TED Fellow and urban designer Mitchell Joachim presents his vision for sustainable, organic architecture: eco-friendly abodes grown from plants and -- wait for it -- meat.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Five Reasons Arts Education Is Essential to Sustainability
by Karen Brown
Thoreau wrote, “Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect miracles.”
For me, the Seed Division, a student-run business at Troy Howard Middle School, a public school in Belfast, Maine, is one such miracle. Troy Howard has become a national exemplar for school agriculture programs, featured in presentations around the country from Cornell University to the Philadelphia Flower Show and the National USDA Conference.
At a time when arts programs across the country are being slashed or eliminated, the Seed Division is thriving, due in large part to a creative approach for marketing the open-pollinated, organic, heirloom seeds that students grow and harvest themselves from their own school garden.
At Troy Howard, students design and produce hand-printed seed packets using environmentally friendly linoleum cuts, resulting in a product that is so charming, useful, and unique that it sells out to parents, at bookstores, and through other venues in the local community, while providing funding for their Garden Project.
So what do students learn from this engagement in the arts and how does this learning connect to sustainability? From my perspective, there are at least five good reasons this and many other art projects contribute to skills needed for sustainable living. By designing and producing seed packets:
1. Students learn to work on multi-disciplinary, cross-functional teams. To produce packaging for their seeds, Troy Howard students cooperate with teachers, Garden Project team members, student printmakers, fellow artists, suppliers, and local retail stores. Through experiencing this rich variety of roles and functions through the iterative process of design, team members acquire understanding and skills from the one another, triggering even more ideas and insights. As creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson has said, "creativity…more often than not, comes about from the interaction of different disciplinary ways of looking at things." Such cultures of creative collaboration can be key to the development of innovative solutions to meet future challenges, especially on a local level.
2. Students learn about materials. Manufacturing a seed packet requires linoleum, ink, and seed envelopes made of paper and adhesive. The process of selecting these materials opens an inquiry into sustainable choices: What are these materials made of? How were they obtained? Which materials are recycled or recyclable? What do they cost, both in dollars and environmental impacts? Which were produced locally? Which have long-term, short-term or one-time uses? Which are derived from petroleum? Are alternatives available? And so on.
3. Students learn to "think backwards." To make a linoleum block that successfully prints a seed packet, students must learn to "think backwards," that is, to cut a mirror image of the illustration and lettering so that it reads "right" when reversed onto the paper. Follow? In fact, most forms of fabrication require the capacity to think spatially and work backwards, inside out, upside down, or in the negative, inviting perspectives that are new, challenging, and often downright beguiling. If students want seeds to be available for a holiday sale, they need to plan backwards with the end in mind – from the date of the sale to the point in time when packages must be designed, printed, filled, and delivered, to the moment in the garden when seeds must be harvested and sorted.
4. Students learn how to contribute to the life of their community. Through their seed and produce sales, students of the Seed Division enjoy the opportunities and sense of security that come from deriving their livelihood from participation in their community. While earning enough to cover their program's operating expenses, the students also make a valuable contribution to fellow gardeners and their local food system by saving and propagating precious heirloom varieties that are adapted to local soils and climate. And they experience perhaps the greatest joy known to all makers-of-things: the exhilaration of moving an intangible idea – step-by-step – into the reality of three dimensions, so that it can be shared and enjoyed by others.
5. Students learn the role of beauty and wit in everyday life. Nineteenth-century architect and designer William Morris wrote, "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful." A lot us (starting with me) fail at this in the current consumer culture. But an arts project like this one at Troy Howard can demonstrate to students that by shifting from consumer to producer they become the source of the beauty, values, and character that they believe products can and should embody. They begin to understand that they can become the change they want to see in the world, in part through the power of their talents, skills, and aesthetic choices.
What would Socrates do?
Inquiry for the classroom using Socratic dialogues
* Part of the reason seeds from the Troy Howard Seed Division sell so well is the popular package design. What are ways that packaging might influence your purchase decisions?
At a time when arts programs across the country are being slashed or eliminated, the Seed Division is thriving, due in large part to a creative approach for marketing the open-pollinated, organic, heirloom seeds that students grow and harvest themselves from their own school garden.
At Troy Howard, students design and produce hand-printed seed packets using environmentally friendly linoleum cuts, resulting in a product that is so charming, useful, and unique that it sells out to parents, at bookstores, and through other venues in the local community, while providing funding for their Garden Project.
So what do students learn from this engagement in the arts and how does this learning connect to sustainability? From my perspective, there are at least five good reasons this and many other art projects contribute to skills needed for sustainable living. By designing and producing seed packets:
1. Students learn to work on multi-disciplinary, cross-functional teams. To produce packaging for their seeds, Troy Howard students cooperate with teachers, Garden Project team members, student printmakers, fellow artists, suppliers, and local retail stores. Through experiencing this rich variety of roles and functions through the iterative process of design, team members acquire understanding and skills from the one another, triggering even more ideas and insights. As creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson has said
2. Students learn about materials. Manufacturing a seed packet requires linoleum, ink, and seed envelopes made of paper and adhesive. The process of selecting these materials opens an inquiry into sustainable choices: What are these materials made of? How were they obtained? Which materials are recycled or recyclable? What do they cost, both in dollars and environmental impacts? Which were produced locally? Which have long-term, short-term or one-time uses? Which are derived from petroleum? Are alternatives available? And so on.
3. Students learn to "think backwards." To make a linoleum block that successfully prints a seed packet, students must learn to "think backwards," that is, to cut a mirror image of the illustration and lettering so that it reads "right" when reversed onto the paper. Follow? In fact, most forms of fabrication require the capacity to think spatially and work backwards, inside out, upside down, or in the negative, inviting perspectives that are new, challenging, and often downright beguiling. If students want seeds to be available for a holiday sale, they need to plan backwards with the end in mind – from the date of the sale to the point in time when packages must be designed, printed, filled, and delivered, to the moment in the garden when seeds must be harvested and sorted.
4. Students learn how to contribute to the life of their community. Through their seed and produce sales, students of the Seed Division enjoy the opportunities and sense of security that come from deriving their livelihood from participation in their community. While earning enough to cover their program's operating expenses, the students also make a valuable contribution to fellow gardeners and their local food system by saving and propagating precious heirloom varieties that are adapted to local soils and climate. And they experience perhaps the greatest joy known to all makers-of-things: the exhilaration of moving an intangible idea – step-by-step – into the reality of three dimensions, so that it can be shared and enjoyed by others.
5. Students learn the role of beauty and wit in everyday life. Nineteenth-century architect and designer William Morris wrote, "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful." A lot us (starting with me) fail at this in the current consumer culture. But an arts project like this one at Troy Howard can demonstrate to students that by shifting from consumer to producer they become the source of the beauty, values, and character that they believe products can and should embody. They begin to understand that they can become the change they want to see in the world, in part through the power of their talents, skills, and aesthetic choices.
What would Socrates do?
Inquiry for the classroom using Socratic dialogues
* Part of the reason seeds from the Troy Howard Seed Division sell so well is the popular package design. What are ways that packaging might influence your purchase decisions?
* How many things do you make in a day, month, or year? Do you feel or think differently about things that you make or that are made by people you know personally, compared to things you buy ready-made? In general, which do you prefer: handmade things, or manufactured things?
* Students at Troy Howard Middle School are encouraged to grow their own food. How would growing your own food year-round affect what or how you eat? How would your schedule be affected if you needed to spend time each day growing a lot of the food you ate?
Sunday, July 4, 2010
How to Add Zest to Your Sustainability Education Program
Building with cob.
I attacked my driveway with a sledgehammer the day after returning home from graduating from a permaculture design course. Soon friends from my community joined in, we rented a jackhammer for a few days, and within a few months, arugula and lettuce were growing where cars had been. My busy mind applied permaculture principles to everything from communicating with my family to improving the ecovillage where I lived to drafting proposals for rewriting our city’s zoning codes. Eventually I began teaching permaculture design courses, and became curious about how I might bring permaculture principles to the art of teaching. Could using permaculture principles in education help create an educational environment that is as full of productivity, beauty, and joy as a permaculture-inspired garden?
Permaculture principles are an evolving set of ideas that can be applied to designing gardens, homes, cities, or any other human-created structure, even those that are invisible, such as economic systems. Some permaculture principles are commonsense ideas that might be said by our grandmothers (e.g., “Work smarter, not harder” or “Mistakes are tools for learning”), while some have a more scientific tone (e.g., “Each element supports many functions, and every important function is supported by many elements”). I will describe here how I have used some of the principles developed by David Holmgren, cofounder of permaculture, to improve my teaching of permaculture design courses at the Camassia Institute in Oregon, where students live and work together for five weeks.
Observe and Interact
The first permaculture principle on almost every permaculturalist’s list is to observe before acting. When designing for someone’s home, for example, we notice such things as where the water flows, the sun lands, the animals travel, the wind blows, and the neighbors are noisy, before proposing where to put gardens, trees, buildings, and walls. How could this principle of observation be applied to teaching?
Towards the beginning of each program, I ask participants to write down what they already know about permaculture, what they’re wanting to learn in the course, and how they best learn. Then I meet with each participant individually over a meal to offer “permaculture career coaching,” listening to their goals and making suggestions for books, mentors, internships, and other resources that might help them take steps towards these goals. I also observe participants while they learn; some are most awake during discussions, but hang back during hands-on sessions, while others appear drowsy through lectures and are fully engaged while working outside. All of this data helps me as I plan future lessons.
Interactions with students become influenced by my observations of them. My goal is to honor each student as they are, while creating a safe, stimulating, and nourishing place for them to become more knowledgeable, self-directed, and empowered. Just as different plants thrive under different conditions depending on their needs, so students respond to different kinds of support.
One time, participants were taking turns standing up in front of the whole class to perform a skit, receiving applause when they were done. One participant said “I pass” when it was her turn to perform. How could I best support this person, who had appeared to be shy and uncomfortable since the course had begun? The other participants nervously watched how I might handle her refusal to participate. I might have verbally encouraged a different participant to stand up and give it a go, but for this girl I began clapping, and the others joined in. “Thank you for being true to yourself, for honoring your right to be ‘at choice’ in this course,” I said. From then on she knew that whatever she chose to offer in class or not was fine, and in that climate of safety she chose to participate in all future activities, even alone in front of the group. Based on observation of her extreme shyness, I had guessed an important nutrient for her growth: the freedom to just watch.
Use and Value Diversity
Just as planting a diversity of crops nurtures healthy and productive plants, so does teaching using a variety of methods create a richer, more effective learning environment. Howard Gardner describes nine different learning styles, including learning through seeing, action, hearing, music and rhythm, immersion in nature, cooperating with others, reflecting alone, thinking logically, and spiritual insight. I rotate through these teaching methods so that everyone has a chance to learn using their preferred modes. For example, here’s how I have facilitated people learning the names and meanings of permaculture principles:
Seeing and hearing: I often introduce a new topic with some kind of presentation involving talk and visuals for 15 minutes or so. Holmgren has created a Powerpoint presentation on his own principles that works for this purpose.
Action and rhythm: In a circle, one person throws a ball to another while saying the name of the first principle, in rhythm. “Observe and interact.” Toss the ball. “Observe and interact.” Toss. This quickly becomes easy, so we add the second principle. “Observe and Interact,” toss, “Catch and Store Energy.” When repeating these two principles becomes easy, we add a third principle. “Observe and Interact,” toss, “Catch and Store Energy,” toss, “Obtain a yield.” If we break the large group into small ones of four to six participants, it takes about half an hour for everyone to memorize the names of all 12 principles. It’s helpful to revisit this game for a few minutes a day for a few days in a row to help participants put the list into their long-term memories.
Music: We sing a song that describes each principle.
Cooperating with others: Small groups create skits that illustrates one of the principles without naming it. The whole group then guesses what principle is being acted out.
Immersion in nature and solitary reflection: Students walk alone in nature looking for examples of permaculture principles in action, and then bring these insights back to the whole group.
The first years I taught in The Camassia Institute, before we began using multiple approaches to teaching, students regularly expressed frustration that after studying for a month, they still couldn’t remember the names of the permaculture principles. Since adopting this approach, participants become fluent in talking about principles within the first week, and making references to them in discussions both in and out of the classroom throughout the duration of the course. Participants return home with a much clearer idea of what permaculture is, and are better able to communicate what they’ve learned to others.
Design from Patterns to Detail
Permaculture is a huge topic; the 72-hour standard permaculture design course is supposed to cover the content of a 600-page textbook written by the cofounder of permaculture, Bill Mollison. Since this book was written over 20 years ago, it is tempting for permaculture teachers to share even more information that has been discovered in the meantime. Permaculture is also a systems approach to perceiving the world, and doesn’t lend itself well to linear outlines. How can we organize this vast material to alleviate a sense of overwhelm on the part of participants who are exposed to so much information? The permaculture principle “Design from Patterns to Detail” comes to the rescue. Applied to an educational program, it tells us to teach the main ideas first, working our way later to covering details.
I use mind-maps to show how the concepts we are learning connect to each other. (See sidebar for an example.) At the center of the web-like drawing I put a circle with the name of the day’s topic in the center. Let’s say we’re studying water. Around the central circle that says “water” I draw several more circles with lines connecting these circles to the center. In each of these circles I write words that describe goals we might have for managing water in a permaculture design, such as water storage, or water purification. On an outer ring, connecting to these goal circles, would be other circles that describe strategies for accomplishing these goals, such as storing water in rainwater barrels, ponds, or soil. As we move out in ever-expanding circles, more details on how to accomplish these strategies are added. Some of the strategies accomplish more than one goal, and so connecting lines can go from an outside circle to more than one inner circle. Mulching, for example, enhances both water storage and water purification. Books and other resources that describe more details can be referenced on the mind-map, so participants can learn more on their own.
The aim of an introductory permaculture design course is to help participants see the central goals and strategies of permaculture, not to master every detail. Mind-maps can help participants distinguish central ideas from the details, guiding them to focus on core material during the course, while giving them pointers to what they can study after they’ve graduated from the course and are working in the world. Mind-maps also serve to help participants understand why they might feel overwhelmed learning permaculture—there’s so much knowledge available to us. No one person can learn it all! As we fill in detailed understanding of topics over time, we can use the maps to suggest new places to explore at our own chosen pace.
Apply Self-Regulation and Accept Feedback
This is my favorite permaculture principle, for it addresses the overconsumption of resources that is stressing our planet. An example of applying this principle in a home is installing the electric meter in a prominent location at the entrance of a house rather than in some outside corner behind a bush. Residents will notice how fast the meter is moving, and be more likely to look for ways to decrease their electricity usage.
In an educational setting, this principle encourages us to ask our students for feedback on the course, and to respond to their answers. If participants say their bodies are sore and their minds are numb from sitting and listening to lectures too long, then it’s time to change the format. Research has shown that people remember five percent of what they hear, 50 percent of what they discuss, 70 percent of what they do, and 90 percent of what they teach. [Study at the Bethel Training Lab referred to by Priscilla Logan at her website www.outdoorclassroom.org/train.htm.] No wonder instructors love to lecture—by being actively engaged in teaching they are probably learning more than their students.
Here’s a trick for responding to students who say they’re feeling exhausted: schedule a nap-time. Towards the end of the afternoon, put on some baroque music that is played at 60 beats per minute, and have students lie down with their eyes closed. Then slowly, in a monotone, summarize the information that has been imparted that day. According to proponents of accelerated learning techniques, this will help students remember what they’ve learned, moving information from short-term to long-term memory. I don’t know if this is true statistically, but from my own experience and the testimony of some students, I believe it works. As one of my students said after one nap-time: “Why can’t all schools be like this!”
Produce No Waste
Though people learn more by teaching than by listening to lectures, it wouldn’t work to have all the students in a classroom talking to each other simultaneously in order to try to maximize learning—chaos would ensue. So here’s a principle that guided me to another approach to having students teach each other: “produce no waste.” In a home situation this principle refers to using outputs from one part of the system as inputs for another part. Vegetable scraps are fed to the chickens who produce manure that is used for compost to grow more vegetables. The goal is to have nothing go off-site into the waste stream.
How many times as a child did you produce homework that ended up in the trashcan? Learning doesn’t have to be this wasteful and demoralizing. Put participants to work creating learning materials for each other, establishing a Montessori-influenced permaculture classroom. Whatever the topic, participants can create learning games, books, or other materials for the other students to use. Let’s say the topic is useful plants to grow in a temperate food forest. Ask small groups to research different plants, and then collectively create a book that describes each plant. This would be available to future course participants, who might then be responsible for researching plants appropriate for a tropical food forest. Or you and some assistants could work with different groups to prepare different herbal infusions, tinctures, or salves. The small groups would then explain to the whole group how their medicine was made and what it is used for, perhaps giving samples to each other. In this way, participants produce something that not only reinforces their learning, but also is of real value to others.
So those are five permaculture principles that can help us design environments that make learning come alive. I look forward to exploring how other permaculture principles might enrich my teaching. If you think of an idea, let me know, and I’ll try it in my program.
Permaculture principles are an evolving set of ideas that can be applied to designing gardens, homes, cities, or any other human-created structure, even those that are invisible, such as economic systems. Some permaculture principles are commonsense ideas that might be said by our grandmothers (e.g., “Work smarter, not harder” or “Mistakes are tools for learning”), while some have a more scientific tone (e.g., “Each element supports many functions, and every important function is supported by many elements”). I will describe here how I have used some of the principles developed by David Holmgren, cofounder of permaculture, to improve my teaching of permaculture design courses at the Camassia Institute in Oregon, where students live and work together for five weeks.
Observe and Interact
The first permaculture principle on almost every permaculturalist’s list is to observe before acting. When designing for someone’s home, for example, we notice such things as where the water flows, the sun lands, the animals travel, the wind blows, and the neighbors are noisy, before proposing where to put gardens, trees, buildings, and walls. How could this principle of observation be applied to teaching?
Towards the beginning of each program, I ask participants to write down what they already know about permaculture, what they’re wanting to learn in the course, and how they best learn. Then I meet with each participant individually over a meal to offer “permaculture career coaching,” listening to their goals and making suggestions for books, mentors, internships, and other resources that might help them take steps towards these goals. I also observe participants while they learn; some are most awake during discussions, but hang back during hands-on sessions, while others appear drowsy through lectures and are fully engaged while working outside. All of this data helps me as I plan future lessons.
Interactions with students become influenced by my observations of them. My goal is to honor each student as they are, while creating a safe, stimulating, and nourishing place for them to become more knowledgeable, self-directed, and empowered. Just as different plants thrive under different conditions depending on their needs, so students respond to different kinds of support.
One time, participants were taking turns standing up in front of the whole class to perform a skit, receiving applause when they were done. One participant said “I pass” when it was her turn to perform. How could I best support this person, who had appeared to be shy and uncomfortable since the course had begun? The other participants nervously watched how I might handle her refusal to participate. I might have verbally encouraged a different participant to stand up and give it a go, but for this girl I began clapping, and the others joined in. “Thank you for being true to yourself, for honoring your right to be ‘at choice’ in this course,” I said. From then on she knew that whatever she chose to offer in class or not was fine, and in that climate of safety she chose to participate in all future activities, even alone in front of the group. Based on observation of her extreme shyness, I had guessed an important nutrient for her growth: the freedom to just watch.
Use and Value Diversity
Just as planting a diversity of crops nurtures healthy and productive plants, so does teaching using a variety of methods create a richer, more effective learning environment. Howard Gardner describes nine different learning styles, including learning through seeing, action, hearing, music and rhythm, immersion in nature, cooperating with others, reflecting alone, thinking logically, and spiritual insight. I rotate through these teaching methods so that everyone has a chance to learn using their preferred modes. For example, here’s how I have facilitated people learning the names and meanings of permaculture principles:
Seeing and hearing: I often introduce a new topic with some kind of presentation involving talk and visuals for 15 minutes or so. Holmgren has created a Powerpoint presentation on his own principles that works for this purpose.
Action and rhythm: In a circle, one person throws a ball to another while saying the name of the first principle, in rhythm. “Observe and interact.” Toss the ball. “Observe and interact.” Toss. This quickly becomes easy, so we add the second principle. “Observe and Interact,” toss, “Catch and Store Energy.” When repeating these two principles becomes easy, we add a third principle. “Observe and Interact,” toss, “Catch and Store Energy,” toss, “Obtain a yield.” If we break the large group into small ones of four to six participants, it takes about half an hour for everyone to memorize the names of all 12 principles. It’s helpful to revisit this game for a few minutes a day for a few days in a row to help participants put the list into their long-term memories.
Music: We sing a song that describes each principle.
Cooperating with others: Small groups create skits that illustrates one of the principles without naming it. The whole group then guesses what principle is being acted out.
Immersion in nature and solitary reflection: Students walk alone in nature looking for examples of permaculture principles in action, and then bring these insights back to the whole group.
The first years I taught in The Camassia Institute, before we began using multiple approaches to teaching, students regularly expressed frustration that after studying for a month, they still couldn’t remember the names of the permaculture principles. Since adopting this approach, participants become fluent in talking about principles within the first week, and making references to them in discussions both in and out of the classroom throughout the duration of the course. Participants return home with a much clearer idea of what permaculture is, and are better able to communicate what they’ve learned to others.
Design from Patterns to Detail
Permaculture is a huge topic; the 72-hour standard permaculture design course is supposed to cover the content of a 600-page textbook written by the cofounder of permaculture, Bill Mollison. Since this book was written over 20 years ago, it is tempting for permaculture teachers to share even more information that has been discovered in the meantime. Permaculture is also a systems approach to perceiving the world, and doesn’t lend itself well to linear outlines. How can we organize this vast material to alleviate a sense of overwhelm on the part of participants who are exposed to so much information? The permaculture principle “Design from Patterns to Detail” comes to the rescue. Applied to an educational program, it tells us to teach the main ideas first, working our way later to covering details.
I use mind-maps to show how the concepts we are learning connect to each other. (See sidebar for an example.) At the center of the web-like drawing I put a circle with the name of the day’s topic in the center. Let’s say we’re studying water. Around the central circle that says “water” I draw several more circles with lines connecting these circles to the center. In each of these circles I write words that describe goals we might have for managing water in a permaculture design, such as water storage, or water purification. On an outer ring, connecting to these goal circles, would be other circles that describe strategies for accomplishing these goals, such as storing water in rainwater barrels, ponds, or soil. As we move out in ever-expanding circles, more details on how to accomplish these strategies are added. Some of the strategies accomplish more than one goal, and so connecting lines can go from an outside circle to more than one inner circle. Mulching, for example, enhances both water storage and water purification. Books and other resources that describe more details can be referenced on the mind-map, so participants can learn more on their own.
The aim of an introductory permaculture design course is to help participants see the central goals and strategies of permaculture, not to master every detail. Mind-maps can help participants distinguish central ideas from the details, guiding them to focus on core material during the course, while giving them pointers to what they can study after they’ve graduated from the course and are working in the world. Mind-maps also serve to help participants understand why they might feel overwhelmed learning permaculture—there’s so much knowledge available to us. No one person can learn it all! As we fill in detailed understanding of topics over time, we can use the maps to suggest new places to explore at our own chosen pace.
Apply Self-Regulation and Accept Feedback
This is my favorite permaculture principle, for it addresses the overconsumption of resources that is stressing our planet. An example of applying this principle in a home is installing the electric meter in a prominent location at the entrance of a house rather than in some outside corner behind a bush. Residents will notice how fast the meter is moving, and be more likely to look for ways to decrease their electricity usage.
In an educational setting, this principle encourages us to ask our students for feedback on the course, and to respond to their answers. If participants say their bodies are sore and their minds are numb from sitting and listening to lectures too long, then it’s time to change the format. Research has shown that people remember five percent of what they hear, 50 percent of what they discuss, 70 percent of what they do, and 90 percent of what they teach. [Study at the Bethel Training Lab referred to by Priscilla Logan at her website www.outdoorclassroom.org/train.htm.] No wonder instructors love to lecture—by being actively engaged in teaching they are probably learning more than their students.
Here’s a trick for responding to students who say they’re feeling exhausted: schedule a nap-time. Towards the end of the afternoon, put on some baroque music that is played at 60 beats per minute, and have students lie down with their eyes closed. Then slowly, in a monotone, summarize the information that has been imparted that day. According to proponents of accelerated learning techniques, this will help students remember what they’ve learned, moving information from short-term to long-term memory. I don’t know if this is true statistically, but from my own experience and the testimony of some students, I believe it works. As one of my students said after one nap-time: “Why can’t all schools be like this!”
Produce No Waste
Though people learn more by teaching than by listening to lectures, it wouldn’t work to have all the students in a classroom talking to each other simultaneously in order to try to maximize learning—chaos would ensue. So here’s a principle that guided me to another approach to having students teach each other: “produce no waste.” In a home situation this principle refers to using outputs from one part of the system as inputs for another part. Vegetable scraps are fed to the chickens who produce manure that is used for compost to grow more vegetables. The goal is to have nothing go off-site into the waste stream.
How many times as a child did you produce homework that ended up in the trashcan? Learning doesn’t have to be this wasteful and demoralizing. Put participants to work creating learning materials for each other, establishing a Montessori-influenced permaculture classroom. Whatever the topic, participants can create learning games, books, or other materials for the other students to use. Let’s say the topic is useful plants to grow in a temperate food forest. Ask small groups to research different plants, and then collectively create a book that describes each plant. This would be available to future course participants, who might then be responsible for researching plants appropriate for a tropical food forest. Or you and some assistants could work with different groups to prepare different herbal infusions, tinctures, or salves. The small groups would then explain to the whole group how their medicine was made and what it is used for, perhaps giving samples to each other. In this way, participants produce something that not only reinforces their learning, but also is of real value to others.
So those are five permaculture principles that can help us design environments that make learning come alive. I look forward to exploring how other permaculture principles might enrich my teaching. If you think of an idea, let me know, and I’ll try it in my program.
Copyright © Fellowship for Intentional Community (FIC) and Communities: Life in Cooperative Culture · communities.ic.org · Reprint only with permission.
The FIC publishes Communities magazine, the Communities Directory, the Intentional Communities Website (www.ic.org), and supports all forms of cooperative living. Please consider a donation to support our efforts.
The FIC publishes Communities magazine, the Communities Directory, the Intentional Communities Website (www.ic.org), and supports all forms of cooperative living. Please consider a donation to support our efforts.
| Melanie Rios is a permaculture teacher at The Camassia Institute in Oregon. Her latest passion when she’s not teaching is being part of the SingPeace! Earth Pilgrimage for Global Harmony, which travels throughout the Pacific Northwest teaching songs, earth-based fitness, and permaculture. | |
Seeing the Good in the World
 Students in the Human Ecology of the Southern Appalachians Summer Field School take a tour of an ecovillage outside Asheville, North Carolina. Published in the Summer 2010 issue of CommunitiesIssue #147 magazine - |   (Click a photo to enlarge) |
“I think a lot of people subscribe to the idea that intentional communities are cloistered away, and only focused on improving their own immediate societies. It was wonderful to see how each and every place we visited articulated how important it was to extend the benefits of cooperative living to everyone, not just those who actually live with them.”
This quote from one of my students indicates the impact that visits to intentional communities have on students in higher education. As an anthropologist and environmental studies teacher, I believe that providing students opportunities to experience intentional communities is an excellent way to explore the nuts and bolts of sustainability and participate in positive social transformation. This short article explores my experiences in this area and presents a call for communitarians and academic researchers to come together for a broad discussion about connecting communities, students, and academic institutions for sustainability education and transformation.
Intentional Communities in a Summer Field School
“This was one of the most educational and fun experiences of my life and I truly went home with a new perspective on our society and my life in general.”
In the two years after finishing graduate school in 2007, I taught about intentional communities mostly in the abstract. I gave brief lectures on them in my introductory anthropology courses and even taught a one-credit freshman seminar on ecovillages. Throughout, most students did not show the greatest enthusiasm. A topic that held my attention for 10 years was not captivating for my students.
This began to change during summer 2009 when I co-taught a field school on the human ecology of the Southern Appalachian region during which we took students to visit a number of intentional communities. These visits came on the tail of several weeks spent learning about transformations in human-environmental relationships in the region over the last millennium. These transformations tended not to be positive in nature. From European colonialism and its effects on native cultures and landscapes to industrial-scale timber harvesting and mountaintop removal coal mining to the decline in agroecological diversity in the region, a series of negative scenarios confronted us. While it was exciting to immerse ourselves in the landscapes and communities in which these changes occurred, the experience was not particularly uplifting.
However, we also wanted to bring to light positive trends in the region: Cherokee cultural revitalization, an elk reintroduction program, renewable energy projects, local and organic food movements, and intentional communities. Moving roughly chronologically through the environmental history of the Southern Appalachians, toward the end of our itinerary we turned our attention to groups of people attempting to reinhabit this place. At this point, the tone of the course and the attitude of the students began to shift. Perhaps it was my own enthusiasm. My knowledge about the region was rooted in my long-term relationships with several intentional communities there. I think that seeing and talking with groups of people engaged in deliberate endeavors to change their relationships with each other and with the surrounding environment provided a sense of positive possibilities.
Learning about the communities was challenging as well. How could people choose to share ownership of land and other property with so many other people? How could people be willing to sit in meetings discussing minor details for so long? How could people put up with not having cell phone access 24 hours a day, seven days a week? These seemed contrary to what students expected from life. Students were also challenged by the practical, daily realities of community life. We spent 48 hours at an ecovillage and during that time, I was the only one to use the composting toilet. Students yearned for a “real” shower. Bathing in the creek didn’t do the trick. Still, I could see that these experiences began to open up new possibilities for them. Simply seeing that other people could do something different was empowering.
Undergraduate Research on Intentional Communities
“I think intentional community building is one way, one step to creating a better world. It’s great to see these communities in action instead of just having an abstract idea of what they are like.”
Fast forward to spring semester 2010. A colleague and I received a small grant for research on intentional communities. The grant was part of a larger, campus-wide project that aims to determine how research, public policy, and citizen action can combine to contribute to more “livable lives” in the region surrounding our campus. Recognizing that intentional communities are inherently formed in pursuit of lives more livable, we believed their endeavors should inform the larger project. Rather than simply writing a report or doing library research, we decided to get our students actively engaged with some of the intentional communities around campus. We wanted them to experience the transformative potential intentional communities hold and to use their fresh perspectives to help us bring this potential to light.
We chose to use appreciative inquiry to engage community members in discussions focused on the most positive aspects of their communities. Following on the idea that intentional communities are creating the change they wish to see in the world, we ask mostly about not the problems that local communitarians are responding to, but the solutions they’re creating. Our research focuses on community members’ experiences of the ways in which community living contributes to things like increased economic security and social support, a better sense of health and well-being, and reduced ecological footprints—all essential components of any transition to a more sustainable society. While our goals could be achieved through reviews of the growing academic and community literatures on these topics, the quote above suggests that facilitating direct student experiences of intentional community holds much greater potential power.
Student Engagement: Personal Inspiration and Social Transformation
“I really enjoyed the trip and how much it opened my eyes to the good in the world. You don't always get to see how much people care and appreciate everything they have, so much so that they extend themselves to others who are less fortunate in such a profound way.”
“I was very humbled by the determination and passion with which each community pursued their goals, but also equally inspired by the grace they had in accepting where they were in that process.”
“The common thread is an intense and deep love for those you are working and living with. I was truly envious of the kind of emotional relationships those people had with each other. It's an amazing thing.”
A whirlwind tour of five local intentional communities at the beginning of the semester was the students’ introduction to community living. Student responses to this tour reflect the power of this experience. Students were clearly inspired by the positive and moving examples presented by the communities we visited. In a world increasingly filled with bad news that can overwhelm one with a sense of powerlessness, intentional communities reverse this dynamic.
Intentional communities were seen as a manifestation of the potential good in the world. We visited communities dedicated to serving the homeless and others in need. We saw a variety of communities struggling to meet their goals and recognizing that the process of striving for something better is as important as actually getting there. Perhaps most powerfully, we encountered groups of people who care deeply about each other and about the places in which they live, people who were not afraid to speak openly and with emotion about these things even in the midst of a group of strangers.
Our all-day tour was long and tiring, but subsequent discussions indicate the students clearly took a lot from it, including a better understanding of what intentional communities are all about. Students are now excited about their research papers and projects and don’t seem to need much prompting to get the work under way. Each student has selected a particular community to research in greater depth via frequent visits and interviews with community members throughout the semester. Perhaps more importantly, students are engaging these communities on an intensely personal level and contributing to the broader process of social and cultural transformation.
Sustainability is clearly not just about new technologies that enable us to use natural resources more efficiently. Nor can sustainability be achieved through research and public policy alone. Moving toward sustainability will require broad cultural transformations that can be brought about only as people reengage with each other intentionally in local communities. My experiences over the last couple of years suggest that actively connecting students with intentional communities holds great potential for helping to initiate the kind of societal transformation that a quest for sustainability entails.
Connecting Communities and Students for Sustainability Education
I know there are many others out there who share my sentiments and who may have much greater experience with this topic. I would like to suggest that we create a forum where we can share our experiences and support each other in furthering the transformative potential inherent in engaging higher education students with community living. Perhaps we could come together at the Communal Studies Association annual conference for formal and informal discussions. Fellowship for Intentional Community events may provide appropriate venues as well. I am open to other suggestions. If you are an educator, communitarian, activist, or student who is interested in strengthening connections and increasing opportunities for interaction among communities, students, and academic institutions, please contact me at jlockyer AT (replace with @) wustl.edu.
This quote from one of my students indicates the impact that visits to intentional communities have on students in higher education. As an anthropologist and environmental studies teacher, I believe that providing students opportunities to experience intentional communities is an excellent way to explore the nuts and bolts of sustainability and participate in positive social transformation. This short article explores my experiences in this area and presents a call for communitarians and academic researchers to come together for a broad discussion about connecting communities, students, and academic institutions for sustainability education and transformation.
Intentional Communities in a Summer Field School
“This was one of the most educational and fun experiences of my life and I truly went home with a new perspective on our society and my life in general.”
In the two years after finishing graduate school in 2007, I taught about intentional communities mostly in the abstract. I gave brief lectures on them in my introductory anthropology courses and even taught a one-credit freshman seminar on ecovillages. Throughout, most students did not show the greatest enthusiasm. A topic that held my attention for 10 years was not captivating for my students.
This began to change during summer 2009 when I co-taught a field school on the human ecology of the Southern Appalachian region during which we took students to visit a number of intentional communities. These visits came on the tail of several weeks spent learning about transformations in human-environmental relationships in the region over the last millennium. These transformations tended not to be positive in nature. From European colonialism and its effects on native cultures and landscapes to industrial-scale timber harvesting and mountaintop removal coal mining to the decline in agroecological diversity in the region, a series of negative scenarios confronted us. While it was exciting to immerse ourselves in the landscapes and communities in which these changes occurred, the experience was not particularly uplifting.
However, we also wanted to bring to light positive trends in the region: Cherokee cultural revitalization, an elk reintroduction program, renewable energy projects, local and organic food movements, and intentional communities. Moving roughly chronologically through the environmental history of the Southern Appalachians, toward the end of our itinerary we turned our attention to groups of people attempting to reinhabit this place. At this point, the tone of the course and the attitude of the students began to shift. Perhaps it was my own enthusiasm. My knowledge about the region was rooted in my long-term relationships with several intentional communities there. I think that seeing and talking with groups of people engaged in deliberate endeavors to change their relationships with each other and with the surrounding environment provided a sense of positive possibilities.
Learning about the communities was challenging as well. How could people choose to share ownership of land and other property with so many other people? How could people be willing to sit in meetings discussing minor details for so long? How could people put up with not having cell phone access 24 hours a day, seven days a week? These seemed contrary to what students expected from life. Students were also challenged by the practical, daily realities of community life. We spent 48 hours at an ecovillage and during that time, I was the only one to use the composting toilet. Students yearned for a “real” shower. Bathing in the creek didn’t do the trick. Still, I could see that these experiences began to open up new possibilities for them. Simply seeing that other people could do something different was empowering.
Undergraduate Research on Intentional Communities
“I think intentional community building is one way, one step to creating a better world. It’s great to see these communities in action instead of just having an abstract idea of what they are like.”
Fast forward to spring semester 2010. A colleague and I received a small grant for research on intentional communities. The grant was part of a larger, campus-wide project that aims to determine how research, public policy, and citizen action can combine to contribute to more “livable lives” in the region surrounding our campus. Recognizing that intentional communities are inherently formed in pursuit of lives more livable, we believed their endeavors should inform the larger project. Rather than simply writing a report or doing library research, we decided to get our students actively engaged with some of the intentional communities around campus. We wanted them to experience the transformative potential intentional communities hold and to use their fresh perspectives to help us bring this potential to light.
We chose to use appreciative inquiry to engage community members in discussions focused on the most positive aspects of their communities. Following on the idea that intentional communities are creating the change they wish to see in the world, we ask mostly about not the problems that local communitarians are responding to, but the solutions they’re creating. Our research focuses on community members’ experiences of the ways in which community living contributes to things like increased economic security and social support, a better sense of health and well-being, and reduced ecological footprints—all essential components of any transition to a more sustainable society. While our goals could be achieved through reviews of the growing academic and community literatures on these topics, the quote above suggests that facilitating direct student experiences of intentional community holds much greater potential power.
Student Engagement: Personal Inspiration and Social Transformation
“I really enjoyed the trip and how much it opened my eyes to the good in the world. You don't always get to see how much people care and appreciate everything they have, so much so that they extend themselves to others who are less fortunate in such a profound way.”
“I was very humbled by the determination and passion with which each community pursued their goals, but also equally inspired by the grace they had in accepting where they were in that process.”
“The common thread is an intense and deep love for those you are working and living with. I was truly envious of the kind of emotional relationships those people had with each other. It's an amazing thing.”
A whirlwind tour of five local intentional communities at the beginning of the semester was the students’ introduction to community living. Student responses to this tour reflect the power of this experience. Students were clearly inspired by the positive and moving examples presented by the communities we visited. In a world increasingly filled with bad news that can overwhelm one with a sense of powerlessness, intentional communities reverse this dynamic.
Intentional communities were seen as a manifestation of the potential good in the world. We visited communities dedicated to serving the homeless and others in need. We saw a variety of communities struggling to meet their goals and recognizing that the process of striving for something better is as important as actually getting there. Perhaps most powerfully, we encountered groups of people who care deeply about each other and about the places in which they live, people who were not afraid to speak openly and with emotion about these things even in the midst of a group of strangers.
Our all-day tour was long and tiring, but subsequent discussions indicate the students clearly took a lot from it, including a better understanding of what intentional communities are all about. Students are now excited about their research papers and projects and don’t seem to need much prompting to get the work under way. Each student has selected a particular community to research in greater depth via frequent visits and interviews with community members throughout the semester. Perhaps more importantly, students are engaging these communities on an intensely personal level and contributing to the broader process of social and cultural transformation.
Sustainability is clearly not just about new technologies that enable us to use natural resources more efficiently. Nor can sustainability be achieved through research and public policy alone. Moving toward sustainability will require broad cultural transformations that can be brought about only as people reengage with each other intentionally in local communities. My experiences over the last couple of years suggest that actively connecting students with intentional communities holds great potential for helping to initiate the kind of societal transformation that a quest for sustainability entails.
Connecting Communities and Students for Sustainability Education
I know there are many others out there who share my sentiments and who may have much greater experience with this topic. I would like to suggest that we create a forum where we can share our experiences and support each other in furthering the transformative potential inherent in engaging higher education students with community living. Perhaps we could come together at the Communal Studies Association annual conference for formal and informal discussions. Fellowship for Intentional Community events may provide appropriate venues as well. I am open to other suggestions. If you are an educator, communitarian, activist, or student who is interested in strengthening connections and increasing opportunities for interaction among communities, students, and academic institutions, please contact me at jlockyer AT (replace with @) wustl.edu.
Copyright © Fellowship for Intentional Community (FIC) and Communities: Life in Cooperative Culture · communities.ic.org · Reprint only with permission.
The FIC publishes Communities magazine, the Communities Directory, the Intentional Communities Website (www.ic.org), and supports all forms of cooperative living. Please consider a donation to support our efforts.
The FIC publishes Communities magazine, the Communities Directory, the Intentional Communities Website (www.ic.org), and supports all forms of cooperative living. Please consider a donation to support our efforts.
| Joshua Lockyer teaches anthropology and environmental studies at Washington University in St. Louis, including classes on intentional communities. He would like to thank the following students who provided quotations used in this article: LeeAnn Felder, Annie Rose Fondaw, Gabriella Torcise, and John Wargofchik. He would also like to thank all the communities and communitarians who have helped him and his students along this journey. | |
Friday, July 2, 2010
The Future of Mobility - Shanghai Expo 2010
The City of Bremen and GTZ presented three workshops at the “The Future of Mobility - Options for Sustainable Transport in a Low Carbon Society" at the Bremen Stand in the Urban Best Practice Area at the Shanghai Expo from May 24th to 26th, 2010. The workshops were scheduled from 2 to 5 pm and focused on the following three key topics for sustainable urban transport: Day 1 - Mon, 24th: Transport and Urban Development
Day 2 - Tue, 25th: Low Carbon Mobility for Cities
Day 3 - Wed, 26th: The Role of Electric Vehicles
More than 80 participants attended the event. Participating experts and practitioners discussed a vision for sustainable urban mobility with a global perspective. After the events participants joined in for further discussions and exchanged their experience and knowledge on the subject. Download a PDF of the Agenda in English or Chinese.
Day-wise agenda and the presentations made are available below:
Day 1, 24th May 2010:
1. The Future of Mobility: Options for Sustainable Transport in a Low Carbon Society
Michael Glotz-Richter, City of Bremen
Michael Glotz-Richter, City of Bremen
2. Integrated Planning of Urban Quarters and Transport Systems
Prof. Albert Speer, Albert Speer & Partner GmbH
Prof. Albert Speer, Albert Speer & Partner GmbH
3. Urbanization and Planning in China
Prof. Pan Haixiao, Department of Urban Planning, Tongji University
Prof. Pan Haixiao, Department of Urban Planning, Tongji University
4. Towards Liveable Cities – International Experiences
Manfred Breithaupt, GTZ
Day 2, 25th May 2010:
1. Urban Transport Challenge: Transport Development and Low Carbon Policies in China
Prof. Pan Haixiao, Department of Urban Planning, Tongji University
2. Carbon responsible transport strategies in Bremen
Michael Glotz-Richter, City of Bremen
3. Low Carbon Mobility Stockholm, Sweden
Gustaf Landahl, City of Stockholm
4. Case: SPINNING WHEELS – the revival of the bicycle
Signe Madsen, City of Odense
5. Opportunities for Urban Transport in International Climate Negotiations
Daniel Bongardt, GTZ
Day 3, 26th May 2010:
1. Introduction
Michael Glotz-Richter, City of Bremen
2. The Trend of NEV and Incentive Policies in China
Dr. Wu Zhixin, China Automotive Technology and Research Center
3. Moving towards the future: National Platform for Electromobility in Germany
Christian Hochfeld, GTZ
4. Prospects for and Effects of E-Bikes in Chinese Cities
Dong Shen, Tsinghua University
5. The Challenge of Designing Electric Cars
Dr. Tobias Giebel, Volkswagen Research Lab China
Manfred Breithaupt, GTZ
Day 2, 25th May 2010:
1. Urban Transport Challenge: Transport Development and Low Carbon Policies in China
Prof. Pan Haixiao, Department of Urban Planning, Tongji University
2. Carbon responsible transport strategies in Bremen
Michael Glotz-Richter, City of Bremen
3. Low Carbon Mobility Stockholm, Sweden
Gustaf Landahl, City of Stockholm
4. Case: SPINNING WHEELS – the revival of the bicycle
Signe Madsen, City of Odense
5. Opportunities for Urban Transport in International Climate Negotiations
Daniel Bongardt, GTZ
Day 3, 26th May 2010:
1. Introduction
Michael Glotz-Richter, City of Bremen
2. The Trend of NEV and Incentive Policies in China
Dr. Wu Zhixin, China Automotive Technology and Research Center
3. Moving towards the future: National Platform for Electromobility in Germany
Christian Hochfeld, GTZ
4. Prospects for and Effects of E-Bikes in Chinese Cities
Dong Shen, Tsinghua University
5. The Challenge of Designing Electric Cars
Dr. Tobias Giebel, Volkswagen Research Lab China
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Lessons in Biomimicry
by Leonora Oppenheim
The project pictured above is a proposal by Pawlyn's studio Exploration Architecture, for a bridge crossing the River Douglas in Lancashire. The design takes its inspiration from the internal pressures seen in nature which create self supporting structures. For example the osmotic potential in leaves where the water in the cells creates a stiffness which allows the leaf to hold itself up.
Using inflated Tensairity airbeams, created by the Swiss company Airlight, Exploration designed a bridge that was supported mostly by pressurised air contained in a thin membrane. This resulted in a dramatic dematerialisation of the traditional bridge structure. An added design delight was the 'maximum infestation clause' inserted by Pawlyn with the planted biodivirsity corridor along the bridge created to link up the two sides of the river and combat the habitat fragmentation that is normally seen in this situation.
The Opening Circle of the Biomimicry course
Another example used was the iconic Eden Project on which Pawlyn was a lead architect for Grimshaw. The forms of the biomes were inspired by soap bubbles and the hexagonal frames by cellular structures. Through the use of inflated ETFE membrane panels, which are 1% of the weight of double glazing, other benefits were seen such s lighter steel frame, letting in more sunlight and adding solar gain. Finally, the air contained in the large tropical biome weighs more that the envelope enclosing it.
Michael Pawlyn started by referencing McDonough and Braungart's statement from Cradle to Cradle "Being less bad is not the same as being good." Should we adapt systems and improve them? Or should we start from the beginning and create a new paradigm? I think you can see from just these two projects that Exploration Architecture, through the use of biomimicry, is achieving the latter.
Schumacher College creates holistic learning by asking all students and staff to take part in group work sessions everyday, including cooking, cleaning and gardening.
Image courtesy of Paul Villecourt - http://paul.villecourt.com/photos
From Cardboard to Caviar
Michael Pawlyn in his presentation related natural systems to business structures and used the fascinating example of the Able Project in the UK. Nicknamed 'From Cardboard to Caviar' this project was started by Graham Wiles in Yorkshire as a work rehabilitation project for recovering heroine addicts, engaging them in natural systems. The flow chart above shows how an amazing production chain has been set up starting with recycling cardboard and ending up with producing caviar - talk about upcycling!
Doing the gardening at Schumacher College involved raking fallen autumn leaves and putting them on the compost pile, turning nature's waste into nutrients.
At the edge of the fast flowing River Dart Professor Vincent took his fishing net and gathered up some caddisfly larvae from the sandy river bed. Known as underwater architects, the caddisfly build their own shell cases from the silt and small pebbles that they find around them. They use their own larvae silk to bind the pieces together into a strong portable shelter that will protect them through their larval life.
One of the main themes of biomimicry is abundance and we can see from the caddisfly's process that they use whatever they have in abundance around them, silt and pebbles, to construct their cases and bind them together with their own silk. Architecture and construction in nature is quite an extraordinary thing. Did you know that biology uses no more than 5% energy to realise natural structures which means that 95% is structural information, i.e. the silt and silk. Conversely human technology uses about 70% energy versus 30% information to solve problems, hence the "heat, beat and treat" phrase.
Michael Pawlyn in his last presentation of the course took us back to his incredible Sahara Forest Project, which has received so much attention after being published here on TreeHugger. Part of the inspiration for this project came from the Namibian Fog Beetle which uses an amazing natural process to gather its drinking water.
Image via flickr: Andrea Sosio
The week of biomimicry at Schumacher College was amazing in so many ways - we engaged our minds, bodies and hearts in all our learning - whether it was in the classroom, cooking in the kitchen or walking on Dartmoor. There was a wealth of expertise in the group, which meant that all participants were teachers and all the teachers were participants. The community spirit of Schumacher College allowed us all to join in and contribute. This was demonstrated perfectly at the end of the course where each person gave one word or phrase that summed up the week for them. These words gathered together gave us tools to go home with, which we can now begin to use in our daily lives. The list is below. 
Making shortbread in the Schumacher College kitchen
Lessons in Biomimicry - Part 1 Natural Forms
This week I am reporting from Schumacher College in south west England. Here, I am taking part in a course called Biomimicry: New Directions in Sustainable Design lead by the architect Michael Pawlyn, he of the incredible Sahara Forest Project. This is my introduction to Biomimicry and in the excitement of learning something radically new I thought I should share the experience with you all.
Biomimicry is the study of natural forms, systems and processes in nature in order to find more effective and sustainable ways to design and engineer products, buildings and service systems. The first thing I learned yesterday was that Biomimicry is definitely not the same thing as Biomorphism...
Biomorphism is the imitation of nature's shapes in design, which often develops beautiful outcomes, but lacks the analytical approach that can help revolutionize the way we think about design.
The River Douglas Bridge
Dematerialised Structures
Using inflated Tensairity airbeams, created by the Swiss company Airlight, Exploration designed a bridge that was supported mostly by pressurised air contained in a thin membrane. This resulted in a dramatic dematerialisation of the traditional bridge structure. An added design delight was the 'maximum infestation clause' inserted by Pawlyn with the planted biodivirsity corridor along the bridge created to link up the two sides of the river and combat the habitat fragmentation that is normally seen in this situation.
The Opening Circle of the Biomimicry course
The Eden Project
Another example used was the iconic Eden Project on which Pawlyn was a lead architect for Grimshaw. The forms of the biomes were inspired by soap bubbles and the hexagonal frames by cellular structures. Through the use of inflated ETFE membrane panels, which are 1% of the weight of double glazing, other benefits were seen such s lighter steel frame, letting in more sunlight and adding solar gain. Finally, the air contained in the large tropical biome weighs more that the envelope enclosing it.
Cradle to Cradle
Michael Pawlyn started by referencing McDonough and Braungart's statement from Cradle to Cradle "Being less bad is not the same as being good." Should we adapt systems and improve them? Or should we start from the beginning and create a new paradigm? I think you can see from just these two projects that Exploration Architecture, through the use of biomimicry, is achieving the latter.
Schumacher College creates holistic learning by asking all students and staff to take part in group work sessions everyday, including cooking, cleaning and gardening.
Lessons in Biomimicry - Part 2 Natural Systems
Image courtesy of Paul Villecourt - http://paul.villecourt.com/photos
Last week I reported direct from Schumacher College in Devon, where I was attending a course entitled Biomimicry: New Directions in Sustainable Design. The first part of the programme discussed natural forms using examples such as the Eden Project. Today I continue with part 2 of Michael Pawlyn's course examining natural systems and tomorrow you can read the final part in this series which looks at natural processes.
Biomimicry as the study of natural systems can help design and architecture work more effectively, but it can also work on social development and business structures. The image above was taken on a coasteering holiday run by TYF in Wales. The founder of TYF, Andy Middleton, explained why it was fundamental to engage people in nature in order to help them connect with the environment. He also described his intriguing theory of 'winkle thinking'...
Winkle Thinking
Middelton uses biomimicry in his safety instructions for participants on his coastal aventures. This behavioural instruction is called 'winkle thinking' because instead of warning people of all the dangers, he just asks people to imitate certain sea life when in the water to keep safe. So when in rushing water act like kelp or seaweed, stay floppy so you don't injure yourself. When in crashing waves cling to the rocks like a winkle does. When in open water behave like a fish, smooth and streamlined, to make the most of your energy.
Middelton uses biomimicry in his safety instructions for participants on his coastal aventures. This behavioural instruction is called 'winkle thinking' because instead of warning people of all the dangers, he just asks people to imitate certain sea life when in the water to keep safe. So when in rushing water act like kelp or seaweed, stay floppy so you don't injure yourself. When in crashing waves cling to the rocks like a winkle does. When in open water behave like a fish, smooth and streamlined, to make the most of your energy.
Desirable Messages
As an expert facilitator Middleton managed our group throughout the week with a natural, effortless ease. He demonstrated the importance and value of communication and asked us to look at how nature sends messages. His great example was the blackbird plucking the reward of the ripe blackberry, the seed automatically goes along for the ride eventually being processed and disseminated, therefore achieving the plant's aim of reproduction. This simple illustration shows how crucial it is for environmentalists to create messages that are desirable, fresh and convenient and therefore accessible to a wide audience.
As an expert facilitator Middleton managed our group throughout the week with a natural, effortless ease. He demonstrated the importance and value of communication and asked us to look at how nature sends messages. His great example was the blackbird plucking the reward of the ripe blackberry, the seed automatically goes along for the ride eventually being processed and disseminated, therefore achieving the plant's aim of reproduction. This simple illustration shows how crucial it is for environmentalists to create messages that are desirable, fresh and convenient and therefore accessible to a wide audience.
From Cardboard to Caviar
Michael Pawlyn in his presentation related natural systems to business structures and used the fascinating example of the Able Project in the UK. Nicknamed 'From Cardboard to Caviar' this project was started by Graham Wiles in Yorkshire as a work rehabilitation project for recovering heroine addicts, engaging them in natural systems. The flow chart above shows how an amazing production chain has been set up starting with recycling cardboard and ending up with producing caviar - talk about upcycling!
Waste as Nutrient
The project takes cardboard from restaurants and shops, shreds it and sells is as horse bedding. When the horse bedding needs replacing it is picked up and composted in a worm farm. The compost goes onto plant beds and the extra worms are fed to the fish farm where sturgeon are bred and caviar is produced. The caviar is then sold back to the restaurants where the cardboard was collected in the first place. This is an incredible example of how waste can be used as food, just as waste in nature is always a nutrient and ends up in a cradle to cradle cycle.
The project takes cardboard from restaurants and shops, shreds it and sells is as horse bedding. When the horse bedding needs replacing it is picked up and composted in a worm farm. The compost goes onto plant beds and the extra worms are fed to the fish farm where sturgeon are bred and caviar is produced. The caviar is then sold back to the restaurants where the cardboard was collected in the first place. This is an incredible example of how waste can be used as food, just as waste in nature is always a nutrient and ends up in a cradle to cradle cycle.
Social and Economic Rehabilitation
The ingenious biomimetic thinking of Graham Wiles and the Green Business Network has created an amazing business and social rehabilitation venture. At every turn and at every challenge they looked at what nature would do and found a way to close the loop. In addition to this they provided employment and skills training for disadvantaged people in a poor area of the country and created valuable products which could be used by many different industries.
The ingenious biomimetic thinking of Graham Wiles and the Green Business Network has created an amazing business and social rehabilitation venture. At every turn and at every challenge they looked at what nature would do and found a way to close the loop. In addition to this they provided employment and skills training for disadvantaged people in a poor area of the country and created valuable products which could be used by many different industries.
Doing the gardening at Schumacher College involved raking fallen autumn leaves and putting them on the compost pile, turning nature's waste into nutrients.
Natural processes was the third theme of the Biomimicry in Design course at Schumacher College last week. This built on Part 1 - Natural Forms and Part 2 - Natural Systems by taking us deep into the biological processes which can help us re-evaluate traditional engineering methods.
Professor Julian Vincent, an expert in biomimetics at Bath University, calls human engineering the "heat, beat and treat" method, where we "destroy the information in materials by homogenizing them through the application of energy, then use even more energy to impose a new structure". He believes that by studying biological processes we can challenge the status quo in engineering and design. In order to explain his ideas further Professor Vincent took our group out for a walk on Dartmoor and down to the river where we found out how the caddisfly (pictured above) builds its case.
Caddisfly Cases
At the edge of the fast flowing River Dart Professor Vincent took his fishing net and gathered up some caddisfly larvae from the sandy river bed. Known as underwater architects, the caddisfly build their own shell cases from the silt and small pebbles that they find around them. They use their own larvae silk to bind the pieces together into a strong portable shelter that will protect them through their larval life.
The principle of abundance
One of the main themes of biomimicry is abundance and we can see from the caddisfly's process that they use whatever they have in abundance around them, silt and pebbles, to construct their cases and bind them together with their own silk. Architecture and construction in nature is quite an extraordinary thing. Did you know that biology uses no more than 5% energy to realise natural structures which means that 95% is structural information, i.e. the silt and silk. Conversely human technology uses about 70% energy versus 30% information to solve problems, hence the "heat, beat and treat" phrase.
Sahara Forest Project
Michael Pawlyn in his last presentation of the course took us back to his incredible Sahara Forest Project, which has received so much attention after being published here on TreeHugger. Part of the inspiration for this project came from the Namibian Fog Beetle which uses an amazing natural process to gather its drinking water.
Image via flickr: Andrea Sosio
Collecting Drinking Water
During the night in the desert the beetle's shell is the coolest surface around, so this is where water condenses into tight droplets thanks to ridges on the surface. In the morning the beetle tips up it's shell and the water runs down to its mouth for a nice refreshing drink. Again, this is an example of high information and low energy in nature. The structural information of the shell does all the work, leaving very little for the beetle to do in terms of energy use. It probably takes less than 5% energy of the whole process for the beetle to tip up its shell and drink the water.
During the night in the desert the beetle's shell is the coolest surface around, so this is where water condenses into tight droplets thanks to ridges on the surface. In the morning the beetle tips up it's shell and the water runs down to its mouth for a nice refreshing drink. Again, this is an example of high information and low energy in nature. The structural information of the shell does all the work, leaving very little for the beetle to do in terms of energy use. It probably takes less than 5% energy of the whole process for the beetle to tip up its shell and drink the water.
Sea Water to Fresh Water to Renewable Energy
The Sahara Forest Project mimics the namibian fog beetle's ingenious way of collecting water in the desert through the use of seawater greenhouses and a condensation process that allows seawater to be desalinated into fresh water to be used for irrigating crops and in the Concentrated Solar Power system. Above you can see the flow diagram above which illustrates the various processes that the Sahara Forest Project uses to achieve an abundance of fresh water and carbon neutral energy in the desert.
The Sahara Forest Project mimics the namibian fog beetle's ingenious way of collecting water in the desert through the use of seawater greenhouses and a condensation process that allows seawater to be desalinated into fresh water to be used for irrigating crops and in the Concentrated Solar Power system. Above you can see the flow diagram above which illustrates the various processes that the Sahara Forest Project uses to achieve an abundance of fresh water and carbon neutral energy in the desert.
Many hands make light work
The week of biomimicry at Schumacher College was amazing in so many ways - we engaged our minds, bodies and hearts in all our learning - whether it was in the classroom, cooking in the kitchen or walking on Dartmoor. There was a wealth of expertise in the group, which meant that all participants were teachers and all the teachers were participants. The community spirit of Schumacher College allowed us all to join in and contribute. This was demonstrated perfectly at the end of the course where each person gave one word or phrase that summed up the week for them. These words gathered together gave us tools to go home with, which we can now begin to use in our daily lives. The list is below.
Making shortbread in the Schumacher College kitchen
Key words from Biomimicry course
nutrients, imagining the impossible, future visioning, collaboration, stickiness, closing loops, threads, to be in touch with yourself, toolbox, balance, simplicity, speaking a common language, storytelling, adaptability versus change, make waste history, personal connnection, health, master builder, embrace the unexpected, be open to new things, prototypes, interconnectivity, high information low energy, elegance, hierarchy, system sub-system super-system, abundance.
nutrients, imagining the impossible, future visioning, collaboration, stickiness, closing loops, threads, to be in touch with yourself, toolbox, balance, simplicity, speaking a common language, storytelling, adaptability versus change, make waste history, personal connnection, health, master builder, embrace the unexpected, be open to new things, prototypes, interconnectivity, high information low energy, elegance, hierarchy, system sub-system super-system, abundance.
More on Schumacher College:
Lessons in Biomimicry: Part 1 - Natural Forms
Lessons in Biomimicry: Part 2 - Natural Systems
Biomimicry Course: Learn About The Amazing Potential of Design
Schumacher College Connects Sustainability and Business Leadership
350: Bill McKibben Inspires UK Audience to Join His Campaign
Lessons in Biomimicry: Part 1 - Natural Forms
Lessons in Biomimicry: Part 2 - Natural Systems
Biomimicry Course: Learn About The Amazing Potential of Design
Schumacher College Connects Sustainability and Business Leadership
350: Bill McKibben Inspires UK Audience to Join His Campaign
More on Biomimicry:
Better By Design: A Guidebook to Biomimicry in Product Design
TreeHugger Picks: Biomimicry in Product Design
Biomimicry Lectures: Janine Benyus Down Under
Better By Design: A Guidebook to Biomimicry in Product Design
TreeHugger Picks: Biomimicry in Product Design
Biomimicry Lectures: Janine Benyus Down Under
BETTER BY DESIGN
TreeHugger has long been a big proponent of biomimicry, so were justifiably excited to see this. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has released a guidebook aimed at further promoting and building biomimicry into design-for-the-environment products. The guidebook, “Better by Design: An Innovation Guide,” [pdf] presents design for environment and biomimicry principles and product case studies that read like a "Best of TH" laundry list: Steelcase's Think chair, Interface Carpets, DesignTex textiles, ENV bike and Biota water, just to name a few. The guide also includes a sample product attribute flow chart, a method for evaluating human health, ecosystem and resource impacts of materials and processes, and a six page checklist of questions to help focus design groups. Very handy for anyone interested in lifecycle analysis, environmental product design and the like. ::Better By Design via ::Sustainable Practices
Can We Use Biomimicry To Design Cities? Janine Benyus Says Yes
Janine Benyus has a message for inventors: When solving a design problem, look to nature first. There you'll find inspired designs for making things waterproof, aerodynamic, solar-powered and more. Here she reveals dozens of new products that take their cue from nature with spectacular results.
Janine Benyus' concept of biomimicry has galvanized scientists, architects, designers and engineers into exploring new ways in which nature's successes can inspire humanity.
by Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK
Yesterday in a sunny corner of London, a select group of UK journalists, myself included, were treated to an enrapturing few hours in the company of biomimicry guru Janine Benyus. The group was brought together by sustainable business pioneers InterfaceFLOR, whose long standing working relationship with Benyus enabled them to arrange this exclusive press lunch at raw food restaurant Saf. It was appropriate that Janine spoke to us in the centre of the bustling metropolis as her latest work in the field of biomimicry is focused on using the discipline to inform the design and function of cities.
Biologist at the Design Table
Janine Benyus describes her job as being the "biologist at the design table", a career that she says didn't really exist 10-12 years ago. Since the publication of her book, Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature in 1997, Benyus and her colleagues at the Biomimicry Guild have worked with some of the world's most successful companies including Walmart, Nike and Interface, helping them ask nature for inspiration on how to create more sustainable products and systems.
Janine Benyus describes her job as being the "biologist at the design table", a career that she says didn't really exist 10-12 years ago. Since the publication of her book, Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature in 1997, Benyus and her colleagues at the Biomimicry Guild have worked with some of the world's most successful companies including Walmart, Nike and Interface, helping them ask nature for inspiration on how to create more sustainable products and systems.
"After my book came out we expected environmentalists and conservationists to get in touch, but in fact it was big business who called. They wanted a biologist to come and talk about how life works. People woke up to the fact that there is a sustainable world in nature that we hadn't been using as a model"
The City as an Ecosystem
When I asked Janine yesterday what she was currently most excited about, after all these years of working in biomimicry, her unequivocal answer was cities. The Biomimicry Guild has teamed up with HOK, one of the largest architectural developers in the world, to work on city masterplans inspired by nature. "A company like HOK has a massive impact on huge areas of land, due to the scale and breadth of their work. So the question we asked was how can you have a city perform like an ecosystem?"
When I asked Janine yesterday what she was currently most excited about, after all these years of working in biomimicry, her unequivocal answer was cities. The Biomimicry Guild has teamed up with HOK, one of the largest architectural developers in the world, to work on city masterplans inspired by nature. "A company like HOK has a massive impact on huge areas of land, due to the scale and breadth of their work. So the question we asked was how can you have a city perform like an ecosystem?"
Ecological Performance Standards
Benyus and her team have been developing the concept of designing cities to an 'ecological performance standard', looking at the original topography of the locale and working out the metrics of how the natural environment should perform. "How many millimetres of soil, how many tons of carbon, how much water stored, how much air purified? It is not enough to have green roofs and walls, we need to ask how a building will store carbon. We need cities to perform like ecosystems, not just look like them."
Benyus and her team have been developing the concept of designing cities to an 'ecological performance standard', looking at the original topography of the locale and working out the metrics of how the natural environment should perform. "How many millimetres of soil, how many tons of carbon, how much water stored, how much air purified? It is not enough to have green roofs and walls, we need to ask how a building will store carbon. We need cities to perform like ecosystems, not just look like them."
Landscape Amnesia
Benyus is working with HOK on two very different city plans, one green field city in India and one retrofitting scheme in China. The city of Lang Fang is on the North China Plain, an area that Benyus describes as having 'landscape amnesia'. The natural ecological system of Lang Fang was a mixed deciduous forest, but that was over 4000 years ago. Without the density of the forest the communities in this area haven't been able to effectively capture water, so have been drawing down their aquifer for years. Additionally they have to move water about using a pipeline that pumps water up from the Yangtze River in the south.
Benyus is working with HOK on two very different city plans, one green field city in India and one retrofitting scheme in China. The city of Lang Fang is on the North China Plain, an area that Benyus describes as having 'landscape amnesia'. The natural ecological system of Lang Fang was a mixed deciduous forest, but that was over 4000 years ago. Without the density of the forest the communities in this area haven't been able to effectively capture water, so have been drawing down their aquifer for years. Additionally they have to move water about using a pipeline that pumps water up from the Yangtze River in the south.
Water Self Reliance
The question for Lang Fang, Benyus says, is "How can they be water self reliant so they can recharge their aquifer and be the first Chinese city to turn away the pipe?" As she says, "That would be something the city could celebrate." According to Benyus this brief designed with HOK has completely changed the architectural plan of the city. Instead of concrete paths channelling potentially damaging storm water through the urban landscape, saving buildings but wasting this valuable resource, this city now has a plan to direct water back in the ground through strategically planted areas. "The masterplan is now beautiful with green ribbons flowing through the city, tracking and echoing the paleo-channels of old rivers that used to be there."
The question for Lang Fang, Benyus says, is "How can they be water self reliant so they can recharge their aquifer and be the first Chinese city to turn away the pipe?" As she says, "That would be something the city could celebrate." According to Benyus this brief designed with HOK has completely changed the architectural plan of the city. Instead of concrete paths channelling potentially damaging storm water through the urban landscape, saving buildings but wasting this valuable resource, this city now has a plan to direct water back in the ground through strategically planted areas. "The masterplan is now beautiful with green ribbons flowing through the city, tracking and echoing the paleo-channels of old rivers that used to be there."
The Right Questions Lead to Innovation
Janine Benyus explains why formulating ambitious nature inspired briefs for city masterplanning is important. "If you're working in an area with dangerous levels of soil erosion, you should ask how can we have a policy of zero rainfall hitting bare ground? Then you can start designing a city with multiple green roofs, awnings and coverings. If on the other hand you are building in an area of severe water scarcity and the goal is to get 40% of water back in the ground, you should ask, how can we design permeable pavements?" These are bold design briefs and Benyus is proud to say that their goals with HOK, "have never been set so high or been so locally informed by ecological land types."
Janine Benyus explains why formulating ambitious nature inspired briefs for city masterplanning is important. "If you're working in an area with dangerous levels of soil erosion, you should ask how can we have a policy of zero rainfall hitting bare ground? Then you can start designing a city with multiple green roofs, awnings and coverings. If on the other hand you are building in an area of severe water scarcity and the goal is to get 40% of water back in the ground, you should ask, how can we design permeable pavements?" These are bold design briefs and Benyus is proud to say that their goals with HOK, "have never been set so high or been so locally informed by ecological land types."
By asking the right questions designers can create uniquely demanding briefs which produce innovative solutions. Janine Benyus is a great believer in designers setting their sights as high as possible, "It's very powerful when companies have clear goals to work towards." And as Ray Anderson, the radical CEO at the helm of InterfaceFLOR, said when he first set out his ambition to create a sustainable road map for his company, "You can't tell me that it can't be done."
More on Biomimicry:
Biomimicry: Shark-Inspired "Skin" for Cars Claims to Improve MPG
Lessons in Biomimicry - Part 1 Natural Forms
Lessons in Biomimicry - Part 2 Natural Systems
Lessons in Biomimicry - Part 3 Natural Processes
Better By Design: A Guidebook to Biomimicry in Product Design
TreeHugger Picks: Biomimicry in Product Design
Janine Benyus on Biomimicry in Design on TH Radio (Part One)
Biomimicry Lectures: Janine Benyus Down Under
Biomimicry: Shark-Inspired "Skin" for Cars Claims to Improve MPG
Lessons in Biomimicry - Part 1 Natural Forms
Lessons in Biomimicry - Part 2 Natural Systems
Lessons in Biomimicry - Part 3 Natural Processes
Better By Design: A Guidebook to Biomimicry in Product Design
TreeHugger Picks: Biomimicry in Product Design
Janine Benyus on Biomimicry in Design on TH Radio (Part One)
Biomimicry Lectures: Janine Benyus Down Under
Balancing People, Planet and Profit: The Future of Business Sustainability
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