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Scooped by Seth Dixon onto Geography Education |
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Brazil, South America’s largest economy, is finally poised to realize its potential as a global player, economists say.
This article, dated 2008, shows how at the beginning of the global economic downturn, Brazil and other "BRIC" countries were comparatively doing better compared to the more established economic powers. Although Brazil has been frequently noted for it's unequal distribution of wealth, since 2001, this income gap has been shrinking and a middle class is starting to grow.
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A heartfelt & moving story of how instruments made from recycled trash bring hope to children whose future is otherwise spiritless.
Seth Dixon's insight:
I've shared this video before, but this worthy project is now asking for assistance on kickstarter and I feel it merits reposting. This video shows that the human spirit of beauty and joy can come shining through from the poorest of places. Slums are not new, but rapid population growth coupled with rural-to-urban migration patterns have led to an increasing amount of slums. Despite all the stereotypical images of destitute poverty, slums can also be places with a strong vibrant communities with residents filled with innovation, hope and ambition. For more on this organization, see their Facebook page. Tags: urban, squatter, poverty, South America, community, Paraguay. 
chris tobin's curator insight,
April 24, 5:11 PM
What a wonderful thing! This is a very heartwarming story Delete the scoop?
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There are joys and rewards in growing some of your own crops; there's even beauty.
Seth Dixon's insight:
Although a front lawn is not ecologically the best use of urban space, there are strong cultural pressure to conform to that aesthetic ideal. When individuals choose to grow vegetables and fruit, they often face some push-back from the city or homeowners associations with a different vision on the appropriate use of space. Some have estimated though, that if we were to convert 10 percent the country's grass lawns to vegetable gardens that they could supply roughly a third of our fresh vegetables. Tags: agriculture, food, urban, unit 5 agriculture. Delete the scoop?
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Seth Dixon's insight:
This video shows that the human spirit of beauty and joy can come shining through from the poorest of places. Slums are not new, but rapid population growth coupled with rural-to-urban migration patterns have led to an increasing amount of slums. Despite all the stereotypical images of destitute poverty, slums can also be places with a strong vibrant communities with residents filled with innovation, hope and ambition. For more on this organization, see their Facebook page. Tags: urban, squatter, poverty, South America, community, Paraguay. 
Bob Manning's curator insight,
December 13, 2012 10:11 PM
Another example of frugal innovation and what we can learn from people who are often times discounted. 
Jimmy Power's comment,
December 18, 2012 9:19 AM
A lesson for us all the human spirit will always come through
Chris Olenik's comment,
April 16, 8:14 PM
They have a Kickstarter! http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/405192963/landfill-harmonic-inspiring-dreams-one-note-at-a-t
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Using the vocabulary of this course, please describe in detail the geographic context of a town like this (real or imaginary). What is the town like? How did it get that way? What type of meaning does 'place' have for those that live there? Delete the scoop?
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Whoa, check out Trulia Local - A visual way to explore crime, schools, home prices, and local data.
The map above was generated to display the areas within a 30 minute commute of Rhode Island College in Providence. This site generates commuting maps and other layers that are especially pertinent for home buyers---schools, crime stats, property values and local amenities. This is GIS data brought to the real estate shopping community, but consider this a project in the making. One of the best exercises to get to know a place holistically is to shop for housing and make some locational analysis decisions. Delete the scoop?
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It is only right to start this site off with photos of the Holsteiner Stairs by artist Horst Glaesker. In 2008, I saw photos of this installation in Wuppertal, Germany and I knew I had to create a colour blog.
How can public art help create a sense of place? How does this transform the neighborhood and community? What are the cultural and econommic impacts of public art? Delete the scoop?
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Taking Root tells the dramatic story of Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai whose simple act of planting trees grew into a nationwide movement ...
Community, agriculture, gender, politics and the environment... it's all here in this inspiring clip. 
Lisa Fonseca's comment,
December 5, 2011 12:38 AM
This is such an amazing clip! Seeing women in power is truly impacting. Sadly she seems to be a threat to politics, and they seem to have this idea that the society should only listen to men! This group of women have and continue to make an impact nationally, this is a usual situation. Although it's movements like these that when they become publicized begin to become stronger and stronger by making others realize some impacts they too can make.
Sean Rooney's comment,
November 5, 2012 2:52 PM
S.R. This video clip covers a wide range of the different aspects in geography. We talked about the significant impact of natural resources in countries that rely on natural resources to stimulate the economy. For example, planting trees will stimulate the economy and create jobs in Africa. This is the first step towards industrialization in Africa. The community, agriculture, gender, politics, and the environment are all interconnected.
Crissy Borton's curator insight,
December 11, 2012 9:22 PM
This is such an inspiring video. All it took was for one women, Wangari Maathai, to have an idea and to stand up for that idea for change to take place. How cool that from that one women a government was changed at 35 million trees planted! Delete the scoop?
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In Nepal, government owned forests are being felled at record speed, while community managed ones are thriving.
This is a great link for discussing governance and the environmental interactions and community. 
's comment, November 18, 2011 4:22 AM
For anyone who likes animals and nature in general, it's always sad to see forests decimated. It doesn't really matter where it takes place: Your back yard, the middle of your country, or all the way across the world. It all sucks nonetheless. That's why these community managed forestry programs in Nepal are great. There seems to be many benefits of keeping your forests strong: Reducing landslides, more wildlife, aid against global warming (according to the video), and make a return on the natural elements the forest has to offer. We must not all be windbag hippies to recognize that forests are important for a multitude of reasons, and we collectively need to learn to use them smartly. This video was a cool look at that.
Don Brown Jr's comment,
July 30, 2012 10:55 PM
Investing in the environment is a very beneficial way to promote sustainability in an increasingly urbanized world and a cheap way to increase air quality.
Crissy Borton's curator insight,
December 11, 2012 11:07 PM
This is a great example of how communities can help themselves and their land. It works because the people live there and they have to not only think about today but tomorrow so they do not exploit their recourses Delete the scoop?
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Seth Dixon's insight:
Rhode Island is one of five states in which the number of people getting help from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP-formerly known as 'food stamps') has more than doubled since 2008. In 2012, 16 percent of its residents received aid from the program. Read the related article. The article details how Woonsocket's economy is impacted by these monthly fluctuations is disposable income. Why is Rhode Island one of that states with a doubling participation in this program? What other spatial patterns to you see? 
Dias Vidia's curator insight,
April 2, 2:05 AM
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The Great Mosque of Djenné, Mali, is a magnet for tourists, but it is increasingly difficult for locals to live a normal life around it.
Seth Dixon's insight:
This New York Times short video is an intriguing glimpse into some of the cultural pressures behind having the designation of being an official world heritage site. The grerat mosque combined with the traditional mud-brick feel to the whole city draws in tourists and is a source of communal pride, but many homeowners want to modernize and feel locked into traditional architecture by outside organizations that want them to preserve an 'authentic' cultural legacy. Tags: Islam, tourism, place, religion, culture, historical, community, Mali, Africa. Delete the scoop?
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"Jane Jacobs is variously known as the guru of cities, an urban legend—“part analyst, part activist, part prophet.” In the more than forty years since the publication of her groundbreaking book The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961), her influence has been extraordinary—not only on architects, community workers, and planners but also on Nobel Prize–winning economists and ecologists. As one critic recently put it, “Jacobs’s influence confirms that books matter. It isn’t easy to cite another writer who has had a comparable impact in our time.” A couple of years ago, she won the top American award for urban planning, the Vincent Scully Prize. This in itself was unusual, not only because she regularly vilifies planners, but also because with the exception of the Order of Canada and a few other prizes, she typically turns down awards—some thirty honorary degrees, including one from Harvard. Jacobs herself wasn’t interested in finishing university—she went to Columbia for just two years." Delete the scoop?
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A look back on the 27th Anniversary of the the NFL Colts dark flight from Baltimore in the middle of the night.
BM: When the Colts left they took the heart of Balitmore and left the fans in utter disbelief. Robert Irsay had no intention of staying whether he got his new staidum for the Colts or not, he wanted out and had been looking since 1976. The city of Baltimore was not going to budge on the construction of a new pubically funded stadium simply because it was too expensive and the citry didn't have the money. All that remained in Baltimore was an empty Memorial Stadium, which wasn't perfect but was in really decent shape and the Orioles.
SD: Why are sports teams treated so differently from other businesses? How are teams linked to place in such intimate ways? What is the economic impact of a sports team on the city and how could relocation damage that city? See this scoop.it topic for more on the cultural and economic impacts of sports teams on cities. Via Brandon Murphy 
Kara H's comment,
August 8, 2012 9:09 AM
I never knew about this particular team, but I can see how a sports franchise abandoning a city has a devastating effect. It seems like there was a deliberate attempt to "sneak"out.
Roland Trudeau Jr.'s comment,
August 8, 2012 9:16 AM
Quite a blow to the entire city of Baltimore, you can see from the older footage as well as the new how badly this effected this city. A huge impact on the people, seemingly crushing spirits across the city.
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A community in Bonsaaso, Ghana learns that their local water supply contains unsafe mineral concentrations. See how they implement a filtration system design...
Ghana is one of the more stable nations in the region, and yet even it has serious issues with fresh water. This video shows how low-tech solutions can combat the tainting of water by environmental factors such as mineral contamination of water sources. The $5,000 price tag for such technology seems high, but is very affordable considering the benefits given. Another organization working on this issue is: http://waterwellsforafrica.org/ Via McDerder Delete the scoop?
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TED Talks Every day, we use materials from the earth without thinking, for free. But what if we had to pay for their true value: would it make us more careful about what we use and what we waste?
Companies derive economic value from the environment without paying the true environmental costs of their enterprises. Sukhdev call this the 'Economic Invisibilty of Nature.' Many countries are mortgaging their environment's future for economic growth today. This also disproportionately impacts the developing world and rural people more adversely. Key to his argument is that we need to identify negative externalities on the environment that produce private profits and acknowledge them as public losses. Delete the scoop?
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This is modern cosmopolitan Bangkok, the second most expensive Southeast Asian city after Singapore. Along with explosive city growth, the demand for urban housing has increased substantially. Due to a lack of sufficient and affordable housing, communities have settled into the cracks, eliciting a diagnosed social and institutional ‘pocket-urbanism’ that forms barriers of interaction among communities, and certainly between communities and authority figures... Via Lauren Moss Delete the scoop?
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