Greetings!
Paul Hawken in his foreword to Nature's Operating Instructions: The True Biotechnologies, makes clear that "Sustainability is about the relationship between the two most complex systems on earth–human social systems and living systems." Ecological designers find that the wisdom of living systems–almost 4 billion years of adaptation–informs how we design and construct our towns and cities, manufacture our products, and reduce the amount of waste we generate in sleeker, less harmful ways.
In this issue veteran homebuilder John Abrams talks about a sustainable ecology of business, college students build (literally) towards the Solar Decathlon 2007, architects unite under the Architecture 2030 campaign, and much more.
Bioneers Voices: Thinking Like Cathedral Builders
Thinking Like Cathedral Builders: Green Building and Business for the Long Term–Bioneers 2006 workshop featuring John Abrams
My view is that businesses and communities must step up with local solutions that meet the challenges head on. Big business has taken big knocks in recent years with good reason. Meanwhile, small, socially responsible businesses have become a beacon and a breath of fresh air. In many cases they're thriving, gaining strength, beginning to make an impact, but we must do more and we must do it for a long, long time. Read more
Voices Extra!
Nature's operating instructions are being carefully utilized by such brilliant minds as Paul Stamets, Jay Harman, and Michael Ogden. Listen to a free podcast excerpt of Nature's Operating Instructions: True Biotechnologies–a workshop from Bioneers 2006 featuring these three leaders.
To purchase a CD copy or audio download of the entire workshop visit the Bioneers Store.
Terrain.org is an online journal of the built and natural environments. Published twice yearly, it searches for that interface – the integration – among the built and natural environments that might be called the soul of place. The literary, journalistic, and artistic works featured on Terrain.org are of the highest quality, submitted by a variety of contributors for a diverse audience, including some of the finest material previously appearing in Terra Nova: Nature & Culture – works that are idealistic, technical, historical, philosophical, and more. Above all, they focus on the environments around us – the built and natural environment – that both affect and are affected by the human species.
On the Ground Extra! The Biomimicry Institute is an organization whose mission is to naturalize biomimicry in the culture by promoting the transfer of ideas, designs, and strategies from biology to sustainable human systems design. Listen to a podcast of Janine Benyus' plenary (founder of the Biomimcry Institute) from Bioneers 2005 as she speaks about the design intelligence of the Seven Sisters Oak that helped it to survive Hurricane Katrina. To purchase a DVD, CD, or audio download of Janine's entire plenary visit the Bioneers Store.
On the Ground: Terrain.org
Why does the Solar Decathlon exist? To challenge student competitors —"Solar Decathletes" — to think in new ways about energy and how it impacts our everyday lives. To provide those students with a way to show and tell the world what they have learned. It exists to push research and development of energy efficiency and energy production technologies, and to encourage all of us to act responsibly when making energy choices.
Youth in Action: Solar Decathlon 2007
The Company We Keep: Reinventing the Small Business for People, Community, and Place by John Abrams is more than the success story of a revolutionary company. It sets down a framework for a model of employee ownership and community involvement that has piqued the interest of entrepreneurs around the country. In the words of Abrams, "This is a book about a different way of doing business in today's world-a way based on workplace democracy, shared ownership, staying small, building community, commitment to a place, and long term thinking." John Abrams founded the South Mountain Company, a design and building firm, on Martha's Vineyard more than thirty years ago. Through a commitment to place and community entrepreneurship, he has seen the company grow and prosper, while at the same time experimenting with a revolutionary employee ownership model that has challenged the traditional business rhetoric of unchecked growth. Look for the book at your local library, bookstore, or online at Chelsea Green.
Must Read: The Company We Keep
Feature articles, news stories, podcasts, and resources are now live and updated regularly on the following topics via Bioneers.org: Safe by Design by Kim Ridley with Terry Collins Industrial chemistry is a dirty business. More than 100,000 synthetic chemicals have been released into our air, water, soil and food, and few have been tested for health effects on human beings or other creatures. Read on
Make these issues your own by joining a forum or posting a blog.
Can the building industry go carbon neutral by 2030? Find out if and how at Architecture 2030.
News for You
The Bioneers Store contains a number of materials related to the topic of Ecological Design. Here are a few suggestions: Book Nature's Operating Instructions This book is a compilation of essays connecting the splendors of biomimcry to the wisdom of the indigenous to a heightened spiritual awareness, focusing on how we grow food, construct buildings, manufacture products, and process waste. DVD How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World – Paul Stamets CD From Campaigning to Governance: Enacting Green Plans – With Peter Warshall, Spencer Beebe, and Huey Johnson Audio Download Designing the Next Golden Age – Jay Harman
Bioneers Store: Ecological Design
Seed Saving: Preserving Our Irreplaceable Genetic Heritage by Kent Whealy There is great reason for alarm and concern about the loss of native food crop strains, our irreplaceable genetic wealth. The only place genes can be stored is in living systems, either in the living branches, such as in bud-wooded apple trees, or in the living embryos of grains and vegetable seeds. Native varieties rapidly become extinct once they're dropped in favor of introduced hybrid seed.
Read on »
Food and Farming News: Seed Saving
January 27 January 30-31 February 3 Feb 4 March 13 May 23-29 March 25-27 May 15-17 Make sure to visit the Bioneers Events Calendar to view and post events for 2007.
Community Events
January 22
San Francisco Institute of Architecture
Winter Courses
Berkeley, California
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Intentional Community and Deep Democracy
Watsonville, California
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Lecture and Workshop: Biomimicry for a Sustainable Built Environment
San Francisco, California
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4th Annual SNDEI Bioneers Conference
Nevada City, California
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Transformative Dialogue with Global Activists
San Francisco, California
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Built Green Conference & Expo
Everett, Washington
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"Biologists at the Design Table" workshop
Dupuyer, Montana
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National Green Building Conference
St. Louis, Missouri
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EnvironDesign 2007
New Orleans, Louisiana
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