John Thackara, who is director of Doors of Perception, gave a very interesting talk at the Lift 09 Conference yesterday, about the role of design in finding solutions to the ecological crisis. After inviting us to avoid terms such as "future" or "sustainable" as they maintain a certain distance to the problem we face, he shows a rich set of projects he participated in.
Thackara find the word 'resilient' more interesting, as he defines it: 'The capacity of a system, a social one, a natural one or an industrial one, to absorb disturbance and re-organise while undergoing change.'
John Thackara talks through a number of interesting examples where grassroot groups are initiating significant local projects, most notably the Transition Towns movement and an organisation called Monumento in Sao Paulo which is working to make better use of the 4,000 empty buildings in the city.
He makes the important point that the resources to be put in place already exist and that they might not necessitates complex technological developments.
...and he's right.... :)
Posted by: David Barrie | June 24, 2009 at 11:52 PM