Communicating something called: sustainability
-Originally published at ZN.be blog -
This post is the first in a series of Communication and Sustainability insights that I will be posting on the ZN blog. Since I am interested in this topic and am starting to explore best practices, I thought they would be worth sharing.
Let’s start from the basics: What does living sustainably mean and why is it important?
Living sustainably is about living within the means of our natural systems (environment) and ensuring that our lifestyle as well as work operations don’t harm other people (society and culture). It is really about thinking where our food, clothes, energy and other products come from and deciding whether we should buy them.
Sustainability is a current global concern and a priority for many governments therefore, it is a communication hot-topic for organisations that are looking for ways “to demonstrate” how much they care about their impact to our planet.
However, beyond just showing “how much paper we recycle at the office”, it’s all about taking responsibility for the future of our society. “It’s the ability or capacity of something to be maintained or to sustain itself. It’s about taking what we need to live now, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs”. United Nations.
Let me share with you one of my favourite videos that illustrates this topic:
TEDxBrussels 2011
This was the 3rd time attending TEDxBrussels. This time I had the pleasure of being part of the Social Media team by doing one of my favorite hobbies: Photography!
The event took place on the 22th of November at the Centre for Fine Arts: Bozar in Brussels. One of my favorite places in the city.
ZN was partner in the organisation of the event and I was in charge of the photos for the social media channels, meaning: Facebook, Twitter and Storify, together with my other colleagues.
With the slogan: “A day in the deep future”, over 1300 people attended to the 3rd edition of TEDxBrussels, to listen to an excellent line of speakers in topics of Technology, Science and Business.. and then engaging in interesting discussions over the lunch and coffee breaks. Definitely, an exhilarating brain spa!
You can find some of my pictures at the Flickr photostream of the event here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tedxbrussels/
Looking forward to the next editions of the event: TEDx EU and TEDx Kids! 
got my Flickr badge!
I have uploaded some photos of my last trip to Colombia for my sister’s wedding and my holidays in Cartagena, at the north coastline of Colombia. Check them on www.flickr.com/alejalaiton
Enjoy’ em!
Lala.
in Berlin
Social media and e-campaigning presentation in Berlin
I went to Berlin, Germany for the first time in my life and was awesome!
I was responsible for the international media and social media coverage of the World Congress of Inclusion International. Over 2.700 persons with disabilities, supporters, professionals and family members were gathered in Berlin to share knowledge and experiences on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.
In addition, I was speaker in one of the panels talking about social media and e-campaigning. I basically presented our experience at Inclusion Europe in using new information technologies such as social media tools and channels to reach more of our audiences. We are aware that our audiences might have any physical disability or they are looking for information on these issues, also maybe they pursuit for visibility of their projects and organisations or simply they need to connect to each other. The presentation went well and I felt so happy to be able to share my experience on this topic.
I also took some photos!.. you can check them out in the Capturing Beauty set of my Flickr page!
See you!
Aleja
Hola y bienvenidos a mi página web!
Soy periodista colombiana viviendo y trabajando en Bruselas, Bélgica (a 7 horas adelante de Colombia). Mis amigos me llaman “Lala” y me reconocen por ser una persona energética, analítica, creativa y apasionada por los temas de Internet, Culturas del mundo, Educación, Desarrollo Sostenible y Emprendimiento social.
Mi especialidad es el manejo de comunicaciones y del talento humano en ONGs de defensa de los derechos humanos: desplazados, habitantes de la calle, personas discapacitadas, niños en situación de riesgo y jóvenes líderes, entre otros.
A mis 28 años, ya tengo experiencia laboral en Colombia, Brasil, Holanda y Bélgica en el diseño e implementación de planes de comunicaciones regionales y globales; coordinación de equipos de personas tanto físico como virtual; producción y publicación de materiales impresos; trabajo en medios de comunicación y mantenimiento de presencia online.
Soy aficionada de los temas Web 2.0, blogger de lo que aprendo y analizo hace más de 4 años, también fotografa y video aficionada de los momentos que vivo y que quiero retratar. Soy fluída en inglés y portugués y ahora estoy estudiando francés. Busco constantemente oportunidades para seguir aprendiendo de este tema y mantenerme actualizada en las nuevas tendencias en Internet.
Actualmente, dirijo el área de comunicaciones de la Asociación Europea de personas con discapacidades intelectuales, que agrupa más de 60 sociedades de personas con discapacidades en más de 30 países de Europa. Me encargo de generar información online y campañas que ayuden a generar conciencia sobre la importancia de incluir completamente a las personas con discapacidades en la sociedad. Así mismo, soy parte del grupo de expertos en Tecnologías de la Comunicación e Información del Foro Europeo de la Discapacidad, del Parlamento Europeo.
Mis razones para ser usuaria activa de social media y de crear esta página web de presentación aquí, en una entrada anterior.
Los invito a leer la entrada de mi blog en inglés: “Where are you from?”, que fue publicado también en la comunidad online de viajeros de todo el mundo Weekego para viajar de una manera responsable. Yo hablé de los estereotipos de Colombia en el exterior (entrada en inglés).
Para saber más de mi experiencia profesional, mi portafolio, mis perfiles en redes sociales y mi registro de viajes, en inglés, pueden visitar las otras secciones de esta página web. Tambien los invito a que echen un vistazo a mis fotos en Flickr y videos en YouTube más recientes.
Para contactarme, hacer click aquí!
Un abrazo y gracias por leer!
Alejandra.
New Technologies and Social Media
EN: Technology is changing a lot. For example, now we can use Facebook to talk to our friends and to meet new friends on the internet. Inclusion Europe has got a Facebook page where you can meet other people interested in inclusion. Inclusion Europe also has a channel on YouTube where you can watch our videos.FR: La technologie change tout le temps. Par exemple, aujourd’hui vous pouvez utiliser ‘Facebook’ pour parler avec vos amis et pour rencontrer des nouveaux amis surInternet. Inclusion Europe a créé une page sur ‘Facebook’ où vous pouvez rencontrerd’autres gens qui s’intéressent à l’inclusion.
DE: Inclusion Europe a aussi créé une chaînesur ‘YouTube’ où vous pouvez regarder nos vidéos. Informations technologien ändern sich ständig. Heute, können wir zum Beispiel Facebook benutzen,um mit Freunden zu sprechen oder neue Freunde zu treffen. Inclusion Europe hat jetzt eine Facebook-Seite, auf der man andere Menschen mit Interesse an Inklusion treffen kann. Inclusion Europe hat aucheinen Kanal auf YouTube mit videos.
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Technology can now be used in new and different ways to gain support for the Inclusion movement amongst organizations, donors, supporters, experts and public services, as well as reaching individual citizens themselves.
With the expertise of our new Communications Officer, Alejandra Laiton, Inclusion Europe is embracing new communication and information technologies as an opportunity to make information accessible to all, by connecting and supporting our member associations through the use of new technologies such as social media and online collaboration tools.
but, What is social media?
Officially, social media is an umbrella term that defines the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction and the construction of words, pictures, video and audio. (source: Wikipedia)
Put simply, it is used to describe the millions of conversations people across the world are having on a daily basis, through online social networks, computer devices, email accounts,websites and communication tools such as Skype, and MSN.
and, Why should we care about this?
■ Because social media is the new way of democratizing communications
■ Because 2/3 of the global internet population visits social networks
■ Because visiting social networking sites is now thefourth most popular online activity – ahead of personal email use
■ Because we need to be where the people are: the social and mobile Web
Technology is changing the way we engage with our audiences, the way we listen to them, the way we invite them to participate and lead the way for change. It also brings us the possibility of connecting more with our colleagues.
Updates
Dear all,
Here are 3 important profesional updates that I want to share with you.
1. I have been selected as the new Communications Officer at Inclusion Europe.
This is the European Association of societies of persons with intellectual disability and their families; the Secretariat is based in Brussels, Belgium. I am in charge of the implementation of the overall Communications strategy of the organization, including Information management matters. I will be responsible for implementing Web 2.0 strategies and supporting the delivery, promotion and disemination of the projects across Europe; it includes press releases, multilingual publications, websites and setting up intranets for project management. All of this under a social cause: Inclusion and Human Rights!
2. I am studying!… in Colombia!… yes, online.
I was invited by the Ministery of Communications of Colombia to participate in the online course: E-Citizen. This is a new program of the government of my country to teach the citizens how to use the Information and Communication Technologies. The course also includes an International certification on management of the Information and Communication Tecnologies given by the ICDL Organization (International Computer Driving License). I am refreshing the elemental concepts from What is a computer until secured practices to manage information on the Web. I am super happy to be able to connect with other colombians remotely and to be among the first persons receiving this certification in my country :-)
3. I have been nominated to be part of the e-mail expert group of Information and Communication Technologies of the European Disability Forum.
Thanks to my experience and my professional background, my organization has decided to nominate me for this important group of people in Europe. The EDF is an independent European non-governmental organisation (ENGO) that represents the interests of 65 million disabled people in the European Union and stands for their rights. And the group of experts will be requested to give inputs on on-going issues within EDF work programme, or unexpected issues that might need immediate input from the experts. I feel so honored with this nomination and I hope to be able to contribute in a larger scale. 
On the personal side, I am really looking forward to my holidays in Colombia (after 2 years!) and couple of travels in Europe that are just around the corner as well.. I will let you know though.
Hugs and thanks for reading,
Lala.
My networks
I joined these online networks to connect with different people that share the same interests as me.
Red de Periodistas Multimedia [RPM]
This is a network of digital journalists across Colombia and Iberoamerica. The group was created in Colombia on February 2009 by a group of well known journalists in Colombia. Over 400 members are part of this network so far.
Topics: Digital Journalism, Web 2.0, Web 3.0, Communications, Internet.
DirCom Social
This is a network of professionals and students on Communications, Public Relations, Marketing, Advertising in Iberoamerica.
I don’t know when exactly this network was created, but so far is the best network to connect professionals on Communications in Iberoamerica. It has over 2.000 members.
Topics: Communications, Marketing, Adversting, Public Relations.
Weekego
This is a network for Travelers across the world! This was founded by two friends, weekeego’s idea is to give you a deeper experience of the community by involving you in activities that are unique to the location you have chosen.
I also contribute it as a blogger! visit: http://www.weekeego.net/blog/
Topics: Travels, Responsible Tourism.
Telling the story! – releasing the AIESEC Annual Report 08/09
This week, the AIESEC International Annual Report 2008/2009 was released which officially closes my and my colleague Lucy Symons‘ role in ‘telling the story’ strategy from the global office of AIESEC.
http://aiesec.org/cms/aiesec/AI/partners/publications.html
So much of our strategy, tactics and choices tie back to the conversations and resources many people supported us with- thank you immensely for being so available and supportive across the year.
Hosting a national conference in Belgium
I have been honorably invited to be the Chair of the National Conference on Leadership Development called “Kick Off – AIESEC in Belgium 2009“.
Over 60 leaders from the 12 local offices and the national office of AIESEC in Belgium will be gathered at Limburg, Belgium from the 18th – 20th of September 2009. The objective of the meeting is to build and launch the plan for the term 2009-2010, acquire leadership competencies and generate cooperation between the member’s offices.
I will be the host and general coordinator of the organizing team.
AIESEC facilities over 7,700 leadership roles involved in running the organization at local, national, regional and global scale, as well as training in soft skils and functional areas in over 470 conferences each year.
Thanks to the members of AIESEC in Belgium for the invitation and let’s kick it off!
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