Rio+20 and Ecocitizens Map Project

EcoCitizen World Map Project

In an effort to recognize “the future we want” in the context of Rio +20 conference, as “the future we are creating,” Ecocity Builders has created this social mapping project as a way to bring light to the amazing projects that people are working on to make their local communitites more sustainable. We invite you to add your own projects to Ecocitizen Census map. You can view the entire map here as well, and hopefully be inspired to make your own community more sustainable.

This map, based on the Ecocity Framework, offers a place and a pathway for people everywhere to add their voices and be counted as contributing members of the new green and equitable economy.

From community garden, clean energy, or ecoliteracy projects to waterway restorations, green businesses, or new bicycle pathways, the EcoCitizen World Map Project is an invitation to ecocitizens around the world to share anything that is improving the health of the complete urban ecosystem somewhere in their neighborhoods and communities.

The Santa Teresa neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro has taken the lead in mapping their diverse community. We are now inviting all parties interested in increasing visibility and outreach for their Rio+20 related work around the world to join as part of the Rio+20 process.

The EcoCitizen World Map Project is a part of the Ecocity Census: A project of Ecocity Builders and the International Ecocity Framework and Standards Initiative.

The EcoCitizen Map team:.

Richard Register, President
	Richard is an urban ecologist, city designer, writer, illustrator and founder of Ecocity Builders (1992). He is the author of Ecocities, Rebuilding Cities in Balance with Nature (New Society Press 2006), Village Wisdom, Future Cities (Alonzo Press 1997) Ecocity Berkeley, Building Cities for a Healthy Future (North Atlantic Books 1987) which was reprinted in Japan in 1993 and China in 2005 and Another Beginning (1978). Walter Truett Anderson says of Richard that he “belongs to the Ben Franklin tradition of inventors, generalists, and hopeful geniuses. His ideas about ecological cities are a valuable contribution to the great human task of figuring out how to mange the biosphere and enjoy life while we are at it.
Kirstin Miller, Executive Director
	Kirstin is an environmental activist, community organizer, writer and editor. She has been with Ecocity Builders since 1997 and currently serves as Executive Director. Kirstin has presented for the organization locally, nationally and internationally. Her articles and essays on ecocities, urban ecology and the environment have appeared in a number of publications, including Orion Afield, Ecotecture and Wilderness and Human Communities, The Spirit of the 21st Century. Kirstin works closely with Ecocity Builders’ President Richard Register in the development of the organization’s “toolbox” of strategies. She also helps coordinate an alliance of local environmental organizations working to promote and advance ecologically healthy urban policies and projects.
Shivang Patwa, Urban Design Associate
	Shivang Patwa graduated with an M.Arch from Berkeley focusing primarily on Architecture, computation and Urban Design. Prior to his masters at Berkeley, as a licensed architect in India with a B.Arch from CEPT, Ahmedabad, he practiced architecture for over five years realizing several projects from conceptual design to built reality. The built work encompasses institution, healthcare, residential projects and installations.
Richard Smith, Project Associate, Researcher
	Rick is a professor at Wayne State University. Prior to his involvement with Ecocity Builders, he served as a Presidential Management Intern at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and US Agency for International Development. As a desk officer for the Empowerment Zone and Renewal Community Initiative at HUD, he developed performance measures, coordinated information systems and advised CEOs and local government staff on ways of enhancing community development strategies. Smith also served in Peace Corps Mongolia, managed the Spring Institute English Language Center and consulted with the World Bank, UNDP and UNICEF. He is also a graduate of the University of Michigan and Western Michigan University.
Sven Eberlein, Ecocity Media
	Sven is a freelance writer and journalist covering issues of social, environmental, and economic significance whose work has appeared in Yes!, Ode, Sojourners, Grist, Planetizen, and many other publications. The love for ecocities has been burning in Sven’s heart since his first baby-steps in the middle of the street, which explains his affinity for walkable urban design and long-time involvement with Ecocity Builders. He is part of Ecocity Builders’ media team and a member of the International Ecocity Framework & Standards Core Advisory Committee. When he’s not in his neighborhood in San Francisco’s Mission District looking for tasty street food and photographing random acts of creativity, Sven is musing on his blog, A World of Words.
Ana Puhač
	Ana is a sophomore student studying Human Ecology at College of the Atlantic in Maine. She grew up in Croatia, but won a scholarship to attend her last two years of high school at the United World College in Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina). At COA, Ans is focusing on a cross-disciplinary exploration between physical sciences (land-use, architecture & design, ecology, physics) and socio-political sciences in order to gain a holistic view on how to more fully and intelligently design human environments. These interests inspired Ana to attend March 2012 UN Informal-Informal meetings in preparation for Rio+20, and to work with a MGCY task-force on a submission for the negotiating document that deals with the topic of Sustainable Cities. Ana will be attending the Rio+20 conference this June as a part of a research independent NGO “Earth in Brackets.”
Kelley Lemon
	Kelley holds degrees in both architecture and landscape architecture from the University of California Berkeley and the University of Illinois respectively and has six years experience practicing both disciplines, from gardens, to buildings, to streetscapes and parks.  Prior to Ecocity Builders, she worked for Walter Hood and Hood Design in Oakland, California, focusing on the reconstruction of urban landscapes for the people that live and interact with it every day.  Her focus in the built environment span the range of sensitivity to urban context, neighborhood and community design, and architectural design theory.
Ashoka Finley
	Ashoka was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, and from there hopes to become a truly global citizen.  He lived abroad in South America for 6 months, primarily in Buenos Aires, Argentina working on issues of poverty. Ashoka graduated from University of California Berkeley in 2010 with a degree in International Political Economy. After working in the advertising and marketing sector with OMD in Los Angeles he is now involved with the student think tank Global Citizen Network. Ashoka focuses on power relationships within political economic systems, especially the influence of corporations in the global system. He hopes to explore further the relationship that capital flows have on the prospects of development.
Naomi Grunditz, Social Media
	Naomi is a recent graduate of Yale University where she studied sociology with a concentration in urban issues and architecture. She has worked as a freelancer writer, social media consultant, and graphic designer for the past few years. Naomi has a lifelong love of cities and the environment inspired by her childhood in the greater Bay Area. She believes in working with communities and organizations to provide citizens with the technology, knowledge, and access to take control of their own environments and create happy, healthy, equitable neighborhoods. Before coming to Ecocity Builders she interned at the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research association. She is thrilled to be part of the media campaign and planning for the Ecocitizens project.