OXFORD, Miss. – In its first year as a founding member of the new Planet Forward academic consortium, the University of Mississippi participated in three teleconference food policy salons, a campuswide multimedia storytelling workshop, Skype conversations between Planet Forward producers and journalism classes, and an international food policy summit in Washington, D.C.
Planet Forward, focuses on the use of multimedia and digital storytelling to educate and give voices to sustainability issues.
Planet Forward, a digital storytelling collaborative housed at George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs, focuses on the use of multimedia and digital storytelling to educate and give voices to sustainability issues such as food security, water, energy and climate change.
“As one of 13 consortium schools in the U.S. and abroad, UM has worked with Planet Forward longer than any other school,” said Kristen Alley Swain, UM’s Planet Forward coordinator and associate professor in the Meek School of Journalism and New Media. “Our six-year involvement has given us more and more opportunities to share our storytelling and digital media with international audiences, participate in events with top experts and decision-makers, and connect with a global conversation about sustainability issues and solutions.”
Four Ole Miss students were chosen to serve as delegates at Planet Forward’s “Feeding the Planet” summit in April at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. They joined students from more than 30 colleges and universities who contributed ideas and experiences to a collaborative “story of food in the age of climate change.”
The chosen delegates were Alex Borst, an international studies major from Madison; Victoria Boatman, a journalism major from Orlando, Florida; Debra Nelson of Oxford, who recently graduated with a general studies degree; and Chandler McKinley, an accountancy major from Salisbury, North Carolina.
“I learned many intriguing facts, methods and ideas that surround the sustainable food world,” McKinley said. “The greatest experience I had was when walking around the city and speaking to others about this summit. To me, this is what Planet Forward is all about: sharing our stories, our diverse obstacles and solutions, to make a better world around us for all.”
Swain and Anne McCauley, director of the UM Office of Sustainability, coordinated the competitive selection process last spring and secured travel funds from the Meek School, Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, and Office of Sustainability.
Ole Miss students contributed two videos to Planet Forward’s “Storyfest.” Nelson produced a video about bee colony collapse, and Borst and Boatman produced a feature about a sustainable hog farm in Como. Contest winners at the summit included pieces about urban gardening and farm power in developing countries.
Summit videos and coverage can be viewed at http://planetforward.org. Planet Forward’s next summit, in April 2016, will focus on urban sustainability.
“Getting to see firsthand what all of the Planet Forward consortium schools are doing across the country was both intimidating and empowering,” Borst said. “We have the most tools at our disposal as college students, and it is up to us to define our own goals and utilize these tools to accomplish them. The Feed the World Summit showed me what the human spirit is capable of, especially when we are united under a common purpose and goal.”
UM delegates met with international food leaders, including Sonny Ramaswamy, director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture; Hunter Biden, chairman of World Food Program USA; Krysta Harden, deputy U.S. secretary of agriculture; and hunger fighter Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.). Corporate summit sponsors included Land O’Lakes Inc., Monsanto, Bayer CropScience, World Food Program USA, GW Sustainability Collaborative, Gannett Foundation, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, USDA, Revolution Foods, Food Tank, Fair Oaks Farms, Numi Organic Tea, Discovery Communications and Opts Ideas.
“Feeding The Planet harnessed the power of student voices and the exponential reach of digital media in a unique dialogue about the innovations needed to feed a climate-challenged planet,” said Frank Sesno, director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University and Planet Forward founder.
Since 2009, Planet Forward has been produced by the Center for Innovative Media at George Washington University. It shares multimedia stories about food security, water, energy, climate change and other sustainability innovations with policymakers, academia, private sector, the public and media partners including National Geographic magazine.
Planet Forward hosted three teleconference policy salons over the past year, focusing on food security and climate change, the role of women in mitigating climate change and ClimateSmart agricultural innovations. UM salon participants represented several student organizations, departments and community organizations.
Swain’s students have produced sustainability videos every year since 2009, in collaboration with researchers from the engineering and pharmacy schools, as well as the Office of Sustainability and Students for a Green Campus. Planet Forward also has supported outreach activities proposed in several of UM’s federal grant applications and has sparked many interdisciplinary conversations, Swain said.
“I hope more students and faculty at Ole Miss will participate in our storytelling initiatives, events, and collaborations,” she said. “Planet Forward gives us an outstanding platform to showcase the university’s best sustainability innovations and ideas.”