The project I am working on with Dutch/Nepali artist Shiva Rimal, Climate Oxide, was recently mentioned in Weesper Nieuws (a local dutch newspaper). This project is a focus on climate change and identity in Nepal, Canada and the Netherlands. Marieke van Veen wrote a beautiful story on Climate Oxide & Shiva Rimal in a page long interview. This interview is in Dutch, for those interested, click on the image below or click here to go to the pdf file to read the full story.
This guest post is cross-posted from 350.org and written by Anna Keenan detailing our recent experience in Nepal.
I spend most of my time working as a climate campaigner for Greenpeace International in Amsterdam, however for the 2011 global day of climate action – Moving our Planet beyond fossil fuels – I have somehow ended up in Kathmandu, Nepal, with climate-activist photographer Robert van Waarden. I simply couldn’t resist the opportunity to write about what “Moving Planet” has been like in this magical (and slightly crazy) city of contrasts!
Today, there was not just one, but three major events in the Kathmandu area.
First – we were up at 5am to make it on the bus to Dulikhel with Small Earth Nepal, a wonderful organization who are working on many aspects of sustainability – from awareness-raising, to scientific methodological training, to promoting biogas in rural villages. Today, 100 people hiked from Dhulikhel to Namo-buddha Monastery – where over 350 young monks are living and learning Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. The monks led our group in a meditation on a Zero-Carbon Future.
Aside from philosophical leadership, these monks are also into practical action. One of the many interesting initiatives at the monastery is the on-site production of heating briquettes from the monastery’s paper waste and agricultural waste. These carbon-neutral briquettes are burnt in place of firewood (which is in short supply) to keep the monastery buildings warm in winter – and because the briquettes burn without smoke, they also improve air quality.
The second event – Nepalese Youth for Climate Action, along with Kathmandu Cycle City 2020, organised a cycle rally with over 120 keen young cyclists participated! In Kathmandu, every intersection is a chaotic, noisy blur of pedestrians, motorcycles, rickshaws, bicycles, taxis, trucks, as well as chickens, dogs and cows, all competing for space. The diesel fumes choke the city and many residents suffer from allergies or skin reactions. Cycling is not only good for the global climate – it could be a great solution to the local air-quality problem, and with no fuel costs, it is affordable – a big concern for most residents! However, the traffic chaos makes cycling a dangerous choice for anyone trying to ‘do the right thing’. Today’s cycle rally promotes the goal of Kathmandu being cycle-friendly within the decade – these young people are campaigning for cycle lanes so that more people can choose to cycle, in safety.
The third event was a fully solar-powered screening of short eco-films from around Nepal, run by Story Cycle. The solar panels charged the batteries during the day, and when the sun set on Patan’s Durbar Square, that renewable energy powered (despite rainy conditions!) a screening of 15 short films, made by young people, about local eco-issues in Nepal and South Asia.
These three events are just the tip of the iceberg (or should I say instead ‘just the edge of a great Himalyan glacier’?) of the Nepali sustainability initiatives that we have had the pleasure of learning about over the last few weeks. With so many different types of climate action happening in one place, and so many inspiring, intelligent young people on the case, a sustainable future for Nepal is looking more likely every moment.
Tommorrow I leave for Nepal.
Nepali/Dutch artist Shiva Rimal and I are off to work on our collaborative art project Climate Oxide. It is a documentation of climate change impacts around the world using photography, steel and rust. We will visit various climate adaptation projects, trek in the Himalayas and take part in the Moving Planet action in Kathmandu on September 24.
About the Project
Robert van Waarden and Shiva Rimal create items of visual art using the mediums of photography, steel, and rust. Their current project, Climate Oxide, uses this art form to symbolize how climate change is impacting our world. Reflecting on their heritage, Nepali and Canadian born artists with Dutch nationality, they will personalize the climate issue to the viewer by visualizing the impacts on their individual environments.
The combination of this aesthetic art form and story is unique and is interesting for a wide audience. Publications and galleries/outlets are invited to contact the artists for more information and to explore opportunities to display the resulting body of work.
Stay tuned for more. I will return in the first week of October.
My newest photography project, Force, is a focus on the human side of wind energy. It demonstrates that wind energy it is not an aspect of the future but a lived reality right now for people and communities all over the world. This is the second in a series of posts (read the first here) to introduce these wind energy heroes. Partially supported by the GWEC, contact me if you wish to publish or support this project.
“Als ik alleen met aardappelen en uien bezig zou zijn, dan hoefde ik voor de rest niet zo veel mensen te spreken.” Jaap van der Beek (If I only grew potatoes and onions, then I wouldn’t speak with so many other people.)
Jaap van der Beek is a businessman, a farmer and a pilot in Middenmeer, the Netherlands. Like many farmers in North Holland, he harvests tulips, potatoes, onions, and wind energy. For over 15 years he has been involved with harvesting the power from the wind and his 850kw turbine powers hundreds of homes.
He speaks passionately about the impact that wind energy has had on his life. Perhaps first and foremost, above the financial gain, is the sense of community gained from involvement with wind energy. Owning a wind turbine has connected him with the other solitary wind turbine owners in North Holland and with the industry as a whole. He is a member of the implementation commission with the Netherlands Wind Energy Association and member of the WindUnie co-operative. He works tirelessly to promote and grow the wind energy sector in the Netherlands.
Currently Mr. van der Beek is working on a building a new turbine. “I am a business man, therefore I want to move on, I want to go bigger, better. To stand still is to go back,” he says. However, due to new planning regulations, van der Beek’s proposed 3.5MW turbine must be placed at another location in the polder in line with other turbines. He is currently working with other windmill and land owners in North Holland to secure a location for this collection of wind mills. He has been busy for 5 years on this project, an inordinate amount of time considering it takes about 2 months to actually install a windmill. All across Europe it seems the long planning and permit process is hindering the quick implementation of clean renewable energy.
For now, as the project continues development, van der Beek will work with the seasons, the tulips will grow and he will continue to implement wind energy solutions on his farm and in his life. 
My newest photography project, Force, is a focus on the human side of wind energy. It demonstrates that wind energy it is not an aspect of the future but a lived reality right now for people and communities all over the world. This is the first in a series of posts to introduce these wind energy heroes. Partially supported by the GWEC, contact me if you wish to publish or support this project.
Mr. Juriga looks on the icon of Saint Elias. The wind turbine was named after Saint Elias, a prophet because Mr. Juriga believes that wind energy is prophetic in our need for a clean energy world.
“Everything was given to us by god to survive, that includes the energy and the capacity to create energy,” Roman Juriga.
Mr. Roman Juriga is the director of the Pravoslavná akademie Vilémov in the Czech Republic. The Orthodox akademie educates kids and adults about clean energy. Through installations of solar, wind, and hydro, they help visitors understand the benefits and possibilities of the renewable energy system. In a time when most NGO’s are suffering, the akademie is supported by the revenue from the energy created.
In his youth Mr. Juriga was an outspoken anti-communist. He learned English from textbooks to prepare for his escape from communism. He grew up as an atheist according to state decree and was forced into the manual labour lifestyle, working in various factories. When he discovered the Orthodox religion he felt it matched his values and the way that he wanted to live so he joined the church. Mr. Juriga was invited by the church to go to University to study theology. He said, ‘I can’t, they know that I am an anti-communist, I can not go and study.’ The church said that they would protect him. Luckily, just as the authorities finally got wind of his studying, 1989 happened and communism in Czechoslovakia disintegrated.
Mr Juriga strongly believes that community involvement and small-scale energy production is essential to the development of a post carbon world. His vision to establish the akademie was realised through the support of the Orthodox church. The akademie has been insturmental in shining some light on the complicated world of clean energy development in the Czech Republic. In the Czech Republic, and even more in Slovakia, the approval process for small energy production is swamped in bureaucratic procedure. Complicated submission procedures and tons of paper work protect the vested interests of fossil fuels, politicians and large companies. The headway that Mr. Juriga and his akademie have made in getting submissions approved have been an example and inspiration to others across the Czech Republic.
Mr. Juriga stands in the shadow of the Saint Elias wind turbine.
Mr. Juriga prays in the Orthodox church in Vilemov, Czech Republic.
I was recently engaged by a Japanese agency to undertake some corporate photography here in Amsterdam. The assignment was a meeting of professionals in the Grand Amrath Hotel in Amsterdam, a straight forward assignment. However, what made it stand out was the way it was handled. They were the type of client that any photographer would bend over backwards for. From the beginning there were no questions about the fee, no weird demands for copyright, and they offered to pay on the day. It really demonstrated that if the process isn’t solely based on a dollar figure, but on respect, integrity, and quality, it pays dividends in the end. The end result was something that both parties put effort into and are happy with in the end.
Some results below.
Dutch/Nepalese artist Shiva Rimal and I are currently working on a fine art project that has to do with identity and climate change. So when he announced that he is having a separate show opening this weekend, I thought that I would just give a quick shout out and post it here. If you get a chance this Sunday, go and check it out.
Abstract Travels, a small exhibition by Shiva Rimal
Opening: This sunday July 24 2011 – 14:00 – 17:00
Location: Coffee bar Ludwig, Eerste van Swindenstraat 547 Amsterdam
This morning I returned from Prague, capital of the Czech Republic. What a beautiful city! It has been 10 years since I looked down on the town from the castle. It has also been a while since I shared the streets with so many tourists. Prague is the premier tourism destination in central Europe. Everyone and their family was out on the sunny Saturday afternoon that I took my 85mm for a walk. Below are the moments of calm that I captured from the hustle. I hope you enjoy.
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On June 15, Global Wind Day, I took the opportunity to attend the Netherlands Wind Energy Association organized events celebrating wind power in the Netherlands. Highlight: trip to the offshore wind park, Egmond aan Zee.
We left Ijmuiden early in the morning dwarfed by the behemoth steel factory, the Hoogovens (second image). I couldn’t have imagined a more contrasting image to what we were about to witness. A short sail offshore and we were greeted by the 36 turbines that make up the Egmond aan Zee park. The turbines have a combined capacity of 108 megawatt and power over 100,000 homes per year. Offshore wind will be a powerful player in the future energy market and I welcomed this opportunity to photograph it. I hope you enjoy the results.
Note: I am currently working on a new project about people living and working with wind energy internationally with support from the Global Wind Energy Council. If you wish to be a partner on this project, we are providing a rare and exciting opportunity for businesses to be involved with a demonstration through photographic fine art that clean energy solutions are viable right now. Send me an email for more information!
Global Wind Day – the Netherlands – Images by Robert vanWaarden
I just returned from a small trip in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Most of the time was spent working on my latest project, Force, a focus on people living with Wind Energy. However, I did manage to take in the UNESCO World Heritage Giants Causeway one cloudy morning. I wanted to share a few of the images of these amazing geological formations.
The Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland
The Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland
The Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland, foreground decomposing seaweed pond