Desert of the Real

First, I’ll explore the notion that we are living in a ‘desert of the real’. Second, I’ll look at what the desert of the real has meant for environmental communications. And thirdly, to conclude, I will explore alternative ways of knowing and being in the world – and ask what these might mean for design.

Place capital: Re-connecting economy with community

“We’ve been wrong for the last 67 years,” Mark Gorton, founder of OpenPlans, announced in his closing address at last month’s Pro Walk/Pro Bike: Pro Place (PWPB) conference. “Ok. Time to admit it, and move on! We have completely screwed up transportation in this country. We can never expect to see the legislative or policy change until people understand the fundamental underlying problem. Asking for 20% more bike lanes is not enough.”

Creating a sense of place by investing locally

Like most facets of our lives, including food, clothing, and jobs, our investments are becoming increasingly abstracted from our day-to-day reality. Very few people have the opportunity to invest in what they can immediately see, feel, touch or taste. The location of our investment dollars is increasingly “elsewhere,” and the sheer velocity with which money moves is mindboggling.

Karuk Tribe: Learning from the First Californians for the Next California

The three sovereign entities in the United States are the federal government, the states and indigenous tribes, but according to Bill Tripp, a member of the Karuk Tribe in Northern California, many people are unaware of both the sovereign nature of tribes and the wisdom they possess when it comes to issues of climate change and natural resource management.