To follow on from a few of the previous posts I am re-reading with my coffee (first cup, so allow for that)...

A few thoughts on our ability to adopt and adapt new frameworks:
 
I think where Biomimicry and Systems Thinking will fall down is precisely where we try to use them as 'replacement' constructs for a manipulative engineering strategy in a similarly limited perspective to the tactics now failing us: in other words, incomplete integration.

We need to consider not only how to change our technologies and policies, but equally when a tech solution is appropriate versus when we need to rethink the larger presumptions.

Let's take an example from the early 2011 season of massive floods which have literally deluged every inhabited continent. Obviously rescue and relief come first, but the situation has also inspired a burst of creative responses from the planning and design side of things: floating houses (such as the work of Koen Olthuis and Waterstudio in the Netherlands) , even floating communities and entire cities (such as this proposal for an Embassy of the Drowned Nations) are predicted for the future.

I actually like the proposal for the Embassy, it's exactly the sort of poetic, startling and "creatively in-your-face" statement that can profoundly affect awareness. However, and more pragmatically for more continental communities, the flood response might equally include decisions NOT to rebuild, as has happened too infrequently, but there are communities which have responded by relocating. And that is a legitimate solution: change the problem by altering the need itself.

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One of the unfortunate "Poster Boys" for climate chaos has been coral bleaching, the worldwide die-off or coral reefs, and attendant loss of biodiversity, fisheries, and livelihoods.

Bleaching occurs when stress causes corals to expel symbiotic algae. Several factors can cause bleaching, but, according to Mark Eakin, coordinator of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Coral Reef Watch, the only thing that could cause mass bleaching on this geographical scale is high temperatures maintained over a period of months. "There is some evidence that local factors and other climate-scale factors, such as ocean acidification, sea-level rise and changes in storm intensity, may influence bleaching sensitivity," he says. "But temperature is the big driver." (See Nature 19 November 2010, Coral bleaching goes from bad to worse )

Now under intense and unrelenting stress from environmental changes, those reefs retaining any semblance of their former health and diversity are perversely becoming victims of their own survival as underwater tourists concentrate around them. (I actually wrote about a related issue back in the days before blogs: western conservation strategies which create parks and reserves as islands of wildness --- and thus magnets for Nature-starved millions who effectively "pet them to death").

Like many of the other positive stories ignored by mainstream media, the combined focus of artists, biologists and business (tourism in this case) can come up with some effective responses. We should all take heart, because rather than leaving the case of the corals to advocacy and pressure groups, others have begun to (literally) jump in and get to work with reconstruction and restoration. Not surprisingly, these include gardeners.

The Corals for Conservation program was first initiated in 1999 in Fiji, as ”The Coral Gardens Initiative”. The program focuses at restoring degraded coral reef ecosystems by working in partnership with marine resource owners to develop community-based marine management plans and to implement strategies to rectify problems such as over-fishing and coral reef decline.The program started in Fiji under the name “The Coral Gardens-Living Reefs Initiative”.  In 2008 work was ongoing in five district level sites.  The work has been extended to Samoa and the Caribbean using donor funding.  New countries and sites within a country can be added, as long as there is strong local support and donor funds can be found.

See what I mean? Twelve years in operation and largely ignored by the media. And this is NEWS!

It gets better....

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Going beyond "biomimicry" and "bioinspiration", cutting edge research into "metabolic materials" has developed pseudo-cells whose behavior is animate, responsive, and constructive. In this short talk given by Rachel Armstrong for TED Talks, she discusses how a new species of synthetic "cells" have been developed to fix carbon as a very familiar material: limestone. Wait. You just have to watch and see for yourself.

EN: Venice is sinking. To save it, Rachel Armstrong says we need to outgrow architecture made of inert materials and, well, make architecture that grows itself. She proposes a not-quite-alive material that does its own repairs and sequesters carbon, too.

ES: Venecia, en Italia, se está hundiendo. Para salvarla, Rachel Amstrong dice que necesitamos superar la arquitectura hecha de materiales inertes y hacer arquitectura que crezca por sí misma. Ella propone un material "no del todo vivo" que se hace sus propias reparaciones y, además, captura el carbono.

Metabolic Materials: Rachel Armstrong's hope is that, in the future, cities will be able to replace the energy they draw from the environment, respond to the needs of their populations and eventually become regarded as "alive" -- in the same way we think about parks or gardens. Since "metabolic materials" are made from terrestrial chemistry, they would not be exclusive to the developed world, and would have the potential to transform urban environments worldwide.

Multifaceted: A medical doctor, multi-media producer, science fiction author and arts collaborator. Rachel's current research explores architectural design and mythologies about new technology. She is working with scientists and architects to explore cutting-edge, sustainable technologies. Like and unlike the work of Jason de Caires Taylor, Rachel combines art with conservation in a way which is practical, inspired and seems obvious....but only after the fact - -  leaving a smile, a sense of wonder, and the question, "now why didn't anyone think of that before?"

"Scientists need to work outside their own areas of expertise to make new technologies that are pertinent to the 21st century and to collaborate, both with other scientific disciplines and the arts and humanities."
Rachel Armstrong

 

In the spirit of 2011 being the year we recognize that Living Systems and ecological services are the very foundation of our economies, this talk given last July by Stefano Mancuso provides just the sort of mystery and excitement needed to refresh our attention.

Stefano Mancuso is a founder of the study of plant neurobiology, which explores signaling and communication at all levels of biological organization, from genetics to molecules, cells and ecological communities.  He and Frantisek Baluska have established the Laboratorio Internazionale di Neurobiologia Vegetale in Florence, Italy. More on their fascinating work is here...

Happy New Year!

Let's bring it in on a very positive note. Here as just one of so many examples of the thinking now driving the emergent Living Economy, is the work of K.R. Sridhar and his 'Bloom Box'. It's so much more than 'just' a better way to produce energy supplies: it's better because he has worked to use abundant materials (beach sand) rather than scarce rare minerals, he is working on the basis of decentralized power supplies as a goal, and of course it is also very fuel-efficient.

Thanks to my friend and colleague Paula Downey for passing this on to me.

See what you think:

 

 

Happy Winter Solstice: Here's Hope

 

There's a new story out there, and it's not getting enough press. The past few years and the next several (sorry to say it...) have been and will be increasingly characterized by economic shock waves, escalalting climatic instability, and a rise in personal and societal insecurity and privation as "peak everything" starts to be felt deeper and deeper across the world. The recession is rolling on more than it's rolling back, and so far national and international policy is doing a miserable job of trying to address it. I've said it before, as have quite a few others, and I'll say it again: the banking crisis is a story that reaches far beyond the banks themselves. What we are experiencing are shudders running through the hull as our economic ship Titanic grinds onto the ice.

Much of our current loss, pain and fear is because we remain lashed to the decks of a sinking system.

 

What? I thought this was about hope, and at the darkest time of the year!

It is. There's a new story as I said, and while it's only making conventional media coverage in bits and pieces, when we look deeper we can start to define the shape of an emerging new economy.

Like watching leaves change by seeing their reflections in a pond, we are offered glimmers of what's emerging via reports on the "Green Economy" and various "Clean Tech" start-ups. We see growth in renewable energy, hybrid autos, "smart" energy-saving homes and more. Throughout the global depression, the green sector is the only place where steady growth has continued, and this has not escaped the attention of finance and policy. But while this emerging economic sector may have begun with tightening the bolts and plugging the leaks in our current systems, it goes well beyond slapping greener labels onto old cans. This will be truly game-changing; in fact it's the stuff of paradigm change.

What I see coming down the road, is such a profound reorientation of agenda and strategies that future historians will be plotting this onto their graphs as the third significant revolution for humanity: first was the neolithic dawn of agriculture, second was the industrial revolution, and our time will produce the shift to a Living Economy.

Equivalent to the movement from fission (that's Nukes) to fusion power (like the Sun), this new economy is based upon restoration, regeneration, reclamation, reinvigoration, reimagination...... maybe we should just call it the "re" economy. The activity involved will produce plentiful economic returns, but unlike the older, now foundering systems based upon the creation and rewarding of scarcity, a Living Economy improves the conditions for life as it goes about its business, and thus generates and spreads prosperity.

Why am I so confident? First off, I keep my eye on the subject, and while mainstream media isn't talking much about this, we know they actually report less and less of what's really happening anyway. The design and innovation blogs and newsfeeds are full of it, and one just needs to start connecting the dots to see what's emerging. I also see that more and more sectors of society are realising the old game is pretty much finished and that if we are to survive we'll have to change strategies, and soon. The economic crisis has helped a lot to sharpen everyone's attention.

Where's the evidence?

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Part II- Why Cities?

Raingarden for stormwater management, Malmo Sweden. (Erik van Lennep 2008)

Let’s have a closer look at the motivations and goals for urban biodiversity conservation.

Donald Dearborn and Salit Kark (2009) gave 7 motivations for conserving biodiversity in the city. These are to:

1. Preserve local biodiversity in urban settings and protect precious populations of plants or animals or rare species
2. Create stepping stones or corridors for natural populations
3. Understand and facilitate responses to environmental changes
4. Connect people with nature and provide environmental education
5. Provide ecosystem services
6. Fulfill ethical responsibilities
7. Improve human well-being.

As urban landscapes expand, they become increasingly important component of regional or global biodiversity. So conserving biodiversity in the cities will help global biodiversity conservation efforts. Small habitat blocks can link with surrounding natural habitats in the city's margins thus helping conserve biodiversity. Understanding the challenges in conserving urban biodiversity can provide valuable lessons for future conservation strategies. Urban ecosystems can be models for understanding and mitigating the effects of environmental changes in non-urban areas.

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Part 1: Making the Case for Industry Leadership

 American Chestnut in the Louise Arnold Tanger Arboretum, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. (Daderot 2007, via Wikimedia) 

 It’s a funny thing, the way that associations and assumptions are made, boxes labeled, and people and professions filed away in those boxes: landscape, for instance. And with that, landscape designers, landscape architects, landscapers, horticulturists and the rest of our ilk. We are accustomed to being part of a domain which while still lucrative for some, and productive for more, is nonetheless generally regarded as decorative. By virtue of our focus and abilities in dealing with aesthetics, we have been more or less boxed with the options, and not with the necessities. We are the last in and first out the door when budgets are prepared. We are so often the band aids applied to tone down buildings or in the case ecological landscaping, to patch over ecological damage. But (if we seize it), our time has come on the world stage.

 

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The idea of establishing an open and ongoing conversation with the world of Nature is central to coming of age initiation traditions in many traditional and indigenous cultures. Maybe it’s time the rest of us remembered how to do it as well.

I used to live in the USA, in northern New England, specifically in Vermont. The town was really a village of eight-hundred people, more cows, and even more sheep. I could walk out my back door, cross a brook and a hay field, and enter a hardwood forest deep in moss, ripe with the scent of rotting leaves and mushrooms. Coyotes sang their harmonies at night, hawks danced the skies, and one year a mountain lion passed through. Deer and moose were everywhere. We called it home as well, and while we all knew there were deeper woods to be found, for visitors from the city it constituted wilderness.

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It’s high summer, and the middle of the event-travel season. I’ve recently attended a couple of conferences which promised to be fun as well as career-boosting and good for networking, and even more recently assisted in producing some locally. On my wish-list calendar, I have a few more penciled in between now and Christmas. All this has me once again, considering what makes an event worth producing and attending.

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