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"Might there be more agile, dependable, and less awkward ways to conduct the public business in the long emergency that do not require authoritarian governments, the compromises and irrational messiness of politics, or even reliance on personal sacrifice?" Via Willy De Backer 
Willy De Backer's curator insight,
May 17, 1:29 PM
I am afraid the answer to the above question is 'no'. Nevertheless one of the most interesting chapters in the latest Worldwatch Institute's State of the World. Title of this year's book 'Is sustainability still possible?'. Easy answer: no way. Delete the scoop?
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Taipei just broke ground on a twisting skyscraper that is wrapped with a jungle of vertical gardens... Designed by Vincent Callebaut Architecture, the 455,000-square-foot Agora Tower will have an orchard, a vegetable garden, space for aromatic and medicinal plants, and a compost and rainwater capture system. Designed to mimic two encircling hands and the helical structure of DNA, the towers are organized a central core that allows for a “hyper-abundance of suspended gardens.” These will spill over with edible and decorative plants, enabling residents of 40 luxury apartments to harvest a great deal of their own food (except for protein.) Plus, the rainwater capture system alleviates pressure on the municipal water supply and gives the complex even greater independence. Each 540 square meter apartment will have an interior green wall as well, ensuring optimum air quality and a great green aesthetics. A circular light funnel will push daylighting right down to the basement of the building, a solar roof will provide energy, and low E glass will mitigate excess solar gain and prevent thermal loss. Complete with nanotechnology and a host of other high-tech features, this one-of-a-kind tower may well be the greenest of its kind when it is completed circa 2016.... Via Lauren Moss, Ian Lin 
Florence Rollin's curator insight,
March 10, 5:20 AM
Designed by Vincent Callebaut Architecture, the 455,000-square-foot Agora Tower will have an orchard, a vegetable garden, space for aromatic and medicinal plants, and a compost and rainwater capture system. 
Pagina Uno's curator insight,
March 10, 6:10 AM
Progettato per imitare la struttura elicoidale del DNA, le torri sono organizzate intorno ad un nucleo centrale che ha permesso la realizzare un "iper-abbondanza di giardini sospesi." Questi traboccano di piante commestibili e decorative, che consentono ai residenti dei 40 appartamenti di lusso di raccogliere una grande quantità di cibo. Inoltre, un sistema di raccolta delle acque piovane allevia il peso sulla rete idrica comunale e dà indipendenza al complesso. 
Bubba Muntzer's comment,
March 10, 1:30 PM
This is a real fad now, skyscrapers that twist toward the sky like that, isn't it? I can't help but wonder about the legacy. Are we entering a new era where the species is losing its self consciousness, or have these architects simply not heard the old limerick about the heartbreak when the man who was threaded one way fell in love with the woman who was threaded the other way?
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a cowshed in ireland made entirely from locally available and salvaged materials creates startling effects of dappled light while working with an existing structure. Via Susan Davis Cushing 
Susan Davis Cushing's curator insight,
February 10, 12:52 AM
beautiful and idyllic. would love to see more information about the costs! Delete the scoop?
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A few nations and communities are already moving in the direction of a steady-state economy. Sweden, Denmark, Japan, and Germany have arguably reached a situation in which they do not depend on high rates of growth to provide for their people. This is not to say these countries have only smooth sailing ahead (Japan in particular is facing a painful adjustment, given its very high levels of government debt), but they are likely to fare better than other nations that have high domestic levels of economic inequality and that have gotten used to high growth rates. Via Szabolcs Kósa Delete the scoop?
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New research shows that many businesses around the world won’t start planning until 2018. Is this too late? Via Lauren Moss, Susan Davis Cushing 
Duane Craig's curator insight,
December 20, 2012 11:19 AM
And, the construction sector is woefully unprepared... 
Jim Gramata's curator insight,
December 21, 2012 10:37 PM
The earth is bounded and its resources finite. Hopefully it will be a proactive and not reactive decision to do what is critical to the sustainability of the earth. Spread the word.... Delete the scoop?
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MAD has unveiled plans for a towering village of apartment blocks beside the Huangshan Mountains in eastern China.
Inspired by the topographical layers of the landscape, the buildings will have organically shaped floor plates and will emerge from amongst the treetops on a site beside the Taiping Lake. Via Lauren Moss, association concert urbain, Marion Caillol - MIPIM /MAPIC Press Officer , Duane Tilden 
François Lanthier's comment,
November 19, 2012 4:48 PM
Love it! Where do you find all thins great information?
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Another impressive presentation by Richard Heinberg of why we have now entered the post-growth era and what will be the implications for our societies. Via Willy De Backer Delete the scoop?
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Building a green home, while increasingly popular in recent years, isn't a completely new concept, and the House in Regensburg by Thomas Herzog, built in 1977, still resonates today as a unique and beautiful example of thoughtful, site-responsive architecture.
Elegant in its simplicity, the design employs key sustainable principles, including passive heating and cooling, appropriate material selection and responsive building form, all of which enable the structure to have minimal development impact while maintaining a high degree of efficiency- the result of an integrated approach to site, technology, and design. Herzog's House in Regensburg is not only a beautiful example of modern design, but also... Via Lauren Moss, João Greno Brogueira Delete the scoop?
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Tags: infographic, food, agriculture, sustainability, urban, urban ecology, locavore, land use, unit 5 agriculture, unit 7 cities. Via Seth Dixon, PIRatE Lab 
Crissy Borton's comment,
September 11, 2012 8:36 PM
Looking at purchasing a house in the next year or so and this is one thing we have been looking at. Although we don't want to raise our own meat we would like to grow everything else we eat.
Courtney Holbert's curator insight,
February 3, 10:44 PM
Good visual representation of what it would take to be self sufficient. Delete the scoop?
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A recent survey asks sustainable development professionals what they think about current progress. Here's what they said.
This report on "Global Expert Perspectives on the State of Sustainable Development" seems to me a bit too optimistic but has some interesting points to make nevertheless. Via Willy De Backer Delete the scoop?
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In the London borough of Newham, where much of the Olympic Park is located, one of the greenest buildings in the world is on the rise at the Royal Docks. The Crystal, as its known, was developed by Siemens — that global powerhouse in renewable energy tech, among other things — for the center of London’s new Green Enterprise District. Conceived of as an ‘intelligent all electric’ building, it will serve as a showcase for innovative tech- from solar arrays (which cover the roof of the building) to heat pumps tied to geothermal wells (buried beneath the building site). Via Lauren Moss, Digital Sustainability Delete the scoop?
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"This new study explores the implications of a major financial crisis for the supply-chains that feed us, keep production running and maintain our critical infrastructure. I use a scenario involving the collapse of the Eurozone to show that increasing socio-economic complexity could rapidly spread irretrievable supply-chain failure across the world."
Excellent new report from Irish think tank Feasta on the interconnectness between global energy insecurity, economic supply chains and the financial system. Worth reading full report. Via Willy De Backer Delete the scoop?
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IMF managing director Christine Lagarde announced at a CGD event on Tuesday that the IMF would provide research and analytic support in three areas crucial to sustainable development: carbon pricing, phasing out fossil fuel subsidies and green national accounting, that is, development of new measures of economic progress that take into account environmental costs and benefits not included in Gross Domestic Product (GDP). She also announced that she would be attending the Rio+20 Earth Summit in Brazil next week, a first for an IMF head. (See here for Lawrence MacDonald’s summary and analysis of the speech.)
In comments after the speech, Nancy Birdsall singled out the IMF work on new ways to measure economic activity as having far-reaching consequences. I agree. Current measures too often count environmental destruction as a benefit—a forest only counts in GDP when it is cut down and turned into timber. Everybody knows we need a better yardstick. Lagarde’s speech is a welcome endorsement from the citadel of economic orthodoxy of the clear need for new and better measures Via Athena Drakou Delete the scoop?
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Businesses will stick to the status quo whatever the disastrous consequences unless we build a credible sustainability vision Via Willy De Backer
Willy De Backer's curator insight,
April 13, 5:06 AM
Excellent article by Jo Cofino of the Guardian underlining the need for the sustainability movement to stop analysing and start doing.
Willy De Backer's curator insight,
April 13, 5:08 AM
"To create the pathway for fundamental change, it is therefore vital that we mainstream a credible vision of a prosperous future within planetary boundaries, but the sustainability movement has so far failed to do this." - so correct! 
Antoine Moore's comment,
April 16, 8:47 AM
To me the most salient statement of this article was this: Standing back from the whole sustainability debate, the sense I have is that before we can come up with a credible future vision, we must firstly let go of our egoic need to be in control and be right. The paradox is that only by embracing uncertainty, will the way forward start to manifest." Business leaders have to become more comfortable with uncertainty and not knowing upfront the way forward which presumably might also suggest the possibility of not acting but rather sensing into the storyline unfolding in the field of one's experience.
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More efficient, less complex and cheaper, 3D solar cells can also capture more sunlight than conventional PV models Via Szabolcs Kósa Delete the scoop?
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What does the future hold for the global economy? Will living standards rise worldwide, as today’s poor countries leapfrog technologies to catch up with richer countries? Or will prosperity slip through our fingers as greed and corruption lead us to deplete vital resources and degrade the natural environment on which human well-being depends? Humanity faces no greater challenge than to ensure a world of prosperity rather than a world that lies in ruins. Via Szabolcs Kósa Delete the scoop?
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Tony’s Farm is the biggest organic food farm in Shanghai, which produces certified vegetables and fruits. But it's more than just a place for vegetable production. The vision is to integrate the consumer and therefore promote a natural lifestyle.
To link the activities of the working people with the visitors of the farm, playze developed a building complex, which combines the main reception, a lobby, (working also for the future hotel rooms) and a vip area, with the new offices and an existing warehouse, where the fruits and vegetables are being packed. The building provides transparency within the manufacturing process. Thus it supports the vision of integrating the visitor and helps to reinforce the consumer confidence in the products of the farm. At the same time the building design is driven by the concept of sustainability, combined with it's iconic qualities, it communicates and promotes the core concept of the Farm... Via Lauren Moss, Digital Sustainability 
Lauren Moss's curator insight,
January 5, 3:41 PM
An interesting project that incorporates relevant social issues and educational opportunities within the context of a working farm... Delete the scoop?
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Located on a dense site next to ‘Sustainability Street’ at the University of British Columbia, the Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability [CIRS] houses 200 researchers from private, public, and NGO sectors, who work together with the common mission of accelerating sustainability.
The 5,675m2 ‘living lab’ is organized around two four-story wings linked by a central atrium. The atrium serves as a building lobby and entry to a daylit auditorium, and as a social and educational space from which all of the project’s sustainable strategies are visible. The CIRS building has embraced the ambitious sustainability goals of the Living Building Challenge, including those of net zero water consumption; waste water treatment on site; net zero energy consumption, and construction and operational carbon neutrality... Via Lauren Moss, Digital Sustainability Delete the scoop?
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As we plan for the future of our planet, it is imperative that we consider the effects of development on both the environment and human populations. A city is only truly sustainable if it uses natural resources efficiently while still fully meeting the needs of its inhabitants and a decent standard of living.
Via Lauren Moss, Peter Jasperse, David Hodgson Delete the scoop?
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The sustainability of the global food system - an issue of global, multisectoral proportions that engages individual responsibility - was discussed yesterday by a diverse panel of policy makers, business and NGO leaders at the Clinton Global Initiative... "Rethinking agriculture with sustainability in mind One of the important questions about the sustainability of the food system is linked to the emergence of a global middle classes. There are inherent tensions between the growing demand for protein and energy and the degradation of ecosystems. Clay spoke about the need to invest in crops that have a low impact on the soil and the environment. According to him, one of the central questions of agricultural sustainability is “which crops produce more calories by acre of land, by liter of water?”Adesina spoke about how sees seafood as a key alternative to traditional protein sources, because it has less environmental implications than other forms of protein. “Our view”, he explained, “is that it’s going to take protected wild fisheries and agriculture to deal with this. We are very aware of the need to partner with organizations to make sure we protect fisheries, and to make sure we take full advantage of agriculture and its potential.” He further noted that governments must also sett standards, monitor closely, and have the ability to sanction. Via Arno Neumann Delete the scoop?
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...."Our global engineering team has chosen to focus our current efforts on integrating sustainability concepts into the engineering curriculum. We chose to focus on this not only because of its importance, but also because it sustainability is an already recognized and widely accepted concept which is very much lacking from our curriculum. We are also aware of other Universities in Canada where sustainability has been widely incorporated into the engineering curriculum." AN : the U of WIndsor in Canada incorporates the concept of sustainability into its learning modules and training. The earlier the concept get incorporated into psyche of those who have a reasonable chance of implementing the concepts in building, design , planning etc , the better. Good definition and diagram of sustainability. Via Arno Neumann Delete the scoop?
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"Our new website on sustainability offers insights, resources and news from across our business and from trusted partners..."
AN : it is exciting to see such a powerhouse media group as Thomson Reuters putting together a comprehensive website for information on sustainability....
"Welcome to our new website, Sustainability. We are bringing together resources from across the enterprise, combined with valuable partner content, into a single space to enable dialogue and support our customers in their efforts to find a more sustainable pathway for their businesses and communities. "Focusing on sustainability – for ourselves and for our customers – is good business," says CEO Jim Smith. "This new Thomson Reuters website encompasses a broad range of issues, products and practices concerning the environment, economies, corporate citizenship and risk management. It is intended to serve and encourage sustainability initiatives across the global community of professionals." Drawing on the expertise and information we have in this field, Sustainability is where knowledge – news, analysis, insight - can be found. Where new ideas can be explored and those important conversations can begin." Via Arno Neumann Delete the scoop?
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Today, August 22, is Earth Overshoot Day, marking the date when humanity has exhausted nature’s budget for the year. We are now operating in overdraft. For the rest of the year, we will maintain our ecological deficit by drawing down local resource stocks and accumulating carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Via Willy De Backer Delete the scoop?
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While the 250 high level participants at the University of Oxford's Resource conference are clear about why short termism is so dominant, there is no silver bullet that will save civilisation...
What seems to have been seriously lacking during this conference is the social dimension of the sustainability crisis. What will be collapse for some (the 99%) could be a bright "gated" green future for others (the 1%). The signs of a new class war we are seeing in the Great Depression will become more visible over time. Via Willy De Backer Delete the scoop?
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"Financial-market reform has fallen far short of securing the sector’s resilience, let alone driving investment in the technology, energy systems, infrastructure, and business models needed to develop a sustainable world economy."
Good article in Project Syndicate by sustainability expert Simon Zadek on the need to tackle the financial sector. Via Willy De Backer Delete the scoop?
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"This combines with some sobering news from the EIA, which notes in its country field on Saudi Arabia, “One challenge the Saudis face in achieving their strategic vision to add production capacity is that their existing fields experience 6 to 8 percent annual decline rates on average in existing fields, meaning that the country needs around 700,000 bpd in additional capacity each year just to compensate for natural decline. Decline estimates for Saudi Arabia vary widely, however.
The Ministry of Petroleum maintains that decline rates in Saudi Arabia are around 2 percent annually. Saudi Aramco has stated that it will also conduct additional drilling at currently producing fields in order to help compensate for the natural declines from the mature fields."