AI, Quantum Computing and Climate Science: Synergies to Enhance Global Resilience

AI and quantum computers have the potential to revolutionize our approach to climate change by optimizing energy distribution, ensuring water security, and enhancing regenerative agriculture. These technologies can greatly reduce carbon emissions and increase human resilience to environmental challenges. By harnessing these innovations, we may one day fulfill Teilhard de Chardin's vision: “Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides, and gravity, we shall harness the energies of love.”

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May East
A twilight gender sensitive walk to remember

On a windy twilight evening in Langside, Glasgow, a group of Scottish Young Planners joined the local community to embark on a unique journey – a twilight walk where they were encouraged to observe and understand the intricacies of the area through a gender-sensitive lens. Convened by the Scottish Government and Glasgow City Council, the walk was part of a three-part Design Class, which had taken place earlier that day, aimed to equip the early career professionals with practical skills to enhance their capacities in gender-sensitive placemaking.

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May East
Letter to the Prime Minister

We are writing to draw your attention to the critical need for adopting a gender-sensitive approach in the forthcoming wave of housing and developments and planning reform to enable growth across the United Kingdom.

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May East
Budget allocation ‘pour la feminisation’ of green spaces and competitive sports

Ensuring that the right to open green space is more evenly distributed, requires those who hold power within local government to measure the area dedicated to male dominated sports, and formulate policy and planning guidelines to address the gendered imbalances in green space planning and use. There is also need to allocate budget lines to widen the repertoires of activities catering for women and girls’ needs.

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May East
Bike saddle libraries – enabling women to cycle comfortably

Encouraging cycling amongst women isn’t enough, we also need to enable it. Bike seats, while advancing new materials and designs, have historically been the same for men and women. In an active travel world designed with women in mind, ergonomically-appropriate saddles should respond to different women’s anatomies and be easily available in bike shops and communities everywhere.

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May East
What nature positive means in a business context?

Nature-positive companies are gaining momentum. They include and transcend conventional and incremental corporate social responsibility and ESG strategies. They challenge us to move beyond mere damage control in our economic activities and ask: what if we not only minimize harm but actively improve natural ecosystems that support our businesses?

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May East
Streets can change, evolve and self-organise – The unfolding vision of George Street as a fresh air route

Edinburgh has set an ambitious target to become a net zero city by 2030. This means that by 2030, the city will remove the same amount of greenhouse gases that it releases into the air. The iconic George Street is set to play a significant part in enacting this strategy. Alongside the active travel plans, trees will be planted for the first time. Which species will be planted, why does it matter?

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May East
Biophilic, Aesthetic, Place-Based and Intergenerational Education Informing Class Rooms for Life

Educators are invited to grow sensitivities and competences to develop lesson plans where meaningful encounters can take place between children and other forms of life, providing a continuous and enriching experience for students of all ages to nurture love for living things. When this happens, the notion of living systems can be internalised not as an intellectual idea, but as a way of being nurtured from child to adulthood.

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May East
Fostering gender equality – an essential aspect of good urbanism at the #SDGSummit

World leaders in New York yesterday adopted a high-minded new declaration underscoring the need to reenergise the SDGs — the 17 targets aimed at ending world poverty and acting for climate change.

While some SDGs are going backwards the intersection between SDG 5 and SDG 11 is moving forward. This was purposively stated in the session “What if Women Designed the City?’ hosted by UNITAR at the UN Headquarters marking the launch of my book of the same title.

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May East
2023 SDG SUMMIT - Lifting the Spirit of the SDGs

The 2023 SDG Summit, which mark the midpoint of the 2030 Agenda and a new phase of accelerated progress towards the SDGs has started! It is bringing together political and thought leaders from governments, international organisations, private sector, civil society, women and youth and other stakeholders in a series of high-level meetings.

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May East