JenniferOladipo.com

Environmental stories for radio? Yes, please. I just inished my first fast and dirty lesson in radio production the at our local public radio studio.  There was even a little bit of “acting” involved - or rather, some gesticulating that somehow helps you sound more human.  Though it was very basic, the other two print reporters and I came out with our own 47-second (ish) pieces. The curtain of mystery has been removed and I’m ready to start learning radio. It’s fun.

Our gracious coach, WFPL reporter Kristin Espeland Gourlay, let it be known that she had ulterior motives, namely encouraging us to contribute to the new Ohio River Radio Consortium. It’s coverage area is Ohio River watershed (freelancers, listen up).

I love that the consortium’s coverage area is defined by a natural feature, as opposed to political lines. As its brochure says, “just as the watershed ignores states lines, so does pollution.

I’m a long way from sounding like the local and national reporters I admire, but at least today I got my start. More to come on environmental reporting for radio.

This Saturday I’ll be on a panel at Bluegrass Bioneers conference talkin’ environmental journalism alongside two great journalists. And there will be plenty more to see and hear throughout the weekend, live and via satellite from Cali.

From the website:

Bluegrass Bioneers 2009 (bb2009.org) - presented by BEcreative, Rauch Planetarium, and the University of Louisville Center for Environmental Education - is the southeast’s Beaming Bioneers incarnation and is based in Louisville, KY. Louisville is proud to be a 2009 Bioneers satellite city (the only satellite city within 350 miles in any direction). The 3-day conference will be held at the Rauch Planetarium (Google Map Link) and on the UofL campus, October 16th-18th.

Bluegrass Bioneers 2009 will combine national plenary speakers and experts beamed in via satellite from California with live local & regional speakers, experts, and performances for an entertaining and enriching event that encourages innovative, creative solutions to help Louisville and the mid-west build a more just and sustainable society. Issues covered locally will include: MTR/ENERGY, SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE, GREEN MEDIA & ECO-ART, LAND USE & TRANSPORTATION, BUILT ENVIRONMENT, POLICY & ACTIVISM, ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION, and OTHERS.

On a national level, Bioneers is an inspired and inspiring annual 3-day conference in Northern California of more than 3,000 social, scientific, and environmental innovators working to create a more just and sustainable world for humanity. The website is www.bioneers.org and the organization’s tagline is “Revolution from the Heart of Nature.

See you there!

I had a long chat about Gandhi with his grandson, Rajmohan Gandhi, over lunch a year and a half ago. He and I were among 50 or so people invited to gather for a weekend in New York and discuss how Gandhi’s principle of satyagraha, which dubbed his movement for social change, related to the human approach to climate change. Satyagraha means “grasping to truth” or “truth force.” Most of the people there, like Rajmohan Gandhi, had been doing incredible work worldwide for decades, and I’m still amazed when I think about having been invited. The details of that lunch conversation escape me now, but I do recall how well he articulated the connection between his grandfather’s work (he was the elder Gandhi’s biographer)  and the future of environmental stewardship.

So that’s what I’m thinking of today, Gandhi’s birthday. I also can’t help but consider the many people I’ve met since then who will never reach Gandhi-status, but are similarly defined by their life’s work of righting wrongs and writing wrongs, of voicing truths, or of reminding the world about those tangible and intangible treasures that threaten to disappear if we don’t remain vigilant. If we don’t remain grateful. Some of you are those people, and I thank you for the inspiration.

Read Mohandas Gandhi’s writings here. This site is packed. I can’t vouch for it 100%, but it seems valid.

Eight years ago, ankle-deep in piles of compost and dirt, I wondered who on earth would eat food out of this vacant lot that once housed a car-repair shop in a sketchy Savannah, GA neighborhood. Turns out today, thousands of people would.

Check out this week’s LEO for  my interview with Will Allen, who for the moment seems like the national poster boy for urban farming - I mean really urban, like vacant house lots and old industrial sites. And really farming, like enough for people to live, like fish farms in green houses. He doesn’t want you to just fix the food system, he wants you to be the food system. And as far as agricultural poster boys go, he is definitely not the norm.

Today’s hour-long Congo segment on the Diane Rehm Show is now available here.

(Map from YMG International)

It’s not just blood diamonds.

I’ve been assisting on a project of the Majora Carter Group to bring a green economic empowerment plan to a small group of the thousands of rape survivors in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has meant becoming more aware of the intersection of war, sexual violence, and natural resources.

Right now, 10 a.m. EST, the Diane Rehm Show is discussing these issues, as well as some history of the decade-long conflict, and how the rest of the world, including the United States, is implicated in the conflict. Hint: if you’ve got a cell phone, or you’re reading this on a laptop, it’s got to do with you. Google coltan, for starters.

The big motivation for this is Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s visit to Congo Monday. The shows are are archived and it’s been really informative so far, so you can check it out at www.drshow.org if you’ve missed it.

From where I sit, it’s all bits and pieces. Finding evidence of green ventures throughout the African continent isn’t difficult with a little bit of internet time.

A bio-gas facility in Rwanda reuses waste, conserves resources, and provides the energy to cook three meals a day for school students. Sub-Saharan Companies are showing willingness to adopt green building techniques (which, one assumes, means either the construction industry is going green, or new green builders are popping up). Countless individuals are creating their own useful innovations for fun or to fulfill need, and they’re coming together to share ideas and accomplishments with each other and the world.

However, getting a good, broad picture is more difficult when you’re in Kentucky. Of course, looking for a cohesive and telling picture of 54 countries spread across 30,221,532 sq. km. (11,668,545 sq. mi.) is just silly. Instead I’m e-mailing people who might help me cobble something together, by country or by region. I’ve encountered a few leads, and plenty of dead ends. Much of my correspondence seems to still be making its way across the Atlantic. C’est la vie. I have to admit, searching is part of the fun.