Iron and Earth: Changing the narrative about Canadian energy futures
Canada’s oil sands, located in the province of Alberta, are a source of tension when it comes to envisioning the future of Canada’s environment and economy. To some, this resource represents jobs and wealth, with oil reserves worth an estimated $285 billion dollars. To others, the oil sands have no place in the future of the Canadian economy due to regional environmental degradation and climate change impacts. Also, unstable global [...]
EcoPeace Middle East: Environmental Peacemaking for transboundary water management in Israel, Palestine, and Jordan
Citizens of Israel, Palestine, and Jordan know about borders. Crossing between these regions requires rigorous checkpoints and determination. However, the waterway shared between these neighbors, the Jordan River, knows no political boundary. Recently, the Jordan River Basin has experienced massive declines in quality –93 percent of its original flow has been diverted by neighboring states; it is also affected by pollution from sewage, agricultural runoff, and fish pond effluent [...]
Grassroots Economics: Complementary Currencies for community resilience in Kenya
Money is a powerful force in complex societies. It represents access to food, security, and health. In some cases it represents freedom itself. Money is credit, and in the case of national currencies, a piece of money (whether it be a dollar, a rupee, or a yuan) represents an IOU from the government. Money’s ultimate power lies in our collective faith in its value. The movement of money allows products [...]
Yachay City of Knowledge: A New City of Technology, Research and Innovation
“New Cities” are planned cities, generally conceptualized and constructed in partnership between government and corporate actors. While this phenomenon has resulted in a mixed-bag of mostly non-sustainable boondoggles, there is no doubt that these cities represent a vision of the future – new ways of people living together and relating to one-another. While these visions of the future may not be shared by all, they are visions worth noticing. Yachay [...]
WOHA Architects – Buildings for high density tropical Garden Cities
WOHA is Singaporean architectural firm that aims to re-invent skyscrapers for dense urban living. Some of their influential projects are The Met Apartments in Bangkok, and the Singapore School of the Arts, and the Parkroyal on Pickering hotel in Singapore. School of the Arts, Singapore designed by WAHO. Photo by wikipedia user Katmorro. WOHA was founded in 1994 by architects Wong Mun Summ and Richard Hassell. It has designed projects [...]
