via samim.io
How technology can repair our broken connection with nature →
The average human being can identify 430 corporate logos but can’t differentiate five different plants by looking at their leaves. Yet, there remains a simplicity and a beauty present in the natural world that we, as Marshmallow Laser Feast, try to re-interpret.
Did you know, for instance, that a mosquito can see carbon dioxide? Or that a dragonfly sees at 300 frames per second, which is a much higher frame-rate than our iPhone cameras? Or that owls can read a newspaper from the other side of a football pitch?A forest of lasers
Five years ago, we were thinking whether you can create the feeling of being in a forest by using just lasers.
We learned that in forests, mycelium, a type of fungus, connects every plant and tree to each other. So, when you touch the forest, your touch gets sensed by the entire forest. It becomes this collective experience and almost a giant instrument.
(Source: CNN)
Beyond The Utopia-Dystopia Mindset - Paradigm_Shift #2 Forum - Mapping Festival 2018
Julian Oliver (previously) calls for a new planetary subjectivity, a way forward not informed by fables, but based on our best-available data on the state of this planet.
Tobias Revell (@designedconflictterritories) talks about ‘un-rendering utopia’ and presents a fascinating talk about futures, CG renders, maps, architecture, legibility and the feedback loops that these images create.
at Mapping Festival 2018New World Atlas of Desertification shows unprecedented pressure on planet's resources →
On 21 June 2018, the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission published a new edition of the World Atlas of Desertification, offering a tool for decision makers to improve local responses to soil loss and land degradation.
The main findings show that population growth and changes in our consumption patterns put unprecedented pressure on the planet’s natural resources:- Over 75% of the Earth’s land area is already degraded, and over 90% could become degraded by 2050.
- Globally, a total area half of the size of the European Union (4.18 million km²) is degraded annually, with Africa and Asia being the most affected.
- The economic cost of soil degradation for the EU is estimated to be in the order of tens of billions of euros annually.
- Land degradation and climate change are estimated to lead to a reduction of global crop yields by about 10% by 2050. Most of this will occur in India, China and sub-Saharan Africa, where land degradation could halve crop production.
- As a consequence of accelerated deforestation it will become more difficult to mitigate the effects of climate change
- By 2050, up to 700 million people are estimated to have been displaced due to issues linked to scarce land resources. The figure could reach up to 10 billion by the end of this century.
While land degradation is a global problem, it takes place locally and requires local solutions. Greater commitment and more effective cooperation at the local level are necessary to stop land degradation and loss of biodiversity.
(Source: phys.org)
- Over 75% of the Earth’s land area is already degraded, and over 90% could become degraded by 2050.
Happy Earth Day!
The buyerarchy of needs: It’s a set of questions to ask yourself before making a purchase: Can I use what I have? Can I borrow it? Can I get it via swap? Can I thrift it? Can I make it?
Solar City is a solarpunk board game with a unique Build and Block mechanics, designed by Marcin Ropka & Viola Kijowska, authors of widely acknowledged in 2017 Alien Artifacts.
Lead the Solar Revolution – become an architect, biologist, designer or scientist of the future and transform the old city landscape into a solar eco garden. Introduce improvements that will heal the damaged ecosystem of our planet and save the Earth from an oncoming catastrophe!
PLANT A TREE! – Each game that you buy means 1 planted tree! What’s that? YES
With your help we’d like to improve the air quality in Poland. In collaboration with one of the Polish districts we’ll be planting new trees.
How many? That depends on you! Every Solar City core game sold means one sapling being planted! Small changes made today result in great change in the future.
via Solar City: a solarpunk game | Kickstarter
How Rad! Couple of us have backed it. They have hit their target in less than one day but there are plenty of stretch goals still to unlock! Solarpunk and boardgames are a good combination in our minds.
(Source: kickstarter.com)
Solarpunk: A Grand Dress Rehearsal
One of our admins @thejaymo spoke last month on Solarpunk at Thursday Night Live! Terraforming Earth! at Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands.
Solarpunk: A grand dress rehearsal in remaking our present and future history.
Right now, across disparate fields, a future is being built. But the future does not passively ‘arrive’ fully formed from the aether, we must first meet it the way humanity has always done: though dreams, stories and song. This talk will explore narrative strategies and strategic narratives to make life more wonderful for us right now, and more importantly for the generations that follow.
FEARLESS CITIES - NORTH AMERICA →
Over 3 days of workshops, meetings, panels, and hands on learning opportunities bracketed by 2 open public assemblies, social gatherings, and curated opportunities to explore social movements and solidarity economies in New York City, summit attendees will participate in an immersive municipalist gathering where they will forge lasting network ties that will be strengthened by smaller follow-up regional gatherings slated to occur in Jackson, Mississippi and other sites.
Panels and workshops open for submission until June 11th. Solarpunks start your engines.
All punk subcultures stem from a rejection of the way the relevant society operates. Given the impact that the proliferation of industrialism and late-stage capitalism has had on our planet’s support systems, it seems only natural that environmentalism would become part of punk. Enter “Solarpunk,” a term coined in 2014 on the social media platform ‘Tumblr’ which has since been gathering an enthusiastic crew of artists and activists.
Self-described solarpunks support this idea through environmental and social activism, sustainable lifestyle choicstoes, and by contributing to the growing collection of solarpunk media.
This podcast was written and recorded by Janet Rogers for the PlanetFoward Storyfest 2018 competition. Music in the podcast is “Be a good Punk” by Monplaisir, courtesy of the free music archive. The anthologies mentioned are “Sunvault” edited by Phoebe Wagner, “Wings of Renewal” edited by Brenda Pierson, and “Biketopia” edited by Elly Blue.Via Solarpunk: Sustainability’s never looked better | planetforward.org
(Source: planetforward.org)
Terrace field, Yunnan, China.
There is a line in the solarpunk comic Natural Forces Published by Stealing Fire Comics:
“We pass a curated landscape”
Can’t help think of that when I saw this amazing image.
(Source: commons.wikimedia.org)
