What will happen if the stable environment that has supported the aspirations of preceding generations over the last 10,000 plus years were to change and you had to spend a great deal of your time dealing with serious weather or other damaging disruptions? How would it affect your plans and your life?
On Saturday, February 24, Voices of a Generation, a millennial-led livestreamed event from the Great Hall at The Cooper Union in New York City, will feature presentations on climate change. Students from several universities will review the potential impacts of warming and its challenge to their generation, actions in progress to mitigate them, and visions for new models that respond to the crisis, regenerate our environment, and put our world on the pathway to greater sustainability.
Sophie Kivlehan, millennial granddaughter of climate scientist Dr. James Hansen, who has accompanied him on many notable panels, will be joined by a panel of student presenters and experts in current solution focused activities. They make the case clearly for action now, and highlight those that can be taken. In addition, graduate and masters students from the Earth Institute at Columbia University will showcase several of the technological, social and ecological solutions to global warming featured in Paul Hawken’s new book, Drawdown. (Paul Hawken is one of the environmental movement’s leading voices, and a pioneering architect of corporate reform with respect to ecological practices. His work includes founding successful, ecologically conscious businesses, writing about the impacts of commerce on living systems, and consulting with heads of state and CEOs on economic development, industrial ecology and environmental policy.)
This is an opportunity to be well informed about one of the most important issues that will affect the lives of your generation. Those who watch the livestream can participate via a mobile polling app. Where consensus on key points is achieved, artists will translate these statements into images for posters and T-shirts. The event will close with a focus on the need to shift to long-term thinking, a call for a new social compact that considers societal responsibility to successor generations, and an announcement of a Step-into-the-Future Social Media Competition. To sign-up for alerts, a notice of the link to the livestream, and information on the competition, go to www.MillennialsWorld.org.
About Steven Heller
Steven Heller is the co-chair of the SVA MFA Designer /Designer as Author + Entrepreneur program, writes frequently for Wired and Design Observer. He is also the author of over 170 books on design and visual culture. He received the 1999 AIGA Medal and is the 2011 recipient of the Smithsonian National Design Award.View all posts by Steven Heller →