Workshops and Dialogue Sessions related to the work of the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates
Workshop 1: The New Green Revolution
Norman Borlaug received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his work “to provide bread for a hungry world. We have made this choice in the hope that providing bread will also give the world peace.” The challenge of providing food to a global population heading toward 9 billion people is complicated now by climate change, urbanization, and a range of environmental challenges, including impacts on local watersheds, which feed into conflicts around the globe.
Under the theme “The New Green Revolution,” we will look into various ways of promoting sustainable agriculture. The day will be built around five case studies from different realms of agriculture which will address challenges that farmers are facing in running environmentally as well as economically and socially viable farming operations. The overall goal is to provide participants with new ideas, networks and resources around the work that they do and exchange best practices on how to address the challenges they face.
Workshop Moderator: Esther Seha
Workshop Participants: Elizabeth Dunbar, Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin, Baptiste Tellier, Meg Moynihan, Dave Augustine, Sean Doyle, Bryan Biegler, and Brian Steffenson
Date: September 12 Time: 9:00am – 5:00pm Location: Field trip to Faribault and Northfield
Date: September 13 Time: 9:00am – 3:30pm Location: Augsburg University, Marshall Room
Workshop 2: Racial Justice in the Global Context
Martin Luther King Jr. dreamt of a world with civil rights and social justice for all inhabitants in the United States, a place where individuals would be judged by their personal qualities and not by the color of their skin. In 1964 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his dynamic leadership of the Civil Rights movement and for his steadfast commitment to achieving racial justice through nonviolent action.
The purpose of the workshop is to explore and help support new partnerships and shared action-projects that bring together Twin Cities peace organizations with student groups with a focus on police-community relations. The discussion will be framed in terms of truth and reconciliation and explore local efforts to address the history and legacies of racism, slavery, and settler colonialism. How is Martin Luther King’s legacy and efforts tied to the work of Twin Cities peace initiatives? In what ways are the contemporary efforts mutually supportive and combine the wisdom and experience of the peace groups with the energy and new perspectives and skills of the student-led social justice organizations?
Workshop Moderator: Elaine Eschenbacher
Workshop Participants: Andrew Williams, Russel Balenger, Jenn Hamrick, and Molly Glasgow
Date: September 13 Time: 9:00am – 3:30pm Location: Augsburg University, Oren Gateway Center 100
Workshop 3: Urban Resilience and Climate Change
In the context of the Nobel Peace Prize, this workshop connects to the 2007 Nobel laureates, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Al Gore regarding climate change and our collective responsibility to respond. The prize was awarded IPCC “for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.”
In addition, the United Nations (which received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988 and 2001 for various elements of its work), adopted in 2015 an ambitious set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which likewise help set an agenda for local initiatives to respond to the challenges of climate change and sustainability.
The Urban Resilience and Climate Change workshop aims to work with property owners and develop and share best practices and prototyping for sustainable stormwater management techniques that can be used as a model for other partnerships and collaborations within the Mississippi River watershed. More specifically the goal is to create a community of practice and accountability among the participating properties in the workshop and provide resources for assistance and monitoring to implement sustainable stormwater management practices.
Workshop Moderator: Abby Moore
Workshop Participants: Bonnie Keeler, Udai Singh, Stephanie Johnson, Dan Latham, Sandra Rolph, Laura Scholl, and Denise Flood
Date: September 13 Time: 9:00am -3:30pm Location: Augsburg University, Augsburg Room