Doors of Perception Report
Quick scan of design and innovation
By John Thackara
November-December 2006

FOOD, ENERGY, DESIGN
The U.S. food system consumes ten times more energy than it produces in
food energy. Global food systems are becoming unsustainable in terms of
environmental impact, health, and social quality. But what to do? Doors
of
Perception 9 in New Delhi brings together artists, urbanists,
agronomists,
growers and squatters to exchange experiences on what works among food
information systems, community supported agriculture, urban farming,
street
food, slow food, new forms of community cooking, and agritourism.The
theme
is "Juice: Food, Fuel, Design". Saturday 3 March at India Habitat
Centre,
New Delhi. Registration opens on 1 December.
http://juice.doorsofperception.com/

CARBON COST OF DOORS
Long-haul flights produce 110 grams of carbon dioxide per passenger
kilometre. According to George Monbiot's new book, Heat, a single
passenger
flying to New York and back produces roughly 1.2 tonnes of carbon
dioxide.
Each of us flying to Doors in India will therefore produce the best part
of
two tonnes of CO2 emissions. Each. Monbiot says that a 90 per cent cut
is
needed, by 2030, if the biosphere is to remain habitable for you and me,
and
that a 90 per cent cut in emissions requires most of the planes which
are
flying today be grounded. He's probably right. Our excuse for Doors 9 is
that it is too late to cancel the event - but it's a limp excuse. Doors'
core business - bringing people together from different parts of the
world -
is going to have to change, and radically.
http://www.doorsofperception.com/archives/2006/10/post_8.php

STERN, MONBIOT, AND THE TASKS OF DESIGN
Is this month a turning point? The Stern review of climate change
economics
- by a former World Bank chief economist - surely marks a step change in
government responses to the crisis. It's not just that Stern's
conclusions
correspond broadly to what environmentalists have been saying for
fifteen
years. The fact that the report was commissioned by The Treasury, which
guards the nation's money, is also key. Money is at stake, so Something
Must
Be Done - not just talked about. George Monbiot, responding to Stern,
has
proposed a "ten point plan for drastic but affordable action" . I have
added
some of the design tasks that would be involved during implementation of
such a plan here:
http://www.doorsofperception.com/archives/2006/10/stern_monbiot_a.php

STUFF-O-METER
We've had requests for guidance from design schools about the
competition to
design a stuff-o-meter. (Designs of the time - Dott07 - has teamed up
with
Design and Art Direction (D&AD) in a challenge to communication design
students to come up with a stuff-o-meter that would lift the veil on the
hidden history of the everyday products we take for granted). Some
pointers
are here:
http://www.doorsofperception.com/archives/2006/10/stuffometer_2.php

POWER-CRAZED TELEVISION
Speaking of stuff-guzzling products: new generation televisions use far
more
power than the ones they replace. The monster tv sets being marketed by
the
likes of Sony and Philips consume five times as much power as the models
they replace. And that's not counting the energy embodied in their
manufacture. If we admit that organising international conferences is
not
sustainable, and we do, will Philips or Sony do the same for these SUVs
of
television sets?
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6475_7-6400401-2.html

CORE BLIMEY
A Core77 meeting in Boston could be one place to discuss these issues.
"As
products and systems become smarter and more technologically imbued, the
mandate of the designer is thrown into question. If we can make
anything,
what should we make? And if all of our activities have consequences -
environmental, economic and social - what are the opportunities for
moving
positively into the future?" A lurid movie-like poster features some
terrific speakers: John Maeda, Natalie Jeremijenko, Bill Cockayne, Jason
Pearson, Allan Chochinov. November 15, Boston.
http://www.core77.com/design2.0/

WHOLE EARTH CATALOGUE FOR iPOD GENERATION
An essential new book - Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st
Century -
contains 600 pages of tools, models and ideas for building a better
future.
Bill McGibben says that the book "is The Whole Earth Catalog for the
iPod
generation". There are short features on a thousand cool ideas: slow
food,
urban farming, hydrogen cars, messenger bags made from recycled truck
tarps,
pop-apart cell phones, and plywood made from bamboo. There are also
how-to
guides teaching us how to etch our own circuit board, or organize a
smart mob.
http://www.worldchanging.com/book/

WEAKNESS IN NUMBERS?
Many people have already moved from talk to action. Paul Hawken reckons
that
over one million organizations, populated by over 100 million people,
are
engaged in positive activity designed to address climate and other
environmental issues. "Collectively this constitutes the single biggest
movement on earth, but but it flies under the radar" he writes. Paul's
new
project, a book and tv project called Blessed Unrest , will reveal the
depth
and diversity of this worldwide 'movement of movements'.
Its very size and complexity is a challenge. In just one Dott 07
project,
for example - Low Carb Lane - we've had to engage with more than fifteen
different organizations. And for them, of course, Dott is number sixteen
in
a crowded field. Read more at:
http://www.doorsofperception.com/archives/2006/10/too_many_entiti.php

THE SOCIAL PURPOSE SPACE
There's a lot else going on under the radar besides a million
organizations
busy on climate change. A conference in Beijing heard evidence from
three
continents that social innovation is also all around us - also invisibly
so.
There is vast opportunity for us to amplify, improve and accelerate a
transition to new ways of living which is already under way. Read more
at:
http://www.doorsofperception.com/archives/2006/10/the_social_purp.php

COMPETITIVENESS SUMMIT
Is effective response to climate change a pre-condition of national
competitiveness? I'll ask that question at next month's national (in the
UK)
debate on "how business can use creativity to drive innovation and
secure
competitive advantage". Keynote speakers are Trade & Industry Secretary
Alistair Darling; Lord Sainsbury, Parliamentary Under Secretary, Science
and
Innovation, Department of Trade and Industry; Sir George Cox, Chairman,
Design Council; David Godber, Director, Nissan Design Europe; Professor
David Begg, Principal, Tanaka Business School, Imperial College. And me.
London, 7 December.
http://www.neilstewartassociates.com/se193

THERE IST NO SUCH THING AS 'SOCIETY'
"Getting sufficient awareness into robots, and building robots that are
capable of working and interacting with people in their everyday lives,
is
an important field for the society and economy". Says who? Says the
European
Commission, that's who. This year's annual Information Society (IST)
shindig
is full of un-reconstructed tech-pushers; but it's also a good event to
find
out where all those billions of euros are being spent. IST Event 2006,
Helsinki 21-23 November.
http://europa.eu.int/information_society/istevent/2006/cf/network-detail
.cfm?id=738

DRESS TO BE SCANNED
The IST portfolio contains several ethically iffy projects. One, called
Humabio, combines novel biometrics with state-of-the-art techniques to
develop "less intrusive security systems". Humabio will "aid the
monitoring
and assessment of the psychological state of ...people under extreme
stress
or people under other special conditions... by implementing an
intelligent,
multisensorial wearable system that will be able to ubiquitously monitor
and
classify the personal psychological condition of users using signals
obtained from their faces". Another project, Aubade, seeks to obtain "
new
algorithms and methods for emotion understanding" based on the
measurement
of brain electrical activity and "other body parameters".
http://www.aubade-group.com/

VICTORY FOR LA VOUTE!
Our friends who run the project called "La Voute Nubienne" (Nubian
Vault)
won $5,000 in an Ashoka Changemakers Competition on "How to Provide
Affordable Housing.". If you voted, thanks! It really made a difference.
If
you didn't, they still need $300,000 to scale up their brilliant work.
http://www.lavoutenubienne.org/article.php3?id_article=16&lang=fr
http://www.changemakers.net/journal/300606/

VJ IN COLOMBIA
Our friends at Pixelache are looking for projects, concepts and
prototypes
to be presented in Finland, France and Colombia. Among special programs
are
a Nordic VJ Meeting (Pikseliahky / Helsinki); Architecture for
Participation
seminar (Pikseliahky / Helsinki); Democracy: Do It Yourself (Mal au
Pixel /
Paris); Pixelazo + Selvatorium (Medellin & Leticia, Colombia). Three
themes
run through all events: VJ culture and audiovisual performances;
experimental sound, interaction and electronics; grassroot networks and
politics of media technology. The deadline for proposals is 30 November.
http://www.pixelache.ac

SPROUTS
Need to build up your strength for the eco-work to come? Or to walk to
Delhi
for Doors 9? Check out Amsterdam's micro-green restaurant, 'Grow Yer Own
Dang Food'. Created by Debra Solomon, the restaurant is situated in
Mediamatic's 'Night Garden', an exhibition linking next nature, new
technology, and contemporary art. Visitors can enjoy 31 sorts of
sprouted
vegetable accompanied by that most quintessential of Dutch foods, potato
mash (stamppot). Night Garden will be open for two months in Amsterdam.
http://www.mediamatic.net

PASS THIS ON
Speaking of sprouts: We calculate that 5.3 people read each copy of this
newsletter, but that 1,512 do not - mainly because they never heard of
it
before. So pass it on! Tell your friends to subscribe. It's free.
http://www.doorsofperception.com/mailinglist/

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