The University of Chicago. See 11min in: salt brick. Michael Pawlyn’s 3 ideas. Posted on February 22nd, 2011 by sustainability Giant water lillies, inspiration for roof structures. Photo: flickr.com Michael Pawlyn of Exploration Architecture recently gave a talk on biomimicry at TED Salon London 2010. Michael’s talk, which can be seen here , is upbeat and positive, which in the midst of doom and gloom scenarios, is refreshing. He argues that synergies, abundance and optimising from nature all give prime opportunities for this period now to be one of innovation. Michael presents three case studies informed by biomimicry: the Eden project , Sahara Forest - and new to me Cardboard to Caviar . Exploration Architecture, Seawater Greenhouse, Sahara Forest Project Pawlyn joins Norman Foster , Frank Gehry , Bjarke Ingels and Daniel Libeskind on Ted talks.
Hotel of Salt in Bolivia. Sahara Forest Project. The Sahara Forest Project combines two proven technologies in a new way to create multiple benefits: producing large amounts of renewable energy, food and water as well as reversing desertification.
A major element of the proposal is a seawater-cooled greenhouse that creates a cool growing environment in hot parts of the world and is a net producer of distilled water from seawater. The second technology, Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) involves concentrating the sun's heat to create steam that drives conventional turbines, producing zero carbon electricity twice as efficiently as photovoltaics. The two technologies have very promising synergies that make the economic case even more attractive. Client - Confidential Architect - Exploration Environmental Engineer - Bill Watts Project Partner - The Bellona Foundation. Common visual representation. 5 Innovative Greenhouses" Blog re SFP. Non-zero-sum explained.
Self-integrating thrivability. Posted by Michelle Holliday on 21 Feb 2011 I had a fantastic time this weekend giving a talk at TEDx Concordia – red round carpet and all!
The video should be available in a few weeks. Thanks to @evablue for the photo. In the meantime, here’s what I said – imagine it being said with great passion! :-) I discovered… that there’s a simple pattern that all living systems follow, …living systems like rainforests and coral reefs, and you… and organizations, and economies, and even all of humanity. Tribal leadership. 7 Policy Switches 2009. Policy Switch 1.3. Economic growth is taking us to the cliff edge.
Opposing economic growth isn't turning us around. There's another way... Frisson , il on linen 85 x 147 cm 2010 by Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox A short link for this page is Summary We need to go beyond patchy improvements and to bring humanity decisively into a global revival - of nature, co-operation, economies and the prospects for everyone's future. This means reshaping the whole economy. If we make this switch (and the others ) soon enough there is the opportunity of aligning real progress with economic progress. Please see also the related info: The full peer-reviewed paper that this article is extracted from: Seven Policy Switches for Global Security The earlier peer-reviewed paper with more about precycling insurance, Systemic Economic Instruments for Energy, Climate and Global Security (global paradigm change) .
A conference paper and slides, From credit crunch to planet crunch - or revival? Many thanks! James Greyson ( blindspotter ) 1.2. Margaret Heffernan: The dangers of "willful blindness" Margaret Heffernan's articles.