Jeff Buderer Sustainable Development Consultant, African Segment
We are delighted that Jeff Buderer will join us during our African segment. If ever there was a person who would agree with the premise that the other side of the Earth Day coin could be — should be? - Global Learn Day it is Jeff Buderer.
He comes by his passion about environmental stewardship from his mother’s dedication to this crucially important subject. Jeff gained “real world” experience with a three year work/study undertaking in an “urban laboratory” organized under the direction of Arcosanti.
How does this apply to Africa? Be assured Jeff will knit his experiences neatly during our time there.
Thank you Janet Feldman for brining Jeff to the GLD stage.
A post script: Jeff writes, October 1, as follows:
1. Jeff Buderer - Building on my experiences at Arcoanti an experimental ecovillage in the desert of Arizona, I am interested in how using what is called a Multipurpose Community and Unity Centre Development Model. Though this model we hope to put forward an alternative interdisciplinary and highly integrated model of development. In this Centre ICT becomes an enabler to collect best practices through research on the net, engage in effective training and educational development and develop global social networks to support sustainable development. The ICT augmented sustainable development progam focuses on three core areas
1. Shelter (encouraging the sourcing of locally available materials),
2. Agricultural production (encouraging local grown crops)
3. Energy (seeing that locally produced, renewable, distributed power sources of energy are vital for sustainability.
All three key areas are key to the what many scientists believe is the most urgent challenge humanity faces - Global Climate Change. In the OVF Unity Centre these approaches will be actively designed to synergetically interact with each other so that sustainability becomes a viable economic model for development. The fourth component is of course ICT will improve the development, refinement and replication of those best practices so that they address the urgent issues of sustainability in each of three core areas mentioned above. This will include working centres that will feature three main educational and research components:
1. Onsite interpretative learning through training and experiencing the interactivity of the sustainable production systems and built environments
2. Onsite ICT training and research tools
3. Open and Distance learning programs
Through this integrated pproach we will be able to focus on a nonlinear, adaptabive, present-oriented learning model we believe that a new level of human potential can be reached. Key to this is the switch away from rote, linear, object based memorization and towards a focus on relationships within living system. This paradigm shift in learning accompanied by a carefully selected ICT toolset will allow for humans to develop what Doug Engelbart called Networked Improvement Communities whereby collective IQ will rapidly develop to the extent by which humans can once again be empowered to solve world urgent issues that many believe a leading humanity towards a rapid and unprecedented downward spiral.
——
Kafui Prebbie - a leader of the youth ICT movement in Ghana as well as Africa has a long history of youth activism. Working on a masters degree in education he is now involved in managing the University of Education Winneba Ghana’s ICT Center and OVF Ghana (country director). Focus areas include AIDS Linux/Open Source and ICT Education. His leadership of OVF Ghana has led to several notable accomplishments:
1. OVF’s Sports People That Care Program has focused on AIDS through
prevention programs as well as help for those suffering with the disease
2. Catch IT Young - which involved the development of a low cost ICT education program that involved two schools in southern Ghana using ICT professionals as volunteers.
3. Winneba Linux Users Group WiLUG - which seeks to focus on developing programs train University of Education students to promote open source ICT educational and capacity building programs
in Ghana.
4. Kafui is an active member of the Young Think Tank of the Club of Rome (tt30) He is on several tt30 ICT related committees and recently participated in the Digital World Africa 2006 conference.
Kafui is now focusing his efforts in the planning and implementation of the Winneba Open Digital Village (WODiV). WODiV is the ICT component of the Unity Centre and will be designed for the particular attributes of the University environment in Winneba focusing on providing ICT services for students that are open source and open content based.
——
——
HOW DO I TALK, LISTEN, BLOG, TEXT CHAT?
Click here.
your personal search companion
START TIMES & SPEAKERS LIST
Click here
RETURN TO GLD HOME PAGE -
Click here