Podcasts about community sustainability

Since the year 2000, wineries in the United States have grown from 2,000 to nearly 12,000. How can a brand stand out in the market? Dan McCole, Associate Professor in the Department of Community Sustainability at Michigan State University researches the impact of tourism on communities. He studied what makes brands that make the majority of their sales in the tasting room successful in new wine regions including Texas, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Dan shares tips on how to sell new hybrid varieties, what messaging has the biggest impact on sales, and what customers are really coming to the tasting room for (it's not wine!). Resources:         222: How Sustainability Sells in a Tough Market | Marketing Tip Monday 246: 3 Ways to Make Your Tasting an Experience | Marketing Tip Monday Dan McCcole Exploring Winery Visitors in the Emerging Wine Regions of the North Central United States Market research reveals why consumers are drawn to wineries in Michigan Survey of Wineries and Non-winery Tourism Businesses in 25 Emerging Wine Regions The impact of different product messages on wine tourists' willingness to pay: A non-hypothetical experiment Understanding winery visitors  Vineyard Team Programs: Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship - Donate SIP Certified – Show your care for the people and planet   Sustainable Ag Expo – The premiere winegrowing event of the year Sustainable Winegrowing On-Demand (Western SARE) – Learn at your own pace Vineyard Team – Become a Member Get More Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss an episode on the latest science and research with the Sustainable Winegrowing Podcast. Since 1994, Vineyard Team has been your resource for workshops and field demonstrations, research, and events dedicated to the stewardship of our natural resources. Learn more at www.vineyardteam.org.   Transcript [00:00:00] Beth Vukmanic: Since the year 2000, wineries in the United States have grown from 2000 to nearly 12, 000. How can a brand stand out in the market? Welcome to Sustainable Wine Growing with the Vineyard Team, where we bring you the latest in science and research for the wine industry. I'm Beth Vukmanic, Executive Director, Since 1994, Vineyard Team has brought you the latest science based practices, experts, growers, and wine industry tools through both infield and online education so that you can grow your business. [00:00:37] Please raise a glass with us as we cheers to 30 years. [00:00:41] In today's podcast, Craig Macmillan, Critical Resource Manager at Niner Wine Estates, with a longtime SIP certified vineyard and the first ever SIP certified winery, speaks with Dan McCole, Associate Professor in the Department of Community Sustainability at Michigan State University. [00:01:00] Dan researches the impact of tourism on communities. He studied what makes brands that make the majority of their sales in the tasting room successful in new wine regions, including Texas, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. [00:01:15] Dan shares tips on how to sell new hybrid varieties. What messaging has the biggest impact on sales and what customers are really coming to the tasting room for hint It's not wine [00:01:28] want to be more connected with the viticulture industry, but don't know where to start become a vineyard team member Get access to the latest science based practices experts growers and wine industry tools through both infield and online Education so that you can grow your business Visit vineyardteam. org and choose grower or business to join the community today. Now let's listen in. [00:01:52] Craig Macmillan: Our guest today is Dan McCole. He is an associate professor in the department of community sustainability at Michigan state university. And today we're going to talk about some lesser known smaller wine regions and the challenges of marketing hybrid wine grape varieties to customers and some successes. [00:02:08] So thanks for being on the podcast, Dan. [00:02:10] Dan McCole: I'm happy to be here, Craig. [00:02:12] Craig Macmillan: Before we, we get talking about wine in particular I'd like to kind of get oriented in your larger focus. You've done a lot of work in the world of natural resources and ag based tourism contributing to community sustainability. And I think that that's a really interesting topic just in general. [00:02:28] Can you tell me a little bit about your work just in the broad scheme and kind of what kinds of things you're interested in [00:02:33] Dan McCole: Yeah, sure. It's funny, I actually got into wine. I'm really a tourism scholar. And shortly after I arrived at Michigan State University, I was pulled into a project, that was looking at specifically at tourism. It was part of a larger project that looked at cold hardy wine varieties. So cold hardy hybrids. [00:02:55] And there was a team of viticulturalists and enologists and economists. And I was sort of brought in there, for the business portion of the team specifically looking at tourism, but that also some consumer behavior questions that we had on that as part of that project. My focus within tourism is the impact of tourism on communities specifically. [00:03:15] I'm not a hospitality guy. I look at the impact of tourism on communities. And so, you know, especially in areas like where I live in Michigan the industrial Midwest where, you know, the economy is shifting a bit. You have these places that sort of former manufacturing areas, former extraction areas for like lumber and coal and things like that. [00:03:36] They're looking to new industries and tourism is a big part of it. And so we look at all the impacts on those communities, both positive and negative. We look at economic impacts, sociocultural impacts and environmental impacts. [00:03:47] Craig Macmillan: it's exciting to see the growth in wine industries throughout the United States. I think that it's fascinating and it's only going to continue. In my opinion, I think we're going to see more of this, but again, then you're selling wines that are not commonly known. You're using the Frontenac one example. Marquette in particular was a variety that you had done some special work on. Tell me a little bit about what you did around that. [00:04:12] Dan McCole: Just to echo what you're saying. First of all, about the growth in, in the number of wineries is crazy. In the year 2000, I think the U S had 2000 wineries. Now we're up to almost 12,000. That's just crazy growth. So it's not only interesting, it's just fascinating. And. A lot of that growth has happened outside of the traditional wine areas in the West Coast. [00:04:30] It's happened, you know, in places like where I live in Michigan, but Pennsylvania, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Texas, you know, Virginia, everywhere. And that to me is quite interesting because a lot of these wineries are, they're pretty small. And they sell a lot of their wine out of the tasting room which makes it a tourism product really, because they have to drive visitors to their tasting room. [00:04:52] So that's, that's what got my interest. But in a lot of these areas, you can't necessarily grow the traditional wines that you can out in California, for instance, in the central valley or, you know, Napa, Sonoma. Here in Michigan, we do have some areas where you can go vernifera and mostly, you know, like German varietal, the Riesling is, is quite good here, you know, cool, cool temps, but they're really in small microclimates, but a lot of the areas I tend to work in, they rely on, you know, hybrid grapes, wine grapes. [00:05:22] And, you know, these have just developed over the last 20 years, a lot of them or, you know, some of them are a little bit older but some of them are quite new, including Marquette, which is probably, You know, 15, 16, 17 years old since it was developed at University of Minnesota. And that wine in particular is quite interesting because when you're talking about, especially up here in the North where I work and with a lot of the wineries I'm at, they can do okay with white wines, but red wine has always been a bit of a challenge. [00:05:48] And so Marquette comes along and it's pretty promising wine for making, you know, red wine. So everybody was pretty excited about it. We wanted to know a little bit more about what you tell consumers that will impact their interest in a wine. In academia, we talk about this concept called willingness to pay or valuation. [00:06:09] Essentially what we're talking about is, how much does a product mean to somebody? And that they're willing to buy and how much are they willing to buy it for? So we did these interesting studies with Marquette looking at what can you tell somebody about this grape? That will increase their valuation of it because when we were talking to wineries, you know We'd ask them like what do you tell them about Marquette? And they said, well, you know, we tell them this and that. And as we had these conversations with a number of wineries, we could pretty much break down what they told about this grape into three categories. [00:06:42] One was sort of these sensory descriptions, medium bodied wine, grandson of Pinot Noir and, with hints of, and flavors of such and such [00:06:54] another category of information that they were talking about was, the local message, you know, everybody's into locally produced, locally you know, grown local, local, local. They talked about how the Marquette grape was developed sort of locally specifically for these environments. It doesn't require as many agricultural inputs you know, to be able to grow here. It, Helps local wineries to produce these kind of wines, et cetera, very local, local, local message. [00:07:23] And then the third thing was they talked about how wines made with Marquette grapes had won competitions at international wine competitions. And so, you know, that was one of the things they told about them. And so we wanted to know, like of those messages, does anyone have. A little bit more bang [00:07:38] Craig Macmillan: Right, right. [00:07:39] Dan McCole: you know, that you have, and, and, you know, that could be communicated on the label or in the tasting room or in tasting notes or whatever. [00:07:46] So, you know, essentially we did this complicated experiment and which is, you know, a whole other story on its own, but but it was kind of interesting, but essentially what we found was that one of those three messages didn't really impact people's willingness to pay. One of them did a little bit. And one of them did quite a bit. [00:08:05] Craig Macmillan: I'm on the edge of my seat. [00:08:06] Dan McCole: You're on the edge of your seat. Okay. I was wondering if you wanted to have a quiz. They didn't want to pay less, but they didn't necessarily want to pay more. [00:08:13] The local message, people were willing to pay more for that, but not a lot. [00:08:17] It was the awards, and it was interesting because we had people sample four different Marquette wines, and we didn't ask them about the specific wines, we just asked questions about Marquette wines. Here are four Marquette wines, you know, so you get a sense of this grape and the wines made from it. [00:08:33] And we didn't say that these wines had won awards just that wines made with Marquette had won awards. But that made people pay a willingness to pay a lot more. [00:08:41] Craig Macmillan: Interesting. [00:08:43] Dan McCole: And, and I think that has something to do with wine itself as a product. Part of our other research shows that, you know, The people who tend to go to tasting rooms in these emerging areas don't necessarily have the same level of wine knowledge or wine experience or wine purchase behavior. [00:08:58] And so they might be looking a little bit more toward people who are experts in this to tip them as to if they should like this or not. I mean, we're all kind of like that with, with wine, the points and things like that, you know, let's see what a, an expert tells us. And we're influenced by that. [00:09:15] Craig Macmillan: That is interesting. It just made me think of diffusion of innovation, you know, where you have some folks that would be like, Oh, Marquette's delicious, fantastic, I want it. And then there's another population that's like, Well, let's, is it? If other people are indicating that it's good and that they like it, which is communicated through points in this case, then that opens the door. [00:09:35] And then maybe you get some more momentum after that, some more momentum after that, momentum after that, you know, and wine regions have kind of developed along that same. Principle, the sense of place piece is also kind of interesting because a lot of wineries, I think are really focused on conveying these wines are a sense of place. [00:09:52] And I was expecting that to be a real motivator because these are special places with special wines. But not necessarily. [00:10:02] Dan McCole: Well, yeah, you know, wine more than probably any other product at least beverage is, so tied to the terroir, right? If you're thinking about a wine in Michigan or Iowa or, Missouri and you know, a little bit something about wine, you'd say, Oh, those aren't really wine areas. Are they? [00:10:22] And you might be a little skeptical. Whereas, you know, if you're talking about, Oh, this wine is made in Italy or France or Chile or, California or, Australia, wherever people say, Oh, yeah, they make good wines there. Right? This tie to the terroir in the area is true. But think about like, yeah. craft beers. People don't really give it the same level of scrutiny where it's made from. If you go to you know, a place, I mean, we just don't have the connection, you know, Germany or Czech or, you know, places are known for certain kinds of beer, but you're not necessarily skeptical about a beer made in Iowa or Missouri or Michigan or, wherever. [00:10:58] Same thing with spirits. We've seen a lot of craft distilleries coming around , and people think that's cool, . But wine, they're still a little suspicious of really. Could we really have a good wine made in this location or that location? So that sense of place is interesting. So I think with the, experiments we did, it was really that the reason there was a little bit of an increase, I think, is just people for. Mostly environmental reasons but you know, some other reasons to support local business you know, latched on to that local message. And we're willing to pay a little bit more for that, but not a lot more. [00:11:30] Craig Macmillan: Right. And if I remember correctly the environmental aspects of this did play at least a little bit of a role [00:11:37] Dan McCole: that that's exactly right. That is something that wineries do communicate about the wines especially made with hybrid wine grapes. I mean, first of all, the, the term hybrid grape is something that the industry uses and people like you and I might use but the average consumer doesn't know what that means. [00:11:53] The average consumer doesn't know what Vitis vinifera is. They've maybe heard of grapes, but, you know, if you ask them if they've heard of Cabernet Sauvignon or Marquette, they might say, Oh, I've heard of Cabernet Sauvignon, and if they're from certain areas where Marquette is grown, they might say, Oh, yeah, I've heard of that too, to a lesser extent, but they're not gonna know that one's a hybrid grape and one's not. [00:12:13] And even if you were told, they wouldn't know what that means. Cabernet Sauvignon sounds like a hybrid. Between Cabernet and Sauvignon, right? So, like, they don't really make that distinction as much as the industry does. [00:12:25] Craig Macmillan: Are there other varieties in the upper Midwest that have the same kind of potential, do you think? [00:12:31] Dan McCole: There are several that people are interested. You mentioned Frontenac before. Frontenac's been around for a while and it's another one that makes a red wine. Petite Pearl is sort of another one that's a little newer than Marquette, which has some promise. [00:12:45] On the white you have which has also been around for a little bit and you know, Brianna and La Crescent and, and some of those essentially what they do is allow for this growth that we've seen in areas where it was previously not feasible to, produce wine. [00:13:02] People are ever going to get to the point where they prefer a Marquette over a Cabernet Sauvignon, I mean, some people do but in large numbers that could be a while. And it may never happen. To me, a lot of these wineries and these areas. They're, they're smaller wineries that sell most of what they produce out of their tasting room. [00:13:24] And that's a pretty good model for them because when you're producing such a small amount of wine, the production cost per bottle is pretty high, so just to break even you might need to, you know, sell it at 15, 16, 17 dollars a bottle. If you want a little bit of a margin, you're going for 25 dollars. [00:13:44] Now if you're in a wine shop And you have the choice between, a $25 bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon or, go with something else like a you know, a Pinot Noir or something, and a $25 bottle of Marquette. It's gonna be hard for that Marquette to compete. [00:14:03] Plus the winery's gonna have to pay the, middleman, the distributor and the retailer. They're cut too. Selling it out of the tasting room makes a lot of sense when it's that high. You don't have the competition, you don't have to give other people their cut. , [00:14:16] what we've found in these areas is that people aren't going to the wineries for wine. [00:14:23] Our research clearly shows this. They're going for a wine based experience or wine themed experience, when we ask people why they came to the winery, the reasons given were, for a relaxing day out to socialize with somebody else to bond with friends or loved one or you know, a group of women who are getting ready and part of a bachelorette party or something. [00:14:44] And, lower down the list is to learn more about wine and lower down is to acquire wine or build my cellar or things like that. They're not going there for that purpose. They're going for an experience. [00:14:54] Now, if the experience is good and the wine is good enough, they'll buy some of that wine, again, because the context of a purchase. Makes all the difference in the world. For years, we've known this about consumer behavior, that the situation in which somebody buys something makes all the difference in their behavior, whether they're going to buy it. And we know this in the wine industry, right? Think about how much you're willing to pay for a bottle of wine at a restaurant versus at a store. [00:15:24] Because the situation is different. And our right. Our willingness to pay goes up. Our willingness to buy one product over another changes. And by like the situation I'm talking the physical surroundings make a difference. The social surroundings, who you're with you know, at the time, the temporal perspective, meaning the urgency associated with it whether you have plenty of time to shop, whether you're in a hurry, What they call the task, which is like the reason for the purchase. [00:15:49] So are you buying it for a gift? Are you bringing it to somebody's house? Are you getting it as a souvenir? And then, and this is, I think most important is something called the antecedent States. And this is like the consumers. Mood at the, at the moment of purchase, it's emotional state. And this has changed by, you know, what has happened immediately before the purchase. [00:16:11] So if you're at a winery and you know, Iowa, Missouri, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and. You're having a great time and you and I are there together. We're getting along real well, getting to know each other. We're having a wine. The wine's, you know, fine. It's pretty good. We talked to some other people. It's just been a great day out. The weather's been beautiful. There are beautiful views and we walked through the vineyard. We're in a good mood, and that's gonna change our purchase situation. All of those factors change the purchase situation. In some cases, the wine just has to be good enough. [00:16:44] Now, if the wine is terrible and it's really a burden to drink, we're probably not gonna buy that wine. [00:16:50] Craig Macmillan: A burden to drink. I love that. I've never heard that before. I'm going to use that in my real life. [00:16:56] Dan McCole: Have you, have you had many wines that have been a burden [00:16:59] Craig Macmillan: I I'm a judge for a home winemaking competition. So yes, many wines are a burden to drink. [00:17:05] Dan McCole: Yeah, okay. Yeah, I've had a few, but generally I've got a pretty open palate. [00:17:11] Craig Macmillan: I'm sorry. I interrupted [00:17:12] Dan McCole: if we, found these wines to be, you know, not great, then we're not going to buy them. You know, it's going to dampen our experience, if the, the wine grapes that you were asking about, if they're good enough, they're good enough. There's a market there for that. They don't need to be the next, you know, Chardonnay. [00:17:28] Craig Macmillan: Something else that you looked at that I found pretty fascinating was you look for commonalities or differences in wine consumers. I think it was in Michigan. You were connecting with people, I think at the winery And we're doing some survey work. And so I started some semi structured interview work. Is that right? [00:17:42] Dan McCole: Well, not necessarily. We have done some structured interviewing, but I think what you're talking about. So we had a program that we did for several years, both in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, where we developed a system to be able to intercept people at the winery very quickly. We didn't want to disrupt their experience at the winery, just very quickly. [00:18:04] And we, we worked with wineries, they did these intercepts for us. Would you be interested in participating in a study that Michigan State's doing? If so, just give us your name and email and they will follow up with you within a week. So we got this, we worked with a number of wineries, so we, every week we would get, you know, a few hundred names and we would survey them. And we do this over, you know, a 16 week period every year. [00:18:25] Craig Macmillan: wow. [00:18:25] Dan McCole: We got in touch with a lot of people who had just taken a visit to the winery and we were able to ask a lot of different questions. One line of inquiry that we focused on was trying to get to know who are these consumers? [00:18:39] This is where we first learned that the consumers who go to a winery are different from wine consumers. They're a form of wine consumer, but they're not the same as what most of the information, the trade information available on wine consumers is because that those air mostly in a retail context. [00:18:58] That's where I told you earlier. We learned that, the visitors to wineries in these areas tended to be a little less wine knowledgeable, have a little less wine experience. Purchased a little less wine, you know, beforehand before, you know, coming to the winery and and there were also some differences state to state mostly that had to do with some spending, but some of that was explained geographically, how close the wineries were to major breweries. Population areas and things like that. [00:19:29] One interesting thing that we learned. So in, Michigan, I, I mentioned this earlier, quite a , a lot of the wineries are in areas where they will produce wines with vinifera, grapes that we've heard of before. You know, Cabernet Franc Riesling, Pinot Grigio, some Chardonnay, you know, etc. [00:19:48] And there are some wineries that that use cold, hearty grapes in Wisconsin and Minnesota. They pretty much all use these cold, hearty grapes. So we asked people, how familiar are you with cold, hearty grapes? And it was interesting in Michigan. They shared familiarity greater than the other two states. [00:20:05] But when we asked them if they'd heard of these specific grapes You know, Marquette Marichal Foch yeah, Frontenac, Gris, Frontenac Brianna, La Crescent. We made up a few names of grapes that don't exist. And in Michigan, they were just as likely to say they've heard of those made up grapes as the real grapes. [00:20:27] And in Wisconsin and Minnesota, however , they hadn't heard of those and they indicated that they've heard of the real grapes. And, and so what that told us was that if you, familiarize the consumer enough with these grapes, they'll get to know them and recognize them. And in Michigan they just hadn't because there aren't as many that use these cold hardy grapes. [00:20:47] Craig Macmillan: Oh, that's, that's really interesting. We're talking about cold hardy's equality. I've done been doing a lot of interviews with folks from places like Texas. And also the Pacific Northwest, which are both areas that are very vulnerable to climate change. And in the case of the Northwest, that still might be vinifera. But for instance, the Willamette Valley may have to rethink Pinot Noir if things continue to warm. In Texas, it's about heat, where they're having just terrible collapses of vines. And there are, you know, these heat tolerant varieties that nobody's heard of. If you were to be called in as an expert and flown to Texas, what kind of advice would you give to the extensionists at Texas A& M or to the wine marketing associations or anything like that? Based on what you've learned in the Midwest. [00:21:37] Dan McCole: I do work with some people from Texas A& M on different projects that we've been part of. So I'm a little bit familiar with their challenges, mostly they're viticulturalists they have unique challenges. The kind of things that, that I work with that really apply, even though most of my work has been done up here in the, upper Midwest and the great lakes area from the, small business perspective, they have the same challenges. [00:21:59] I would argue that in fact, I published a paper on, proposing that there are really four different kinds of wine regions. One is sort of the famous wine regions we know about. Those would be the Napa and the Sonoma or a Tuscany and other places like that Burgundy and France. They produce a lot of wine and they have good wine tourism 'cause people want to go to these regions. [00:22:22] Then we have regions that produce a lot of wine, but they don't necessarily have a whole lot of tourism. They don't rely too much on tourism. These are the bulk wine producing regions of the world. [00:22:33] Then you have lots of regions around the world. Especially you think of like Eastern Europe, they have a long tradition of winemaking, but it's really just for local consumption, right? And and so they, they sell it locally. They don't really rely on tourism. People aren't going to these regions. , you can think of Bulgaria and. You know, certain parts of Austria or, you know, wherever. [00:22:55] And then there's this newer fourth region. And these are wineries that don't have a long tradition of winemaking. These are like the wineries that have popped up all over the U. S. over the last 20 years, and they are entirely reliant on tourism. to sell their product because they're mostly selling out of the tasting room. And each one of these four regions has different business models. [00:23:16] If a winery is in an area that relies on tasting room sales, either entirely or largely and or is making wines with grapes that people are less familiar with then they have similar challenges regardless of where they're located or what those wines are called. [00:23:36] One of the things I would say is recognize that, people are there to buy an experience, not a product. And if they have a good experience, they'll buy the product. A lot of wineries I've worked with, they understand this, but they still consider themselves being in the, you know, primarily wineries and wine producers. [00:23:55] And, and they are, and you can understand why they are that way. Their consumer's primary, you know, the product they're seeking the most is not a actual tangible product. It is that experience. And so realizing that that that you are really in that experience industry just happens to be wine themed and you also produce wine and you're going to sell that wine to them that realizing why people are there and then that they're Behavior, the things that are going to change their behavior, get them to buy more wine, et cetera is going to be different from most of the information that's out there about consumers realizing that the wine consumer behavior that's out there and all the trade magazines Is mostly for people at retail and they are very different there. [00:24:40] They have a lot of commonalities And even if we're talking about the same people the situation is different and therefore their behavior is different So essentially they're a different kind of consumer, when they're there and then the last thing I would tell them is you know based on what I was telling you about the work we had done in minnesota and wisconsin is don't shy away from the name of the grape and, , just say that, and people don't care if it's hybrid or not, just push the name of that grape. So you get some recognition of it. And then people, especially if they're newer to , to wine, you know, they're gonna say, Oh, I really like this grape. I like wines are made with this grape. And, you know, they tell two friends and so on and so on. [00:25:20] Craig Macmillan: Interesting. I don't think I saw this in your writing, but obviously you have some experience with this. Are there particular things, elements that a winery that's selling this experience, types of experiences, types of things that a winery would have the most success with or things that you saw that had the most popularity or the most success? [00:25:43] Dan McCole: Yeah, we, we haven't done that work. We actually have a proposed in a grant that, hopefully will be funded coming forward. A colleague of mine at Cornell, Miguel Gomez, he did a couple interesting little experiments to, see what, generated more sales in, in one experiment, he found that essentially the, the more satisfied people were with their tasting room experience. The more wine they bought and the more money they spent on wine. So the more bottles, the more money they spent and the more bottles they purchased. And, and it was really clear. And if you could get somebody from being very satisfied to extremely satisfied, The amount of wine just jumped way up in the amount of spending. [00:26:29] So trying to get somebody extremely satisfied with their tasting room experience. So that begs the question, what leads to satisfaction experience. And what was interesting is it wasn't the quality of the wines. It was things like, crowding if it wasn't too crowded decoration, the atmosphere that was created, whether it was a nice place the service. The you know, the people serving. [00:26:54] I was at another conference where another colleague Zeta Vickers at University of Minnesota. She had done some experiments with tasting those. She was giving people wines to try and she would show them photos of people in different states of emotion. So some of them were really happy, some of them were angry, some of them were scared, some of them were sad, whatever. And she experimented with the same group of wines. And asked people to rate their level of satisfaction. And one of the things she learned was regardless of which wine followed, the wine after showing somebody who was happy, a picture of somebody who was happy, was always rated more higher than the other emotions. [00:27:34] And so the lesson that she gave from this and fits in with Miguel's work is if you're hiring somebody to work in your tasting room and you have a choice between two people, one of them is incredibly knowledgeable about wine knows everything there is to know, but isn't the most . necessarily friendly, outgoing person in the world and the other one doesn't know much about wine, but is very engaging and friendly and outgoing. Train that person about wine, hire them and train them about wine versus the wine person what Zeta said, if people are in a good mood or they see somebody in a good mood, they're more likely to be satisfied with the wine. [00:28:08] And if they're more satisfied with the wine and more satisfied with their experience, then they're, going to buy more wine. [00:28:13] Craig Macmillan: Variable I wonder about is music. [00:28:16] Dan McCole: Yeah, [00:28:17] Craig Macmillan: I'm really curious about what impact that might have. And it gets to this emotional response piece, where if people are having a good time, you see people smiling, the staff are very friendly and smiling, that encourages you to Enjoy the experience be satisfied the experience then purchase product as a result [00:28:34] Dan McCole: I would agree with that 100%. And I think that's part of being very satisfied or extremely satisfied with the tasting room experience. If there's either good live music or it doesn't even have to be that there's a, there's a little winery up here in Michigan that, in the middle of their tasting room, they have this, sort of classic Harley. [00:28:52] And the music in there is always like classic rock, and it's turned up a little bit higher than you would normally expect. And they have a great view and it's a really beautiful winery and it's looking over Lake Michigan, it's really lovely you can't go there and not have a good time, you know, it's just a lot of fun. [00:29:08] Craig Macmillan: yeah, that's interesting if there's one thing you were gonna tell folks regardless of where they were on this topic Making the sale of an unknown wine variety. What would it be? Just one idea one thing [00:29:22] Dan McCole: Well, based on the research what we told people about the awards that were won, if your wine has won awards showcase them. Let people know that that they've won awards that that really does seem to make a difference. So to the point where once we, when we had our findings, we were reporting them at a conference of winemakers and, and somebody said, I'm really glad you said that because we did win awards, but we'd already had our bottles labeled. [00:29:46] And so we were, printing off different stickers that we're applying by hand, bottle by bottle. And we were going to give up doing that, but maybe we should continue. And I said, yeah, I mean, that was the thing more than anything else. You communicate to people about the wines is that they'd won awards. [00:30:01] Because if you're talking about people who everybody feels a little inferior, not everybody. We, we all know some people who are very. You know, feel like they know everything there is to know about wine, but a lot of us are, are a little inferior about whether we know as much as we should about wine to have experts sort of say that, you know, wine more than, more than a lot of things makes a big difference. [00:30:23] And so awards are, are one of those things and enter those competitions. And, and if you win them make sure you communicate that to your consumers. [00:30:30] Craig Macmillan: That's fascinating. Where can people find out more about you? [00:30:33] Dan McCole: Well, they can go onto the, website or, or look me up, Dan McCole. You'll find some of the writings I've had on Google and there are two Dan McCalls out there. One's my dad, he's an artist in Boston. And then may just don't go for the watercolors, go for the stuff about wine. [00:30:47] Craig Macmillan: And yeah, in the show notes, there'll be links to a number of your publications, which I found fascinating. And I think other people will too. Thank you so much. Our guest today has been Dan McCole. He's associate professor in the department of community sustainability at Michigan state university. Dan, thanks for being here. This has been a really interesting conversation. [00:31:05] Dan McCole: Thanks a lot, Craig. I enjoyed talking to you. [00:31:06] Beth Vukmanic: Thank you for listening. Make sure you check out the show notes for links to Dan, a number of his articles on market research, plus Sustainable Wine Growing Podcast episodes, 222, How Sustainability Sells in a Tough Market, and 246, Three Ways to Make Your Tasting an Experience. If you liked the show, do us a big favor by sharing it with a friend, subscribing, and leaving us a review. [00:31:34] You can find all of the podcasts at vineyardteam. org slash podcast. And you can reach us at podcast at vineyardteam. org until next time. This is sustainable wine growing with the vineyard team.   Nearly perfect transcription by Descript

With over two decades of experience in housing development across British Columbia,... The post Home: A Blend of Community, Sustainability and Privacy with Dave Ransier first appeared on Startup Canada.

This week Darcy and Darcy have some good news to share when they welcome Eddie Ocampo, Director of Community Sustainability with Self-Help Enterprises, a nationally recognized community development organization. Eddie and Self Help work with communities to build resiliency through housing, water reliability, waste-water services, and community development. They work collaboratively with other technical assistance organizations, funding entities, as well as state and federal agencies. Darcy and Darcy learn how Self-Help got started, and some of the projects Eddie is most proud of. They learned that when Central Valley California communities' have big problems – like the well has run dry - better than “I gotta guy,” call Eddie and Self Help. Listen in!We Grow California Podcast is paid for by the Exchange Contractors Federal PAC and Exchange Contractors State PAC and is not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.

In our final episode of 2023, Michael speaks with the editors of the International Journal of the Commons, which In Common has worked with for the past few years, producing podcast episodes based on articles published there. Today's guests are Frank van Laerhoven, Associate Professor at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, Mike Schoon, Associate Professor in the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University, Sergio Villamayor-Tomas, Ramon y Cajal Senior Researcher at the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology in Barcelona, Spain, and the journal's new editor-in-chief, Maria Claudia lopez, Associate Professor in the Department of Community Sustainability at Michigan State University. Michael and the IJC editors talk about the journal and its role in the commons research community, and how the editors think about issues such as journal impact factor, one of many metrics that seem to be exerting more and more influence over our professional lives and affecting how we think about ourselves individually and collectively. Frank describes his view of the journal as a means for community development, applying the same principles of the commons and commoning that many in the commons community use in their research activities. This is also how we view the role of the In Common Podcast. Thank you for listening to us this year. Feel free to reach out with feedback and suggestions for what you like like to hear moving forward. See you in 2024!

About the Show:"We need to be doing everything that we can at this moment to provide a healthy environment and to give back to Mother Earth, all of which we have been stripping from her on a regular basis.” - Ricky LudemanIn a timely episode of the I Am Northwest Arkansas podcast, host Randy Wilburn sits down with Ricky Ludeman, the forward-thinking founder of Ozark Compost and Swap. Ricky isn't your average entrepreneur; he's a man on a mission to turn food waste into gold—well, into soil-enriching compost. Inspired by his time in the sustainability-focused culture of Northern California, Ricky brought that eco-conscious ethos back to Northwest Arkansas and took a leap of faith into the world of entrepreneurship with zero prior experience.It's not just about composting; it's about fostering a holistic relationship with the environment. Ricky eloquently sums it up: "We need to be doing everything that we can at this moment to provide a healthy environment and to give back to Mother Earth, all of which we have been stripping from her on a regular basis."Through his story, Ricky aims to ignite the spark in you—the aspiring entrepreneur or community member—to take action for a more sustainable future, even when faced with uncertainties or obstacles. If you've ever felt the pull to contribute positively to your community and our planet, this episode with Ricky Ludeman is the motivation to get started.Tune in to discover the power of community-driven sustainability, the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, and actionable ways you can contribute to a healthier environment right in your backyard.What you will learn in this episode:Discover the importance of composting and how it can have a significant positive impact on the environment.Learn how entrepreneurship can be a powerful tool to create sustainable businesses that make a positive impact.Explore the common ground shared by people in appreciating nature and how it can inspire entrepreneurial ventures.Uncover the convenience and benefits of composting services and how they can contribute to a greener future.Find out how to effectively spread awareness and encourage the adoption of composting practices in your community.All this and more on this episode of the I am Northwest Arkansas podcast. Important Links and Mentions on the Show*Email Ozark Compost & SwapOzark Compost & Swap WebsiteOzark Compost & Swap on FacebookOzark Compost & Swap on InstagramTune in to KUAF 91.3 FM to listen to the I Am Northwest Arkansas podcast on Ozarks at Large.This episode is sponsored by*

 About Dam Good™ English Muffins:Dam Good™ English Muffins is a woman-owned, family-operated, mission-driven wholesale bakery that has been in business since 2017 - we  make 4 varieties of all natural, preservative-free, vegan sourdough English muffins: “Original White,” “Multigrain,” “Cinnamon Swirl,” and “Whole Wheat.” We started with a New York State home processing license, and were baking out of our home in Croton. We have since moved our business to Peekskill, NY.Website: https://www.damgoodenglishmuffins.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/damgoodenglishmuffinsFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/damgoodenglishmuffinsSupport the showAbout Us - Women Who Brunch:Women Who Brunch is a food community and event series for women who love connecting, networking, and learning from each other over the most important meal of the week...BRUNCH! We're solving the problem of making adult friendships while doing cool stuff in the Hudson Vally, NY.Visit our website for updates on events, recipes, brunch spots, product reviews, and more or say hi on Instagram!Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womenwhobrunchWebsite: https://womenwhobrunch.com

Grand challenge in this episode: The Dairy Dilemma About the Challenge The purpose of this project is to leverage a preexisting online professional development resource and its large following of SBA educators to create a more effective model of professional development where teachers engage in immersive experiences in agriculture, capture those experiences via the formats already used by Owl Pellets, and share them with their peers to develop an ever-growing community of practice around grand agricultural challenges founds within teachers' local communities and FANH careers. One of the primary goals of this project is to re-engage SBA educators in the challenges, technology, and work of their local agricultural community – making grand challenges local. Visit the Teach Grand Challenges website. About the Guest Catlin Goodwin is an Agriculture teacher at Granville Jr./Sr. High School in upstate New York. She earned her BS in Agricultural Education from Wilmington College in Ohio and her MS in Community Sustainability from Michigan State University. Catlin enjoys sharing her interest in the interconnected relationships throughout the agricultural systems with the students in her food science, plant science, and agricultural business classes.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Quadra Island's Community Plan was drawn up in 2007 and some of the Outer Discovery have land use plans dating back to the 1990s, but Area C needed an overall comprehensive vision. The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) started the consultation process leading to an Integrated Community Sustainability Plan in 2019. Then COVID arrived and everything was put on hold. Last year the SRD recruited a community focus group, hired a facilitator and proceeded to finish the job. On Friday, June 16, The SRD Board announced the approval of the Integrated Community Sustainability Plan for Electoral Area C (The Discovery Islands & Mainland Inlets). 
“Anytime we do any sort of comprehensive planning process, one of the biggest challenges that we have is finding common ground amongst all  the disparate ideas, visions, goals and challenges of people living in different areas - and with being diverse people themselves.  In this case because it is a vision for the entire region, it was much more important that we were able to come together, find that common ground and that shared vision.  That required a lot of intense discussion and a lot of work together,” explained Meredith Starkey. SRD Manager of parks and planning.   
“The success story is that we were able to come together and craft this plan that may not be perfect as far as how each individual person  would have written it, but everyone  is happy with, and that we can all carry this forward into the next phase of the planning process into official community plans and zoning bylaws and  really implement it because it is something that is largely accepted, agreed upon and shared.”  
“We structured this plan around five community systems, recognizing that they all  build on each other and they're interconnected and they're interdependent. So a change or an influence in one area has impacts on all of the others and vice versa.” 
  “The five structures are:  climate change and natural environment,  Developed areas, housing and infrastructure,  community wellbeing and health,  the economy and employment  and governance and reconciliation.”

Dive into our interview with Meg Tidd, CEO of VIP Structures, discussing the integration of design and construction. Explore key topics like aligning with like-minded partners, creating job opportunities in underserved communities, and the importance of self-care. Meg shares insights on making small yet impactful community and environmental changes, adapting to remote work due to COVID-19, and the challenges of scaling a business with a focus on operations and infrastructure. A must-listen for AEC professionals seeking practical advice and innovative strategies.

Attention all architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) professionals! Are you struggling to scale your business? Look no further than the Building Scale podcast. Our latest episode features an insightful interview with Meg Tidd, CEO of VIP Structures, who shares her unique approach to bringing design and construction together under one roof. With a focus on people, process, and technology, Meg, Justin, and Will discuss the importance of aligning with partners who share your beliefs, creating long-term job opportunities for underserved communities, and taking care of oneself first. Meg also emphasizes the need for small intentional changes that can have a profound impact on the community and the environment. With COVID-19 forcing companies to adapt, Meg shares her experience transitioning to a work-from-home model and the challenges of scaling a business while prioritizing operations and infrastructure. Don't miss out on the valuable insights shared in this episode.Tune into the Building Scale podcast and start scaling your business today!- The Building Scale podcast focuses on how successful AEC companies scale their businesses using people, process, and technology.- The podcast features an interview with Meg Tidd, the CEO of VIP Structures, which offers a unique approach to building by bringing design and construction together under one roof.- VIP Structures aims to bring an owner's perspective to projects and make suggestions to clients and is committed to giving back to the community through volunteering and donations.- The company is focusing on creating long-term job opportunities for minorities, women-owned services, able veteran companies, startup companies, and other companies that they want to mentor.- The podcast discusses the importance of paying attention to the whole person, rather than just focusing on business growth, and making small intentional decisions on design projects that have a profound impact on the community.- Meg emphasizes the need for cost-effective and efficient tweaks that can significantly impact the surrounding community and the importance of celebrating differences in companies and individuals.- The podcast also discusses the challenges of scaling a business and hitting a ceiling when sales are prioritized over operations and infrastructure, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on a business, and the transition to working from home.- The importance of investing in people and leveraging technology is emphasized, as well as the need for a more cohesive approach in the building industry.- The podcast also explores the concept of scale and its importance in various aspects of life, emphasizing the significance of identifying the right solution for a particular problem or situation. Connect with Meg - Website - https://www.vipstructures.com/LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/megtidd/Email - mtidd@vipstructures.comConnect with the Justin & Will -Will's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/willforet/Justin's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justneagle/Learn More & Connect With Spot Migration - Website: https://www.spotmigration.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/spot-migrationFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/spotmigrationYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Spotmigration

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Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Three years ago, Area C received funding to develop an Integrated Community Plan (ICSP). COVID intervened and it wasn't until last August that a 14 member advisory group was assembled. The resulting draft plan was presented at the Wednesday, January 11, meeting of the SRD's Electoral Area's Services Committee. “It was a very quick process and, we really appreciate all the efforts that went into it. The task force was convened in August and by November the task force, the consultant and the SRD planner had come up with a draft proposal, which was then circulated to the community, and that draft was commented on by the community but subsequently, because there was a very short timeline, some amendments were made to the document that was subsequently published and what you're receiving today,” explained Lannie Keller, a Read Island resident and team member. Back for further discussion Nick Robinson, from Quadra Island, said, “We got back just over a hundred questionnaires and at that point the ICSP was amended without involvement of our community advisory group.” Lannie Keller: “Our request is that you will look at the four small but significant changes that are requested and the task force is unanimous in making that recommendation.” After close to 50 minutes of discussion, much of it after Robinson and Keller had left, Regional Director Robyn Mawhinney said the task force should have a chance to state their case. “I really appreciate the thoughtfulness that the task force brought these four minor recommendations that they would be more comfortable seeing in the final document. And I would really like it if the task force could have a chance to discuss those alterations or suggestions with the consultant. How do I say that as a motion?” she said. Chief Administrative Officer David Leitch replied, “It sounds like you would like to defer the comments from the delegation back to the task force and the consultant.” “That's right,” said Mawhinney. At which point newly elected Chair Gerald Whalley asked, “Do we have a seconder?” Director John Rice seconded the motion, which carried. In the vote that followed, the committee agreed, “That the comments regarding the ICSP be referred back to the task force and consultant.”

A conversation with Brenda Watson, Executive Director of Operation Fuel, and Kathy Fay, Director of Community Sustainability at Neighborhood Housing Services, about the huge jump in electricity bills in CT and how ratepayers can save money or get assistance

The Hamilton Today Podcast with Scott Thompson: Scientists announced Tuesday that they have for the first time produced more energy in a fusion reaction than was used to ignite it -- a major breakthrough in the decades-long quest to harness the process that powers the sun. Scott talks all things nuclear with David Novog, Nuclear Engineering Professor at McMaster University. If you're looking for a show, look up! The Geminid meteor shower peaks overnight, tonight, heading into Wednesday morning. Dr. Elaina Hyde, Astronomist with York University, gives us all the details. Canadian health care is facing a “national crisis” that requires federal action to solve, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says. Dr. Shawn Whatley gives his perspective, and PoliSci professor Peter Graefe digs into the political aspect of the NDP leader speaking out. And Scott asked yesterday in response to a caller, “Isn't the whole country a green belt?” a member of the Brock Environmental It is all coming up on the Hamilton Today Podcast! Guests: Dr. Elaina Hyde, Director Allan I Carswell Observatory, Department of Physics & Astronomy, York University. Dr. Shawn Whatley is a practicing physician, the author of When Politics Comes Before Patients — Why and How Canadian Medicare is Failing, and a senior fellow with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute. David Novog, a professor in the Department of Engineering Physics and UNENE Research Chair. Michael Stevens, Corporate Territory Manager at Pioneer Energy. Dr. Brendan Lew, Hamilton Public Health Services' Resident Doctor. Peter Graefe, Professor of Political Science with McMaster University. Tim Powers, Chairman of Summa Strategies and Managing Director of Abacus Data. Liette Vasseur, Professor of Biological Sciences; UNESCO Chair in Community Sustainability: from local to global; and Member of the Brock Environmental Sustainability Research Centre. Scott Radley, Host of The Scott Radley Show, Columnist with the Hamilton Spectator. Host – Scott Thompson Content Producer – William Erskine Technical/Podcast Producer - William Webber Podcast Co-Producer – Ben Straughan News Anchors –Dave Woodard & Diana Weeks Want to keep up with what happened in Hamilton Today? Subscribe to the podcast! https://megaphone.link/CORU8835115919

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) is developing an Integrated Community Sustainability Plan (ICSP) for Area C. the Discovery Isalnds and Mainland Inlets. Meredith Starkey, the Manager for Parks and Planning, described this as a broad level vision plan which can lead to more specific policies and regulations. “For instance, building permits are currently not required on Quadra Island but they are in other areas of the SRD. Those are community level decisions, to say how far down do we want to take these ideas and codify them into legally binding and enforceable regulation,” she explained. “The Outer Islands have a local area plan, but they don't have an official community plan and they don't have zoning bylaws.” An ICSP could lead to the the creation of an official community plan for the Outer Islands. Starkey said the SRD received a grant to create an ICPS for Area C in 2018. “That project wasn't concluded, so we do have some remaining grant budget and a lot of consultation information from when that project started. We're relaunching now with a different approach. We are trying to piece together what we've heard and confirm and collaborate with community a little bit more, to make sure that the final plan actually reflects the will of the community.” “We've initiated this with a sort of a targeted focus group, calling it a task force. We've been soliciting interest from residents in the Outer Islands and on Quadra to serve as our working group in order to provide the content and confirm the material.” Ideally there will be about 16 members, half of which come from Quadra and the remainder from the Outer Islands. The SRD wants representation from across demographic groups: the business community, parents, seniors etc. Starkey and Aniko Nelson, Senior Manager of Community Services, will represent the SRD. Shannon Gordon, from the Whistler Centre for Sustainability, has been hired to facilitate the process. The ICSP must be completed by the end of 2022. “It's a very quick tight timeline for us. We are hoping to meet at least probably three or four times with task force over those over the next coming months,” explained Starkey. “There will be an opportunity for the community more broadly to take a look. We're calling it a plan on a page, but the idea is that there would be something that we could share easily with a wide range of people to get some comments back that will probably be I want to say November early December.” There is a lot going on at the SRD right now. They are looking into the housing crisis. The Connected Coast project is underway. Starkey, herself, is working on transportation plans. On top of all of that, there will be a regional election on Saturday, October 15, 2022. “I would encourage anyone who's interested to check in with the SRD website and social media platforms from time to time,” said Starkey.

This week we are rebroadcasting our interview with Dr. Kyle Whyte originally aired in January of 2020. The United States has more miles of pipeline than any other country in the world. Pipeline construction is one of the many ways in which the U.S. continues terraforming the land in support of ongoing settler colonialism. On this episode of For The Wild, we are joined by Kyle Whyte to discuss this very issue in connection to the vast extractive energy network that surrounds the Great Lakes area. Kyle Whyte is Professor and Timnick Chair in the Humanities in the departments of Philosophy and Community Sustainability at Michigan State University. Music by Cary Morin & Bonnie "Prince" Billy Visit our website at forthewild.world for the full episode description,references, and action points

The Feminine Touch is in conversation with Nonhlanhla & Bonolo about how they changing and helping better their surrounding & of those around them & their community.

Collaborative applications of a variety of modeling methodologies have multiplied in recent decades due to widespread recognition of the power of models to integrate information from multiple sources, test assumptions about policy and management choices, and forecast the future states of complex systems. However, information about these modeling efforts often is segregated by both discipline and modeling approach, preventing folks from learning from one another. Innovations in Collaborative Modeling addresses the need for cross-disciplinary and cross-methodological communication. To enhance a shared understanding of systems problems, scientists and stakeholders need strategies for integrating information from their respective fields, dealing with issues of scale and focus, and rigorously investigating assumptions. The chapters in this edited collection first explore modeling methodologies for enhanced collaboration, then offer case studies of collaborative modeling across different complex systems problems. Edited by Laura Schmitt-Olabisi, Miles McNall, William Porter, and Jinhua Zhao, this volume will be useful for experienced and beginning modelers as well as for scientists and stakeholders who work with them. LAURA SCHMITT OLABISI is an Associate Professor in the Department of Community Sustainability and the Environmental Science and Policy Program at Michigan State University.MILES MCNALL is the Director of the Community Evaluation and Research Collaborative at Michigan State University.Innovations in Collaborative Modeling is available at msupress.org and other fine booksellers. You can connect with the press on Facebook and @msupress on Twitter, where you can also find me @kurtmilb.The MSU Press podcast is a joint production of MSU Press and the College of Arts & Letters at Michigan State University. Thanks to the team at MSU Press for helping to produce this podcast. Our theme music is “Coffee” by Cambo. Michigan State University occupies the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary Lands of the Anishinaabeg – Three Fires Confederacy of Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi people. The University resides on Land ceded in the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw.Thank you all so much for listening, and never give up books.

HIGHLIGHTS02:58 Fashion as Silvia's first passion and switching to consultancy 08:19 Discovering a need to share wardrobes and starting ShareMyBag13:37 Addressing the problem: Fast fashion causes overconsumption and pollution20:19 Mission of ShareMyBag: Create community and a new approach to fashion 26:02 Collaborating with like-minded influencers and holding community events 36:00 Creating new positions in the company during the growth stage43:04 New York is an inspiring city to live in that takes as much as as it gives46:29 Silvia's tips to aspiring entrepreneurs and superpower as a communicator51:48 An upcoming project with big fashion brands sends a message of change54:07 Connect with Silvia and ShareMyBagQUOTES15:35 Silvia: "I collaborate with the United Nations, for example, with fashion revolution, because I think that we have to work also in the origin of the problem and try to give a message to the consumers that the market has to change because, of course, problems like the over-consumption in fashion, they were created by fast fashion." 21:16 Silvia: "Our mission is to re-educate... to create a new model, a new consumption model based on rental and sharing. And, of course, we try to do this also working a lot on the creation of the community."29:55 Silvia: "We work a lot in the creation of contents that can be interesting for our community again, not just talking about ShareMyBag and that's it, but talking every day about the importance of sustainability, ways to be more sustainable."42:18 Silvia: "As entrepreneurs, we almost feel guilty to take some time off because we say okay, I can't abandon, I can't stop, but I think it's mandatory to recharge our brain, our ideas, and go back to work with even more creativity and a better view of the situation."46:50 Silvia: “You have to find it from yourself and you have to strongly believe in what you do, at the same time, always be open to listen to your suggestion and other people opinion. So you have to find the balance.” 49:18 Rob: "We have so many entrepreneurs out there that the communication is maybe not their number one skill, their technical, etc. When you get to it, you need to understand communication is a big piece of your business."You can learn more about Silvia in the links below.LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/silvia-vanni/Website - https://www.isharemybag.com/Instagram - https://instagram.com/share_my_bagDon't forget to subscribe and leave a review.Connect with Rob: https://beacons.page/RobNapoli or on LinkedIn, www.linkedin.com/in/robnap.We have teamed up with Phin, a social impact marketing firm, to give back for each episode. To learn more, visit: https://app.phinforgood.com.

Celebrating Powerhouse Women salutes and recognizes women who are making an impact, whether it's in business, philanthropy, public service, or elsewhere. Deirdra Cox/Community Sustainability Enterprise (CSE) With over 36 years of community development and banking experience, Deirdra Cox, Founder and President of Community Sustainability Enterprise (CSE), leads the Georgia-based non-profit in their impactful regional community […] The post Deirdra Cox, Founder & President of Community Sustainability Enterprise appeared first on Business RadioX ®.

Celebrating Powerhouse Women salutes and recognizes women who are making an impact, whether it's in business, philanthropy, public service, or elsewhere. Deirdra Cox/Community Sustainability Enterprise (CSE) With over 36 years of community development and banking experience, Deirdra Cox, Founder and President of Community Sustainability Enterprise (CSE), leads the Georgia-based non-profit in their impactful regional community […] The post Deirdra Cox, Founder & President of Community Sustainability Enterprise appeared first on Business RadioX ®.

Celebrating Powerhouse Women salutes and recognizes women who are making an impact, whether it's in business, philanthropy, public service, or elsewhere. Deirdra Cox/Community Sustainability Enterprise (CSE) With over 36 years of community development and banking experience, Deirdra Cox, Founder and President of Community Sustainability Enterprise (CSE), leads the Georgia-based non-profit in their impactful regional community [...]

Celebrating Powerhouse Women salutes and recognizes women who are making an impact, whether it's in business, philanthropy, public service, or elsewhere. Deirdra Cox/Community Sustainability Enterprise (CSE) With over 36 years of community development and banking experience, Deirdra Cox, Founder and President of Community Sustainability Enterprise (CSE), leads the Georgia-based non-profit in their impactful regional community […]

Let’s begin with a Patreon-fueled shout-out!Fall is here, and with it, more moderate temperatures. While your HVAC takes a break, now is the perfect time to prepare for the cooler months. Your local energy nonprofit, LEAP, wants you and yours to keep comfortable all year round! LEAP offers FREE home weatherization to income- and age-qualifying residents, so, if you’re age 60 or older, or have an annual household income of less than $74,950, you may qualify for a free energy assessment and home energy improvements such as insulation and air sealing. Sign up today to lower your energy bills, increase comfort, and reduce energy waste at home!On today’s program:A review of economic development efforts in Albemarle County Jaunt owes the state of Virginia nearly a million for false ridership numbersCharlottesville’s Home to Hope program gains national recognition A closed-door group of planners gets several interesting presentations related to climate adaptation Let’s begin with a quick look at COVID cases in Virginia coming out of the weekend. The seven-day average of new cases has dropped to 1,545 as of this morning, with 943 reported by the Virginia Department of Health. The percent positivity has fallen to 6.3 percent. That figure was 8.8 percent on October 1. The Blue Ridge Health District reports another 50 cases and the percent positivity is 5.7 percent. The district will hold a town hall meeting Wednesday on COVID vaccinations for children between the age of 5 and 11. Approvals are pending. (Facebook link)Employees at the University of Virginia will be required to be vaccinated by December 8. That’s according to a Cavalier Daily article. Provost Liz Magill and Chief Operating Officer J.J. Davis set an email to staff Thursday notifying the requirement is necessary to comply with federal regulations. The article states UVa’s vaccination rate was 95 percent as of Thursday. Home to Hope honoredAn international group that promotes excellence in local government has honored a new Charlottesville program created to help formerly incarcerated people return to society. The International City/County Management Association honored the Home to Hope Program, which was proposed by Mayor Nikuyah Walker in 2018 to provide support to a vulnerable demographic.Four full-time employees serve as peer navigators to help people find employment, housing, and reliable transportation. According to a write-up in the ICMA’s latest newsletter, the program has served 389 individuals.“Of the 389 enrollees, only seven have returned to custody, and only three of those were actively involved in the program,” reads the article on page 34 of the newsletter. “That represents a recidivism rate of 1.8 percent, well below the 38 percent across the region.” The honor is part of ICMA’s Program Excellence awards under the Community Sustainability section. (read more)LUEPC meetingA routine closed-door meeting of key planning officials in Albemarle, Charlottesville, and University of Virginia was held last week on October 15. The Land Use and Environmental Planning Committee (LUEPC) had four presentations on items related to climate adaptation.Paul Zmick, Director of Energy and Utilities at UVA, gave a presentation on the school’s efforts to develop a strategy for thermal energy use. That’s one way UVA hopes to become fossil-free by the year 2050. A recent study evaluated dozens of potential ways to reduce reliance on old technology. Some strategies are recommended to be dropped from further analysis such as solar thermal, biomass, and deep geothermal. (presentation)Lance Stewart, the county’s director of facilities and environmental services, gave a presentation on the recent publication of the 2018 Greenhouse Gas Inventory. That tool will be the primary way Albemarle measures its programs toward emissions reduction goals. The next milestone is to reach 45 percent of 2008 levels by 2030. (presentation)“Emissions estimated to have decreased by nearly 10% between 2008 and 2018,” reads one slide in the presentation. “To achieve the County’s 2030 target, we need to reduce emissions by 39 percent from 2018.”The presentation also states that the effectiveness of the Albemarle’s Climate Action Plan won’t be known until after the 2022 inventory is published in 2024. Bill Mawyer of the Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority briefed LUEPC on a program to recover methane gas that is a byproduct of the wastewater treatment process. The Moores Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant generates 32 million cubic feet of methane each year that is captured as biogas and used internally in plant operations to produce biosolids which are shipped to Waverly, Virginia for eventual use as fertilizers. (presentation)Albemarle County’s Bill Fritz gave a presentation on “Large Scale Solar opportunities being studied and deployed for Albemarle County.” That is the only of the fourth that was not posted to the LUEPC website.  Jaunt audit The transit agency Jaunt owes the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation nearly a million dollars due to alleged misreporting of ridership figures by former CEO Brad Sheffield. Sheffield resigned last November after the Jaunt Board requested his departure. The Daily Progress first reported from an October 6 letter from DRPT officials regarding a review of Jaunt’s financial report for fiscal year 2020.“The findings of this review are troubling and indicate a pattern of misinformation and inaccurate reporting by JAUNT leadership that resulted in the over-allocation of state and federal resources to Jaunt from FY19 to FY22,” reads the letter from DRPT director Jennifer Mitchell.In 2019, DRPT moved to a system where funding was based on performance. The audit compared reported numbers to Jaunt’s scheduling software and found that overall ridership was overstated by 19 percent in FY19. The total amount overpaid to Jaunt was $968,640 and allocations for the current fiscal year will be reduced. The DRPT has also canceled the capital purchase of 23 vehicles. The DRPT will also require Jaunt to provide a new transit development plan. Read Allison Wrabel’s story in the Daily Progress for more context. *In today’s second subscriber supported Public Service Announcement, one person wants you to know about another community litter cleanup event in Albemarle, this time on October 30 in the southern part of the county. The latest Love Albemarle event will take place between 8:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. at sites in Esmont, Keene, Scottsville, and North Garden. Around fifty people showed up for a similar event in Esmont this past spring, and organizers want to double that amount. Organizer Ed Brooks is seeking to get children involved, so if you’re a parent or guardian and want to spend the morning cleaning up road-side litter, register today! *For the rest of the show today, we take a look back at highlights from the Albemarle Board of Supervisors from the last week. Let’s start with an update on Project Enable, the county’s strategic plan for economic development. The Albemarle Economic Development Authority administers grant and bond programs that seek to encourage businesses to expand in Albemarle or to locate their operations there. On October 19, 2021, the seven-member EDA Board of Directors formally authorized their role in a performance agreement for the firm Bonumose to open a demonstration facility in the former State Farm Building. That came at a joint meeting with the six elected members of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors. Doug Walker is the Deputy County Executive. “These two bodies work in collaboration with each other,” Walker said. “They are considering the same projects, the same agreements, and they do them in concert with each other.” Many of these discussions are held in closed session, as a provision in Virginia’s open meeting rules allows for the public to be excluded from conversations where “Discussion concerning a prospective business or industry or the expansion of an existing business or industry where no previous announcement has been made of the business' or industry's interest in locating or expanding its facilities in the community.” (Virginia code)These packages are often given code names and Walker said the following represent exceed $136 million in private investment which then enters the local economy. “Turtle. Daffodil. Macintosh. Proton. Patriot. Bronco. 49ers,” Walker said. “Those projects are actually Woolen Mills, WillowTree, Potter’s Craft Cider. Afton Scientific. Barnes’ Lumber. Castle Hill Gaming. Albemarle Business Campus.”Walker said those projects have resulted in nearly 600 new jobs in Albemarle. Another key performance agreement is one with Habitat for Humanity for the provision of affordable housing units at Southwood, as well as one with Pinnacle Construction for the Brookdale apartment complex off of Old Lynchburg Road. “And then there are other active pending projects that we can’t talk about by name but we can talk about by code,” Walker said. “Project Gadget, Project Puma, Project Baja, just illustrating that the work continues.” The EDA also works to help build infrastructure to help industrial sites more accessible and attractive. The University of Virginia Foundation’s North Fork Research Park is considered a Tier 4 site by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. Recently the Foundation paid to extend Lewis and Clark Drive to Airport Road in order to provide an additional entrance. (go look!) “It’s the county’s only tier 4 site so the Foundation provided more than $6 million toward that infrastructure improvement,” said J.T. Newberry in the Economic Development Office. Newberry said the economic development office is working with the Foundation to elevate the North Fork park to a Tier 5 site. He also said the firm Kimley-Horn will provide a long-awaited study for the county as part of the Comprehensive Plan update. “A long desired piece of information for us is an inventory of our commercial and industrial properties,” Newberry said. Watch the rest of the video to see the whole presentation on the Board of Supervisors’ website. (watch)Supervisors also met on Wednesday, October 20, for a full meeting. At the very beginning, Chair Ned Gallaway said he recently attended a meeting earlier this month welcoming more than 250 families from Afghanistan to the area. The International Rescue Committee is seeking assistance from the community. “Things like if you’re a landlord or somebody that has housing or space available, to contact the IRC, the International Rescue Committee to help,” Gallaway said. “Employers in the area, helping these folks find employment. And then obviously just assisting with the transition, just navigating simple things like how to get around the community can be daunting coming out of a very stressful and traumatic experience for these folks.” Visit the Welcoming Greater Charlottesville page to learn more about how you can help.  Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Jamie Hamilton/Special Needs Schools of Gwinnett For more than 30 years, Special Needs Schools of Gwinnett has been helping to improve the lives of those with intellectual, developmental, and physical disabilities through a PreK-12 school and young adult day program. With a focus on providing the highest quality education and therapeutic services, nurturing and challenging […] The post Jamie Hamilton with Special Needs Schools of Gwinnett, Deirdra Cox with Community Sustainability Enterprise and Scott Mawdesley with Corners Outreach appeared first on Business RadioX ®.

October 4, 2021 ~ Kurt Richter, Michigan State University's Grain Research and Innovation Program Director and Associate Professor in the Department of Community Sustainability, talks with Chris Renwick about the process of helping rescue 77 Afghans from the Taliban.

Revitalization Rewards found in this episode: 1. Community Partnerships 2. Community Outreach 3. Community Invitation 4. Community Sustainability

Jessica Crawford is a recently graduated master's student in the Department of Community Sustainability at MSU. Her thesis focused on the social acceptance of renewable energy siting in Michigan. Additionally, she has done community-engaged research with the City of East Lansing on enhancing local resource recovery initiatives. When she's not studying decarbonization practices, she can be found spending time with her beloved cat Pumpkin. To keep up to date with WaMPS updates, you can follow @msuwamps on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or visit our website https://www.wamps.org. If you would like to learn more about graduate school in physics and astronomy at MSU, check out https://pa.msu.edu If you would like to leave comments, questions, or recommend someone to be interviewed on Journeys of Scientists, you can email WaMPS outreach coordinator Bryan at stanl142@msu.edu Thank you to Michael Palomares for providing new theme music for the podcast! Your support is much appreciated.

This week we will be joined by Dr Dessie Clark (she/her)! Dessie completed her PhD in Community Sustainability at Michigan State University in 2020. Her doctoral work focused on evaluating community-based programs and organizations that serve survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV). As such, Dessie is passionate about supporting those who have experienced discrimination, harassment, or abuse. Dessie is currently the Research Collaboration Coordinator for the University of Massachusetts' ADVANCE Program. In this role, she focuses on institutional transformation by cultivating faculty equity, inclusion, and success, specifically for women and BIPOC faculty in STEM fields. During Dessie's PhD, she reported complaints against her advisor including discrimination and harassment based on her disability (ADHD), stalking, research misconduct, human-subjects noncompliance, financial misspending, retaliation, and violations of her right to privacy under FERPA. She spent time reporting these issues within her institution and to other oversight bodies within the federal government. Dessie ended-up leaving her advisor, changing departments, and eventually graduating with her PhD, but not without learning a lot along the way. Since sharing her story, Dessie receives many messages and emails for help from graduate students who are navigating similar issues and are looking for advice. You can find out more about Dessie on her Twitter (@dessielclark) and Instagram (@dessieleec) accounts. A full-text transcript of this episode is available via google doc. Join us each Saturday at 3 pm EDT/12 pm PDT for the YouTube live stream where we talk about maintaining mental health and balance in grad school. The podcast episodes are posted the Tuesday after the live stream! Want to be a guest or know somebody we should be talking to? Fill out our google form! Follow our host Fay on Twitter: @xiaofei_lin Check out the PhD Balance website for more info on Grad Chat!

It is not wrong to give your best in your business and strive hard to achieve success, but it is unacceptable to disregard your physical, mental, and personal states just to accomplish that. An entrepreneur can only be considered successful if they truly understand how to use a sustainable approach when running a business. Sharing his personal experiences with Thane Marcus Ringler is the Founder of EntrepreneurHQ and Owner of The Perk Coffee Co. & Green Spaces Coworking, Austin Gray. Austin explains how he found growth even outside the business scene by appreciating the help from his mentor, business partner, and loving wife, all while keeping a strict workout routine throughout the year. He also talks about his mission of bringing entrepreneurs together, contributing a lot to building his business mindset. Follow us on the Socials! – Instagram – Facebook – Twitter Check out our YouTube! Leave us a Rating/Review! SUPPORT US ON PATREON! Send us an email – theupandcomersshow@gmail.com

This week, we bring you Laird Christensen, someone who has thought deeply about how we can move ourselves and our communities forward through overlapping crises. This episode covers a LOT of ground: Anarchy, literature, activism, guitar playing, fatherhood, hope, despair, and potlucks as activism. Most importantly, Laird reminded us to ask “What if?” Laird Christensen, is the Director, MS in Resilient and Sustainable Communities at Prescott College. Laird grew up in timber country in Oregon, amidst the clear cuts and lumber mills and developed a deep-seated need to connect to wild spaces. Part of Laird’s intriguing story, though, includes his conscious decision to separate himself from the wilderness and the forests - and to leave the protest lines - to work upstream. To go from protecting one forest to transforming the culture that endangers the forests in the first place. We talked about how our culture and economy is based on the idea of scarcity and how the opposite of scarcity is not abundance but sufficiency… can we take what we need and leave enough for others and future generations. We have such huge challenges in front of us. Getting through covid, repairing our economy, rebuilding our communities. Laird points out, though, that these kinds of crises are the new normal and that we have to work together to build in resilience. Fortunately, he and others have been thinking about how to do just that. Even better, building resilience is something we can do as individuals, neighborhoods, and towns. Listen to the whole episode and see if you don’t get some inspiration and ideas that will help keep you hopeful and engage. Click this link to see the full shownotes with reading recommendations, resources for taking action, and helpful references. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/here-together/message

Mary and Emma sit down with Elana Jadallah (@elanaloo), a photographer, educator, marketing strategist and environmental advocate. From her time spent living in Hawaii, Elana eloquently shares her journey through raising awareness of the plastic pollution affecting our oceans through the awakening of the truth of her own contributions. Elena encourages listeners to realize that although you may be part of the problem, you can also be part of the solution by shopping locally and seasonally and consuming clothing made of raw materials. 1:25 - Join the Lady Farmer Community - Virtual Slow Living Retreat  4:44 - The ALMANAC - a new Lady Farmer project Let's get into the interview 7:40 - Intro to Elana 9:00 - What is sustainable business? 12:40 - Finding your purpose and deepening it 19:00 - Realizing you are part of the problem and becoming part of the solution 25:46 - Phases of Activation 29:50 - Microplastics in “earth-friendly” clothing 42:00 - Questioning your consumption habits during the pandemic 46:00 - Cutting down your carbon footprint - Where does our food come from? 1:05:00 - Taking on the responsibility of our choices and taking action Everything Mentioned: Slow Living Retreat The ALMANAC Elana Jadallah The True Cost Documentary Phases of Activation How To Give Up Plastic by Will McCallum Microfiber Filter or Microfiber Bag Farming and Plastics article Join your local CSA 1000 Eco Farms VIP Retreat Ticket Retreat Scholarship Email Acres of Ancestry Initiative  Follow us @weareladyfarmer on Instagram and check out our website!

Mary and Emma sit down with Elana Jadallah (@elanaloo), a photographer, educator, marketing strategist and environmental advocate. From her time spent living in Hawaii, Elana eloquently shares her journey through raising awareness of the plastic pollution affecting our oceans through the awakening of the truth of her own contributions. Elena encourages listeners to realize that although you may be part of the problem, you can also be part of the solution by shopping locally and seasonally and consuming clothing made of raw materials.1:25 - Join the Lady Farmer Community - Virtual Slow Living Retreat 4:44 - The ALMANAC - a new Lady Farmer projectLet’s get into the interview7:40 - Intro to Elana9:00 - What is sustainable business?12:40 - Finding your purpose and deepening it19:00 - Realizing you are part of the problem and becoming part of the solution25:46 - Phases of Activation29:50 - Microplastics in “earth-friendly” clothing42:00 - Questioning your consumption habits during the pandemic46:00 - Cutting down your carbon footprint - Where does our food come from?1:05:00 - Taking on the responsibility of our choices and taking actionEverything Mentioned:Slow Living RetreatThe ALMANACElana JadallahThe True Cost DocumentaryPhases of ActivationHow To Give Up Plastic by Will McCallumMicrofiber Filter or Microfiber BagFarming and Plastics articleJoin your local CSA1000 Eco FarmsVIP Retreat TicketRetreat Scholarship EmailAcres of Ancestry Initiative Follow us @weareladyfarmer on Instagram and check out our website!

Listen to this episode of the Rob-See-Co Field Ready Podcast as host Jim Robinson, Rob-See-Co Corn & Soybean Product Manager talks with Professor Philip Howard from the Dept. of Community Sustainability at Michigan State University about consolidation of the seed industry.  Learn about the history of the industry from the role intellectual property rights have played in consolidation, to the increased control of seed genetics and how stricter protections on transgenic intellectual property affected the independent seed companies.  Why did consolidation accelerate in the 1990’s?  What does consolidation mean for farmers?  Are there any silver linings?  Tune in and hear how the beer industry gives us a positive example for the future. A Hurrdat Media Production. Hurrdat Media is a digital media and commercial video production company based in Omaha, NE. Find more podcasts on the Hurrdat Media Network and learn more about our other services today on HurrdatMedia.com.

This week on the show we bring on Evan Zachary who is an an incredible guy with tons of experience in sustainable project management. Will and Evan actually attended the same college and on the show they discuss ways to generate interest for sustainability on college campuses through alternative sustainability programs. In addition to community sustainability, Evan and Will discuss university divestment from fossil fuels and what the future of sustainability holds

This week on the podcast - Amrita Thadani. Amrita is the founder of Neococo, a mission-driven apparel company that hires women refugees and displaced women who embroider Neococo shirts by hand. And we talk about the importance of community especially when you’re an immigrant.  Check out Neococo shirts and get yourself a new mask at www.neococo.com.   #HereToStay #ImmigrantsAreEssential #ProtectAllWorkers   www.WeTheAliensPod.com Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. And on Twitter @WeTheAliensPod   Music: "My country" courtesy of Ben Bostick. www.benbostick.com

Professor Paul B. Thompson holds the W.K. Kellogg Chair in Agricultural, Food and Community Ethics at Michigan State University, where he serves on the faculty in the departments of Philosophy, Community Sustainability and Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics. He received his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and has held posts at Texas A&M University and Purdue University. Thompson’s research and teaching has focused on ethical and philosophical topics in food and agriculture. Show Notes: https://sigmanutrition.com/episode337

Cairanne, a pretty hill town in the Côtes du Rhone, has a winemaking community committed to producing elegant wines with an eye on sustainability and authenticity. A cru appellation since 2016, AOC Cairanne requires vines to be hand-harvested and sulfite levels kept to a minimum. 26% of all vineyards are organic. Jean-Etienne Alary, 11th generation family member at Domaine Alary, discusses Cairanne's different soils and how young winemakers are working to support each other. www.vins-rhone.com

Tune in to another EarthX 2019 episode as we sit down across from Jerry Tinianow, the Chief Sustainability Officer for the City of Denver! His job is to set the high-level sustainability goals for the city and then help the various departments and services in reach those goals. This is a fascinating discussion on the concept of sustainability and the best ways to implement it. If you'd like to learn more about our nonprofit, click here: https://www.lastchanceendeavors.com

Vanessa is a scholar-activist passionate for advocating for minorities, immigrants, and refugees in food, agriculture, the environment, and natural resources. She is a graduate student at Michigan State University Department of Community Sustainability focusing on Community Agriculture and Food Systems, to support civically-focused efforts that revitalize our food systems. She serves in The Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society board and is a member of Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences and Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanic and Native American in the Sciences where she seeks to advance people of color in academia and in food, agriculture, the environment, and natural resources fields. She has worked with Food Solutions New England, MSU Center for Regional Food Systems and at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Vanessa is an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, and she brings her identities and experiences to shape her advocacy and research. Vanessa is a 2020 Michigan Junior Food System Leader of the Year and 2019 James Beard Foundation Scholar. In this episode you will learn: - How agriculture allows Vanessa to connect with her heritage, family and community. - The importance of creating opportunities for people of color (poc) to own land and become farm operators instead of just being farm workers. - The challenges new immigrants face when migrating to the United States. Connect with Vanessa on Social Media Website: www.vanessagarciapolanco.com Twitter: @vgpvisions Instagram: @vgpvisions If you have questions or would like to discuss podcast sponsorship, email us at Contact.agricultureislife@gmail.com Make sure to follow us on social media: Instagram: @agricultureislife_ Facebook: Agriculture is Life, LLC Shop Agriculture is Life T-Shirts: https://bit.ly/394Rpoh --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/agriculture-is-life/support

Cloughjordan ecovillage: http://www.thevillage.ie/For more information on the sustainability network in Ireland visit www.cultivate.ie/ EcoVillage Network In Europe: https://www.ecolise.eu/Internationally: Foundation for Intentional Communities: https://www.ic.org/ 

Have you adapted to the changing climate? Rising waters, more destructive wildfires, record-breaking heatwaves. Scientists have long predicted these events, but reporting on climate change has moved from prediction to description. There's no time for dwelling on “we should haves.” Communities and organizations are being forced to adapt. Find out what that means, the role of the new “resilience officers,” and the unique response of Native American cultures. Plus, is the coronavirus outbreak made worse by climate change?  Guests: James Randerson – Professor of Earth Science, University of California, Irvine Victor Rodriguez – PhD student, Carnegie Mellon University, Department of Engineering and Public Policy Kyle Whyte – Professor in the Departments of Philosophy and Community Sustainability, and tribal member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation Tracey Goldstein – Professor in the Department of Pathology, Immunology, and Microbiology, University of California, Davis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you adapted to the changing climate? Rising waters, more destructive wildfires, record-breaking heatwaves. Scientists have long predicted these events, but reporting on climate change has moved from prediction to description. There’s no time for dwelling on “we should haves.” Communities and organizations are being forced to adapt. Find out what that means, the role of the new “resilience officers,” and the unique response of Native American cultures. Plus, is the coronavirus outbreak made worse by climate change?  Guests: James Randerson – Professor of Earth Science, University of California, Irvine Victor Rodriguez – PhD student, Carnegie Mellon University, Department of Engineering and Public Policy Kyle Whyte – Professor in the Departments of Philosophy and Community Sustainability, and tribal member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation Tracey Goldstein – Professor in the Department of Pathology, Immunology, and Microbiology, University of California, Davis

GES Colloquium - Tuesdays 12-1PM, Poe 202, NC State University GES Mediasite - Video w/slides https://go.ncsu.edu/ges-mediasite More info at http://go.ncsu.edu/ges-colloquium | Twitter -https://twitter.com/GESCenterNCSU Much of the food we eat is derived from plants grown from seeds, or from animals that consume these types of plants. The seed industry has changed dramatically in recent decades, however, moving from one characterized by thousands of small and mostly family-owned businesses, to one in which more than 60% of proprietary seed sales globally are controlled by just four corporations. Importantly, these same four firms are even more dominant in global sales of pesticides. The impacts of these changes have included higher prices for farmers, fewer seed varieties, reduced rates of innovation, and a decline in seed saving. These trends are driven by changes in government policies that include reduced antitrust enforcement and increasing intellectual property protections on seeds, as well as a system that incentivizes large firms to continually increase their power. Dominant firms are facing increasing public opposition, however, and alternatives such as open source and heirloom seed firms, while currently very small, are growing rapidly. This resistance illuminates key leverage points for addressing the negative impacts of consolidation, and potentially to reverse these trends. Speaker Bio Phil Howard is an Associate Professor of Community Sustainability at Michigan State University, and a member of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems. He is the author of Concentration and Power in the Food System: Who Controls What We Eat? His visualizations of food system changes have been featured in numerous outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and The Ecologist. LINKS Save Our Food. Free the Seed. By Dan Barber, New York Times Editorial. 6/7/2019. https://nyti.ms/2EY4mDj Related Publications Concentration and Power in the Food System: Who Controls What We Eat? London: Bloomsbury Academic. 2016. https://philhoward.net/2017/05/11/latest-book/ Intellectual Property and Consolidation in the Seed Industry. Crop Science, 55(6), 2489-2495. 2015. https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/cs/abstracts/55/6/2489 Visualizing Consolidation in the Global Seed Industry: 1996–2008. Sustainability, 1(4). 2009. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/1/4/1266/htm Find out more at https://ges-center-lectures-ncsu.pinecast.co

The United States has more miles of pipeline than any other country in the world. Pipeline construction is one of the many ways in which the U.S. continues terraforming the land in support of ongoing settler colonialism. On this episode of For The Wild, we are joined by Kyle Whyte to discuss this very issue in connection to the vast extractive energy network that surrounds the Great Lakes area. Kyle Whyte is Professor and Timnick Chair in the Humanities in the departments of Philosophy and Community Sustainability at Michigan State University. Music by Cary Morin and Bonnie "Prince" Billy Visit our Website for our full episode description, references, and action points.

In this episode, Emily interviews Dessie Clark, a doctoral candidate in Community Sustainability at Michigan State University. In 2018, Dessie received a few small fellowships for conference travel and a couple months of stipend income. In 2019, the financial aid office told her she had been "over-awarded" and had to pay the travel fellowship money back. Dessie took out student loans to pay that bill and then set up a payment plan with the IRS when she couldn't pay the additional tax due on the fellowships. Dessie shares the steps she takes now when receiving fellowships so that she does not become over-awarded and how to prepare for tax time as a fellowship recipient.

Honoring a family heritage or nurturing neighbors. In This Podcast: Most people in Arizona are familiar with Hickman's eggs, but there is so much more to this family-run business than eggs! Clint Hickman shared with us the evolution of egg farming, and how his family business grew enough to feed Phoenix. He also explains all the side businesses that came out of egg farming: organic fertilizer, recycling programs, and animal feed. They even formed a mutually beneficial program with local prisons that gives farm-work-release inmates a leg up. Don't miss an episode! Click here to sign up for podcast updatesor visit www.urbanfarm.org/podcast Clint is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Hickman's Family Farms, the largest egg company in the Southwest United States and one of the top 20 nationwide. Truly family-run, Clint and his siblings have built up the business that his grandmother founded.  A graduate of the University of Arizona, he oversees the vast network of partners that Hickman's maintains, and guides the company's marketing efforts.    While growing up, Clint was inspired by how his grandparents treated friends and neighbors. From that, he now makes sure that programs are provided to help relieve hunger, support education, and promote extensive and ongoing training in the communities that Hickman brands are welcomed.  Visit www.urbanfarm.org/hickmanseggs for the show notes on this episode, and access to our full podcast library! 486: Clint Hickman on Building Community Sustainability

On this week, The Sci-Files, Chelsie and Danny interview Vanessa García Polanco.Vanessa García Polanco is a master student in the Department of Community Sustainability. Her research interests are minorities, immigrants, and refugee's involvement in their local and regional food systems, especially in the areas of production, garden, and farm governance, access to markets and culturally appropriate foods and food policy. She studies the Agro-Biodiversity of Lansing Community Gardens run by minorities, immigrants, and refugee's and how this relates to their foodways, and identity in the food system.Vanessa has served at the local, state and regional level to promote democratic empowerment and racial equity in the food systems as a network member, writer and speaker for Food Solution New England and the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group. She worked as a chair for communications and outreach at the Rhode Island Food Policy Council, as a program assistant at the URI Cooperative Extension. Vanessa has served as a policy specialist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Interior. Vanessa is an alumna of the Food Solutions New England Network Leadership Institute. Vanessa received a B.S. in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics from the University of Rhode Island with minors on Hunger Studies, Leadership Studies and Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems. Vanessa is an immigrant from the Dominican Republic.If you're interested in talking about your MSU research on the radio or nominating a student, please email Chelsie and Danny at scifiles@impact89fm.org. Check The Sci-Files out on Twitter @SciFiles89FM and on Facebook!

In episode 87 of America Adapts, host Doug Parsons interviews Dr. Kyle Powys Whyte. Kyle is an Associate Professor of Philosophy and Community Sustainability and a faculty affiliate of the American Indian & Indigenous Studies and Environmental Science & Policy programs at Michigan State University. Kyle is also an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. Kyle and I discuss how indigenous people define urgency in the face of climate change, managed retreat for tribal communities, the national climate assessment and tribal issues, the sometimes controversial relationship between tribes and climate scientists, climate change’s role in ongoing colonization of indigenous people, effective tribal engagement and much more in a fascinating and sometimes raw conversation. Donate to America Adapts Other Topics covered: Fundamentals of indigenous people and climate adaptation. Tribal people have historically ‘adapted’ to environmental change many times. What does managed retreat mean for tribal people? Is history repeating itself with displacing native people in response to climate change? Can existing tribal treaty rights be used as a legal tool to combat climate change? How did the recent national climate assessment do on tribal issues (hint: pretty well); Does tribal integrity help with adapting to climate change more effectively? For tribes, resilience is cultural and spiritual, and something always done by tribes. Indigenous people can define climate urgency and intrinsic value differently than western cultures. The challenges of tribal engagement, from both tribal perspective and western cultures. Does tribal ‘bureaucracy’ inhibit climate adaptation and partner building? The sometimes controversial relationship between tribes and climate scientists. Raw transcripts of this episode are available here. Links in this episode: https://risingvoices.ucar.edu/ https://kylewhyte.cal.msu.edu/climate-justice/ https://kylewhyte.cal.msu.edu/ https://kylewhyte.cal.msu.edu/about/ https://www.potawatomi.org/ Donate to America Adapts Subscribe on Apple Podcasts Subscribe on Android Podcasts in the Classroom – All episode discussion guides available here. “Watch” America Adapts on the Climate Monitor tv channel. For more information, here. Doug Parsons and Speaking Opportunities: If you are interested in having Doug speak at corporate and conference events, sharing his unique, expert perspective on adaptation in an entertaining and informative way, more information can be found here! Now on Spotify! List of Previous Guests on America Adapts Subscribe/listen to podcast on Apple Podcasts. Facebook and Twitter: @usaadapts https://www.facebook.com/americaadapts/timeline www.americaadapts.org @kylepowyswhyte Subscribe to America Adapts on Apple Podcasts https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/america-adapts-climate-change/id1133023095?mt=2 On Google Play here. Please share on Facebook! The best climate change podcasts on The Climate Advisor http://theclimateadvisor.com/the-best-climate-change-podcasts/ Directions on how to listen to America Adapts on Amazon Alexa https://youtu.be/949R8CRpUYU America Adapts also has its own app for your listening pleasure!  Just visit the App store on Apple or Google Play on Android and search “America Adapts.” Join the climate change adaptation movement by supporting America Adapts!  Please consider supporting this podcast by donating through America Adapts fiscal sponsor, the Social Good Fund. All donations are now tax deductible! For more information on this podcast, visit the website at http://www.americaadapts.org and don't forget to subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts.   Podcast Music produce by Richard Haitz Productions Write a review on Apple Podcasts! America Adapts on Facebook!   Join the America Adapts Facebook Community Group. Check us out, we’re also on YouTube! Producer Dan Ackerstein Subscribe to America Adapts on Apple Podcasts Doug can be contacted at americaadapts @ g mail . com

The farm to table movement has been on the rise in recent years and influencing the way society views food consumption.  In this episode, Meagan Shedd, Assistant Professor in the Department of Community Sustainability at Michigan State University, shares the benefits of implementing a Farm to ECE program, from better nutrition habits, creating a tighter sense of community and practicing a more sustainable lifestyle. She also offers practical tips and resources for ECEs who are interested in implementing a Farm to ECE program at their childcare.  Resources mentioned: National Farm to School Network Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems 2018 Farm to Early Care National Survey A Migrant & Seasonal Head Start Guide to Local Food Purchasing

When we think of what a food system is, we tend to think of it as a static structure, rather than a complex system of people working at different levels, or the diversity of communities working towards sustaining foodways. This week, we’re discussing how to create more diverse and equitable food systems in America with Vanessa Garcia Polanco. Vanessa is a current graduate student in Community Sustainability at Michigan State University, and an immigrant from the Dominican Republic. She is an alumna of the Food Solutions New England Network Leadership Institute and the University of Rhode Island.  As a member of Food Solutions New England and the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group, Vanessa has served at the local, state, and regional levels to promote democratic empowerment, racial equity, and visibility of immigrants in food systems. She worked as a chair for communications and outreach at the Rhode Island Food Policy Council and as a program assistant at the URI Cooperative Extension. In our discussion, we explore the idea of what a food system is and the limitations of the term, the ways in which language and actions in food studies can disempower or disenfranchise people of colour and immigrants’ agency, and how Vanessa challenges these ideas with her own research and writing. I first came across her work on Twitter through a hashtag she started called #FoodJusticeFridays and was struck by her activism and perspectives on the food system, so I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to talk with her – as I’m sure she’s going to be out changing food policy and economics one day not so far from now! Resources: A Foodie’s Guide to Capitalism by Eric Holt Giménez Food Solutions New England 21 Day Racial Equity Challenge  Farming While Black by Leah Penniman To Serve a Larger Purpose  Get Social with Vanessa! Twitter: @vpgvisions Vanessa’s Website: http://vgp1996.wixsite.com/vanessagarciapolanco Hashtags to Follow: #foodjusticefridays #dominicanfoodstudies #foodisneverjustfood

Bridget and guest co-host Trey Malone welcome back Phil Howard from the Department of Community Sustainability to continue their discussion about mergers and acquisitions in agriculture. This week, they specifically discuss stealth ownership. This occurs when a company buys a brand or other company but works to keep that relationship under wraps. 

Bridget welcomes back guest co-host Dr. Trey Malone and guest Dr. Phil Howard (Department of Community Sustainability at Michigan State). Phil has published some research on mergers and acquisitions in agriculture. They discuss the why's and when's of M&A and how those strategic moves influence business sales.

Dr. Laurie Richmond of Humboldt State University led a team of researchers who interviewed commercial and charter fishermen, fishing families, deckhands, local business owners and operators, local civic leaders, and elected officials in Eureka and Shelter Cove to develop recommendations to improve the sustainability of these ports. Recommendations range from basic infrastructure like dredging and cold storage to better organization for political engagement, market development, and habitat protection. In Shelter Cove, a new fishermen’s association has already formed and will soon begin managing the marina facilities.

Dr. Gord Lovegrove is a transportation expert and advocate for sustainable communities. Part 1 of 2 https://www.iisd.org/topic/sustainable-development https://freedomsdoorkelowna.com/ https://www.kelowna.ca/our-community/journey-home-addressing-homelessness https://cohousing.org/

Dr. Gord Lovegrove is a transportation expert and advocate for sustainable communities. Part 1 of 2 https://www.iisd.org/topic/sustainable-development https://freedomsdoorkelowna.com/ https://www.kelowna.ca/our-community/journey-home-addressing-homelessness https://cohousing.org/  

As Campus as Lab Manager, Caroline works at the campus-based intersection of operational, educational and research activities that result in the advancement of sustainability problem-solving. She designs and implements the Campus as Lab program to encourage and support the Princeton campus community in testing sustainable solutions, engaging all disciplines. Caroline previously served as the Director of the Institute for Community Sustainability at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, IN, where she laid the groundwork for an ecovillage in the community adjacent to the university that is currently in development; hosted regional symposia on infill development and urban food issues in the Midwest; and developed several sustainability and social justice programs. Caroline Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: Using the university as a lab for sustainability Benefits of formalizing the Campus as Lab program in the university Engaging students in sustainability programs and research Advice and recommendations for sustainability professionals Caroline's Final Five Responses: What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? Get outside of your bubble. I think it's really tempting to want to surround ourselves with people who think like us and sometimes that space is totally appropriate, but try to put yourself in uncomfortable spaces or in front of people who don't think like you do whatever that happens to look like for your individual situation. I think that's the only way we grow. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? Some of the gaps and the end of the Obama era has left, both nationally and internationally, present some really interesting opportunities. So internationally we're seeing leadership from countries that maybe hadn't been on the global stage so much for sustainability. Now they are having the opportunity to step in and fill that gap. And nationally I think we kind of have the imperative to stop using the same language around sustainability that we have, to stop assuming that sustainability is just a good thing and everybody's going to like it to engage. As well as the increased energy and call to action that so many people are hearing to act on these issues. What is the one book you would recommend sustainability professionals read? I would recommend, and this is getting a little bit outside of the realm of sustainability, but there's a great book called Doing Good Better by William Macaskill. He talks about this concept of effective altruism and the idea that just because we want to do something, or you want to do some good, we might not automatically come up with the most effective way to do that. So he takes a really hard look at how to do good in an effective way. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in the work that you do? I totally rely on AASHE, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. They're kind of where I got my start in the academic world. I found a job through one of their newsletters. They're an incredibly supportive community, that I found as a great resource all throughout my career and I've been in sustainability in higher ed for about 10 years now. Even if you're not in higher ed, I really recommend following them for some of the best practices and job opportunities and other events that come out of that community. In a closely related is green schools listserv, that's run through Brown University. I also recommend finding good project management systems in general and being well organized in general. I can't recommend one specific one. I've kind of learned a lot from different styles, but especially for this very project based work, I'm finding something like that that works for you, whether it's lists, post-its check in meetings or taking a course. Having strong systems in place to track progress makes all the difference. And then of course, this podcast as well. And finally where our listeners go to learn more about you and the work that you are leading at Princeton. Sure, they can go to https://sustain.princeton.edu/lab. That will take them to the Campus as a Lab page. If they're interested in that community of practice I mentioned earlier you can go to tinyurl.com/campusaslabresources. That is a great compilation of best practices going on all across North America. And then finally, you're always welcome to email me cs35@Princeton.edu. I'm always happy to spread the word about Campus as Lab.    

The Climate Conversations team interviews Dr. Kyle Powys Whyte, a Professor of Philosophy and Community Sustainability at Michigan State -- about indigenous views of climate change and climate justice. As a context for understanding those views, Dr. Whyte outlines how the legacy of colonialism, capitalism, and other systems of domination affected indigenous populations in North America. We also heard about efforts to surface just climate solutions that respect indigenous traditions, while amplifying the voices of contemporary indigenous peoples. Dr. Whyte concludes by describing his work with colleagues and allies to incorporate indigenous approaches into environmental research and education; highlighting a recent conference on “Being Human in the Age of Humans”.

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Frank Fear, Professor and Senior Associate Dean Emeritus of the Department of Community Sustainability, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University, presented Promoting Public Awareness of What Has Happened to Public Higher Education at the conference, hosted by MSU's Julian Samora Research Institute. Fear challenged his peers to engage in public debate and outreach to explore ways to allow universities to maintain their core mission and values in the public interest.