Thriving too

Brilliant Bikes

Aren't these great!  From Christiania Bikes.

HOME

If you haven't seen Home yet it really is worth it!  

I was completely captivated by it.  Produced by photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand it is mostly filmed from the air and is visually stunning.  It is being made available to watch online for free because of it's importance.

What and Who She's Wearing!

Fashion isn't trivia you know... especially when it's Mrs O we are talking about.  Very charmed by this site, mrs-o.org, in amongst the belt talk (above: silver Givenchy) are some insights into the White House Garden which is of great interest around here.

There is a fascinating article with Daniel Bowman Simon and Casey Gustowarow on The Who Farm Project:

Mrs. O has said the kitchen garden was high on her list of priorities as First Lady. Supporting the effort, alongside other influential voices, was The Who Farm Project. The project was a cross-country non-partisan campaign for a White House organic farm, led by Daniel Bowman Simon and Casey Gustowarow. The two young men had previously lived on the same island (Bohol) during their Peace Corps assignment in the Philippines. Now that the garden has come to fruition, the guys have even launched a Thank You Michelle Obama effort. We wanted to understand more about their project and mission, which we're delighted to share below....

Full Blog post can be read here.

Largest Eco-Village Build

Great article in Inhabitat

"The United Kingdom’s Hanham Hall Development is the largest eco-village aspiration to date. Designed byHTA and funded by Barratt Developments and the Homes & Communities Agency, there are a rumored 188-195 zero carbon homes in the overall housing scheme. The development will include an onsite biomass CHP plant, strategically placed reed beds, shops for farmers to sell their goods, bicycle storage throughout, and a carefully crafted drainage system. Hanham Hall is the first major eco city underway that is part of the government’s Carbon Challenge Programme. The government has set a goal for all new builds to be zero carbon by 2016. It looks as though they are six years ahead of the curve."

Blogs from the street

I really like this blog, Urban Weeds.  It is a daily street style blog from Portland, where everyone seems pretty amazing.  It is a collaboration between photographer Lisa Warninger and blogger/stylist Chelsea Fuss.

OurGoods

  

A very dear friend and collaborator, Caroline Woolard, is looking for barterers and collaborators! Her new project, titled OurGoods is set to launch this September in NYC. Amid constant rivers of negative and over analyzed banter from the US media regarding our economic condition, OurGoods provides a platform for community participation and economic re-imagination in a way that is intimatley tangible and inherently avoids the kind of conventional commodity valuation that has led many communities and nations to this crucial turning point. Artists have the potential to create a revolutionary movement in how we interact economically, trade, barter and form community; OurGoods provides a portal for such action.

"OurGoods is a peer-to-peer online network that facilitates the barter of goods and services between artists. The site matches barter partners, provides accountability tools, and offers technical assistance resources to help artists complete their barters and their projects successfully.

OurGoods emerges in response to the current economic crisis. To some extent, the arts have always existed in a recession economy. Independent artists in particular are experts at making do with very limited resources. As it becomes clear that even those limited resources will shrink in the coming years, OurGoods enables us to leverage what we already do well in order to create a support system for ourselves."

Ms. Woolard's work meets the sea with finesse and pure intention for community and body. Born in Rhode Island, she lives and works in Brooklyn, NYC coordinating an artist's studio space among many other things. Visit www.ourgoods.org to sign up for upcoming news and information about the project!

Move Over fashion Week - Welcome to Climate Week

“tcktcktck  is a global movement for a unified voice against climate change. The combined efforts of millions of people, including you, and our member organisations will deliver a clear message that we demand meaningful leadership and action against climate change"

This new campaign is supported by partners including  WWF, Oxfam and  the Global Humanitarian Forum. It aims to create a unified voice in the run up to Copenhagen and has the backing of Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon who was in New York recently where he announced that the city will host a Climate Week from September 21st - 25th 2009. Speaking in New York he said:

"We are here for one reason: to push for urgent action on climate change from world leaders, from civic leaders and from everyone. Every citizen of the world. Including New York City. Climate change is the greatest challenge facing this and future generations".

Public support for action at the Copenhagen talks in December needs to be visible - hence the growing number of online campaigns like tck tck tck -  by signing up we can all show that we demand ambitious, significant and binding outcomes from the climate negotiations.

 tck tck tck puts environmental justice and human rights at the forefront and declares that If we all stand up, our leaders will stand up for us.  I hope so, the clock is ticking...

Steel yourself

Deep breaths, clenched fists, here comes another JUGG-ER-NAUT!

No, not really. But instead, an interesting archive project from the folks at the Social Futures Institute in Teeside all about the steel industry in the North East and its social impact. They are also doing good works to engage the public in their local history, and they're looking for volunteer engineers...

Go here, they'll explain it much better than me.