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Responding to Climate Change

It is now a well-accepted scientific fact that we have left the 10,000 years of stable weather patterns that were the signature of our beloved Holocene, and we have entered the Anthropocene which is hotter, wetter, drier, more turbulent, unpredictable and polluted because of human activity. Given this worldwide life threatening deterioration of the circumstances in which children are expected to live their lives, it could be argued that the greatest advancement human beings could make in the 21st century is to ensure the survival of their children. For the past 20 years Denny Taylor’s research and activism has focused on the dynamic complexity of the work that must be done to make the planet a child safe zone.

Research on Climate Change.

In August 2009 Denny Taylor participated in the ICSU/ISSC On-Line Global Visioning Consultation that had 1,016 registered users from 85 countries, and during which 323 research questions were posed which were used as a basis for a document on the Grand Challenges facing humanity.

In 2010 Denny Taylor participated in the ICSU/ISSC Open Visioning Consultation Forum, UNESCO, Paris, that resulted in the publication of the Grand Challenges Report, which is a consensus list of the highest priorities for Earth system science that would remove critical barriers impeding progress toward sustainable development. More than 200 scientists and 46 institutions worldwide reviewed the draft of the Grand Challenges.

A year of intensive research and writing followed, which resulted in four transdisciplinary research papers combining data from the social & physical sciences, qualitative and quantitative, that consciously employed ways of thinking derived from the humanities, especially from works on the philosophy of science.

Denny Taylor submitted four proposals based on these papers for the Planet Under Pressure Global Conference on Earth System Science that took place in London in 2012. All four proposals were peer reviewed by researchers in the physical sciences and accepted. They focused on: 1) The State of the Planet; 2) Meeting Global Needs; 3) Transforming our Ways of Living; and 4) Governing Across Scales.

Planet Under Pressure Research .PDF Downloads.

Climate Change Report Downloads.

Family Literacy Fosters Ties Between Nations and Responds to the Climate Emergency

Governments can take a huge leap forward by recognizing the important role of families and communities worldwide in reducing extreme risks. It is worth repeating that the family is the primary organizing structure of all human societies. This is what Eleanor Roosevelt and the founders of the United Nations would say if they were here to guide us. Once again, in the preamble to the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights Eleanor and her contemporaries state: “Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.” We ignore this fact at our peril.

NCRLL PRESENTATION (NCTE): The Education of Children is Out-of-Step With the State of the Planet

I wrote this paper in appreciation of receiving the 2019 Distinguished Scholar Award from the National Council of Research on Language and Literacy (NCRLL). The paper was presented on Saturday, November 23rd, 2019 at the NCTE Convention in Baltimore. The NCRLL session is entitled Stories of Possibilities, Generativity, and Humanity: Distinguished Educators Working for Change. The paper focuses on seven observations that draw upon over 40 years of transdisciplinary research, which includes ethnographic fieldwork with families living in extreme poverty, impacted by opioid addiction, experiencing racism, and gender discrimination.

U.N. 2018 HLPF Sustainable Development Goals Peer Review Report

[U.N. 2018 HLPF DOC 1. v.1 2018] This comparative analysis of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals is based on: 1) ethnographic observation and documentation of the U.N. 2018 HLPF; 2) participation in events during the U.N. General Assembly; 3) attendance at planning meetings for the HLPF and UNGA; and 4) a sociolinguistic analysis of the extensive documentation pertaining to the SDGs and the HLPF, including email communications, website presentations, official reports and papers, scientific research studies, and media coverage and commentary.

Why Public School Policy Makers Should Be Tackling Climate Change For Our Children

By establishing a common purpose for the education of children in K-12 public schools, the possibility exists that parents and teachers can create opportunities for children to form deep connections with the life forces of Earth, and also establish the conditions for a rapid rethinking of these connections that will cascade through society, uniting the people around the world who are also struggling to establish strategies for survival even if their governments are not.

Transdisciplinary Research on the Human Impact on Global Earth Systems

On June 22, 2010 at UNESCO in Paris, the International Council for Science (ICSU) called for scientists to reform their own structure. Johan Rockström stated, “We have put ourselves in this position. There have been great advances in science. As scientists it is fundamental that we move towards institutional frameworks to support research for a more sustainable world.” He talked of “something profound and new: and of an “historic opportunity.”

Organizing Principles for Human Activity in Earth Systems Research

This presentation draws on transdisciplinary research conducted through the International Center for Everybody’s Child at Hofstra University. The research focuses on the increasing exposure of children worldwide to catastrophic events, armed conflict, extreme poverty and public health emergencies.

The Impact of Global Environmental Change on the Health, Well-Being and Academic Development of Children

Given the world wide life threatening deterioration of the circumstances in which children are expected to live their lives, it could be argued that the greatest advancement human beings could make in the 21st century is to ensure the survival of their children.