Cloud Commuting
A two-year project in Belgium proposes new relationships between people, goods, energy, equipment, spaces, and value. Its design objective: a networked mobility ecosystem.
Society
Placemaking in Paris: How Politics Changed the Parisian Landscape
The people of Paris have spoken and they love their public spaces.
Anger & Complicity in a Time of Limits
As a species we’re very sensitive to intra-human drama, and in a time of growing crisis, tend to frame narratives as those who are with us and those against.
Seeing our Communities as Thriving Ecosystems: A Permaculture Approach to Community Planning
Our communities are dynamic ecosystems composed of natural resources, brick and mortar infrastructure, and complex social systems that we constantly alter through human actions.
Power is nothing without control: how to lose an empire
Power is nothing without control. And, usually, control seems to run out before power.
Climate change – if we were rational, we’d have it sorted by now
Has the climate debate stalled? Does extreme weather in the UK mean we’re talking about it more or less?
American Delusionalism, or Why History Matters
One of the things that reliably irritates a certain fraction of this blog’s readers, as I’ve had occasion to comment before, is my habit of using history as a touchstone that can be used to test claims about the future.
The global Transition tipping point has arrived – vive la révolution
Last Friday, I posted an exclusive report about a new NASA-backed scientific research project at the US National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (Sesync) to model the risks of civilisational collapse, based on analysis of the key factors involved in the rise and fall of past civilisations.
The power of a regional food commons
By owning many elements of a local food system infrastructure – farms, distribution, retail and more – but operating them as a trust governed by stakeholders, the Food Commons believes it can be economically practical to build a new type of food system that is labor-friendly, ecologically responsible, hospitable to a variety of small enterprises, and able to grow high-quality food for local consumption.
The true cost of asparagus
The first tender spears of asparagus are always a welcome sight at the farmers market, a sign that spring is on its way. But some of that seasonal excitement is fading, now that bunches can be found on grocery store shelves throughout the winter.
Time to talk
Too often, activists advocate policies without really engaging or involving people. We need to find ways to lure people into involvement in social change, help them see how meaningful it is. One way to do this is to bring people together to talk.
Crowd Control: Political revolt and the accumulation of more
For the last several years, the word “revolution” has been hanging around backstage on the national television talk-show circuit waiting for somebody, anybody…to cue its appearance on camera.
