[sustran] Re: UN "ambassador" for public transport?

[robert cowherd]

Speaking of Gandhi, I suggest Suha Ozkan of Geneva and Istanbul who has
never owned a car and as President of the 2005 International Union of
Architects meeting answered the call for a strict security protocol around
the delegates by instead throwing the meeting hall doors open to the people
of the host city Istanbul. As the Secretary General of the Aga Khan Award
for Architecture from 1991 until 2006, Dr. Ozkan brought an agenda of social
progress and humanity to the often self-isolating world of architectural
prestige. Dr. Ozkan is a life-long walker and has demonstrated his capacity
to bridge worlds of difference with a rare combination of charm, toughness,
poise, intellect and grace.

Robert Cowherd, Associate Professor of Architecture
Wentworth Institute of Technology 550 Huntington Ave. Boston, MA 02115
cowherdr at wit.edu; 617 989-4453



On 5/15/07 10:43 AM "Madhav Badami, Prof." <madhav.g.badami at mcgill.ca>
wrote:
> Where's Mahatma Gandhi when we need him? There was a man who literally walked
> the talk (he also travelled third class; and as I recall, the only time he
> travelled First Class -- in South Africa -- he got ejected. Do UN ambassadors
> have to be living? Could we not use the example of people like Gandhi and Ivan
> Illich, a theologian who wrote more sane stuff about transport than most
> transport types, in addition to people like Senor Penalosa and Ken
> Livingstone?
> 
> Speaking of Ivan Illich, I would recommend his "Energy and Equity" from the
> 1970s, which contains such insights as: motorized vehicles "create remoteness
> which they alone can shrink" and "create distances for all and shrink them for
> only a few"; automobile passengers "become consumers of others' time", and
> steal time from poor groups and reallocate it to usually richer groups, and
> finally, the transportation industry, in common with many of our other
> "service industries", exercises a radical monopoly by creating and shaping the
> need which it alone can satisfy.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Madhav
> 
> 
> ************************************************************************
>  
> "As for the future, your task is not to foresee, but to enable it."
> Antoine de Saint-Exupery
>  
> Madhav G. Badami, PhD
> School of Urban Planning and McGill School of Environment McGill University
> Macdonald-Harrington Building
> 815 Sherbrooke Street West
> Montreal, QC, H3A 2K6, Canada
>  
> Phone: 514-398-3183 (Work); 514-486-2370 (Home)
> Fax: 514-398-8376; 514-398-1643
> URLs: www.mcgill.ca/urbanplanning
> www.mcgill.ca/mse
> e-mail: madhav.badami at mcgill.ca
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: sustran-discuss-bounces+madhav.g.badami=mcgill.ca at list.jca.apc.org
> [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+madhav.g.badami=mcgill.ca at list.jca.apc.org] On
> Behalf Of Lew Fulton
> Sent: Monday, May 14, 2007 3:26 AM
> To: edelman at greenidea.info; Global 'South' Sustainable Transport
> Cc: sustran-discuss-bounces+lew.fulton=unep.org at list.jca.apc.org; Global
> 'South' Sustainable Transport
> Subject: [sustran] Re: UN "ambassador" for public transport?
> 
> I think Enrique Penalosa is perfect in the sense that he is the real deal, is
> a visionary, is inspiring and is fluent in key languages. But he's not widely
> known outside of transport and urban sustainability circles.  If we could have
> him star in a major hollywood film, that would do the trick, though I tend to
> doubt that's on his agenda, or theirs...
> 
> Probably the key is to get in touch with some big agents and see what stars
> take transit (obviously they don't live in LA) and would be interested.
> I'll look into our ambassador system doing this, but in the mean time, if
> anyone finds out about any stars who have even once in their life been on a
> bus, let me know :-).
> 
> Lew
> 
> 
> 
>                  
>              "Todd Edelman,
>              Green Idea
>              Factory"                                                   To
>              <edelman at greenide         "Global 'South' Sustainable
>              a.info>                   Transport"
>              Sent by:                  <sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org>
>              sustran-discuss-b                                          cc
>              ounces+lew.fulton
>              =unep.org at list.jc                                     Subject
>              a.apc.org                 [sustran] Re: UN "ambassador" for
>                                        public transport?
>                  
>              13/05/2007 21:45
>                  
>                  
>              Please respond to
>              edelman at greenidea
>                .info; Please
>                 respond to
>               "Global 'South'
>                 Sustainable
>                 Transport"
>              <sustran-discuss@
>              list.jca.apc.org>
>                  
>                  
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> Again, I think there is a reason many or perhaps all of these Goodwill
> Ambassadors are not current, former or future political figures. I am not
> hiding any bias against Penalosa and I wish that more politicians of all
> genders had his cajones, but he is perhaps too obvious a supporter of whatever
> we end up telling UNEP what we want to call "appropriate, desirable and
> sustainable transport solutions (ADSTS) for cities and regions which are
> designed to decrease the need for mobility (DDNM)".
> 
> In regards to the oft-heard and generally reasonable complaint about
> underground metros costing the equivalent of one million years worth of GNPs
> of every developing country in the universe, don't you think we need someone
> who is powerful enough to tell various parties that he or she thinks they
> might want to consider shifting some dineros, shekels, sea dollars or salt
> wafers from their military spending - usually way, way-ay-ay more absurd than
> an inappropriate metro - to ADSTS and DDNM?
> 
> - T
> 
>   Pendakur wrote:
>> Absolutely, Enrique Penalosa.  He is articulate, has professional and
>> political experience in "making things happen" and to boot it, he is
>> absolutely attention catching.
>> 
>> Best wishes.
>> 
>> Setty
>> Dr. V. Setty Pendakur
>> Professor Emeritus, University of BC
>> Honorary Professor, China National Academy of Sciences; Director, ITDP
>> (NY) & Secretary, ABE90-TRB
>> 
>> President, Pacific Policy and Planning Associates
>> 702- 1099 Marinaside Cresecent, Vancouver, BC Canada V6Z 2Z3
>> 604-263-3576; Fax: 604-263-6493
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From:
> sustran-discuss-bounces+pendakur=interchange.ubc.ca at list.jca.apc.org
>> 
> [mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+pendakur=interchange.ubc.ca at list.jca.apc.org
> 
>> ] On Behalf Of Lee Schipper
>> Sent: Sunday, May 13, 2007 9:15 AM
>> To: Global 'South' Sustainable Transport
>> Subject: [sustran] Re: UN "ambassador" for public transport?
>> 
>> Enrique Penalosa?
>> 
>> 
>>>>> Lew Fulton <Lew.Fulton at unep.org> 5/10/2007 8:31:51 AM >>>
>>>>> 
>> Hello all,
>> 
>> A UN colleague of mine is interested in exploring finding someone with
> star
>> power who is (or could logically be) an advocate for public transport
>> and might be interested in becoming a "UN Ambassador" on the topic.
>> 
>> Any suggestions?
>> 
>> Thanks,
>> 
>> Lew
>> 
>> Lew Fulton
>> Program Officer, Sustainable Transport Division of GEF Coordination UN
>> Environment Programme PO Box 30552-00100, Nairobi, Kenya
>> tel: +254 20 762 3257 (From Europe and N.America, you can dial via
>> Italy, often a better connection: +39 0831 24 3000, wait for voice
>> then dial 124
>> 3257)
>> fax: +254 20 762 4041/42
>> lew.fulton at unep.org
>> www.unep.org/gef
>> 
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> 
> --
> --------------------------------------------
> 
> Todd Edelman
> Director
> Green Idea Factory
> 
> Korunní 72
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> and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global
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