June 15 – 25, 2011

As I return home to California, I am eager to share some terrific news from ICANN/Singapore.

Every April, the Goldman Environmental Prize Ceremony is held in San Francisco, California. On April 11th, the DotGreen team joined hundreds at the SF War Memorial Opera House to honor the recipients. The prize is given to exceptional grassroots environmental heroes who have undertaken great personal risk for the purpose of protecting the natural environment.

Photo: Wikimedia commons

The G8 leaders recognized the enormous potential of the Internet and the need for sustainable growth at their latest summit May 26-27 in Deauville, France. Since DotGreen is an organization focused on the intersection of the Internet and sustainability, the Team is encouraged by this announcement. The representatives of the Group of Eight (G8) met to discuss international goals and priorities, and their commitment to democracy and freedom. The meeting encompassed a wide range of topics for the purpose of discussing global priorities and strategies to proceed. Discussion ranged from conflict in the Middle East and North Africa to Japan’s recovery from the tsunami that stuck in March. Among these pressing issues, the Internet and Green Growth represented two out of twelve high priority items on the agenda.

During the ICANN Silicon Valley meeting on March 14, The Women in the DNS held a breakfast sponsored by Nominet with the help of Lesley Cowley OBE, Chief Executive of Nominet and member of the ccNSO.

By Annalisa Roger, Founder & CEO

When ICANN’s GNSO reported completing their policy work on new gTLDs in 2007, I felt it was urgent and possible for the online world to help our planet by creating a new TLD .green, a Global Response to Environmental and Economic Necessities. Many of us are frustrated with how long ICANN takes to move policy, yet diligence is a good thing. My experience observing, participating and volunteering in various capacities of the public ICANN multi-stakeholder process has taught me how essential it is for the global Internet community to have the very type of Internet governance that ICANN represents.

On June 9, 2011, DotGreen’s founder photographed one of Spain’s most impressive Photovoltaic power plants at Port Forum in Barcelona. The giant solar panel sits adjacent to a huge geothermal plant on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea. Barcelona is regarded as a leading city with regard to solar energy. Many other cities in Catalonia follow its example. All of Barcelona’s 200 municipal buildings’ hot water (including swimming pools, schools etc) will soon be generated by solar power. DotGreen applauds Barcelona as a leader in climate protection and renewable energies such as solar power.

United States architect and fashion designer, Eugene Tsui, is an innovative creator who goes beyond the norms in multiple mediums. One of his designs is the longest bridge in the world spanning the Strait of Gibraltar and connecting the continents of Europe and Africa. What’s interesting to DotGreen, is the proposed futuristic bridge is said to be able to generate enough electricity to power the southern Spanish province of Cadiz and the entire nation of Morocco making it the largest wind and water power farm in the world. This may be an interesting proposal to Spain, a country on the cutting edge of green since 1997 when it first joined the Climate Alliance of European cities.

Women of all classes and nationalities are increasingly occupying leadership roles in the Environmental Movement and becoming active in their communities in the pursuit of environmental justice and public health. No one understands this more than Paola Gianturco, a critically-acclaimed photojournalist and philanthropist who documents the lives of women around the world. On May 25, 2011 at Dominican University, the DotGreen team had the pleasure of meeting Gianturco, who has published four photographic books that highlight celebrations of womanhood in glorious festivals within diverse cultures and local women as they work to solve global issues such as poverty, disease, and illiteracy.

Access to healthy and affordable food options is key to solving increasing obesity and hunger rates. In order to achieve these initiatives, community garden programs are emerging as way to build community, dissolve of food deserts, achieve food justice, and inspire a transition towards sustainable agriculture. In cities like Detroit and Hartford, urban gardens have reduced crime, raised property values, and lessened the number of citizens who are food insecure. Food justice is characterized as ensuring that the benefits and risks of how, what, and where food is grown and accessed are shared equally. These goals can be achieved through community gardens that ensure transparency and awareness for how and where food is grown.