Who Is the Arne Jacobsen of Urban Food?

The largest food exporter in Sweden is Ikea (meatballs). For every meal eaten in a UK restaurant, nearly half a kilo of food is wasted. About 40 percent of the food produced in the United States isn’t consumed. Every day, Americans waste enough food to fill the Rose Bowl. US citizens waste 50 per cent more food today than they did in 1974. Doggy bags are taboo in Danish restaurants. Waste is just one of many wicked problems concerning food in cities.

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Istanbul: City of Seeds

Rather than dream up exotic visions of “what could be”, an xskool looks for social and natural assets that already exist – and grows from there. We bring together projects, however modest in scale, that meet daily life needs using the low-energy processes of natural systems, combined with the metabolic energy of social innovation. A kind of social seed exchange of the next economy.

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'Beyond Good Intentions' – The Movie

Humanitarian crises caused by civil wars or natural disasters, such as in Haiti, often trigger a wave of support from us, the public. But our support raises two difficult questions: first, do our generous donations actually have the desired effect – or any positive effect? and second, what kind of evidence is available to ensure that any debate about aid is well-informed and that the people most affected are given a prominent voice?

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Oil-Powered Thinking

Since 1986 a powerful consulting industry has emerged to help global companies “manage” risk. How is it, then, that despite their efforts, the world is not a safer place? Because risk managers do not advise their clients not to take risky actions. Their job is to make it possible for their client to take those actions anyway – but to make sure someone else pays for any negative consequences. This phenomenon is happening with the energy sector. Rather than a long-term perspective, "solutions" are being proposed that make sense for one country, but take no account of their impact on the biosphere as whole.

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Blood Minerals and Cellphones

You may think the only cost associated with your cellphone is what you paid at the store, but the price we pay for the five billion cellphones already made – and for the opportunity to buy a new one every 18 months – is a war that has taken more than five million lives and continues to cause appalling social and environmental destruction. Can we expect the manufacturing system to change, or do we need to look for new solutions?

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It’s Not Just The Bags

In her new book, Design + Craft: The Brazilian Path, Adelia Borges worries “how many persons want to help us in the Southern hemisphere, but with lack of respect for local knowledge”. As designers increasingly work with indigenous artisans and craftspeople there is a threat to the systems – ecological and social – that have been the basis of craft in the culture. “We must urgently reflect upon the ethical parameters to be observed in this encounter, as well as share methodologies which will allow a true dialogue to take place”.

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Regarding The Pain Of The Planet: A Reader

Why is it that, even when we are exposed to shocking stories and images, nothing seems to change in the system as a whole? What are we as designers to do if we create a powerful piece of communication – and it has no impact? A reading list on resource flows in the globalized economy.

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Zurich Eco Lab

Zurich has a thriving urban eco culture, including tweleve working organic farms, a biodiversity project so large it's called "Seed City", over 1,200 native edible plants, 1,224 water fountains and numerous businesses and organizations supporting green, renewable food and energy sources. Here is a report on Zurich's resources discovered during the planning of a "social harvest festival that will reconnect Zurich with its natural ecosystems and grassroots social innovators".

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Design In The Light of Dark Energy

When the new Italian Prime Minister, Mr. Mario Monti, gave his acceptance speech to the Italian Senate before Christmas, he used the word "growth" 28 times and the word "energy" zero times. And Mr. Monti is not the only politician promoting growth over common sense and the laws of physics. They're all at it, including President Obama. These politicians principal job is to keep us in thrall to a myth: an economy that expands to infinity in a finite world.

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A Reading List for Mr. Mario Monti

A (mostly) online list of readings for the new Italian Prime Minister, Mr. Mario Monti, and anyone else who is ready for a cold hard look at our energy resources and options.

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