JLCO Group is an independent visual communications studio and research center. We do Market Research and Consumer Insights on today's youth in Emerging Markets and Research & Development for international brands.
On Tuesday, January 12th, 2010, a massive, 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti near the capital of Port-au-Prince. The damage to buildings is extensive. The confirmed death toll from Haiti’s devastating earthquake has risen above 150,000 in the Port-au-Prince area alone, while an estimated 1.5 million people have been left homeless.
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Al Gore is one of those men that pursue their dreams and fight for their ideas. With an Oscar and a Nobel prize up his sleeve, Al Gore is a world climate crisis crusader. During his position as Vice President, from 1993 to 2001, he fought against the world climate crisis. He is the founder of the Alliance for Climate Protection and co-founder of Generation Investment Management. In 2006, he made a documentary and book titled An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It.
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Migration from rural areas to the mega-cities in search of food, job and security is a natural process. But every city has its limitation; it has its own saturation point and if exceeded, a city might falter while providing basic facilities to its residents. As modern mega-cities are now choking with the pressure of ever growing population, scientists fear that in near future these cities might have to face an acute food and water crisis.
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The medical industry is virtually on the verge of a major shift, as a new branch of genomics, known as Personal Genomics, is becoming increasingly popular among both consumers and companies. Though remotely related to traditional population genomics, Personal Genomics is basically an analysis of individual genomes or the mapping of individual DNA. It is done by using some sophisticated bio-informatics tools for pinpointing those diseases, which are closely associated with loci and gene. One of the main reasons to the increased interest among consumers, is the disease risk prediction capability based on genetic markers.
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The economic boom and the subsequent double-digit GDP growth achieved by some of the worldβs emerging economies, such as Brazil, India and China, have led many to believe that poverty, inequality and other associated issues could be eliminated even without government intervention or active participation. But a new report by ActionAid, a UK based charity organization, is somewhat startling and to some extent unexpected. In the report, released to coincide with UN World Food Day, ActionAid has listed a number of developed, less developed and developing countries based the efficiency of their programs initiated to give legal, constitutional and social protection to those who need them the most.
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The number of Internet devices has already crossed the milestone of 1 billion units, but this achievement seems negligible when compared with its future prospects, which is no longer a distant vision. Trillions, a new video by MAYA Design, aptly shows how computing technology can redefine the future of digital world by crossing the boundary of number or by touching the magical figure: 1 trillion. This simply means the presence of computing technology will become ever more pervasive and powerful and is likely to be followed by a string of new challenges and opportunities.
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GOOD is a collaboration of individuals, businesses, and nonprofits pushing the world forward. Most of all, it is a magazine for those, who cares about their society. GOOD is a pursuit of adding value to the lives of people. Its subject matter ranges from television to technology, from politics to business, from environment to entertainment but all these varied subjects are tinged with a subtle twist that is unique in its own way. GOOD is simple and straightforward. It is a food for thought for those people who cares and appreciate independent ideas and striking concepts.
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Brazil, which is blessed with an impressive amount of natural resources and workforce, is fast developing as a global player in the world economic circle. However, its spectacular rise in the past few years as an emerging economic superpower is not sudden. It is the results of continuous reformations. Just few years ago, Brazil was considered to be a country of soccer, samba and rainforest. But after the international financial crisis, there came a sudden change in this popular perception. Global community begins to treat it at par with India and China, who are ushering a tectonic shift in the current global economic system.
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On November 3, 2009, Al Gore, the world climate crisis crusader and former US Vice President, published his new book. The new book is titled βOur Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisisβ and promises to come with both intriguing new questions and solutions to the global climate crisis. “Now that the need for urgent action is even clearer with the alarming new findings of the last three years, it is time for a comprehensive global plan that actually solves the climate crisis. Our Choice will answer that call,“, according to the press release.
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Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things is a thought provoking and visionary book by U.S. architect William McDonough and German chemist Michael Braungart that is reshaping the long-held relation between environment and industry. Going against the traditional views and opinions, McDonough and Braungart advocates the adoption of ecologically intelligent design in human industry for attaining a sustainable and wholesome growth. This book is a manifesto for the next industrial revolution, which encourage readers to look beyond the limits of natural system. Published in 2002, this book is still being considered as the best source for exploring the opportunities that lies in nature without making it barren and bereft of resources.
Talking about the imminent climate change, one of our biggest challenges is to limit the increase of global temperature caused by the greenhouse effect. Many climate scientists calculate that the world has only a few decades to reduce emissions before there is so much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that a dangerous rise in global temperature is inevitable.
At the forthcoming COP15 climate conference in Copenhagen in December, the overall goal is to establish an ambitious global climate agreement for the period from 2012 when the first commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol expires.
It has finally become a broadly accepted fact that global warming is both real and dangerous, but world leaders continue to fail on acting upon it accordingly. Many of the effects of global warming have been well-documented, but the precise extent is difficult to predict.
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Copenhagen Design Week explores design that matters – ideas, concepts, products and services that will come to play an important role in your professional and personal life. Taking place between August 27th – September 6th, Copenhagen Design Week explores social and environmental design and innovation. Each element of the program explores the positive power of design, inspiring businesses and individuals.
As a prelude to COP15, the UN Climate conference that will be held in Copenhagen in December, the theme will be sustainable design.
Copenhagen Design Week is an initiative from the Danish Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs. Directed by Danish Design Centre, Copenhagen Design Week provides a rich mix of trade shows, exhibitions, experiences, discussions and networking.
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Picture yourself walking or driving down the street. With Augmented Reality displays, which will eventually look much like a normal pair of glasses, informative graphics will appear in your field of view, and audio will coincide with whatever you see. These enhancements will be refreshed continually to reflect the movements of your head.
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When car manufacturer DaimlerChrysler’s Research department wanted to develop a new era aerodynamic, safe, comfortable and environmentally compatible car they turned to nature for inspiration. By doing this, the new The Mercedes-Benz Bionic Car has much resemblance with the box fish in terms of shape and body structure. Despite its boxy, cube-shaped body, this tropical fish is in fact outstandingly streamlined and therefore represents an aerodynamic ideal. The result was a 20 percent lower fuel consumption and up to 80 percent lower nitrogen oxide emissions.
Youth subcultures are often defined or distinguishable by elements such as fashion, clothing styles, hairstyles, footwear, beliefs, slang, dialects, behaviors or interests.
Box1824 and Bola Socioligy Design, both based out of SΓ£o Paulo, have conducted a study on a new, cultural movement which they call Cosmopolitan Tribalism.
In this report they argue a new global generation of hyper consumers are rising up. They are accepting technology as nature and constructing their lives and communities in the name of self-expression, collaboration and celebration. They live in a futuristic world rooted in primitive unity.
The study was commissioned by a group of technology and style companies and sought to map behaviors and moods common throughout the first truly global generation.
Today, Wednesday, 8 July, world leaders of G8 will gather in Italy for the 35th summit hosted by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The development of Africa and Climate Change is a key part of the G8 summit agenda.
President Obama is expected to reveal a major initiative to boost agricultural development and prevent hunger in Africa, worth perhaps $3bn (Β£1.8bn) to $5bn, at the summit.
In a report, the charity ActionAid says that a billion people are still hungry in the world today, and that despite the drop in food prices it is still a key issue for many developing countries.
The report also says that the percentage of foreign aid spent on agriculture has “been in freefall” in the last 25 years and the remainder is “poorly targeted and coordinated”.
The United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP15, will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark and will last two weeks from 7 December to 18 December 2009.
The overall goal for the COP15 United Nations Climate Change Conference is to establish an ambitious global climate agreement for the period from 2012 when the first commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol expires.
It is expected that ministers and officials from 192 countries will take part. In addition, there will be participants from a large number of organizations. The conference is preceded by the Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges and Decisions scientific conference in March, co-located in Copenhagen.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC or FCCC) is an international environmental treaty produced at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), informally known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 to 14 June 1992. The treaty is aimed at stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.
The treaty, as originally framed, set no mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions for individual nations and contained no enforcement provisions; it is therefore considered legally non-binding. Rather, the treaty included provisions for updates (called “protocols”) that would set mandatory emission limits. The principal update is the Kyoto Protocol, which has become much better known than the UNFCCC itself.
The COP15 Logo and visual identity is designed by Danish design studio NR2154, established by Jacob WildschiΓΈdtz and Troels Faber.
‘The Home Project‘ is a new, impressive project by director Yann Arthus-Bertrand and producer Luc Besson. The project is being launched today in order to coincide with World Environment Day (WED).
The one and a half hour film uses beautiful, high definition aerial photography from over 60 coutries around the globe to tell the story of Earth’s worldwide ecosystem, how humans have affected it, and how environmental problems are all interconnected.
Home, which is narrated by Academy Award-nominated actress Glenn Close, is being simultaneously released on YouTube, DVD, in theaters, and on television.
Commemorated yearly on 5 June, WED is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action. WED was designated by the United Nations in 1972.
The theme for WED 2009 is ‘Your Planet Needs You-UNite to Combat Climate Change’. It reflects the urgency for nations to agree on a new deal at the crucial climate convention meeting in Copenhagen (COP15) some 180 days later in the year, and the links with overcoming poverty and improved management of forests.
See a trailer for the movie after the jump
One of the most profound trends of our time is the mass migration of the world’s population into urban areas. These years, close to 70 million people are migrating to cities each year, resulting in a billion squatters. One in six people on Earth live as squatters.
Deprived areas around big cities, often called barrios, favelas, slums or shantytowns, are super-concentrations of urban poverty. Life here is hard: no water, no transport, no sewage. But looking at them from the inside brings a surprising perspective. Living two years in the squatter cities of Rio, Nairobi, Istanbul and Mumbai, Robert Neuwirth discovered thriving restaurants, markets, health clinics, an unconventional real-estate market, and truly effective forms of self-organization.
His vivid descriptions and frank admiration for the ingenuity and innovation he encountered force us to rethink assumptions about community, poverty and the shape of 21st-century cities. Our challenge, Neuwirth says, isn’t to end poverty or control populations, but to engage and empower the residents in these “cities of tomorrow.” (TED)
A new exhibition at SΓ£o Paulo Museum of Modern Art, MAM, is showing why Brazilian companies like Melissa and Osklen are putting the country on the map of international design. The exhibition, curated by AdΓ©lia Borges, is showcasing 90 pieces of Brazilian industrial design, ranging from a washing machine over Fernando Prado’s adjustable lamp to a smarter bid for Denmark’s postal service.
For details about the exhibition and online catalog click here.
MAM is located in Ibirapuera Park in the city of SΓ£o Paulo.
Brazilian Design Today: Frontiers. Through 28 June 2009