JustAnother EcologicalEngineer

 "Ecological Engineering is the design of sustainable systems consistent with ecological principles that integrate human activities into the natural environment to the benefit of both." OSU Alumnus living to make a name for Ecological Engineers

[justanotherecoe-blog]

(via What Is Disruptive Innovation?)

This idea is cool and all but it results in products being designed to fail and the driver is economics rather than what the people need.

Instead we should be aiming for disruptive DESIGN:

“So why do I think we should be talking more about disruptive design and not disruptive innovation? Because innovation alone will not solve the problems that externalities bring, such as climate change, poverty and inequity.

To disrupt by design requires one to firstly have intent to make change, and then to creatively discover nuanced and agile ways of intervening in system to leverage positive change outcomes. You need to be hyper sensitive to the system dynamics you are intervening in and create products and services that minimize the negative externalities and maximize the ability for the system to be regenerative, not destructive.”

Learning to be a disruptive designer from @leylaacaroglu ‘s @unschool 

[justanotherecoe-blog]

No matter what is doing the creating, I have to say that the giraffe and the rhinoceros are ridiculous.

Kurt Vonnegut, Timequake

[niesizzle-blog]

Shout out to one of my favorite TED Talks. Hoping to attend Leyla’s unschool in New Zealand!!

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L4B-Vpvx1A)

[justanotherecoe-blog]

Check out this unschool! Very stoked about the opportunity  http://unschools.co/

[condensationuclei-blog]

nov26 - shell ridge open space

[justanotherecoe-blog]

Imagination is more important than Knowledge. for Knowledge is limited, whereas Imagination embraces the entire world

Albert Einstein

[justanotherecoe-blog]

Take a deep breath and don’t freak out about the future of clean energy under Trump

The inexorable march of wind and solar has largely been driven by both private-sector forces.

While there may be concern I think this reiterates that people drive policy, policy doesn’t drive people. We are on the upward trend of most people and companies simply wanting to be sustainable. Tax breaks are helpful but I’m hopeful in sustainability continuing its movement from the ground up.

“ the inexorable march of wind and solar has largely been driven by both private-sector forces and the policies of individual states, more so than federal influence — and it’s unlikely to be easily halted. “

[justanotherecoe-blog]

How Habitat III Hopes to Grapple With Global Urbanization

Before the conference kicked off this week, the UN released a report on the advantages and drawbacks of rapid urban development.

“ Cities around the world also need to develop and implement better methods of urban planning and design, in addition to strengthening their municipal finance systems. “

[dessenhillman]

A General Theory of Walkability

The following is an excerpt from the chapter “A General Theory of Walkability” in the book Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at A Time:

The General Theory of Walkability explains how, to be favored, a walk has to satisfy four main conditions: it must be useful, safe, comfortable, and interesting. Each of these qualities is essential and none alone is sufficient. Useful means that most aspects of daily life are located close at hand and organized in a way that walking serves them well. Safe means that the street has been designed to give pedestrians a fighting chance against being hit by automobiles; they must not only be safe but feel safe, which is even tougher to satisfy. Comfortable means that buildings and landscape shape urban streets into “outdoor living rooms,” in contrast to wide-open spaces, which usually fail to attract pedestrians. Interesting means that sidewalks are lined by unique buildings with friendly faces and that signs of humanity abound.

These four conditions are mostly a way of thinking about a series of specific rules that are further organized into what I call the Ten Steps of Walkability. These will be explored later. Together, I believe that they add up to a complete prescription for making our cities more walkable.

The Ten Steps of Walkability, which are listed later in the book, are as follows:

The Useful Walk Step 1. Put Cars in Their Place. Step 2. Mix the Uses. Step 3. Get the Parking Right. Step 4. Let Transit Work.

The Safe Walk Step 5. Protect the Pedestrian. Step 6. Welcome Bikes.

The Comfortable Walk Step 7. Shape the Spaces. Step 8. Plant Trees.

The Interesting Walk Step 9. Make Friendly and Unique Faces. Step 10. Pick Your Winners.

Source: Speck, Jeff. Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at A Time. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, New York. 2012

[justanotherecoe-blog]

Very well outlining of what it means to be walkable

[urbangeographies]

Jeff Speck: The walkable city, or why suburban sprawl is the worst idea America ever had!

In a recent “TED Talk,” Jeff Speck makes the case for creating a more walkable America based not on design arguments, but rather on the potential to create a more economically resilient, healthier, and environmentally sustainable country.

In this video, Speck describes the economic, epidemiological, and environmental reasons why the United States must reverse the “worst idea” the country has ever had. Instead of exporting suburban sprawl and auto-oriented design, he argues that that the U.S. can set a precedent worth emulating by designing for walkability. Speck shows how we can free ourselves from dependence on the car – which he calls “a gas-belching, time-wasting, life-threatening prosthetic device” – by making our cities more walkable and more pleasant for more people.

[heretotravel]

Ljubljana is the next big thing in European travel

Ljubljana, Slovenia is a wonderfully green, walkable and attractive city that’s full of great things to do and see. We’ll bring you more from our visit soon, but in the meantime, enjoy these snaps from the historic city centre

[justanotherecoe-blog]

To be truly smart, cities of the future should focus on developing democratic, participatory visions that harness smart technology to a shared agenda. Let’s create a genuinely shared urban commons and an inclusive public realm.

Julian Agyeman and Duncan McLaren (via justanotherecoe)

Notice that technology is mentioned second to the people!

I’ll likely repost this a few times. Its a great reminder of what I’m working towards.

[justanotherecoe-blog]

Curiosity Leads me to lifelong learning Moment by moment

Unknown Author

[justanotherecoe-blog]

A beautiful semi-transparent aluminium skin wraps around this office building in Rio de Janeiro.

The office building i work in was brand new in 2010 and is a bit of a *face palm* in terms of green spaces. After working there for a year I can feel the un-productivity oozing from the walls. Professionals are still learning about how important it is for workers (not just the environment) to have green office spaces. So here is a shout of to a building I wish I was working in.

[landscapefocused]

Collecting ideas for greening the city. Photos by Helga Fassbinder. Via Biotope City Journal.

s i m i l a r: St. Emilion, a principal red wine area of Bordeaux / Floyd E. Patterson Building / The Cement Factory loft

[justanotherecoe-blog]

City Uses Bird Recordings To Reduce Crime - GovLoop

In Lancaster California (population 157,000) Mayor R. Rex Parris has installed 70 speakers along a half mile stretch of a city street and for the past 10 months has played bird songs blended with mellow synthesizer tones, five hours a day. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, the Mayor believes the bird... Read more »

[saturnranch-deactivated20181223]

Fog Harvesting

Dar Si Hmad (DSH) has built the world’s largest fog-collection and distribution system to serve rural, landlocked indigenous communities in the Anti-Atlas Mountains in Southwest Morocco. Scarce water, compromised wells and climate change-induced droughts have destabilized traditional Amazigh  communities and have created heavy burdens on marginalized women. But while Southwest Morocco is water-poor, abundant fog drapes the area 6 months/year. Fog collection is an ancient system to collect clean water in a non-invasive, ecologically friendly way in regions where fog abounds. In Phase 1, DSH has installed 600 square meters of fog nets, solar water pumps and 8km of pipes, to now deliver potable water to +400 rural Berber people that have never had running water.

Read more: http://www.darsihmad.org/fog-harvesting/

[ericcoreyfreed]

inside a beehive comb