Words are our first tools for making sense of the world. This publication presents seven words for a changing time. In this timely exploration of our cities, heritage, civic initiatives, urbanism and the future, Michiel Schwarz, co-creator of the Sustainism manifesto, charts how a new ethos and praxis is emerging in the 'design' of our living environment. This concise lexicon explores the changing cultural landscape through seven entries: Placemaking, Connectedness, Local, Commons, Circularity, Proportionality, Co-Design. In doing so it marks inroads into a sustainist culture that is more connected, locally-rooted, collaborative, respectful of the human scale, and altogether more environmentally and socially sustainable.
This book investigates energy access through the lens of everyday energy practices in the Gambian community of Kartong. Reframing Energy Access: Insights from The Gambia explores past, current and potential future modes of energy production and consumption to examine concepts such as energy leapfrogging and energy sufficiency. It argues that developments must be rooted in situated understanding of energy consumption to ensure sustainable and equitable access to modern energy services. Schiffer provides a uniquely long-term and holistic perspective into changing energy practices on the ground and the economic, political, environmental, technical and cultural factors that shape it. Translating insights of energy in The Gambian context into broader themes and recommendations, this book will be of great interest to policy makers, researchers and practitioners who work in the fields of energy access, energy policy, renewable energy transitions, as well as African and sustainable development in general.
This book answers the question of how to design a sharing system that can promote sustained, meaningful, and socially constructive sharing practices in today’s cities. To do so, it constructs a framework for practical inquiry into the design of sharing systems. Further, the book invites readers to consider questions such as: If sharing can be designed, then how does one design a sharing system for cities? Which urban conditions make this sharing system possible? What are the considerations, variables, and methods that can inform and guide the designers of a sharing system? By considering both the environmental and societal motivations for sharing, and the reality that most examples of the Sharing Economy are neither equitable in their socio-economic outcomes nor genuine in their original social promises, this book presents balanced and thoughtful answers to the questions posed above. The book will appeal to a broad readership, from students and teachers in the various design disciplines, to professionals and scholars in architecture and urbanism, business and innovation, and other related fields of the humanities and social sciences, as well as activists and policymakers committed to achieving more sustainable and equitably distributed access to urban resources.
This book provides a down-to-earth account of the virtues and failures of environmental risk assessment. The assessment process involves politics, technology, and issues of social choice, an unstructured grouping that often presents contradictory and confusing standpoints: the virtues of science and the scientific method are extolled on the one hand and condemned on the other; no viable solutions are offered; and there is no real understanding of the issues being discussed. This chaotic situation is analyzed using cultural theory, to offer a powerful and groundbreaking account of such topics as technological decision making, politics, energy, engineering, and technology as a whole.
From one of the world's leading experts on the subject, a fully updated introduction to the sustainability movement from the 1600s to today The word is nearly ubiquitous: at the grocery store we shop for "sustainable foods" that were produced from "sustainable agriculture"; groups ranging from small advocacy organizations to city and state governments to the United Nations tout "sustainable development" as a strategy for local and global stability; and woe betide the city-dweller who doesn't aim for a "sustainable lifestyle." Seeming to have come out of nowhere to dominate the discussion-from permaculture to renewable energy to the local food movement-the ideas that underlie and define sustainability can be traced back several centuries. In this illuminating and fascinating primer, newly revised and updated, Jeremy L. Caradonna does just that, approaching sustainability from a historical perspective and revealing the conditions that gave it shape. Locating the underpinnings of the movement as far back as the 1660s, Caradonna considers the origins of sustainability across many fields throughout Europe and North America. Taking us from the emergence of thoughts guiding sustainable yield forestry in the late 17th and 18th centuries, through the challenges of the Industrial Revolution, the birth of the environmental movement, and the emergence of a concrete effort to promote a balanced approach to development in the latter half of the 20th century, he shows that while sustainability draws upon ideas of social justice, ecological economics, and environmental conservation, it is more than the sum of its parts and blends these ideas together into a dynamic philosophy. Caradonna's book broadens our understanding of what "sustainability" means, revealing how it progressed from a relatively marginal concept to an ideal that shapes everything from individual lifestyles, government and corporate strategies, and even national and international policy. For anyone seeking understand the history of those striving to make the world a better place to live, here's a place to start.
This book develops a theology of childhood both from a theoretical basis in biblical theology (especially the gospel of Mark) and practical experience in children and youth ministry. Mercer builds on classical theologians such as Augustine, Calvin, Barth, and Rahner as well as modern feminist theologians such as Brock and Russell. She gains insights from pastoral theologians such as Capps and Couture and from contemporary cultural criticism. Mercer challenges approaches to educational and liturgical practices with children in congregations that segregate children from the rest of the church and its key practices of service, mission, worship, care, and learning. She reframes ministries with children as processes through which the church as a "community of practice" forms children into an alternative identity that resists surrounding consumerist culture and walks in the ways of Jesus. This book offers strategies for educational practices with children in congregations as it seeks to address the question, "What might educational practices that welcome children and contribute to their flourishing look like in the context of a faith community where children's learning happens in collaboration with experienced practitioners of faith?" Outlining a feminist practical theology of childhood, it explores five basic theological claims: (1) children as gifts and parenting as a religious practice of stewardship; (2) welcoming those who welcome and care for children; (3) children as already fully human; (4) children as part of the purposes of God; and (5) acknowledging and transforming the sufferings of children.
Our globalised world is encountering problems on an unprecedented scale. Many of the issues we face as societies extend beyond the borders of our nations. Phenomena such as terrorism, climate change, immigration, cybercrime and poverty can no longer be understood without considering the complex socio-technical systems that support our way of living. It is widely acknowledged that to contend with any of the pressing issues of our time, we have to substantially adapt our lifestyles. To adequately counteract the problems of our time, we need interventions that help us actually adopt the behaviours that lead us toward a more sustainable and ethically just future. In Designing for Society, Nynke Tromp and Paul Hekkert provide a hands-on tool for design professionals and students who wish to use design to counteract social issues. Viewing the artefact as a unique means of facilitating behavioural change to realise social impact, this book goes beyond the current trend of applying design thinking to enhancing public services, and beyond the idea of the designer as a facilitator of localised social change.
