Beyond the Negotiations

The United States’ Unique Situations with Education, Loans, and Rio +20

Bohdan Zymka March 20, 2012 0 Comments

By Bogdan Zymka In the United States, there seems to be some hope of economic recovery looming as unemployment slowly falls and the election cycle brings about at least some sort of national discussion about critical issues. However, Rio is still far from making headlines in mainstream media in the United States and by the time it makes it there, it might be too late to discuss the elephant the...

A Thought:

COA Admin March 18, 2012 2 Comments

By Robin Owings How much water (among other resources) did it take to print the millions of flyers strewn through the WWF halls? I wish we had photo-documented this area of flyer stands throughout the week. They started out empty, then began to overfow mid-week (when this photo was taken). Try imagining the way the hallway looked at the end of the forum. The photo shows only 3 of roughly 30...

An Additional Youth Statement on Water

COA Admin March 16, 2012 2 Comments

An Additional Youth Statement on Water March 16, 2012 Youth are the future decision makers of the world. We must be forward thinkers because we will inherit a planet shaped by the actions of today. We are innovative by nature, and we call upon those involved in water issues to listen to and engage with our perspective. We are youth, but we do not speak for all youth, and we issue this document...

Mid-week Stress Relief

COA Admin March 15, 2012 0 Comments

After a long Tuesday sitting in very tense debate sessions regarding private sector partnerships, Wednesday was the opposite. Our hostel knows a local guide who takes tourists into the nearby mountains to hike and talk about the local ecology of the area, and luckily Lisa found out about him and got him to give us a tour. The area is in the last stages of becoming Calanques National Park, and...

Outlining the Panels

COA Admin March 15, 2012 1 Comment

- Robin Owings As I sit in long meetings on water privatization, scarcity, and ethics, I have taken to documenting panelists (government officials, NGO heads, citizen leaders) with blind contour drawings. I look directly at the subjects and record them using a continuous line. Each line forms a caricature, reflecting the elements of those figures such as slouching shoulders, facial expressions,...