Society

Transition and “activism’s” edge

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I don’t think we’re really going to understand this friction between, and the potential energy arising from, transition and “activism/action” unless the latter term gets further granularity. “Transition justice” is a new term and probably means different things to everyone. How this gets woven explicitly into the framing of Transition is a question we’ve not answered yet. But at least we’re asking that question.

Building a resilient congregation

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As the economic crisis stretches on, religious congregations are playing a vital role in helping people cope. For many, Resilience Circles (also called Common Security Clubs) are a way to help members confront and address their economic insecurities.

Recently, a group of Resilience Circle leaders has been discussing the idea of a “theology for community resilience.” How do the resources of our faith traditions support and empower our communities during this time of economic and ecological challenge?

A New Permatecture Toolbox! (From Nikos A. Salingaros)

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The goal of permaculture is to reunite man with nature and man with man through design systems, and here patterns play an important role. Still, patterns can only reunite humans with natural systems and with each other, not with the geometry of the universe. Surely in what I like to call permatecture, better known as biophilic architecture, biotecture or neurotecture, patterns are crucial. But for the creation of wholeness and life we need a whole range of tools.

Why don’t we do it in the road?

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I am perplexed by the almost complete lack of pedestrian streets in North America. Why is it that car-free commons—designed for pleasurable strolling, shopping and hanging out—which have become as typical as stoplights or McDonalds in European city centers, are almost non-existent here?

What a waste! The scoop on poop and ecological wastewater management

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Have you ever wondered why we poop in fresh water? In this interview author Carol Steinfeld, of Ecowater Projects, talks about human waste as a resource. Carol, co-author of The Composting Toilet System Book and Reusing the Resource: Adventures in Ecological Wastewater Recycling, shares her extensive knowledge about human waste management practices around the globe, innovative ways of re-using this neglected and often taboo material, and discusses why peeing outside might be a good idea.

Natural Connections…

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We have arrived at a point in our infinitesimally short life on our 4.5 billion-year-old planet at which no part of the natural world remains untouched by human hand. So it might seem perverse that, at this time of peak human interference with natural biological systems, we are now discovering the benefits of getting closer to nature.

The Timeless Way of Building

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This timeless book from Christopher Alexander was released back in the seventies, and it’s just as much a book on philosophy as on architecture. Still, the main purpose of the book is as an introduction to A Pattern Language. Alexander’s architectural writings at the same time develop a philosophy of nature and life. He proposes a more profound connection between nature and the human mind than is presently allowed either in science, or in architecture.

Transition and Collapse: Voices from the Margins

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To read these writers and take them seriously is to admit that the culture is not with us, that although solutions exists, they are smothered by widespread denial. Therefore we work in darkness and we struggle with those forces of denial–sometimes in the form of our own friends and family.

The holistic flower

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I’ve found a wonderful flower; I discovered it not long ago. Still, it’s not so much what I know about it that touches me, I’m just drawn to its colors. This flower is unique, it thrives in every country and climate, and adapts very well to the specific conditions of culture and place. Its colors, smell and form is therefore of unlimited variety and complexity, yet it is the same flower. It is the permaculture flower.