Wiser.org: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added

Inline

Revision as of 19:05, 11 May 2009

WiserEarth logo

WiserEarth is a user-generated online community space for the social and environmental movement ^[1], tracking the work of non-profits around the world ^[2]. The online platform maps and connects non-governmental organizations (NGOs), businesses, governments, and individuals addressing global issues such as climate change, poverty, the environment, peace, water, hunger, social justice, conservation, human rights and more. WISER is an acronym for World Index of Social and Environmental Responsibility. WiserEarth is a fiscally sponsored project of the Natural Capital Institute ^[3] ^[4].

History

The seed of WiserEarth is explained by Paul Hawken in his book Blessed Unrest^[5]. The author had collected business cards, during numerous meetings and conferences, from thousands of organizations over the years. He came to realization that nobody knew who was behind the "movement" ^[6], the people behind the great work done towards social justice and environmental restoration. As he saw it, the issue was that the more than one million organizations and the one hundred million individuals who actively work towards ecological sustainability, economic justice, Human rights, and political accountability were not as effective as they could be at preventing harm and instituting positive change because they lacked collective awareness, duplicated efforts, and were poorly connected to each other. What is missing, Hawken posited, was a map and directory of this network that includes the resources for communication and cooperation, created and managed by the community; in essence, an infrastructure through which to coordinate the efforts of this invisible community. ^{[citation needed]} In 2005, Hawken convened a team with the objective to gather information from 100,000 environment and social justice organizations around the world and map this movement. This project, named WiserEarth, was launched on Earth Day in 2007. Other functionality were added later to the website, such as a social networking service and group collaboration tools.

Facts and figures

WiserEarth was launched in Earth Day 2007. As of December 2008, WiserEarth provided a directory of more than 110,000 organizations worldwide^[7], over 25,000 registered members^[8], and more than 1,000 groups^[9] (communities of action), with content organized in 46 areas of focus and 379 sub-areas^[10]. The area of focus structure is currently under revision, a simpler organization matching the Earth Charter principles is under discussion.

Website features

The WiserEarth Directory is organized as a wiki. Registered members can edit the information, add new organizations and resources related to social change, participate in discussions, and create communities of action. In addition, the website features groupware and social networking components. The website is non-profit, advertising free, and community-driven. The data is published under a Creative Commons 3.0 license.

References

^ Treehugger article
^ WiserEarth tracks the work of nonprofits around the world
^ About WiserEarth
^ http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-9801533-2.html WiserEarth tracks the work of nonprofits around the world]
^ Hawken, P. (2007). Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming. Viking Press. ISBN 978-0670038527
^ Paul Hawking's page
^ WiserEarth homepage (includes stats)
^ WiserEarth homepage (includes stats)
^ WiserEarth homepage (includes stats)
^ WiserEarth Areas of Focus page

External links

WiserEarth
WiserEarth Facebook group
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/06/wiser_earth_paul_hawken.php
http://www.prwatch.org/node/6158 Blessed Unrest for a Wiser Earth: John Stauber interviews Paul Hawken

[1] Treehugger article

[2] WiserEarth tracks the work of nonprofits around the world

[3] About WiserEarth

[4] ttp://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-9801533-2.html WiserEarth tracks the work of nonprofits around the world]

[5] Hawken, P. (2007). Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming. Viking Press. ISBN 978-0670038527

[6] Paul Hawking's page

[7] WiserEarth homepage (includes stats)

[8] WiserEarth homepage (includes stats)

[9] WiserEarth homepage (includes stats)

[10] WiserEarth Areas of Focus page

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+[[File:WiserEarth logo.jpg|thumb|right|WiserEarth logo]]
-'''WiserEarth''' is a user generated directory for the social and environmental movement <ref>[http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/06/wiser_earth_paul_hawken.php Treehugger article]</ref>, tracking the work of non-profit around the world <ref>[http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-9801533-2.html WiserEarth tracks the work of nonprofits around the world]</ref>. The online platform maps and connects [[non-governmental organization]]s (NGOs), businesses, governments, and individuals addressing global issues such as climate change, poverty, the environment, peace, water, hunger, [[social justice]], conservation, human rights and more. WISER is an acronym for World Index of Social and Environmental Responsibility. WiserEarth is supported and funded by the [[Natural Capital Institute]] <ref>[http://www.wiserearth.org/article/About About WiserEarth]</ref> <ref>http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-9801533-2.html WiserEarth tracks the work of nonprofits around the world]</ref>.
+'''WiserEarth''' is a user-generated online community space for the social and environmental movement <ref>[http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/06/wiser_earth_paul_hawken.php Treehugger article]</ref>, tracking the work of non-profits around the world <ref>[http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-9801533-2.html WiserEarth tracks the work of nonprofits around the world]</ref>. The online platform maps and connects [[non-governmental organization]]s (NGOs), businesses, governments, and individuals addressing global issues such as [[Climate_change#Human_influences_on_climate_change|climate change]], [[poverty]], [[Ecology|the environment]], [[peace]], [[Water#Water_politics_and_water_crisis|water]], [[hunger]], [[social justice]], conservation, [[human rights]] and more. WISER is an acronym for World Index of Social and Environmental Responsibility. WiserEarth is a fiscally sponsored project of the [[Natural Capital Institute]] <ref>[http://www.wiserearth.org/article/About About WiserEarth]</ref> <ref>http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-9801533-2.html WiserEarth tracks the work of nonprofits around the world]</ref>.
 ==History==
-The seed of the idea of WiserEarth is explained by [[Paul Hawken]] in his book ''Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came Into Being, and Why No One Saw it Coming. ISBN 978-0670038527 '' {{Fact|date=December 2008}}. The author had collected [[business card]]s, during numerous meetings and conferences, from thousands of organizations. He figured that these cards could form the core of a data base of what he calls the "movement" <ref>[http://www.wiserearth.org/user/paul Paul's page]</ref>. In 2005, he convened a team of editors with the objective to gather data from 100,000 environment and social justice organizations around the world. The resulting directory was launched on Earth Day in 2007. Other functionalities were added later to the website, such as [[Social_network_service|social networking]] service and groupware tools.
+The seed of WiserEarth is explained by [[Paul Hawken]] in his book [[Blessed Unrest]]<ref>Hawken, P. (2007). ''Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming''. Viking Press. ISBN 978-0670038527 </ref>. The author had collected [[business card]]s, during numerous meetings and conferences, from thousands of organizations over the years. He came to realization that nobody knew who was behind the "movement" <ref>[http://www.wiserearth.org/user/paul Paul Hawking's page]</ref>, the people behind the great work done towards social justice and environmental restoration. As he saw it, the issue was that the more than one million organizations and the one hundred million individuals who actively work towards ecological sustainability, economic justice, [[Human rights]], and political [[accountability]] were not as effective as they could be at preventing harm and instituting positive change because they lacked collective awareness, duplicated efforts, and were poorly connected to each other. What is missing, Hawken posited, was a map and directory of this network that includes the resources for communication and cooperation, created and managed by the community; in essence, an infrastructure through which to coordinate the efforts of this invisible community. {{Fact|date=December 2008}} In 2005, Hawken convened a team with the objective to gather information from 100,000 environment and social justice organizations around the world and map this movement. This project, named WiserEarth, was launched on Earth Day in 2007. Other functionality were added later to the website, such as a [[Social_network_service|social networking]] service and group collaboration tools.
 ==Facts and figures==
-As of December 2008, WiserEarth provided a data base of more than 110,000 organizations worldwide, over 20,000 registered members, and more than 1,000 groups, with content organized in 46 areas of focus and 379 sub-areas {{Fact|date=December 2008}}. The area of focus organisation is currently under revision, a simpler organisation matching  the [[Earth Charter]] principles is under discussion.
+WiserEarth was launched in [[Earth Day]] 2007. As of December 2008, WiserEarth provided a directory of more than 110,000 organizations worldwide<ref>[http://www.wiserearth.org WiserEarth homepage (includes stats)]</ref>, over 25,000 registered members<ref>[http://www.wiserearth.org WiserEarth homepage (includes stats)]</ref>, and more than 1,000 groups<ref>[http://www.wiserearth.org WiserEarth homepage (includes stats)]</ref> (communities of action), with content organized in 46 areas of focus and 379 sub-areas<ref>[http://www.wiserearth.org/issues WiserEarth Areas of Focus page]</ref>. The area of focus structure is currently under revision, a simpler organization matching the [[Earth Charter]] principles is under discussion.
 ==Website features==
-WiserEarth is organized as a wiki. Registered members can edit the data base entries, add new organizations and linked resources, participate in discussions, and create groups. The website is  non-profit, advertising free, and community-driven. The data is published under a [[Creative_Commons_licenses|Creative Commons]] 3.0 license.
+The WiserEarth Directory is organized as a [[wiki]]. Registered members can edit the information, add new organizations and resources related to social change, participate in discussions, and create communities of action. In addition, the website features groupware and social networking components. The website is  non-profit, advertising free, and community-driven. The data is published under a [[Creative_Commons_licenses|Creative Commons]] 3.0 license.
 ==See also==
+* [[Blessed Unrest]]
 * [[Natural Capital Institute]]
-* [[Paul Hawken]]
 * [[Earth Charter]]
+==References==
+{{reflist|2}}
 ==External links==
-* http://www.wiserearth.org/article/About
+* [http://www.wiserearth.org WiserEarth]
+* [http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2262559425 WiserEarth Facebook group]
 * http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/06/wiser_earth_paul_hawken.php
+* http://www.prwatch.org/node/6158 Blessed Unrest for a Wiser Earth: John Stauber interviews Paul Hawken
-* http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-9801533-2.html
-* http://www.wiserearth.org/user/active
-* http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2262559425
-==References==
-{{reflist}}
 {{Sustainability}}
-[[Category:Sustainability]]
+[[Category:Environmental websites]]
 [[Category:Environmental organizations]]
+[[Category: Web 2.0]]
+[[Category: Social networks for social change]]
+[[Category: Online social networking]]
+[[Category: Online communities for social change]]
+[[fr:WiserEarth]]

v t e Sustainability
Outline Index
Principles	Anthropocene Environmentalism Global governance Human impact on the environment Planetary boundaries Development
Consumption	Anthropization Anti-consumerism Circular economy Durable good Earth Overshoot Day Ecological footprint Ethical Green consumption Micro-sustainability Over-consumption Product stewardship Simple living Social return on investment Steady-state economy Sustainability Advertising Brand Marketing myopia Sustainable Consumer behaviour Market Systemic change resistance Tragedy of the commons
World population	Demographic transition Family planning Control Sustainable population
Technology	Appropriate Environmental technology Natural building Sustainable architecture Sustainable design Sustainable industries Sustainable packaging
Biodiversity	Biosecurity Biosphere Conservation biology Endangered species Holocene extinction Invasive species
Energy	Carbon footprint Renewable energy Sustainable energy
Food	Civic agriculture Climate-smart agriculture Community-supported agriculture Cultured meat Sustainable agriculture Sustainable diet Sustainable fishery
Water	Air well (condenser) Bioretention Bioswale Blue roof Catchwater Constructed wetland Detention basin Dew pond Footprint Hydroelectricity Hydropower Infiltration basin Irrigation tank Marine energy Micro hydro Ocean thermal energy conversion Pico hydro Rain garden Rainwater harvesting Rainwater tank Reclaimed water Retention basin Run-of-the-river hydroelectricity Scarcity Security Small hydro Sustainable drainage system Tidal power Tidal stream generator Tree box filter Water conservation Water heat recycling Water recycling shower Water-sensitive urban design
Accountability	Corporate environmental responsibility Corporate social responsibility Environmental accounting Environmental full-cost accounting Environmental planning Sustainability Accounting Measurement Metrics and indices Reporting Standards and certification Sustainable yield
Applications	Advertising Art Business City Climate finance Community Disinvestment Eco-capitalism Eco-cities Eco-investing Eco-socialism Ecovillage Environmental finance Green economy Construction Fashion Finance Gardening Geopark Green Development Infrastructure Marketing Green roof Greening Impact investing Landscape Livelihood Living Market Organic movement Organizations Procurement Refurbishment Socially responsible business Socially responsible marketing Sanitation Sourcing Space Sustainability organization Tourism Transport Urban drainage systems Urban infrastructure
Sustainable management	Environmental Fisheries Forest Humanistic capitalism Landscape Materials Natural resource Planetary Recycling Waste
Agreements and conferences	UN Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm 1972) Brundtlandt Commission Report (1983) Our Common Future (1987) Earth Summit (1992) Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992) Agenda 21 (1992) Convention on Biological Diversity (1992) Lisbon Principles (1997) Earth Charter (2000) UN Millennium Declaration (2000) Earth Summit 2002 (Rio+10, Johannesburg) UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20, 2012) Sustainable Development Goals (2015)
Category Lists Science Studies Degrees