5th

Annual
Empowering Sustainability Conference
University of California, Irvine
July 20-24, 2015

Summary Report

Created by Juliana M. Zanotto

August 11, 2015

Table of Contents

1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 3
2. Fellows and Contact Information ......................................................................................................... 4
3. Conference Program ............................................................................................................................ 6
Monday .................................................................................................................................................... 6
Tuesday .................................................................................................................................................... 7
Wednesday .............................................................................................................................................. 8
Thursday .................................................................................................................................................. 9
Friday ..................................................................................................................................................... 11
4. Group Discussions .............................................................................................................................. 11
Women voices project (part 1) .............................................................................................................. 11
Women voices project (part 2) .............................................................................................................. 12
Fellows Exchange Program ................................................................................................................... 13
Training on Complementary Currency ................................................................................................... 14
Empowering Women Luncheon ............................................................................................................ 14
5. Feedback from Fellows ....................................................................................................................... 15
Feedback from group discussion on Friday, July 24 .............................................................................. 15
Feedback from Online Survey ................................................................................................................ 17

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1. Introduction
The 5th Annual Empowering Sustainability Conference took place at the University of California Irvine
from July 20 to July 24, 2015. The thirty-one participants (sustainability fellows) from thirteen countries
represented a broad variety of disciplinary fields, expertise, and experience, ranging from
undergraduate students, to scholars, practitioners, and activists.

From 9:00AM to 5:30PM, sustainability fellows participated in panels; attended workshops and
presentations; and engaged in group discussions. Fellows had the opportunity to dialogue with
presenters, to exchange knowledge and information, to share experiences, to network, to brainstorm
project ideas, and to socialize during coffee breaks, lunch, and dinner.

Panels took place on Monday and Tuesday. They were organized around topics crossing disciplinary
issues and geographic boundaries. Fellows volunteered to be panelists or moderators.

Two workshops took place on Tuesday: Self-Care as Resistance and Tools for Transformation. They
intended to train fellows on skills fundamental to the work they do around social justice and
sustainability. The first workshop reminded fellows that they must take care of themselves in order to
continue performing their tasks and advancing the causes they defend. The second one focused on tools
(made available by the Social Transformation Project) aiming at identifying desired personal and/or
professional transformation and planning for successful transformation.

Presentations on Wednesday and Thursday focused on Californias Coastal Communities and were part
of Creating Climate Change Resilient Communities a workshop organized by UCI O.C.E.A.N.S., The
Newkirk Center, and the Empowering Sustainability initiative. Fellows had the opportunity to attend the
presentations and/or plan parallel activities according to their individual interests.

Group discussions occurred mostly on Thursday and Friday. On Thursday, fellows brainstormed ideas for
a) a documentary film project featuring the voices of young disadvantaged women around the world;
and b) a proposed fellows exchange grant application to help fund and encourage fellows visiting each
other. On Friday, group discussions focused around a) continuation of brainstorming ideas for the two
aforementioned projects, b) brainstorming ideas for a project aiming at making available online tools
and training on complementary currency for sustainability; c) sharing experiences and ideas about the
Empowering Women luncheon; and d) providing feedback on the 5th Empowering Sustainability
Conference and suggesting ideas for next years conference. Notes from the discussion sessions are
provided on Part 4 of this report.

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 2. Fellows and Contact Information
32 fellows:
o 19 returning, 12 new
o 19 women, 13 men
13 countries
o New countries represented: Malaysia, Cuba, South Africa

FIRST LAST
COUNTRY ORGANIZATION POSITION EMAIL ADDRESS
NAME NAME
Ana Spain/ AB Azucarera Production
Tovar Soto ana_alexandra_ccs@yahoo.com
Alexandra Venezuela Iberia SL Engineer

Andrew Stokols USA astokols@gmail.com

Lecturer of
research
Charli Hibbert USA CSU Stanislaus khibbert@uci.edu
methods and
design
Community
Chelsea Biklen USA City of Cupertino biklen.chelsea@gmail.com
Coordinator

Cristina Dumbrique USA UCI Student cdumbriq@uci.edu

San Francisco
Erik Wood USA Student erikjameswood@gmail.com
State University
Chief of
Instituto Chico Tapajos
Fabio Carvalho Brazil fabio.carvalho@icmbio.gov.br
Mendes (ICMBio) National
Forest
Independent
Gonen Sagy Israel gonen9999@gmail.com
Researcher

Haider Ulfat Palestine ulfat4@yahoo.com

Jeremy Lambeth USA jeremy@jeremylambeth.com

Jesse Baker USA Ecofficiency Founder jesse@ecofficiency.org

United Nations
USA/ Department of
Jonas Rabinovitch Senior Advisor rabinovitch@un.org
Brazil Economic and
Social Affairs
CODESA-
Corporacin para el Lawyer and
Josefina Ruiz Catalan Chile mjosefinaruiz@gmail.com
desarrollo de Director
Aysn

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 FIRST LAST
COUNTRY ORGANIZATION POSITION EMAIL ADDRESS
NAME NAME
Miranda Brazil/ Graduate
Juliana UCI jzanotto@uci.edu
Zanotto USA Student

June Cirino Brazil june.cirino@hotmail.com

Sustainability Independent
Karla Cordoba Costa Rica muguika@gmail.com
School Consultant
Sustainable Co-founder
Brazil/
Ligia Martins Connection and ligmartins@gmail.com
USA
Consulting Consultant
HSQE
Frechoso Textil Santanderina
Lucia Spain Management luciafrechoso@gmail.com
Llorente S.A
Technician

Markendy Desormeau Haiti Rerendevdura Founder markendyd@hotmail.com

Mo Sami USA UCI Lecturer mosami@uci.edu

South Factory
Ndumiso Damini Africa/ Automation ndumiso.dlamini@gmail.com
Swaziland R&D Engineer
Founder and
Nicole Swedlow Mexico EntreAmigos Executive nicole@entreamigos.org.mx
Director
Sustainability
School and Entrepreneur
Paiva
Ranulfo Brazil Associate and ranulfo17@gmail.com
Sobrinho
Research at Researcher
Unicamp
Actress and
Carranza
Roco Costa Rica Independent rocicarranza@gmail.com
Maxera
Activist
United Nations Program
Saira Shameen Malaysia sairashameem@gmail.com
Population Fund Adviser
Community
Shirley Williams USA Lummi Nation Medicine R.N. kastlmut@gmail.com
II
Gomez Costa Salvaje Program
Sofia Mexico sofia@costasalvaje.com
Vallarta A.C./Wildcoast Coordinator
Professor of
Teles da Universidade
Solange Brazil Environmental solange.teles@terra.com.br
Silva Mackenzie
Law
Tribal
Troy Olsen USA Lummi Nation kastlmut@gmail.com
Fisherman
Access Water
Ulfat Haider Israel Participant ulfat4@yahoo.com
Expedition Series

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 FIRST LAST
COUNTRY ORGANIZATION POSITION EMAIL ADDRESS
NAME NAME

Vicki Faivre USA UCI Student vfaivre@uci.edu

University of
Vivian Saiz Cuba Professor vivian@ceted.uh.cu
Havana
*Additional information about each participant is available at our website

3. Conference Program

Monday
9:00-10:00 a.m. Conference opening and welcome: About the Empowering Sustainability Initiative
Juliana M. Zanotto

10:15-10:30 a.m. Coffee Break

10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Panel: Stories of Success

Moderator: Juliana M. Zanotto, PhD. Candidate in Planning, Policy, and Design at UCI (United States)

Realizing rights: Utilizing international development frameworks to secure substantive equality

Saira Shameen, Programme Adviser, United Nations Population Fund, Malaysia Country Office
(Malaysia)

Bringing climate change education/awareness to an elementary school district - Chelsea Bilken,

Climate Corps Bay Area Fellow (United States)

Managing a tragedy of the commons: Electricity supply shortage in Japan since the Fukushima
nuclear disaster - Ndumiso Dlamini, Phd (Energy Science), Factory Automation R&D Engineer
(Japan)

Sustainable management in the Amazon - Fabio Carvalho, Manager of the Tapajos National
Forest, Instituto Chico Mendes (Brazil)

Cabo Pulmo National Park, 20 years of successful marine conservation collaboration - Sofia
Gomez, Program Manager for Costasalvaje A. C. / Wildcoast (Mexico)

12:30-2:00 p.m. Lunch Break (Pippin Dining Hall)

2:15-4:00 p.m. Panel: Paradigms, Definitions, Morals, and Ethics

Moderator: Ligia Martins, Co-founder and Consultant at Sustainable Connection Consulting (United
States)

Right to clean food and water: community water fluoridation - Shirley Williams, Community
Medicine R.N. II, Lummi Nation (United States)

Complementary currencies for empowering sustainability - Ranulfo Paiva, Researcher at

Institute of Economy, UNICAMP and Consultant, Writer, and Entrepreneur, Sustainability of
Socio Ecological Systems (Brazil)

Access to information, participation and justice in environmental matters in Latin America and
the Caribbean - Solange Teles da Silva, Professor of Environmental Law at Universidade
Mackenzie (Brazil)

Building together our own reality - Karla Cordoba, Communications, Fundraising and
Community Development Consultant and Sustainability Entrepreneur (Costa Rica)

Integrating the LGBT community - Rocio Carranza, Independent Activist (Costa Rica)

4:00-4:15p.m. Coffee Break

4:00-5:15 p.m. Featured talk: E-governance: Integrating policy and institutions for Sustainable
development
Jonas Rabinovitch, Senior Advisor at United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

Tuesday
9:00-10:00 a.m. Workshop: Self-Preservation as Resistance: Tips for Practicing Self-Care & Social
Justice
Jade M. Turner, Student Development Coordinator at UCI Cross-Cultural Center

10:00-10:15 a.m. Coffee Break

10:15 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Panel: Stories of Resistance

Moderator: Gonen Sagy, Independent Consultant and Researcher in Environmental and Peace Education
(Israel)

The movement against Fracking in Spain - Lucia Frechoso, HSQE Management Technician at
Textil Santanderina S.A. (Spain)

Special tourism in Patagonia - Jonefina Ruiz, Lawyer and Director at CODESA-Corporacin para
el desarrollo de Aysn (Chile)

Chuandixia: The village that refused to die - Ana Tovar Soto, Production Engineer at AB
Azucarera Iberia SL (Spain)

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 Revitalizing reef-net - Troy Olsen, Tribal Fisherman and Shirley Williams, Community Medicine
R.N. II, Lummi Nation (United States)

Breaking the Ice Ulfat Haider, Participant at the Access Water Expedition Series (Israel)

12:00-2:00 p.m. Lunch: Empowering Women Luncheon

2:00-2:30 p.m. Group Photo

3:00-5:30 p.m. Workshop: Tools for Transformation

7:00 p.m. Empowering Women in Cuba

Vivian Isabel Antnez Saiz, Professor at the Study Center of Management Techniques, University of
Havana

Wednesday
9:00-9:10 a.m. Welcome
Vice Provost Bennett (UCI) and Kristen Davis (UCI Oceans)

9:10-9:50 a.m. Keynote 1: Sea-level Rise for the Coast of California

Gary Griggs (UCSC)

9:50-10:15 a.m. Keynote 2: Science-based Decision-making for Resilient Coastal Communities -

Catherine Kuhlman (Ocean Protection Council Executive Director/Deputy Secretary for Oceans and
Coastal Policy, California Natural Resources Agency)

10:15-10:30 a.m. Coffee Break

10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Session 1.1: Increasing the Understanding of the Risks of Climate-related
Coastal Hazards in California
Moderator: Katherine Mackey (UCI)

Natural Resources Impacts - Debbie Aseltine-Neilson (California Department of Fish and

Wildlife)

Adaptation Action Plan for Californias State Coastal Agencies - Yoon Hui Kim (Ocean Science
Trust)

Water Quality and Climate Change - Eric Stein (Southern California Coastal Water Research
Project)

Economic Cost of Impacts - Charles Colgan (Center for the Blue Economy)

Sea-level Rise - Rachel Gregg (EcoAdapt)

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12:30- 1:30 p.m. Lunch Break (Pippin Dinning Hall)

1:30- 3:00 p.m. Session 1.2: Preparing for Climate-related Coastal Hazards via Available Information
and Tools for Scenario Analysis and Planning

Panel 1:

SLR and NOAA Coastal Flooding Viewer - Tim Doherty (NOAA Office for Coastal Management)

HAZUS-MH - Eric Berman (Federal Emergency Management Agency)

FloodRISE - Brett Sanders (University of California, Irvine)

3:00-3:15 p.m. Coffee Break

3:15-4:50 p.m. Session 1.2: Preparing for Climate-related Coastal Hazards via Available Information
and Tools for Scenario Analysis and Planning (continued)

Panel 2:

InVest - Eric Hartge (Center for Ocean Solutions Stanford)

TNC Coastal Resilience Tool - Sarah Newkirk (The Nature Conservancy)

UCLA Legal Tools - Megan Herzog (University of California, Los Angeles)

4:50-5:00 p.m. Wrap Up Tegan Hoffman (Blue Earth Consultants, LLC)

Thursday
9:00-9:10 a.m. Welcome
Daniel G. Aldrich III (UC Office of the President)

9:10-9:50 a.m. Keynote 1: Fostering Coastal Resilience through Local Coastal Planning Linking State
and Local Efforts
Charles Lester (Coastal Commission)

9:50-10:30 a.m. Keynote 2: Convening Coastal Communities to Build Resilience

Margaret Spring (Monterey Bay Aquarium)

10:30-10:45 a.m. Coffee Break

10:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Session 2.1: Local Coastal Planning Panel Federal, Tribal, State, County, and
City Perspectives.

Monique Myers (NOAA Sea Grant) - Santa Barbara Area Coastal Ecosystem Vulnerability
Assessment (SBA CEVA)

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 Angela Mooney DArcy (Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples)

Sam Schuchat (Coastal Conservancy)

Jack Liebster (Planning Manager, Marin County CDA)

12:30-1:30 p.m. Lunch Break (Pippin Dining Hall)

1:30-2:30 p.m. Session 2.2: Gaining Support for Climate Adaptation Public Perception

Panel 1:

Serge Dedina (Mayor of Imperial Beach)

Sara Aminzadeh (CA Coastkeeper Alliance)

2:30-3:30 p.m. Session 2.2: Gaining Support for Climate Adaptation- Public-Private Financing
Moderator: Tegan Hoffmann (Blue Earth)

Panel 2:

Neeraja Havaligi (Biodiversity and Climate Adaptation Specialist)

Darren Long (Wildlife Conservation Society)

3:30-3:45 p.m. Coffee Break

3:45-4:45 p.m. Session 2.2: Gaining Support for Climate Adaptation Design Elements for Resilient
Coastal Communities

Panel 3:

Marc Holmes (The Bay Institute)

Cole Roberts (Arup)

Benjamin Grant (SPUR)

4:45-5:00 p.m. Wrap Up Tegan Hoffman (Blue Earth Consultants, LLC)

7:00 p.m. Conference celebration: Live music by Hedgehog Swing

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Friday
9:00-10:00 a.m. The value chain approach and the strategic planning as tools for the sustainable
development in Cuba
Vivian Isabel Antnez Saiz, Professor at the Study Center of Management Techniques, University of
Havana

10:00-10:15 a.m. Coffee Break

10:15-12:30 p.m. Group discussions

12:00-1:00 p.m. Lunch (Pizza lunch in conference room)

1:15-3:15 p.m. Group discussions

3:15-3:30 p.m. Coffee Break

3:30-5:00 p.m. Wrap Up

4. Group Discussions

Women voices project (part 1)

Thursday, July 23 (notes from Susan Hai)

POP MODEL

Purpose
o To bring the voices of disadvantaged diversive young women, especially in conflict
situation to. To provide a time and a safe place for young womens voice to be heard.
To create a space for voices of young women to express their (emotions, dreams) in a context of
ecological and social breakdown. Honoring and listening to womens voices.
Process: Through personal narratives, we hope to discover common thread of limitations
especially focusing on young, vulnerable children
who are culturally diverse (around the world) who are in a state of being vulnerable. Through
personal narratives, we hope to discover common thread of especially focusing on young,
vulnerable children
With the purpose of changing the present state, through bringing life issues to light, and to show
options.
To bring up the voice of vulnerable women
Connecting social breakdown and ecological breakdown.
Choosing people in vulnerability
Questions

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 o Education
o Jobs
o Why
o Do you feel in a situation of vulnerability?
o What is your story? (telling a story heals the teller)
Selection
o Why did you choose her?
o Overcoming challenges
o This project is about women who the group would like to give a voice to.
Background
o We live in an unequal world where girls do not have the same voice.
o Womens struggles are often unheard.
o Relationship: the physical, environment surrounding
The borders, limits
Their own understanding of themselves
Rocio: Giving young women a way to voice and express
What do women have in common with each other, that brings dignity to life?
What are some common threads that are cross cultural, as well as understanding what
limitations that are hindering the most
Vulnerable to something positive, like resiliency
What determines the qualities of happiness? What is success and what is overcoming?

Women voices project (part 2)

Friday, July 24 (notes from Juliana M. Zanotto)

Make a list of who wants to join: name and what young women you would like to give voice to.
Some people dont feel they are ready to describe a person they would like to interview; they
need more time to think.
We have discussed we would have some questions prepared to use during the interview, it is
useful for editing purposes.
We need some training over the next few months (online) to understand how the interview
process works.
How do we want to help these girls? They may benefit from talking with someone who cares
and understands that there is a problem and is trying to do something about the situation.
Ethical framework: need prior and informed consent. Participants need to be clear about how
the material will be used, the purpose of the project, and we should show them the clips that
will be used.
Suggestion to have Mo and Rocio leading online workshops to teach us about documentary
filmmaking and the ethical framework options this project.
We could use collection of short stories sent from around the world. They are joined together to
form a long movie.
It looks like this would be an oral history project.

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 What does the end result look like? What are we trying to achieve? A movie that blows peoples
mind! And, that raise awareness about what we are doing to ecological systems. We will also
want to expose similarities and differences across the world.
After the first year we have the showing of the movie here and maybe the girls come with us.
We should share our stories too; girls might feel they are not alone. Maybe we could each write
about 15 lines about our stories.
If we want to raise money, we need to be more specific about the final product, so we can
approach donors. We also need to specify what we aim to achieve. We need to have
measurable goals. Donors will want to know where they money will be spent.
Maybe we dont need money to do this first part (the first round of interviews)
What about cameras? Should we use cell phone cameras?
We need footage that can be used in the final project.
Jesse mentioned earlier to Gonen that maybe he could get us cameras with GoPro

Fellows Exchange Program

Friday, July 24 (notes from Juliana M. Zanotto)

We want to visit each other. Examples: Jeremy, Jesse, Rocio, and Markendy in Haiti, Sofia and
Josefina and Mexico and Patagonia, Mo and Debjeet in India
Putting guidelines to help people think about that throughout the year
Website: www.bit.ly/ucifellows
At least two fellows in any proposal (traveler + host)
Need guidelines about what it means to be a host (what it is you are expected to provide)
Application process: Title for project + 500 words description
Needs to explain what it is you are going to do
Needs to estimate the flight ticket cost
Timeline: start next group to know about the project so they can network during the conference
with the project in mind
Applications accepted after September
There will be help to flush out the application
There will be a review committee
Suggestion about funding: maybe three donors, two of which are fixed and the other one is
always changing
Suggestion that applicants should be proactive in raising funding as well
We can communicate throughout the year so that we all know what people are doing and then
we may figure out the funding once we know what we want to do
Another idea for funding is crowdsourcing (even just within our group)
Maybe we could have a membership fee (e.g. $500) from local community members
Maybe we can combine half funding from donors and half crowdsourcing
We could also raise money by, for example, contributing with money from books we sell or
other services we provide.
During the conference we will have a section where fellows share the results from their visits.
What about creating our own complementary currency to help pay for it!
What about issues of liability, since we are fellows of UCI?

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Training on Complementary Currency
Friday, July 24 (notes from Juliana M. Zanotto)

Proposition: to do an online training for fellows (maybe once a week) about the
complementary currency (including basic knowledge about money, study of case studies,
design a prototype for ourselves)
Once fellows have a basic knowledge of how new kinds of money work, we may discuss the
challenges, we may discuss the possibilities to implement this
Once we all have some background, maybe we could think about creating our own
complementary currency
Suggestion: the course is made available online for a one moth period and people may go
into the platform and get trained on flexible times
Nicoles community runs a complementary currency for the past 5 years. It must be based
on something the community has excess of. They have a second-hand store composed of
things tourists donate and where people can get things for very cheap. Part of the staffs
salary is paid in cash and the other part on panchos. They can use panchos to buy things in
the store, to shop in the caf, in the gallery made of recyclable products. This incentivizes
desirable behavior. They generate about 10,000 panchos a month. Some people trade
panchos for cash with people who know they will use it in the store. The temptation is to
print more panchos. But, you need to be serious about the money because the system only
works if there is confidence in the money.
Suggestion to do an experiment with our own group and create our own conference (e.g.
sustainables)
Tinyurl.com/esonlinecourse

Empowering Women Luncheon

Friday, July 24 (notes from Juliana M. Zanotto)

need/desire to include men in the lunch: men want to understand womens issue and how we
can work together
some women feel like we should be together at the table because the balance requires always a
male and female component
some women feel there is value in meeting separately. Women have this as a safe space to
share and feel supported. Women only meetings have existed historically.
Maybe what we need is another meeting afterwards where men and women are joined to share
the outcomes of their discussion
Suggestion: women identify what a safe space means to all the women in the room. Once that is
set, men are invited into the room and the configuration is adjusted to provide a safe space for
all.
Women spaces have been necessary, but as things evolve, as we move forward, we need to
eliminate the need for these spaces
What is the purpose of the meeting?
I am satisfied local women are looking to support us
Having both men and women in the room allows us to in a short amount of time we have during
the week to hit it head on so we can take it home with us.

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 Suggestion for next year: Start with talk about what we are doing, to explain to the women why
we need a safe space, to explain the need for the transition, list what the women understand as
a safe space
Give some time for women to say bye before leaving the table
There is a difference in generation, maybe we are more prepared than the local women to feel
safe around men, but the local (older) women are not
Local women need to know why they are there
Souls have no gender, just because our institutions, society, relationships havent figured that
out yet, is does not make it less true that at that fundamental level there is equality
The space is bot very safe because it is being filmed
Community liked the men reading their letter
Not all conversations during the luncheon are deep, a lot of times it is just about what do you do
Dedicate an entire day for Empowering Women
It came up that it is only one lunch during the week, men should not feel uncomfortable, we
have a lot of other times where everyone is included
When are we going to empower Native Americans? We need to let them know they have our
support
Need to have a separate empowering women meeting with men and women, we need more
time. Find some time before or after the meeting.
During the luncheon we may foster deep conversations by directing the presentations and
having tools, games (e.g. having papers on each table with some questions and women go
around answering these questions). Maybe the questions on these pieces of paper could be sent
to Juliana by the female fellows.
Do not record the conversations after presentation.

5. Feedback from Fellows

Feedback from group discussion on Friday, July 24

(notes by Juliana M. Zanotto)

Best about conference: getting to know everybody, learning.

Suggestion: skill building (training) during the week. E.g. public speaking
Maybe something on funding as skill building
It is powerful to come every year
Suggestion: Mix presentations with dynamic activities to avoid siting down all the time
The conference inspires fellows own work, the groups gives strength and information
Suggestion: visit companies that are not doing well for the environment and visit companies
that have the same ideas we have
Needs more representation from native American voices
Share our stories, the work we are doing on the website
Positive things: ability to bring ideas back to community
Conference has developed a lot from year one
Coastal resilience was not so helpful for some fellows
people dont need to go to presentations/activities they dont find useful/relevant.

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 The group needs to clarify what its contribution is
There are few places in the world like this where just coming together has a value in itself, this is
an important political act.
How do we tell the story of fellows in a way that we can mobilize more resources? And, that it is
not inspiring just to us. We need to think about ways to showcase that.
Suggestion: Saturday for fellows, instead of having to check out on Saturday (Bring Back
Saturday)
Conference has changed some fellows life! Friendship for life. Informed work
Suggestion: training on how to write better proposals to get grants, training on facilitation
Suggestion: workshop where we work on a project ourselves. Fellows would come to the
conference with something (e.g. grant proposal draft) that other experts can help with
Suggestion: look at (discuss) how global financing has changed so fellows understand the
fundraising strategies that are more aligned with the reality
Suggestion: to share a course on facilitation (online). Needs to be translated.
Coastal resilience workshop was powerful, show what the future will be like for our children
The conference was really important in influencing fellows understanding of the world.
Appreciates the ability to be involved at such a young age. Eager to bring a lot of things back to
her friends/colleagues
Would like to help making food more local/sustainable
Conference was above expectation. Very powerful.
Fellow learned a lot, transformed as a person, acquired information beyond traditional,
scientific knowledge
The experience will be reflected in the things she will do in her work
Very important to share our experiences, we have been sharing among our selves. Would like to
share with faculty.
Suggestion: faculty/fellows dinner
Fellow appreciates the flexibility in the schedule
Liked the evening gathering (bbq)
Suggestion: To have a sustainability tour of the campus
Suggestion: To invite facility managers to talk about the initiatives on campus
Suggestion: To reduce the amount of waste (water bottles): buy gallons instead of individual
bottles

16
Feedback from Online Survey
The results below are from a survey sent to fellows through Survey Monkey. Sixteen fellows answered
the anonymous survey.

17


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Comments about Panels
The panel on paradigms, definitions, moral and ethics was great, It was verry interesting have
persons that work on the field exposing their view on this issues. There are no panel good or
bad,each panel was very interesting. I think that we need to continuos with this perpective of
paradigms, definitions and ethisc, stories of sucess, and stories of resistance
I enjoyed the variety of cases that were presented under a single theme. It showed the diversity
of passions, solutions, and challenges that each of our fellows embrace every day. I think time is
always against us every year. We should be very clear about the expectations on our panelists
and design a system for preparing and alerting them to their time limitations. Everyone deserves
to get their point across, but we need to communicate the constraints. As organizers, we should
also be mindful of our ability to buffer between speakers/activities. Leaving time to take two or
three questions after an individual speaker could serve as a mechanism for bridging speakers (of
course, don't forget to bring them together at the end for panel questions as well).
Maybe next year, add to the message of invitation of call for panelists, a document with some
tips to present, regarding story telling, the use of images and text... voice modulation, etc, etc,
etc.
I just think in some cases would be good to have more time for the questions and answers
section and the discussions around.
Watching the panels is a good opportunity to know about other experiences.
I think the panels were a great way to consolidate time and Q&A, but we were still so rushed! I
felt like it was inexcusable that Shirley and Troy had to rush their presentation...especially after
last year's issues with Jeff and Sky (from Hawaii). I think part of the issue is that the Coastal
Resilience Conference was integrated into our agenda, there was really not enough space to
accommodate our needs. We keep hearing that we are there to spend time together, but we
were still pulled in a lot of different directions, making it difficult to really connect. We should
have more than enough time immediately after the panels to cover everything, and nobody
should have to feel rushed in their presentation. I understand that we can talk about things
later, but momentum is vital to the exchange of ideas, and connecting later on is actually quite
difficult, because a lot of cell phones don't work, and people come from different parts of the
world making it hard to locate each other later in the evening.
I didin't think the panels had enough time for presenters or questions but other than that I really
like them. I also think next year we should definitely include a spirituality panel and perhaps
others that are more broad and less focused on specific projects.
All the panels were very interesting!! and also the group discussions.
They were very innovative, to the point, and conveyed the message well. Increased focus on
skills sharing would be a good idea. Reduced need for common project - most participants have
significant local commitments - interest is more in skills sharing - like how Nicole's actual
implementation of the Pancho alternative currency drove additional interest in Karla and
Ranulfo's project - as it was potentially applicable as a solution in many individuals' local projects
and contexts. That kind of synergy needs greater investment, but I feel Gonen's idea is really a
lot of additional work for many of us who are not already directly working with marginalized

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 girls, and stretches our time and resources to deliver, instead of solving an existing problem we
face, with the promise of increased results with our own issue areas (as the alternative currency
provides). Introducing new ideas and experiences - I appreciated Vivien's intervention on Cuba.
So my suggestion would be to push the entire conference towards creating more situations
where the Karla-Ranulfo, and then extension of application in Nicole's circumstance as a
practical example, are highlighted, and organic collaborations enabled, rather than trying to
envision a catch-all type of project that could bring us together, because despite the worth of
Gonen's idea, in terms of practicality and do-ability, it is challenging. Saira
I liked the themes for the panels and how everyone presented around that theme. I thought
that all of the panels were very strong and well presented. I believe this was a good format for
fellow presentations.
I belive that panel can give us a lot of information for start to write in a blog, make little vidos,
etc, for the blog... the panel is the fellows time and have a lot of us for that reazon we need to
compilate for the blog!
I liked the idea of thematic panels, would prefer a little more time (20 min each?)

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Comments about Workshops

The workshop tools for transformation was great. I just would like more time to do the work
proposed. Nothing to dislike. I think that for the next conference we should have more time to
work on tools for transformation.
I certainly enjoyed the handouts provided during the workshops. Reading materials are a great
resource for visual learners. I appreciated the flexibility of the presenters to allow our fellows to
discuss and express their opinions on the content of both workshops. Again, we had some time
issues and neither workshop felt as if it met its full potential for relaying information. We
probably needed a full 3-hour block for all the content Jade had to share. The transformations
workshop was the first time we allowed all fellows to express themselves in the "circle"
formation. I think the 2nd day is a great time to introduce this format and should have started in
the morning. First day panels are good to set the stage (familiar academic format) and introduce
a number of fellows to each other, but the real support comes from sharing our own stories and
contributing to the group discussions.
I desagree that the time allocated for the "self-care" workshop was appropriate, only because I
would have gone deeper on this. It sounds that Jade could have facilitated an activity to discover
something of our selves and work on that during the week... maybe... The only situation I do not
like about the location of the workshop, is not to have control of the air conditioned, which is
too cold every year... It makes me feel sick.
Both workshops were important and meaningful. The second one needed more time in order to
complete the tools appropriately. It is important to keep bringing workshops for personal and
professional developments, however I believe they should be different every year. They should
explore different skills and/or ideas every year.
I think the workshops were great! I just wish we could have more in future.
I liked the self-care one a lot but I think both of them were too close in subject matter to each
other. Workshops are a great thing to keep though. I would love to have nutrition training,
facilitating training, and public speaking training.
Th group discussions

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 For me a workshop must be more practical than theoretical, more "doing" and less "talking".
Would love to have more time for the self-care workshop and to implement some of the
suggestions... a circle disposition of the room would be more appropriate next time. And
certainly more time! I love the idea of the Transformation workshop, Maybe next time we can
ask for the fellows to share the tools they are using on their work... For example, I have access
to some interesting tools that we can explore next time, tools to work with local communities...
Possible workshops: - Communication tools to share our work. - Decision Making - Techniques
to work with groups - PR and Advocacy tools

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Comments on Presentations
I could not be present on all presentations of this workshop, because I was sick, but I can say
that they are verry interesting (some of them I was able to listen.) But I think that this workshop
could be more integrated in our discussion, i. e. , it would be great to discuss this issue, including
the view of our countries in a broad perspective. Maybe, if there are issues that are discussed in
ICU we can bring our expertise and view as comparative studies and so it can be great to
integrate this kind of discussion in the seminar empowering sustainability. I think that if it s
possible, to bring back someone of "the story of stuff project".
The content was certainly interesting and the varied perspectives on a single issue highlights the
challenge for California. However, two full days dedicated to the topic was a bit extreme
considering how limited our time can be. In my opinion, we are all "experts" in some category of
sustainability. I think it's important to invite the leading thinkers on some topics, but the benefit
of our group is the interaction outside the formality. The "experts" could learn a thing or two
from our group of "generalists, practitioners, and leaders."
I love the presentation by experts, however it could be 1 day only. The second day could have a
couple parallel activities, however more focused on the group development, instead of leisure.
If there is a social activity, it could be just a main social activity including all fellows.
I don't thing the Coastal Resilience was needed at all. Yes, it was of high quality, but it doesn't
really apply to what the vast majority of us do, and it really was about CA. In the end, it took
away from what we were there for ... to connect and learn from each other.
I thought the subject matter was interesting and informative, but repetitive. Two days of it really
cut into the sacred time that the fellows have together. I was torn though because I really did
enjoy the talks.
I thought that the presentations were very professional and full of interesting information.
However, I don't think they were Very helpful for the purposes of our conference because
almost all of them dealt with huge funding for privileged communities. Next year I believe we
should have presentations that include all types of communities not just the rich. Also more
presentations that look at these issues from a social perspective might be beneficial.
Topics: Water issues Social Enterprises, share economy and other models related with
sustainability Energy.

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Comments on Group Discussions

It was great the moment that we had our discussion outside, in the garden. My suggestion for
the next year is that we continuous on the same way.
I think that the discussions needed to be better focused and with expectations of clear
outcomes. They seemed to meander and not lead to clear results and it felt like it used a lot of
time on a few peoples personal projects that didn't necessarily feel like they were group
projects.
I typically prefer small group discussions, but it's important to have the full group involved on
some topics, especially when evaluating the week's best/needs improvement elements.
I think group discussions were very interesting and we should keep this format.
Discussion time was way too short. Very frustrating. There is SO MUCH GOOD presented, and
there is so much more that we want to talk about.
I LOVE DISCUSSIONS! I think they are the most valuable part of the conference. My only
suggestion is to have them in the park when technology is not required. :)
Maintained but on issues that are relevant to increasing skills and experiences to make us each
more effective in our own areas, instead of transplanting on idea and trying to fit its relevance
into our individual contexts.
The discussions are the best part of the conference and could only be improved by making them
a little more structured in terms of who talks when.
I witnessed conversations and communications that were growing out of what was learned or
experienced that day - they weren't communications "about" or "critiquing" the day - they were
continuations from previous events. As an observer- this was very telling of the inspiring and
cultivating environment of the daily schedule...

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Comments on Social Gatherings
I think that in this kind of moments we can talk and it s possible to stablish a relashioship with
other fellows. I think that for the next year conference we can plan a dinner, with each of the
fellows bringing a kind of reciep (plate) - an speciality of their own country.
I think the Wednesday afternoon social activity is appropriate after two full days of intense
meetings/panels/speakers. I think we could schedule a light social event on Monday evening to
get people talking more about the first day's panels. I understand the difficulty for booking a
Friday evening event and think Thursday music at the University Club was a great solution. As a
new idea, I think we should schedule a Saturday morning social breakfast event to close the
week and signify a fresh beginning.
I really like when fellows get organized to plan activities. Having the opportunity of being
creative and proactive and to lead, helps to build self-esteeme as well as team building. Even
though I do think that the bbq could have been organized better... I don not feel very
comfortable saying this, because I did not participated in the organization of non of those
activities... Anyway, I consider feasable to do the barbecue more much better.
I think our social gatherings were fantastic, they are an amazing opportunity to exchange ideas,
identify potential products, build a strong network, get to know our fellows, I just think we
should include maybe another evening of social gathering or a social gathering the Sunday
previous the conference as we used to do it.
These are the times we really bond, and have GREAT conversations about a variety of issues and
topics. I don't feel that the fellows are granted resources to make these happen the way they
should, but at the end of the day, we are all together, and that is what matters most. Also, a few
fellows paid for most of these things, and that isn't really fair to them.
Wonderful way to bond and show ourselves to each other without professional pressure.
It would be beneficial to allow greater independence and flexibility for us to organize these
things. And more time. Two half days during the day time, and every evening (if that is what we
want to do) would be good. Not all need to be parties - there can be teach-ins. Increased role of
American participants (locals to LA) in this would help a lot, we could come in to support in
many other ways.
I believe the social activities were awesome and great for building friendships. It would have
been nice to have a van though to get to the beach and mall. Also maybe the conference could
set aside a little bit of money if an activity arises naturally like the bbq.
I liked the fact that the fellows organized the trip to the beach and the barbecue... I just don't
know if it's fair that a couple of fellows had a lot of work and money invested. Maybe next year
we can plan things in advance.
I would vote that the social activities be planned prior to conference by the organizers. My
reasoning is this - after we discovered what everyone liked (the BBQ, the Beach, etc... ) It would
have been better to have the carpools more organized, and shopping and such done ahead of
time. There was a lot of time and energy going towards addressing logistics that could've been
eliminated with prior planning.

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Comments on Logistics
The workshop tools for transformation. I dislike the workshop on California Resilience Fostering
Climate Resilient Coastal Communities because it was not integrated in our discussion, i. e. , it
would be great to discuss this issue, including the view of our countries in a broad perspective.
Maybe, if there are issues that are discussed in ICU we can bring our expertise and view as
comparative studies and so it can be great to integrate this kind of discussion in the seminar
empowering sustainability. II think that I will work on this tools for transformation in my own
work, and also the workshop self preservation resistance has help me a lot !!! I hope that if it s
possible for the next year: i) bring back someone of "the story of stuff project", ii) have more
tome to the workshop tools for transformation.
When thinking about how to describe the event, I think it might help to use participant
testimonials. Technically, it's a week of presentations, discussions, reflections, and other
activities designed to rejuvenate, challenge, and inspire the sustainability practitioner. No two
weeks are the same and the outcome is unpredictable. When possible, I'll keep coming back to
share and to learn from this incredible group striving to be more impactful in the work they do
and to maintain a global awareness.

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 I liked everything. One thing I missed and I would love to see in the Conference again is the visit
to the Ecology center or other appropriate venue. In fact, I do believe it would be much more
meaningful than just going to the beach. The conference to me, it is a space to refresh, reflect
and get inspired to keep working, learning and sharing sustainability principles.
What I like (love) most about the conference are the amazing people that are there.
Really...amazing. Dislike: still too much moving and needing to be here and there ... not enough
time to digest. I don't want to say the Coastal Resilience element was a waste of time, but it
took away from the time we could have had together. The conference will be awesome in
whatever form it takes, but we could make it way better ... and more effective for each of us,
and our work by giving us more time with each other. We see each other once a year (for the
most part), and to have as tight of a schedule as we did, it makes it tough to maximize that time.
Field trips to the beach / hiking / cultural visits are important, and also quite different from the
Coastal Resilience topics that only apply to a few of us. As Saira (spelling?) told me, being
together needs to be enough. It is vital in and of itself. I gain so much from the other fellows,
and I want to spend as much time as I can with them. The organizers do an amazing job, and I
know it is not easy ... :)
I grew closer this year to people than last year and I felt I contributed more this year and really
felt a part of it. This conference makes me excited for my life and my future and shows me the
enormous amount of love and humility that exists in the world. I only disliked the 2 days of coast
resilience since most of the group did not go and I wanted to go. This conference shows me how
to look above the fog of my day-to-day stress and see the bigger picture of what I'm working
towards. It is so inspiring.
I see a positive change from the first year... I like the idea of a "gathering" to invest some time in
ourselves to strengthen our work and skills. Although I like Pippin's food :) I'm supporting the
idea of a change in the meals, maybe opting for something more local.. the idea of explore some
other options would be nice. We can cook for ourselves too a couple of nights (and maybe this
can free some of the budget for the trip to the beach?)
I think maybe having 2 people assigned to food issues might be helpful to the organizers.
I would like to say, at some point and time - everyone should be here for inspiration, knowledge
sharing, collaboration and such... sometimes - trying to please a crowd can shift the energy
from where it needs to be. I know that people don't like pippin... but it "is what it is"... And this
isn't a vacation.

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