Project Wild Thing: The Wild Network

Update from the website: In January 2013 Swarm Partnership came on board with support from the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and The Wild Network was hatched. The network is an open, growing collaborative group of organisations big and small seeking to tackle the many issues raised in the film and champion the wonders of being outside.

Also, the film is doing the rounds in the UK so check to see if it's coming to a cinema near you.

(I'm the no. 3,954 above.... just pledged to spend 30 minutes a day outside.)

Plant Life

Plantlife is an organisation that raisies the profile of wild flowers, celebrates their beauty, and protects their future.

Their website is full of information from growing wild plants to conservation and everything in between. A wonderful organisation and resource for all. Love their tag line.
 

Save it with flowers.

10 Trees

I don't want to use this blog as promotional place for retailers but I found out about this Canadian company, 10 Trees, who will plant 10 Trees for every item purchased.

Their website has tons of information about the projects they are funding, their sources for the clothes they are selling and to be honest, I was impressed. Such a great model.

Dr Stuart Brown and The Power of Play

 
I have written about Dr Stuart Brown before, but any news regarding his work on the importance of play is good news.

He will be speaking at the Early Childhood Ireland's Global Gathering for Early Childhood in Dublin from 16 - 19 October.

There is also an interesting article about him in The Irish Times.

Theodore Roosevelt

"Comparison is the thief of joy."

Fly like an eagle

Hypnotic.

Felix Dennis plants his millionth tree

I wish I could say I've planted a million trees. Felix Dennis can, in partnership with The Heart of England Forest Ltd.

Poet and publisher Felix Dennis has plans to "plant and preserve a large native broadleaf forest in South Warwickshire, stretching from the ancient borders of the Forest of Arden – also known as Shakespeare's Forest – south to the Vale of Evesham.

To date, 2,500 acres of land has been purchased and planted with 1 million native broadleaf saplings – about the size of seven Hyde Parks in London – at a rate of approximately 300 acres a year, making it the world's largest privately planted forest."

That is an amazing feat. Full article over at the Guardian.

Mister Rogers defending PBS to the US Senate

We are big fans of Mister Rogers in our house and this is AMAZING. It speaks for itself.

David Attenborough's Rise Of Animals: Triumph Of The Vertebrates

 Tonight at 9.00pm on BBC 2 in the UK is David Attenborough's new two part series, Rise Of Animals: Triumph Of The Vertebrates.

"David Attenborough embarks on an epic 500-million-year journey to unravel the incredible rise of the vertebrates. He presents explosive new fossil evidence from a region he’s long dreamt of exploring – the frontier of modern paleontological research: China."

What are the chances of it being quite fabulous? I'm in.

Hegdehog Street

An excellent website from the UK called Hedgehog Street, asking people to become Hedgehog Champions and rally support from the neighbourhood to create ideal habitats for them to thrive.

If you are in the UK, I would urge you to check out their website, sign up and receive a pack to get you started.

"The pack contains hedgehog factsheets which can be handed out to neighbours, posters to help advertise the project, tips and hints on how to get neighbours involved and how to keep them interested and a pack of action cards which explain what people can do in their gardens."

While I don't live there myself, the website was very informative and gave great tips to encourage hedgehogs to come and live in your garden (and eat all those horrible slugs that eat everything you don't want them to eat). Result.

The play deficit

"The decline in opportunity to play has also been accompanied by a decline in empathy and a rise in narcissism, both of which have been assessed since the late 1970s with standard questionnaires given to normative samples of college students. Empathy refers to the ability and tendency to see from another person’s point of view and experience what that person experiences. Narcissism refers to inflated self-regard, coupled with a lack of concern for others and an inability to connect emotionally with others. A decline of empathy and a rise in narcissism are exactly what we would expect to see in children who have little opportunity to play socially. Children can’t learn these social skills and values in school, because school is an authoritarian, not a democratic setting. School fosters competition, not co-operation; and children there are not free to quit when others fail to respect their needs and wishes."

An extract from an excellent article by Peter Gray about children's need for play. Please read it.

Jay Griffiths

Jay Griffiths, author of Kith, speaks at the RSA.

The Scarecrow

After the huge success of their previous video, Back to the Start, Chipotle have done it again with a powerful message in The Scarecrow.

Fab.

A Bicycle Powered Tree House Elevator

Very cool.

Via likecool.

What To Do When Lost In The Woods

Some sound advice from the U.S. Forest Service in 1946; just in case you fancy a visit to the woods over the weekend.

1. Finding oneself is the test of man.
2. Merely being out of sight of others in a strange forest gives a man the creeps — a natural feeling but a dangerous one. Never yield to it.
3. Stop, sit down, and try to figure out where you are. Use your head, not your legs.
4. Build a fire in a safe place.
5. Don’t wander about.
6. Don’t yell, don’t run, don’t worry, and above all, don’t quit.
7. A thinking man is never lost for long. He knows that…he must remain where he is or push on to some definite objective, but not to the point of exhaustion…that someone will be looking for him, and strength in that knowledge makes hardships easier.

 Via Brainpickings.

Kew Gardens IncrEdibles

A part of Kew Gardens IncrEdibles festival is Sculptor Tom Hare's Fungi Fairy Ring, up to 4 m high willow sculptures of native edible fungi.

I wish there were more photos on their website, only because I won't get to see them in person. I have a feeling though, that photos won't really do them justice.

INDEX: Design to Improve Life

INDEX: Design to Improve Life is a Danish non profit focusing on inspiring, educating and engaging in designing sustainable solutions to global challenges.

They achieve this by:

• INDEX: Award, the biggest design award in the world worth €500.000, and widely recognized as the most important design award in the world.
• Our world touring INDEX: Award Exhibition, showcasing the finalists for INDEX: Award.
• Design to Improve Life Education.
• City collaborations.
• Investment initiatives.

Their website has some fantastic posts, really worth following.

On my own doorstep and I never knew...

Nordic Adventure Conference

I'm attending this conference next week. I'm really looking forward to it. If you are going too, let me know. I'd love to meet up.

Sea Otters

Possibly my favourite animals on the planet (aside from my lovely cat, the clue being that both have a very high cuddly factor) and apparently extremely useful as well....

According to a study by Brent Hughes of the University of California, Santa Cruz, they have returned to the Pacific coast in great numbers and the decline of endangered seagrasses in the region has been reversed.

Read more about it in a fascinating and witty article by John Finnemore at the Guardian, who also says;

"My favourite fact about sea otters, thanks for asking, is not that they use rocks as tools to break open shellfish on their chests, but that they then put this tool back in their pocket. Sea otters have loose pouches of skin in their armpits, and they store food and tools in them. How can you fail to admire an animal that not only uses tools, but has evolved itself a tool belt?"

Boulder, Colorado

I had to post this, if only to help get the word out. It's an amazing achievement so far.

If you want to learn more, here's the link to their website.

British wildlife photography awards 2013

All kinds of stunning..... It was hard to pick just one to wet your appetite, so check out the other winners here.

Walking shark

Nature never ceases to amaze me.

The Hemiscyllium halmahera.