The watch continues as events unfold in North African and the Middle Eastern cities and countries. We wonder whether and how autocracies in these places may be superseded by autocracy, theocracy or even democracy? Each country is different so most informed observers don't expect that a single solution will emerge across all countries. From the outside of this area, all we can see [...]
I spent last week at Royal Roads University delivering the first Residency of the Sustainability Graduate Certificate. Ten students from across Canada provided a rigorous proving ground for the Integral City approach to sustainability. Using the Integral City Compass to prove the design with three leverage points, here is what we did. Integral City Compass [...]
Events in Egypt this last week show how the consciousness of people in the rural area that serves cities can ignite a whole culture. The amazing pictures of hundreds of thousands marching in Cairo and the Mubarak government's progressive retreat in the face of the population's fearless demands mark what the media call a "regime change". [...]
I have just finished editing an interview I did with one of Integral City's Advisors, Will Varey, of Emergnc in December, 2010. It will be posted for readers' listening pleasure on Meshcasts later today. We had a most wide-ranging dialogue that explored cities as living systems. Will's grounding in sustainability provided a "pingable" trampoline to explore the ecology [...]
A domesticated cousin to the apis melifera honey bee, is raising questions about how life conditions - including those created by humans - can offer a species the opportunity to expand its territory because of its natural but transplanted capacities. It is a good example of unintended consequences, and may prove to us (yet again) that resilience [...]
A few days ago a trusted colleague, John Steiner, sent me an email thread that told the story of an interesting Japanese invention - a machine that converts plastic into oil. You can see a video for yourself if you click here. This machine answers a question I have harboured for years, and that is: if plastic [...]
How is a masterfully crafted and portrayed story like Downton Abbey (currently being aired on PBS Masterpiece Theatre) an analog for today's down town world scene? Set in an English stately home just before WWI, the story is about the shifting of worldviews from traditional to modern. It uses cracks in the system of land/estate ownership, class and gender [...]
Colony collapse disorder (CCD) for the honey bee has been giving me warning signs to look at the equivalent possibility for the human hive. Three stories from this week's news offer some strong "weak signals" that may be indications of onset of the human hive's CCD in America. The Tucson shooting of Gabrielle Giffords and many others are [...]
Dear Friends, Family, Integral City-zens and Gaians When local or global outlook seems bleak – try the EVOLUTIONARY UPLOOK>>>>> December 20 See the Lunar Eclipse on Winter Solstice - appreciate the miracle that hasn’t happened for 372 years http://ow.ly/3s4yl Anytime Appreciate the Amazing Position Gaia, Cities and Humans occupy at the Mid-scale of the Universe [...]
This artcle in Vancouver gives updated information about the role of honey bees in human systems -- particularly the food system. It points out the disrespect we (the most evolved species of vertebrates) pay the species that is the most evolved species of invertabrates. You can learn more about the lessons bees have for humans in [...]