Design Thinking for Social Inclusion
Jocelyn Wyatt, social innovation lead at IDEO, describes her organization's efforts to use design thinking, a problem-solving system that is grounded in a client's or costumer's needs.
Local Clean Energy for All
Alexis Belonio has accomplished the seemingly impossible and developed a clean burning cooking stove and continuous-flow industrial flow burner.
Environmental Sustainability in Electricity
Professor Frank Wolak considers how different utility rate structures might accelerate or delay the vision of an intelligent energy supply/demand nexus in the home.
Carbon Pricing for Environmental Sustainability
Harvard professor Robert Stavins lays out two instruments for carbon pricing: taxing CO2 emissions and issuing tradable carbon permits.
Environmental Sustainability and Clean Energy
United States Secretary of Energy Steven Chu talks about the green technology revolution and why America needs it.
Rolf Papsdorf - Providing Environmental Sustainability Solutions
The unique advantages of zinc air fuel cells have been harnessed as an environmental sustainability measure to deliver reliable, renewable, and affordable electricity to rural communities off the grid. In this audio interview, Stanford Center for Social Innovation correspondent Sheela Sethuraman talks with 2009 Tech Award winner Rolf Papsdorf to find out how his company, Alternative Energy Development Corporation, combines sound economics, customer service, and social responsibility to tangibly improve the lives of people around the world.
Abdallah S. Jum’ah - Examining the 21st Century Oil Company
The Saudi Arabian Oil Company exemplifies how an organization may go from good to great through a focus on innovation. In this audio lecture, CEO Abdallah Jum'ah shares with an audience of Stanford MBA students how he has harnessed the brainpower of his people to come up with breakthrough solutions in areas such as technology, tools, processes, and organizational management. His talk demonstrates how living the values of innovation, insight, and principle can transform an organization and change the world.
Sam Goldman - Lighting the Way to Economic Development
Let there be light! That's Sam Goldman's motto, and he's taking it around the world. The founder of d.light design talks with Stanford Center for Social Innovation correspondent Sheela Sethuraman about how he is bringing affordable, ecologically sustainable electricity and lighting to billions who are now operating in the dark. In this audio interview, he details aspects of the design, function, marketing, and distribution of the organization's products, as well as the kind of impact the social enterprise is having in some of the most remote, poor areas.
Mark Levine - China’s Environmental Sustainability Myths Dispelled
Like Russia, China has been a huge and inefficient user of energy for decades. Now, however, the country is cleaning up its act. In this audio lecture, sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, Mark Levine, Lawrence Berkeley Lab energy group director, dispels common American myths about China's energy and environmental practices, demonstrating that the country is becoming surprisingly progressive. He touches on areas such as subsidies, pricing, and emissions policies.
Sonal Shah, Michele Jolin, and Greg Nelson - Social Innovation in the White House
President Obama has sent a powerful message to the American public since taking office: Social innovation can play an important role in rebuilding a stronger country. With the passage of stimulus packages in areas such as clean energy, national service, and climate change, it's clear that the White House is approaching national challenges in new ways. In this panel discussion, hosted by Full Circle Fund and sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, key staff in the Obama administration provide the broad outlines for these exciting changes.
John Podesta - Responding to Climate Change
To support environmental sustainability and reduce or even stop the threat of global warming, the first line of defense is to avoid using fossil fuels in the first place. In this university podcast followed by questions from the audience, John Podesta suggests that this can be done by focusing on greater energy efficiency—both at personal and policy levels.
Panel Discussion - Biofuels for Environmental Sustainability
Biofuels offer an environmental sustainability substitute against petrol-based fuels such as gasoline, yet they are still expensive to produce and are causing a steep inflation in food prices the world over. This panel discussion of experts debates the root causes of the increase in food prices, and the need to tackle the economic and political side effects of biofuel production.
Craig Venter - Genetics and Environmental Sustainability
Can environmental sustainability be supported by genetics? In this audio interview, Craig Venter, a pioneer in genetic research, discusses some of his key discoveries that are advancing the state of science in genomics and synthetic life. He shares how, in his current work on DNA programming and building synthetic organisms, he is using the building blocks of life to approach society's most pressing problems such as energy and food.
Vinod Khosla - Moving from “Greenwashing” to Truly Green
Vinod Khosla, Silicon Valley venture capitalist, says he used to be an environmentalist, but is now more of a "pragmentalist." In this Stanford Center for Social Innovation sponsored audio lecture, Khosla turns conventional wisdom about what passes for "green technology" on its head. He takes a hard look at how innovations such as hybrid cars and fuel cell buses may, in fact, be exacerbating our problems, and offers concrete, iconoclastic suggestions as to what science, business, and government should be focusing on instead.
Amory Lovins - Business Solutions to Climate Change
Better design integration and materials innovation can lead to big energy and cost savings, and rapid return on investment, particularly in the automotive and housing industries. Amory Lovins, one of America's most influential energy speakers, offers some profitable business-led solutions to climate, oil, and nuclear proliferation problems in this Stanford Center for Social Innovation sponsored audio lecture. Lovins offers strategies to reduce US oil dependence through a menu of renewable and fossil fuel types.