I was asked, in an interview for Resilience, what it is that inspires my work, and what keeps me going. 1. Who/what has been your greatest inspiration? And why? A: Rocks. And stones. I’ve always loved stones and rocky places – but it was only when I moved to south west France (where I live […]
Manifesto For Utopias Are Over: Cities Are Living Systems
I was asked to write a provocation for DAMN magazine in Italy. 1 Change and innovation are no longer about finely crafted ‘visions’ of some future place and time. Positive change happens when people reconnect – with each other, and with the biosphere – in rich, real-world, contexts. Rather than ask about utopias, I challenge […]
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The 72 most cheering things I learned on my book tour
SEPTEMBER 2016 Newsletter Since my book How To Thrive In the Next Economy was published – a year ago this week – I’ve had conversations about it at forty talks and workshops. With thanks to my diverse but always generous hosts, this email is to share the 72 most interesting and cheering things that I […]
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Lean Logic: A Dictionary for the Future and How to Survive It
Five years ago I obtained an extraordinary 736 page book called Lean Logic: A Dictionary For The Future and How To Survive It. Written over a thirty year period by the English ecologist David Fleming, the book had been published in a limited edition after the author’s untimely death. Now, thanks to an heroic, expert […]
Posted in art & perception, learning & design, transition & design
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Biennials and system change
I was invited to give a keynote in Milan to the general assembly of the International Biennials Association. My talk was called Life’s Work: Biennials and Regeneration. Here below is a summary: The sad-looking structure above was the Dutch Pavilion not long after the Hannover World Expo ended in 2000. Having helped to write the […]
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“Back To The Wildebeest In Us” (in French)
The Belgian magazine Rekto Verso recently ran a review of my book by Mia Vaerman (in Dutch) with the title “Terug naar het wildebeest in ons” (“Back To The Wildebeest In Us”). That piece has now been translated into French by Annelies Hollewand and Adrian Gandolfo – to whom, many thanks. Redécouvrir notre côté sauvage On […]
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A beehive is not a factory: Rethinking the modular
I was invited to write the Preface to Rethinking The Modular: Adaptable Systems in Architecture and Design edited by Burkhard Meltzer and Tido von Oppeln. As the book has just been published, here follows my text: Back to the Present Trumpeted as ‘the most significant innovation in beekeeping since 1852’, the Flow Hive was pitched […]
Posted in development & design
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And my killer project of all is…. (interview with @tbonini)
My interview with @tbonini has ben published in Italian at Che Fara.Here is the English version: Q Among the many case histories that you brilliantly discovered and reported in your book, is there someone that you believe is extremely central in planning the “tomorrow’s world”? A The sheer variety of projects and initiatives out there […]
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“Let’s talk about optimism”
Back in November, on the eve of the US book release launch for How to Thrive in the Next Economy, I sat down with Core77’s Allan Chochinov to talk about the project. AC: When did the book project first begin? Is it something that you’ve been working on for a while, or did it have […]