International aid agency Oxfam launched ClimateVoice this week, bringing bloggers from around the world to New York for today’s high level climate summit at the United Nations, Clinton Global Iniative, Climate Week NYC events.

 Visit www.tcktcktck.org/climatevoice to see the coverage

Within the next month or two, events are being hosted in British Columbia, Paris, and San Francisco – helping to bring together and foster collaboration for those working within the environmental & social change space.

I wonder if there may be a unifying force striving through all of these gatherings - as if around the globe we are seeing that a renewed sense of collaboration is a major key to addressing our world's challenges. Take a look at the events and see for yourself!

Josh Catone (@Catone) recently shared a post on Mashable entitled, How To Use the Web for Socially Responsible Shopping. In the post, Josh profiled nine sites that “offer information for the conscious consumer about the companies and products we buy every day.”

Josh did an excellent job highlighting and bringing together an array of awesome tools: Knowmore, GoodGuide, Crocodyl, ClimateCounts, Transnationale, Corporate Critic, Citizens Market, Do the Right Thing, and Source Map.

And then in the comments, the Mashable community shared more great resources: Tuggly, MadeinNations, Business & Human Rights, EthiScore, Vanno, GreenLighted, and Zumer.

As well, there are even more useful sites which feature green & sustainability ratings – like 3rdWhale & GenGreen (who announced a partnership last night) GreenAmerica, Bilumi, BadBuster, & SustainLane. The list definitely goes on!

The thing is, after you read the post – you're left wondering: “Who is bringing all this data together?”

Who's making it easy to search across these sites? Who's working on making sense of the data – to potentially create aggregate profiles or scores. Who's working on open standards and formats so sites can talk to each other? Who's facilitating an Open API (like the Social Actions API & WiserEarth API) – to spread this information where it can be most relevant online? Who's figuring out the business & collaboration models so open sharing can be more likely to happen?

Catone's post changes the game because it forces us to look at the green shopping sector as a whole and wonder how we can help take it to the next level.

What do you think? How can we support and leverage this exploding sector to ultimately empower millions of people to shop in ways that create a better environmental & social impact?

Excited for your thoughts!

An entirely non-commercial forum site for local green groups and organizations has been created at Local Green Forum.    It is designed specifically for sharing information about environmental action at the local level.  This is an excerpt from the home page –

"This is a place where local communities can share information.  Although our site has been created for the Green Team at East Shore Unitarian Church in Bellevue, WA, other church groups, schools, university groups, and local organizations are encouraged to use the site as well.  Originally created for the Puget Sound area, our forum can be easily expanded to accommodate local groups outside our area.  
 
Our Purpose

This month's Net2 Think Tank question is: How do real-world (offline) events fit into social media conversations and campaigns?

My thinking: Social media conversations and online campaigns create whole new models for bringing together & powering the progressive movement. Although at core: People coming together in the real-world are key to fueling how we organize for change. We need real world events to be a central part of our online organizing. We need offline events to meet each other, bond eye-to-eye, and forge the collaborations that will make our social networks stronger, better connected, and ultimately transformative.

So - a major question is: How can your online community also support events in the real world? What kind of offline events are the best fit for your community? And what real world event models can you learn from or partner with? Well, let's look at five different event types and see if one or more of 'em sparks some ideas for your community!

There's only about 24 hours left to make sure your green mobile project is eligible for the Yahoo! Green Award! 

As part of this year's N2Y4 mobile theme, Yahoo! is looking for innovative uses of mobile technology that will inspire people to use social technology to help the environment. Using Yahoo! APIs is a plus but not necessary.

The most innovative green technology project will receive a $5,000 Yahoo! Search Marketing award.

The Yahoo! Green Award is back for its third year at the N2Y4 Conference. Yahoo! is committed to empowering our communities to make a positive impact on the environment and is looking for innovative uses of technology that will inspire people to use social technology to help the environment. The most innovative green technology project from the NetSquared Global Project Gallery, reviewed by Yahoo!, will receive a $5,000 Yahoo! Search Marketing award. The winner will be announced at the N2Y4 Conference.

Learn more and participate!

The Yahoo! Green Award is back for its third year at the N2Y4 Conference.  Yahoo! is committed to empowering our communities to make a positive impact on the environment and is looking for innovative uses of technology that will inspire people to use social technology to help the environment. The most innovative green technology project from the NetSquared Global Project Gallery, reviewed by Yahoo!, will receive a $5,000 Yahoo! Search Marketing award. The winner will be announced at the N2Y4 Conference.

Learn more and participate!

Earth Day, Wed. April 22nd, is the official launch of the EcoCommons in Second Life. In additional to educational sessions and presentations, this interactive, mixed reality event will feature a keynote speech from the office of Congressman Ed Markey (D-Mass), Chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, broadcast from Second Life. The launch event is part of the TechSoup Global GreenTech Initiative's month-long campaign: Telegreening Your Work, to educate social benefit organizations on how to save money and the environment by using technologies, such as Second Life, to work remotely and collaborate online.

Green Mountain Coffee will provide four grants for $200,000 each (payable over 5 years) to support the work of reducing climate change.  To participate in this contest, you need to submit your idea on JustMeans and fill out the full grant proposal from Green Mountain Coffee.