New York, NY, October 10, 2018 — Since the creation of earth, water and crystals have woven a billion-years-long tapestry that has captured the

New York, NY, October 10, 2018 — Since the creation of earth, water and crystals have woven a billion-years-long tapestry that has captured the cycles of nature's evolution. It has observed the appearance of humans and their troubled, but fascinating, development and the energies and vibrations of everything that is part of this amazing eco-system.

Author Claudiu Murgan cleverly posits that water is a living, breathing life force in his latest book, Water Entanglement, a manifesto that brings awareness to the very real water crisis through an imaginative and engaging science fiction tale.

The story is set in 2055, when water, the primordial element that springs forth life, is waged in a fierce battle with those who've abused her, most notably greedy corporations that are pillaging the earth. Hayyin, the hidden identity of Cherry Mortinger, a limnologist (one who studies inland waters), is leading the revolution against the irresponsible companies. She sets out to prove that water indeed has a memory; that she's alive; and she's very, very angry. Can the human race survive such overwhelming rage?

Water Entanglement is the second book from author Claudiu Murgan. His first novel, The Decadence of Our Souls (September 2017), weaves a meaningful story of what can happen when a young, pure soul is tempted by the offerings of a technologically advanced society. The Decadence of Our Souls was translated in the Romanian language and published in Romania in June 2018. Water Entanglement is in the process of being translated and published in Romania by the end of 2018.
 
Murgan was born in Romania and has called Canada home since 1997. 

He started writing science fiction when he was 11 years old. Since then, he has met remarkable writers who have helped him improve his own trade. Murgan's experience in various industries such as IT, renewable energy, real estate and finance, have helped him create complex but real characters that brought forward meaningful messages. Murgan is also a member of the recently created Immigrant Writers Association, Toronto, Canada.
Fifty percent of the royalties from the book of the same title and generated online for Water Entanglement will benefit Project Aware – www.projectaware.org. 

Click on book cover to order from Amazon or visit your local bookstore. Thank you. 

Women Leading Efforts to Uphold Indigenous Rights, Sovereignty, and Due Diligence with Financial Institutions and Corporations

From the frontlines of extractive projects, the

Women Leading Efforts to Uphold Indigenous Rights, Sovereignty, and Due Diligence with Financial Institutions and Corporations

From the frontlines of extractive projects, the boardrooms of financial institutions, to the halls of governments, Indigenous women are leading efforts to uphold Indigenous rights and sovereignty, including the right of Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).

During the event, Indigenous women leaders and global advocates discussed how financial institutions and corporations perpetuate human and Indigenous rights violations in relation to extractive and other industries and the necessary steps these institutions must take to stop these egregious activities— and instead, implement FPIC, Indigenous rights and due diligence, while also investing in solutions within a climate justice framework centering Traditional Ecological Knowledge.

Additionally, given the severity of the climate crisis and existential threat to all of humanity, it is important to highlight that 80% of biodiversity remaining on Earth is in Indigenous lands and territories. Respecting Indigenous knowledge, ways of life, and FPIC, and the right to say “no” to continued extraction, is thus paramount to the discussion.

This was a formal side-event of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues 2022.

Speakers included:
-- Michelle Cook (Dine’/Navajo), Human rights lawyer and founder of Divest Invest Protect and Indigenous Human Rights Defenders and Corporate Accountability Program

-- Summer Blaze Aubrey (Citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a Descendant of the Blackfeet Nation), Law Fellow, Indigenous Human Rights Defenders & Corporate Accountability Program and Staff Attorney for the International Indian Treaty Council

-- Leila Salazar-Lopez, Executive Director of Amazon Watch

-- Sônia Guajajara (Guajajara), Executive Coordinator for Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil (APIB)

-- Casey Camp-Horinek (Ponca Nation), Ponca Environmental Ambassador and WECAN Board Member

-- Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director, Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN)

-- Special Guest: Maria Violet Medina Quiscue (Nasa), Autoridades Indigenas en Bakata, Colombia with Xiomara Chingate

82 views  Sep 12, 2024

 On September 12, WECAN held a virtual launch event for the report, "The Gendered and Racial Impacts of the Fossil Fuel Industry in North America and

82 views  Sep 12, 2024

 On September 12, WECAN held a virtual launch event for the report, "The Gendered and Racial Impacts of the Fossil Fuel Industry in North America and Complicit Financial Institutions (Fourth Edition).” 

From rising cancer rates to escalating violence, the report details the numerous disproportionate health and safety risks and impacts women in all their diversity are experiencing due to fossil fuel extraction, which is also perpetuating Indigenous and human rights violations. The report highlights regional case studies from Black, Brown, Indigenous, and low-income communities in North America, as well as the corresponding financial institutions that are contributing to these egregious harms. The report outlines recommendations for the banks to move toward accountability and a just transition. 

During the online event, we heard from frontline women leaders, health experts, and advocates who are demanding accountability from financial institutions to take action for the health of our communities, ecosystems, and the climate. Speakers included: 

✴� Roishetta Sibley Ozane M.S., Founder of Vessel Project of Louisiana and Gulf Fossil Finance Coordinator, Louisiana

✴� Rene Ann Goodrich (Bad River Ojibwe), Native Lives Matter Coalition and Wisconsin Department of Justice Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) Task Force Member, Wisconsin

✴� Sharon Lavigne, Founder of RISE St. James, and 2021 Goldman Prize Winner, Louisiana

✴� Patricia Garcia-Nelson (Oraricha Tribes of Mexico and the Chichimeca), Colorado Fossil Fuel Just Transition Advocate for Green Latinos, Northern Colorado

✴� Casey Camp Horinek (Ponca Nation), Environmental Ambassador for the Ponca Nation, and Board Member and Project Coordinator for WECAN, Oklahoma

✴� Antonia Juhasz, Investigative Journalist, author, lecturer, Washington, DC

✴� Dr. Nneoma Nwachuku Ojiaku, MD, MPH Obstetrician-Gynecologist, Climate Health Now

✴� Osprey Orielle Lake, Report Co-author, and Founder and Executive Director of Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN)

Many thanks to the amazing speakers!

Ethnographic filmmaker David MacDougal was interviewed by Ruth Ann Barrett of EarthSayers.tv at the What is Documentary? conference held at the University of Oregon in Portland, April 24-16, 2014.

Ethnographic filmmaker David MacDougal was interviewed by Ruth Ann Barrett of EarthSayers.tv at the What is Documentary? conference held at the University of Oregon in Portland, April 24-16, 2014.

He talks about his work filming children in three institutional settings in India. In 1997 he began conducting a study of The Doon School in Northern India. This resulted in five films: Doon School Chronicles (2000), With Morning Hearts (2001), Karam in Jaipur (2001), The New Boys (2003), and The Age of Reason (2004). Recent projects include filming at the Rishi Valley School, a progressive co-educational boarding school in South India based on the educational philosophy of Krishnamurti. His experimental film SchoolScapes (2007), made at Rishi Valley, won the Basil Wright Film Prize at the 2007 RAI International Festival of Ethnographic Film. His latest film, Gandhi's Children (2008), concerns a shelter for homeless children in New Delhi. MacDougall is the author of Transcultural Cinema (Princeton University Press, 1998) and The Corporeal Image: Film, Ethnography, and the Senses (Princeton, 2006).

To order his book from Amazon click on the image or visit your local bookstore. Thank you.

David was educated at Harvard University and the University of California at Los Angeles and since 1975 has lived in Australia.  More complete bio here.

As global leaders gathered for the UN Climate Ambition Summit on Wednesday, September 20, WECAN hosted an event, right across the street from the UN, bringing together women leaders to call on

As global leaders gathered for the UN Climate Ambition Summit on Wednesday, September 20, WECAN hosted an event, right across the street from the UN, bringing together women leaders to call on governments to reckon with their role in fueling climate chaos, and harm against communities and the planet by continuing the extraction of fossil fuels. Governments must invest in and deploy a Just Transition that is grounded in a climate justice framework and uplifts care economies, community-led solutions, Indigenous rights, and a different vision than business as usual. During the event, we hosted two panels detailed below.

In the first panel, “Women Ending the Era of Fossil Fuels," speakers shared expertise and frameworks for transitioning away from extraction and ongoing policy advocacy and campaigns that seek to phase out fossil fuels and other harmful extractive practices.

Speakers included: Sharon Lavigne, Founder and President of RISE St. James, Turtle Island/USA; Farhana Yamin, Coordinator, Climate Justice & Just Transition Donor Collaborative, United Kingdom; Eriel Tchekwie Deranger (Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation), Executive Director of Indigenous Climate Action, Canada; Tzeporah Berman, Chair, Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, Canada; moderation and comments by Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director, WECAN.

In the second panel, "Women-led Climate Solutions Are Central to a Just Transition and Thriving Future," leaders shared how to implement and support solutions that are advancing a Just Transition, and recent successes and victories for community-led climate just solutions!

Speakers included: Casey Camp Horinek (Ponca Nation), Ponca Nation Environmental Ambassador and WECAN Board Member, Turtle Island, USA; Helena Gualinga (Kichwa from Sarayaku), Indigenous Youth Climate Leader, Ecuador; Ozawa Bineshi Albert (Yuchi and Anishinaabe), Climate Justice Alliance Co-Executive Director, Turtle Island/USA; Elizabeth C. Yeampierre, Executive Director, UPROSE, Turtle Island/USA; Zukiswa White, Coordinator, Women and Gender Constituency, South Africa; moderation and comments by Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director, WECAN.