Inspiration

Snail

Degrowth as a Concrete Utopia

By Riccardo Mastini, openDemocracy

The emergence of interest in degrowth can be traced back to the 1st International Degrowth Conference organized in Paris in 2008. At this conference, degrowth was defined as a “voluntary transition towards a just, participatory, and ecologically sustainable society,” so challenging the dogma of economic growth. Another five international conferences were organized between 2010 and 2018, with the latest in Malmo in August. This year also saw the publication of Giorgos Kallis’ landmark book Degrowth,which opens with three bold statements. First, the global economy should slow down to avert the destruction of Earth’s life support systems, because a higher rate of production and consumption will run parallel to higher rates of damage to the environment. Hence, we should extract, produce and consume less, and we should do it all differently. Since growth-based economies collapse without growth we have to establish a radically different economic system and way of living in order to prosper in the future. Second, economic growth...

  • November 19, 2018
Cooperation Jackson

Kali Akuno on Imagination and “The Ways We Can and Must Resist”

By Rob Hopkins, Kali Akuno, Rob Hopkins blog

As one of the co-founders and now Executive Director of the non-profit division of Cooperation Jackson, Kali Akuno is working to transform the city into ‘a beacon of radical politics’. For the uninitiated, Jackson is the capital city of Mississippi, with a population of around 200,000 people, its 80% black population making it one of the blackest cities in the US, and with 60% of people living below the poverty line. Cooperation Jackson is working, in a context of colonialism, white supremacy and patriarchy, to upend these dynamics through the building of a solidarity economy, to, as he puts it, “transform the material circumstances of the people living in Jackson”. This work has been aided by the election, in Jackson, of a number of radical and progressive politicians, including Mayor Chokwe Lumumba, who died in 2014, and more recently his son, Chokwe Antar Lumumba. What’s happening in Jackson is a story that has...

  • November 19, 2018
Lake Erie algae

Ohio’s Watershed Moment: How to Fix Lake Erie Algae

By Maria Galluci, Grist

Kurt’s farm is one of three demonstration projects in the Blanchard River watershed that spills into Lake Erie. Its aim is to gather field data and help educate farmers, policymakers and citizen groups about effective conservation practices.

  • November 19, 2018
Extinction Rebellion

Why I’m Rebelling against Extinction (wait, should that really need explaining..?)

By Shaun Chamberlin, DarkOptimism

Maybe there’s seemed to be a disconnect between the message we’ve been bringing – that this society is knowingly causing the harshest catastrophe in history – and the actions we’ve been taking? Maybe if the wider public see that hundreds feel the need to go to jail over this, they might start to seriously ask why? With these stakes, it’s worth a shot.

  • November 19, 2018
Biotime Log

Discover the Joys of Keeping The Biotime Log

By Permaculture Association Staff, Permaculture Association

Biotime, or biological time, runs at a very different pace and rhythm to human time. It can be observed by recording events in the natural world. These can be as varied as the day the first spring bulb opens, the last frost before summer, or the first sighting of a species of bird or insect in a new habitat.

  • November 16, 2018
hand

Why we Need New Narratives and Strategies to Save the Environment

By Fernanda Marin, OuiShare

The fatalist-gloomy-future narrative around climate change hasn't been compelling to mobilise enough individuals and communities for change. In response, new organisations are emerging with positive narratives and more complex strategies to tackle 'the problem' of our generation.

  • November 16, 2018
moon

Culture and Climate

By Patrick Noble, Feasta

Tinkering with improvements to our current ways of life is futile. We must each of us change how we live, or else be changed forever by our own effects.

  • November 16, 2018
Tree Farm in Oregon

US Could Meet Paris Emissions Pledge with ‘Natural Climate Solutions’, Study Says

By Robert McSweeney, Carbon Brief

The US could meet its pledge to cut emissions under the Paris Agreement through “natural climate solutions” (NCS), a new study suggests. NCS comprise a group of techniques that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, or boost carbon uptake from land and wetlands through changes to the way they are managed.

  • November 15, 2018
millet

10 Chefs Bringing Forgotten Grains Back to Life

By Steve Edgerton, Food Tank

Food Tank is highlighting 10 chefs who are drawing from these traditional grains to inspire culinary innovations, transforming “old-fashioned” millets into foods for the future.

  • November 15, 2018
×Close