Cooking with firewood and other biofuels is one of the most urgent problems in the world today. It affects the health and wellbeing of those inhaling the fumes at close range, relies on increasingly scarce sources of firewood, and contributes over 20% of global black carbon emissions. The harm to individuals and the environment cannot be denied, and yet there’s little awareness of the issue among the general public. WorldCanvass host Joan Kjaer and a panel of experts drawn from multiple fields including engineering, urban and regional planning, public health, anthropology, and geography discussed the use of traditional wood-burning cookstoves and the complex social and cultural underpinnings of the practice on the April 12 WorldCanvass, a highlight of the UI’s yearly Provost’s Global Forum.

Media Coverage

Press Citizen: Shedding light on fire and smoke: WorldCanvass talks about a global problem
The Daily Iowan: Where there's smoke...

Audio

Part 1: Cookstoves and the environment

Part 2: Health consequences of burning biomass

Part 3: Potential policy solutions

WorldCanvass is also available on iTunes.

Video

Part 1: Cookstoves and the environment

Part 2: Health consequences of burning biomass

Part 3: Potential policy solutions

Gallery