Posts Tagged ‘new systems/services’
Transforming Cultures: State Of The World Report 2010
Posted in Research by Kate Archdeacon on January 14th, 2010
Source: Eanth-L, e-list for the field of ecological/environmental anthropology.
Like a tsunami, consumerism has engulfed human cultures and Earth’s ecosystems. This cultural system encourages people to define their happiness and success through how much they consume. But on a finite planet, this system is maladaptive and threatens to cause significant disruptions to Earth’s climate and ecosystems, and subsequently to human civilization. If, on the other hand, we channel this wave, intentionally transforming our cultures to center on sustainability, we will not only prevent catastrophe, but may usher in an era of sustainability—one that allows all people to thrive while protecting, even restoring, Earth.
Worldwatch Institute‘s Transforming Cultures project turns a critical eye to how we can shift today’s consumer cultures into cultures of sustainability. The key to this transformation will lie in harnessing institutions that play a central role in shaping society–such as the media, educational services, business, governments, traditions, and social movements–to instill this new cultural orientation.
In State of the World 2010, sixty renowned researchers and practitioners describe how we can harness the world’s leading institutions—education, the media, business, governments, traditions, and social movements—to reorient cultures toward sustainability.
The report, scheduled for release in January 2010, will include articles from 60 eminent researchers and experts on consumerism, sustainability, and cultural change. It will provide information on how we can make the needed shift to a culture of sustainability and illustrate how people around the world are already taking important steps.
New Agencies, New Business: Alfred Deakin Eco-Innovation Lectures
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on November 5th, 2009
The Alfred Deakin Eco-Innovation Lectures presents leading global innovators who are rethinking the future by embracing the challenge of climate change. The 2009 theme – ‘Climate and Innovation – Building the Low Carbon Economy Now’ – links the inescapable challenge of climate change to the spirit of creativity and innovation.
Shaping the Low Carbon Economy – New Agencies, New Business
Peter Madden – CEO Forum For The Future (UK)
BMW Edge at Federation Square Melbourne
Monday 9 November 2009, 12-1pm
Cost: Free (register)
“A sustainable future won’t happen by itself. To achieve it, we need to set out clear, compelling visions of what it can look like, and draw up a route map for getting there. And we need to reframe our economy so that it can drive that transition. Over the last few years, Forum For The Future (FFF) has set the pace for futures thinking on sustainability. In doing so, it’s become clear that we need to focus on the positive and compelling visions of what a low-carbon future would look like.”
- Peter Madden, CEO, Forum For The Future (UK)
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Social Innovation and Sustainable Living: Alfred Deakin Eco-Innovation Lecture
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on October 2nd, 2009
Ezio Manzini – Professor Director of Research Politecnico di Milano
Join renowned international design thinker Ezio Manzini as he explores the growing global wave of social innovation and the fundamental shift towards a new paradigm of business and lifestyle, grounded in sustainable values.
Manzini will describe how a multiplicity of institutions, enterprises, non-profit organisations, and individual citizens can be made capable of moving outside mainstream models of living and producing, in an effort to invent new and far more sustainable ones.
BMW Edge at Federation Square, Melbourne
Thursday 08 October 2009 6-7.30pm
Cost: Free (register)
The Photon Economy: Alfred Deakin Eco-Innovation Lectures
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on September 30th, 2009
Dr. David Mills – Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Ausra Inc.
Join solar scientist Dr. David Mills as he talks about how the switch to a complete photon commercial economy is finally underway. Dr Mills will examine the current and future photon-based technologies that will make us healthier and wealthier. He will explore how we have inherited a planet full of systems that we do not yet understand, and that we will need to innovate ethically, as well as technically, to survive.
BMW Edge at Federation Square Melbourne
Tuesday 6 October 2009, 6-7.30pm
Cost: Free (register)
Dr David Mills participation in the Deakins 09 has been enabled by the VESKI [Victorian Endowment for Science, Knowledge and Innovation] Entrepreneur in Residence Program
Soil & Organics Recycling in Gippsland
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on August 20th, 2009
Source: Smart Water Fund
A new waste plant that will process 3000 tonnes of contaminated soils, 13,000 tonnes of organic waste and up to 20 megalitres of liquid waste a year has opened in Gippsland.
The Soil and Organic Recycling Facility (SORF) at Dutson Downs, 20km south-east of Sale, will manufacture high-quality compost that will be used for pasture improvement, land rehabilitation or beautification projects.
Contaminated soils retrieved from disused petrol stations or gas works can be treated and recycled at the SORF as an alternative in many cases to landfill disposal. Other wastes, including animal fats and petrol-based pollutants, will be converted (using naturally occurring microbes) into their component parts – carbon, water and beneficial soil organics. The plant will also recycle liquids such as waste oils and washdown water from factories, food processors and machinery plants – including car washes.
Gippsland Water Managing Director David Mawer said: “Contaminated water is a valuable resource that previously has gone to waste. This new plant can now take 20 megalitres a year. That’s water that once it is treated, can be reused for agricultural purposes.” “We believe industry will soon recognise the usefulness of this facility and it has been planned to further increase in capacity as demand grows.” Mr Mawer added. The SORF is within Gippsland Water’s existing Resource Recovery Facility, which occupies 250Ha of the 8000Ha Dutson Downs site.
Source: Smart Water Fund
Contest: Redesigning the Farmers’ Market
Posted in Movements by Kate Archdeacon on August 14th, 2009
Sponsored by GOOD, The Architect’s Newspaper, The Urban & Environmental Policy Institute, and The Los Angeles Good Food Network.
How can better design ensure that food grown by local farmers is delivered and distributed to urban residents?
Demand for “good food”—defined as healthy, green, fair, and affordable—is rising. Whether it’s from a rural family-run farm, community-supported agriculture group, or a backyard plot, locally grown food is increasingly viewed as a solution for many economic, environmental, and health concerns.
Yet significant barriers exist in bringing that food to urban tables. Even if a steady supply of good food is available, it can’t be delivered without better distribution networks that efficiently move it to multiple outlets and consumers.
What we need is a massive shift in our food delivery systems that will provide a variety of opportunities for farmers to sell directly and effectively to urban residents, helping us redefine the path from farm to fork. It’s time to rethink our local farmers’ markets.
We want designers, architects, farmers, chefs, vendors, and farmers’ market shoppers to think about how good design can improve upon the modern farmers’ market experience.
Deadline: September 1.
Visit the competition page.
Sharing Spaces: Creative Caravan
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on August 3rd, 2009
Source: Springwise
Launched earlier this month, Creative Caravan is a property listing service for people working in the creative industries, devised to help film directors, make-up artists, painters, photographers, etc find a place to (sub)let or swap. The Australian service aims to make it easier for people who are constantly on the move find short-let properties at short notice, anywhere from Northamptonshire in the UK to Sydney in Australia. Registration is free for anyone wishing to browse or list a housing ad.
Corporate Car Sharing: Charter Drive
Posted in Models by Kate Archdeacon on June 29th, 2009
Source: GreenRazor, the GreenPages Newsletter #89
Image via netstarter
Charter Drive is a corporate Car Sharing service, offering CBD businesses access to a fleet of low-emissions vehicles. Financial savings include costs being up to 70% less than the cost of a cab and considerably less than operating one’s own pooled cars. For the same cost as one CBD parking bay, businesses can drive their staff with Charter Drive for up to 4 hours every working day. Carbon emissions savings are made through the centralised sharing and maintenance of a resource that would otherwise be under-utilised. These models of corporate shared resources support the shift to a low-consumption, highly serviced lifestyle in a sustainable future.
Source: “Charter Drive – Swipe into sustainability”, the GreenPages
Car Sharing: Flexicar
Posted in Models, RDAG by Kate Archdeacon on December 1st, 2008
Reducing the environmental impact of existing technology within a new behavioural / organisational framework for practical personal mobility.
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Elizabeth Boulton from Logistick speaks at the Sustainable Cities Round Table, 12 August
Posted in SCRT Videos, Sustainable Cities Round Tables by Ferne Edwards on September 2nd, 2008
Representing transport at the recent Sustainable Cities Round Table on Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Innovation is Elizabeth Boulton, Director, Logistick Pty Ltd. Logistick is a niche consulting company which specialises in ‘capacity building ‘ in sustainable freight transport strategy. Logistick is not about providing expert ‘old-style’ thinking; it’s about providing access to the latest ideas about the way forward. Climate change presents a challenge for which there is no precedent. Throw in peak oil, congestion, air pollution and concerns about ethics in supply chain design, and the message is clear: In the freight transport & supply chain sector, Business As Usual (BAU)… simply cannot continue….
To find out more about Elizabeth’s work at Logistick check out the website at http://www.logistick.com.au/ AND check out her presentation at the Sustainable Cities Round Table below.