In my introduction and my last chapter of my new book, Edging Forward: Achieving Sustainable Community Development, I talk about the loss of the dragons and the importance of reconnecting with their
As digital literacy becomes a key skill of the 21st century, more and more classrooms are integrating coding lessons into their curriculum. As a result, many children are now learning how to read and write while practicing HTML and CSS.
As I sit by the lake, and face the tyranny of the great white page, I think about many of the influences on my life and the lives of those I love. I have blogged before that humans are biologically driven to seek connection and have a deep need to bond.
There are many recent conversations about integrating the arts into sustainability, cities and resilience. I know of one artist, Nancyanne Cowell, who fundamentally integrates the environment into her art, referring to them as ecoscapes. Her art ‘allows’ us to literally see landscapes in different ways, and is always accompanied by a story.
A few years ago Lenore Newman and I wrote an article called In Praise of Mundane Nature, in Alternatives Magazine (2009). In this project led by the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, young children were given cameras to go out and capture small-scale nature, little nature and mundane nature. Check out the children’s photographs on their cities.
Recently read an article in the Globe and Mail, about housing and seniors in Vancouver. The article talks about the coming crunch in senior housing. A colleague of mine, Patrick Condon at UBC states there will be a 250-per-cent increase in people over 65 living in the city of Vancouver, and then discusses the critical need for new housing units and the type of proposed new developments.
What a powerful story, particularly the message at the end.
A very thoughtful reflection on our use of technology, which some believe may be taking us to places we may not want to go. Technology is changing relationships, redefining the meaning of a ‘friend’, how we relate to one another, and most critically, our capacity for reflection. Technology creates the illusion of companionship without the demands of friendship. Are we sacrificing conversation for connection?
