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 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 [...]
Detroit in ruins: The Photographs of Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre In downtown Detroit, the streets are lined with abandoned hotels and swimming pools, ruined movie houses and schools, all evidence of the motor city's painful decline. The photographs of Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre capture what remains of a once-great city – and [...]
One of the things I like about the Holland America cruises is the ship's log they give at the end of the voyage. It is an interesting accountability document for key resources, especially water and fuel. My recent cruise on the MS Rotterdam used 120 tons/day of fuel to travel a toal of 3529 nautical [...]
When you are looking for weak signals about the toughness of economic times look to see how business keeps the revenues flowing. I just returned from a floating city holiday aka a cruise. The travel industry has been hit in so many ways from terrorist threats, biological invasions and economic down cycles it is interesting [...]
At the World Planners Congress (WPC), in June, 2006 I witnessed a notable public paradigm shift when Planning Leaders from around the world issued a position paper on the New Urban Planning (Farmer et al., 2006). In 2006, the authors stated that New Urban Planning was smart planning because it is a responsive learning system. [...]
Globe City Awards has announced the commencement of the 2010 awards process. The overview can be found here http://globeaward.org/sustainable_city . This award focuses on a holistic approach to Sustainability in cities and integrates different types of resources or capital for a better future in cities around the world. The Conceptual approach is to use the different [...]
I have been watching the outcome (or not?) of the recent Australian election with some interest. I have been thinking about swarming (as in what can we learn from the bees when they swarm?). My bee sources (books, articles, movies) tell me that the swarming process is a kind of hive decision. That when it [...]
Terry Patten, Founder of Integral Spiritual Practice and a lifelong activist recently spoke at the Integral Theory Conference at JFKU on Integral Activism. I found Terry's approach to be very relevent to influencing and delivering change in the Integral City. Terry's three part strategy is refreshingly practical. It embraces a personal commitment to develop one's capacity and [...]
Globe Award 2010 – Leading Sustainability Awards The Brazilian city Curitiba awarded the Globe Sustainable City Award 2010 STOCKHOLM, April 7, 2010 − The Brazilian city Curitiba wins the Globe Sustainable City Award 2010. The city of Curitiba is awarded for excellent sustainable urban development. The Globe Award statuette will be presented to representatives from [...]