"Those who tell the stories rule the world."
-Proverb of the Native American Hopi Tribe
On March 12 1932, America was in crisis: banks closed, industries shut down, many millions thrown out of work. Desperate bands roamed the countryside in search of food and shelter. Worse still, in large sections of the country the weather had changed violently, covering once productive fields and towns with vast quantities of dust that choked out every living thing. People were frightened. It seemed that the very edifice of government was beginning to crumble. But one man was not afraid. That evening, in a calm and steady voice, he sat down to speak to the American people, directly: "I want to talk for a few minutes with the people of the United States…," he began. "I want to tell you what has been done in the last few days, why it was done, and what the next steps are going to be."
With that simple start, Franklin Delano Roosevelt began to heal a wounded nation. He accomplished this in no small part through the use of positive narrative — ‘storytelling’ — the hallmark of successful presidents from Lincoln to Teddy Roosevelt. Throughout his 40-odd Fireside Chats, his over 900 press conferences and his countless speeches, again and again Roosevelt used stories to tap into humankind’s primeval need to understand issues not only in intellectual terms, but on an emotional level as well — a method that drew listeners into the narrative and made them active participants in the outcome of their own story. Color, creed or political stripe didn’t matter, insisted Roosevelt at every opportunity. We were all simply in this together. Later, with the arrival of war, FDR further honed this message. America was not simply fighting the Axis, he reminded us, Americans were fighting for freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, freedom from fear — throughout the world, for everyone.
Seventy years later, we in America have for the most part abandoned or corrupted the use of positive narrative in US domestic politics, choosing instead to bury opposition under a deluge of competing noise, slice political discourse with divisive accusations, and worst of all use demagoguery to cloud vital issues that affect us all.
Internationally, the situation is even more bleak. Lacking strong, shared convictions about what America is or represents, we’ve allowed others to hijack our national narrative, twisting and contorting it to their own purposes, often to the danger and detriment of the United States and its allies.
On Saturday, November 14th, The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Foundation will bring together a unique confluence of diplomats, politicians, historians, social scientists and most important of all — professional story-tellers — to examine this problem. Beginning with a study of FDR’s use of narrative, we’ll explore the psychological power of story-telling on the human mind, and propose multi-disciplinary ways to restore and invigorate the narrative of the United States at home and abroad.
Speakers
R.J. Bee is Senior Vice President, Hattaway Communications where he manages day-to-day operations at Hattaway and leads project teams to create research-based strategies, content and campaigns for U.S. and international organizations such as the Rockefeller Foundation, Energy Foundation, USAID, World Health Organization, City Year and Packard Foundation. Before joining Hattaway, R.J. consulted for technology and clean energy startups, political candidates and nonprofit organizations. R.J. earned an M.A. in International Relations from the University of Chicago and a B.A. in Political Science from the Ohio State University.
Katherine Brown currently serves as the Executive Director of the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy at the State Department. She previously served in the U.S. government as an assistant to the National Security Advisor at the White House; as a communications advisor at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul; and as a Professional Staff Member at the Committee on Foreign Affairs at the U.S. House of Representatives. Katherine also worked throughout South Asia as a Communications Manager for The Asia Foundation and as one of the original editorial staff members for Bloomberg View, the opinion platform for Bloomberg News. She has taught international political theory and communications at American University and at Columbia University, where she received her Ph.D. in Communications in 2013.
Brett Bruen is president of the Global Situation Room and the former Director of Global Engagement at the White House. During twelve years as a U.S. diplomat, Brett became a specialist in using strategic communications to influence the course of crisis and conflict. As Director of Global Engagement at the White House, he created some of the government’s most innovative programs for reaching new audiences around the world. While at the White House, he was responsible for public diplomacy programs, international media, crisis communications, and globalentrepreneurship. In his current role as President of the Global Situation Room, he runs a consulting firm specializing in strategic communications, international public policy, and crisis management. He also serves as an adjunct faculty member of the Federal Executive Institute, where he trains senior U.S. Government leaders on strategy and world affairs.
David Ensor is a Fall Term Fellow at the Shorenstein Center in the Harvard Kennedy School, writing about U.S. international broadcasting and digital media. In May, he completed four years serving as Director of the Voice of America in Washington, DC. VOA is a U.S. funded, editorially independent media organization, which reaches over 170 million people a week in 45 languages through television, radio, internet and social media. Ensor also served as Communications director at the US Embassy, Kabul, Afghanistan and as Vice President of a Swiss commodity trading firm. He was a network news correspondent for 32 years, at NPR, ABC News and CNN.
Isaac Fitzgerald has been a firefighter, worked on a boat, and been given a sword by a king, thereby accomplishing three out of five of his childhood goals. He is the editor of BuzzFeed Books and co-author of Pen & Ink: Tattoos and the Stories Behind Them. More at www.isaacfitzgerald.net.
Joshua Green is a VP of Digital Strategist at Arnold. His experience includes developing consumer-facing online and mobile products and helping create the organizational changes to realize them. He’s designed near and future-states for customer service systems, created new products and editorial practices for content companies, run influencer and digital campaigns, and created and run original consumer research projects using custom-built research techniques. Joshua earned a PhD in Media Studies writing 300-pages about Dawson’s Creek and Australian television, and is a big fan of home cooking and mass transit.
Ambassador (r.) David Huebner is a partner in Arnold & Porter LLP’s international arbitration, public international law, and national security practices. Previously he held senior positions in the Asia Pacific region, including as Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa, chairman & CEO of an international law firm, founding chief representative of a firm in Shanghai, and special policy assistant to a member of Japan’s Diet. He is a graduate of Princeton University (summa cum laude) and Yale Law School, and a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Brad Jenkins is the Managing Director and Executive Producer of Funny Or Die DC. For the last four years, Jenkins served as President Obama’s liaison and director of engagement to the creative and advocacy communities, bringing together creative executives, advocacy leaders, and some of the world’s biggest stars to advance the President’s agenda — including his Emmy-award winning “Between Two Ferns” interview on the Affordable Care Act. Jenkins also served President Obama in the 2008 Presidential campaign as the Deputy Director of Special Projects directing the intersection of youth media and grassroots engagement. Before the 2008 campaign, Jenkins worked on the trading desk for asset management firm, Farallon Capital in San Francisco, CA. He now resides in Bloomingdale in Washington D.C. and spends most of his time changing diapers and performing living room comedy for his 2 year-old daughter, Sadie and 6 month-old son, Oscar.
Cynthia M. Koch is Public Historian in Residence at Bard College. She was Director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum Hyde Park, NY, 1999-2011. She holds B.A. Pennsylvania State University; M.A. and Ph.D. from University of Pennsylvania. Her publications include a number of articles on Franklin Roosevelt, including “Franklin Roosevelt’s Dutchness: At Home in the Hudson Valley” in Dutch New York: The Roots of Hudson Valley Culture (Oxford, 2009). In 2011, Cynthia delivered the 5th Annual Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial Lecture at Adams House, Harvard.
John W. Rendon, Jr., is CEO and President of The Rendon Group, Inc. a leading global strategic communication consultancy that has worked in or on 127 countries. He is considered to be a leading pioneer in the use of strategic communications as an element of power and a thought-leader in harnessing the power of emerging technologies in support of real time information management. He has served as an executive communications consultant to the White House, U.S. Department of Defense, and Fortune 500 companies. He participates in forward-thinking organizations including the Aspen Institute, Highlands Forum and lectures at many institutions and universities on the impact of emerging information technologies on the way populations think and behave. For TRG, there are no foreign countries, only new ones.
Lieutenant Colonel Scott Thomson joined the United States Army in 1987, serving in various Armor and Cavalry units as an enlisted Soldier and as an Armor officer. He has served as a Psychological Operations officer in the United States Army Reserve since 2006 in various capacities, including detachment commander, company commander, battalion operations officer, and battalion commander. LTC Thomson holds master’s degrees in communications management and military arts and sciences. He is currently a National Security Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Anne Terman Wedner currently serves as a commissioner on the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy. Previous to her political involvement, Anne developed strategic marketing and communications programs in the advertising and the financial services industries. In her early career, Anne represented the United States as a foreign service officer in France and Venezuela. Anne is also currently a board member of Harvard GlobalWe and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Anne holds a master of arts in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and a AB from Harvard University.
Jed Willard directs the FDR Center for Global Engagement at Adams House, honoring the 32nd President’s legacy by pursuing solutions to current global challenges and keeping in mind their historical origins. Current efforts focus on climate change, information and influence, and revitalizing faith in the post-Enlightenment tradition, the Arctic, the Transatlantic Alliance, and the linkages between cultural and economic diplomacy. Willard is also a consultant and Founding Director of the Public Diplomacy Collaborative at the Kennedy School. Earlier he was a founding partner and board member at LanguageCorps, launching 16 work-abroad programs on four continents. Willard is from New Orleans, with a Bachelors Degree in History (Adams House ’96) and a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Harvard.
Schedule of Lectures and Workshops
9:30-9:40
Welcome by Judy Palfrey, Master of Adams House
9:40-10:15
"The American Story: From Washington to Roosevelt, Reagan and Beyond" History has been put to use by American leaders since the earliest days of the republic. It helped form—and expand—a nation based on principles of freedom, equality, and divinely inspired exceptionalism. In the 20th century Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, two of the nation’s greatest communicators, used history to advance their political agendas. But in the 21st century we realize that many Americans were left out of this triumphalist vision. Is the “master narrative” of American exceptionalism still available to American leaders? If not, what can replace it?
Cynthia Koch
10:20-11:30
Morning Panel: "Storytelling in a Noisy World" America has failed to present a coherent, convincing, and consistent counter narrative to the aggressive propaganda efforts of Russia and ISIS. Instead, the United States often falls into the trap of merely countering misinformation. To win on the modern information battlefield, the United States must place greater emphasis on creating and advancing a compelling meta-narrative across its programs and those of its allies.
Brett Bruen, Isaac Fitzgerald, Scott Thompson
11:30-12:30
Lunch
12:45-1:30 – (choose one)
Workshop 1A — Public Relations — "What Motivates the Millennial Generation?"
How is the "digital generation" influencing America’s 21st-century story? Do those born after 1980 engage with peers, policies, corporations and brands differently from their forebears? Explore the intersection of politics, public relations, and youth-organizing.
R.J. Bee and students
Workshop 1B — Political Science — "Influence Operations: Art or Science?" Discuss the use of strategic communications as an element of power. How do we harness the power of emerging technologies in support of real time information management? What does this practice look like from the White House? From the Defense Department? From the private sector?
John Rendon
Workshop 1C — Public Diplomacy — "The Limits of Persuasion" Does America’s hard (material) power eclipse its soft power? Do US information activities effectively support foreign policy objectives? Participants in this workshop will learn how the US employs smart power tactics and share their feelings and advice about the government’s limitations.
Katherine Brown
1:45-2:30 – (choose one)
Workshop 2A — History —"The Fictional Inevitability of Liberal Democracy""Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others" – Winston Churchill
Was FDR’s chum right? Join our breakout group to consider current and historic forms of government that continue to appeal to world audiences. Through role play, discussion and debate, isolate the factors that create contemporary governing challenges for liberal democracy and help us answer the question: Is liberal democracy something for which we will still fight?
Jed Willard, Anne Wedner
Workshop 2B — International Broadcasting — "International Broadcasting and Media: Exporting the First Amendment in the Digital Age" In an increasingly crowded and competitive global media space, does advocacy trump impartiality? Should the Voice of America be a full-throated advocate for American policy–for the White House of the day–or should it be as it is now, an independent journalistic organization with the goals of balance, objectivity and honesty? That is a debate underway in Washington. I am on one side of it, but want my workshop participants to understand both points of view.
David Ensor
Workshop 2C — Advertising — "Framing and Narrative in the Digital Age" Which traditional rules of advertising still hold, and which traditions are out of date? How do leading brands understand the social networks where they wish to communicate and "cut through the noise?" Do product lines need story lines? At this workshop, learn how is branding today different from branding in the 20th century.
Josh Green
2:45-3:55
Afternoon Panel: "Where We Go From Here" Building on the discussions throughout the day, we’ll talk about the overall challenges and opportunities that have been surfaced, and focus on potential solutions and ideas for using the power of positive narrative and strategic storytelling to help restore our image abroad and advance the goals of the United States.
R.J. Bee, Brad Jenkins, Cynthia Koch
4:00-4:45
8th Annual Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial Lecture" ‘What is Our Story, Anyway?’ American Narratives in the 21st Century"
We still have places left for our Beyond Tomorrow Conference next weekend October 16th-18th, including a very small number of seats for the gala dinner Saturday evening featuring Alexander Bernstein and Carla Dirlikov in a special program: ‘Take Care Of This House’: Leonard Bernstein, Music and Hope.
On Saturday November 14th, we’ll be hosting a one-day conference Telling our Story: The Power of Positive Narrative in US Politics and International Relations, which will examine the current breakdown in domestic political discourse as well as the dysfunctionality of the American message abroad, and will seek to shape and hone the image of who we are and what we stand for as a nation in the 21st century. We’re delighted that the key note of this conference will include the 7th Annual FDR Memorial Lecture by Ambassador David Huebner: “‘What is Our Story, Anyway?’ Defining the Message and Meaning of America in the 21st Century.” 2015 is a reception year, which means the now famous The Roosevelt Raw Bar Returns! Ticket and more information can be found by clicking the image below.
And finally, join us Saturday, December 12th, as the FDR Suite celebrates the holiday season in style. There’ll be hot cider, caroling round the piano, and informal tours of the Suite 2-5. More on that as we get closer.
Adams House, the FDR Foundation, and the El Camino Project are pleased to present a ground-breaking three-day conference and concert experience: Beyond Tomorrow: Safeguarding Civilization Through Turbulent Times. I’ll let you read the full details HERE but, in short, this unique event will gather experts from the worlds of science, government, and the arts to answer civilization-shaking questions: what is to be our legacy? Can we proactively preserve cherished elements of our culture for the future, or is history really written only by the “winners,” if at all? And, if we can, which elements should we attempt to preserve, and how?
Joining the group will be internationally known figures such as columnist David Brooks, ethnobotanist Mark Plotkin, opera star Carla Dirlikov, historian Michael McCormick, Ambassador Bruce Oreck, and archaeologist Laurie Rush, among many others. Each day will feature a variety lectures and workshops, along with special performances celebrating our cultural heritage. Saturday evening brings a rare return of Alexander Bernstein to Harvard, with a gala dinner and concert: ‘Take Care Of This House’: Leonard Bernstein, Music and Hope.
This will be a truly special gathering, which happens to coincide with the Head of the Charles Regatta, making it the perfect autumn weekend to be at Harvard. Tickets are available for the entire conference, or a la carte for individual days/events through the link above. If you are considering attending, I urge you to book your tickets now, as this is a special pre-announcement for FDR friends before the general notice next week, and places are quite limited.
Adams House, Harvard College, The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Foundation and the El Camino Project are pleased to co-present a three-day conference and concert experience, bringing together a diverse community of scholars, artists, writers and activists dedicated to preserving our past and charting our future in turbulent times.
Program Description
Modern civilization has at its core a mission of preservation: it is by its very definition the physical manifestation of the entire human experience, using the collected expressions of art, music, literature and philosophy as a well-font to feed and inform future endeavor. We presume as a matter of course that this knowledge base will continue to be valued and augmented, and that the core principles of civilization — the rule of law, the right to enlightenment and self-expression, the concern for general health and welfare — will continue to guide the march of human progress.
But what if…. Not?
What happens when the foundations of modern civilization come under deliberate and determined assault? What happens when certain people or groups attempt to obliterate entire aspects of human endeavor in order to hasten their own view of the world?
What happens to civilization when evil regimes attempt to re-write history, shifting or killing entire populations? What happens when entire cultural systems are swallowed and destroyed by uncontrolled commercial development? And perhaps most worrisome of all, what happens when shifting patterns of climate force drastic and deadly changes on entire populations? What happens to modern civilization then? If history is any guide, it eventually collapses.
At Harvard this October 16-18, we will accept the inevitability of this change, and begin the process of planning beyond the short term — Beyond Tomorrow. How do we go about selecting what to save and what to lose? How do we harden these elements against assault? How do we increase the odds of our civilization surviving through the dangerous times ahead?
Conference Schedule
4:00-6:30pm: Opening Session
Location:
Adams House Lower Common Room
Greeting: Marcela Davison Aviles, Managing Director, El Camino Project
“Climate Change and the Fall of the Roman Empire”. Michael McCormick
Drought, fire, pestilence and shifting weather patterns? It sounds familiar in 2015. But how about 215? Join us to hear one of the world’s premiere historians, Michael McCormick, the Francis Goelet Professor of Medieval History, discuss how changes in weather patterns may have hastened the end of the empire in the West. Then, picking up precisely where Professor McCormick leaves off, renowned operatic diva Carla Dirlikov explores the transformation of Latin to Latin America in an inspired half-hour program of vocal magic that bridges two millennia. An intermezzo of specially themed Latin-inspired food & wine links the programs.
Alumni and Guests: $20. Students free. Limited to 75.
Location: Boylston Hall, Harvard Yard:
Saturday’s program of lectures and workshops will focus on historical societal collapses, and delve into stresses on our present systems.
Morning Program
10:00-10:45am: Coffee meet-and-greet
10:45 AM Welcome, Michael Weishan, Executive Director FDR Foundation 11:00am-12:15pm: “Don’t Worry, It’s Not the End of the World — Just the End of Ours”
Ambassador Bruce Oreck
The term “existential threat” has been bandied about so often that it’s lost much of its force, but the reality is that it’s increasingly unlikely that the nations of the West can maintain anything like their current standard of living beyond the next few decades. Ambassador Oreck surveys the challenges confronting us, and spotlights why this conference is so timely and urgent.
12:15-1:30pm: Lunch in Ticknor Lounge, Courtesy of the Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies
1:30-2:15pm: Afternoon Workshops (choose one): Lessons from the Past: “The Fate of the Maya: Climate and Social Justice” Alex Tokovinine
A variety of factors led to the end of the Classic Maya civilization. Many of their great cites were abandoned and swallowed by the forest. But the Mayan people remained and adapted to the new, post-Classic period. What was lost and what was retained during the transition, and what can we learn from the survival of the Mayans?
Lessons from the Present: “Too Hot to Handle: Business Strategies for Surviving Climate Change” Nancy Israel
One forward-looking company responded to change by transforming itself from a stagecoach company to a banking conglomerate. Another from long distance telegraph to high tech security. The lesson is clear: in business you adapt or die. So what are the strategies corporations need to survive in a world of rising temperatures?
Lessons from the Present Lina Perla Perelman “Out of Water: Resilence of Urban Water Structures in the Wake of Disruptions”
Using an innovative attack-defender game, this workshop explores the dangers faced by urban water networks from natural disasters and manmade attacks.
2:30-3:15pm: Afternoon Workshops (choose one): Lessons from the Past: Sandeep Das “Preserving Culture through Music”
Music is perhaps the preeminent human practice for preserving past cultures. Through music we keep the past vividly alive, and experience as closely as possible the feelings of our ancestors. In this performance and lecture we will describe how history is preserved through music and help participants get into the minds of those who came before us.
Lessons from the Present: Laurie Rush “The Practicalities of Protecting Antiquities”
There are forces in Iraq, Syria, and around the world working to destroy the physical legacy of thousands of years of art and culture. What are the US Army and our allies doing to save our ancient heritage – and to document what cannot be physically saved? And how have these ancient monuments survived over the millennia in the first place?
3:30-4:40pm: Afternoon Panel “What’s Worth Saving” with David Brooks, Carla Dirlikov and Mark Plotkin, moderated by Ambassador Bruce Oreck.
What is the essence of our civilization? Our books? Our buildings? Our sculpture? Our song? Is it our philosophy of governance? Our social structure? Our “way of life?” With sea levels rising, alternative ideologies spreading, and time marching relentlessly along, how do we identify what it is about our culture that we hope to leave as our legacy?
Alumni and Guests: $20. Students free, though sign-up required. Limited to 125.
6:30-9:00pm
Gala Dinner and Concert at Adams House followed by the concert: ‘Take Care Of This House’: Leonard Bernstein, Music and Hope.
Join Mezzo-Soprano Carla Dirlikov, Maestro Bernstein’s son Alexander, and pianist Justin Snyder as they create a program of music, conversation and images illustrating Bernstein’s lifelong commitment to a love of learning and a faith in a music as a force for justice.
Alumni and Guests $100; Limited to 60
Location: Boylston Hall, Harvard Yard
Sunday’s program of lectures and workshops will focus on possible causes of future collapses, and the means to avoid them.
Morning Program
10:45am-12:00pm: “Legacy & Resilience” Laurie Rush, Julie Wormser, Erik Conway, moderated by Mark Plotkin
Every civilization ends. Some leave a rich legacy of language, art, and culture. Some become idealized as “classical” periods. Some leave bricks in the desert. Some disappear entirely. Looking to the future, what can our civilization do to ensure a positive legacy?
12:00-1:00 Brunch at Adams House, courtesy of the FDR Foundation
1:00-1:45 “Cultural Capital” Doris Sommer
While science and technology must help to preserve cultures, cultural work needs to enable science and citizenship. Without an educated and creative public that can think critically and judge evidence, technical advances are blocked by interested maneuvering. During this session we will consider the power of art to refresh perception and to level relationships to promote dynamic democracies.
2:00-2:45pm: Afternoon Workshops (choose one):
Lessons for the Future: Russell Hancock “The Devolution of Problem Solving: Silicon Valley’s New Model for Regional Collaboration”
Some of the most pressing problems of our time, including climate change, aren’t being addressed in gridlocked state capitols – nor in Washington. In the future, metropolitan regions will come forward as pragmatic problem solvers, taking collective action across jurisdictional (and sectoral) boundaries to make genuine progress.
Lessons for the Future: Julie Wormser “Oceanview: Keeping the There There in Boston in the Face of Sea Level Rise”
Even if the world pulls together to battle climate change, some degree of sea level rise is inevitable. How do we save what makes our coastal cities unique – and how do we adapt to the loss of what we cannot save?
Lessons for the Future: Michael Frankel “The Day the Lights Went Out for Good”
While military planners are well aware of the dangers from Electro Magnetic Pulses (EMPs) from nuclear weapons, the general public is almost entirely ignorant of one of the greatest of all dangers to modern civilization: EMPs caused by the sun. Solar storms have historically produced bursts that would completely destroy today’s electronic devices and collapse the entire US power grid, yet almost no preparations are being made for an event that has an almost 100% certainty of occurring within the next 100 years.
3:00-4:00pm: “The Collapse of Western Civilization & How to Avoid It” Erik Conway
It is exceedingly likely that climate change will alter the world such that our political economy will have to profoundly adjust in order to survive. Whether or not that adjustment occurs is up to us and our successors. The conference ends with a view from the future, based on Erik Conway’s and Naomi Oreskes’ critically acclaimed book.
Alumni and Guests: $20. Students free, though sign up required. Limited to 125.
4:30-6:30pm: Closing performance and reception, Adams LCR, by invitation.
MARCELA AVILES DAVISON, ’80, Executive Director, El Camino Project
CARLA DIRLIKOV – Mezzo-soprano and Founder, El Camino Project
NANCY ISRAEL ’76, Climate change and sustainability consultant and business lawyer
JED WILLARD ’96, Director, FDR Center for Global Engagement
MICHAEL WEISHAN ’86 Executive Director FDR Foundation, PBS Host, author, historian
My stay in Paris has been amazing. For aside from the multitudinous cultural pleasures of visiting Paris (my first time) I’ve been introduced to a radically different way of thinking — encouraged to stretch the applications of biological knowledge to fields that previously seemed incompatible with biology — in this case, to the evolution of urban design.
In our Biology and the Evolution of the Smart City summer study program, we attend class daily, and every one of our lectures has two components: a biology section, and another in urban planning and design.
The biology component explores biological principles and their urban parallels. In particular, we’ve discussed is transport in living things, paying particular focus on transport of oxygen in human beings, birds, and fish. We explored the complex systems that helps these organisms effect this transport, the differences between these systems, the impact these differences have on their oxygen transport efficiency, and the inspiration we could draw from the design of these systems while addressing transport challenges in major cities especially congestion, efficiency, and crime.
The urban planning and design component discusses the different approaches urban planners have taken in designing and redesigning cities, explores the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches, and exposes us to the new ideas that are attempting to revolutionize urban planning especially ones inspired by biology.
From all this, I’ve learned one very interesting lesson: the solutions to the most intricate problems facing cities already exist — not in urban planning and design manuals, but in nature, as complex living things have faced and solved the same problems experienced by cities.
One particularly fun part of our program is that we get to design our own projects and pitch them to the mayor of Paris before we depart. My teammates and I have decided to focus on waste — especially the recycling component of waste management which remains a big problem in Paris. From our research we realized that of all the potentially recyclable waste in Paris, only 35% is actually recycled. This falls below the recommended recycling percentage of 50% proposed by the UN for all EU countries. Also, the 65% that’s not recycled is dumped in different disposal sites outside the city where it’s either incinerated creating pollution problems or left to form ugly landfills. We also realized that the recycling goal remained elusive largely because a recycling culture hadn’t been cultivated in many Parisians who considered recycling an extra chore/burden on their already overwhelming plate. Waste is largely seen as ugly, annoying, and cumbersome to handle thus many prefer to leave the waste management burden to the government and forget that waste ever existed.
Our project aims to reverse this perception by presenting waste as a tool for fostering artistic creativity, fostering intercultural collaboration, and having fun. To ensure maximum impact, we are targeting the young specifically those in middle school and high school since they will more readily take up new ideas and are more willing to experiment, hoping these then will be our ambassadors and spread these ideas to the elderly. We are working on a new school curriculum meant to reinvent sustainability education. In this curriculum, students will be encouraged to engage more with waste by researching on and writing about existing waste management infrastructure in their region. The goal is to make waste a subject that’s more present and readily discussed rather than one easily ignored.
The curriculum will emphasize fieldwork where students visit the different waste disposal sites and learn of existing waste management practices, constantly engage with their local government department dealing with waste to understand existing policies, and engage with local community members to understand how they deal with trash at the local level. Students will also be encouraged to create art from disposed/disposable material and share their art with students in other school. To enable us realize this goal, we are working on an online platform which will: help consolidate existing material on sustainability-art synergy, enable artists exploring this field to constantly upload/share their work with the students, and enable students share their artistic
recycling ideas and upload their waste-art projects for other students to see and derive
inspiration from.
The biological principle that inspired this project was the nitrogen cycle, where nitrogen undergoes different transformative processes at different stages, converting to a useful products at each stage that benefits the ecosystem. Similarly we wish to transform different waste products into useful byproducts and then share the knowledge with others so that they can also create useful products from stuff that seems useless. It’s all about thinking forward, and I’m tremendously thankful for this opportunity to explore new regions where the sciences and humanities interact.
Editor’s Note These experiences are made possible entirely through your generosity. Please give generously!
I’m sorry I have not been able to reach out yet during my time in Rwanda, but my access to internet has been severely limited, especially now that I am working in a rural hospital in a small village. Luckily, I am in Kigali (the Rwandan capital) for the weekend and I found an internet café to check e-mail. I apologize that I won’t be able to send you many pictures until I get back to the United States because the internet connection is simply not strong enough to send such large e-mails.
Teresa Oszkinis
I am having a wonderful time here. During the month of June, I was studying at the Integrated Polytechnic Regional Center (IPRC), the largest technical training school in Rwanda. In the mornings, we would have either French or Kinyarwanda lessons. French was the colonial language under Belgian rule, which is why it is spoken by many of the older people in Rwanda. Kinyarwanda is the local language spoken throughout Rwanda and has proven to be much more useful than French. After lunch, we would have lessons on medical instrumentation in the developing world, reviewing the equipment that we would likely see and learning basic repairs. This would be followed by laboratory, where we would build various devices from a simple flashlight to a variable rectifier in order to gain practice with electronics.
During this time, I was staying in a homestay right on campus. My host mom Christine was very sweet and made us feel like a part of the family. Christine is a professor of chemistry and environmental science on campus. We also lived with her daughter, two sisters, a cousin, and the domestic worker. Living in a homestay was an incredible opportunity to practice our Kinyarwanda language skills and learn about Rwandan culture. We also got to experience a typical Rwandan diet, which includes rice, potatoes, cooked plantains, beans, cassava leaves, avocado and corn. Rwanda also has amazing fruit, including pineapple, passion fruit, tree tomato, and mango.
After four weeks of intensive training, our larger group of sixteen was broken into pairs and sent to hospitals throughout the country. I am currently in Byumba, the capital of the Gicumbi district in the Northern Province. It is a small rural village, but it is absolutely beautiful. Rwanda is known as the country of 1,000 hills and nowhere is this more appropriate than Byumba.
The Rwandan Countryside
There are lush green terraced hills for as far as the eye can see. Foreigners are a very rare occurrence here so whenever my partner and I walk down the street, we tend to be the center of attention. People are very friendly and delighted to see us wherever we go. The children especially are adorable and run up to us to hug us and hold our hands.
The hospital in which I work is the Byumba District Hospital. My partner and I work with one other biomedical engineering technician and an electrical technician. They are both very nice and helpful with introducing us around the hospital. Despite its size and the number of people it serves, the hospital is very simple and does not have much sophisticated medical equipment.
A broken concentrator waiting for repair.
Most of the equipment that we have been working on so far have been oxygen concentrators (the hospital cannot even afford oxygen cylinders or ventilators). Department heads from throughout the hospital keep giving us ancient equipment out of closets that have been broken for years and without which they have been forced to manage. It is an exciting feeling knowing that we can help to bring this equipment back into service. One of the most astonishing aspects of my work so far has been how difficult it is to acquire even simple consumables needed for repair, like replacement bulbs or batteries.
I have also taken advantage of my free time on the weekends to travel throughout Rwanda. I have visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial, Nyamata Memorial Church where 10,000 people were killed during the genocide, a unity and reconciliation village where genocide perpetrators and victims live side by side, Nyungwe rain forest in the Eastern Province, the holy pilgrimage site of Kibeho where there were apparitions of the Virgin Mary in the years before the genocide, and Gisenyi, a beautiful town on the shores of Lake Kivu. I even had the opportunity to attend a speech by the president of Rwanda!
I cannot believe how fast the time has flown. I am saddened to think that I only have three more weeks in this beautiful country. I hope that I can make the most of my time here and have a lasting impact on this hospital. I am so grateful to you and the entire FDR foundation for making this possible. I have made amazing memories that I will back on fondly for the rest of my life. I cannot thank you all enough!
Editor’s Note These experiences are made possible entirely through your generosity. Please give generously
4:00-6:30pm: Opening Session
Location: Boylston Hall, Harvard Yard:
Location: Boylston Hall, Harvard Yard
