa. I’m proud of the
work we do and my colleagues as well as our volunteers are so amazing in their
commitment. We are a great team!
Continued →
Nektarina (S)pace: How does your work and volunteering impact your life,
your thoughts and perspectives?
Jean Paul: The work I’m doing has a direct impact on my personal life. First
I’m now able to act as an eco-citizen who understand the role of ‘‘green’’ atti-
tudes and lifestyles to contribute to sustainable development starting from the
little things. Secondly I’m able to see myself as a global citizen who under-
stands the global challenges and the fact that we cannot solve them by using
the same thinking we used when creating them, to quote Einstein. This is es-
sential for me given that I understand now a lot about the mechanisms around
the work of international development agencies, intergovernmental processes,
the United Nations, etc. I have learned about all these institutions when I was
a student at primary and secondary school, and now I’m experiencing working
with them. This is something I never expected and thought before when I was
a child, a student. All this has now an impact of my life. I can see the big pic-
ture and understand it very well. I can be able to accept the differences be-
tween people and agree that we are all united despite our diversity. I’m able to
accept the failures of my work and understand that I can improve it more
while working with these lessons learned and with other people’ support. This
is how my work and experience impact my own life and the life of others
around me.
Nektarina (S)pace: You travel quite a lot for your work and volunteering ac-
tivities. In which way does travel impact (enrichen) you?
Jean Paul: Travelling is something I mostly do for my work and the last three
years have been full of new experiences. I had the opportunity to virtually con-
nect and exchange with my peers and other key leaders worldwide. However
while travelling I met with many of them physically and this has something
different.
When you finally discover the persons behind the emails and the social me-
dia, you are honoured and happy. Travelling has also enabled me to connect
with most of the people I’m working with now at the global level. The success
of the Rio+20 Global Youth Music Contest I have been coordinating globally
in 2011 and 2012 was possible because I connected with a very special person
in 2009 in another country. That is how travels contribute to my work experi-
ence and also to my personal life. I meet with people. I work with them. I
discover new things and I learn from them as they can learn from me too. I
like that part of my work, mostly when the impact and added value is direct
and has a long term impact.
Nektarina (S)pace: What inspires you? What moves you? Where do you find
your energy?
There is a French assertion that says ‘‘Aux âmes bien nées, la valeur n’attend
point le nombre d’années’’. This means that it doesn’t matter if you are young
pr not, when the time comes for you to do something, you have and will do it.
I’m strongly convinced that my work and achievements so far is also related
to this assertion. However I have to add that I didn’t wait for someone to ask
me to do something and consider myself as a global citizen aware of the glob-
al challenges the world faces. When I want to do something I always try and
start before accepting the hard conditions later. Because I know that if I
don’t start to do something, I will never know if I can make it or not. I’m nat-
urally a fighter and a hard worker. That makes me special when working
with others too. When I started to become aware of these characters that I
have I was able to find myself and also decided to join community groups as
a volunteer to address those challenges. It always motivates me also to work
with people sharing the same goals as I do.
That is the best motivation ever give
that you realise that you are not alone
and you are a group, a community!
Nektarina (S)pace: How do you see the
future of Africa and Cameroon? How
do you see the future of this planet?
Africa can rise from its problems if its
sons and daughters become more ac-
tive in addressing them. I don’t think
we will do it in one day. It needs time
and years, decades, but it is possible.
Our planet counts on us all. There is
no future planned. We design it. To-
gether. That is why I’m contributing
to make the best design out of it while
being an active activist and young pro-
fessional. Everyone has a role t play
here. We are a global family of global
citizens.
The Balkans
Connecting
Point
What does the word 'Balkan' refer to?
Mountain. 'Balkan' is a Turkish word, meaning 'wooded mountain' or 'black
mountain'. The Turkish word originates from the Central Asian term
'barkhan', which denotes a crescent-shaped sand dune. The Balkan Peninsula
is an almost entirely mountainous region. The average altitude varies from
470 m (Bulgaria) to 850 m (FYR of Macedonia). The entire peninsula has an
area of around 550,000 km² and has roughly 55 million inhabitants.
What is the highest peak in the Balkans?
Musala (Mt. Rila). Musala (2,925 m) is the highest peak of Mount Rila, Bul-
garia. Mytikas (2,918 m) is the highest point of Mount Olympus, Greece.
Vihren (2,914 m) is the highest point of the Pirin Mountain in south-western
Bulgaria. Triglav (2,864 m) is the highest peak of the Julian Alps, in Slove-
nia. Its positioning in the Balkan peninsula is somewhat controversial
though. It is interesting that the names of these high mountains reflect an-
cient religious beliefs connecting them to celestial gods. Thus, Mt. Olympus
was the seat of Olympic gods of ancient Greeks. Musala derives its name from
Mus Allah, or Allah's Mountain, while it's earlier, Bulgarian name, was Tan-
gra. Tangra was ancient god of the skies, creator of entire universe, of Altaic
peoples. Triglav (Three-headed) was a god of ancient Slavs.
What is the name of the central mountain range of the Balkan Peninsula?
Stara Planina. The Stara Planina stretches from eastern Serbia into Bulgaria.
It is about 560 km long. Its highest peak is Botev 2,376 m (in Bulgaria). The
term 'Balkan Peninsula' was first coined in 1808 by August Zeune, a German
geographer.
It is noteworthy that the peninsula got its name after the Turkish word for
this mountain, and not after its Slavic name, which would have been logical
considering the fact that the majority of the population was and is Slavic. This
clearly reflected aggressive aspirations of Europe's big powers towards reigning
these regions, as opposed to self-governing drive of Balkan nations in the nine-
teenth century. Kopaonik and Suva Planina are in Serbia, Sar Planina is at
the border between Serbia and Macedonia.
What is the longest river in the Balkan Peninsula?
Morava. The Morava river system (Ibar-Zapadna Morava-Velika Morava)
lies in Serbia, and with a length of 550 km it is the longest waterway in the
Balkan Peninsula. The Drina runs through Serbia and Bosnia and is 487
km long. It is formed by the rivers Piva and Tara (the latter is famous for
the beautiful canyon and rafting possibilities) and it has a big electroener-
getic potential of six billion kilowatt-hours. The Marica (Maritsa, Greek:
Evros), flowing through Bulgaria and constituting the border between
Greece and Turkey, is 480 km long. In 1371 an important battle took place on
the Marica, between invading Ottoman forces and defending Serb forces. The
Serbs lost, and the Ottomans penetrated deep into the Balkans for the first
time. The Vardar (Greek: Axios), the river flowing from Skopje into the Ae-
gean sea close to Thessaloniki, is 388 km long and found in Macedonia.
Which one is NOT a catabatic (descending) wind of the Balkans?
Sirocco. Catabatic winds are cold, descending winds. The Vardarac is a
northern wind blowing down the valley of Vardar. The Kosava (Koshava) is
strong wind in Serbia, blowing from south-east. The Bura (Italian: Bora) is
a very strong catabatic wind on the Adriatic coast, the strongest below Mount
Velebit in Croatia. In 2006 a wind speed of 235 km/h was measured on the
Croatian island Pag. The Sirocco ("Yugo" in Serbo-Croatian) comes from the
Sahara. Blowing over the Mediterranean Sea, it becomes wet bringing
clouds, humidity and rain. It is a warm, anabatic (ascending) wind.
The northern border of the Balkan Peninsula lies on three rivers. Which
ones?
Danube, Sava and Kupa. There is more than one definition as to what consti-
tutes the northern border of the Balkan Peninsula. The line formed by the
rivers Danube, Sava and Kupa is perhaps the most widely used. Also used are
the lines Danube-Sava-Krka-Socha, Danube-Sava-Ljubljana-Trieste and
others.
What does the term 'balkanize' mean?
To divide a country into small, ineffectual parts. 'To balkanize' means 'to di-
vide into small, quarreling, ineffectual parts'. The term is a reference to the
general political situation in the Balkans between the Congress of Berlin
(1878) and the Second Balkan War (1913), when the European part of the
Ottoman Empire (Rumelia) was split into small states that were often in a
state of war. But this process essentially echoed the competing and antagonis-
tic interests of the big powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Great Britain,
France and Russia) in the Ottoman heritage in Balkans.
The identity of the Balkans is dominated by its geography;
historically the area was known as a crossroads of several
cultures. It has been a meeting point between the Latin and
Greek parts of the Roman Empire. It became an area where
Orthodox and Catholic Christianity met, as well as the meeting
point between Islam and Christianity. Many Jewish people fled
here from Inquisition.
What does the Serbocroat term 'vlah' NOT represent?
Gipsy. The Serbo-Croatian term 'vlah' illustrates the complicated ethnic his-
tory of the Balkans well. In the Middle Ages the term was used to describe
the old Balkan population (romanized Illyrians, Thracians and Celts) that
retreated to the mountains and to Adriatic islands during Great Shift of na-
tions in 6th and 7th centuries. They eventually became shepherds, so the
term has gradually acquired the meaning of shepherd as an occupation. Af-
ter the Ottoman conquest, Christians were to a greater extent marginalized
in mountainous areas, thus also becoming shepherds, or 'vlahs' for the newly
Islamized population. Vlahs in eastern Serbia, however, are a separate eth-
nic group, culturally and linguistically linked to Romanians. There are
many geographic toponyms reflecting this history, like Mount Vlasic in Bos-
nia, region Stari Vlah in Serbia, Mount Romania in Bosnia etc.
On this point in the Iron Gate, the Danube is only 150 m wide. What is the
name of this gorge?
Great Kazan. The Iron Gate (Djerdapska Klisura) is a 134 km-long system
of gorges in the Danube, forming part of the border between Romania and
Serbia. The main gorges are Golubac Gorge (14.5 km long, 230 wide on the
narrowest part), Gospodin Vir (15 km long, 220 m wide) and Great Kazan
(Kazan means 'kettle' in Serbian), with a length of 19 km (together with the
Small Kazan) and the narrowest point of 150 m. The Danube is 54 m deep
here. In 105 AD, before his conquest of Dacia (Romania), the Roman emper-
or Trajan erected a bridge (Trajan's Bridge) here. Today the Iron Gate is a
national park in Serbia.
Lepenski Vir is the archeological site in the Iron Gate, where exciting ichtio-
morphical (piscine) Mesolithic figures were excavated (the peak of the Lep-
enski Vir Culture was between 5300 BC and 4800 BC). Rich findings in Lep-
enski Vir indicate the high cultural level of these early Europeans.
The first urban settlement in Europe, older than the cities of Mesopotamia
and Egypt, was erected on the banks of Danube, near Belgrade. What is its
name?
Vinca. Some 15 km east of Belgrade, near the village of Vinca (pronounced
Vincha), the first urban settlement in Europe was built in the 6th millenni-
um BC. This is earlier than the first urban settlements in Mesopotamia. It
was the main settlement of the Neolithic Vinca culture, discovered by Miloje
Vasic in 1908. The site was excavated from 1918-1934. The Vinca culture
flourished between the 6th and 3rd millennium BC in the wider Balkan ar-
ea, stretching also into Asia Minor and Central Europe. The Kostolac culture
is a culture from the Copper Age that succeeded the Vinca culture. The But-
mir Culture is also a Neolithic culture, in Bosnia, dating around 2,500 BC.
Butmir is near Sarajevo. It is noteworthy that near Krapina (North-western
Croatia), archeologist Dragutin Gorjanovic-Kramberger discovered what is
today the biggest fossil site of the Neanderthal man. He found over eight
hundred fossil remains. They are dated to be around 100,000 years old. On the
other site near Vindija, Croatia, a 38,000 year old bone fragment was found
in 1980. Analysis showed that Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens share about
99.5% of their DNA.
To what political philosophy did the Balkans give rise?
Democracy. Democracy (from the Greek words demos or 'people' and kratos
'rule') was a political system developed by the ancient Greeks in Athens, dur-
ing the first millennium BC. Liberalism is an English political thought de-
veloped during the 18th and 19th centuries. Socialism was developed in
France, Germany and England during 19th century. Fascism was developed in
Italy during the 1920s.
This anthropological variety of the Caucasian race is described in the Western
Balkans, in the background of the Adriatic coast. What is it called?
Dinaric. Physical anthropology divides races according to various physical
measurements. The Dinaric variety of the Caucasian race is tall, relatively ro-
bust, with long legs, brachicephalic, brown eyes, and hair dark brown. The
nose is large and convex. It is prototyped in the Western Balkans, and got its
name from the Dinaric Mountain Range. Nordic, Alpine and Mediterranean
are other types of Caucasians.
One of the biggest bird reserves in Europe lies in a lake on the Balkans.
Which one?
Skadar. Lake Skadar (Albanian: Skutari) is the largest lake in the Balkans,
with an area of 370-530 km2, depending on the water level. It is shared by
Montenegro and Albania. The lake was formed as a crypto-depression. The
river Moracha fills the lake while the river Boyana drains it. Lake Skadar is
one of the biggest bird reserves in Europe, with almost 300 species.
Which of the following winds does NOT blow in the seas surrounding Balkan
Peninsula?
Foehn. Maltemi is a strong northern wind in the Aegean region, mostly in
summer, that is strongest in the afternoons. It can reach 7 to 8 Beaufort. The
Maestral is a mild daily westerly wind in the Adriatic region that blows from
the sea onto the coast. It is the result of the daily warming of the coast relative
to the sea. As already said, the Sirocco is a wind that comes from the Sahara,
bringing rain and big waves. The Foehn is a hot and dry wind descending
from the leeward side of the Alps.
The weather in the Balkans is influenced mainly by three huge weather sys-
tems. Name the one that does NOT influence the Balkan weather directly!
Beaufort High. Most of the Balkans has a continental climate, with a Medi-
terranean climate on its coasts. The weather conditions are influenced by
three major weather systems - Siberian High, Azores High and Icelandic
Low. The Azores High is an anticyclonic high pressure system (sea-level pres-
sure 1024 mbar) near the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean. It brings warm and
dry weather in summer. The Icelandic Low is a cyclonic low-pressure system
near Iceland in northern Atlantic, cyclonic activity bringing rain and mois-
ture. The Siberian High is an anticyclonic system (sea-level pressure often
above 1040 mbar, with record of 1083.8 mb!) of cold dry air that accumulates
above Eurasia in winter (November-March). The air in Siberian High is of-
ten colder than - 40 Celsius. It is responsible for cold winters in Balkans.
Beaufort High is an anticyclone that is formed above the Beaufort Sea, north
of northwestern Canada.
This landscape in the Western Balkans is characterized by its rugged sur-
face, extensive underground drainage and caves. Which one is NOT one of its
names?
Corso. Karst, Kras and Carso are the German, Serbocroation and Italian
names for this landscape. This landscape is formed by the dissolution in wa-
ter of calcium-carbonate bedrock. Characteristic formations are clints, grikes,
disappearing and reappearing springs, limestone pavements, poljes (basins),
caves, sinkholes etc. Corso is a term for the pedestrian street.
This formidable cave system in Slovenia is one of the most beautiful in the
world. What is it called?
Postojna. Postojna cave (Postojnska jama) is a very beautiful, 20 km long
carst cave system in Western Slovenia. It was discovered in the 17th century.
Endemic Proteus anguinus ('Human fish') live in the cave and so does a spe-
cies of blind salamander.
Which mountain massif is NOT in the Balkan Peninsula?
Taurus Mountains. The Rhodopes Mountains (Golyam Perelik 2,191m) lie
mostly in Bulgaria. The Dinaric Alps (Prokletije 2,692m) are a mountain
range that is around 650 km long, along the eastern Adriatic coast. It is the
third biggest mountain range in Europe, after the Alps and the Scandinavian
Mountains. The Pindus Mountains (Smolikas 2,637m) are a 160 km long
mountain range in northern Greece. The Taurus Mountains are in southeast-
ern Turkey (Aladaglar, 4,000 m).
This lake is the deepest in the Balkans (288 m), preserving more than 200 en-
demic species. What is it called?
Ohrid. Lake Ohrid is the deepest and oldest lake in the Balkans (from the
Pliocene, about 5 million years ago). It is a tectonic lake found in Macedonia.
Lakes of similar origin are rare in the world, the most notable examples be-
ing Lake Baikal in Russia and Lake Tanganyika in Africa. Lake Ohrid rep-
resents a unique ecosystem harboring more than 200 endemic species. The
Black Drim River flows from Lake Ohrid into the Adriatic Sea. The other
answer options are also lakes in Central Balkans.
What are the most numerous people of the Balkans?
Greeks. The Greeks are the most numerous of the Balkan peoples (around
10.5 million), followed by Serbs (9.5 million) and Bulgarians (6.5 million).
The overall majority of inhabitants are of Slavic origin (around 27 million
out of around 45 million). The language spoken most widely in the Balkans
is Serbo-Croatian, spoken by more than 16 million people.
What is the major religion in the Balkans?
Eastern Orthodox Christianity. The majority of the Balkan people belong to
Eastern Orthodox Christianity (Greeks, Serbs, Bulgarians, Macedonians,
Montenegrins). Majority of Albanians and Turks, and some 40% of popula-
tion of Bosnia and Herzegovina are Muslims. Croats and Slovenes are mostly
Catholic. The religious differences played a major role in the processes of
constituting national states in the 19th century, as well as in the processes of
balkanization.
Positive
Examples:
Montenegro
Education for
Sustainable Development (ESD):
Status and perspectives in Montenegro
The Montenegrin educational system has experienced a number of recent
systemic changes as an answer to social reality which asks for changes in edu-
cation and as it has begun to cooperate with the wider region and the Europe-
an Union. One important aim of reforms in Montenegro is to create a new gen-
eration of people who will respect and apply the principles and concept of sus-
tainable development in Montenegro.
In order to support sustainable development implementation, with par-
ticular reference to the education sector, new educational curricula should be
developed. The new curricula developed around the ESD concept for primary
schools, secondary vocational schools, high schools, and also universities must
underline the knowledge and skills that ensure achieving important economi-
cal, social, and environmental goals.
So far, the introduction of sustainable development content in the
Montenegrin education system is in its initial phase. Some of the most-
pressing issues have been spelled out in the document “Action Plan—
Integration of Sustainable Development into Educational System 2007–
2009”. The aim of developing the Action Plan was to create conditions for
planned introduction of sustainable development contents into the Montene-
grin educational system. It defines tasks, roles, dynamics and required finan-
cial resources of educational institutions responsible for delivering envisaged
activities. The Action Plan was brought in line with principles and goals of
UN Strategy, National Strategy for Sustainable Development, as well as with
those principles and goals given in the key documents of educational reform
implementation.
New curricula are modernized and adjusted to contemporary require-
ments in Europe, built based on a goal-oriented planning of contents and
teachers themselves can choose methods and activities by which the goals can
be best achieved. One step in Montenegro has been to give teachers, students,
and schools the independence to create new subject curricula. It means the lo-
cal community can create around 20% of the local curricula’s contents. Trials
within the last few years have shown that this does depend on teachers’ moti-
vations to adjust the curricula to the local community and school. This is an
opportunity for sustainable development to gain traction and teachers who
have worked with this program have received training and aid. The percent-
age of sustainable development contents within new subject curricula is very
high. According to plan, new curricula will comprise all pupils in the grades
from first to ninth until the end of school year 2013/14.
Delivering sustainable development in education in Montenegro is based on
the idea that children and young people may play an active role in promot-
ing sustainable development. Therefore, children are considered as active
agents of change to promote sustainability in the home and in the wider
community (for example recycling, energy and water saving, etc). According-
ly, schools should act as a focal point for sustainability issues in their com-
munities, while learning in that manner needs to be a practical experience.
Another recent model in Montenegro has promoted elective subjects in pri-
mary schools, high schools, and secondary vocational schools, giving stu-
dents different avenues to explore their creativity and satisfy their interests.
Also, through elective subjects, teachers are often teaching in areas in which
they are highly qualified. When it comes to general high school, by choosing
compulsory elective subjects pupils create their own “orientation” and that
way they actively influence the formation of their own professional orienta-
tion.
One important aim of reforms in Montenegro is
to create a new generation of people who will
respect and apply the principles and concept of
sustainable development in Montenegro.
Teachers’ training should include interactive work (exchange of experi-
ences, knowledge, beliefs, and needs between leaders and participants, as well
as among participants), and cooperation and partnership (cooperative learn-
ing). Application of ICT, introducing of E-learning and Distance learning
by means of videoconference system completely provides for sustainable
teacher training system and quality implementation of educational system
reform.
Quality programme realization is not possible to achieve without trained
teachers and adequate teacher aids. Beforehand, it is necessary to develop
training programme for teachers who are instructing under new educational
curricula, capacitate trainers, develop a small pilot-project that will test the
training model with a small cohort of teachers and afterwards in line with ac-
tivities envisaged by the Action Plan start with the training of teachers. The
Bureau for Educational Services and Centre for Vocational Education are the
organizers of teacher training for realization of new curricula while the Ex-
amination Centre organizes training for test authors and training for admin-
istering exams.
Local community can create around 20% of the
local curricula’s contents. This does depend on
teachers’ motivations to adjust the curricula to the
local community and school.
Development and application of teacher aids is also very important for
understanding, learning and adopting these contents (textbooks, handbooks,
magazines, computers, videotapes, projectors, media materials). Textbooks as
a primary teacher aid and a part of comprehensive reform education, of
course, have an important role in realization of programmes in the area of
sustainable development. Doubtless, themes related to this area are far more
present in textbooks, which resulted in a large number of projects in the field
of environment and sustainable development. This fact gave additional im-
pulse to familiarization of children with different cultures, new comprehen-
sion of significance that environment has, more refined respect of the envi-
ronment, as well as adoption of new criteria and standards.
Delivering sustainable development in
education in Montenegro is based on the idea
that children and young people may play an
active role in promoting sustainable
development. Therefore, children are considered
as active agents of change to promote
sustainability in the home and in the wider
community (for example recycling, energy and
water saving, etc).
Our
Blockbuster:
Can we imagine a film that would change the way people look at the ocean?
Can we explain simply, to everyone, the greatest natural mystery of our plan-
et? And lastly, can we help our children believe in a better and more sustain-
able world tomorrow?
This is the triple challenge of a new cinema adventure signed by Yann Ar-
thus-Bertrand and editor- in-chief Michael Pitiot, who brings with him the
scientific missions of TARA, a unique pool of researchers, oceanographers
and biolo- gists from several countries. Thanks to its astonishing photog-
raphy, the film takes us on a magnificent and unprecedented journey into the
heart of the least known regions of our planet.
The film narrates the most marvelous and also the most terrifying human ex-
periences of our time. Filmed in extreme geographical conditions all over the
globe, it describes the modern Odyssey of people who go out to discover their
blue planet.
The film is also a plea for humanity to respect the world in which we live. It
serves a noble and universal cause that will be defended at the next Earth
Summit, in Rio, in 2012.
If you are an NGO or a school and that you wish to organize a free screening
of the film Planet Ocean, please contact the GoodPlanet Foundation :
More information:
http://www.yannarthusbertrand.org/en/films-tv/planet-ocean
http://ocean.goodplanet.org/?lang=en
The
Bookshelf
By Tony Juniper
One of the gravest misconceptions of modern times is the still widely
held view that efforts to nurture nature can be a drag on economic develop-
ment. Nothing could be further from the truth.
From nutrient recycling in soils to the protection of coasts by wetlands
and from carbon capture and storage in forests to the pollination of crop
plants by insects, nature is has massive economic value. Without it there is no
development, no economy and no prospect to meet long-term poverty reduction
goals. The truth is that the economy is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ecology,
not the other way around.
In my new book called "What has nature ever done for us?" I tell the sto-
ries of how natural systems sustain our welfare. Some of the things I discov-
ered left me stunned. A case in point concerns the economic value of India’s
vultures – or more accurately their former value.
Across the subcontinent during the 1990s, India’s three vulture species
suffered a catastrophic decline. It was caused by an anti-inflammatory drug
used to treat farm animals. Residues in the bodies of dead cattle and buffalo
proved toxic to such birds and their numbers plummeted from about 40 mil-
lion to a few tens of thousands.
Each year the vultures were eating about 12 million tonnes of rotting
flesh. With the vultures’ gone this became food for wild dogs. Their popula-
tion rocketed and more dog bites and human rabies infections followed.
This in turn led to an estimated 50,000 or so more deaths than would
otherwise have been the case. The cost of this and other consequences on In-
dia’s economy was (over a decade or so) put at an eye-watering US$34 billion..
Taken together, the loss of natural services is believed to be costing the
global economy more than 6 trillion dollars per year, or equivalent to around
11 per cent of world GDP. By contrast, the estimated cost of meeting global
targets to avert the impending mass extinction of species is put at about US$76
billion, or about 0.12 per cent of annual GDP.
There are many initiatives underway that set out to restore services once
provided by nature. For example, efforts to reverse the decline in vulture pop-
ulations are being co-ordinated by a consortium of national conservation or-
ganisations and multi-national vulture experts, including the RSPB. This ini-
tiative, Saving Asia's Vultures from Extinction (SAVE), was launched in
2011 to help coordinate research, advocacy and implementation of the actions
needed to prevent these birds from disappearing forever.
This and a whole lot of other work is not only about conservation for its
own sake, but also about the practical benefits we all derive from what nature
provides. The sooner political and business leaders realize that it makes eco-
nomic sense to nurture nature the more likely it will be that goals to improve
human wellbeing can be met.
Tony Juniper is Britain’s best known environmental campaigner, and a for-
mer director of Friends of the Earth. He is the author of several books includ-
ing Saving Planet Earth, which accompanied the BBC TV series.
By Jessica Shankleman
The word "nature" isn't usually written with a capital letter, but for the
Prince of Wales' introduction to Tony Juniper's new book, "Nature" becomes a
proper noun.
From the $3.7tr that could be saved through carbon capture by halving the
deforestation rate, to the $81bn worth of damage caused by Hurricane Katri-
na, What has Nature Ever Done for Us? vividly reminds readers about the eco-
nomic value of our natural resources, and what we stand to lose by ignoring and
eradicating them. Juniper's sixth book is so clearly written and enjoyably read-
able that it looks set to become a valuable tool for business leaders and students
striving to gain a better understanding of the green economy.
Throughout 12 chapters, each covering a different aspect of the natural
world, Juniper delivers fact after fact illustrating just how dependent our eco-
nomic success has become, and will continue to be, on nature. With an engaging
and non-preachy tone, he joins the dots for readers explaining how the impact
of human activity on nature could have much wider unintended consequences
elsewhere. One of the more startling examples shows how the dramatic drop in
population of India's "natural bin men" – vultures – appears to have inadvert-
ently led to a rise in dog populations, and therefore rabies cases, costing the
country around $34bn by some estimates.
The other chapters cover a range of topics, including the value of pollina-
tion, fish, and soil, which Juniper says alone could capture 5.5 billion tonnes of
additional carbon each year if it were better managed.
Juniper takes a traditional "people, planet, profit" triple bottom line ap-
proach, highlighting the emerging trend for businesses to try and integrate the
value of natural capital into their business models.
The book does not focus on many of the more well-known low carbon
technologies, such as wind turbines and electric cars, and instead Juniper
highlights some of the less celebrated innovations that have already, or could
in future, improve our lifestyles while preserving the environment. One sur-
prising example is the horseshoe crab, whose copper based blood is still consid-
ered the best substance for testing the sterility of drugs – no synthetic alterna-
tive has proved as successful. He also draws attention to elephants' giant guts,
which have helped us to develop more efficient ways of making biofuels, as we
better understand how they break down food. Some of the natural processes
Juniper describes are so fundamental to our existence, such as photosynthesis
or the story of evolution, that his explanations might strike as a little basic to
readers already au fait with the latest environmental thinking. (Anyone
whose seen Fatboy Slim's Right Here, Right Now video understands the basic
process of evolution, right?) But nevertheless, both novices and experts can
draw lessons from the way Juniper communicates these concepts in an incredi-
bly accessible way. In fact, the book could prove a particularly valuable re-
source for sustainability leaders who struggle to convince their colleagues and
senior management about the value of green projects.
With a foreword by Prince Charles, and its richly interwoven facts and
figures, What Has Nature Ever Done for Us? deserves to be a hit with nature
lovers and business leaders alike.
World
Nature
Heritage
Site:
The Plitvice
Lakes
Plitvice Lakes National Park contains a series of beautiful lakes, caves and
waterfalls. These have been formed by processes typical of karst landscapes
such as the deposition of travertine barriers, creating natural dams. These geo-
logical processes continue today.
The Plitvice Lakes basin is a geomorphologic formation of biological origin, a
karst river basin of limestone and dolomite, with approximately 20 lakes, cre-
ated by the deposition of calcium carbonate precipitated in water through the
agency of moss, algae and aquatic bacteria. These create strange, characteristic
shapes and contain travertine-roofed and vaulted caves. The carbonates date
from the Upper Trias, Juras and Cretaceous Ages and are up to 4,000 m thick.
In order to maintain and preserve the natural characteristics of the lakes, the
whole of surface and most of the subterranean drainage system has to be em-
braced by extending the original borders of the park. The new areas comprise
layers of karstified limestone with dolomites of Jurassic age.
There are 16 interlinked lakes between Mala Kapela Mountain and Pljesevica
Mountain. The lake system is divided into the upper and lower lakes: the upper
lakes lie in a dolomite valley and are surrounded by thick forests and inter-
linked by numerous waterfalls; the lower lakes, smaller and shallower, lie on
the limestone bedrock and are surrounded only by sparse underbrush. The up-
per lakes are separated by dolomite barriers, which grow with the formation of
travertine, forming thus travertine barriers. Travertine is mostly formed on the
spots where water falls from an elevation, by the incrustation of algae and
moss with calcium carbonate. The lower lakes were formed by crumbling and
caving-in of the vaults above subterranean cavities through which water of the
upper lakes disappeared.
The forest, that comprises pure stands of beech at lower altitudes and mixed
stands of beech and fir at higher levels, can also be classified in terms of un-
derlying strata of dolomite and limestone complexes. The dolomite communi-
ties comprise tertiary pine, hornbeam, spruce and beech-fir forests. The lime-
stone communities have a smaller number of forest types but cover a larger ar-
ea with communities of spruce and fern, spruce in beech, coppiced hornbeam
with sumac, maple and heather. Hydrophytic communities of black alder, grey
ivy, willow, reeds and bulrush communities are found. There are a large mosa-
ic of meadow communities, depending on altitude, geology soils and other eco-
logical factors.
The area is fauna-rich, including European brown bear, wolf, eagle owl and
capercaillie. There are records of 126 species of bird, of which 70 breed.
The area was the cradle of the prehistoric Illyrian tribe of Japuds dating from
1000 BC. The Japudic culture was followed by the Romans and from the 8th
century AD was occupied by Slavs. Archaeological remains include a prehis-
toric settlement on the site of the current Plitvice village, fortifications,
Bronze Age tools and ceramics.
Plitvice Lakes National Park is the oldest national park in Southeast Europe
and the largest national park in Croatia. The national park was founded in
1949 and is situated in the mountainous karst area of central Croatia, at the
border to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The important north-south road connec-
tion, which passes through the national park area, connects the Croatian in-
land with the Adriatic coastal region.
Wellgreen
Lewes -
A skincare
ideology
By Amanda Jane Saurin
It’s fascinating to look
at the marketing of skin-
care for women (and in-
creasingly men) and appre-
ciate fully the subtext,
which suggests that perfect
skin is a pre-requisite for
happiness, that ageing is a
conquerable evil and that
only the beautiful succeed.
Any product designed for
the over 35s is aimed at
‘anti-ageing’ and by 40,
without the right creams
and unguents we are lost.
This is of course absolute
nonsense.
Wellgreen Lewes was established to create skincare that cares for the
skin. Every ingredient is chosen to promote the health of the skin. We believe
that everyone deserves beautiful, healthy skin at every stage of their lives – this
is not a question of anti-ageing, lip plumping, youth serum, wrinkle diminish-
ing hyperbole, it is so much simpler than that. As with excellent food, which
feeds and delights the body, the skin benefits from being cleansed and nour-
ished with the best quality ingredients and less is definitely more. A quick
glance at the majority of soaps for example reveals a plethora of ingredients:
colours, artificial fragrances, cheap oils, animal fats and frequently palm oil.
In fact, the production of soap requires an acid, an alkali and water and that’s
all, other herbs and essential oils can add to the individual needs of the skin
but are not strictly necessary.
It is the same story with moisturisers but in these products there is the ad-
ditional issue of product preservation. Large commercial enterprises need prod-
ucts to have a shelf life of around 2 years and so the preservatives used need to
be very effective and long lasting, hence the advent of parabens. Unfortunately
these are linked to studies alleging a possible link to breast cancer although no
definitive causal link has been proved. Equally the creams need to retain their
stability over a long period of time thus another whole raft of ingredients are
added.
Wellgreen Lewes was established to create
skincare that cares for the skin. Every ingredient
is chosen to promote the health of the skin.
Finally there is the smell of the product – this is most interesting because
‘fragrance’ is accepted as commercially sensitive information, which means that
the actual ‘scenting’ ingredients do not need to be revealed on the label. The vast
majority of fragrance used commercially has never seen the flower it purports to
smell of. Honeysuckle for example is almost never natural because the process of
production in large quantity is so expensive. Equally the majority of Rose scent-
ed products are usually either artificially produced fragrance oil or a combina-
tion of other essential oils that in combination smell a bit like roses. Fragrances
often contain phthalates, which although they are chemical plasticisers can be
found in perfumes/fragrances because they extend the scent. Phthalates have
been linked in numerous studies to hormone disruption, which may affect devel-
opment and fertility.
Wellgreen Lewes was created to offer something completely different - a
skincare business that avoids chemical ingredients, instead creating a truly natu-
ral range of products from scratch where the needs of the skin are paramount –
I’m a firm believer in celebrating the skin you have, whatever your age.
Wellgreen Lewes was created to offer something
completely different - a skincare business that
avoids chemical ingredients.
For us, it all starts with the plants. We believe that using the best quality
flowers and herbs picked at exactly the optimum moment creates the freshest,
most delicious products.
Whilst living in Cyprus for 7 years I was luckily enough to meet a fan-
tastic herbalist and distiller, Mariam Khan. Over the course of many months
she patiently taught me to distil using an ancient method used throughout the
Levant. It involves a large copper Alembic Still, copious amounts of blossom
and a great deal of patience. I learnt to distil using orange blossom facilitated
by living beside hundreds of orange trees. Every April I picked masses of blos-
som whilst the trees were a hum with honey bees. When orange blossom is dis-
tilled, the orange flower water (hydrosol) produced is actually heavenly.
Even now when I travel back every
year especially to distil, it makes
me giddy with delight. As the hy-
drosol emerges from the Still, the
Neroli essential oil floats to the
top, gradually forming a thick
enough layer to skim off. Having
moved back to the UK making our
own flower waters and essential
oils is still a priority. It means we
can ensure that the flowers and
herbs are not contaminated and
picked at exactly the right moment.
Everything we use is either
grown by us or our friends. As the
seasons turn, we distill violets, or-
ange blossom, daphne odora, blue-
bells, roses, lavender, myrtle, bay
and jasmine to name but a few.
The joy of our work is that we are
not constrained by the need for
acres of monoculturally produced
hybrids, we can choose to distil
whatever we want and when it has
gone, it’s gone until the next sea-
son. For our visitors, Wellgreen
Lewes HQ smells divine for most
of the time.
Having got our essential oils and flower waters, we make a series of prod-
ucts that are constantly evolving. Our Soaps are mild, moisturising, cold pro-
cess and made in small batches of 25 – we only use olive oil with a little coco-
nut oil for added bubble. Most of our soaps only have 4 ingredients – oil, wa-
ter, sodium hydroxide and an essential oil. The scents are entirely natural and
completely delicious. I particularly love the fact that when the soaps warm up
in the shower the scent develops into an all-enveloping scrumptiousness.
We also make Body Butters, which are a wonderful blend of natural, un-
adulterated oils whipped up to make a soft, soothing moisturiser for the whole
body. We developed a Healing Body Butter from locally wild gathered herbs
for those with very dry eczematous skin which works beautifully and then
found it was being bought by athletes who use it to protect their feet on long
runs and to prevent friction discomfort.
Our Face Cream is made to order, we don’t sell it in shops because we don’t
want to have to use a ‘nasty’ preservative. Instead we use minimal, natural
preservation and on receiving an order, make it and send it out the following
day. The difference between our cream and a conventional cream is astonish-
ing. We make the product mindfully and with the consumer rather than the
profit in mind and the product speaks for itself.
We are delighted to work alongside our friend Mark the local bee keeper and
we use his honey and beeswax in all our balms. As another small producer,
Mark’s care for his bees is excellent and the honey he produces is from many of
the flowers we use in our products and it tastes delicious.
We have come to a turning point I think in terms of what
we, as consumers want and we have a very clear choice to make –
do we want to invest in small, conscientious producers who sacri-
fice big profit for quality and ethical productivity or do we want
to support big pharma who create and foster harmful self-image
and supply products increasingly divorced from nature which
have profit not environment at their heart?
It’s the same as the argument for organic food; using products
that are sensitively created from plants that are encouraging bio-
diversity has to be good. Caring for our skin is not beauty frip-
pery, it is about looking after ourselves – we all have to wash
and keep our skin from drying out so perhaps we should think of
it as looking after ourselves with products that don’t cost the
earth – quite literally.
website www.wellgreenlewes.com
facebook https://www.facebook.com/
WellgreenLewes
twitter @wellgreenlewes
phone 079 799 26831
River
Runs
Through
It
/Belgrade/
Although it spreads around two major rivers, Belgrade still did not fully inte-
grate the river banks. The riverbanks in the Belgrade urban area are 200 km
long. That same area also includes 16 river islands. Among them the best
known are: Ada Ciganlija, Veliko ratno ostrvo, Gročanska ada. In view of its
length (2850 km) and the ramified river basin (120 tributaries) the Danube is
one of the largest rivers in the world and the second largest in Europe, after
the river Volga. The course of the Danube through Serbia is 588 km and it is
fully is navigable, making it a natural connection with Germany, Austria,
Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. In the Belgrade area, the course of the Dan-
ube is 60 km: from Stari Banovci to Grocka. The river Sava is 945 km long
and in the Belgrade area its course is 30 km long, from Obrenovac upstream to
its mouth where it empties into the Danube. All the 207 kilometers of the
course of the Sava through Serbia are navigable .
VELIKO RATNO OSTRVO (MAJOR WAR ISLAND)
The island marks the mouth of the Sava as it empties into the Danube.
Throughout the history, the island was an important strategic point either for
the conquest or the defence of Belgrade. For example, during the first siege of
Belgrade in 1521 the Turks launched most of their attacks on Belgrade For-
tress from the island. In liberating Belgrade in 1806 the rebel army headed by
Karađorđe also used the island for military purposes. A similar strategy was
followed by the imperial army of Austria-Hungary during the offensive on
Belgrade in 1915. Today, the Veliko ratno ostrvo is colonized by nature lovers,
and on its northern tip lies the famous Zemun beach called Lido. The island
and the waters around are home of numerous rare species including endan-
gered birds, but also a morphologically and geologically extremely interesting
area.
Liveable
Cities:
Lugano,
Switzerland
Lugano is a lakeside city in Ticino, the Italian-speaking part of south-
ern Switzerland. Part of a temperate micro-climate, Lugano offers palm trees,
picturesque boulevards, stunning views of the lake and the Alps, and plenty of
opportunity for outdoor and indoor activities. Lugano also makes a good base
for visiting other cities and sites in the area. The city is a pleasant place to re-
lax in the summertime and is only half an hour away from Lake Como.
Lugano is small enough to get around on foot, and many of the streets
are pedestrian-only, but the hills above the lakefront are very steep so the bus
or the funicular from the center of town might be a better option on the way
up to the train station if you have a lot of bags. Taxis can be found on the
main roads. Ferries and Funiculars are great options for seeing the views.
The name of the city comes from the Latin „lucus", meaning „sacred for-
est." Archaeological finds have shown that the area was settled by Etruscans
and Celts. In the ninth century the town was subject to the bishop of Como,
who gradually extended his rights there; during the Middle Ages in the com-
plex struggles between Milan and Como, and later between Milan, France and
the Swiss Confederates it changed hands several times and came finally under
Swiss rule in 1513. When the French invaded Switzerland in 1798 they abol-
ished the system of subject areas, and created a canton Lugano, which was re-
named Ticino in 1803.
Super
Natural
Festival
/Belgrade/
SUPERNATURAL is one of the leading environmental
movements in Serbia. Member of United Nations Global
Compact, Slow food, partner of WWF, Friends of the Earth,
DC Environmental Network, Europarc federation, Ministry of
environment Republic of Serbia, City of Belgrade, and other
renowned institutions. Our core values are environment,
education and culture.
Supernatural festival celebrates Mother Earth day and is a fu-
sion of all of our activities. It is an event that gathers variety of
international and domestic environmental organizations,
authentic and organic food producers, a place where you can
have fun listening to good music but also achieve quality edu-
cation. Supernatural festival promotes a lifestyle of love and
harmony with Mother Earth.
Pretty
Funky
Creative
Meet Andjelka, a lovely
girl from central Serbia, a
young creative, a positive soul
who recycles clothes and fabric
by creating jewelry and
fashion accessories.
Last week we had coffee with
Andjelka, and here is what we
talked about:
Nektarina (S)pace: What trig-
gered you to start designing
and creating jewelry and
accessories?
Andjelka: I don’t think any-
thing in particular triggered
me to start designing and cre-
ating jewelry. Ever since I was
a child I liked fiddling with
things, sewing, fixing things.
My grandmother was a seam-
stress, so there were always
threads, needles and pins all
over the house.
Nektarina (S)pace: What materials do you use and why? To what extent do you
like to experiment?
Andjelka: I use everything and anything that can’t be used anymore, but still
has some kind of sentimental value for me. I find that way of recycling, reus-
ing clothes, mixing and matching absolutely amazing.
Nektarina (S)pace: You come from Serbia and the Balkans, the region of
beauty, and often conflict. To what extent do your surroundings and your back-
ground inspire or influence your artwork and your designs?
Andjelka: It is true that Serbia is a country full of contradictions, however I
wouldn’t say that has had any particular influence to my work. I was more
influenced by my family, where crafts were always a part of our lives, and
many members of my family used to (or still do) make things with their own
hands. Both my grandmothers were quite creative, and they probably
influenced me the most.
Nektarina (S)pace: Where do you find your inspiration?
Andjelka: My friends and family inspire me. My work inspires me. I love to
work and create things, and once I create something, it becomes an inspira-
tion, a trigger for me to work and create further.
Nektarina (S)pace: Do you think art and creativity brings people together,
connects them, helps them learn and discover new things? What would you
say is the power behind any kind of art or craft, regardless of whether it's a
hobby or a calling?
Andjelka: Yes, I do think that art connects people, and I think that in art we
have a law of action and reaction. Art moves society to reach further and
achieve more. The true power of art is that it allows us to express ourselves in
a very specific way, that wouldn’t have been possible without art. We all have
that power of creativity, no one can take that away from us, but it is up to us
to find it (within ourselves) and bring it out, to the light of day. By doing so
we can inspire others to let go of their fears and inhibitions. Letting go of
one’s fears and inhibitions allows us to unleash our creativity. At that point
anyone and everyone can become an artist.
The
Olive
Tree
Inspiration
“Embracing the nature” summarizes the arts and crafts of a small
manufacture in Pula, Istria (Croatia). They produce jewelry and items for
home and office, and they are all made from olive tree.
To find out more about their work and products, visit:
http://olivetta.biz
Continued →
According to the 4th-century BC father of botany, Theophrastus, olive trees
ordinarily attained an age of about 200 years, he mentions that the very olive
tree of Athena still grew on the Acropolis; it was still to be seen there in the
2nd century AD; and when Pausanias was shown it, ca 170 AD, he reported :
"Legend also says that when the Persians fired Athens the olive was burnt down,
but on the very day it was burnt it grew again to the height of two cubits." Indeed,
olive suckers sprout readily from the stump, and the great age of some existing
olive trees shows that it was perfectly possible that the olive tree of the Acropolis
dated to the Bronze Age.
The leafy branches of the olive tree – the olive branch as a symbol of abun-
dance, glory and peace – were used to crown the victors of friendly games and
bloody wars. As emblems of benediction and purification, they were also ritu-
ally offered to deities and powerful figures; some were even found in Tutan-
khamen's tomb.
www.olivetta.biz
http://www.facebook.com/Maslinovo.drvo
twitter.com/Olivetta1
Delish!
Veggie
Cottage
Pie
· 1 tbs vegetable oil
· 1 onion, finely chopped
· 2 celery stalks, chopped
· 1 large carrot, chopped
· 2 garlic cloves, crushed
· 2 tbs sundried tomato pesto
· 1 cup (250ml) tomato passata (sieved tomatoes)
· 1 bay leaf
· 1 tbs chopped thyme
· 1 cup (250ml) vegetable stock
· 400g can lentils, rinsed, drained
· 800g potatoes, peeled, chopped
· 100g unsalted butter
· 1/2 cup (125ml) milk
· 2 egg yolks
· 100g grated cheddar (see note)
Ingredients & Preparation
Preheat the oven to 200°C. In a large pan, heat oil over medium heat and cook
onion for 1-2 minutes. Add celery, carrot and garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Add pesto, passata, bay, thyme and stock.
Simmer gently for 15 minutes until vegetables are cooked. Stir in lentils and
season, then transfer to a 1.2-litre baking dish. Meanwhile, cook potatoes in
boiling salted water until tender.
Drain and mash. Stir in butter, milk, yolks and cheese. Spread over lentil mix-
ture and roughen top with a fork. Bake for 15 minutes or until bubbling and
golden.
·
Urban Ideas:
Poetry in
Public
Transport
/Zagreb/
Sources, Notes and Acknowledgments
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plitvice_Lakes_National_Park
http://www.yannarthusbertrand.org/en/films-tv/planet-ocean
http://www.beograd.rs/cms/view.php?id=201830
http://timescolumns.typepad.com/stothard/2013/01/no-borders.html
http://www.za-grad.com/ideje/158/
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?
fbid=511283925600538&set=a.504550639607200.1073741829.503074389754825&
type=1&theater
http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balkans
http://www.funtrivia.com/en/subtopics/The-Balkan-Peninsula-255002.html
http://www.supernatural.rs/about-us/
www.businessgreen.com/bg/review/2235992/what-has-nature-ever-done-for-us-
the-answer-is-a-hell-of-a-lot
http://wikitravel.org/en/Lugano
http://www.swissworld.org/en/geography/towns/lugano/
http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/ourwork/b/martinharper/
archive/2013/01/21/guest-blog-by-tony-juniper-what-has-nature-ever-done-
for-us.aspx
http://ocean.goodplanet.org/?lang=en
http://www.goodplanet.org/exposition-planete-ocean-une-premiere-escale-au-
havre/
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?
fbid=10151520252189512&set=a.382543644511.159651.113972689511&type=1&
theater
http://picafric.com
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/3479/lentil+vegetable+cottage+pie+vegetarian
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive
Missed an issue? If you missed any of our previous issues,
you can get them at this link:
http://www.education4sustainability.org/?page_id=846
Coming up
in May
International Day of Biological Diversity
World Nature Heritage Site: Western Caucasus
Education 4 Sustainability:
Positive Examples: Armenia - The Armenia Tree Project
World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and
Development
and much more
Nektarina (S)pace is a web magazine published monthly
by Nektarina Non Profit, a non governmental,
non profit organization registred in Croatia.
ISSN 1847-6694
www.nektarinanonprofit.com
www.education4sustainability.org