This article discusses the concept of "net-positive" buildings and argues that realizing the potential of net-positive design depends on how practitioners define "positive". The article posits that defining net-positive as buildings that add value to ecological systems, not just generate surpluses, is important to move beyond technical challenges. However, there are differing interpretations of what adds value - an anthropocentric view focuses on human benefits, while an ecological view defines value as benefits to life in a place. The article argues that reconciling these views could transform building design, and that embracing ecological thinking is key for practitioners to create truly net-positive buildings.
Designing for Hope - ch6 Chrisna du Plessis and Dominique HesBill Reed
This document discusses the concept of regenerative design and development. It provides definitions and explanations of key terms and concepts, including:
- Regenerative design aims to change systems into something different and better by bringing about improvements and a new way of being, going beyond just restoring or reviving systems.
- The Regenesis methodology focuses on contracting with the entire social-ecological system to grow its potential. It aims for the "reconnection of human aspirations and activities with the evolution of natural systems."
- A case study of the Playa Viva resort project in Mexico illustrates how the regenerative process grew the potential of the whole system and created a culture of co-evolution by restoring ecosystems, building
1. Andrew Light argues that environmental ethics should take a more pragmatic approach and embrace both biocentric and anthropocentric views to engage the public on environmental issues. This will make environmental ethics more accessible and allow environmental philosophers to better persuade people.
2. Ramachandra Guha provides a developing world perspective on environmental ethics, arguing that Western conservation models can harm indigenous communities. Sustainability approaches must consider how local human populations interact with nature.
3. Brian Walker and David Salt introduce resilience thinking, which focuses on systems' ability to withstand disturbances rather than optimization. Considering interconnected social and ecological systems can increase nature's value and support sustainability.
Q and a on positive development by janis birkelandJosh Develop
Through the design of buildings and infrastructure, cities can be modified to support ecosystems and provide ecological services that benefit both the environment and humanity. Currently, design is focused on reducing negative impacts, but a new approach called "Positive Development" aims to reverse ecological and social deficits by increasing ecosystem functions beyond pre-existing conditions through innovative design solutions. Measuring positive outputs and ecological gains could shift the focus from less negative to eco-positive impacts and enable widespread retrofitting at scale.
Following the 2008 "Re-imaging Cities: Urban Design After the Age of Oil symposium, Penn IUR solicited manuscripts on environmental and energy challenges and their effect on the redesign of urban environments.
1 introduction and overview - Energy 101 fall 2015Lonnie Gamble
This document discusses several topics related to sustainability including:
1. It provides definitions of shallow and deep sustainability, noting that deep sustainability involves radical redesign based on ecological principles rather than just efficiency improvements.
2. It discusses the perennial philosophy of an underlying unity across all life and wisdom traditions.
3. It summarizes key points from Pope Francis' encyclical on sustainability including its call for a new paradigm that addresses environmental, social, and economic issues together based on their interconnections.
Civic Ecology, Greening in the Red Zone, & Urban Environmental Stewarship Keith G. Tidball
Civic ecology is the study of interactions between community environmental stewardship, education, culture/institutions, and ecosystem services. It examines how stewardship practices emerge in "broken places" due to people's love of life and places. Ten principles of civic ecology are described, including how practices start locally and expand through partnerships while being resilient to chaos/renewal. The document discusses conceptualizing stewardship over space and time, noting it involves social mechanisms behind management practices based on local ecological knowledge. It explores how stewardship evolves through resilience, learning from disturbances. Key mechanisms of civic ecology identified are urgent biophilia, restorative topophilia, memorialization, rituals, and discourses that shape recovery.
Designing for Hope - ch6 Chrisna du Plessis and Dominique HesBill Reed
This document discusses the concept of regenerative design and development. It provides definitions and explanations of key terms and concepts, including:
- Regenerative design aims to change systems into something different and better by bringing about improvements and a new way of being, going beyond just restoring or reviving systems.
- The Regenesis methodology focuses on contracting with the entire social-ecological system to grow its potential. It aims for the "reconnection of human aspirations and activities with the evolution of natural systems."
- A case study of the Playa Viva resort project in Mexico illustrates how the regenerative process grew the potential of the whole system and created a culture of co-evolution by restoring ecosystems, building
1. Andrew Light argues that environmental ethics should take a more pragmatic approach and embrace both biocentric and anthropocentric views to engage the public on environmental issues. This will make environmental ethics more accessible and allow environmental philosophers to better persuade people.
2. Ramachandra Guha provides a developing world perspective on environmental ethics, arguing that Western conservation models can harm indigenous communities. Sustainability approaches must consider how local human populations interact with nature.
3. Brian Walker and David Salt introduce resilience thinking, which focuses on systems' ability to withstand disturbances rather than optimization. Considering interconnected social and ecological systems can increase nature's value and support sustainability.
Q and a on positive development by janis birkelandJosh Develop
Through the design of buildings and infrastructure, cities can be modified to support ecosystems and provide ecological services that benefit both the environment and humanity. Currently, design is focused on reducing negative impacts, but a new approach called "Positive Development" aims to reverse ecological and social deficits by increasing ecosystem functions beyond pre-existing conditions through innovative design solutions. Measuring positive outputs and ecological gains could shift the focus from less negative to eco-positive impacts and enable widespread retrofitting at scale.
Following the 2008 "Re-imaging Cities: Urban Design After the Age of Oil symposium, Penn IUR solicited manuscripts on environmental and energy challenges and their effect on the redesign of urban environments.
1 introduction and overview - Energy 101 fall 2015Lonnie Gamble
This document discusses several topics related to sustainability including:
1. It provides definitions of shallow and deep sustainability, noting that deep sustainability involves radical redesign based on ecological principles rather than just efficiency improvements.
2. It discusses the perennial philosophy of an underlying unity across all life and wisdom traditions.
3. It summarizes key points from Pope Francis' encyclical on sustainability including its call for a new paradigm that addresses environmental, social, and economic issues together based on their interconnections.
Civic Ecology, Greening in the Red Zone, & Urban Environmental Stewarship Keith G. Tidball
Civic ecology is the study of interactions between community environmental stewardship, education, culture/institutions, and ecosystem services. It examines how stewardship practices emerge in "broken places" due to people's love of life and places. Ten principles of civic ecology are described, including how practices start locally and expand through partnerships while being resilient to chaos/renewal. The document discusses conceptualizing stewardship over space and time, noting it involves social mechanisms behind management practices based on local ecological knowledge. It explores how stewardship evolves through resilience, learning from disturbances. Key mechanisms of civic ecology identified are urgent biophilia, restorative topophilia, memorialization, rituals, and discourses that shape recovery.
Permaculture Implication in a Nepalese Contextx3G9
The document discusses the concept of permaculture, its origins, definition, characteristics, aims, importance, and application in design. Some key points:
- Permaculture was developed in Australia in the 1970s as a way to mimic natural ecosystems and create sustainable human settlements. It focuses on observing nature's patterns and replicating beneficial relationships.
- It aims to harmoniously integrate humans and nature to increase land productivity while maintaining ecological balance. Permaculture encourages self-reliance through integrated systems that meet human needs.
- Applying permaculture principles like maximizing useful connections and minimizing waste can help make human systems and settlements more sustainable long-term by considering environmental, economic and social factors.
MDGs and Global Environmental Change - Governance, Innovation and LearningEuforic Services
Presentation by Andreas Rechkemmer (IHDP) during the High Level Policy Forum - After 2015: Promoting Pro-poor Policy after the MDGs - Brussels, 23 June 2009 - http://www.bit.ly/after2015
This document discusses positive resource dependency in urban systems. It begins by providing background on the concepts of ecological identity, biophilia, and topophilia. It then introduces the idea of positive dependence, which views resource dependence from an asset-based rather than deficit-based perspective. Two key aspects of positive dependence discussed are restorative topophilia, referring to love of place that fosters action to enhance valued attributes, and urgent biophilia, describing the attraction humans have for nature and the urge to create restorative environments, especially in times of crisis. The document argues that positive dependence based on these concepts can start virtuous cycles that increase resilience in social-ecological systems.
This document provides a summary of the book "Deep Ecology: Living as if Nature Mattered" by Bill Devall and George Sessions. It discusses key concepts in the book such as the need for both individual and collective transformation towards more sustainable societies. It also discusses the "Gaia hypothesis" which views the Earth as a self-regulating system and emphasizes understanding and preserving nature's intrinsic order. The summary concludes by explaining that the book aims to outline the spiritual components of green movements and how the concept of "deep ecology" was coined to describe a deeper, more spiritual approach to nature exemplified by thinkers like Rachel Carson and Aldo Leopold.
Landscapes of Resilience - Resilience 2014 Session 44Keith G. Tidball
- Green spaces can increase resilience during and after crises by providing psychological benefits, strengthening community identity and social ties, and restarting ecosystem services.
- After Hurricane Sandy, a study examined how New York City waterfront park users' activities, perceptions and interactions with parks had changed, finding that parks provided refuge and that civic stewardship groups helped with chronic and acute park disturbances.
- Examples of greening in crisis situations included replanting Sarajevo's urban forest after war and creating living memorials after 9/11, showing how nature and community participation can aid recovery.
The document outlines the nine elements of a sustainable culture/campus: infrastructure, community, and learning. Infrastructure includes energy, food, and materials. Community includes governance, investment, and wellness. Learning includes curriculum, aesthetics, and interpretation. Each element is described in 1-2 paragraphs, outlining key aspects and questions to consider to make progress toward sustainability in that area. The overall goal is to train a new generation of sustainability leaders through experiential learning and leading by example with campus initiatives.
Why I Am No Longer Attempting to Build A Rigorous Science of Social ChangeJoe Brewer
Let me start by saying that literally every social problem humanity now confronts will benefit from taking a rigorous, evidence-based approach to developing interventions that work. If I believe this—you might wonder—why would I title an article this way?
The answer is simply that I have been trying to manifest into the world a science of large-scale social change for 18 years. During that time I have repeatedly found that almost no one gives preference to being effective over the feeling of “being right.” This has been true as I’ve interacted with academic researchers, the staff of numerous nonprofit organizations, program officers and boards of directors at foundations, government personnel providing public services, and among social-impact businesses of various kinds.
So I am shifting gears and no longer attempting to build this grand visionary work. I simply don’t see it as feasible anymore and am going to introspect deeply about what I might do that is of service in times as serious as these when in my heart I now accept that my life’s work cannot succeed. In the spirit of the foundational challenge named in the opening of this essay, I invite you to prove me wrong. Critique and analyze my assumptions. Gather your own data to confront and challenge the argument laid out here. See if you can find a way to birth such an ambitious vision where I have failed to do so.
I would much rather be wrong and see effective solutions emerge than to be right and feel the hollow gratification of saying “I told you so” as the world goes into full-scale systemic collapse in the next few decades.
Onward, fellow humans.
Inleiding van Elena Cavagnaro, professor of service studies van Stenden, over een paradigmaverschuiving inzake duurzaamheid tijdens de Domeinscholingsdag Centrum Duurzaam 2014. Paradigma is de manier waarop we kijken naar duurzaamheid. Het is een sociale constructie van wat we zien. Er is geen sprake van een en dezelfde werkelijkheid. Van een beeld van ongelimiteerde groei naar groei op basis van aardse beperkingen. Van waardecreatie op basis van economische principes naar waardecreatie op basis van economische, sociale en omgevingsprincipes.
Billion Dollar Proposal for Applied Cultural EvolutionJoe Brewer
Let me begin by acknowledging those who came before me. The runner-up for a 1 billion euro grant from the European Union nearly a decade ago was FuturICT with their vision for modeling complex social systems to avoid (or manage) future economic collapses. So I am not the first person to propose that a massive effort is needed to (a) integrate the social sciences; and (b) do so with motivation to apply what is learned to address extremely difficult problems in the world. With that said, let me now offer my billion dollar proposal that follows in FuturICT’s footsteps. At the time they were competing for substantial funding, I was working with the International Centre for Earth Simulation to build its billion dollar (over a decade) vision for a high-performance computing facility that models the entire Earth in its full complexity. It is from these projects that I draw inspiration for this essay.
Also, a fact that should cause you to sit up straight. The annual budget for CERN (the high-energy particle accelerator in Geneva, Switzerland) was roughly 1.2 billion dollars in 2017. So what I am calling for here is what the European Union spends every single year on the search for fundamental particles for all of humanity to instead address the global ecological crisis and safeguard the future of our species.
Think about this for a moment before you continue reading this essay. It really should cause you to pause and reflect about our current priorities as human beings.
What I propose now is a framework for guiding humanity through the sustainability bottleneck as we navigate the planetary-scale systemic collapse outlined in the previous two essays in this series. If you want to hear me talk through this proposal in a recorded talk, I invite you to watch the 90 minute video on YouTube for a version that I presented to the cognitive science department at the University of California, Merced earlier this year. This essay will go into more detail about the vision I’ve been cultivating for a global network of culture design labs that—as argued in previous essays—I no longer believe is possible to build in the world.
The document discusses sustainable development and how it has been misunderstood. It argues that sustainable development aims to improve ecosystems through community engagement and scientific research. However, some celebrities promote environmentalism while living unsustainably. The document also explains that sustainable development allows responsible use of natural resources in a way that conserves them for future generations through techniques that limit environmental impact.
Design Institute for Regenerating the EarthJoe Brewer
This is our mission — regenerate ALL degraded lands on Earth to restore planetary health. Coordinated through bioregional learning centers that organize efforts locally while collaborating with each other across regions.
This document outlines a model for regenerating bioregions to restore planetary health. It claims that human degradation of landscapes has put the Earth into overshoot and collapse. The model aims to regenerate ecosystem functions at regional scales through cultural evolution by guiding the development of social systems. It discusses key cultural evolution processes like cultural transmission, multi-level selection, cultural scaffolding, and cooperation. The work involves establishing regenerative projects in six bioregions to incorporate social and ecological metrics and share knowledge across locations to track global goals like planetary boundaries. The end goals are to establish holistic regional metrics by 2020, roll out bioregional financing by 2021, and expand the network while tracking planetary outcomes by 2022.
Guiding the Emergence of Humanity's FutureJoe Brewer
This document is a synthesis of inquiry that incorporates ideas and inspiration from many people. It grew out of conversations with Federico Bellone, Eduard Müller, Juan Sostheim, Melina Angel, Pramod Parajuli, Luis Camargo, Daniel Wahl, Stuart Cowan, and several others. What I learned from this diverse dialogue—accompanied by extensive reading—is that pedagogy is the most important thing to get right for any educational initiative that seeks to cultivate bioregional regeneration.
Pedagogy refers to the many ways of learning and how people evolve in their thoughts, feelings, actions, and social arrangements. It is a multifaceted concept that draws attention to capacities for cooperation, ability to trust others, perspective-taking, and a lot more that must be carefully addressed (and elegantly integrated) in the design of education programs. Pedagogy is often framed as a way to teach a particular concept or subject. I prefer to turn this around and employ it as a design perspective for how to assist the learning process, even if no teacher happens to be involved.
Shared here are some of the key pedagogical insights and thematic elements that have arisen so far in this inquiry. This learning journey is far from complete and will continue well after these words are written to the page. It is my earnest belief that Bioregional Regenerative Training Centers must emerge all over the world as integrative programs that help spread the practices and mindsets for regeneration of human communities and the ecosystems on which they depend for their survival.
Nature and Green Spaces: Sources, Sites, and Systems of Resilience and Other ...Keith G. Tidball
The document discusses how nature and green spaces can provide resilience and recovery in systems disrupted by disasters or conflicts. It explores concepts like biophilia, restorative environments, and topophilia that may explain why people engage in greening activities during crises. Examples of memorialization through gardening and tree planting are given, as are cases of social-ecological symbols and rituals involving nature that confer psychological and social benefits. The document examines how discourses of hope and defiance expressed through greening can build resilience at individual and community levels.
Does adding more lettuce make a hamburger truly green? A metaphor behind the ...JIT KUMAR GUPTA
This document discusses the challenges of designing truly green cities. It argues that simply adding more "green" elements to urban development plans may not actually make the plans sustainable or environmentally friendly. Three key points are made:
1) Green initiatives are often motivated more by business profits than long-term environmental stewardship. Goals need to shift towards genuine commitment to sustainability.
2) Academic knowledge of green urbanism is not always applied properly due to influences from private sector decisions and lack of integration across disciplines.
3) Public education is key to generating awareness and buy-in for sustainable development practices from communities. Without understanding and participation of local stakeholders, green plans may not be effective.
This is an overview report on a 2013 study we conducted of social media content about global warming. It shows that underlying psychological drivers can be discerned from large data sets to reveal implicit structures of a major social discourse.
Small Town, Sustainable Opportunities. Examining How the Transition Movement ...oregonslidesharer
The Transition Movement supports communities in transitioning to more sustainable systems in response to issues like peak oil and climate change. It takes a grassroots approach, encouraging communities to come together, share knowledge, and take practical local actions to increase resilience. Examples of Transition Town initiatives organize groups around areas like food, energy, transportation and build community through events like skill-sharing workshops and activities that showcase local sustainable options. The goal is for communities to determine their own paths to sustainability through open, inclusive and self-organized efforts.
Trim Tab Spring 2013 Regenerating the WholeBill Reed
The document discusses the concept of regenerative design and living system design. The key points are:
1) Regenerative design aims to engage human activities in positive relationships with all life by restoring ecosystems and focusing on interrelationships rather than just minimizing impacts.
2) Living system design views places as unique, interconnected systems and recognizes that life only regenerates through exchange of energies between living entities in relationships.
3) The role of design is to create opportunities for ongoing, evolutionary relationships between people and life that inform infrastructure and buildings.
This document discusses how Nichols offers an alternative to the traditional recruitment industry model. Some key points:
- Nichols has a global expertise and innovative approaches to access the full talent pool, adapting to changing business needs.
- In contrast, recruitment practices are still stuck in the past, with last minute hiring and failure to tap the full talent pool.
- Nichols understands what it means to be truly global, with researchers and directors working worldwide to source diverse international candidates.
- They specialize in consumer goods and healthcare with deep sector expertise, and are structured like their global clients to move quickly around the world.
You are free in a world that you can do what you want. drive your limo around the town, play with physics and take off to the skies in your limo, reaching newer and higher places. Drive on top of buildings, scale ramps and structures, smash up your limo and other cars, do stunts.
Permaculture Implication in a Nepalese Contextx3G9
The document discusses the concept of permaculture, its origins, definition, characteristics, aims, importance, and application in design. Some key points:
- Permaculture was developed in Australia in the 1970s as a way to mimic natural ecosystems and create sustainable human settlements. It focuses on observing nature's patterns and replicating beneficial relationships.
- It aims to harmoniously integrate humans and nature to increase land productivity while maintaining ecological balance. Permaculture encourages self-reliance through integrated systems that meet human needs.
- Applying permaculture principles like maximizing useful connections and minimizing waste can help make human systems and settlements more sustainable long-term by considering environmental, economic and social factors.
MDGs and Global Environmental Change - Governance, Innovation and LearningEuforic Services
Presentation by Andreas Rechkemmer (IHDP) during the High Level Policy Forum - After 2015: Promoting Pro-poor Policy after the MDGs - Brussels, 23 June 2009 - http://www.bit.ly/after2015
This document discusses positive resource dependency in urban systems. It begins by providing background on the concepts of ecological identity, biophilia, and topophilia. It then introduces the idea of positive dependence, which views resource dependence from an asset-based rather than deficit-based perspective. Two key aspects of positive dependence discussed are restorative topophilia, referring to love of place that fosters action to enhance valued attributes, and urgent biophilia, describing the attraction humans have for nature and the urge to create restorative environments, especially in times of crisis. The document argues that positive dependence based on these concepts can start virtuous cycles that increase resilience in social-ecological systems.
This document provides a summary of the book "Deep Ecology: Living as if Nature Mattered" by Bill Devall and George Sessions. It discusses key concepts in the book such as the need for both individual and collective transformation towards more sustainable societies. It also discusses the "Gaia hypothesis" which views the Earth as a self-regulating system and emphasizes understanding and preserving nature's intrinsic order. The summary concludes by explaining that the book aims to outline the spiritual components of green movements and how the concept of "deep ecology" was coined to describe a deeper, more spiritual approach to nature exemplified by thinkers like Rachel Carson and Aldo Leopold.
Landscapes of Resilience - Resilience 2014 Session 44Keith G. Tidball
- Green spaces can increase resilience during and after crises by providing psychological benefits, strengthening community identity and social ties, and restarting ecosystem services.
- After Hurricane Sandy, a study examined how New York City waterfront park users' activities, perceptions and interactions with parks had changed, finding that parks provided refuge and that civic stewardship groups helped with chronic and acute park disturbances.
- Examples of greening in crisis situations included replanting Sarajevo's urban forest after war and creating living memorials after 9/11, showing how nature and community participation can aid recovery.
The document outlines the nine elements of a sustainable culture/campus: infrastructure, community, and learning. Infrastructure includes energy, food, and materials. Community includes governance, investment, and wellness. Learning includes curriculum, aesthetics, and interpretation. Each element is described in 1-2 paragraphs, outlining key aspects and questions to consider to make progress toward sustainability in that area. The overall goal is to train a new generation of sustainability leaders through experiential learning and leading by example with campus initiatives.
Why I Am No Longer Attempting to Build A Rigorous Science of Social ChangeJoe Brewer
Let me start by saying that literally every social problem humanity now confronts will benefit from taking a rigorous, evidence-based approach to developing interventions that work. If I believe this—you might wonder—why would I title an article this way?
The answer is simply that I have been trying to manifest into the world a science of large-scale social change for 18 years. During that time I have repeatedly found that almost no one gives preference to being effective over the feeling of “being right.” This has been true as I’ve interacted with academic researchers, the staff of numerous nonprofit organizations, program officers and boards of directors at foundations, government personnel providing public services, and among social-impact businesses of various kinds.
So I am shifting gears and no longer attempting to build this grand visionary work. I simply don’t see it as feasible anymore and am going to introspect deeply about what I might do that is of service in times as serious as these when in my heart I now accept that my life’s work cannot succeed. In the spirit of the foundational challenge named in the opening of this essay, I invite you to prove me wrong. Critique and analyze my assumptions. Gather your own data to confront and challenge the argument laid out here. See if you can find a way to birth such an ambitious vision where I have failed to do so.
I would much rather be wrong and see effective solutions emerge than to be right and feel the hollow gratification of saying “I told you so” as the world goes into full-scale systemic collapse in the next few decades.
Onward, fellow humans.
Inleiding van Elena Cavagnaro, professor of service studies van Stenden, over een paradigmaverschuiving inzake duurzaamheid tijdens de Domeinscholingsdag Centrum Duurzaam 2014. Paradigma is de manier waarop we kijken naar duurzaamheid. Het is een sociale constructie van wat we zien. Er is geen sprake van een en dezelfde werkelijkheid. Van een beeld van ongelimiteerde groei naar groei op basis van aardse beperkingen. Van waardecreatie op basis van economische principes naar waardecreatie op basis van economische, sociale en omgevingsprincipes.
Billion Dollar Proposal for Applied Cultural EvolutionJoe Brewer
Let me begin by acknowledging those who came before me. The runner-up for a 1 billion euro grant from the European Union nearly a decade ago was FuturICT with their vision for modeling complex social systems to avoid (or manage) future economic collapses. So I am not the first person to propose that a massive effort is needed to (a) integrate the social sciences; and (b) do so with motivation to apply what is learned to address extremely difficult problems in the world. With that said, let me now offer my billion dollar proposal that follows in FuturICT’s footsteps. At the time they were competing for substantial funding, I was working with the International Centre for Earth Simulation to build its billion dollar (over a decade) vision for a high-performance computing facility that models the entire Earth in its full complexity. It is from these projects that I draw inspiration for this essay.
Also, a fact that should cause you to sit up straight. The annual budget for CERN (the high-energy particle accelerator in Geneva, Switzerland) was roughly 1.2 billion dollars in 2017. So what I am calling for here is what the European Union spends every single year on the search for fundamental particles for all of humanity to instead address the global ecological crisis and safeguard the future of our species.
Think about this for a moment before you continue reading this essay. It really should cause you to pause and reflect about our current priorities as human beings.
What I propose now is a framework for guiding humanity through the sustainability bottleneck as we navigate the planetary-scale systemic collapse outlined in the previous two essays in this series. If you want to hear me talk through this proposal in a recorded talk, I invite you to watch the 90 minute video on YouTube for a version that I presented to the cognitive science department at the University of California, Merced earlier this year. This essay will go into more detail about the vision I’ve been cultivating for a global network of culture design labs that—as argued in previous essays—I no longer believe is possible to build in the world.
The document discusses sustainable development and how it has been misunderstood. It argues that sustainable development aims to improve ecosystems through community engagement and scientific research. However, some celebrities promote environmentalism while living unsustainably. The document also explains that sustainable development allows responsible use of natural resources in a way that conserves them for future generations through techniques that limit environmental impact.
Design Institute for Regenerating the EarthJoe Brewer
This is our mission — regenerate ALL degraded lands on Earth to restore planetary health. Coordinated through bioregional learning centers that organize efforts locally while collaborating with each other across regions.
This document outlines a model for regenerating bioregions to restore planetary health. It claims that human degradation of landscapes has put the Earth into overshoot and collapse. The model aims to regenerate ecosystem functions at regional scales through cultural evolution by guiding the development of social systems. It discusses key cultural evolution processes like cultural transmission, multi-level selection, cultural scaffolding, and cooperation. The work involves establishing regenerative projects in six bioregions to incorporate social and ecological metrics and share knowledge across locations to track global goals like planetary boundaries. The end goals are to establish holistic regional metrics by 2020, roll out bioregional financing by 2021, and expand the network while tracking planetary outcomes by 2022.
Guiding the Emergence of Humanity's FutureJoe Brewer
This document is a synthesis of inquiry that incorporates ideas and inspiration from many people. It grew out of conversations with Federico Bellone, Eduard Müller, Juan Sostheim, Melina Angel, Pramod Parajuli, Luis Camargo, Daniel Wahl, Stuart Cowan, and several others. What I learned from this diverse dialogue—accompanied by extensive reading—is that pedagogy is the most important thing to get right for any educational initiative that seeks to cultivate bioregional regeneration.
Pedagogy refers to the many ways of learning and how people evolve in their thoughts, feelings, actions, and social arrangements. It is a multifaceted concept that draws attention to capacities for cooperation, ability to trust others, perspective-taking, and a lot more that must be carefully addressed (and elegantly integrated) in the design of education programs. Pedagogy is often framed as a way to teach a particular concept or subject. I prefer to turn this around and employ it as a design perspective for how to assist the learning process, even if no teacher happens to be involved.
Shared here are some of the key pedagogical insights and thematic elements that have arisen so far in this inquiry. This learning journey is far from complete and will continue well after these words are written to the page. It is my earnest belief that Bioregional Regenerative Training Centers must emerge all over the world as integrative programs that help spread the practices and mindsets for regeneration of human communities and the ecosystems on which they depend for their survival.
Nature and Green Spaces: Sources, Sites, and Systems of Resilience and Other ...Keith G. Tidball
The document discusses how nature and green spaces can provide resilience and recovery in systems disrupted by disasters or conflicts. It explores concepts like biophilia, restorative environments, and topophilia that may explain why people engage in greening activities during crises. Examples of memorialization through gardening and tree planting are given, as are cases of social-ecological symbols and rituals involving nature that confer psychological and social benefits. The document examines how discourses of hope and defiance expressed through greening can build resilience at individual and community levels.
Does adding more lettuce make a hamburger truly green? A metaphor behind the ...JIT KUMAR GUPTA
This document discusses the challenges of designing truly green cities. It argues that simply adding more "green" elements to urban development plans may not actually make the plans sustainable or environmentally friendly. Three key points are made:
1) Green initiatives are often motivated more by business profits than long-term environmental stewardship. Goals need to shift towards genuine commitment to sustainability.
2) Academic knowledge of green urbanism is not always applied properly due to influences from private sector decisions and lack of integration across disciplines.
3) Public education is key to generating awareness and buy-in for sustainable development practices from communities. Without understanding and participation of local stakeholders, green plans may not be effective.
This is an overview report on a 2013 study we conducted of social media content about global warming. It shows that underlying psychological drivers can be discerned from large data sets to reveal implicit structures of a major social discourse.
Small Town, Sustainable Opportunities. Examining How the Transition Movement ...oregonslidesharer
The Transition Movement supports communities in transitioning to more sustainable systems in response to issues like peak oil and climate change. It takes a grassroots approach, encouraging communities to come together, share knowledge, and take practical local actions to increase resilience. Examples of Transition Town initiatives organize groups around areas like food, energy, transportation and build community through events like skill-sharing workshops and activities that showcase local sustainable options. The goal is for communities to determine their own paths to sustainability through open, inclusive and self-organized efforts.
Trim Tab Spring 2013 Regenerating the WholeBill Reed
The document discusses the concept of regenerative design and living system design. The key points are:
1) Regenerative design aims to engage human activities in positive relationships with all life by restoring ecosystems and focusing on interrelationships rather than just minimizing impacts.
2) Living system design views places as unique, interconnected systems and recognizes that life only regenerates through exchange of energies between living entities in relationships.
3) The role of design is to create opportunities for ongoing, evolutionary relationships between people and life that inform infrastructure and buildings.
This document discusses how Nichols offers an alternative to the traditional recruitment industry model. Some key points:
- Nichols has a global expertise and innovative approaches to access the full talent pool, adapting to changing business needs.
- In contrast, recruitment practices are still stuck in the past, with last minute hiring and failure to tap the full talent pool.
- Nichols understands what it means to be truly global, with researchers and directors working worldwide to source diverse international candidates.
- They specialize in consumer goods and healthcare with deep sector expertise, and are structured like their global clients to move quickly around the world.
You are free in a world that you can do what you want. drive your limo around the town, play with physics and take off to the skies in your limo, reaching newer and higher places. Drive on top of buildings, scale ramps and structures, smash up your limo and other cars, do stunts.
Trim tab winter 2013 Falling in love w lifeBill Reed
1) The article discusses the need for humans to shift towards a state of being that is in right relationship with nature through developing an understanding of why we should care for life and practicing how to do so.
2) It argues that technology alone cannot save the environment and that the greatest leverage comes from inner human development and practices that foster a caring relationship with nature.
3) Research like the Human Microbiome Project shows that humans are intricately interconnected with other life forms through our microbiomes, and should view ourselves as part of larger living systems rather than as a singular species. This highlights our dependence on nature and other organisms.
Designing from Place - A Regenerative Framework and Methodology - BR7463 v6Bill Reed
The document describes a regenerative framework and methodology for design. It begins by outlining the need to transition to an ecological worldview to address environmental challenges. A regenerative methodology is proposed as a way for design practitioners to facilitate this transition. The methodology described was developed over 16 years and is rooted in ecological principles. It views humans as part of nature and aims to realign human activities with natural systems through a developmental process. The summary explores the underlying premises and concepts that shape the methodology, including its view of regeneration, human role, and approach of working developmentally.
Trim Tab Winter 2013 - Falling in Love w LifeBill Reed
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2) It argues that technology alone cannot save the environment and that the greatest leverage comes from inner human development and practices that foster a caring relationship with nature.
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Soul music originated in the 1950s and 1960s in the United States, combining elements of gospel, rhythm and blues, and jazz. It became popular for dancing and relaxation. Soul music varied stylistically across regions, such as Motown's rhythmic Detroit sound and Southern soul's energetic gospel-influenced style. Key artists like Ray Charles, James Brown, and Jackie Wilson helped develop soul music in different ways. Soul came to influence both rock music and the music of the civil rights movement.
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A responsible strategy to alternative energies v.5.0
The Nature of Positive
1. This article was downloaded by: [Pamela Mang]
On: 01 May 2014, At: 09:48
Publisher: Routledge
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37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK
Building Research & Information
Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:
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The nature of positive
Pamela Mang
a
& Bill Reed
a
a
Regenesis Group, 1219 Luisa Street, Suite 5, Santa Fe, NM 87505, US
Published online: 25 Apr 2014.
To cite this article: Pamela Mang & Bill Reed (2014): The nature of positive, Building Research & Information, DOI:
10.1080/09613218.2014.911565
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09613218.2014.911565
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2. COMMENTARY
The nature of positive
Pamela Mang and Bill Reed
Regenesis Group,1219 Luisa Street,Suite 5,Santa Fe,NM 87505,US
E-mails: pamela@regenesisgroup.com and bill@regenesisgroup.com
The ‘net-positive’ concept could serve as both a new direction and an aspiration for evolving sustainable design beyond
minimizing human damage toward human habitation that is a source of life. This commentary posits that realizing that
potential depends on how practitioners define positive. Describing net-positive as ‘buildings that “add value” to ecological
systems and generate more than they need to fulfil their own needs’ moves net-positive beyond simply a technical challenge
of creating surpluses to one that requires confronting the widely different interpretations of value and value-adding held
within the sustainability movement. ‘Green’ building, like the building industry, generally defines and measures a
building’s value in terms of human benefit. Ecological sustainability defines value in terms of benefits to the systemic
capability to generate, sustain and evolve the life of a particular place. Reconciling these different definitions could
transform how society conceives of and designs the built environment. Building professionals seeking to translate net-
positive into practice could play a leading role in that transformation. Practice will need to embrace ecological
thinking to create design, construction and ongoing management processes that stimulate dialogue about what it
means for humans to play a value-adding role in the ecological systems where they are constituents.
Keywords: built environment, ecological sustainability, living systems, net-positive, place, regenerative design, social–
ecological system
The term ‘net-positive’ is a succinct and catchy phrase
that could serve well as both a signpost for the direc-
tion that needs to be pursued beyond ‘green’ building
and a standard-bearer for rallying the energy, enthu-
siasm and creativity required to make human habi-
tation of the Earth a source of life. It could provide
the framework for pursuing what has always been
implied in the concept of sustainability. However,
this was not explicitly recognized until recently: if
what society seeks to sustain are the conditions
required for healthy life through time, then the way
humans create and inhabit the built environment
must contribute to those conditions. Whether it suc-
ceeds will depend in large part on how those working
to translate it into practice define positive.
In more popular literature, net-positive is often used as
short-hand for buildings that generate more resources/
energy than they consume. Given the increasing sophis-
tication of green technologies, it is not surprising that
generating a surplus beyond a building’s needs is seen
as an inevitable and exciting next step. Its pursuit is
made even more attractive by the implicit potential
for economic return. However, such a pursuit is not
without significant hazard.
In nature, an under- or unused surplus is a pollutant
with potentially disabling if not toxic results for the
larger system (Mollison, 1999, p. 18). Humans are
already the primary source of such surpluses turned
pollutants, e.g. so-called ‘nutrients’ that wash into
streams from fertilized fields, leaking dairy waste
storage ponds and, most famously, greenhouse gases.
In this light, the Building Research & Information
‘call for papers’ summary of net-positive1
as ‘buildings
that “add value” to ecological systems and generate
more than they need to fulfil their own needs’ adds a
significant caveat to what makes surplus a positive.
This caveat seems key to differentiating net-positive
from simply a more advanced version of green technol-
ogies with wider marketing appeal. It also positions at
the core of the net-positive design challenge the need to
reconcile the widely different interpretations of value
and value-adding that exist within the sustainability
movement.
Green building was developed from the sciences of the
physical world and a mechanistic worldview. This is
the same foundation that most of the thinking and
technologies of the building industry rely on. It has
produced an industry structure and culture in which
BUILDING RESEARCH & INFORMATION 2014
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09613218.2014.911565
# 2014 Taylor & Francis
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3. the value of a building is still generally defined in terms
of human benefit, most often measured in relatively
short-term financial returns and human health. From
this anthropocentric perspective, ‘ecological systems’
are resources or amenities to be managed and utilized
for human purposes, so adding value to an ecological
system must perforce mean making it more valuable
to sustain human activity. The movement to assign
monetary value to ecosystem services, which was
stimulated by the desire to prevent further destruction
of natural resources, was an effort to broaden this defi-
nition. So long as it is rooted in the anthropocentric
and building technology-oriented way of thinking, it
may simply be seen as an infrastructure-oriented and
quantitative accounting exercise. The implicit sugges-
tion is that such anthropocentric and technological
perspectives may be abandoned if the numbers do
not add up.
In contrast, from an ecological worldview, the almost
infinite interrelationships of ‘ecological systems’ are
the way living entities, including humans, relate to,
interact with and depend upon each other in a particu-
lar landscape in order to pursue and sustain healthy
lives. Eugene Odum spoke of ecology as the study of
living beings in their home (Odum & Barrett, 2004).
Many indigenous people refer to the plants, animals,
insects and even geological features they live with as
relatives. Regenerative Development uses the term
‘partners’ (Reed, 2007) to describe the members of
an ecological system in the sense of partners in the
business of creating the conditions that support
healthy life in the place they co-inhabit. In this bio-
centric perspective, value is defined in terms of benefits
to life. Adding value to an ecological system means
increasing its systemic capability to generate, sustain
and evolve increasingly higher orders of vitality and
viability for the life of a particular place.
These are radically different ways of defining value.
Despite their implications for sustainability, they
remain largely unreconciled, in part because they
are usually held unconsciously. Net-positive has
tended to hover uncomfortably with a foot in both
camps. This is not simply a philosophical discussion;
the definition used has implications for every aspect
of a net-positive building, from the starting point
for design thinking to how to measure the effect
and effectiveness of how surpluses are deployed.
Setting a standard of adding value to ecological
systems will hopefully bring the question to the
fore. Indeed, it could be argued that net-positive’s
real potential resides in transforming how society
conceives of and designs the built environment. It is
not a question of the new performance standards
such buildings deliver. Instead, its potential may be
its invitation to explore the questions these new per-
formance aspirations raise: how society defines and
measures value, and what it means for humans to
play a value-adding role in the ecological systems
where they are constituents.
An example of how net-positive could stimulate such
an exploration has precedent in the investment indus-
try. A parallel to net-positive has emerged under the
term ‘impact investing’ – investments that move
beyond socially responsible investing (SRI) (i.e. mini-
mizing damage) to investing for a ‘positive impact’
(Freireich & Fulton, 2009). When the term was
coined in 2007, hundreds of initiatives had sprung
up around the world aimed at leveraging financial
investments to create greater social and environ-
mental health. The term provided a common identity
to these diverse but largely unconnected initiatives,
and catalysed a more aligned effort to increase both
the number and the effectiveness of investments
aimed at positive impact (Story of Place Institute,
2013).
Initially, the main focus of impact investing dealt with
the technical aspects of how to attract and funnel more
investments into addressing social and environmental
issues; this is the equivalent of net-positive’s focus on
how to generate excess resources to support ecological
systems. The dominant industry paradigm that invest-
ment was about growing stocks and flows of financial
capital was largely unquestioned. The only issue was
how to divert more of that capital for ‘positive’ uses.
Spurred by a grassroots’ local economy movement,
interest in impact investing is now multiplying
rapidly. The challenge of translating impact investing
into tangible, measurable advances at the community
level is bringing professionals and non-professionals
together to explore the meaning and purpose of invest-
ment.2
A more ecological way of thinking about invest-
ing is dismantling the old silos of interest and
catalysing an outpouring of creative, unorthodox
investment models and partnerships that would have
been inconceivable within the old investment
paradigm.
For many building industry professionals, the world of
ecology and living systems can seem dauntingly
complex. The innovations emerging from impact
investing illustrate that the inclusion of ecological
thinking does not require everyone becoming an
expert in the discipline of ecology. Impact investing
innovators striving to apply ecological thinking to the
design of new investment models are making up the
design process as they go. In contrast, net-positive
can draw on a number of methods and practices that
have emerged over the last few decades from within
what David Orr (Orr 1992) called ecological sustain-
ability (in contrast to technological sustainability).
Grounded in the belief that sustainable living is
rooted in a deep understanding of place, these
methods have allowed the application of key concepts
and principles drawn from living systems and utilized
Mang and Reed
2
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4. by applied naturalists and ecological systems experts to
shape design and construction processes for years. For
example, regenerative development, regenerative
design and integrative design processes use ecological
thinking to guide a collective discovery process.
The intention of this process is to develop a deeper
understanding of how a project’s context works as a
living, multilayered whole when it is healthy, what is
currently depleting its health, and the unique value-
adding role the project can play in contributing to
conditions that can restore and enhance that health
(Mang & Reed, 2012).
How would ecological thinking shift the way building
industry professionals think about adding value to
ecological systems? One shift directly relevant to
determining how to add value has to do with the
idea of causation. Gregory Bateson (Bateson 2011)
noted that in order to think ecologically, a shift is
needed in the way people are trained to think about
causation. One of the best-known and clearly docu-
mented examples of why is what happened in Yellow-
stone National Park in the United States when wolves
were reintroduced in 1995 after a 70-year absence.3
Within a surprisingly short time, valleys and gorges
started to regenerate and bare valley sides turned
into forests of cottonwoods, aspens and willow. In
some areas trees quintupled in height in less than six
years. Populations of songbirds, beavers, muskrats,
fish and reptiles multiplied. Hawks and eagles as
well as bears showed up in greater numbers. Even
the physical geography and behaviour of the river
changed to support more life. The wolves ‘caused’
these changes, but not in the linear way that tra-
ditional thinking posits about cause. Instead, the
wolves are living out their role within that ecological
system.4
In an ecological system, one species fulfilling
its role enables all the other species to play their roles,
even those where there is no direct connection. The
value of a role in an ecological system derives not
from how something functions, but rather from the
pattern of relationships that enable particular
exchanges of value.
Thinking of causation in this way, building industry
professionals would ask very different questions. For
example, instead of starting with the building and
what surplus it can generate, a designer would start
by asking what ecological services have been disen-
abled in this place and what roles are missing that
enabled those services in the past. Instead of asking
how to deploy any excess in order to add value, a
designer would ask what is the role of this particular
project and the land it occupies in the larger systems
of its place. How does its role enable other entities to
play their roles? What are the patterns of relationships
that need to be established or re-established between
the building, its occupants and its community to
enable their positive roles reciprocally? And then,
what specific ‘positives’ can this project offer and/or
catalyse.
Design, construction and ongoing management pro-
cesses that integrate these kinds of questions can
become educational vehicles for the design team, the
client and community stakeholders. Situating a build-
ing’s role within the ecology of its place requires a
different way of thinking to understand it. It must be
conceived as an ongoing process as well as a structure
that, like the example of the wolves, has wide-ranging
systemic implications for shifting patterns of behaviour
in a positive way far beyond its immediate physical
sphere. It is an example of the nature of ecological
thinking described by Orr 20 years ago as ‘the ability
to comprehend patterns that connect, which means
looking beyond the boxes we call disciplines to see
things in their larger context’ . . . to see ‘the larger pat-
terns and flows’ that then inform human purpose
(Orr, 1994, p. 108). Performance targets then grow
out of a much broader-based understanding of opportu-
nities for synergy that are specific to the role a project
can play in the evolution of its place.
Buckminster Fuller thought of himself as a designer,
and the process of change as a question of design. He
believed that the only way to change things was to
build a new model that made obsolete the existing
model.5
The example of impact investing demonstrates
how a new and very small sector within the investment
industry is shifting the conversation in surprising quar-
ters; doing so by bringing in new ways of thinking.
Net-positive design has the same potential – provided
that value is understood in the context of place, time
and relationships within the whole living system
within which the project plays a role.
References
Bateson, N. (2011). An ecology of mind. (film) Bullfrog Films.
DVD ISBN 1-59458-905-4.
Freireich, J., & Fulton, K. (2009). Investing for social and
environmental impact: A design for catalyzing an emerging
industry. San Francisco: Monitor Institute. www.
monitorinstitute.com/impactinvesting or http://www.
thegiin.org/cgi-bin/iowa/resources/research/6.html
Mang, P., & Reed, B. (2012). Designing from place: A regenera-
tive framework and methodology. Building Research &
Information, 40(1), 23–38.
Mollison, B. (1999). Permaculture: A designers’ manual. Tasma-
nia: Tagari.
Odum, E. P., & Barrett, G. (2004). Fundamentals of ecology (5th
ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole.
Orr, D. (1992). Ecological literacy: Education and the transition
to a post-modern world. Albany: State University of
New York Press.
Orr, D. (1994). Earth in mind. Washington: Island Press.
Reed, B. (2007). Shifting from ‘sustainability’ to regeneration.
Building Research & Information, 35(6), 674–680.
Story of Place Institute. (). Place-Sourced Impact Investing: Invest-
ing as an Instrument for Community Transformation, http://
storyofplace.org/SF_Impact.html
The Nature of Positive
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5. Endnotes
1
Call for papers, special Building Research & Information
issue on net-positive. http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/cfp/
rbricfp.pdf
2
Place-Sourced Impact Investing: Investing as an Instrument for
Community Transformation. http://storyofplace.org/SF_Impact.
html
3
Ecological Benefits of Wolves, Sierra Club Wyoming Chapter.
http://wyoming.sierraclub.org/ECOLOGICAL%20BENEFITS%
20OF%20WOLVES.pdf
4
How Wolves Change Rivers (video). http://www.wimp.com/
wolvesrivers
5
Fuller, R. B. (January 20, 1975) ‘Everything I Know’ – session 01.
http://bfi.org/about-fuller/resources/everything-i-know/session-1
Mang and Reed
4
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