- Starting on Earth Day, the Earth Optimism Summit will virtually gather over 100 conservation leaders to discuss what’s working in conservation, climate change, and sustainability.
- Mongabay’s Transforming Conservation initiative will host two sessions, one on April 23 and another on the 24th, which readers can watch online.
- Also on April 23, Mongabay will host the Association for Tropical Biology & Conservation (ATBC)’s Short Video Contest award ceremony, during which the three winning videos will be announced.
- Readers can watch via Youtube or Facebook Live as the sessions happen from April 22-24.
Mongabay and its Transforming Conservation initiative have partnered with the Smithsonian Conservation Commons to host two panel sessions at the Earth Optimism Summit, which is scheduled for April 22-24 this year. The entire multi-day event featuring 100+ speakers will happen live and online, and be open to everyone.
In addition to the broad overall program, Mongabay readers can join our two Transforming Conservation live sessions:
Transforming Conservation: Crisis and Opportunity
Thursday, April 23, 2020 | 6:15 p.m. – 6:40 p.m. Eastern (US) time
Dynamic entrepreneurs – including a CNN Hero of the Planet – who have led impactful field conservation efforts, will discuss common threads and explore levers to help transform the field of conservation.
Watch the conversation on Youtube or Facebook Live beginning at 6:15 p.m.
On the following day, this same group will continue the conversation with two additional conservation leaders. Here’s the session description:
“Systemic changes are needed in the conservation field to be able to meet the growing challenges facing our natural environment. Join a group of diverse conservation entrepreneurs, funders and academics in a discussion about enhancing the field of conservation and its ability to deliver creative, impactful and scalable solutions to preserve biodiversity and ecological health around the globe, as well as touching upon experiences and opportunities for systems change that may emerge from the current global coronavirus crisis.”
The two additional speakers will be the following:
Maria Teresa Vargas – Fundacion Natura
Kristin Gilliss Moyer, Moderator – Senior Investment Partner, Mulago Foundation
Friday, April 24, 2020 | 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Eastern (US) time
Watch the event on Youtube or Facebook Live.
On April 23, Mongabay’s Lily Kang will co-host the Association for Tropical Biology & Conservation (ATBC)’s Short Video Contest award ceremony with ATBC Executive Director Lucia Lohmann, during which the three winning videos will be announced:
ATBC Short Video Contest on Science Communication
Thursday, April 23, 2020 | 6:40 p.m. – 7:45 p.m. Eastern (US) time
View this on Youtube or Facebook Live as well.
Those who tune in to the summit will also likely see Mongabay’s video about the Reefscape project that is mapping the world’s coral reefs during the event:
Then on Saturday, Conservation X Labs will host a virtual Ideathon, which is described like a hackathon where participants form teams, discuss issues with experts, and generate ideas for conservation solutions. The idea is create the most impactful ideas which can be directly submitted to the Con X Tech Prize for a chance at a $3,500 prize. Learn more and register for that event here.
Watch all the Earth Optimism action from April 22-24 on Youtube or Facebook Live and discuss all things Earth Optimism on Twitter using the hashtag #earthoptimism.