Almere NL, a city of 190,000 is getting ready for a "scale jump" to double in size by 2030. Seeking guidelines to renew and transform itself, in 2008, it invited Cradle to Cradle authors William McDonough and Michael Braungart to craft principles by which the city could grow sustainably in balance with its unique polder environment and [...]
Marilyn Hamilton talks to host John Schmidt of Avastone Consulting re Integral City on Zoomd Radio. Click here for the link. We talked about the Integral City as the Human Hive - and how that enables Leadership, Relationships and Resilience. Examples that were used included New Orleans and Burning Man. Listen to the broadcast or download it [...]
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 [...]
I have posted to the website the Research Report on Mapping Abbotsford's Values and Developing an Integral Vital Signs Monitor. This 2010 research updates the reserach I completed in 2003. You can read the full study at https://integralcity.com/discovery-zone/research.html This study contributed Knowledge and Development Exchange (KDE) for a Welcoming and Inclusive Communities and Work Places [...]
Mayors need a framework appropriately complex to respond to the emergence of zoonotic diseases (ie. diseases that cross over from animal populations into human populations) (Sapient Circle, 2004). These threats make demands on emergency response systems that are not merely complicated, but are complex. This means that the interconnections of animal and human health systems, through diseases such as SARS, West Nile Disease, BSE, E-Coli and Avian Influenza, create exponential levels of complexity. It appears that zoonotic bio-emergencies are more dynamic and subject to sudden jumps in severity, than non-bio-emergencies, because the underlying viral/biological elements are capable of learning or adapting to their human environments/life conditions. Thus they require complex non-linear approaches to develop successful response strategies.