In this episode of "The Bright Idea," 2021 Stanford Bright Award Winner India Logan-Riley details the impacts of the colonial climate crisis and outlines a path forward that incorporates Indigenous rights and knowledge. India is a young Māori climate activist and the co-founder of Te Ara Whatu, a group of indigenous youth from the Pacific and Aotearoa (New Zealand) working for climate action and indigenous sovereignty.

For decades, local communities were often left out of conservation efforts in Africa. Community-based conservation by contrast recognizes that local communities are an integral part of conservation. Join Professor Buzz Thompson and Tom Lalampaa, global leader in community-based conservation and the Chief Executive Officer of the Northern Rangelands Trust, as they discuss how conservation efforts are thriving in Kenya despite persistent and new challenges. The Northern Rangelands Trust...

With over 80% of the world’s biodiversity occurring on Indigenous territory, respecting and reviving Indigenous conservation practices will be critical for protecting future ecosystem health. Maria Azhunova, the 2020 Bright Award winner, is an indigenous Buryat conservation leader who harnesses her people's Indigenous knowledge and culture to drive conservation projects in both Eastern Russia and Mongolia. She is the Executive Director of the Baikal Buryat Center for Indigenous Culture and...

The high-altitude mountainous regions of Pakistan are experiencing unprecedented changes in snowpack and water delivery due to climate change. Stanford’s 2019 Bright Award winner, Aisha Khan, implements on-the-ground projects to strengthen the adaptive resilience of unserved and underserved communities in these remote mountain regions. Listen to Professor Buzz Thompson’s discussion with Ms. Khan to hear about how she empowers communities by helping them to plot their own development...

With Ukraine’s energy scene dominated by monopolistic utilities that leave little room for innovation, green entrepreneurs Andrij and Roman Zinchenko decided to spearhead a green energy revolution in their country. In 2009, the brothers formed Greencubator, a Ukrainian NGO supporting sustainable entrepreneurship, low-carbon innovations, and green economy development in Ukraine and other former Soviet republics. Since then, Greencubator has started a variety of successful programs that promote...

Since founding the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership in 1988, Polly Courtice has guided thousands of business leaders to more sustainable business practices. While the Institute no longer has to convince corporate leaders of the importance of these issues, the biggest challenge the Institute faces today is how to scale up solutions quickly enough to address increasing environmental and climate threats. Join Professor Buzz Thompson and Polly Courtice to hear more...

Preserving the Amazon rainforest is critical not only because of the incredible biodiversity there, but also the Amazon’s role in meeting global climate targets. Join Buzz Thompson for a conversation with Tasso Azevedo -- former forestry manager and social environmental entrepreneur who has dedicated most of his career to preserving the Amazon rainforest -- to hear more about how deforestation in the Amazon affects regional and global climate, how we can better value all of the ecosystem...

Over 25 years ago, Gidon Bromberg and Munqeth Mehyar co-founded EcoPeace Middle East (ecopeaceme.org), a singularly unique organization that brings together Israelis, Palestinians, and Jordanians to advance regional peace and security through environmental sustainability. EcoPeace Middle East is the only collaborative organization of Israelis, Palestinians, and Jordanians, not only in the environmental field, but in any field. Mr. Bromberg has served as its Israeli co-director and Mr. Mehyar...