Temperatures dropped and big, unseasonal flakes of snow swirled in the breeze earlier this week in Copenhagen, turning skies gray and streets slippery. But the change discussed in conversations wherever you go in this ornately decorated city is not the week’s weather but the coming century’s climate. Nowhere does climate change feel more ominous than at the North Atlantic House, a cultural center in central Copenhagen celebrating the Arctic peoples of Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. An artist from Greenland turned the North Atlantic House building into a massive art installation symbolizing global warming. The front of the 250-year-old former warehouse shimmers with what appears like a 6-story iceberg popping out of its façade, but it’s literally only the tip of the iceberg. Inside, several exhibitions document changes brought to the Arctic by global warming, and forecast the more dramatic transformations expected in the future.

Read the full article at National Geographic …

The Leadership Centre at the University of KwaZulu-Natal is seeking 4 high-calibre students (2 students in each area) to undertake full-time research at Masters level in 2010, in the following two topic areas, under the broad research theme of large scale systemic change:

• Leadership and Indigenous Knowledge
• Local Economic Development

The Masters programme by supervised research must be completed in a period of one year full-time. Prospective students (who may originate from any disciplinary background) will undergo a rigorous process of selection.

This programme will be suitable for you if you are committed to:

• rigorous research in an applied context
• high-intensity learning that stretches you intellectually and practically
• contributing to the body of knowledge in the field of leadership
• making a positive difference to organisations, communities or society,

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South Africa consists of people who live out their culture in different or in similar ways. Culture includes all the various languages which people speak as their mother tongue and as a second or even a third language. It also includes the music, literature, visual arts, dance, drama, oral traditions, traditional practices which include food, fashion, architecture and heritage and the particular beliefs of a cultural group which all contribute to a unique way of life that is in certain ways distinct from that of another cultural group. All of these distinct cultural characteristics in some way or another contribute to a diverse, but also a shared and vibrant cultural landscape in South Africa.

However, the cultural landscape of South Africa on the one hand tells a story of underdevelopment, neglect and blatant disregard of certain cultures and on the other hand a story of preferential treatment of particular cultural communities and cultural practices. Hence, the challenge is to create enabling and creative cultural pathways to rectify these imbalances and to reshape the cultural landscape of the South Africa in order to reflect the rich diversity and set in motion supportive collaboration between the various cultural groups.

Read the full post on Sangonet ….

Planning and implementation of one of the country’s most significant art exhibitions, Jabulisa 2010, is underway.

Jabulisa, which previously took place in 1996, 2000 and 2006, is a  touring exhibition that showcases the art and craft of KwaZulu-Natal,  and is a project of the Natal Arts Trust. This is an independent body with meaningful ties to the five art museums of the province, and the majority of the Natal Arts Trust board are curators of these art museums.

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Nine DM2009 winners will use the centuries-old knowledge of Indigenous Peoples to adapt to destructive climate change — but often leveraged with modern science and technology.

Here’s how old and new will be joined in several winning projects.

Read the full article at The World Bank blog …