The Goal: Sustainability
The goal that inspired me most https://www.globalgoals.org/11-sustainable-cities-and-communitieswas Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. There are a few reasons I chose this goal, despite living away from big cities. Part of it is that the world's population is increasingly becoming larger and I think one of the best ways we can support that population is through creating cities that allow for safe travel and spaces, keep the natural environment as present as possible, and reduce the environmental impact of the population to the highest extent.
This video by GreenTV (2014) really helps drive home how many different areas need to be thought about and incorporated into sustainable cities and communities:
There are several ways, especially in eating locally, that can be helpful to creating sustainable cities. However, eating locally isn't necessarily "green" unless it's done correctly (Cho, 2012). The biggest factor, for me right now, at any rate, is safe buildings. With climate change already upon us, we've been seeing disasters such as the collapsed condo tower in Miami. Building sustainable cities and communities to me means creating safe places that will keep us safe while minimizing the negative impact we are having on the world.
The Steps: Overview
Step 1: Get Inspired. Look up plans for sustainable buildings and how these can be built in different places.
Step 2: Get Educated. I am currently learning more about sustainable cities and communities by choosing this as my goal and looking at the sub-goals to learn what we can look to improve in this endeavor.
Step 3: Get Hungry. This one is perhaps the easiest step for me! After exploring a little about eating locally and whether or not that is more green, I've found some local cookbooks and farms to learn about seasonal farming and how I can choose to purchase locally or grow my own food at different times of the year.
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| (Medeiros, 2013) |
Step 4: Read More. As a librarian, this step is as familiar to me as getting hungry! I have curated a newsfeed to include information on sustainable cities. I am watching out for words such as rooftop gardening, community gardens, etc. This will help me follow trends through sites like Reddit, Twitter, NPR, and more.
Step 5: Go Abroad. While I do not believe physically traveling will help with this particular goal, I can virtually explore different cities and their infrastructure, as well as different modes of travel to see how cities have approached different challenges with sustainability in mind. I already read about libraries around the world and how they change their physical footprint and believe I can find similar types of stories and articles for the bigger picture.
Step 6: Make Friends. The easiest way to approach this will likely be using forums and sites such as Twitter where I can connect with people globally.
Step 7: Become a Leader. I will start small with this step; I can become a leader in my own community with groups such as 4-H and local co-ops and city meetings. I can become a global citizen in my own backyard and grow as I learn from others around the world.
My Personal Global Citizenship Map
I am starting with Steps 2, 3, and 4! Tomorrow, I will search for The Vermont Farm Table Cookbook: 150 Home Grown Recipes from the Green Mountain State by Tracey Medeiros at my local library to help with Step 3. I am already educating myself by learning about the components of sustainable cities and am compiling some things I want to look into (such as parking lots made of hexagons and grass!) for Step 2. To read more, I will start seeking out topics -- both current news stories, but also examples linked through the UN Goals site and related pages.
References
Cho, R. (2012). How green is local food? State of the Planet. https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2012/09/04/how-green-is-local-food/
GreenTV. (2014). Creating sustainable cities [YouTube]. https://youtu.be/fcDDUSUbq9A
Medeiros, T. (2013). The Vermont farm table cookbook: 150 home grown recipes from the Green Mountain State. Countryman Press.
United Nations. Goal 11: Making cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. Sustainable Development Goals. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/cities/
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