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In the eastern division, the Argentine government has promoted development by offering substantial financial inducements to people to settle and work in this region, one that diplays relatively cold weather and long, dark winter nights. A good example of the success of the plan is Ushuaia, a settlement squeezed into space bordering the Beagle Channel. Starting with a town of only around 12,000 residents the population has now increased to a city over 60,000, and as this is a port of call, or the jumping-off site, for ships heading to and from the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic Peninsula, it is bustling with visitors in the summer months. Over 200 cruise ships dock here anually.
Ushuaia City on the Beagle Channel marks the southern border of the island.
These days tourism is a major economic driving force here and records show that back in 2015 over 300,000 visitors arrived on the island, the majority (55%) from Argentina. Numerous other business activities are promoted in this eastern part of the island including extracting oil and gas, as well as peat ‘mining,’ and logging. In addition, factories that produce textiles and plastics have been constructed in economic free zones while raising beef cattle is important as this region is free of hoof-and-mouth disease.
As with most mountainous tracts, foothill areas rise up on both sides of the main spine and each altitude level comes with distinct biological constituents. In the case of Tierra del Fuego the eastern foothills of the Darwin Range lie on the dry side where the lower slopes are home to a variety of herbaceous plants including beach strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis) and calafate (Berberis buxifolia), both of which were gathered by the Yaghans for food. Stands of trees grow where conditions allow, and among these is the conifer,Pilgerodendron uviferumin the cypress family, the southernmost cone-bearing plant in the world and one often found in association with subpolar beeches, Nothofagus sp., and Winter Bark,Drimys winteri, the bark used by early travelers to prevent scurvy.
Only a few island groups on our planet have remained mostly free of human impact and with good fortune, a portion of the Tierra del Fuego Archipelago, below the Beagle Channel, is one of these. Here lies the small (244km2/94mi2) Cape Horn National Park, which encompasses both shallow marine habitats along with the island groups of Wollaston and Hermite. Cape Horn Island itself is a miniscule part of the reserve.
Some of the islands below the Beagle Channel are treeless andexhibit tundra formations as well as alpine habitats, these often intermixed with freshwater ecosystems such as peat bogs that are repleat with species of Sphagnummosses. Indeed, the whole region is a bryophyte hotspot, especially well known for its great diversity of cold-adapted liverworts and mosses.
Shaded areas on islands west of the Darwin range are conducive to fern and moss growth.
In addition, other islands in the region are partly covered with a mixture of southern evergreen forests or subpolar deciduous forests. A main component of the former is the southern beech Nothfagus betuloides, and the white-flowered Drimys winteri (in the Winteraceae family). While the deciduous forests are mostly composed of the southern beeches, Nothofagus pumilioand N. antarctica.
I am the albatross that waits for you
at the end of the world.
I am the forgotten souls of dead mariners
who passed Cape Horn
from all the oceans of the earth.
But they did not die
in the furious waves.
Today they sail on my wings
toward eternity,
in the last crack
of Antarctic winds.
– Sara Vial
A world of wind, waves, and swirling spray is home to the albatrosses of the Southern Ocean, the birds a fitting symbol for the spirits of the many mariners who have perished attempting to sail around Cape Horn (Cabo de Hornos) at the tip of South America. These roiling seas hostmany oceanic birds including petrels, skuas, and shearwaters, but the primier species are albatrosses, their seemingly effortless flight beautifully adapted to the circumpolar winds that continuously blow east between 40 degrees and 60 degrees south latitude. Beneath the ocean’s surface, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current also circles east, little impeded by any land mass except where it has to squeeze through the 800km-wide Drake Passage between the Antarctic Peninsula and South America.
Cape Horn Island as seen when approaching from the south.
My name is Shane Palkovitz. I am a socioenvironmental specialist for the Songs of Adaptation research project at Future Generations University. The core investigations of this project focus on establishing an international baseline for biodiversity, while at the same time gathering knowledge from community members about human adaptation to climate change.
In March, I had the joy of traveling to Bolivia to work with local partners to establish a new research location. Our goal was to install four monitoring stations that will later serve as the beginning point for a larger research project.
We spent the first few days trekking through the jungle, looking for sites and gathering information before installing instrumentation. Pictured below, Alejo follows as other team members venture up a stream bed on El Chocolatal, an eco-resort.
An article in Britain’s Guardian newspaper recently suggested that as much as 50% of the planet needs to be set aside from human habitation to stave off mass environmental degradation and irreversible destruction of animal and plant species.
The intention behind this argument is a good one: to conserve the earth’s biodiversity and natural life forms.
These have their own intrinsic value, but also ultimately benefit people in ensuring that natural resources are protected rather than exploited to the point of unsustainability; that air, land, and water are protected in ways that promote public health, and that global warming and other forms of environmental harm are mitigated.
But there is a fallacy at the heart of the notion that the primary way to advance conservation is by removing people from nature.
People and nature are not necessarily adversaries. There are many examples, including contemporary ones, of people serving as successful guardians of nature, rather than as antagonists to the environment and its conservation.
The misguided notion that people and nature are adversaries has sullied conservation since the incarnation of the modern conservation movement. It needs to be acknowledged and addressed because it both hinders and slows environmental conservation and can contribute to denying the human rights of people who depend on nature for their livelihoods.
For many people, as individuals and as communities, their lives, values, and cultures are intimately and inextricably bound with nature.
David Hales served as President of the College of the Atlantic, Chair and President of Second Nature, the managing organization of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, and as Director of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. He led environmental policy and sustainability programs for the US Agency for International Development. As a diplomat, he has represented the USA in numerous negotiations on climate change, urban affairs and policy, and biodiversity. He served in the Carter administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior. He was the first American to serve as Chair of the World Heritage Convention.
Sister Georgia Christensen, La Crosse, WI
An expert in the fields of servant leadership, education, and institutional research, Sister Georgia Christensen, FSPA (U.S.A.) has 40 years’ experience as a teacher, professor, administrator, supervisor, trainer, and evaluator in school systems across the United States and internationally in Cameroon and Zimbabwe.
Rajan Welukar, India
Dedicated to improving the learning outcomes of his students through sound policy and innovative solutions, Rajan Welukar has more than 35 years’ experience with the Indian Higher Education System, as a teacher, development leader, administrator, and policy advisor, including, currently, as Vice-Chancellor of AURO University.
Chido Madiwa – Mutare, Zimbabwe
An alumna of Future Generations University, The Honorable Chido Madiwa has 25 years’ experience working in the civil service, culminating in a position as Director of Gender. Currently, she holds a seat in Parliament and serves as Chairperson for the Parliamentary Portfolio on Women’s Affairs and the Parliamentary Portfolio on Small and Medium Enterprises, as well as serving as a member of the Environment Committee and the Local Government Committee.
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Edmund Cain – Los Angeles, CA
After a 30-year tenure with the United Nations serving in Malaysia, Myanmar, and Afghanistan, as well as in the position of Director of the UN Development Programme’s Emergency Response Division, Edmund Cain (USA) had overseen all domestic and international grant programming at the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.
Our History
Future Generations first began tackling humanity’s toughest challenges in 1992: understanding how to create community-driven change that is both sustainable and scalable. Recognizing traditional approaches to community development were not working, UNICEF launched a task force and enlisted Future Generations to study this question around-the-world. Future Generations was founded to promote the newly synthesized method for community-based sustainable development.
After a decade of successful demonstrations of the methodology advancing health, peacebuilding, conservation, education, and livelihoods across India, Afghanistan, China, Peru and other nations, Future Generations formed a new global learning community to extend this method at scale. A separate graduate school was established in 2006, which today advances research, learning, and action in 42 countries as Future Generations University (Formerly Future Generations Graduate School). The original civil society organization, Future Generations Inc., continues to serve as a connector and resource hub between country programs and the university’s growing alumni in the Future Generations Global Network.
As this learning organization evolved into a University with new research initiatives and a wider reach, so did its innovative approach to global education. What sets all Future Generations programs apart is how they transform the community into the classroom. Life-useful learning is delivered over long distances through a combination of online coursework, peer learning, and community-based projects. The University offers a range of learning opportunities, including online resources, customized training, certificate programs, and a Master of Arts in Applied Community Development. This degree program is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, the USA’s oldest and largest higher education accrediting body.
Michael Stranahan – Aspen, CO
Engaged for four decades with making education useful, after his education at Harvard, Mike, started as a teacher of mathematics then continued as host on Aspen Public Radio as well as to mentor children in pottery.
Chris Cluett – Seattle, WA
A distinguished sociologist of people and transportation, Chris had a long career with the Battelle Memorial Institute. Continuing from his Peace Corps, then USAID assignments in Nepal in the 1960s, Chris has remained active with Nepal.
Isaac Bekalo – Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Born in Ethiopia, and from that pursuing deep grounding in solving the challenges of rural life. Isaac trained in the Philippines in Organizational Development. Isaac is currently President of the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction.
Brenda Gourley
(U.K) Former Vice-Chancellor,
Open University (U.K); Former Vice-Chancellor,
University of Natal (South Africa)
Kul C. Gautam
(Nepal) Former Assistant Secretary General United Nations; Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, Coordinator of the 1990 World Summit for Children
George Rupp
(U.S.A.) Former President,
Columbia University and Rice University; former President,
International Rescue Committee
(U.S.A.) Executive Director, Innovations in Civic Participation; cofounder the Talloires Network (a network of universities committed to education on civic engagement and social responsibility); Founding Director of AmeriCorps
Ruben Puentes – Punta del Este, Uruguay
Starting his career as a potato farmer in Uruguay, then a decade with Texas A&M University, Ruben spent two decades in leadership of The Rockefeller Foundation, leaving as Associate Vice President for Knowledge Management.
Harry Teague – Basalt, CO
Harry graduated from Dartmouth College in 1966, and has lived in Colorado since receiving his Masters in Architecture from the Yale School of Architecture in 1972. As principal of Harry Teague Architects, his work has been published internationally, and has received numerous local, state and national design awards, and has lectured and taught throughout the country.
Daniel C. Taylor – Franklin, WV
Growing up in India, Dan’l moved to West Virginia in the 1970s, co-founding The Mountain Institute, then national parks around Mt Everest, and from this West Virginia base he has launched the global family of Future Generations organizations. See: www.danielctaylor.org
Jim Brasher – New York City, NY
Jim possesses more than 35 years experience of leadership in fundraising and innovation. He founded the Global Philanthropists Circle with the Synergos Institution in 2000. He is also the Principal and Founder of Development Council, a personal advisory service for organizational leaders, families, and institutions.
Anthony Flaccavento – Abingdon, VA
Owner of SCALE, Inc, a private firm providing consulting services focused on designing, educating, planning and implementing sustainable economic development in communities around the nation.
Our Shared Future
For the first time in human history, every country of the world has signed on to the same set of goals: the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In these, governments, many corporations, and donor agencies have shared targets to address our immense global challenges. Future Generations focuses on empowering communities around the world to better engage these structures of support from the bottom-up using the SEED-SCALE method.
Education is the great equalizer. Communities don’t need to wait for policy or leadership change to deliver needed services; learning can open the door to new skills that help communities use what they already have to advance a shared vision for the future. Students at Future Generations steer their learning journey according to local priorities so they can advance their personal goals alongside their professional work and community well-being.
Future Generations University is dedicated to opening this life-changing opportunity up to more community leaders in the coming years by:
Enhancing the Master’s degree, keeping costs low and increasing flexibility to grow enrollment
Expanding Non-Formal Education offerings with new certificate and training programs customized for partner organizations
Developing online learning resources and programs that open access to the SEED-SCALE method among new audiences around-the-world
Advancing community-grounded research to promote site-specific innovations in health, education, economic development, climate change and ecosystem monitoring, and more
Establishing Sustainable Development Learning Centers at sites of strength across our Global Network to extend learning and innovation for local sustainable development impact
