Real Life Mowgli

Who wouldn't have loved to have had a little slice of this little girls childhood........Tippi Degre, daughter of French wildlife photographers, spent her childhood in Africa.

Her parents have now published a book called Tippi of Africa. Wonderful.

Via Bored Panda.

Guilty

"The 2012 Greendex survey found that people in poorer countries feel, on average, much guiltier about their impacts on the natural world than people in rich countries. The places in which people feel least guilt are, in this order, Germany, the United States, Australia and Britain, while the people of India, China, Mexico and Brazil have the greatest concerns. Our guilt, the survey reported, exists in inverse proportion to the amount of damage our consumption does. This is the opposite of what a thousand editorials in the corporate press tell us: that people cannot afford to care until they become rich. The evidence suggests we cease to care only when we become rich."

From George Monbiot's latest column at The Guardian.

Red List reveals conservation successes, but extinctions continue apace

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature's latest Red List of Threatened Species shows a bleak picture.

"The red list now contains assessments of 71,500 species, including all mammals, birds and amphibians. The latest update added more than 1,000 species. Of the species understood well enough for a judgment to be made, more than a third are under threat. About half of known reptiles have been assessed and a third of fish, but only a fraction of invertebrates, plants and fungi.

Habitat destruction, hunting and the introduction of alien predators as a result of human activity are causing the greatest mass extinction of species on Earth since an asteroid strike wiped out the dinosaurs 65m years ago."

The lovely giraffe/okapi above is prized for its meat.....

Quote above from an article over at The Guardian.

75 Seriously Fun Ways to Make Your Town More Playful

Over at Community Matters is an excellent list of fun things to do to make your town my playful.....

Too many good ideas to pick one out. However....... the photo above is of Lego bombing.

Seth Godin's brilliant advice

The first lie...

is that you're going to need far more talent than you were born with.

The second lie is that the people who are leading in the new connection economy got there because they have something you don't.

The third lie is that you have to be chosen.

The fourth lie is that we're not afraid.

We're afraid.

Afraid to lead, to make a ruckus, to convene. Afraid to be vulnerable, to be called out, to be seen as a fraud.

The connection economy isn't based on steel or rails or buildings. It's built on trust and hope and passion.

The future belongs to those that care and those that believe.

link

Grateful Schools, Happy Schools

Really interesting article over at the Greater Good (University of Berkeley) on a study researching gratitude in children.

Testing a group of elementary school kids, ages 8 to 11, Jeffrey Froh, a pioneering researcher, focused on three types of appraisals that make people feel grateful:

• That someone has intentionally done something to benefit us
• That providing this benefit was costly to them
• That the benefit is valuable to us

"Overall, this study suggests that even young students can learn to look at the world through more grateful eyes—and that they may become not only more appreciative but also happier as a result."

Grow, cook, eat

Daylesford Primary School in Australia

Daylesford Primary School, to talk about the benefits of the school's kitchen garden program and he's stuck for words. There are so many, he says, he doesn't know where to start.

"In a garden there is nature, science, maths and vocabulary; in a kitchen it's the same. It crosses over into so many areas of the curriculum," Burke says.
- See more at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/executive-living/grow-cook-eat-and-learn/story-e6frg9zo-1226755147029#sthash.45UMhbsN.dpuf

"Once a week, students from Years 3-6 spend an hour in the regional Victorian school’s kitchen garden, learning how to grow things.

The next week they spend 90 minutes in the adjacent purpose-built kitchen, learning how to cook what they’ve grown. And then they all sit down to share a meal, learning a skill increasingly under threat in the modern era: how to eat. Not just for nutrition, but for the social skills integral to a shared meal, for dining etiquette, setting the table, using cutlery and more."

And, there's a book. 

learning how to grow things. The next week they spend 90 minutes in the adjacent purpose-built kitchen, learning how to cook what they've grown. And then they all sit down to share a meal, learning a skill increasingly under threat in the modern era: how to eat. Not just for nutrition, but for the social skills integral to a shared meal, for dining etiquette, setting the table, using cutlery and more. - See more at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/executive-living/grow-cook-eat-and-learn/story-e6frg9zo-1226755147029#sthash.45UMhbsN.dpuf

learning how to grow things. The next week they spend 90 minutes in the adjacent purpose-built kitchen, learning how to cook what they've grown. And then they all sit down to share a meal, learning a skill increasingly under threat in the modern era: how to eat. Not just for nutrition, but for the social skills integral to a shared meal, for dining etiquette, setting the table, using cutlery and more. - See more at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/executive-living/grow-cook-eat-and-learn/story-e6frg9zo-1226755147029#sthash.45UMhbsN.dpufv

Daylesford Primary School, to talk about the benefits of the school's kitchen garden program and he's stuck for words. There are so many, he says, he doesn't know where to start. - See more at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/executive-living/grow-cook-eat-and-learn/story-e6frg9zo-1226755147029#sthash.45UMhbsN.dpuf

Daylesford Primary School, to talk about the benefits of the school's kitchen garden program and he's stuck for words. There are so many, he says, he doesn't know where to start.

"In a garden there is nature, science, maths and vocabulary; in a kitchen it's the same. It crosses over into so many areas of the curriculum," Burke says.
- See more at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/executive-living/grow-cook-eat-and-learn/story-e6frg9zo-1226755147029#sthash.45UMhbsN.dpuf

Daylesford Primary School, to talk about the benefits of the school's kitchen garden program and he's stuck for words. There are so many, he says, he doesn't know where to start.

"In a garden there is nature, science, maths and vocabulary; in a kitchen it's the same. It crosses over into so many areas of the curriculum," Burke says.
- See more at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/executive-living/grow-cook-eat-and-learn/story-e6frg9zo-1226755147029#sthash.45UMhbsN.dpuf

Daylesford Primary School, to talk about the benefits of the school's kitchen garden program and he's stuck for words. There are so many, he says, he doesn't know where to start.

"In a garden there is nature, science, maths and vocabulary; in a kitchen it's the same. It crosses over into so many areas of the curriculum," Burke says.
- See more at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/executive-living/grow-cook-eat-and-learn/story-e6frg9zo-1226755147029#sthash.45UMhbsN.dpuf