I think this is a fine idea and have signed on. You may wish to have a look
and make up your own mind. Of course we can't sign everything that comes
over the transom, but from time to time . . .


-----Original Message-----
From: Phil Green [mailto:phil@...]
Sent: Thursday, 05 November, 2009 19:46
To: Eric Britton
Subject: [Norton AntiSpam] Open Declaration on Public Services in the
European Union

Hi Eric, thanks for recent emails. Wondered if you were aware of this
Open Declaration on Public Services in the European Union :

http://www.endorsetheopendeclaration.eu/

if you might be willing to endorse it, and /or whether you'd be willing
to tell more people about it via your networks?


Regards
Phil Green

Sustainable Community Action
http://sca21.wikia.com/wiki/Sustainable_Community_Action:Community_Portal

Doors of Perception Report
October 2009
Letter from Poznan
by John Thackara

TRANSITION COUNTRIES AND TRANSITION TOWNS (POZNAN)
I went to Poznan, in Poland, to speak at a conference called World Innovation
Days. In brushing up on the history of the Wielkopolska region [of which Poznan
is the capital] I was reminded that Central and Eastern countries of Europe are
still called "Transition Countries" - as in, transitioning from communist
statehood to membership of a bright, shiny and high-tech European Union. To help
them along, the EU wants transition countries to grasp the holy grail of
Innovation, which is why EU money paid for most of this event. Now in the EU,
"innovation" is interpreted as high technology innovation - but, to their
credit, the organisers in Poznan invited several speakers [including me] to talk
about social innovation, too. I devoted a fair bit of my piece to Transition
Towns which, I told my hosts, are the most important development happening
anywhere right now. I would like to report that everyone in Poznan said "Yes! We
must link up with these fellow Transtioners" - but as this would entail a 180
degree policy about-turn, they didn't. It will take a while yet.
http://www.rsi-wielkopolska.pl/Page.aspx?v=3&se=5&sse=18&aid=66

CONCENTRATION CAMP FOR PIGS
Polish agriculture is becoming a cheap resource for globalised food "value
chains" that are are based on high energy inputs, growing transport intensity,
and ever more complex forms of food processing. These latter refinements are
lauded as the fruits of innovation. But a grim reality lies behind this glossy
image. An animal welfare blogger, Tom Garrett, visited what look to me (on his
blog) like concentration camps for pigs. The rows of hog sheds are owned by
Poldanor, a Danish producer, which describes its sheds blandly as Concentrated
Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs); in central Pomorskie alone, Poldanor
slaughters 300,000 pigs each year. Funding for Poldanor's massive expansion in
Poland came from interest free loans advanced by the Danish Investment Fund for
Central and Eastern Europe (IO), supervised by the Danish Foreign Ministry.
Garrett, sceptical that the huge scale of investment he saw was within the
capacity of the owners of record, a Danish farming cooperative with 160 members,
discovered that sitting members of the Danish government, along with prominent
politicians, were among Poldanor investors. Sadly for them, these upstanding
citizens have not had the quiet and profitable ride they no doubt wished for:
Civic committees opposed to factory farming have been established in many Polish
villages; roads have been blocked to protest farmers who have signed contracts
with agribusiness incomers; animal welfare activists are fighting to inform the
public about the terrible conditions within CAFOs; and Denmark's SiG trade union
described Poldanor's "takeover of slaughterhouses in Eastern Poland by the
Danish Crown (as) the outsourcing of Danish jobs", and called for a boycott of
'Danish' pork products.
http://www.awionline.org/ht/d/ContentDetails/i/1904/pid/2506
http://www.themeatrix.com/intl/poland/aboutpoland_english.html
http://www.ccb.se/pdf/CCB%20Press03-03-04%20Helsinki.pdf

DIRTY MONEY (EU POLICY)
Another massive pork producer, Smithfield, financed its acquisition of
industrial pig farms in Poland using $100m dollars in loans from the European
Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and other banks. Anna Roggenbuck,
of Green Federation Gaja, says that the role of the EBRD is especially
important, since the Bank is supposed to follow an environmental mandate rather
than, as in this case, fund ecocidal agricultural practices and industrialised
cruelty to pigs. For more on this, check out CEE Bankwatch Network;
its mission is "to prevent environmentally and socially harmful impacts of
international development finance, and to promote alternative solutions
and public participation".
http://www.bankwatch.org/

AGRO-ECOLOGICAL FOOD SYSTEMS (POLAND and CALIFORNIA)
Denouncing dastardly Danes, and the EU, is therapeutic, but will not of itself
change the bigger picture. Poland has 33,000 food processing companies, for
example. Anyone wishing to be taken seriously has to address the question:
what are they to do, if not what they do now?
Polish agriculture, with its 1.6 million small farms, vast tracts of land,
numeous watersheds, and rich biodiversity, can be a model of diverse
agro-ecology for the rest of the world - but how? For its small-scale system to
survive, there's a need radically to reconfigure relationships between food
growers and consumers. Transparent economic relationships need to replace
attenuated private supply chains. Change this radical sounds, and is, hard. But
there are numerous new models and schemes that might be seeded in Poland.
In my talk I gave, as examples of adpatable models, Fair Tracing and
California's FarmLink. The latter is a social venture that supports the
development, expansion, and succession of local farms and sustainable land use;
FarmLink provides microfinance for projects between $1,000 and $100,000.
The EU's scandalous $100m soft loan to Smithfield could, on its own,
have been used to support tens of thousands of small farmers in Poland.
http://www.californiafarmlink.org/joomla/index.php

FAT IS AN URBANIST ISSUE (ALSO POLAND)
Luckily, I had talked with Geoff Mulgan at the Young Foundation in London on my
way to Poland. He told me not to waste my breath warning politicians about
agribusiness or food security; they don't think these issues, or the
sustainability angle, are important. Tell people about the health impacts of
industrialised food instead, he counselled. This is because the on-costs of
obesity, in terms of chronic illnesses such as diabetes, really do alarm policy
makers. By some estimates 20 per cent of the already out-of-control health
expenditures in the US can be traced back to diet - especially, poor people
eating over-processed food. So, for my talk in Poznan, I showed them a chart on
which Polish children come third in a global league table of childhood obesity -
behind US and British children.

FISH SYSTEMS
A grim new film, The End of the Line, reveals the impact of overfishing on our
oceans. It exposes the extent to which global stocks of fish are dwindling;
features scientists who warn we could see the end of most seafood by 2048; and
includes chefs and fishers who seem indifferent to the ecocidal consequences of
their business practices. "We must act now to protect the sea from rampant
overfishing" says Charles Clover, author of the book of the film. Must, must.
The difficulty with films like The End of the Line - as with 'An Inconvenient
Truth', Michael Pollan's 'Food, Inc' - and my own story about pigs, above - is
that so much bad news obscures positive developments. The End of the Line
received far more publicity, for example, than the launch of FishChoice.com
FishChoice.com is one of many business-to-business (B2B) innovations that begin
to unlock an intractable problem: how to reconfigure food systems that lock
their participants into ecocidal behaviour. Read more at:
http://www.doorsofperception.com/archives/2009/08/post_50.php
http://fishchoice.com/About-FishChoice/Collaborating-Organizations.aspx
http://www.bsr.org/reports/BSR_EMI_Tools_Application.pdf

INTER-CITY BUS AS A PRODUCT-SERVICE SYSTEM
Plug-in electric cars are very popular with politicians and car companies: they
embody the myth that we can all carry driving around in private vehicles as
normal, and the planet gets saved. It's a dangerous con: the true costs of
electric cars - from the heavy metals in their batteries, to the coal-generated
power needed to run them - mean that their viability as a long-term alternative
to unsustainable mobility is an illusion. My other unsolicited proposal in
Poznan, therefore, was that Poland should develop inter-city coach travel as a
Product Service System [PSS]. Buses are by far the most envronmentally friendly
form of public transport: they produce 29g of CO2 for every passenger kilometre
travelled, compared with 52g for trains and 170g per passenger km for cars and
airplanes. There's a huge opportunity here for Poland to take a global lead.
Car, road, and aviation industries have a death grip around the necks of policy
makers in most countries, so bus travel is not developed. Poland already makes
a lot of buses; what's needed next is an integrated combination of vehicles,
enhancements to existing infastructure, informatics - plus web 3.0 platforms
and social innovation to enable bus-to-home car sharing.

NEXT GENERATION DESIGN CENTRES
Whether it be agro-ecological food systems, or inter-city bus travel as a PSS,
the individual components are available. The missing element is an entity that
will coordinate the actors and components of a Product Service System.
It occurs to me that Europe contains a growing number of regional design
centres, innovation centres, enterprise observatories, cluster support offices
and the like. Policy makers could usefully change their brief and tell them to
focus on sustainable, multi-actor food and moblity systems, instead of
often-purposeless high tech.
http://www.eif.org/jeremie/

GREENING DESIGN EDUCATION
If design centres don't seize this opportunity, could design schools? Poznan's
Academy of Fine Arts is in a project called DEEDS whose aim is to speed up the
diffusion of sustainable development practice in Europe's design schools.
Bogumila Jung, the Academy's Dean, told me that they focus on experiential
learning in which students engage with real-life situations. These experiences
help designers develop the holistic thinking needed if they are to be useful
when working among complex, multi-layered and interconnected systems.

DE-CARBONISED MOBILITY: URBAN SPORTS IN URBAN DESIGN
I was thrilled to receive an email from Claire Alleaume, Skate Champion of
France, no less. As well as being an ultra-modern form of de-carbonised
mobility, skateboarding is also Claire's job: she works for a communication
agency that works with architects, urban planners, and street furniture
designers on new ways to integrate urban sports like skateboarding,
rollerblading and bmxing. Anyway, Claire asks, "Is there anything I can read
which could help me reflect on this issue, make the right choices, and
concretely act with councils so as to work in the right direction?". My sad
reply to Claire was that I know more about urban composting than bmxing - but
what about you, dear readers? Please suggest *the* best book or site for Claire
that will help her develop these activities in cities. Send your suggestions
please to: john at doorsofperception dot com - and I'll pass them along.

BERLIN: "POOR BUT SEXY"
One reason Berlin's mayor calls the city "poor but sexy" is the city's art
scene. Anna Krenz inspired us in Poznan with a talk on how her tiny 20 square
metre shop-front and art space, Galerie Zero, has generated social and cultural
energy in the Kreusberg area of Berlin. Krenz and her partner, Jacek Slaski,
have produced 100 pioneering art shows, installations and events over a six year
period. I calculate that these 100 events cost less than building the men's
toilets in a Frank Gehry-type art museum. The importance of projects like
Galerie Zero is not just that they cost less than fancy museum buildings; their
activities, being created in and by a community, also create a lot of the social
capital that policy makers are so keen to foster. Urban planners and policy
makers should all get hold of of their new book: Zero, Berlin, 2003-2009 .
http://www.zero-project.org

SWORDS INTO PLOUGHSHARES - WELL, NEARLY (ST ETIENNE, FRANCE)
A TGV-full of of political and business leaders travelled from Paris to St
Etienne for the opening of Cite du design. Sixty four million euros ($93m) has
been invested in the conversion of a former armaments manufacturing complex into
a new design centre and design school. Everyone from the Minister of Culture (a
big deal in France) to St Etienne's Mayor turned up to celebrate this ambitious
project. They all agreed that design is a key ingredient in urban design, high
tech innovation, and regional development. One suspects that that they all had
different ideas about what those words mean, but that probably doesn't matter.
At a conference in St Etienne next month called "Cities of Design" the
design-minded cities of Minneapolis, Montreal, Quebec, Toronto, Seoul, Portland,
Eindhoven and Dortmund will all be represented. 30 November and 01 December, St
Etienne. Info: camile.vilain@...

PLOUGHSHARES AS TECHNOLOGICAL DISOBEDIENCE (CUBA)
Cite du design is a broad church. Whilst hordes of courtiers flocked around the
Minister like starlings at sunset, copies of a subversive new book, by Ernesto
Oroza, were being distributed by Cite's publications team. Rikimbili - "a study
of technological disobedience and other forms of re-invention" - describes how
Cubans have adapted and recycled industrial objects during fifty years of US
sanctions. The book's title, Rikimbili, is named after a two-wheeled vehicle
that started its life as a bicycle. The book is subversive because, for me
anyway, it describes the kind of design we'll be doing in the coming age of
scarcity industrialism (a phrase of John Michael Greer). Design shows filled
with shiny objects, by contrast, are best perceived as historical events about a
pardigm that has passed. Write direct to obtain your copy of Rikimbili to:
emilie.chabert at citedudesign dot com
http://citedudesign.com/sites/Editions/index.php?page=87&article=112
http://oroza.net/

MENTALISTS AND MATERIALISTS
I was at a most interesting conference in Plymouth, Making Futures, about the
crafts in the context of sustainability. We discussed the prospects for people
who can make things in an era of scarcity industrialism. I was especially
impressed by an organisation called Ethical Metalsmiths. Its founder, Susan
Kinglsey, told us that 20 tonnes of waste, among them river-poisoning sulphides,
and mercury, are needed to produce one gold ring. A significant amount of gold
(40%) is supplied by an estimated estimated twelve million artisan (ie, by hand)
miners around the world. Many mining operations bring about environmental
degradation, involve child labor, and lead to the exploitation and further
impoverishment of these workers and communities. Kinglsey described a horror
phenomenon called Acid Mine Drainage as a "perpetual pollution machine".
http://www.ethicalmetalsmiths.org/
http://makingfutures.plymouthart.ac.uk/index.php?page=Conference-Home&pag_id=2
http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/2007/10/age-of-scarcity-industrialism.htm\
l

]    FORTHCOMING EVENTS

DO TRUE COST ECONOMICS SPELL FINITO FOR THE MILAN DESIGN SCENE?
(MILAN, 8 OCTOBER)
Few artefacts embody so much mental, but also material energy, as a high design
furniture from Milan. Will this sector be viable when the true social and
environmental costs of industrial production start to be charged, rather than
hidden? Well maybe, and maybe not: my lecture is followed by a debate.
Thursday 8 October, Design Library, via Savona 11, Milan. Tel +39 02 894 21225

DESIGN FOR DEVELOPMENT (LONDON. 10 OCTOBER)
The poster asks, ""How can the benefits of design be extended beyond the worlds
wealthy to everyone?" This question begs many questions, as will be evident in
this discussion chaired by Alastair Fuad-Luke, author of Design Activism.
Speakers include Guy Robinson, Director of industrial design consultancy Sprout,
Ann Thorpe, researcher and author of The Designer's Atlas of Sustainability,
and me. 15-17h, 10 October, Bargehouse, London.
http://designfordevelopment.eventbrite.com/

2012 IMPERATIVE TEACH-IN (LONDON, 12 OCTOBER)
This Global Emergency Teach-in for ecological literacy in design education will
be "a massive social learning project" based on the example of a similar
teach-in, held in 2007 at the New York Academy of Science, that reached a
quarter million people from 47 countries. Any university or college can
participate in this new Teach-in by hosting a viewing of the event. If you're in
the London area, you need to obtain tickets for the Teach-in at the V&A.
http://www.teach-in.eco-labs.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=73\
&Itemid=94

DOES THE IDEAL ECO CITY EXIST? (CAEN, FRANCE, 14 OCTOBER)
This event is in France and will be in French so here's the blurb in French (I'm
in a round table there on 14 October): Quelle sera la forme de la ville de
demain? Comment construire plus vite des logements � la fois moins chers et
plus
�conomes en �nergie ? Comment concilier la qualit� de vie et une forme
d'habitat
plus dense et plus durable ? La voiture sera-t-elle encore la reine des villes
dans 50 ans ? L'�co-cit� id�ale existe-t-elle ? Autant de questions �
l'ordre du
jour de "Caen Les Rencontres, Premi�re", qui feront de Caen une vaste agora
citoyenne sur l'urbanisme, l'architecture et le d�veloppement durable durant
tout le mois d'octobre. Autour de l'exposition "voisins - voisines", et sous la
pr�sidence de Fran�ois Barr�, les Caennaises et les Caennais sont
invit�s �
�changer avec les plus grands architectes-urbanistes lors de quatre journ�es
de
conf�rences, de d�bats et de convivialit�.
http://www.caen-lesrencontres.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5\
7:seconde&catid=38:rencontres&Itemid=160

THE NEW ECONOMICS (BOOK LAUNCH, LONDON, 14 OCTOBER)
Why do modern Britons work harder than medieval peasants? Why are Malawi
villagers paying the mortgages of Surbiton stockbrokers? And why did China pay
for the Iraq war? A new approach to economics - deriving as much from Ruskin and
Schumacher as from Keynes or Smith - has begun to emerge. Skeptical about money
as a measure of success, this new economics turns our assumptions about wealth
and poverty upside down. It shows us that real wealth can be measured by
increased well-being and environmental sustainability rather than just having
and consuming more things. This new book by David Boyle and Andrew Simms
is published on 14 October.
http://www.earthscan.co.uk/?tabid=74731

POPULAR E-GOVERNMENT (MALMO 19-20 NOVEMBER)
Are you full of aspirations about what e-enabled government could do for us in
Europe but also a little frustrated by official conferences and Ministerial
pronouncements? Then perhaps this is the chance you've been waiting for. The
first popular European e-government conference, which takes place in Malm�,
Sweden 19-20 November 2009, "aims to offer a memorable creative statement of
what Europeans really want from e-enabled government". It is particularly aimed
at European digital-rights organisations, consumer advocates, and those with a
political, academic, artistic or design interest in e-government. No
presentation will last longer than eight minutes.
http://malmo09.org/

FOUR DAYS IN HALIFAX (NOVA SCOTIA, 21-24 OCTOBER)
If you're in or near Halifax Nova Scotia during 21-24 October, we're part of an
event called 4 Days Halifax that will explore the ways design can help this
lively region in its transition to sustainability. I told the organisers, Peter
Wuensch and Rachel Derrah, to think of Doors of Perception as a "Hubble
Telescope turned backwards" - the idea being that it often takes an outsider to
help grassroots people and groups, who are the acorns of a sustainable future,
become better known or visible in their own backyard. 21-24 October, Halifax.
http://4days.ca/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/4-Days/137754558339

ANY MORE QUESTIONS?
I did an interview with Design21, a social design network:
http://www.design21sdn.com/feature/6355



__________________________________________________
Doors-Report mailing list
http://lists.webtic.nl/mailman/listinfo/doors-report

DOORS OF PERCEPTION REPORT
August 2009
By John Thackara

This free monthly newsletter announces events, and starts conversations, on
issues to do with design for sustainability and resilience. For back issues, or
to subscribe, visit: http://www.doorsofperception.com/mailinglist/archives.php

**** **** **** **** ****
THIS MONTH'S HIGHLIGHTS
Doors event: How to recycle an office block
Food systems: Is urban farming the new dot.com?
Measuring what matters: GDP as a doomsday machine
Social innovation: from philanthrocapitalism, to social venturing
**** **** **** **** ****

] DOORS OF PERCEPTION EVENT

HOW TO RE-USE AN OFFICE BLOCK (SAO PAULO)
We've agreed dates for our experimental "pocket conference" at the Momento
Monumento project in Sao Paulo: Tuesday 3 and Wednesday 4 November.
The two days will consist of design clinics and discussions around two
questions: what kinds of social enterprise might re-animate this abandoned 24
story skyscraper as a place for people to live, work, learn,and connect? And, in
what practical ways can design help them do that? The following organisations
have agreed to meet there: Doors of Perception; Coloco; Exyzt; Transforma
Design; DESIS (d-schools working on service design); the MetaReciclagem network;
and The Hub, Sao Paulo. The event is an experiment: how to leverage the value of
our respective networks to help an important project - but without encouraging
people to take long flights to participate.
http://www.momentomonumento.org/en/

] FOOD SYSTEMS AND DESIGN

ONE IN NINE ON FOOD STAMPS - WHILE OBESITY COSTS SOAR
One in nine Americans already relies on federal food stamps to help buy
groceries - a startling number that will grow as unemployment rises. At the same
time, medical spending on obesity - a major cause of diabetes, stroke and heart
attacks, reached $147 billion in 2008, an 87 percent increase in a decade.
http://tiny.cc/E7KJb
http://tiny.cc/lv2ZI

SO: HOW MUCH IS A SCHOOL GARDEN WORTH?
California is spending $65,000 (45,000 euros) per classroom seat in a schools
rebuilding programme - but only $1 per child per year for garden upkeep and
support. Mud Baron, whose job is to help 500 L.A. schools develop gardens and
nature projects, has fought a lonely battle to persuade planners and architects
that contact with nature - not just buildings - is a crucual ingredient of a
"green" school. When Mud explained his campaign to a Doors of Perception
workshop at The Planning Center, in February, we came up with the idea of
re-labeling school gardens as "outside classrooms"; this would have resolved
Mud's resource problem at a stroke.
But the situation in California has
deteriorated fast since then:The budget crisis has left countless teachers
unemployed, and a $1.7-million grant to Los Angeles Unified School District for
its Instructional School Garden Program has expired. Mud's boss has agreed to
match the funds that Baron and his network can raise - if they reach $100,000.
We don't usually run campaign appeals here, but when the issue is schools + food
+ learning-to- grow, we simply have to make an exception. Donate what you can,
here:
http://tiny.cc/u9Ymy
http://www.laschoolgardens.com/

IS URBAN FARMING THE NEW DOT COM?
Emergency appeals are not a long-term solution to Mud Baron's situation - nor to
myriad other social programmes for which government funding is collapsing. In
the US, a first response has been to start a business to fill the gap. A
September event in New York, Agriculture 2.0, will introduce alternative
agriculture entrepreneurs to investors. Organizer Roxanne Christensen says
innovators are developing profitable models for sustainable alternatives to
industrial agriculture that "can help create a post-industrial food system that
is less resource intensive, more locally-based, and easier to monitor and
control". The perkily-named of start-ups include BrightFarm Systems,
SPIN-Farming, Virtually Green, Aquacopia, NewSeed Advisors.
17 September, New York City.
http://tiny.cc/A4Ek9
http://www.newseedadvisors.com/conference

NURTURE CAPITALISM
Slow Money also promotes itself as a new economic vision. It's "an emerging
network of investors, donors, entrepreneurs, farmers, and activists committed to
building local food systems and local economies. It's about the soil of the
economy. It's the beginning of the 'nurture capital' industry". The slow money
community meets 9-11 September in Santa Fe.
http://tiny.cc/GAXHu
http://www.slowmoneyalliance.org/national-gathering.html

FOOD AND CITIES: LEARNING FROM THE SOUTH
In countries where hunger is a lived reality, growing food in cities is taken
seriously. The South can teach the North a lot here. A new book by leading
experts on urban agriculture drawns on original field work in cities across the
rapidly urbanizing global south; it proposes practical strategies to integrate
city farming into the urban landscape. City farmers, politicians,
environmentalists and regulatory bodies need to work together, the book
concludes, to improve the long term sustainability of urban farming as a major,
secure source of food and employment for urban populations. Agriculture in Urban
Planning: Generating Livelihoods and Food Security, is edited by Mark Redwood
and published by Earthscan with the International Development Research Centre.
http://tiny.cc/qxgGn
http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-133761-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html

NO FOOD WITHOUT WATER
There is no food without water, and the best source I know for design challenges
posed by water projects is the journal Water 21. They publish an excellent free
online newsletter, too.
http://tiny.cc/nq9B4
http://www.iwapublishing.com/template.cfm?name=mailings

] MEASURING WHAT MATTERS

MEASURING ECONOMIC PROGRESS
Enrico Giovannini, Chief Statistician of the OECD, is pleased with with his new
visualization tool, the OECD Factbook Explorer. Few people on the planet are
exposed to a larger volume of statistics than he is, and he's well aware that
the more data proliferate, the harder it is to extract meaning from them. But
making numbers look interesting is not its main point: Its longer-term potential
is as a tool to help change the ways we perceive and measure economic progress.
http://tiny.cc/5RKta
http://www.doorsofperception.com/archives/2009/07/post_48.php

GDP AS A DOOMSDAY MACHINE
Over at Adbusters, they don't want to wait. "Conventional economics to a bucket
full of water that's ready to tip. So, let's kick it over" says their True Cost
Economics Manfesto. It describes neoclassical economics as a "gigantic fraud
upon the world" and promises that "in the months and years that follow, we will
begin the work of reprogramming your doomsday machine"
http://tiny.cc/K6twi
https://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/truecosteconomics/sign

GREEN MAP IMPACTS
The Green Map platform enables local communities to map assets and resource
flows. A new book features fascinating illustrated narratives by local green map
makers in ten countries.
http://tiny.cc/PGTBX
http://www.greenmap.org/greenhouse/files/Green_Map_Impacts_09.pdf

WHO TRACKS THE TRASHED TAGS?
If we knew exactly where our trash was going, and how much energy it took to
make it disappear, would we think twice about buying bottled water or
"disposable" razors? A team of MIT researchers wants people to think more about
what they throw away. Trash Track involves the development of special electronic
tags that will track different types of waste on their journey through the
disposal systems of New York and Seattle. A dilemma for Tracking Trash: in their
present form, RFID tags are themselves eco-unfriendly waste, and less than 20
percent of US e-waste is recovered for recycling.
http://tiny.cc/zY35u http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/trash-0715.html

THE 121 POUND IPHONE
A hard dilemma confronts those (such as this writer) who have too fliply
promoted networked communications as "the infrastructure of sustainabiity". The
amounts of energy, materials and waste associated with the lifecycles of digital
media are too often underestimated or just plain ignored. According to
information recently released by Apple, for example, the footprint of an iPhone
includes 121 pounds of CO2-equivalent green house gas emissions over a
three-year expected lifetime of use. Read Don Carli's startling article:
http://tiny.cc/kSGvh
http://www.sustainablecommunication.org/resources/articles/53-which-medium-is-mo\
re-sustainable-paper-or-digital

THE CHIPS THAT WEIGH AS MUCH AS A CAR �
The energy consumption of electronic devices is skyrocketing: the electricity
consumption of computers, cell phones, flat screen TV's, iPods and other gadgets
will double by 2022 and triple by 2030. And that's just the power needed to use
them; more important is the energy required to manufacture electronic equipment.
A handful of microchips embody as much energy as a car. Low-Tech Magazine has
posted a long and detailed analysis:
http://tiny.cc/X2dns
http://krisdedecker.typepad.com/.a/6a00e0099229e8883301157108f109970b-pi

... AND THE HEAVINESS OF GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAINS
Of humanity's 50,000 ecocidal mega-tonnes of annual CO2e greenhouse gas
emissions each year, around 2,800 mega-tonnes are caused by logistics and
transport activities. Road freight is a major element of this footprint;
minerals and food transportation are the largest contributors by product
category. Possibly shocked by these numbers, the World Economic Forum has
published a report on Supply Chain Decarbonization.The report talks
bluntly about "a clear need to move beyond corporate and geographic barriers
in addressing supply chain carbon emissions".
http://tiny.cc/fTpBg
http://www.weforum.org/pdf/ip/SupplyChainDecarbonization.pdf

BATTERIES, WIRES: SO OLD PARADIGM
Gunter Pauli is disturbed by the very sight of electronic devices that need
batteries or electric wires in order to function. So the gadget-filled venue of
the LIFT conference for technology developers, in Marseille, must have been a
challenge. But the founder of the Zero Emissions Research Initiative was not to
be deterred, as the video of his talk shows:
http://tiny.cc/pjxbe
http://www.doorsofperception.com/archives/2009/07/post_47.php

] SOCIAL INNOVATION

FROM PHILANTHROCAPITALISM, TO SOCIAL VENTURING
A new book about "philanthrocapitalism" chronicles a new generation of social
investors who deploy big-business-style strategies and expect results and
accountability to match. They include Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, George Soros,
Angelina Jolie, and Bono, among others. Their proposition is that there's a
"missing middle" in emerging countries can be filled by new capital to fuel
growth. This msojunds very much the economy that we have now; can't we do
better? A contrasting vision is contained a new publication from The Young
Foundation, Social venturing, that describes a different kind of economy - a
social economy - that is more socially and informationally intensive than
capital intensive. Read more at:
http://tiny.cc/n9DZi
http://www.doorsofperception.com/archives/2009/07/from_philanthro.php

APOLLO PROGRAM FOR SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media researchers in the US have called for the creation of a National
Initiative for Social Participation. Ben Shneiderman is using social media to
organize the effort through a Facebook group called iParticipate.
"I see this as an agency like NASA is for space", he says.
http://tiny.cc/ptCAj
http://ebiquity.umbc.edu/blogger/2009/05/06/national-initiative-for-social-parti\
cipation/

SOCIAL MEDIA: FROM ME-WARE TO WE-WARE
David Barrie produces popular documentaries and programmes for television.
In recent times he's used these media techniques in community and urban
development. In David's new project, in Wales, 'Unofficial Mayors' and community
groups are using social media to develop an action plan for physical, social and
cultural initiatives. The idea, says David, is "to network communities and local
life in a collective way - in the spirit of garden allotments on common ground
rather than the fenced-off private gardens you find in social media now".
http://tiny.cc/OHvfy
http://groups.google.co.uk/group/digitalbutetown

OPEN SOURCE SEWING
Among the many inspiring social innovation projects listed in NEW York 100, I
especially like the sound of Hot Bread Kitchen, a social-purpose bakery that
employs local immigrant women to bake traditional recipes. There's also a
feral-sounding group of recyclers, called Scrapkins, and Burda Style, an "open
source sewing" venture. All Day Buffet are organising a conference for these and
other start-ups on 1 October.
http://tiny.cc/DbPM5
http://www.alldaybuffet.org/newyork100/

LET THEM EAT ECO BREAD
City Eco Lab veterans Exyzt and Bethany Koby have created a combined windmill
and public oven in London. They've been baking a local currency out of bread,
called the Dalston Slice, that can be used at local stores.
http://tiny.cc/TbAB7
http://www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery/event-detail.asp?ID=9311

] ALSO NOTED

ECOLOGICAL LITERACY TEACH-IN
A design education teach-in to help students, faculty and staff re-frame design
I the context of resource depletion, loss of biodiversity, and climate change.
The idea is to embed ecological literacy in design education by 2012.
Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 12 October.
http://www.teach-in.co.uk

ALL OUR FUTURES (UK)
Education for sustainability is also the focus of this conference in Plymouth.
Speakers include Martin Charter, Director of The Centre for Sustainable Design;
writer and design activist Alastair Fuad-Luke; and Sara Parkin of Forum for the
Future. 15-17 September, Centre for Sustainable Futures, University of Plymouth.
http://tiny.cc/gdVfB
http://csf.plymouth.ac.uk/allourfutures/

RE-DEFINING "ENVIRONMENT"
Is it time to re-frame what we mean by the word "environment" - and thus, how we
perceive, design, and inhabit the world? The Institute for Advanced Studies is
Glasgow is hosting a four month Scottish-Danish research project to explore
these questions. It aims to re-locate the concept of environment
"in a more more encompassing ecosystemic context".
http://tiny.cc/qt1jq
http://www.instituteforadvancedstudies.org.uk/Programmes/DesigningEnvironments.a\
spx

EDUCATION THAT PAYS FOR ITSELF (ECUADOR)
The Third International Conference on Sustainable Education is for innovators
tackling key challenges in education across the developing world: How to provide
high quality education without high fees; How to teach young people to succeed
as entrepreneurs ; How to empower future generations to break out of the poverty
trap.
8-10 December 2009 Yachana Lodge, Ecuador.
http://tiny.cc/dVmOL
http://www.teachamantofish.org.uk/conference/

02 GLOBAL NETWORK - NOW ON LINKED-IN
The O2 Global Network informs, inspires and connects people interested in
sustainable design. An enterprising Joel Mulligan (who also needs a job)
has established the group on LinkedIn.
http://tiny.cc/AQQy3
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?homeNewMember=&gid=2162795&trk=

CLASSROOM OF TOMORROW
Finalists in Architecture for Humanity's classroom challenge range from an
outdoor classroom in inner-city Chicago, to learning spaces for the children of
salt pan workers in India. In September, a selected partner school will receive
up to US$50,000 to realize its design.
http://tiny.cc/jIPVE
http://www.openarchitecturenetwork.org/

SMART CITIES
For ten years, Carol Coletta has hosted a nationally-syndicated (in the US)
public radio show called "Smart City." So she wasn't sure how to react when IBM
launched its Smarter Cities campaign, and when Fortune magazine launched a tech
conference of that name, too. Neither credited Carol. There's nothing much to be
done about these schoolyard bullies - except grant credit where credit is due.
http://www.smartcityradio.com/

AND WORLD STREETS
If anyone at IBM or Fortune is feeling guilty, they could assuage it by donating
funds to World Streets, the always useful (and always under-resourced) blog
about new mobility. This week Sue Zielinski writes about New Mobility Hubs;
these would help you access a whole range of transport options including buses,
trains, streetcars, clean fuel taxis, auto rickshaws and car share or bike share
vehicles, day care, satellite offices, cafes, shops and entertainment.
http://worldstreets.org/
http://tiny.cc/OltTQ
http://newmobilityagenda.blogspot.com/2009/07/new-mobility-hubs-connecting-dots.\
html

] BOOKS OF THE MONTH

Design is the problem: The future of design must be sustainable, by Nathan
Shedroff. Design has a tremendous impact on the produced world in terms of
usability, resources, understanding, and priorities. Shedroff does a fantastic
job explaining how to feed the leading frameworks and perspectives on
sustainability into the development process of products, services, and events.
http://tiny.cc/kv0zX
http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/sustainable-design/

Design Meets Disability, by Graham Pullen. If eyeglasses can evolve from medical
necessity to fashion accessory, why not hearing aids, prosthetic limbs, and
communication aids? Graham Pullin shows us how design and disability can inspire
each other. MIT Press, 2009
http://tiny.cc/UnP1v
http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11673

Design Activism: Beautiful Strangeness for a Sustainable World, by Alastair
Fuad-Luke. How design activists are catalysing positive impacts to address
sustainability: their leader describes approaches, processes, methods, tools and
inspirational examples. Earthscan, 2009
http://tiny.cc/FcC6x
http://www.earthscan.co.uk/?tabid=49386

] GIFT ECONOMY: TWO QUID PRO QUO OPPORTUNITIES

1. HELP GROW OUR RELATIONAL CAPITAL
This newsletter is free, but it creates value through cross-fertilisation.
Please share it with your friends, colleagues, clients and collaborators.
http://tiny.cc/rCArh
http://www.doorsofperception.com/mailinglist/archives.php

2. IS YOUR FIRM EMBARKING ON TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE?
John Thackara, who wrote this newsletter, gives talks, and runs project clinics,
that help organisations embark on transformational change. He also organises
regional-scale events that help real-world sustainability projects
cross-fertilise, and grow.
http://www.thackara.com


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Doors of Perception Report
Design for resilience
by John Thackara
June 2009

TRANSITIONING
Fui So means "ability to rejuvenate" in Mandarin. I learned this from Wong
Lai-yin, a Chinese participant in last week's Transition Towns event in
London.
Transition initiatives and groups are multiplying at extraordinary speed:
170 communities have been officially designated Transition Towns (or cities,
districts, villages - and even a forest); and a further 600 communities are
"mulling it over" as they consider the possibility of kicking off their own
Transition Initiative. The Transition Towns WIKI opens with the statement,
"Here's how it all appears to be evolving...". That statement helps explain
why the movement is growing so fast: it's been designed to be scalable.
Read more at:
http://www.doorsofperception.com/archives/2009/06/transition_town.php

TOOLS FOR FACE-2-FACE (TRANSITION WEB STRATEGY)
How best should communities share knowledge when and where it is most
needed?
Wikipedia is a hard act to beat in terms of formal and recordable knowledge.
But what about lived, embodied, situated knowledge? How do we share that?
A few weeks before the London event, the Transition Towns web team asked for
feedback on the "great diversity of web tools and processes currently in use
and
under development" and asked for input on "which of these will be resilient
and
adaptable enough to support the changing needs of transition groups around
the
world." That's a demanding brief: deploy common tools, processes and
protocols
to help rapidly-evolving and heterogeneous groups do their work. Ed
Mitchell,
one of the web team, told us in London that face-2-face is overwhelmingly
the
most important mode of communication for Transitioners. Among key web
development principles for the next period the most important is that "we
don't
want to force people to behave in a particular way." Mitchell presented a
map of
inter-connected functions and channels that will include guided search -
with human beings to help never far away. "There is no such thing as a
single Transition website, he explained, and tools will be selected that
cause Transitioners to "spend as little time in front of computer screens
as possible". As a description of how to use the web to facilitate change,
this was the most insighful that I've heard in 15 years.

MONUMENTO (EXCHANGING ACORNS, NOT TREES, WITH SAO PAULO)
We moved the Doors conference from cosy Amsterdam to India, in 2002, because
it
seemed right to go to a new context and re-frame questions of sustainability
there. The trouble is that long-haul flights produce 110 grams of carbon
dioxide
per passenger kilometer; each of us flying to Doors 9 in Delhi therefore
produced the best part of two tonnes of CO2 emissions. Our excuse, then, was
that it was too late (when we learned about those numbers) to cancel the
event.
But that excuse will no longer wash. Doors' legacy business - bringing
together
hundreds of people from different parts of the world - has to change, and
radically.

So let's change it together. From 10 October to 11 November we will
participate
in a project in in Sao Paulo called Monumento. It combines the words
monument,
and moment. A 22-story abandoned office building (among litreally thousands
in
that city) is being turned into an "auto-construction laboratory" by two
ex-architecture groups, Coloco and Exyzt. They are working with mixed local
communities in an area of the city that's an office district by day, and
home to
multiple urban tribes by night. The hard aspects of the project involve
re-purposing the building using local skills, and rescued materials and
equipment, to create living and production spaces. The soft programme is
described by Coloco's Pablo Georgieff as "a fusion of culture and social
production". During the six-week season different aspects of what he calls
"the
art of meeting" will include food, theatre, storytelling, and live
presentations
of projects that explore new ways to organise daily life.
Monumento coincides with an international symposium on sustainable design in
the
city on 5 and 6 November. We are also in touch with DESIS-Brazil, a network
on
design for social innovation that connects universities in Brazil with DESIS
groups in China and Ezio Manzini's group at Politecnico di Milano. We are
also
talking to the Sao Paulo designer Paula Dib who is developing a programme at
another university there, FAAP.
So here's the challenge: how to introduce service innovation projects to the
mix
in Sao Paulo, and exchange experiences with the Monumento participants,
without
organising an international convention. Send your thoughts to: john at
doorsofperception dot com. We'll flesh out the idea in next month's
newsletter.
http://www.momentomonumento.org/en/
http://portal.anhembi.br/sbds/speakers.html
http://www.sustainable-everyday.net/desis09_brazil/

POROUS PARIS (REPORT)
Transition Towns is not exclusively bottom-up; its groups are encouraged to
engage with local government entities where possible. But a magisterially
top-down project in France accentuates the difference. Nicolas Sarkozy, the
French president, asked 10 uber-architects to project 20 years into the
future
and dream up "the world's most sustainable post-Kyoto metropolis". An
illustrated report in English has just been published. As flagged last
month, I
especially like the metaphor of "Paris as a sponge" proposed by Bernardo
Secchi
and Paola Vigano. They state: "Porosity: relation of the empty to the full,
of
the unbuilt to the built, of vegetable to mineral, of accessible space to
uncoupled space... porosity through a remodelling of the landscape, porosity
through a multiplied transportation system, porosity to create a habitat
revised
and corrected for "sustainability". And so on. These words accompany a
rather
horrible picture - which only goes to show that some architects can write
better
than they can.... design?
http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/actualites/communiq/albanel/dp_grand_pari
s_en.pdf

NORWEGIAN ARCHITECTURE POLICY (BYLUFTSLOV)
Meanwhile in Norway 13 different government ministries (surely a world
record)
are working together on a new architecture policy. For Nina Berre, director
at
Norsk Form, who is helping to organise the process, Norwegian architects
"excel at building harmonic structures in difficult terrain - and the end
result is
often poetic. Cottages grow out of rocky surfaces, as do roadside rest areas
or
public buildings, scattered across the landscape as if placed by an act of
God".
Norway is the same size as Germany but has fewer than five million
inhabitants
(to Germany's 80m); the country is not exactly short of water; and it has
also
stashed a huge pot of money from its (now declining) oil producing heyday.
Confronted by this rather luxurious starting point, I suggested, in my talk,
that Norway lead the world and base its architecture policy on a land ethic.
Kjetil Thorsen, Norway's leading architect, then talked about a word he has
coined,"byluftslov" that describes a Nordic model built around the concept
of joint ownership, togetherness and shared responsibility for public space.
My Norwegian is a bit rusty so I've asked Kjetil if his intriguing piece
could be translated.
http://www.norskform.no/default.asp?V_ITEM_ID=4516

FOODPRINTING THE CITY (SYMPOSIUM, THE HAGUE)
In March 2007 we organised Doors 9 in Delhi to explore the design agenda for
food systems. Since then, interest in the subject has exploded and
architects
the world over are now photoshopping gardens onto every proposal. The next
priority now is to get serious on strategy and implementation - to put food
and
water systems at the heart of city planning and design. A seminar in The
Hague
this month will launch Foodprint, a two year project to explore the
possibilities of food production in the Dutch capital city. Speakers include
Carolyn Steel (author 'Hungry City'); Wally Satzewich (Spinfarming); Rob
Baan
(Kopper Cress Micro Vegetables); Debra Solomon (Culiblog), Will Allen from
Growingpower. I'll talk too. Friday June 26, 2009, The Hague.
http://www.het-portaal.net/foodprint/STR+Food+programma+07.pdf
http://www.het-portaal.net/foodprint/Sprekers.pdf

WATER STRESS (JOURNAL)
In Europe we extract 286 cubic kilometres of water every year; that's 5300
cubic
metres per person. Where does it all go? Well, up to 1500 litres of water
are
needed to grow enough biofuels to move one car ten kilometres. 2000 litres
are
needed a day to feed each one of us. And it takes 140 litres of water to
grow
enough beans for a single cup of coffee. It sounds, and is, unsustainable:
Over-exploitation impacts heavily on the quality and quantity of remaining
water, and on the ecosystems that depend on it. And it's not just a problem
for
southern Europe; water stress is also increasing in parts of the north. I
could
go on, but for more insight get hold of the International Water
Association's
excellent journal, Water21. The June issue contains a fascinating survey on
the
interconnectedness of water and energy.
http://www.iwaponline.com/
http://www.iwapublishing.com/register

IS DIGITAL LIFE LONELY? (LIFT CONFERENCE, MARSEILLE)
"We have come to an era where society breaths technology. Screens are
familiar
to us, however we do not know the consequences that tie with their
domination".
So begins the LIFT conference blurb. My own take, which I'll talk about, is
that
new technology connects us to each other more, but leaves us *less*
connected to
the biosphere of which we are a co-dependent part. We need to use digital
infra
in ways that reverse this ecocidal divide. Keynote speakers include Euan
Semple,
Gunther Pauli, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet (the French Digital Economy
Minister),
Usman Haque, Bruce Sterling. The event takes place in the Palais du Pharo, a
gift to Napoleon perched on the cliff tops at the entrance of the Vieux
Port.
Marseille, 18-20 June 2009
http://liftconference.com/lift-france-09

AALTO UNIVERSITY: FOR LIFE, OR UNDECIDED? (TEXT OF TALK)
A major new university is to be named after the Finnish architect and
designer
Alvar Aalto. Aalto University, which opens in 2010, is the result of a
merger
between the Helsinki School of Economics (Finland's top business school,
with
4,000 students); the University of Art and Design (one of Europe's top
design
and art schools, with 2,000 students); and Helsinki University of Technology
(the main technical university, including the country's principal
architecture
school, with 15,000 students). Four hundred people are already busy
preparing
the new university, but I was asked to speak at symposium in Helsinki called
"Beyond Tomorrow" about what the new university should do, and be. The
University has stated that it will will "make a positive contribution to
Finnish
society, technology, economy, art, art and design, and support the welfare
of
both humans and the environment". I proposed that Aalto University should
stand
for something more precise than this: an unconditional respect for life, and
for
the conditions that support life. Read more at:
http://www.doorsofperception.com/archives/2009/05/post_43.php

HOLISTIC GREEN IN PALESTINE (TEXT)
Wael Al-Saad is making plans to return to his Palestinian homeland after 17
years of secure living, studying, and working in Germany. He is convinced
that
there is enough land with high capacity (for instance for dryland
permaculture)
for innovative production methods in which they can invest resources, and
become
more productive. Read more at "What Does a New Start Look Like in Palestine?
Returning Home to Create a Holistic Green Economy".
http://globalpalestine.blogspot.com/

ARTS AND ECOLOGY (SURVEY, UK)
Respond! started as a simple idea. "What if we find out how many arts events
in
the UK in a single month are responding to the ever-increasing threats to
the
environment?" The Royal Society of Arts is taking a snapshot of activity all
around the UK to build on the agenda of World Environment Day on 5 June. The
RSA's excellent Arts & Ecology has the details.
http://www.rsaartsandecology.org.uk/projects/respond

FISHING SYSTEMS (VISUALISATION, UK)
Justin Buckley has launched a website called EyeOverFishing that makes
visible
the UK fisheries system. It shows how the fishing industry, EU and UK
policy-makers, and consumers, damage the ocean ecosystem - and how
each group can participate in its restoration. "It's not really a campaign,
it's more of an educational resource that collects the various problems with
the UK fisheries in one place, to make it easier for people to find ways
of solving them" Justin tells me.
http://www.eyeoverfishing.org

BLEEP! SAID SID (SONIC DESIGN, PORTO)
An alarm clock that you cannot hear, but still wakes you up. A shower
curtain
that sings along with you. Chewing gum that allows you to catch sounds that
surround you and chew them into a new remixed soundscape. Sonic Interaction
Design (SID) explores "ways in which sound can be used to convey
information,
meaning, and aesthetic and emotional qualities in interactive contexts".
Karmen Franinovic is listening out for inspring examples for a sound
and computing conference in Porto. 23-25 July, Porto, Portugal
http://smc2009.smcnetwork.org/programme/special-sessions/sid.html

HISSI FIT (SPOILED BRAT RANT)
Why is it that "design hotels" are such a total nightmare? At the K in
Helsinki
I had to press the remote eleven times to turn on CNN and throw 15 cushions
onto
the floor before I could get into bed. My tooothbrush fell in the loo twice
because there was nowhere to put it. I would walk endlessly around the room
pressing sliders, buttons and knobs trying, without success, to illuminate
the
room. No flat surfaces were available to put my laptop on. The control panel
on
the lift ("hissi" in Finnish) was so confusing that I had time to make new
friends with fellow lost souls in its cabin as we went up and down.
I prefer yurts.



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Doors of Perception Report
May 2009
With i-Borg in New York
by John Thackara

i-BORG
A new sign on Manhattan Bridge as you enter New York warns, "No Idling: $2,000
fine". Fat chance. The city would make more money if it fined people for using
iPhones whilst walking along. It's as if everyone has been Assimilated; iBorg,
disguised as cellphones, cling limpet-like onto everyone's hands.

DOCTORS OF TOMORROW
But I have to hand it to the iBorg: they're good at social innovation. Take the
example of family doctoring. Tamara Giltsoff, a service designer, introduced me
to a wondrous new outfit called Hello Health. Their website is so well-written
that I have to quote it direct: "Once upon a time, going to your doctor was
simple. You knew his first name, or perhaps just called him 'Doc'. He lived just
down the street and made house calls. And if you were sick, you would see him
that day, because, well, you were sick. Then things started to change. Although
medicine has made some amazing advances in keeping us healthy, we now have to
contend with dietitians, insurance premiums, running shoes, deductibles, HMOs,
OTC drugs, specialists, fat-free salad dressing, and therapists. Daunting, isn't
it? But don't worry, we've made going to the doctor easy again". Hello Health
combines the virtues of the old-fashioned neighbourhood doctor, with new tech
platforms. "We love technology, the Internet, and especially our iPhones",
say Hello Health; "You can talk to us like you're talking to a friend: through
emails, texts, phone calls, instant messages, or face-to-face conversations.
Also, everything's online, from making appointments to accessing your records.
It also helps we're close by, living and working in your neighborhood".
Anyway, the whole thing is quite brilliant - and to cap it all, Hello Health's
principal communication platform is a video on YouTube:
http://tiny.cc/7C1UX
http://tiny.cc/y4nEK

ALL DAY BUFFET
Even iBorg have to eat. Indeed, insofar as they have a destination as they
wander the city, it's usually to their next watering hole. An intriguing
alternative to traditional venture funds is actually called All Day Buffet. One
of its founders, Mike Karnjanaprakorn, told me (over breakfast, of course) that
their idea is to "invest in creative misfits and entrepreneurs". I ask him how
this is different from existing social venture capital funds. "We're like
a record label - minus the evil", Mike tells me; "we find super-smart people
and give them the resources, connections and collaborative structure they
need to launch their purpose-driven ventures and turn their ideas into
successes". Their method revolves around internal collaboration.
"Our secret sauce (there's the food thing again) lies in a cross-disciplinary
culture that cultivates rampant idea generation, productivity, and happiness".
If you want to taste this recipe for yourself, Mike is organising a social
innovation conference called The Feast on 1 October.
http://tiny.cc/Fja08

HUNGRY NEW YORK
Phemonena like All Day Buffet won't last long if food runs out. Claire Hartten,
recently returned to New York from the UK (via the Doors 9 event we did on food
systems,in New Delhi) has launched a group called Hungry New York to foster
synergies between sustainable food projects, and buildings. Claire's idea is
to bring together specialists from the green-building world (engineers,
architects, developers, educators, etc.) with those, like cheese-seller Anne
Saxelby, and restaurateur Carlos Suarez, who are finding entrepreneurial ways
to grow more sustainable food systems. A first event, organised with the
New York Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, features Carolyn Steele,
author of Hungry City.
http://tiny.cc/oEAMu

HIGH LINE
I was taken on a sneak preview visit to The High Line. It's an elevated public
park on a 1.5 mile elevated railway that runs along the West Side of Manhattan.
Everyone is rightly proud that this historic rail structure has been saved from
being razed by developers. 150 million dollars have been found to to create a
"one-of-a-kind recreational amenity� a linear public place where you will see
and
be seen". It's a spectacular site, and the work is being beautifully done - but
the project feels strangely out-of-date before it even opens. The High Line
website features "before" images of the site before restoration, with masses
of weeds and greenery. The "after" site, that I visited, features concrete
walkways, high-design benches, and artful planting. What I missed, amidst
the designerly order, was a sense of productivity and abundance.
The good news is that Phases 2 and 3 of the project venture into
vast unused railway yards - perfect sites for city farms.
http://tiny.cc/uNPzA

GROWING AND GREENING, PREENING AND TWEAKING
An interesting exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York, curated by Maura
Lout, echoed my feeling that too much of New York's surface is paved and
impermeable. "Growing and Greening New York" seemed to be a friendly critique of
the Obama reconstruction budget with its emphasis on bridges, roads, tunnels -
and restored railway lines. Infrastructure can be renovated, the show implies,
by softer means - "tweaking much of what exists" to create a healthier, more
sustainable place to live. In New York, of all cities, it will take time for
this soft notion of infrastructure to take hold - but once it does, the
potential for digging up paved surfaces and retrofitting productive gardens,
with so much water all around, is stupendous.
http://tiny.cc/plgdT

DESIGN WRITING BOOM (COURSES IN NEW YORK, LONDON)
One warmly welcomes the imminent arrival of 30 highly-trained competitors into
the buoyant market for design writing. (Can one write through gritted teeth?).
Not one but two new masters programmes in design writing have started. At the
School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York, "fifteen stellar students and an
all-star faculty" are learning how to "research, analyze and evaluate design and
its social and environmental implications". In the UK, part-time students on the
London College of Communication MA are switching into my market from careers in
design and architecture, teaching, social networking, and trend forecasting.
http://tiny.cc/bSyS7
http://tiny.cc/IhNLA

DESIGN ACROSS BOUNDARIES (DESIGN COURSE, NEW YORK)
But why be a sheep? Instead of becoming a design writer, I have a better idea
for you: Liz Danzico, its co-founder,, told me that a couple of places are still
open on her new Interaction Design course at SVA. Danzico promises "a range of
experiences that cross visual, conceptual, and technical boundaries".
http://tiny.cc/JJz2E

EUROPE

SOCIAL MASHUPPING (CAMP, GLASGOW)
Europe's social innovators are more outdoors-inclined than New York's iBorg:
they all seem to be keen campers. The organisers of Social Innovation Camp,
"an experiment in creating social innovations for the digital age", are looking
for
the best ideas for web-based tools that can change stuff that matters. A camping
weekend in Glasgow brings together some of the best of the UK's software
developers and designers with those at the sharp end of social problems.
Their mission is to turn six back-of-the-envelope ideas that could change
the world into social start-ups - complete with working software.
And all in under 48 hours.
http://tiny.cc/VN1KC

UNGOV CAMP (UNCONFERENCE, BIRMINGHAM)
LocalGovCamp, for its part, is an 'unconference'; this means is that no agenda
is prepared and distributed in advance. Instead, sessions at the event are
decided upon and scheduled during the first part of the day.
http://tiny.cc/V7whp

AN EDAP IS BORN (ENERGY DESCENT ACTION PLAN)
Two years after the group was formed, Transition Forest Row has just published
its first version of an Energy Descent Action Plan, or EDAP. Subtitled 'a
community work in progress' it is a combination of storytelling, cartoons,
drawings and practical steps to an oil-free 2030.
http://tiny.cc/zIMfM

URBAN FOODPRINTS (ACTION RESEARCH, THE HAGUE)
The arts centre Stroom, in The Hague, has launched a two year project called
Foodprint: food for the city. A range of activities will explore the influence
food can have on the culture, shape and functioning of the city, using The Hague
as a case study. Artists and designers are invited to develop project proposals
that will connect entrepreneurs, farmers, food experts and the general public.
One of the kick-off events is a symposium on 26 June featuring inter alia
Carolyn Steel, author of 'Hungry City', and me.
http://tiny.cc/fB8c1

DESIGN IN A CRISIS (CONFERENCE, LINZ)
What's the best way to use design during the crisis? This year's
Design-Organisation-Media conference (DOM) in Linz will explore different ways
companies are using design to deal with complex business problems. Speakers from
Nike, Shell, Siemens, Arup, and Ideo will be joined by researchers, professors,
et moi. My chosen topic is: "Inwieweit sind die Methoden aus dem Kreativbereich
f�r die Wirtschaft relevant und wie k�nnen diese erfolgreich im Bereich der
Strategieplanung und Innovationsentwicklung eingesetzt werden?".
May 14 - 16, 2009, Linz/Mondsee
http://tiny.cc/P3VcB

EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES (EVENT, HELSINKI)
Juha Huuskonen and Tuuli Sotamma invite you "Emperor's New Clothes" in Helsinki
on 16 May. "People no longer want to be passive consumers, instead they want to
have an active role in searching for better solutions. How can designers open up
their work process and allow access for others to participate?" The event starts
with a presentation, by Professor Heikki Hy�tyniemi, about "the search for
balance in complex systems".
http://tiny.cc/OvpcM

MY PLAN TO SAVE THE CITY OF NICE $250 MILLION (MONEY SAVING TIP)
The demise of architectural trophyism coincides with an interesting debate about
the use of existing, but abandoned, industrial buildings. Until the bust, most
large empty buildings would have been jumped on by developers and turned into
egregious lofts. These days, the pressure is off and cities are considering more
interesting uses. The question of grand architectural statements is raised by
the transformation of the Var Valley, near Nice, into an Eco Valley This vast
project, which will last 30 years, spans 25,000 acres from the Mediterranean
coast to the Alpine foothills. The project's leader, Thierry Bahougne, wondered,
in our discussion in Nice, whether the commission of a signifcant
architectural...something...would attract potential stakeholders and give
coherence to the enterprise through time. I'd be in favour of involving
architects in Eco Valley - but not to make grand architectural statements.
Rather than splash out $250 million on a signature building, a more exciting
design challenge would be would be communicate the success of Eco Valley as
a narrative about the restoration and nurture of its existing watersheds and
biodiversity. The great national parks don't have signature buildings in them,
so why Eco Valley? Read more at:
http://tiny.cc/5tOEl

ECOSONIC (EVENT, MANCHESTER) )
Scientists from Britain's Natural History Musem, and the Meteorological Office,
are helping to develop two unique "citizen science" ways to record an urban
microclimate. A centrepiece of the Futuresonic Festival is Climate Bubbles:
People across the city of Manchester will test air flow circulation by mapping
the path of bubbles blown around the city, and share the results online. The
game enables the Met Office to get a snapshot the Urban Heat Island phenomenon.
And in Biotagging Manchester, people will traverse a range of microclimates
including cooler and warmer areas of the city; they will use "micro-tagging"
to record animal and plant life in Manchester's Philips Park. The idea is to
discover and map Manchester's urban wildlife in new ways. Futuresonic's
director, Drew Hemment, tells me that "both of these science-based
artworks revolve around a three-way interaction between technology,
environmentalism and society".
http://tiny.cc/1iEJh

FESTIVAL OF DESIGN ACTIVISM (EVENT, LEEDS)
I'm not sure what design in-activism would entail, but design activism
"encompasses a wide range of real-life, socially and environmentally-engaged
actions". A practitoners' conference will facilitate the sharing of knowledge
and understanding of practical engagement in design activism. A concluding
Gala Event includes cabaret, music, an awards ceremony, board games and
"making new friends". Aaah.
2-4 July 2009, Leeds, UK.
http://tiny.cc/gQlE5

WOULDN'T IT BE GREAT IF.... (MANUAL)
The Manual of Dott 07 is now available to download, and it's free. We didn't
want to call it a book, which is frozen; and it's not a Catalogue, which is
backward-looking. So we called it a Manual.
http://tiny.cc/VYNTb

CALL FROM SYSTEM: CHILL ! (INNOVATION GONE MAD)
Two Intel researchers, Margaret Morris and Farzin Guilak, are developing "mobile
therapy" - a system of just-in-time personal coaching, by the system, that is
triggered by physiological indicators of stress. Mobile Heart Health, as it's
called, uses body sensors to help people "tune in to early signs of stress, and
modulate reactivity that could potentially damage their relationships".
Breathing visualizations and "cognitive reappraisal cues" appear on your cell
phone when a wireless ECG detects deviations from your baseline heart rate.
The only flaw I can see in this project is that my heart will literally explode
the first time that a cellphone tells me to calm down.
http://tiny.cc/H7vuC

CONTROL THE CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION
The market for design writing is about to be flooded by milleniallist newcomers,
so I need to grab a monopoly hold on key communication channels before it's too
late. So, please pass this newsletter on to everyone you know - and tell them to
subscribe.
http://tiny.cc/GNWM4


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Doors-Report mailing list
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TransportationCafe@yahoogroups.com

Doors of Perception Report
April 2009
Design in a thermo-industrial society
by John Thackara

MAKE SENSE, NOT STUFF: DESIGN AND THE GREEN ECONOMY (TEXT)
What would designers design, if they did not design products, or posters?
My question is not a rhetorical one. On the contrary, I believe design
schools
in particular in danger of being marginalised by the speed with which the
world
is changing. I develop this theme in a text called Make sense, not stuff:
A three step plan to connect design schools with the green economy.
It's for Cumulus, the international network of design schools, whose next
conference is in London 27-30 May. You can read the whole text here:
http://tiny.cc/kfzbw

NINE MEALS FROM ANARCHY (LONDON EXHIBITION)
The head of the UK Countryside Agency warned recently that Britain was 'nine
meals away from anarchy.' Britain's food supply is so totally dependent on
oil -
95 per cent of the food eaten there is oil-dependent - that if the oil
supply
were suddenly to be cut off it would take just three full days before law
and
order broke down. An exhibition in London looks at different ways that
cities
might be transformed from consumers to generators of food.
http://tiny.cc/L73Dm

METRICS OF THERMO-INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY (FLORENCE EVENT)
"These are my principles. If you don't like them, I have others". Groucho
Marx
could also have been talking about environmental standards. Our world is
awash
in eco information, but starved of meaning. Hundreds of organisations churn
out
a flood of reports, graphs, studies, punditry - and lists. So I jumped at
the
chance to write a text about the issue for an event called Green Platform
which
opens at Palazzo Strozzi in Florence later this month. Green Platform takes
a
complex critical view of the "crisis in our thermo-industrial society".
A preview of the full text is here:
http://tiny.cc/SDsEC

LOOK AT THE BIG NUMBERS, NOT AT THE SMALL NUMBERS (BOOK)
On the subject of eco information, I'm reading a fantastically useful new
book:
Sustainable energy - without the hot air. Its author, David McKay, Professor
of
Natural Philosophy at Cambridge University, has responded to an urgent
global
challenge: how to make sense of the conflicting claims and information
bandied
about on all matters eco. The book is filled with insights like this one:
"Leaving mobile phone chargers plugged in is often held up as an example of
a
behavioural eco-crime. The truth is that the amount of energy saved by
switching
off a phone charger is exactly the same as the energy used by driving an
average
car for one second". Prof McKay desevres a Nobel Prize for Usefulness. I
boughbt
the hardcopy, but you can download the book free:
http://www.withouthotair.com/

WHAT TOOLS FOR TRANSITION TOWNS? (SURVEY)
I received an interesting email from Transition Towns. "We recognise that
out in
transition land there's a great diversity of web tools and processes
currently
in use and under development" the mail begins; "some of these will be
resilient
and adaptable enough to support the changing needs of transition groups
around
the world". I am then asked to I fill in an online survey to help the
Transition
web team to "map out this sometimes alien terrain for community groups, and
introduce common tools, processes and protocols to make it easier for us all
to
do our work"
http://tiny.cc/OuCFh
http://tiny.cc/XvkXV

TOOLS FOR SOCIAL INNOVATION. (NEW YORK LECTURE)
Bruce Nussbaum has invited me to give a lecture at Parsons, The New School,
in
New York. I'll talk about an important lesson we learned in Dott 07, and
City
Eco Lab: knowing about the availability of tools that enabble people to
share
resources, for example, and figuring out how to use them well, are two
different
things. Design can help on both fronts, as I shall explain. Contact: Rebecca
Mielczarek, mielr147@... +1 (212) 229-5391 x 4213
http://tiny.cc/d1nxr

COLLABORATIVE SERVICES: SOCIAL INNOVATION AND DESIGN FOR SUSTAINABILITY
(BOOK)
"What is a sustainable lifestyle? What will our daily lives become if we
agree
to change some of our routines? How do we reduce our environmental impact
without lowering our living standards?" A new book, edited by Francois Jegou
and
Ezio Manzini (with a chapter by me in it) attempts to answer some of these
questions. Collaborative Services suggests a variety of scenarios:
Car-sharing
on demand, micro-leasing system for tools between neighbours, shared sewing
studio, home restaurant, delivery service between users who exchange goods -
and many more.
http://tiny.cc/fEAO3

PARIS AS A SPONGE? (PARIS LECTURE)
Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, asked 10 architects to project 20
years
into the future and dream up "the world's most sustainable post-Kyoto
metropolis". The Italian architects Bernardo Secchi and Paola Vigano
proposed to
enlarge the city and laying it out as a "porous sponge" in which waterways
are
given pride of place. As a metaphor, "sponge" strikes me as a good metaphor
to
start from - but what about the social organisation of a future Paris? My
lecture at ENSAD (Ecole Nationale Superieure des Arts Decoratifs) will
explore
social innovation as a key feature of a sustainable city. 1830h- 2000h,
Thursday
30 April. Ensad, 31, rue d'Ulm 75240 PARIS. Contact: Nathalie
Foucher-Battais,
nathalie.battais@..., +33 1 42 34 97 31
http://tiny.cc/DItSc
http://tiny.cc/RCbvJ

THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES (HELSINKI EVENT)
Many designers, when they decide to take the limited carrying capacity of
the
biosphere seriously, first choose to design a poster about sustainability,
or a
thought-provoking "eco bag". But the transiton to sustainability is no
longer
about messages; it's about activity. But what kinds of activity? Juha
Huuskonen
and me are leading an all-day review of thesis projects that deal with the
designer's changing role in society. Saturday 16 May, Helsinki. Contact
Tulii
Sotamaa: tuuli.sotamaa@...

BRAZIL INTERVIEW (BOOK IN BRAZIL)
For readers in Brazil, and of Portuguese, the website Planeta Sustenavel has
published an interview and review to mark the publication of In The Bubble
(renamed, for Brazil, Plano B).
http://tiny.cc/Tpwo2
http://tiny.cc/CKV8Y

IN THE BUBBLE IN PHOTOGRAPHS? VOTE BY 3 APRIL
Deborah Yun, a Stanford product design graduate, "dreams of documenting the
mindfully designed world. I want to make a photographic blueprint of the
21st
century". Deborah says she is inspired in the project by my book In The
Bubble -
so I'm more than happy to reciprocate by inviting you, Dear Reader, to
consider
voting for her in Microsoft's "Name Your Dream Assignment" competition.
She needs 650 votes to make into the final and have a chance to win
the $50,000 prize. Voting closes on 3 April, so don't delay.
http://tiny.cc/lkzjV

ALEX'S IMPORTANT LETTER (APPEAL)
The founder and editor of Worldchanging, Alex Steffen, describes as "the
most
important letter I've ever written" his appeal, this month, for support.
Worldchanging has been challenged to raise $10,000 in recurring reader
pledges;
if they manage that, their challenger will support Worldchanging with a
$100,000
grant. We warmly endorse the Worldchaging appeal; they're an essential part
of
an evolving ecosystem in which we learn from each other how to thrive in the
21st century. If you still have a job, you can probably afford to contribute
-
so please do so.
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/009583.html

ART AND DESIGN RESIDENCY (NEW DELHI)
The Khoj International Art and Design Residency, in New Delhi, is for
practitioners, working at the intersection of art, design and media, who
seek to
"push artistic practice beyond convention". Five places are available on the
six
week programme during November-December 2009.
http://www.khojworkshop.org

PROFESSOR OF SERVICE DESIGN (JOB)
Lucerne School of Art and Design is looking for a Professor of Service
Design.
Deadline for submissions: 30th April 2009.
http://tiny.cc/EOcLi

CONFUSED? ANXIOUS? NEED A PLACE TO THINK? (VACATION)
Some close friends of Doors have just completed 20 months' work doing up
Cafe de
Tannay. It's an authentic sixteenth century town house two-and-a-bit hours
south
of Paris, 20 kilometers from UNESCO World-heritage site Vezelay on its
'eternal
hill' dominating the Morvan National Park. We warmly recommend a sojourn in
this
beautful place.
http://tiny.cc/lcvCF

YOUR LAST CHANCE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE GIFT ECONOMY
I've been publishing this newsletter monthly since March 2002. As you may
have
noticed, it always arrives absolutely free. One of the indirect ways one is
compensated is by being paid to speak at conferences and workshops. If you
would
like to support this newsletter, but do not feel like giving us a huge sum
of
money, then please send my speaker brochure to someone in your company (or
who
you know elsewhere) who organises events that include paid-for talks. Merci!
http://tiny.cc/YNSzN


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JAMES ROBERTSON'S NEWSLETTER
No 17, January 2009

My latest newsletter is now out. Read it in full at:
http://www.jamesrobertson.com/newsletter.htm

This email summarises its contents.

1. Editorial - Prospects for 2009.
      (1) How will Barack Obama balance his role as world
      leader with the need to restore his own country to
      economic and political stability and self-esteem?
      (2) That is one of 2009's "known unknowns".
      (3) "Cognitive dissonance" will accelerate the transition
      from an obsolete economic paradigm to one fitter for the
      21st century.

2. International G20 Meeting in London in April. An important
opportunity to press the UK government, as host, to put
national and international monetary reform on the agenda. A
fully reasoned recommendation to the Parliamentary Select
Committee on the Treasury.

3. Citizen's Income in a Wider Context. If a Citizen's Income
had been in place, it would have been the best way to deal
with the Credit Crunch. One of many points in a paper on
"Sharing the Value of Common Resources", coming out this year
in the journal "Basic Income Studies".

4. Book Review: Molly Scott Cato - Green Economics, An
Introduction to Theory, Policy and Practice. Warmly
recommended.

5. Stop Press. Hazel Henderson diagnoses the economic body
politic.

You can read the newsletter in full at:

http://www.jamesrobertson.com/newsletter.htm


I wish you a happy and fulfilling year.

James Robertson

19 January 2009

james@...

http://www.jamesrobertson.com




The Old Bakehouse
Cholsey
Oxfordshire
OX10 9NU
United Kingdom

From: Jaap Rijnsburger [mailto:jaap@...]


Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Please find below an inspiring reflection on the Poznan conference by a
leading evironmentalist from the developing world, Sunita Narain, Director
of
CSE Centre for Science and Environment in India. In my opinion her
reflection provides a very useful perspective for our own stand as I-CE in
the
climate debate. Her sharp analysis is that everyone -also civil society- in
the
developed world now accepts that home reduction targets are predominantly
met by purchase of CO2 credits created in the developing world. Also I-CE
policies could be understood in this way, particularly the Cycling Lab
ambition to create a validation method for substituted vehicle emissions by
cycling mobility. Once certified as CER or VER (still a long way to go!), we

believe a Dutch enterprise like KLM is a perfect match to buy cycling
generated CO2 credits from municipalities investing in cycling, and so
provide municipal finance for that investment. There we are, supported by
Dutch civil society we facilitate the creation of CO2 credits for
municipalities
in Asia, Africa and LAC to be bought by KLM so that we can meet European
reduction targets and still continue flying abundantly! Is it really as
absurd as
it sounds? Not if we take Sunita's analysis serious and apply it in our
development of an I-CE climate policy. What do we have for such I-CE
policy?

First of all we have a big asset at the basis of I-CE's very existence and
actions: we are cyclists ourselves in a country where 30% of mobility is by
bicycle. Everyone visiting I-CE's web space and premises should be able to
read the CO2 value of our cycling culture. This is our climate profile: we
practise zero-emission and act as Dutch citizens to maintain this voluminous

substitution of Dutch vehicle emissions. And, how much is the substitution?
A provisional answer will soon come out of the newly started Cycling Lab
project assessing the BPP climate footprint. The project is further meant to

generate ideas and actions to reduce the BPP footprint, particularly in the
international flying.

Secondly, the purpose of creating cycling based credits is driven by the
interests of municipalities in the developing world, not by the interests of

KLM. Sunita uses the example of forests to make clear that the demand for
sinks and sellable credits can lead to overruling of indigenous development
values. In our case I don't believe we run this risk, because of our
participative approach the local use of cycling infrastructure becomes an
indigenous value in itself. At least that is an outcome we monitor in the
BPP.

Thirdly, in our work we strongly contribute to a paradigm shift in the
thinking
on urban transport and climate change: from vehicle orientation to people
orientation. The current vehicle paradigm is obvious, climate strategies are

geared towards lower-emitting engines (in vehicles) and not towards more
effective mobility choices (by people). The international lobby group we
partake in to promote sustainable transport is by its nature also
preoccupied
by vehicles: busses. Bicycle-fed bussystems are definitely a solution to be
promoted in the climate arena, but as I-CE we are in the position to add
another dimension: people's mobility choices. We interact with civil society

organisations promoting and practicing sustainable mobility choices; we
practice these sustainable mobility choices ourselves. And the challenge is,

ambition if you like, to develop and lobby mechanisms that give hard credit
to peoples' sustainable mobility choices. Development of a people oriented
credit mechanism for cycling mobility is one of the objectives of the
Cycling-
lab which comes into operation this year. A people oriented credit
mechanism will also solve an irritating aspect of the vehicle paradigm:
emission reductions are measured at the exhaust but bicycles don't have
one.

Happy new year,

Jaap

=============================
Editorial: 2009 is full of promise (By Sunita Narain)
=============================

I spent a week at the climate change conference in Poznan, and realized the
world is in deep trouble and deeper denial. Worse, the denial is now
entirely
on the side of action. It is well accepted that climate change is a reality.

Scientists say we need to cap temperature increases at 2�C to avoid
catastrophe, which means capping emissions at 450 ppm. We know global
average temperatures have already increased by 0.8�C and there is enough
greenhouse gas in the atmosphere to lead to another 0.8�C increase. There
is still a window of opportunity, a tiny one, to tackle the crisis.

But where�s the action? In the 1990s, when the world did even not
understand, let alone accept, the crisis, it was more willing to move to
tackle
climate change. Today, we are in reverse gear. The rich world has realized
it
is easy to talk big, but tough to take steps to actually reduce emissions.
The
agreement was that these countries would reduce so that the developing
world could increase. Instead, between 1990 and 2006, their carbon dioxide
emissions increased by a whopping 14.5 per cent; even green countries of
Europe are unable to match words with action.

So it was that, at the Poznan conference, rich countries aggressively pushed

a new climate-tack. They cannot reduce at home, so they have decided to
find every way to (1) `offset�their fossil fuel emissions by buying emission

reduction certificates in developing countries; or (2) pay to protect
emission-
absorbing forests; or (3) simply pump their carbon deep into the ground.
Indeed, every dirty way not to cut, but to pay, bribe and cajole others to
cut
will do. Then if all this fails there is the easy fallback: use China and
India as
punching bags as well as excuses for not taking on hard reductions at
home.

In Poznan the effort was to devise a mechanism to pay developing countries
to `avoid� deforestation. Why? Because the Nick Stern report said 20 per
cent of the world�s emissions were from deforestation in the developing
world. Now, this has become a quick-fix solution: stop deforestation and
take a 20 per cent advantage in our carbon balance sheet, without doing
anything at home.

As a result the mechanism, in negotiators� parlance called REDD or
`reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation� - naturally,
in
developing countries - is being built with absolutely no understanding that
forests here are not mere carbon sticks to beat the world�s conscience with,

or sinks for garbage carbon, but habitats of millions of people. There is no

comprehension of the role forests play in a developing country�s economy or
in people�s lives. Instead, the intent is misbegotten and single-minded: pay

as cheaply as possible to buy rights over forests in the developing world
and
build as many accounting and certification procedures as possible to make
sure there are no `leakages� in the transaction. It is clearly a great
business
for the crashed and failed consultancy companies of the western world -
creative carbon accounting, this time in the forests of the poor. So, this
opportunity, which could have enjoined the interests of forest-economies
and its people to plant, protect and manage forests so that the world would
in addition get the benefit of reducing emissions, is being lost to the
self-
interest of greedy polluters.

But this is not enough. The world�s addiction to fossil fuel is increasing.
So,
at Poznan, the second move was to aggressively push for carbon capture
and storage (CCS) technologies - a delicious but still experimental and
expensive way to bury carbon dioxide emitted from power plants deep
underground - to be used, naturally, in the developing world. Rich
countries-
and, interestingly, their civil society - piled on to include this
technology in
the Clean Development Mechanism. Now the developed world, instead of
cutting emissions at home, would simply buy carbon credits to invest in this

technology in the developing world. More seriously, we would become
guinea pigs, for very little is still known of CCS�s risks and viability. As
a
Venezuelan delegate at the plenary asked, why, if this was such a great
technology, was the developed world not building more CCS plants in its
own backyard.

But why ask? Just look at the European Union�s much awaited climate
package, tactically released on the last day of the Poznan conference. It
has
a grand 20/20/20 objective - 20 per cent reduction in emissions by 2020,
over its 1990 levels; 20 per cent renewables and 20 per cent energy
efficiency target. But what the package forgets to highlight is that 80 per
cent
of these targets will be achieved through `offsets� - payments for action
abroad. In all this, let us not even begin to discuss the Australian
government�s gutless climate policy, ironically of the new Labour
government, which came to power on a climate vote, released in the week
post-Poznan.

The gloves are off. There are also no real game-changers here. Today,
western media, civil society and all its well-meaning and not-so-retired
climate converts (Tony Blair to Al Gore and Nick Stern and others) have all
bought this position - hook, line and sinker. They are madly running around
the world convincing Indians and Chinese to change their behaviours and
join the game. They all don�t speak of their country emissions. They only
use our black smoke as their shield.

My cynical, year-end, response is maybe Indians and Chinese should join
the party and take on emission reduction targets. Best to be on the drinking

side; best to be so emission-tipsy that there is little to do. We, too,
could play
the same non-solution: emit madly but pay and fix others to clean up.

But this is not acceptable. Let�s work on a new future, 2009 on. This is my
promise.

Read this editorial online >>
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/cover_nl.asp?mode=1
To comment, write to >> feedback@...

==============
Also read >>
Interview: Guy Ryder, general secretary of the International Trade Union
Confederation, went to Poznan to attend his first UN climate meet. He sees
green opportunity in the financial crisis.
Read the full interview: http://www.downtoearth.org.in/cover_nl.asp?mode=2

Climate inaction: The climate talks in Poznan failed on all counts. Read the

first-hand report on the shenanigans of the still climate-indifferent world
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/cover_nl.asp?mode=3

=============================

From: Lee Schipper [mailto:schipper@...]

I don't normally follow all of Lundberg's stuff (too little time, too
much to read these days), but this is highly recommended reading.
Pedal Pedal Pedal?

From: culturechange-bounces@...
[mailto:culturechange-bounces@...] On Behalf Of Culture
Change
Sent: Monday, October 13, 2008 2:02 PM
To: culturechange@...
Subject: "Drill, Baby, Drill" debunked as "Burn, Baby, Burn the Planet"

"Drill, Baby, Drill" debunked as "Burn, Baby, Burn the Planet"
by Jan Lundberg
Culture Change Letter #205
http://culturechange.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2
24&Itemid=1

When Republican Sarah Failin and her titular senior running mate McPain
chant "Drill, Baby, Drill," or, for that matter, the wiser and more
honest Barack Obama is in favor of more offshore drilling, there is no
possibility of energy independence through maximizing domestic
petroleum.
The main reason is not the many years' lead time for oil-field
development:

Consumption would continue (assuming the economy still supports it), and
imported oil would keep coming unabated. Why? Because the more efficient
wells of such places as the Persian Gulf would keep providing more oil
far more cheaply than any new wells the U.S. can drill. This would be
true even though Arabs' wells are starting to peak in flow and decline.
As long as we're consuming oil big time, the oil will get over to us.
World trade is the holiest goal of the Republicans and Democrats.

Here's the clincher: Net energy return, or energy profit ratio,
determines greatly the true, full cost (including cost hidden by
subsidies) and availability to the "producer" and the more aptly named
"consumer." And new wells drilled are approaching on average a
net-energy loss. Moreover, the petroleum industry has been seeing fewer
and fewer holes that actually pan out.

A program of mild reduction in oil consumption would work the same way
as going for maximized drilling: cutting back on oil use will result in
the more efficient, high net-energy fields being exploited still, such
that the U.S. would continue getting oil from elsewhere at lower cost
and comparatively greater profit for the chain of oil industry players.

Therefore, the correct approach to cutting oil imports and stop burning
up the atmosphere with this toxic fossil fuel is to have a policy of
completely avoiding oil consumption to the extent possible. Eschewing
oil in its entirety is not feasible now for many reasons, but if the
U.S.
adopted a goal of eliminating oil as a main energy source, we would
achieve the greatest level of energy independence. This is
understandably hard for many of today's lifestyle to imagine calmly.

At the same time, we would have to recognize that alternative energy
sources are not nearly as net-energy desirable or profitable as oil was
in its heyday. So their maximization will be constrained (for various
reasons), and we'll be forced to begin the most meaningful and lasting
work of redeveloping our local economies along the Jeffersonian small
farmer/citizen model.

"Burn, Baby, Burn" was a 1960s slogan reputedly used by Black Power
leader Stokely Carmichael (or was it Rap Brown?), regarding urban ghetto
unrest.
Riots in major cities were over racial discrimination and material
deprivation. A high proportion of black and brown draftees going off to
die and kill yellow people in Vietnam probably added fuel to some ghetto
fires and looting. Malcolm X called it "The chickens coming home to
roost." Such leaders did not want to see more fires or riots, but they
were recognizing inevitable consequences of inequality and oppression.
It is puzzling why riots are rare nowadays, when conditions did not get
better for African Americans (or for whites in general). Could reasons
include the well-paying volunteer military, high incarceration rate, the
preponderance of illegal and legal drugs, and the weakening
family/community structure? At any rate, to borrow from "Burn, Baby,
Burn"
by chanting "Drill, Baby, Drill," is Sarah Failin's irresponsible
reference to inciting -- as most people took it -- riots, fires and
looting, unless she has no clue of the origins of an historic phrase. No
doubt at least one of her handlers must have.

For the Republicans to adopt a slogan "Drill, Baby, Drill" they are
clearly advocating burning -- of oil and of the planet's precious
oxygen, even though the goal is idiotically unfeasible. They pay lip
service to getting alternatives to petroleum in place. The insane choice
of nuclear power is more "burning" than any, if we consider the
inevitable radiation burns that could persist for millennia. Back to
"Burn, Baby, Burn": we'll see riots and cities in flames soon enough,
especially if the foolishness of an energy policy of waste continues,
and basic fundamentals of social equity are ignored through more
attempts at "growth." We are strung out on "cheap" petroleum for our
food supply, and shortages will be devastating on an unprecedented
scale. This can happen soon in these volatile post-cheap oil times.

No substitutes for oil are going to keep our consumer economy going. The
infrastructure is not about electrical energy from just any (less
efficient, mind you) source, but rather about liquid fuels. Nukes, solar
panels, coal -- they don't provide the cheap, energy-packed liquid fuels
and materials we got from cheap oil. Now that the easily produced oil is
clearly drying up, we don't hear from the presidential candidates or the
rest of the Establishment that it's peak oil at play. We get phony
messages of hope for a continuation of the status quo. It's unraveling,
as financial collapse is merely part of general collapse based primarily
on petrocollapse. Can you imagine if oil was priced at under $10 a
barrel -- reflecting low extraction and distribution and refining costs,
as was the case decades ago -- and seeing today's financial collapse?
Possibly. But building our way out of the mess would be possible, as
happened in the 1940s with advantageously lower population size and most
of the farmland intact. Not in today's degraded ecological world.

This is the difference between petroleum-investment banker Matt Simmons'
analysis and mine: we both see the potential for the oil market to bring
about chaos such as speedy, widespread famine, as soon as panic-buying
of escalating-in-cost oil results in hoarding. And my friend Matt is
doing a great job of convincing more audiences than I ever had,
concerning the realities of oil dependence in a peak-oil world. But he
believes that after collapse there remains the necessary and inevitable
job of repairing and rebuilding the whole energy infrastructure again. I
do not believe it is possible or desirable. Goodbye to the Age of Oil.
That means goodbye to cheap energy and materials that we took for
granted as part of technological progress.

One problem in many people's minds is that the price of oil will decline
and remain low, for whatever reasons, such that it's truly competitive
with any other form of energy -- starting the whole cycle of supply and
demand again. The flaw in that assumption is it's lack of understanding
of the meaning of peak and peak's effects. With collapse, Humpty Dumpty
will not be put back together again. But regardless, we need a policy of
getting away from oil and all fossil fuels, and nuclear, now.

The sooner we move on with redesigning society without all that cheap
energy, plastics, pesticides, etc., that we guzzled, we will be saving
lives and our unraveling climate -- not until then. Let it begin.
Redesign, Baby, Redesign. Conserve, Baby, Conserve. Garden, Baby,
Garden.
Depave, Baby, Depave. Pedal, Baby, Pedal. Sail, Baby, Sail. Peace, Baby,
Peace.