A series of nine planetary boundaries have been identified by Rockstrom et al. 2009. It is becoming increasingly clear that development pathways must reconnect with the biosphere’s capacity to sustain them (Folke et al. 2011).
As part of our research, we are constantly trying to experiment with research dissemination using social media, this blog, HEADTalks, our Facebook page, and tweeting.
July 26th, 2012
Fundamental to the good society is the ability of elected officials and their civil servants to make decisions and policies grounded on evidence and sound scientific advice. This is also key to ensuring that the power of elites, and vested interests for maintaining the status quo do not dominate the political agenda of the day, and are kept in balance with the democratic principles of social justice, fairness, equity and sustainable development.
What does inequality do to a community? Ironically, there is no relationship whatsoever between key social indicators and gross national product (GNP). Bigger income gaps lead to deteriorations in health (drug abuse, infant mortality, life expectancy, mental illness, obesity), human capital (child well-being, high school drop outs, math and literacy scores, social mobility, teenage births, and social relations (child conflict, homicide, imprisonment, social capital, trust).
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?
In my last post, I talked about the importance of walkability to individual and community vitality. The good society is also about places that have space to meet, run into one another and connect in diverse ways. Culture is dependent upon the informal interactions we have the opportunity to make with one another, and I would argue, with other species. Density also matters, “which is why cities matter [in the production of culture].
What is the possibility of achieving a 2-degree future now? What are the global impacts of continuing low-income industrialization in India and China. India's GDP per capita is presently 1/3 that of China, with a huge scope for very high growth rates. This has fundamental implications for mitigation and adaptation analysis and policy, globally and for all nations. Most likely, we will see a 4-degree future. What are the ramifications for human society?
I am delighted to finally announce the launch of the vitality tool, Vt. It has taken almost a year and a half to develop this tool, and we deliberatively designed it to make you think about the meaning of vitality for your own community. You can also add to the six proxy indicators that we identified from our discussion papers that best typify.
We recently produced this video, a vision for 2015 for sustainable community development. I deliberatively chose 2015 because I believe we have enough information, enough science to act now to achieve this dream, what is needed is political will. Just imagine if we had a Federal Government that had the courage to implement a policy of virtually zero waste in the private and public sectors by 2015. How much innovation would that spark in our industrial leaders?