Newsletter from June 1, 2020
Dear NCH2 Community,
Announcements and Upcoming Events
Outdoor Spaces as Essential Assets for School Districts' COVID-19 Response Webinar
With COVID-19 likely to be a factor in our lives for months, if not years, schools, and day care centers are struggling to figure out how to reopen safely. Making use of outdoor play spaces may be of help. This webinar address the topic "Outdoor Spaces as Essential Assets for School Districts' COVID-19 Response". This webinar takes place on June 4, 2020 (this week), so register promptly!
Register here
Past Events
First Virtual Coffee & Discussion
We pulled off our first Zoom "Virtual Coffee". It went well, but we are open for suggestions for improvement! Thanks to John Sentell from Lake Forest Open Lands Association for preparing a great discussion about LFOLA's efforts to connect communities through conservation. Also, a big "thank you" to those who participated. You can find a summary of the discussion that was prepared by Dani Abboud (Thank you, Dani!) on our Coffee & Discussion page linked here. The notes are provided on this page as well. Following the meeting, Kathleen Skoller provide some reflections and resources for inspiring engagement with community projects such as the one described by John. Kathleen's reflections are included in a separate PDF linked on this page.
Research of Interest
Also, consistent with the theme of the coffee & discussion from May, I was reminded of an article from the December 13, 2019 issue of "Science" magazine. The abstract and a link to a summary of the article are provided below.
Article in "Science" from December 13, 2019.
Díaz, S., J. Settele, E. S. Brondízio, H. T. Ngo, J. Agard, A. Arneth, P. Balvanera, K. A. Brauman, S. H. M. Butchart, K. M. A. Chan, L. A. Garibaldi, K. Ichii, J. Liu, S. M. Subramanian, G. F. Midgley, P. Miloslavich, Z. Molnár, D. Obura, A. Pfaff, S. Polasky, A. Purvis, J. Razzaque, B. Reyers, R. R. Chowdhury, Y.-J. Shin, I. Visseren-Hamakers, K. J. Willis and C. N. Zayas (2019). "Pervasive human-driven decline of life on Earth points to the need for transformative change." Science 366(6471): eaax3100.
"The time is now"
For decades, scientists have been raising calls for societal changes that will reduce our impacts on nature. Though much conservation has occurred, our natural environment continues to decline under the weight of our consumption. Humanity depends directly on the output of nature; thus, this decline will affect us, just as it does the other species with which we share this world. Díaz et al. review the findings of the largest assessment of the state of nature conducted as of yet. They report that the state of nature, and the state of the equitable distribution of nature's support, is in serious decline. Only immediate transformation of global business-as-usual economies and operations will sustain nature as we know it, and us, into the future.
This paper can be read here or at the links above.
Outdoor Spaces as Essential Assets for School Districts' COVID-19 Response Webinar
With COVID-19 likely to be a factor in our lives for months, if not years, schools, and day care centers are struggling to figure out how to reopen safely. Making use of outdoor play spaces may be of help. This webinar address the topic "Outdoor Spaces as Essential Assets for School Districts' COVID-19 Response". This webinar takes place on June 4, 2020 (this week), so register promptly!
Register here
Past Events
First Virtual Coffee & Discussion
We pulled off our first Zoom "Virtual Coffee". It went well, but we are open for suggestions for improvement! Thanks to John Sentell from Lake Forest Open Lands Association for preparing a great discussion about LFOLA's efforts to connect communities through conservation. Also, a big "thank you" to those who participated. You can find a summary of the discussion that was prepared by Dani Abboud (Thank you, Dani!) on our Coffee & Discussion page linked here. The notes are provided on this page as well. Following the meeting, Kathleen Skoller provide some reflections and resources for inspiring engagement with community projects such as the one described by John. Kathleen's reflections are included in a separate PDF linked on this page.
Research of Interest
Also, consistent with the theme of the coffee & discussion from May, I was reminded of an article from the December 13, 2019 issue of "Science" magazine. The abstract and a link to a summary of the article are provided below.
Article in "Science" from December 13, 2019.
Díaz, S., J. Settele, E. S. Brondízio, H. T. Ngo, J. Agard, A. Arneth, P. Balvanera, K. A. Brauman, S. H. M. Butchart, K. M. A. Chan, L. A. Garibaldi, K. Ichii, J. Liu, S. M. Subramanian, G. F. Midgley, P. Miloslavich, Z. Molnár, D. Obura, A. Pfaff, S. Polasky, A. Purvis, J. Razzaque, B. Reyers, R. R. Chowdhury, Y.-J. Shin, I. Visseren-Hamakers, K. J. Willis and C. N. Zayas (2019). "Pervasive human-driven decline of life on Earth points to the need for transformative change." Science 366(6471): eaax3100.
"The time is now"
For decades, scientists have been raising calls for societal changes that will reduce our impacts on nature. Though much conservation has occurred, our natural environment continues to decline under the weight of our consumption. Humanity depends directly on the output of nature; thus, this decline will affect us, just as it does the other species with which we share this world. Díaz et al. review the findings of the largest assessment of the state of nature conducted as of yet. They report that the state of nature, and the state of the equitable distribution of nature's support, is in serious decline. Only immediate transformation of global business-as-usual economies and operations will sustain nature as we know it, and us, into the future.
This paper can be read here or at the links above.