Beat reporting

The Resilience Beat: Reporting on Climate, Population, and Health

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• published: 04 Dec 2014
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From megacities to small coastal communities, more people than ever before are confronting the challenges of climate and other environmental changes. And more than ever before, we rely on the media to raise the awareness of policymakers and the public in order to increase our resilience in the face of these challenges. But reporting on resilience requires pushing the boundaries of traditional beats, looking beyond national borders and exploring new angles such as human rights, population dynamics, disaster preparedness, and women’s health. Best-selling author Alan Weisman will give a keynote presentation on his experience researching and promoting his landmark book, "Countdown: Our Last, Best Hope for a Future on Earth?" which is now available in paperback. For Countdown, he spoke to experts in 21 countries about the challenges a growing population poses to a sustainable future and found a simple solution in empowering women through education and voluntary family planning. Following his presentation, a roundtable panel of environment and health reporters will discuss their surprising new stories where climate change meets resilience, population, and health. This event is a part of our “Managing Our Planet” seminar series, which is developed jointly by George Mason University, the Brazil Institute, and the Environmental Change and Security Program. It is based on the premise that the impacts of humanity on the environment (including natural resources) are planetary in scale and require planetary-scale solutions.