Is Renewable Energy a Commons?
Is energy a mere commodity, or is it a common good? Why is this relevant in the first place? Here we look at why energy is part of our commons, from the sources to the product itself.
Act: Inspiration
Food Versus the City of Istanbul
Istanbul, like many other cities, is under heavy pressure from urban development projects. In the face of this threat, the DÜRTÜK collective supports small scale farmers in and around Istanbul by organising reliable demand for the produce from urban gardens, and by building a supportive community around them.
The Carbon Code: Imperfect Answers to Impossible Questions
“How can we reconcile our desire to save the planet from the worst effects of climate change with our dependence on the systems that cause it? How can we demand that industry and governments reduce their pollution, when ultimately we are the ones buying the polluting products and contributing to the emissions that harm our shared biosphere?”
A Design School for Planetary Collapse
Design schools all over the world are failing their students by ignoring the most important challenges they will face as they live through a time of unprecedented disruption and ecological collapse. Let me state plainly — we need a Design School for Planetary Collapse.
Philadelphia Water Rate Links Payments to Household Income
The financial struggle of the poorest Americans is a national concern as wages for those at the bottom fail to keep pace with the rising costs of living: food, housing, medicine, doctor’s visits, and even household water service.
The Ecological Land Co-operative – Funding Future Farms
The ELC is the only organisation in England to offer affordable residential smallholdings for ecological land users. Their approach aims to overcome two key barriers to accessing land: high land prices and the planning system.
This Revolution Will Not Be Centralized: Mid-Atlantic Hub Creates ‘Egalitarian Spokescouncil’
We demand egalitarian treatment of others, and for others. Yet, do our own daily actions indicate that we value each other’s humanity equally? How does the Transition movement square with egalitarian, non-hierarchical practice?
Hummus and Mindfulness: Skills, Resilience and Relaxation beyond Consumerism
We all have to consume; it’s a necessary reality of existence. However, in the ‘consumer society’ the most radical thing you can do is not to consume ‘as directed’ – by finding alternative options that meets your needs while enacting a set of principles in opposition to that overbearing and exploitative economic paradigm.
A House on Shaky Ground: Eight Structural Flaws of the Western Worldview
Our global civilization is facing the threat of its own Big One in the form of climate change, resource depletion, and species extinction. If our worldview is built on shaky foundations, we need to know about it: we need to find the cracks and repair them before it’s too late.
Setting Free the Urban Tomatoes
For the past five years, ProSpecieRara, in collaboration with the cities of Geneva, Lausanne and Zurich, has been producing tomato starter kits – seeds and a tutorial –, which can be ordered on their website and via social media.
Resilience, Community Action and Societal Transformation: Christopher Lyon
For me, resilience is much more complicated than the capacity to ‘bounce back’ from or respond to changes or ‘disturbances’ or other similar definitions. To be useful, resilience must be about what people are doing with the idea, how they know it and apply it, and what happens when they do.
Tearing Down the Walls that Keep Us from Finding Common Ground
If social movements are to continue to be a “means for ordinary people to act on their deepest values,” as Moyer thought they did, then we need to ask questions about our current culture and the dynamics that are creating more walls than ever before. Are there, in fact, universal values that are widely held today?
