May East

Last updated

May East
Born (1956-01-29) 29 January 1956 (age 68)
Genres
Occupation
  • Singer-songwriter
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • keyboards
Years active1978–2002
Labels

May East (also known as Maria Elisa Capparelli Pinheiro) is a British/Brazilian urbanist, educator, singer and songwriter. Over the years she has considered herself an artivist. [1]

Contents

Early musical career

East comes from an artistic community stretching between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. East's art expressed a deep concern for Brazil's environment both in the major cities and the country's interior, specially the rainforests of the Amazon.

East started her career as a singer in the band Gang 90 & Absurdettes in 1981. Their songs mixed new-wave with beatnik poetry and a female choir, inspired by the new-wave band The B-52s. Gang 90 is considered[ by whom? ] to be the predecessor of all Brazilian new-wave bands of the 80s. [2]

In 1982 she collaborated with the independent TVDO videoart group [3] and in partnership with the producer Nelson Motta co-produced the TV program Mocidade Independente [4] for TV Bandeirantes.

In 1984 she released her first single, "Fire in the jungle/Índio", in Brazil, The Netherlands and Japan with EMI. Fire in the Jungle became a soundtrack for the film Areias Escaldantes directed by Francisco de Paula.

Some months later, her first album, Remota Batucada was launched. [5] The music was an original brand of electronica, folk music, and new wave pop and was coined as "tribal ie-ie". East also released the albums Tabapora and Charites. She moved to England and then to the Scottish community of Findhorn, where she focused on ecological activism and began giving lectures and seminars. [6] [7] In the late 90s she released the albums: Cave of the Heart (with the Findhorn Community Chorus) and Cosmic Breath (with her ex-husband Craig Gibsone); and 1001 Faces (solo album) in 2002.

Career

East has played a role in developing relationships between the United Nations and the Findhorn Ecovillage, culminating in the establishment of CIFAL Scotland in 2006. The United Nations Institute for Training and Research affiliated training centre for Northern Europe operated for 10 years as a hub for capacity building, leadership and knowledge sharing between local and regional authorities, international organisations, the private sector and civil society under East's leadership. [8] [9]

She is the co-founder and has served as Chief Executive of Gaia Education, an international consortium of sustainability designers and educators from research and development centers for carbon-constrained lifestyles.

East was included three years in a row (2011, 2012, 2013) in the 100 Global Sustain Ability Leaders list, devised and produced by Ken Hickson, Chairman/CEO of Sustain Ability Showcase Asia and ABC Carbon. The list recognises 100 people around the world who have provided leadership in the field of sustainability. [10]

East received in 2019 the Women of the Decade in Sustainability & Leadership Award presented by the Women Economic Forum and All Ladies League. [11]

A UNITAR Fellow she has an MSc in Spatial Planning with specialisation in integrated approaches for the regeneration of abandoned towns in southern Italy, which makes the case for the reactivation of abandoned settlements, the so-called ghost towns in southern Europe, as an alternative housing solution that comes with embedded collective memory and offers ‘locally adaptable, culturally rooted’ opportunities for communities. She has contributed a chapter of her findings to the book From Conflict to Inclusion in Housing: Interaction of Communities, Residents and Activists. [12]

East is one of the co-founders of the Global Ecovillage Network and has lived for 15 years in the Findhorn Ecovillage where she established a new strand of Education for Sustainable Development.[ citation needed ]

She holds a PhD in Architecture and Urban Planning with the University of Dundee on the topic What if Women Designed the City?[ citation needed ]

Since 2013 East has been contributing articles to The Scotsman [13] The Guardian , [14] the Scientific Journal of the European Ecocycles Society [15] and Sustainability (journal) published by MDPI [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amazon rainforest</span> Large rainforest in South America

The Amazon rainforest, also called Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin encompasses 7,000,000 km2 (2,700,000 sq mi), of which 6,000,000 km2 (2,300,000 sq mi) are covered by the rainforest. This region includes territory belonging to nine nations and 3,344 indigenous territories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ecovillage</span> Community with the goal of becoming more sustainable

An ecovillage is a traditional or intentional community that aims to become more socially, culturally, economically and/or environmentally sustainable. An ecovillage strives to have the least possible negative impact on the natural environment through the intentional physical design and behavioural choices of its inhabitants. It is consciously designed through locally owned, participatory processes to regenerate and restore its social and natural environments. Most range from a population of 50 to 250 individuals, although some are smaller, and traditional ecovillages are often much larger. Larger ecovillages often exist as networks of smaller sub-communities. Some ecovillages have grown through like-minded individuals, families, or other small groups—who are not members, at least at the outset—settling on the ecovillage's periphery and participating de facto in the community. There are currently more than 10,000 ecovillages around the world.

The ecological footprint measures human demand on natural capital, i.e. the quantity of nature it takes to support people and their economies. It tracks human demand on nature through an ecological accounting system. The accounts contrast the biologically productive area people use to satisfy their consumption to the biologically productive area available within a region, nation, or the world (biocapacity). Biocapacity is the productive area that can regenerate what people demand from nature. Therefore, the metric is a measure of human impact on the environment. As Ecological Footprint accounts measure to what extent human activities operate within the means of our planet, they are a central metric for sustainability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Findhorn Foundation</span> Charitable trust of intentional community

The Findhorn Foundation is a Scottish charitable trust registered in 1972, formed by the spiritual community at the Findhorn Ecovillage, one of the largest intentional communities in Britain. It has been home to thousands of residents from more than 40 countries. The Foundation closed all its educational programmes in September 2023 whereas the Findhorn community eco village at Findhorn houses about 40 community businesses such as the Findhorn Press and an alternative medicine centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intentional community</span> Planned, socially-cohesive, residential community

An intentional community is a voluntary residential community designed to foster a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork. Members typically unite around shared values, beliefs, or a common vision, which may be political, religious, spiritual, or simply focused on the practical benefits of cooperation and mutual support. While some groups emphasise shared ideologies, others are centred on enhancing social connections, sharing resources, and creating meaningful relationships.

The Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) is a global association of people and communities (ecovillages) dedicated to living "sustainable plus" lives by restoring the land and adding more to the environment than is taken. Network members share ideas and information, transfer technologies and develop cultural and educational exchanges.

Diane Gilman (1945–1998), was a painter, potter, writer and co-founder of the Context Institute. She played a key role in the initial development and coordination of the Global Ecovillage Network, a support network for model communities to show how to live more sustainably on the planet, in urban, rural, developed and less developed situations. In 1991, she and her husband, Robert Gilman co-wrote Eco-Villages and Sustainable Communities, a seminal study of ecovillages for Gaia Trust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable city</span> City designed with consideration for social, economic, environmental impact

A sustainable city, eco-city, or green city is a city designed with consideration for the social, economic, and environmental impact, as well as a resilient habitat for existing populations. This is done in a way that does not compromise the ability of future generations to experience the same. The UN Sustainable Development Goal 11 defines sustainable cities as those that are dedicated to achieving green sustainability, social sustainability and economic sustainability. In accordance with the UN Sustainable Development Goal 11, a sustainable city is defined as one that is dedicated to achieving green, social, and economic sustainability. They are committed to this objective by facilitating opportunities for all through a design that prioritizes inclusivity as well as maintaining a sustainable economic growth. Furthermore, the objective is to minimize the inputs of energy, water, and food, and to drastically reduce waste, as well as the outputs of heat, air pollution. Richard Register, a visual artist, first coined the term ecocity in his 1987 book Ecocity Berkeley: Building Cities for a Healthy Future, where he offers innovative city planning solutions that would work anywhere. Other leading figures who envisioned sustainable cities are architect Paul F Downton, who later founded the company Ecopolis Pty Ltd, as well as authors Timothy Beatley and Steffen Lehmann, who have written extensively on the subject. The field of industrial ecology is sometimes used in planning these cities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forest management</span> Branch of forestry

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Community Energy Scotland is an independent Scottish charity established in 2008 that provides advice and financial support for renewable energy projects developed by community groups in Scotland. The stated aim of Community Energy Scotland is 'to build confidence, resilience and wealth at community level in Scotland through sustainable energy development'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Findhorn Ecovillage</span> Experimental architectural ecovillage in Scotland

Findhorn Ecovillage, also known in the past as the Findhorn Community, now know as Ecovillage Findhorn out of respect for our local neighbours, is an experimental and utopian community project based at The Park, in Moray, Scotland, near the village of Findhorn focused on ecological solutions to the world's poly-crises and reconnecting humans both to "all our relations" and to the ground-of-being or source - the underlying essence of existence/grace of creation referred to in all major religious and spiritual traditions. It has recently been bought out by its community residents, introducing full democracy for the first time ever, as the residents aim to regenerate the economy and the community after a series of devastating shocks to its economy and facilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sustainable development in Scotland</span>

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Ecovillages in China are typically rural communities designed to promote ecological, cultural, economic, and social sustainability, in concert with the natural environment of a particular area. These are small human settlements with a community-based approach designed by the community themselves. Ecovillages are not completely isolated from other settlements, although they aspire to increased self-sufficiency.

References

  1. ↑ "Ecovillages | Design at the Edge". Kosmos Journal. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  2. ↑ "Gang 90 & As Absurdettes – 1981 – Perdidos na Selva – single". postpunkbrazil. 19 July 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  3. ↑ "TVDO – Videobrasil". site.videobrasil.org.br. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  4. ↑ "1981 – Programa MOCIDADE INDEPENDENTE". caetanoendetalle.blogspot.co.uk (in Spanish). 10 August 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  5. ↑ "May East". elizabethdiariodamusica.blogspot.co.uk (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  6. ↑ Revista IstoE. Barril da mãe natureza. Mother Earth Barril 24/11/1999 (in Portuguese)
  7. ↑ De musa da new wave a ativista, ela defende e encarna um mundo em transição. From new wave muse to activist she promotes a world in transition. 23/11/2011 Revista Trip (in Portuguese)
  8. ↑ CIFAL leader wins international recognition (in English)
  9. ↑ Worldwide crises need global solutions – 01/07/2013. The Scotsman (in English)
  10. ↑ 100 Global Sustain Ability Leaders 2013 Published in ABC Carbon Express issue 202 (25/11/2013) (in English)
  11. ↑ "Sustainability campaigner and former pop star wins top award" . Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  12. ↑ East, May (2017). "5" (PDF). In Cairns, Graham; Artopoulos, Georgios; Day, Kirsten (eds.). From Conflict to Inclusion in Housing : Interaction of Communities, Residents and Activists. University College London: UCL Press. pp. 87–102. ISBN   978-1-7873-5033-5. Integrated approaches and interventions for the regeneration of abandoned towns in southern Italy
  13. ↑ Sources:
  14. ↑ Sources:
  15. ↑ Sources:
  16. ↑ Sources:
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