Tag Archive for 'Development-trends'
I feel a little under the weather today. I think I’ve been experiencing what some environmentalists such as John Seed and Joanna Macy term ‘despair’. It’s a lonely, cementing feeling of helplessness and inaction in response to the current ‘climate’ of local, national and international events. In search of an offer of knowledge-a slice of my soul, a question from the grey that matters to share with you, I opened up a book I’ve been reading called Massive Change. It proposes that a new breed of designer is needed, one who is in the words of R. Buckminster Fuller, a “synthesis of artist, inventor, mechanic, objective economist and evolutionary strategist”. Continue reading ‘buckminster fuller.’
dance like your energy is fuelling the music
Ever feel guilty when you’re dancing at a club that your energy is being wasted? That all your funky dance moves, wonky break-dancing stunts, high fives and pirouettes are for nothing? Well, soon your energy will be captured and put to good use. A group of entrepreneurs in The Netherlands are working collaboratively on a Sustainable Dance Club project where energy will be collected from gyrating bodies and used to power the nightclub. So the more feet that pump the dance floor, the more electricity is stored and used for important stuff like turntables, lighting and speakers. Toilets will be flushed with rainwater and, instead of painting the walls, the heat whirling around the room at different temperatures will cause the walls to change colour at different stages throughout the night. Biological beer will be served and the ‘relax’ roof will be a chill-out space and home to the water basin. Continue reading ‘dance like your energy is fuelling the music’
Lately I’ve been developing a radar of sorts for news and information about the state of the planet. Dad showed me this site the other night and after 10 minutes I understood the past, current and future development trends of the world’s countries and suddenly my radar had matured somewhat. Gapminder has teamed up with the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) to offer free, easy to understand flash presentations about development trends over the last 100 years or more. The history and future scenarios of a country’s health quality, child mortality rates, GDP and other trends are all demonstrated before your eyes. A picture can tell a thousand words. Remember those cool AIT presentations? Similar in nature, Gapminder provides here what words cannot. In summary, the rest of the world except Africa has been slowly increasing in wealth, health and education to move closer to levels attained by the 33 member countries of the OECD. This is a tragic situation and one I am not sure how can be resolved. But it must right? Continue reading ‘gapminder.’
