<div dir="ltr"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Doors of Perception</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:mailing@list.doorsofperception.com">mailing@list.doorsofperception.com</a>></span><br>
Date: Mon, Jun 30, 2014 at 5:04 PM<br>Subject: Mid-Year Newsletter: Reading Small Signals<br>To: <a href="mailto:michelsub2004@gmail.com">michelsub2004@gmail.com</a><br><br><br><u></u>
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</p><h1><br>Reading Small Signals</h1>
<p>By<a href="http://www.doorsofperception.com/most-read/mid-year-newsletter-reading-small-signals" title="mid-year-newsletter-reading-small-signals by John Thackara" target="_blank"> John Thackara</a></p>
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<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
<p><b>Reading Small Signals</b><br>
<b>Talks and Xskools
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<b>Forthcoming Events</b>
</p>
<p></p><h2><br>
READING SMALL SIGNALS</h2>
<p>We’ve invested huge resources, over the ages, to keep the man-made world, and nature, separate - but there are signs that those those priorities are changing. Working through the consequences of that is a challenge for us all.</p>
<p>Many signals of change are small on their own but, taken together, tell a new story. There’s the new scheme in England, called Hummingtree, that <a href="http://www.doorsofperception.com/sustainability-design/a-wild-mirror-for-desk-bound-workers/" target="_blank">connects office-bound workers with living systems</a> by means of a ‘wild mirror’; each workspace is twinned with an equivalent patch of forest that's being regenerated. In gritty <a href="http://adaptoakland.org/" target="_blank">Oakland</a>, I learned that urban forests, living walls, and green roofs are being used to filter air, water and soil in and around its ports. I also saw the ad for a '<a href="http://nwc.org.uk/news&post=404" target="_blank">wildflower farm apprentice'</a> to help a social enterprise trade wildflower seeds; that kind of work didn’t exist a few years ago. Neither did de-paving, food co-ops, river restoration, edible forestry, or pollinator pathways - but examples like these are cropping up all over. At multiple scales, this combination of social and ecolgical innovation adds up to <a href="http://www.doorsofperception.com/locality-place/the-ecozoic-city/" target="_blank">living concepts of infrastructure.</a></p>
The how, in these srories, is as important as the why. Back in England there’s <a href="http://www.fordhallfarm.com/news.php" target="_blank">the small farm that has 8000 landowners.</a> Shares in the farm cannot be traded on the open market, but this shared ownership model enables the community to share responsibility - with the farmer - for growing food. This approach would be a great addition to a project I visited in California called <a href="http://www.doorsofperception.com/infrastructure-design/food-as-a-commons/" target="_blank"><i>The Food Commons</i></a><i>.</i> Launched at the epicentre of global agribusiness, this inspiring prototype combines social, political and technical innovation.
<p>Other signals of change are so scattered that they can go unnoticed. In China, so-called ‘battery-bikes’ are outselling cars by four-to-one - but this story is missing from Western media. In <a href="http://www.doorsofperception.com/notopic/caloryville-the-two-wheeled-city/" target="_blank"><i>The Two-Wheeled City, </i></a>I argue that a system-wide phase-shift in transportation is gathering pace. In Belgium, a project called Mobilotoop, about <a href="http://www.doorsofperception.com/locality-place/cloud-commuting/" target="_blank">cloud commuting</a>, is further evidence of an <i>asset-light mobility</i> ecosystem in which networks are used to share equipment and infrastructure. (I describe other ingredients to help a cycle commerce ecosystem flourish in <a href="http://www.doorsofperception.com/mobility-design/cycle-commerce-the-red-blood-cells-of-a-smart-city/#sthash.1ZMwYFoH.dpuf" target="_blank"><i>Cycle Commerce: The Red Blood Cells of a Smart City</i></a><i>).</i></p>
<p>Some signals of change point in contradictory directions. In Ethiopia, an inspiring social enterprise called Sole Rebels - the world’s first Fair Trade shoe brand - employs and trains highly marginalized people; uses organic and bio-based materials; and obtains its leather from free-range cattle herders. But Sole Rebels must compete with a vast new project called <a href="http://www.doorsofperception.com/development-design/shoe-city-vs-sole-rebels-2/" target="_blank"><em>Shoe City</em>,</a> also in Ethiopia, whose 200,000 guest workers are paid<i> ten times less</i> than workers on China. Two recent texts of mine - <a href="http://www.doorsofperception.com/most-read/a-whole-new-cloth-politics-and-the-fashion-system/" target="_blank"><i>A Whole New Cloth: Politics and the Fashion System</i></a>, and <a href="http://www.doorsofperception.com/sustainability-design/keep-your-stuff-alive/%E2%80%A8" target="_blank"><i>Keep Your Stuff Alive</i></a><span style="color:#3e02ff"> - </span> explore this core dilemma for fashion: despite more than 400 eco labels, an incremental ‘do less harm’ approach has addressed the symptoms, but not the principal cause, of our difficulties - the perpetual growth economy.</p>
<p>Some brightly flashing signals divert our attention from more important developments. Last December’s G8 Dementia Summit, for example, trumpeted the fact that one hundred million pounds will be spent in a race to identify a cure for dementia. In <a href="http://www.doorsofperception.com/social-innovation/the-dementia-care-economy/" target="_blank"><i>The Dementia Care Economy, </i></a>I argue that the likely outcome will be the creation of a Dementia Industrial Complex – and the mass production of un-met expectations. <a href="http://www.doorsofperception.com/social-innovation/when-tech-in-care-is-evil/" target="_blank">Recent personal experience</a> has reinforced my strong belief: far more resources should be allocated to the presence of human beings than to labour-saving technology; the latter benefits Big Research at the expense of sufferers and carers. </p>
The most promising innovations in the ways we care for each other – from child care, to dementia support – involve <i><a href="http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/the-emergence-of-social-coops-for-social-care-italy-and-beyond/2013/07/30" target="_blank">collaborative service networks</a>.</i> These empower family members and volunteers to work in equal and reciprocal relationship with professionals. In a <a href="http://www.doorsofperception.com/notopic/ecuador-open-knowledge-and-buen-vivir-interview-with-michel-bauwens/" target="_blank">conversation with Michel Bauwens</a>, founder of the P2P network, I learned that the rise of social co-operatives represents a new frontier in the shifting boundaries of public, private, and commercial spheres. In global law and governance, too, the concept of <i>Buen Vivir or </i>"good living" manifests a political concept of citizenship that includes all life, not just human life.
<p>Although, taken together, these signals tell a new story about where we’re headed, the story itself remains stubbornly obscure. In <a href="http://www.doorsofperception.com/art-perception/desert-of-the-real/" target="_blank"><i>The Desert Of The Real </i></a>- my contribution to the Puma Sustainable Design Lecture series - I argue that we need to cultivate greater perceptual diversity, and new ways of knowing, if we’re to meet our ecological responsibility towards future generations.</p>
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<h2>
DOORS OF PERCEPTION TALKS AND XSKOOLS</h2>
<p>My talks and Xskool workshops - which you can read more about <a href="http://www.doorsofperception.com/talks/" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://www.doorsofperception.com/xskool/" target="_blank">here</a> - explore the above questions in unique contexts: What are the key social-ecological systems in this place? how night one design in them? and, how does one get started?</p>
<br><h2>
FORTHCOMING EVENTS</h2>
<p>Among forthcoming highlights are the <a href="http://www.doorsofperception.com/locality-place/summer-xskool-in-sweden/" target="_blank">Doors of Perception Summer Xskool in Sweden</a> (14-18 August) on how to design a leave-things-better food system; the <a href="http://futureperfect.se" target="_blank"> Future Perfect Festival itself</a> (14-18 August); the <a href="http://www.shambalafestival.org" target="_blank">Shambala Festival</a> in England (21-24 August); my keynote about social innovation and housing for the <a href="http://www.nbo.nu/bdh_filearea/Bo_och_forvalta_i_Norden.pdf" target="_blank">Nordic Housing Association</a> in Reykjavik (September 11); and a talk about design that connects living systems and human systems at the <a href="http://www.systemsorienteddesign.net" target="_blank">System Oriented Design</a> conference in Oslo, on 15 October.
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</p><p>Whenever possible, especially on longer trips, I do more than a single talk or workshop. With that in mind, I'll be in <a href="http://www.fidbsas.com/programacion2012" target="_blank">Buenos Aires</a> on 30 October for their International Design Festival, and in <a href="http://www.unboxfestival.com" target="_blank">Delhi</a> (28-30 November) for the UnBox Festival. Please contact me if you'd like to propose an event for your group around those dates. </p>
<br><h2>CONTACT</h2>
<p>Contact me (John Thackara, Doors of Perception) by Email <a href="mailto:john@doorsofperception.com" target="_blank">john@doorsofperception.com</a>
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<b>Blog</b> <a href="http://www.doorsofperception.com/" target="_blank"><b>doorsofperception.com</b></a>
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<b>Twitter</b> <a href="https://twitter.com/johnthackara" target="_blank"><b>@johnthackara</b></a>
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<b>LinkedIn</b> <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=139933&trk=tab_pro" target="_blank"><b>www.linkedin.com</b></a></p>
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</div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr"><div><b>Please note an intrusion wiped out my inbox on February 8; I have no record of previous communication, proposals, etc ..</b></div><div><br></div>P2P Foundation: <a href="http://p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://p2pfoundation.net</a> - <a href="http://blog.p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://blog.p2pfoundation.net</a> <br>
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