Jobs Help Wanted, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from photologue_np’s photostream
While it was reported earlier this month that our region’s unemployment rate has fallen to the lowest it’s been in nearly three years, if you are one of the 6.7 percent who are unemployed (or if you’re underemployed),
While there’s plenty of talk about needing environmental and economic sustainability in design, the third sphere in the trio — social sustainability — often gets scant attention in mainstream discussions. Ensuring social sustainability for a design project means including safety concerns, community involvement and corporate responsibility as key components. It takes into account the needs of temporary users, such as builders, as well as future users like the public and employees. A recently published report by the U.K.-based Young Foundation took a look at the successes and failures of neighborhood developments around the world through the lens of social sustainability. The report creates a framework for policymakers involved in the planning and design of communities and cities. The Young Foundation report argues that social sustainability should be seen as:
On May 2nd, there will be the first ever public forum in Allegheny County on the public health impacts of hydraulic fracturing Marcellus Shale gas extraction. In January of this year, Christopher Portier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, noted that studies need to be done to examine whether wastewater from shale gas drilling can harm people or animals and the vegetables they eat. From Bloomberg.com:
Sunday is the 42nd annual celebration of Earth Day and this year marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson — a book widely credited with helping to launch the environmental movement. The City of Pittsburgh is honoring these two events with proclamations by City Council created by Councilor Bill Peduto and co-sponsored by all members of Council.
The United States Department of Labor reported last week that in 2010, the number of working poor in America reached its highest level in the last two decades — 7.2% of the labor force were living in poverty. 15.1% of the entire population were living below the poverty line. Moreover, the number of U.S. households classified as being in “extreme poverty” more than doubled between 1996 and 2011. Now, Just Harvest and the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Social Work’s Economic and Social Work Class are providing a learning opportunity of just how poverty affects real people. They’re offering a poverty simulation exercise – “A Week in the Life” — on Wednesday, April 18th.
The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) is a worldwide network of large cities who work locally to reduce carbon emissions, and in doing so, also aim to have a global impact on climate change. While cities only take up about 1% of the earth’s surface, 50% of the global population reside and work there. More to the point, they consume 75% of the world’s energy, and produce 80% of its greenhouse gas emissions. Recognizing the importance cities play in climate change, C40 was created in 2005 by then Mayor of London Ken Livingstone. In 2006, C40 formed a partnership with the Cities program of President Clinton’s Climate Initiative (CCI) to forward its goal to reduce carbon emissions and increase energy efficiency in cities around the world. New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is the current chair of the C40.
The Stand Up Now (SUN) Network is a group of youth, parents, organizations and professionals who try to make a difference in the community. It seeks to increase youth participation in issues involving Community Service, Environmental Stewardship, Sustainability & Entrepreneurship, Diversity, Violence, Poverty & Hunger, Rights & Justice, Education / Career Development, Family Support, Media Justice, and Arts & Entertainment. Stand Up Now was originally supported by the Heinz Endowment and The Sprout Fund. One project of the Stand Up Now Network is the S.U.N. TV Show. This seasonal, youth-focused series is designed to be educational and informational in the areas of Social Responsibility, Healthy Lifestyles, Youth Development, and Media Literacy.
In April 1968, Congress passed the federal Fair Housing Act at the urging of President Lyndon Baines Johnson. The Act prohibits sellers/landlords from discriminating against buyers/renters on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status and disability. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) plays a lead role in administering and enforcing the Fair Housing Act. In Pittsburgh, the Commission on Human Relations (CHR) studies, investigates and serves as a law enforcement agency for complaints of alleged discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations within the City of Pittsburgh. As part of their mission, CHR is preparing its Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice as part of its Consolidated Plan (HUD requires submission of a Consolidated Plan by governments which receive formula-based Community Development Block Grant allocations).
Are you getting the most out of your data? Or, has the necessity of offline storage/archiving made you unable to consider all your data when looking for answers? Then, come to the day-long open house at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center on April 13th for a solution to your data problems. The Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center was established in 1986 to advance the state-of-the-art in high-performance computing, communications and informatics. The center is a joint effort of Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh and Westinghouse Electric Company (and includes the support of federal agencies, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and private industry). It offers university, government and industrial researchers access to some of the most powerful high-performance computing, communications and data-handling systems.
There’s good news on the environmental front for the City of Pittsburgh! First is the passage of the Pittsburgh Climate Action Plan, Version, 2.0. In 2008, Pittsburgh City Council unanimously adopted the Pittsburgh Climate Action Plan Version, 1.0 as a “guiding document” and the Pittsburgh Climate Initiative was founded later that year. The goal was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Now, City Council has once again unanimously passed a new Green Plan for Pittsburgh.
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