Earth Day 2010 - Erasmus University Rotterdam

On this special day, World Wide Fund for Nature, the Dutch Research Institute for Transitions, Erasmus Podium and GreenEUR will organize an inspiring program called EURth Day.

Dr. Gail Whiteman (sustainability, Rotterdam School of Management) will open the program and explain the crucial role of every business and individual in the transition towards a sustainable society.

Gyzlene Zeroual, master student Management of Change at RSM and member of GreenEUR, will explain the vision and aims of GreenEUR, the student organization for a sustainable Erasmus University.

In a serie of inspiring talks, passionate adventures / environmentalists will speak about their passion for planet earth and the need to preserve every habitat.

FORESTS - Corneille Ewango is a Congolese environmentalist, and was responsible for the Okapi Faunal Reserve's botany program in the Democratic Republic of Congo from 1996 to 2003. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2005 for his efforts to protect the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the Ituri Rainforest during the Congo Civil War. The reserve is home to the Mbuti people, and houses animals such as okapis (found nowhere else), elephants and 13 primate species. Ewango has uncovered 270 species of lianas and 600 tree species in the area.

MOUNTAINS - Erik Ravenstijn is the youngest Dutch climber to have climbed Mount Everest. In 2009 he reached the highest peak in the world at the age of 25. While being passionate about climbing and the outdoors, he now has put up a new challenge; to climb Mount Everest with emitting as little CO2 as possible. A 10,000 kilometer journey on his bicycle will bring him to base camp Mount Everest, where he will make his second attempt.

OCEANS - Vincent Kneefel is a an underwater photographer with a passion for marine life, who is committed to conservation of the underwater world. He has done more than 1200 dives in over 30 countries around the world; Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Ocean. In 2009 he initiated Rotterdam World Ocean Day, an event where Fabien Cousteau, David Doubilet and Paul Watson were among the keynote speakers. Vincent has developed a passion for the oceans and everything in it.

DESERTS - Arita Baaijens is an author, a photographer, and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. She has published several books on her desert journeys. In between travels she lives in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Twenty years ago she gave up her job as an environmentalist and ever since she has been exploring the deserts of Egypt and the Sudan with a small camel caravan. Lately she directed her attention to Central Asia and Siberia.

POLES - Marc Cornelissen is one of the few explorers reaching both North and South Pole on foot. His love of the Arctic wilderness has led him to undergo real physical endurance on the ice all in the name of climate change research and nature conservation. His expeditions have a mission. In March 2005 he has set out on skis together with Doug Stoup and Petter Nyquist to deploy high-tech satellite beacons tracking the movement of sea ice, air temperature and wind patterns on the Arctic Ocean.


MOVIE PREMIERE: OCEANS

Last year the folks at Disneynature brought us the spectacular film, "Earth" on Earth Day. This year the studio releases "Oceans" a chronicle of the mysterious depths in five of the world's oceans, showing in theaters on April 22, Earth Day 2010. Narrated by Pierce Brosnan and directed by Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud, it captured imagery with the newest underwater technology.

Shot at 50 different locations, and taking three years to complete, Oceans spotlights tons of sea animals including leatherback turtles, wild-looking dugong, spooky deep sea creatures, twirling whales, and swirling giant squid. The immersion camerawork takes viewers through a shoal of tuna, along dolphin stampedes and swimming with a great white.


PROGRAMME

EURth Day - 22nd April 2010
Location: Auditorium Erasmus University
Free entrance, on invitation only. 850 pax.

18h30: Welcome with coffee and tea
19h00: Start program

Opening by Prof. Dr. Gail Whiteman
GreenEUR by Gyzlene Zeroual

Forests: Corneille Ewango
Mountains: Erik Ravenstijn
Oceans: Vincent Kneefel
Deserts: Arita Baaijens
Poles: Marc Cornelissen

20h10 - 20h30 Break

20h30 - 22h30 Premiere OCEANS

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• OCEANS
• earth
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• ewango
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• erik
• ravenstijn