CITIES: Labor Day – Unions and Collective Voice

Posted on September 2, 2024September 3, 2024 by Building The World

Labor Day is celebrated in Canada and the US on the first Monday of September. The holiday’s history is one of unions and collective voice. Image: Paramount Pictures, 2014. Public Domain.

SEPTEMBER LABOR DAY – Observed in Canada and the US, honors workers and their rights including the right to organize. Those rights were born and nurtured in the nest of cities.

Sign of a glass or glazier guild, from Germany. Image: Cretive Commons 2.0. Included with appreciation.

GUILDS, UNIONS, ILO – Unions go back to medieval times. When the feudal system changed to free independent skilled labor, craft workers moved to cities and banded together to form guilds. But when outsiders, non-guild members or not even industry professionals, began to own the companies that hired the workers, unions developed. (Brentano)

The inclusive, and protective spirit of the guilds, and unions, may today be kept in the International Labour Organization (ILO). Founded in 1919 to bring together governments, employers, and workers of the Member States of the United Nations (ILO is its only tripartite agency), the ILO seeks to promote social dialogue among all three, with special attention to Sustainable Development Goals (specifically: SDG 8 regarding work and growth, SDG 10 reducing inequalities, and SDG for justice and peace).

Workers’ hours have been a constant theme in unions, labor, and rights. Image: “Animated clock” by Balti sahib, Creative Commons 3.0.

HOURS – With unions came working conditions. Work days could last as long as 10 hours, and the work week could be six days, until 1593 when Spain became the first nation to declare a law to limit factory and building workers to an eight-hour day. The Ordenanzas de Felipe II included an interesting aspect that applies to today’s emerging worker rights law: a mandatory break between morning and afternoon work periods was ordered – to avoid the sun’s heat. In the 19th century, Robert Owen proposed a day sectioned into three parts: eight hours of labor; eight hours of recreation eight hours of rest. The movement reached farther shores when stone mason workers marched from Australia’s University of Melbourne to Parliament in Australia to establish the law.

Both Peter and Matthew McGuire both advocated the establishment of a holiday to honor the craft and skill of workers. The first Labor Day celebration took place in New York City in 1882: both McGuires were present. Image: Maguire (McGuire) family crest, Creative Commons 3.0.

CRAFT AND SKILL – In the United States, the first proposed Labor Day holiday originally honored labor as art and the skills of craft. Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood (a guild name that needed updating) of Carpenters and Joiners who was also the co-founder of the American Federation of Labor. McGuire proposed the idea of establishing a holiday to honor “those who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold.” (US Department of Labor 2024)

A second McGuire – Matthew – is also credited for the holiday. This McGuire, secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists, also proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union of New York. A first Labor Day gathering convened in New York City in 1882: both McGuires were present. A second observation happened in 1883. In 1884, President Cleveland signed a law creating a national holiday to be called Labor Day, to be observed on the first Monday of the month of September annually.

Pullman Strike, Chicago, Illinois, US, 1894. Public domain.

RIGHTS – But in a twist of fate, President Cleveland signed that law in July 1884, just before an uprising of labor caused a national tragedy and forever changed the character of Labor Day. Worker rights for hours and working conditions arose in Chicago, Illinois on several pivotal moments. One involved the transport industry and the innovation of transcontinental rail. Chicago was a known rail center, and headquarters of the Pullman company. The cross-country rail industry created a market for overnight travel. Chicago’s Pullman company (formed by buying up old passenger rail cars and turning them into sleepers) employed “Pullman porters;” hiring practice discriminated racially and enforced extremely long working hour – 400 per month. At the trigger of the 30% layoff, and to protest working conditions and assert worker rights, Pullman workers walked out on strike.

Transcontinental rail established a new order, one that could be disrupted by striking workers with new power. Image: Map showing section of Transcontinental Railroad, 1883. Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, Chicago and Pacific Railroad, C.W. & C. Colton & Company, US Library of Congress. Public Domain.

STRIKE POWER – Travel stalled in 27 states from Chicago’s Illinois to the West Coast. Communications stalled across the country: at that time, trains carried not only cargo and people but the post including commercial transactions. Strikers knew well how to stop a rail car on the line; they halted – and derailed – the locomotive pulling a postal train. The collective voice was heard. But so were gunshots.

Pullman strike erupted into violence; workers overturned rail cars and Illinois National Guard fired shots. Illustration by G. W. Peters, *Harper’s Weekly*, Volume 38, 1894. Public domain.

VIOLENCE – With the country effectively shut down, President Grover Cleveland authorized the US Attorney General to enact an injunction against the striking workers. The result was an acceleration of the strike into a riot. Protesters derailed more train cars. Escalation into military action ensued when the Illinois National Guard arrived at Blue Island, a Chicago suburb, and used firearms, killing 30 people and wounding many others. This happened in July. Ironically, President Cleveland had just signed the bill, in June, declaring a new holiday to honor workers.

Haymarket Square, Chicago, circa 1905. Image from postcard. Public domain.

In 1886, Chicago again was the center for a gathering to promote the eight-hour work day, overtime pay, and fair hiring practices. Child labor was reported in some areas. Workers went on strike at the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company. Police were present, and one person was killed and others wounded when police opened fire. The next day, protestors assembled in Haymarket Square. Police were again present. Someone, it is still unknown who, threw a bomb; police began shooting. Seven officers died, several civilians, and many dozen people were wounded. The episode became known in the history of labor as the Haymarket Massacre or the Haymarket Affair. A campaign to find the bomber resulted in hunt for perpetrators and later in several hangings, one suicide, one prison sentence and a later pardon.

UNIONS AND PEACE – In ancient times, the Netherlands organized climate response unions to gather if a dike overflowed. Today, a proposed Climate Conservation Corps could involve unions in the shared effort that all professions must contribute to our common future. The voices of unions as part of the International Labour Organization might support cooperative vision. Because firearms and violence have been a tragic part of strikes such as Pullman and Haymarket, unions might take up the issue of gun violence. Could unions use their collective voice and global power to unite justice and rights with peace?

Labor binds the world together in a connected, collective system of craft, rights, and honor. Image: Animation by TED-43, 2018. Creative Commons 3.0. With appreciation.

LABOR UNITES THE WORLD – Labor circles and unites the world in a connective, collective system of craft, rights, and honor. This month, in the United States, Labor Day finds 10,000 hotel workers striking to call attention to working hours and conditions. Political candidates and present leaders are appearing and speaking at rallies. The campaign for work and justice will always be new, and needed. Factory workers still labor in unhealthy and even lethal conditions; miners (in some locations, including children) suffer health and injury; health care workers endure long hours. Reparation for enforced labor, in some places continuing, still needs justice. Recently, new regulations on hours of outdoor workers during increased heat of climate change now address worker health, rights, and safety.

If you are reading this in a country that celebrates Labor Day today, make it more than just a long weekend. And, if you live in an area that honors workers at another time, perhaps we can all make September a month when we recognize the farmers whose harvest graces our tables, those workers who create seasonal goods and services, the health care professionals who offer fall influenza protection, the teachers that welcome students for a new year, the transport systems that bring us all to the places where we work and that special place we call home. This month, how will you honor craft, justice, rights – and the fruits of our individual, and collective, labor?

Brooke, K. Lusk. “Labor Day,” 2 September 2022. Building the World Blog. https://blogs.umb.edu/buildingtheworld/2022/09/02/transport-origins-of-labor-day/

Davidson, Frank P. and K. Lusk Brooke. “The Transcontinental Railroad,” Chapter 17, pages 205-238. Building the World. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2006. ISBN: 0313333734

International Labour Organization. https://www.ilo.org/about-ilo

International Labor Rights Forum. “Women’s Rights and Global Labor Justice.” https://laborrights.org/issues/women’srights

Langley, Winston E. and Vivian C. Fox. Women’s Rights in the United States: A Documentary History. Praeger: 1994. ISBN: 978-0313287558.

Library of Congress, United States. “Hawmarket Affair.” 2024. https://guides.loc/gov/chronicling-america-haymarket-affair

Loomis, Erik. A History of America in Ten Strikes. The New Press, 2018. ISBN-10: 1620971615

Brentano, Luis. “From the Gilds to the Trade Unions.” English Gilds: The Original Ordinances of more than One Hundred Early English Guilds. Oxford University Press. Digital facsimile by University of Michigan at https://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/EGilds?rgn=main;view=fulltext

Terkel, Studs. Working. Pantheon Books, 1974.

US Department of Labor. “History of Labor Day.” 2024. https://www.dol.gov/general/laborday/history

Zraick, Karen. “What is Labor Day?” A History of the Workers’ Holiday.” 4 September 2023. New York Times. https://www.nytimescom/article/what-is-labor-day.html

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 U

WATER: Clocks, Time, and Leap Day

Posted on February 29, 2024February 29, 2024 by Building The World

Ancient clocks used water to measure time. Image: “Escapement animation” uploaded by Jacopo Werther, 2004. Creative commons 3.0. Included with appreciation.

Prometheus may have stolen fire, but ancient Greeks also believed that water stole time. Early clocks used water, acquiring the technical term, clepsydra, from ancient Greek “klepto or steal” and “hydor or water.” Water clocks measure time by regulating and measuring the drip rate into a vessel.

Clepsyrda or water clock, circa 1753. Donated to wikimedia by Käyttäjä Oh1qt for public domain. Included with appreciation.

Popular across the world from China, Egypt, and Persia, the clepsydra was one of the first ways in which humans measured time in exact increments. Water clocks became so sophisticated and complex that they were able to adjust rates of water flow for solar and lunar orbits.

**Al-Jazari’s water clock, 12th century is consider by some to be the first analog computer**. Image courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, acquisition 14.533. Public domain and included with appreciation.

Water clocks could adjust and measure seasonal length of daylight to regulate agricultural cycles. Al-Jazari’s castle clock is said by some to be the world’s first programmable analog computer.

**Water clocks were prized in Madinat as-Salam, City of Peace, now known as Baghdad.** Here, water clock from Zibad, Gonabad Province, Iran, by photographer Maahmaah, 2012, dedicated to the public domain. Included with appreciation.

Water clocks were technological possessions prized by those who ruled and managed. When Caliph al-Mansur founded a new capital of Persia, Madinat as-Salam, “City of Peace” in the Islamic calendar year 145 (ce 762). The city, now known as Baghdad, flourished. When fifth Caliph Harun al-Rashid (ruler from 786 to 809 ce) of The Arabian Nights came to power, the city was reputed to be the wealthiest of the world. It was known for a balance of commerce and agriculture, the latter advanced by use of the water clock regulating drawing of water by farmers. The device was entrusted to and managed by an appointed elder who kept irrigation timetables. Caliph Harun al-Rashid visited Roman Emperor Charlemagne, bringing gifts including a water clock so delicate that it had to be conveyed in parts and assembled on site, prior to a live demonstration of this new technology of time.

Charlemagne received by Pope Adrian. Image from art by Antoine Vérard, 1493. Public domain: included with appreciation.

For Charlemagne, who surrounded his court with scholars and teachers including Alcuin, and who is often credited with founding the earliest universities, the water clock was a revelation so important it was recorded in the Royal Frankish Annals.

Charlemagne, as king of the Franks and emperor of Rome, was part of a lineage that valued precise measurements of time. But these measurements were of the year. It was Julius Caesar who, on 1 January 45 (bce) refined the Roman calendar to be more consistent with the solar cycle. The Julian Calendar had three years of 365 days, followed by a fourth with a leap day as the final in February. The succeeding Gregorian calendar fine-tuned the system that much of the world follows today.

**Stamp from Germany celebrating 400 years of Gregorian calendar that codified Leap Day.** “*400 Jahre Gregorianischer Kalendar,* 1982.” Image scanned by NobbiP, public domain. Included with appreciation.

Since then, leap day has inspired traditions. Brigid of Kildare commented to Patrick of Ireland (both canonized and now addressed as Saints), in the 5th century ce, that women’s rights were not equal to men’s, as evidenced by the tradition that men propose marriage yet the union required true partnership. Patrick agreed that women could and should propose, but limited that freedom to one day per year, on leap year.

**St. Brigid of Kildare conferred with St. Patrick of Ireland concerning women’s equal rights including proposing marriage – on Leap Day.** Image: “St. Patrick and St. Brigid” by Catherine O’Brien, 2023. Posted by Spideoglasper, Creative Commons 4.0. Included with appreciation.

France, home of the Eiffel Tower where many marriage proposals are initiated and photographed, took another direction. In 1980, Jacques Debuisson and Christian Bailly launched a tradition of publishing a satirical newspaper La Bougie du Sapeur just once a year, on Leap Day. Only 200,000 copies are printed: there is no digital edition.

**La Bougie du Sapeur is published in France on Leap Day**. Image: Logo, 2016. Public Domain. Included with appreciation.

How do you celebrate Leap Day? What leap of faith – or frolic – will you take?

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 U

CITIES: Labor and Workers’ Rights

Posted on September 4, 2023 by Building The World

**Los Angeles, with the Hollywood sign overlooking the city, is the home of many striking actors of SAG-AFTRA seeking better right**s. Image: “Hollywood Sign” by photographer Thomas Wolf. Creative Commons 3.0 Included with appreciation.

Human history may be traced in the move from field to city, from local farm to industrial agriculture, and with that – from indentured field serf to urban worker. Some sociologists say that human history is the history of cities. Cities may also be the birthplace of human, and worker, rights. An example: Wolfsburg, Germany, began as the Duchy of Magdeburg, then became the Stadt des KdF-Wagnes bei Fallersleben (“City of Strength Through Joy at Fallersleben”) as a planned town built to house workers for a factory producing the Volkswagen Beetle car. Volkswagen workers organized labor unions through collective agreements ensuring rights of more than 120,000 workers through the Volkswagen Group Global Works Council (GWC).

“**VW factory, Wolfsburg, Germany**” by photographer HasBS, 2011. Creative Commons 4.0. Included with appreciation.

From the days of Charlemagne and into medieval times, as workers began to move into cities, they organized crafts and trades into guilds. The word “guild” comes from the Anglo-Saxon word “gild” and is related to “geld” meaning money. We still have an echo in today’s word for money in German: Das Geld. In medieval times, each guild member paid a set amount of money into a common fund to support worker training (apprentice, journeyworker, mastercraftsperson) and family benefits for the wellbeing of workers’ health and family support in the case of injury or death. Guilds morphed into trade unions when the owners of businesses changed to outside investors who were not craftpersons themselves. Labor rights were born in the city and have continued to find their growth in urban environments.

**Medieval cities were effectively run by guilds representing all the crafts and trades of the local and regional economy. Guilds set worker rights, wages, and benefits**. Image: “Coats of arms displaying the tools of the trades in a medieval town of the Czech Republic,” Photo by VitVit, 2008. Creative commons 3.0. Included with appreciation,

Workers and Rights. Some credit present day labor rights activist Robert Owen, a manufacturer from Wales, with the concept of the eight-hour workday. In 1817, Welsh advocated 8/8/8/ (eight hours labor, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest). Fifty years later, workers in Chicago demanded the Illinois Legislature to pass a law limiting work to eight hours per day. Although the law passed, a loop hole remained and many factory laborers were still overworked and underpaid. On May 1, 1867, they went on strike. The movement shut down Chicago, and soon other cities across the United States and Europe joined the strike. That event in 1867 led to what is now known as May Day or International Workers’ Day.

**International Workers’ Day, May 1, 2013, Austria**. Image by photographer Johannes Zinner, 2013. Creative Commons 2.0. Included with appreciation.

Labor. Peter McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners first voiced in 1882 the call for a holiday for “the laboring classes who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold.” McGuire’s message echoed that of the medieval guilds: labor and work are forms of art and should be treasured and honored by a holiday. A leader of a similar surname, Matthew Maguire, secretary of Local 344 of the International Machinists, proposed the same holiday. Their messages were heard.

**First American Labor Day parade in New York City on 5 September 1882.** Image: Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper issue dated 16 September 1882. Public Domain. Included with appreciation.

In the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge, 10,000 city workers gathered in New York City on 5 September 1882 to rally for improvement in labor conditions. When the American government even began tracking work hours in 1890, the average factory workers clocked in 100 hours per week. Ensuing years strengthened the movement for better working hours and recognition of the major role workers play in business and economics. Oregon was the first state to recognize Labor day but Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York soon joined. In 1894, the Pullman strike in Chicago, Illinois jammed rail traffic throughout the country. During the strike and crisis, President Grover Cleveland signed Labor Day into law, as Congress passed an act declaring a national holiday to honor labor on the first Monday in September. Finally, in 1894, Labor Day became an official national holiday. Canada also celebrates Labor Day, but most of the world honors workers on May 1.

“Fête du Travail” or “Labour Day” Parade in Toronto, Canada. on 5 September 2011. CAW Media. Creative Commons 2.0. Included with appreciation.

Worker rights continue to be an important issue around the world. In some places, children labor. In other places, women cannot work outside the home. Factory workers are often subject to unhealthy and even lethal conditions: 1500 workers died in preventable factory disasters in the garment industry in fires one decade ago. The 2013 Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh made progress in setting new standards; a 2018 Transition Key Accord strengthened the standards to legally binding agreements between trade unions and brands; signatories include an oversight chair from the International Labour Organization (ILO)

“Garment Factory Worker in Bangladesh, 2015.” by Solidarity Center. Creative Commons 2.0. Included with appreciation.

Women’s working rights are a special issue. Women make up 70% of the labor force in some export processing zones (EPZs) in Asia, the Americas, and Sub-Saharan Africa where some bans on unionization still exist. The ILO Equal Remuneration Convention (No. 100), Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation (No. 111), and Maternity Protection Convention (No. 183) have helped protect some rights but more is needed. In 1969, the International Labour Organization (ILO) received the Nobel Peace Prize; fifty years later, the ILO issued a new vision when convening the Global Commission on the Future of Work.

Every era brings new challenges for labor, work, and rights. In 2023, the union of Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) declared a strike approved by 98% of the members. One concern of the striking union members is the implications of artificial intelligence (AI) and the expansion of streaming services.These artists joined the 11,000 members of the Writers Guild of America who are also on strike. Again, the theme of the guild – and its blend of artistry and rights – finds a place in history.

Meryl Streep is one of the active supporters of the SAG-AFTRA strike. Image: “Meryl Street at Berlin Berlinale International Film Festival 2016.” by photographer Glyn Lowe Creative Commons 2.0. Included with appreciation.

If you are reading this post in Canada or in the United States, you may be enjoying a day of rest or even a traditional cook-out. But there is more to Labor Day than a long weekend. How will you celebrate and honor worker equality, justice, rights, and the fruits of our individual, and collective, labors?

Bangladesh Accord Foundation. “Accord on Fire and Building Safety,” https://bangladeshaccord.org/

. International Labor Rights Forum. “Women’s Rights and Global Labor Justice.” https://laborrights.org/issues/women’s-rights

International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)

International Labour Organization (ILO). “Global Commission on the Future of Work,” https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/future-of-work/WCMS_569528/lang–en/index.htm

Kaunonen, Gary and Aaron Goings. Community in Conflict. Michigan State Press, 2013.

Langley, Winston E. and Vivian C. Fox. Women’s Rights in the United States: A Documentary History. Praeger, 1994. ISBN: 978-0313287558.

Loomis, Erik. A History of America in Ten Strikes. The New Press, 2018.

Smith, Toulmin, Editor, with essay on history and development of the gilds by Lujo Brentano. “English Gilds: The Original Ordinances of more than One Hundred Early English Guilds,” Oxford University Press. Digital facsimile by University of Michigan. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/EGilds?rgn=main;view=fulltext

SAG-AFTRA. https://www.sagaftra.org

Seabrook, Jeremy, “The language of labouring reveals its tortured roots.” The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/14/language-labouring-reveals-tortured-roots1

Terkel, Studs. Working. Pantheon Books, 1974.

Toynbee, Arnold. Editor. Cities of Destiny. London: Thames & Hudson, 1967.

Zraick, Karen. “What is Labor Day? A History of the Workers’ Holiday.” 4 September 2023. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/article/what-is-labor-day.html

Earth Day 2023: #Invest in Our Planet

Posted on April 22, 2023 by Building The World

Earth Day‘s theme for 2023: INVEST in OUR PLANET. Linking business, finance, and investment to ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) goals and values will be critical to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. IBM’s Institute for Business Value (IBV) surveyed 20,000 consumers, 2,500 executives in 22 industries and 34 countries about the relationship of climate-protection and financial success. Over 70% stated that a company’s ESG values influenced their choice of employment or investment. Morningstar, Russell Investments, S&P, and MSCI recently released ESG rating systems for 8,000 companies. Universities are evaluating endowments for sustainability; student and alumni organizations are mobilizing for climate action include Harvard’s HACE with a topic area of finance. MIT’s Sloan Impact Investing Initiative (Mi3) presented its first ESG and Impact Finance conference in 2023.

Can today’s ESG goals find precedent in earlier agreements like Bretton Woods? Image: “Gold Room where the Bretton Woods Agreements were reached.” by photograph Barry Livingstone, 2014. Creative Commons 3.0. Included with appreciation.

Tying social goals to investment may find precedence in Bretton Woods, the 1944 agreement that set up accords for an international monetary system and establishment of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) including the World Bank. During the World Bank presidency of Robert S. McNamara (1968-1981), increased emphasis on funding improvements in infrastructure, healthcare, and essentials including safe water, food security may, in some ways, have prepared the path to our present Sustainable Development Goals (SGD) There are many who might advise the World Bank to refocus on McNamara’s vision. To that end, should the SDGs be more strongly bonded to finance and investment initiatives? Looking to the ancients, could one find early models linking educational and social development to some of the advances initiated by Charlemagne? Another example might be the medieval guilds. What is the human timeline weaving social and economic progress to finance and investment?

Medieval craft guilds linked business to community and social goals. Image: “Stemmi celle Arti fiorentine” from the guilds of Florence, Italy. Public domain, creative commons 1.0. Included with appreciation.

But you don’t have to be a banker or finance professional to invest in our planet. Here are Earth Day’s recommendations for each of us to invest in our shared planet:

Plant Trees – Can you afford $1? That contribution will buy a tree, as part of The Canopy Project.

**INVEST in OUR PLANT – plant trees.** Image: “Earth Day” by Alice Popkorn, GAIA – Germany. Creative Commons 2.0. Included with appreciation.

Reduce Plastic Consumption – Think twice before tossing plastic into trash: only 9% is recycled. Look for a recycling container. Even better – avoid plastic when possible. The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) has drafted INC-1, an international legally binding instrument, leading to the Global Plastics Treaty to be completed by 2024. Want to add your support?

INVEST in OUR PLANET – recycle plastic. Image: “Plastic for Recycling” by Si Griffiths, 2005. Creative Commons 3.0. Included with appreciation.

Vote Earth – Vote for those who support environmental values. Register on the Vote Earth Hub to get reminders on voting options.

**INVEST in OUR PLANET – vote for leaders who support sustainability.** Image: “Vote” by Tom Arthur, 2008. Creative Commons 2.0. Included with appreciation.

Choose Sustainable Fashion – Every day, you wear garments. It’s a global industry worth $2.4 trillion, but less than 1% of clothing is recycled, and textile processing accounts for 20% of global wastewater that can enter streams and aquifers. When you launder them, use a Cora Ball to catch fibers before they enter the water supply. Can clothing fabric be made from natural fibers beyond cotton and wool: for example, algae or seaweed? Look for and buy sustainable clothing. Sign the Fashion Petition here.

**INVEST in OUR PLANET with sustainable fashion**. Image: “The Golden Book Gown – made of recycled pages from children’s golden books” by Ryan Jude Noveilline. Creative Commons 2.0. Included with appreciation.

As you honor Earth Day today, did you ever wonder why is Earth Day celebrated on April 22? Founders Gaylord Nelson, Pete McCloskey, and Denis Hayes chose the date to engage students: it was after spring break and before final exams. Another factor: in some regions of the world, spring comes in April, reminding us of Earth’s systemic renewal. If we support Earth’s natural systems, we can sustain Earth’s natural power of renewal. The first Earth Day in 1970 drew 20 million people; by 1990, Earth Day went global and 200 million people participated. This year, how will you invest in our planet? Pledge your participation, here.

Bretton Woods Agreements Act. 31 July 1944. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS=10334/pdf/COMPS-10334.pdf

Earth Day. https://www.earthday.org

Finpublica. https://www.finpublica.org

Harvard Alumni for Climate and the Environment (HACE). https://www.harvardclimate.com

Hayes, Adam. “MSCI ESG Ratings Definition, Methodology, Example.” 15 October 2022. Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/msci-esg-ratings-5111990

IBM Institute for Business Value. Authors Arun Biswas, Elisabeth Goos, and Jacob Dencik. “The ESG Conundrum.” 11 April 2023. https://www.ibm.com/thought-leadership/institute-business-value/report/esg-ultimatum

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) “Mi3.” https://sloangroups.mit.edu/sloanmi3/mit-sloan-esg-impact-finance-conference/

MSCI. “Capital for Climate Action Conference” 16 May 2023. https://www.msci.com/www/events/capital-for-climate-action/03723646558

Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies. “Gaylord Nelson, Founder of Earth Day.” University of Wisconsin – Madison, Wisconsin Historical Society. https://nelsonearthday.net/index.html

Segal, Mark. “Over 80% of Businesses Plan to Increase Spending on Environmental Sustainability Goals Over Next Year – Honeywell.” 19 April 2023. ESG Today. https://www.esgtoday.com/over-80-of-businesses-plan-to-increase-spending-on-environmental-sustainabiity-goals-over-next-year-honeywell/

Simbiótica Finance. https://simbiotica.finance/tokens/SOT

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 U

TRANSPORT: Linking the World

Posted on June 17, 2021 by Building The World

“Ancient Silk Road,” image: wikimedia commons.

The history of civilization may be measured by connection. First it was the Silk Road that connected cities; then it was the age of ships that created ports from Singapore to Suez. Canals threaded connection through waterways, making one route from inland to sea: the Grand Canal, Canal des Deux Mers, Erie, Panama. Rail linked continents: the Trans-Continental, Canadian Pacific, and the Trans-Siberian united people across vast spans. But each of these achievements was a separate project.

“Belt and Road Initiative.” graphic design by Mathildem 16, 2020. Image: wikimedia.

BRI or B3W? Now, there are two plans to connect the world in a more comprehensive way: the “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) announced and begun in 2013 by China, and the “Build Back Better for the World” (B3W) proposed by the G7 in 2021. China is ahead: more than 100 countries have signed BRI agreements. Some comment that the BRI is able to move quickly from plan to construction of new ports linked to rail and road routes, and also express concern regarding resourcing: financial, human, and natural. But some say that the G7 could take inspiration from Charlemagne who united disparate groups through links of education, as well as land and sea. The G7’s B3W may include capital to fund areas like climate, digital technology, health security, as well as transport.

Climate change will cause a new vision. It is certain that the world needs rebuilding: old bridges, ports, rail, and roads are in dire need of replacement, while new infrastructure could transform many places not yet linked. Some have cited the Marshall Plan as precedent to rebuilding and linking a new vision of the world. Others may see different possibilities that include contemporary concerns. As BRI and B3W consider terms of engagement and goals of success, is there an opportunity to link the world through the values of inclusion, peace, and sustainable resilience? What is your vision of an interconnected world?

Ruta, Michele. “Three Opportunities and Three Risks of the Belt and Road Initiative.” 4 May 2018. World Bank Blog. https://blogs.worldbank.org/trade/three-opportunities-and-three-risks-belt-and-road-initiative

Sanger, Davi. E. and Mark Landler. “Biden Tries to Rally G7 Nations to Counter China’s Influence.” 12 June 2021. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/12/world/europe/biden-china-g7html?referringSource=articleShare

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unp

ENERGY: Petersberg Climate Dialogue

Posted on April 28, 2020 by Building The World

Petersberg, near Bonn, Germany. Image: wikimedia.

High upon a virtual mountaintop, the Petersberg Climate Dialogue gathered 35 countries to steer the course for achieving Paris Agreement goals. Alok Sharma, UK Secretary of State for Business and Energy and President of COP26, and Svenja Schulze, Federal Environment Minister of Germany, co-chaired ‘International Climate Action after the Coronavirus Pandemic.” While there is good news, including the cost of solar energy now 85% lower than in 2010, it is not enough: 840 million people lack access to electricity. As world governments allocate funding to rebuild economies after Covid-19, there is an unprecedented opportunity for “finance to support a green economic recovery and foster ambitious climate action.” We have not acted fast enough to reach climate goals, in part due to funding. The world might now have A UNIQUE opportunity to rebuild. Petersberg Climate Dialogue is digital: participate here.

Petersberg Climate Dialogue Digital Conference. https://www.bmu.de/press/live-broadcast/

Petersberg Climate Dialogue Digital Conference. “Financing Climate Ambition in the context of COVID-19.” Video Conference, 29 April 2020. https://www.bmu.de/en/event/financing-climate-ambition-in-the-context-of-covid-19/

Sharma, Alok. “Reaching Climate Goals.” https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cop26-president-remarks-at-first-day-of-petersberg-climate-dialogue.

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unp

Industrial Revolution 2.0

Posted on December 12, 2018December 13, 2018 by Building The World

Spodek arena, Katowice, Poland, site of United Nations Climate Change Conference COP24. Image: wikimedia.

Are we on the turn of a new industrial revolution? As governments gathered in Katowice, Poland for COP24 to discuss how to bring the Paris Agreement COP 21 to a next stage actionable directives with the agreed goal of limiting global warming to below 2.0 centigrade (or ideally 1.5); and as, at the same time one outlier government’s delegation pitched coal, a trend emerged, investors and industries held their own summit. Some might term it Industrial Revolution 2.0.

Shared knowledge: 14th century manuscript depicting members of University of Paris. Image: wikimedia commons.

Medieval guilds for craft and trade set regional standards for weights and measures, as well as tithes and taxes to support social goals. Charlemagne united a region in part through development of bridges, roads, and universities. Businesses, industries, and universities have long been sources of scalable innovation. Both guilds and universities trained new generations with shared knowledge spread by exchange. Both businesses and industries developed supply chains with interlocking standards that are a kind of currency of rapid exchange. Industries may change faster than governments, in no small part due to economic incentives.

The first Industrial Revolution gave us many things, some involving energy sources that causing the crisis of our times. Industrial Revolution 2.0 will turn on those same forces, but turn away. Stopping coal, for example, means moving away from a system built around energy sources of the first Industrial Revolution. Industrial Revolution 2.0 means not just moving away from coal, oil, gas, and other older fuels; more importantly, it is more a question of moving to a new system that is built for the ride. Governments can talk about that; industry can build it.

Businesses gave collective voice in Paris, during COP21; Bill Gates gathered 28 investors including Richard Branson and Mark Zuckerberg, to launch the Breakthrough Energy Coalition to contribute seed money to new ideas about energy. Branson stated: We must produce an abundance of clean, renewable energy and drive further innovation to make the next generation of energy more efficient. It will benefit the environment, our society and the economy. When 415 investing organizations, with an economic force of $32 trillion, gathered in Katowice, Poland, this week to add their collective voice to COP24, they pledged a new set of standards that may, if met, prove of merit as detailed in the 2018 Global Investor Statement to Governments on Climate Change.

It’s clear our innovators are taking action: what can each of us do?

Conference of the Parties 24. United Nations. https://unfccc.int/event/cop-24

Crilly, Rob. “Paris climate change summit: Bill Gates launches effort to disrupt energy sector by funding new search for clean energy.” 1 December 2015. The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/paris-climate-change-conference/12026217/Bill-Gates-launches-effort-to-disrupt-energy-sector-with-fund-for-green-technology.html

Duncan, Bonnie. “Guilds and Skills.” ENGL403/603Chaucer. Millersville University. http://sites.millersville.edu/bduncan/403/guilds/

Jessop, Simon. “Investors managing $32 trillion in assets call for action on climate change.” 9 December 2018. Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-investors/investors-managing-32-trillion-in-assets-call-for-action-on-climate-change-idUSKBN1080TR.

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported Lice

If Cars Could Fly: Innovation Cities

Posted on May 25, 2018 by Building The World

*Popular Science*, 2008. Image: wikimedia.

France invited the world’s innovators to “make our planet great again.” Now, the city that hosted the world Climate Agreement will welcome a new R&D center with a budget of $23 million and a goal of developing an electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle – a flying car. Actually, a taxi. It’s an Uber endeavor, joining the company’s network of R&D hubs in Pittsburgh, PA and San Francisco, CA, USA, as well as Toronto, Canada. In France, the project will include an educational five-year research partnership with École Polytechnique. Charlemagne might approve: combining innovation with education was in part responsible for the earliest development of universities. Another model linking education with R&D: medieval craft guilds. Like Charlemagne’s hubs, Paris, home of the Eiffel Tower, looks upward. Name of the flying car program? Elevate.

Kottasová, Ivana. “Uber invests millions to build flying taxis in France.” 24 May, 2018. CNN. http://money.cnn.com/2018/05/24/technology/uber-flying-taxi-france/index.html.

Macron, Emmanuel. “Make our planet great again.” 2 June 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03NMa4X0dyQ.

McFarland, Matt. “Uber unveils plans to demo flying cars by 2020.” 25 April 2017, CNN, http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/24/technology/uber-flying-car/index.html.

Uber. “Uber Elevate: The Future of Urban Air Transport.” https://www.uber.com/info/elevate/.

Bridge to the Future

Posted on March 10, 2017March 10, 2017 by Building The World

Bridges to the future: in the next 15 years, the world will build more infrastructure than is currently on the planet. Photo: “Gaoliang Bridge: The Summer Palace” by Hennessey, wikimedia commons.

Rebuilding may characterize the next era. Bridges, roads, rail, energy, and water systems are in need of an upgrade. There is so much backlog in the United States, costs are estimated at $4.6 trillion by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Former President of Mexico, Felipe Calderon states it’s not just the United States, or even North America. Global infrastructure needs an upgrade. History suggests a few guidelines. Focus on projects; jobs will follow. Target both macro and micro: on the grand scale, choose iconic projects of national (or regional) impact; on a micro scale, concentrate on towns and local improvements that can be seen in four years. Government allocations should not focus on profit (certain infrastructure pays for itself in tolls, as Charlemagne proved, and such ventures can be public/private), but on rights and commons. Consider creation of a national clearinghouse where states and cities can learn from each other (such as the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership program). Some of these suggestions are offered by Nicole Gelinas of the Manhattan Institute, and others by Michael Bloomberg, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change, and Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust in their recent announcement: “Helping mayors do their job.”

Felipe Calderon adds: “There’s evidence that 1% of GDP spent on infrastructure can lead to a 1.5% increase in GDP within 4 years. But, given the rate at which greenhouse gas emissions are accumulating, the type of infrastructure we build matters more than ever. Building a solar plant is better than building a coal plant. Building light rail is better than expanding a highway. Solid flood defense systems can hold back rising seas. We will be building over the next fifteen years more infrastructure than currently exists on the planet.”

Global infrastructure investment, over the next 15 years, is expected to reach $90 trillion. It’s an opportunity for structural sustainability perhaps unprecedented in history. Can we build the bridge to a better future?

For more: “America’s Infrastructure Scores a D+” American Society of Civil Engineers, Infrastructure Report Card. http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/

Bloomberg, Michael R. and Drew Gilpin Faust, “Helping mayors do their job.” The Boston Globe, 25 August 2016. https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2016/08/25/helping-mayors-their-job/1HblR7a4hKsQMJEbXmnAgP/story.html

Calderon, Felipe. “Global infrastructure needs an upgrade.” 7 October 2016. CNN. http://money.cnn.com/2016/10/07/news/economy/felipe-calderon-oped-us-infrastructure/index.html

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Flood Gates of Hope

Posted on June 3, 2016July 9, 2016 by Building The World

“The Louvre Museum with its Glass Pyramid.” Photographer: Hteink.min, 2012. Image: wikimedia commons.

The Louvre Museum, situated on the banks of the River Seine, closed its doors today in the height of the visitor season. Reason? the river is flooding, six meters above normal, endangering artworks in the path of possible impending inundation. On Friday, 3 June 2016, the venerable Louvre barred entrance while staff moved art. France declared a state of natural disaster. More than 25,000 people are without electricity; in Nemours, 3,000 evacuated their homes. Europe’s rains affected Germany, where at least 10 people perished; Romania, where 2 lost their lives; France, where 2 others succumbed; and Belgium, where a beekeeper trying to save hives was swept away. In the future, can seasonal rains be addressed by systems such as that pioneered by Baghwati Argrawal and Sustainable Innovations? Or perhaps following the example of the Dutch coastlines protected by water defense? Is there a need for a version of the dike army apart of the European Erasmus program? Could the Charlemagne Prize, bestowed upon Pope Francis in 2016, be awarded to the most promising innovation for catching and keeping flood water, to use in alternating times of drought, for a continent united by its rivers? Will other areas of the world, suffering from less or excess of water, find ways to open the flood gates of hope?

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License