Colombia – Seeds of Good Anthropocenes

Cable Cars as Urban Public Transport in Medellin

How can cities grow in ways that promote social inclusion? The city of Medellín, Colombia, built a cable car system to provide a new type of public transport that connected poorer people, living in rugged areas, to Medellin's public transport system. The cable car system, Metrocable, was part of an integrated investment in new public transport and neighbourhood infrastructure. It began operation in 2004, and the success of the first line lead to the construction [...]

Garry Peterson2016-11-11T12:13:37+00:00infrastructure, transport system, Urban|Comments Off

Cyclovia

Cyclovia is an institutionalised event in Bogota where each Sunday and public holiday over 100 km of roadway are closed to car traffic for seven hours to create a ciclovia (“cycling way”) for cyclists, skaters, runners and walkers. On some Sundays, as many as a million and a half people, or about 20% of Bogota, use Ciclovia to relax, excercise, and connect with others. By promoting the use of roads as public [...]

Garry Peterson2016-10-31T13:30:01+00:00community, health, infrastructure, transport system, Urban|Comments Off

Bogota’s CicloRuta

How can government investments in infrastructure projects help trigger good sustainable change? How can we overcome our lock-in to fossil-fuel intensive transport systems? Bogotá is the largest city of Colombia with a population of 7 million. Since the 1990s it has undergone a transformation from being know for its drug violence to its sustainability initiatives, many which have focussed on public transportation as a key for social inclusion. One of these initiatives was [...]

Garry Peterson2016-10-24T07:50:14+00:00Social-Ecological Seeds, transport system, Urban|Comments Off

Intentional Community in Gaviotas, Colombia

Can a thriving community be created in a harsh, socially hostile environment, and can it last? What lessons can be learned from Gaviotas, Colombia? Gaviotas is an intentional community in eastern Columbia established by Paulo Lugari in the mid 60’s. The ecosystem consisted of “llanos”, savannas that seasonally flood. The intent of the community was to find ways to make the region more habitable. Through Colombian and UNDP grants in the 70’s [...]

ciararh2015-10-30T15:40:00+00:00Food, health, infrastructure, Integrated social-environmental, Project information or update, Skills Development, Social-Ecological Seeds, stop destructive action, sustainable living|Comments Off

Seeds are existing initiatives which hold potential to shape the future. They are likely not widespread nor well-known. They can be social initiatives, new technologies, economic tools, or social-ecological projects, or organisations, movements or new ways of acting that have that appear to be making a substantial contribution towards creating a future that is just, prosperous, and sustainable.

We gather seeds from diverse research disciplines, communities of practice, and individuals that have different world-views, values, and problems. This diversity means that not everyone will agree on the importance or value of every seed.