Imagine you are sitting in your lounge room, glass of wine in hand, perhaps flicking through a magazine or surfing the television channels. Now imagine that a mere hour later your house now lies in rubble, your possessions destroyed save for the clothes on your back. When a natural disaster such as an earthquake or tsunami strikes, the simple feat of surviving the impact is a miracle. But for the survivors who remain in disaster zones like those following the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, or the tsunami in Samoa, starting from scratch and continuing to survive is a mammoth challenge. In response to such dire need, a German company is using making use of used shipping containers to help communities overcome such challenges. Green Container International Aid is responding to the crisis in Haiti and Chile with a long-term rebuilding plan that will design, develop and implement community centres, schools, and sustainable housing from the donation of shipping containers to be reconditioned and repurposed. Focusing on environmentally sustainable architecture, the company’s approach focuses on the user and the spirit of place to ensure that the people receive the best, most sustainable creation for each individual location.

For some people, there is no greater joy than being out on the open water, be it swimming, surfing, sailing or simply floating. Last Hope is 16 original short films brought to life in a night devoted to the freedom of the open water and the people who live in its spirit. It will elevate the traditional surf film into an artistic vision, treading deep to the heart of the subculture with a soundtrack performed live by The Windy Hills, Holly Throsby and Machine Translations. Last Hope plays on August 25 at Brisbane Powerhouse. Contributing filmmakers include Albert Falzon, Richard Kenvin, Monty Webber and Andrew Kidman.

When books are cast off the shelves and into oblivion, they lose their place in the world, no longer required for library duty, becoming unwelcome guests in bookstores and household collections. Rather than heading straight for the rubbish bin, more than 40,000 reclaimed books have been ingeniously used to build an outdoor library, sown with mushrooms. Created as part of the 11th International Garden Festival in Métis, the unusual garden is a haven for bookworms in Quebec. Christened Jardin de la Connaissance (the Garden of Knowledge), the design explores the cultural links between knowledge and nature. As the books yield to the elements, their withering pages become a breeding ground for new life, with an array of mushroom varieties sprouting from the pages.

Next time you reach to fill up your water bottle, run your morning shower, or fill up your kettle, pause and imagine that your water source is brimming with floating debris, creepy crawlies and innumerable water-born diseases. UNICEF launched its Tap Project in 2007 to bring the developed world’s attention to water quality and sanitation in the developing world. The Dirty Water campaign actively raised funds for the Tap Project by throwing a very public spotlight on dirty, murky and unsafe water. Bottling unsanitary drinking water and packaging it in brightly coloured vending machines around Manhattan, the Dirty Water campaign encouraged passersby to donate $1 per bottle, which would in turn provide one child with clean drinking water for 40 days.

A missing link can often solve a myriad of problems, complete a puzzle or simply allow you to have that satisfying ‘light bulb’ moment of clarity. An online initiative, the Kopernik website is a social, humanitarian and technological missing link that progresses equality in the developing world. A not-for-profit online store and think tank, Kopernik connects bright ideas and technological advancements with communities in need. Funded by public donations, the general public can jump online to vote and donate to proposed community programs (such as fresh water transportation or affordable eye glasses). Once adequate funds have been raised, the chosen project is then set into motion. Designed with poor communities in mind, Kopernik’s projects aim to fast track development by bringing state-of-the art technology to parts of the world that desperately need a helping hand.

TEDxBrisbane is excited to be hosting TEDxChange at the Brisbane Powerhouse in the early morning hours of September 21st, 2010. Starting at 4 am in the morning, you are welcome to join us for the simulcast to be streamed live from the Paley Center for Media in New York City. TEDx and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have teamed up for TEDxChange. The event marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the eight Millennium Development Goals set out by the UN to tackle global issues such as poverty, child mortality and disease. Convened by Melinda French Gates and featuring talks by some of the world’s most inspired thinkers and doers, TEDxChange will look at what changes have taken place in the last decade, and what more needs to be done to ensure the health and well-being of future generations. Focused on the theme “The Future We Make,” TEDxChange will be hosted by TED curator Chris Anderson. If you are interested in attending, please register your interest. The event is free and open to the pubic.

Surviving on an income of less than $2 a day, billions of people across the globe cannot afford to buy a mobile handset, let alone accommodate for the costs associated with a regular mobile bill. A for-profit enterprise with a strong social conscience, Movirtu aims to provide the missing link between expensive mobile phone technology and wireless telecommunication systems. By working with mobile operators and network providers, Movirtu strives to ensure that business models and costing structures are developed specifically to help poor communities access mobile technology. Promoting sustainable livelihoods and connectivity in Sub-Sahara Africa and South Asia, Movirtu delivers basic mobile services and shared mobile phone access to rural communities at the ‘base of the pyramid’ marketplace.

Image via The Guardian.

The next time I find myself standing at the shore, with my toes gingerly tiptoeing towards the waves, deliberating about how cold the water may or may not be, I am going to remind myself to jump straight into the waves without hesitation, without stopping to think. I will remind myself to just dive in, and in doing so, hopefully I will remember how lucky I am to be able to jump, dance, swim and play on my own two feet.

Brisbane Park(ing) Day is happening again this year on September 17th.  This global movement of rethinking car spaces and public spaces continues to inspire both temporary actions on the day as well as exciting new permanent action (example Parklets in San Fransisco).  The day mostly looks at on-street parking, but I also would consider that most shopping centres are over designed for capacity and typically over 65% of their land is car parking, that is often empty for periods of time.  How might these be used better? (more…)

Any creature with numerous scuttling legs is generally an unwelcome guest in household areas, resulting in all manner of creepy crawlies, ants, insects and bugs regularly banished to the outside world. For those intrigued by insect life, amateur study can now be conducted in the comfort your own home, without critters running amok in every room. Analog Media Lab has designed a set of chairs that act simultaneously as a functional piece of furniture, an ant or insect farm and an indoor atrium. The insect chair series features a transferable tube to connect the see-through body of the chair to the outside world, an open invitation for ants and insects to take up residence in the foliage-adorned chair.

An emotional rollercoaster can be captured in the blink of an eye, a raised eyebrow or a battering of eyelashes. In an exploration of eye contact, Oscar Ciutat’s photographic work, Caged, explores the notion of whether an animal’s eyes are the windows to their soul. Oscar visited his local zoo in Barcelona to explore animals in captivity, and to discover whether their life behind bars would be apparent in their facial expressions. Oscar’s subjects portray emotive messages. Tired eyes, apprehensive glances, and the occasional glare are all displayed with raw honesty and, at times, uncomfortable proximity. The donkey shies away from Oscar’s lens, whilst the bear challenges the viewer to a passionate staring competition.

Noisy, petrol-guzzling lawn mowers are jealously eyeing off a stylish rival from Milan. Boutique design house Studio Volpi has developed a concept solar-powered lawn mower. With a quiet design to keep neighbours happy, the eco friendly solar-powered prototype limits damaging environmental factors associated with petrol-fuelled engines. Incorporating lightweight, affordable materials with simple design, the electric battery reduces noise and would be cheaper to produce on a large scale than its petrol-fuelled opponents. Saving energy is the primary design goal, with solar panels sitting on top of the mower body. Moving away from being a simple grass cutter, the solar lawn mower shifts lawn maintenance into a future of ‘garden cleaning’. The streamlined design and foldable handle allow for easy storage.

This is map magazine’s foster rhino, Maxwell.  He was rescued by the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust three years ago when he was found wandering alone as a baby rhino in the Nairobi National Park. Maxwell suffers from “bilateral cataracts” in both eyes and so he is completely blind, but that doesn’t stop him from enjoying life – he likes porridge (three servings a day), mud baths and tummy rubs, and enjoys the regular visits to his stockade from his fellow elephant and rhino orphans who like to nudge him ‘hello’.  We receive updates about Maxwell’s antics every couple of months from the Wildlife Trust who do a wonderful job taking care of baby rhinos and elephants who have been orphaned by poachers or natural causes. If you’d like to foster your own rhino, you can read through through all the animals available for fostering on the website!

Humanity has raised the flag, and is calling for help. Channelling the belief that tangible options exist to aid the crises facing the human race, The Buckminster Fuller Challenge calls on brilliant minds to answer the call. A design science revolution, the challenge will award US$100,000 to facilitate the development of an idea that has real potential to solve one, or some, of the world’s most pressing problems. The successful designer must invent a bold, visionary, future-focused solution that aims to create a desirable and sustainable outcome. Regionally specific, yet globally applicable, some top entrants include decentralised farming models, innovative water irrigation, and a plan to secure food and water for parts of Africa with reverse desertification of the dry savannas.

I volunteered with this project this past summer in Pisco, Peru, and it was the most amazing, eye-opening, heartbreaking, inspiring, joyous experience.

Image via CNN: Using solar power in the most ingenious yet obvious way, Evans Wadongo acts as a modern day Thomas Edison, lighting up towns in rural Kenya. While we flick on light switches, surf the internet and kick back to watch Foxtel on our high-definition widescreens, it is difficult to imagine a world without technology. Yet the basis for our technology, electricity, is a luxury not available to many Kenyans, and kerosene and firewood create smoky fires to allow some light and cooking. Evans, a Kenyan University student thought of the idea when he was experimenting with Christmas lights. Raised in a family reliant on kerosene fires, he understands the impact a lack of light has on education opportunities and basic health conditions, finding his own eyesight damaged by the smoke. (more…)

At first sight, collateral-free banking seems to be a world away for the credit obsessed streets of America. Shown at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, To Catch A Dollar explores the implementation of microlending in America. Microlending, where the rulebook for traditional banking is totally re-written, has made its way to the United States, in the form of humanitarian Muhammad Yunus’s Grameen Bank. The Nobel Peace Prize recipient and his revolutionary banking system encourage self-employment in local communities through lending small amounts of interest-free money. To Catch A Dollar explores how the Grameen Bank is applied to the city of New York with passion, drive and constructive vision. Muhammad’s economic model has revolutionised banking for the poor members of Bangladeshi society and looking to the future, the Grameen Bank confidently aims to break the cycle of poverty around the world.

Watching a lonely leaf dancing in the wind, your fingertips running over the spiky edges of a hedge, or simply breathing in fresh, crisp air. Human beings are designed to co-exist with the environment and to reside outside the confines of four walls and a roof. Whilst cave dwelling doesn’t tend to blend seamlessly with current societal housing, a solid connection to the Earth can infuse a home with a rich appreciation of the environment, healthy living and a feel-good existence. Italian design company, Altro-Studio, has designed a prototype biocompatible mobile home, the Lawn House, with a view to create a symbiotic relationship between nature, the dwelling’s inhabitants, and factors concerning environmental health. Covered in lawn, with incorporated drainage and using biodegradable materials, the Lawn House explores how our wellness and appreciation of the land can be enhanced by our surroundings.

Click. Jump onto Google. Click. Read up on the latest headlines. Click. Boot up mobile phone. Click. Become lost in cyberspace. Whilst the internet and modern mass-communication provides a space for global interaction and the spread of positive ideas, as we browse/call/text we are also inundated with advertising and negative news. The DoGood iPhone Application encourages users to do one good deed each day, through simple reminder messages sent via mobile. The application strives to help thousands of people to each perform the same act of kindness, simultaneously each day. The DoGood movement encourages positive actions and advertising, and provides users with the opportunity to absorb optimistic messages whilst using the latest technologies. DoGood Headquarters donate 50% of profits gained through advertising sales, to environmentally friendly movements and charities.

GIVIT is a new Brisbane online giving portal designed to connect a community of givers to our community of people who need to receive.  It is a site that requests quality goods and pro-bono services for members of the community who are marginalised, vulnerable and disadvantaged, and anyone can step up to help meet a request.   I’m in the process of moving house and it’s been great to use GIVIT to donate several things to the Pindari Homeless Women’s Service.  There is something nice about knowing who your goods go to directly.   (more…)