Introduction
Solutions to the global challenges of climate change, food security, biodiversity loss and peak oil are within our reach. The Our World 2.0 web magazine shares the ideas and actions of citizens around the world who are transforming our lives for the better.
This award-winning web magazine, produced by United Nations University Media Centre, exchanges these insights through video briefs, articles, debates, photo essays and public events. We invite you to contribute to this growing global conversation.
History
United Nations University (UNU) is a think tank for the UN system and offers postgraduate degree programmes. Established by the UN General Assembly, the UNU’s mission is to undertake research and capacity building on pressing global problems of human survival, development and welfare. The University comprises UNU Centre in Tokyo and a network of research and training institutes and programmes in 13 countries that collaborate with each other as well as with a broader network of associated and cooperating institutions and individual scholars and researchers worldwide.
Located at UNU Centre, the United Nations University Media Centre focuses on delivering online educational materials, developing web portals, producing documentary video and coordinating the Our World 2.0 web magazine. The Media Centre also maintains the main University website and develops a range of printed materials such as the annual report, strategic plan and various brochures. These cutting-edge services are highly valued by a growing audience of academics, policy makers, university students and the general public.
Website content
Articles
We are honoured that our network of contributors includes not just UNU academics, researchers and students, but many others who are passionate about the topics covered by the magazine. Working closely with our editorial team, these contributors bring a broad spectrum of points of view from around the globe.
If you have a story idea that you think would be perfect for Our World 2.0 please contact us and we will send you the magazine’s style guide and a form for preparing an outline prior to developing your article. We are open to ideas that are relevant to the focus areas of the site and around the range of 1,000 words.
Unfortunately, we cannot pay contributors. But we hope that the experience you gain from writing for the United Nations and being part of our team will be beneficial to your career, in addition to its being invaluable to the Our World 2.0 audience.
Your views
We are committed to providing an open platform for people to express views on the topics that we cover. (For full details, please see our Terms of Use page.) Each of our articles has a comment section. You can choose whether or not to sign up with Disqus, the comment platform we use. However, we do require that you enter your name and e-mail address (though your e-mail will not be shown on the site). If you do sign up for Disqus, it has some useful features to help you easily stay in the discussion and allows you to modify your profile information. Our World 2.0 is also keen on other forms of social networking and invites you to “Join Us” on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Mixi, etc., via the buttons provided under that heading on each page (next to Categories at top right).
Newsletter
By signing up with us, you can receive our regular weekly e-mail summarising the most recent items posted on Our World 2.0. Please be assured that the contact information you give us will not be passed on without your consent. See our Privacy Policy for more information.
The Team
The following professionals work on Our World 2.0 at the UNU:
- Brendan Barrett Editor and Writer
- Kaori Brand Producer
- Oleg Butuzov Web Developer
- Connor McTernan IT Systems
- Daniel Powell Editor and Writer
- Rie Hayafune Assistant
- David Jimenez Graphic Designer
- Megumi V. Nishikura Producer
- Mark Notaras Writer/Editor
- Luis Patron Producer
- Stephan Schmidt Marketing
- Carol Smith Writer/Editor
- Citt Williams Producer
- Sean Wood Creative Director
- Ina Furuta Translator
- Tsukasa Uesugi Translator
- Saki Ochi Translator
- Hanako Hamai Translator
- Ayami Moriizumi Translator
- Akiko Ishihara Translator
- Taeko Okada UNU Programme Support
UNU Contributors
Researchers from the across the UNU contribute articles to Our World 2.0. These include:
| UNU Institute for Sustainability and Peace | UNU Institute of Advanced Studies |
|---|---|
| Obijiofor Aginam
Tatiana Chernyavskaya Christopher Doll Carl Estrellan Darek Gondor Kalle Huebner Luohui Liang Alva Lim Johanna Stratton Kazuhiko Takeuchi, Vice Rector Chun Knee Tan |
Miguel Esteban
Claudia ten Have Mio Horiuchi Ayako Iizumi Toshiya Kai Kirsty Galloway McLean Tatiana Gadda Alexandros Gasparatos Anne McDonald Suneetha M. Subramanian Aki Suwa Christian Webersik Joni Jupesta Aurea Christine Tanaka Robert Blasiak Raquel Moreno-Penaranda |
| UNU Geothermal Training Programme | UNU-Maastricht Economic and social Research and training centre on Innovation and Technology |
| Dorthe H. Holm | Rene Kemp
Bilal Mirza Luc Soete Adam Szirmai |
| UNU Institute for Environment and Human Security | UNU World Institute for Development Economics Research |
| Heidi Forster
Nevelina Pachova Fabrice Renaud Koko Warner |
Luc Christiaensen
Wim Naude |
Our partners
Our World 2.0 has been a member of the Guardian Environment Network since August 2009. A full list of network members is available online at the Guardian.
We are also proud of cooperating in The British Council’s Zero Carbon Centre and with Deutsche Welle Global Ideas. Our World is grateful to Inter Press Service news agency for excellent coverage from the South and civil society perspectives.
Within the UN System, Our World 2.0 is currently collaborating closely with the following organizations or information portals.
| Unite to Combat Climate Change (UNEP) | Gateway to the UN Systems Work on Climate Change |
| Convention on Biological Diversity | United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change |
Sites we like
| Nourishing the Planet | Global Oneness Project | Japan for Sustainability | GreenTV | Greenz | Green Conduct | Global Voices Online |
Awards and stuff
Winner Best Blog Design – The 2008 Weblog Awards
2009 Society for New Communications Research Excellence Award in the category of new media creation in the academic division
Earth Journalism Awards 2009 – Honorary Mention
Award of Distinction in the Green/Eco-Friendly category of the 2011 Communicator Awards
