The following is a transcript of my keynote talk on 29 May at Quantum(Quantum(Quantum()))): Artificial Imagination – the 2022 aai International Conference on art(ai) hosted by Tongji University in Shanghai. The video is here. Six months ago, in a talk titled Beyond Calculation, about AI and Sustainability, I asked whether artificial intelligence could be enough, […]
transition & design
From Control, to Kinship: Ecological Restoration in a More Than Human World
Also posted in development & design, most read
Comments closed
Open School for Village Hosts
The Open School for Village Hosts – a pan-European Erasmus+ project – has been launched in Barcelona. Above: project partners meeting at Elisava earlier this month. (This post is a preview: the project’s website will be launched shortly). Village Hosts bring new social, economic and ecological life to small villages and their local economy. They […]
Also posted in learning & design
Comments closed
Microbes and Social Equity – Dr Sue Ishaq in conversation with John Thackara
The more we learn about life on earth, the clearer it becomes that the well-being of humans, and of non-humans, is inter-connected. They are a single story. Sustainable design, in this context, means designing for all of life – not just human life. That’s a big step! Not so long ago, human-centered design was considered […]
Also posted in care & health, city & bioregion, food systems & design
Comments closed
Bottom-Up biodiversity
Whether connecting schools to farms in France, daylighting rivers in Mexico, or rewilding grasslands in Patagonia, we’re learning how to ‘do’ biodiversity well. Fifteen minute read. This text was commissioned by the Swiss Ministry of the Environment, FOEN Illustration © BAFU | Pierre Dubois, collectif Marie-Louise The text is also available online in these other […]
Also posted in city & bioregion, development & design, food systems & design, learning & design, most read, social innovation & design, [no topic]
Comments closed
Articles in Resilience
Here is a collection of texts by John Thackara selected by Resilience magazine. How To Thrive In the Next Economy: Preface to the Chinese edition This book is not about pre-cooked solutions. It’s about building on what has already been done, in our various social and cultural histories, and on what’s being done, right now, […]
Also posted in city & bioregion, social innovation & design, [no topic]
Comments closed
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 […]
Also posted in learning & design, perception
Comments closed
The (Design) Journey Back To Local
I did a 30 minute talk last October for Allan Chochinov’s Products of Design class at the School of Visual Arts, in New York City. Here is the video – and below are the main points, followed by a transcript. MAIN POINTSYou and I use more energy & resources in single month than our great-grandparents […]