Delighted to release the first of our Zoom Regenerative in Conversation podcasts …
Mindful Spaces and Places
Sophie Lacey is a skilled copywriter and content writer with extensive experience in the promotion of health & wellbeing in the built environment, retail, homes & gardens, food & beverage, beauty and fashion.
This podcast explores Sophie’s activities and perspective as a qualified meditation teacher across many areas, including mindfulness in nature, mindful spaces, biophilic design, multi-sensory storytelling and placemaking for wellbeing.
Pop over to our Regen Notes page to listen. The podcast is also available on Apple, Spotify, Tunein and many other podcast platforms. Please do subscribe, like, comment and share.
ZR In Conversation on Apple
About
Zoom Regenerative in Conversation is a regular podcast, capturing the essence and authenticity from the awesome conversations that ZR hosts Martin Brown and Anna Williamson have with ZR guests, enabling in-depth behind-the-presentation exploration of topics covered within the ZR sessions.rege
Zoom Regenerative is a Fairsnape initiative, sharing, pollinating and exploring dots that connect ecology and nature with the built environment.
To connect with zoom regenerative, you can like, share and subscribe to this podcast, engage in our monthly events, join us across social media using the #zoomregen or #ZoomRegenerative hashtags, subscribe to our Regen Notes newsletter and find more news and background at Zoom Regen
Future Podcasts
“It has always been a radical act to tell stories during dark times. They are the regenerative spaces of creation and renewal. As we experience a loss of connection to the earth we share stories that explore the timeless connections between ecology, culture and spirituality.” Emergence Magazine
We have a number of exciting in conversation podcasts lined up for release between Zoom Regen events.
If you have a story that needs telling exploring in these ‘climate dark times’ and would like to be an ‘in conversation’ guest please do get in touch
The Next Zoom Regenerative
What does it feel like to live on the brink of a vast historical change? It feels like now. Kim Stanley Robinson
Excited to announce that Zoom Regenerative returns for our next season on the 14th September at 8pm UK time to include:
exciting updates on the next chapter for Zoom Regenerative
an extended version of our ZR one-2-one chats that have led to so many connections, collaborations, contracts and friendships.
unconference style discussion to explore regenerative built environments in the light of the recent IPCC report and ahead of COP26
Regen Notes is a Fairsnape fortnightly newsletter of regenerative news, stories and more, with a sideways focus on the built environment.
“Everything we need to avoid the exponential impacts of climate change is doable. But it depends on solutions moving exponentially faster than impacts.”
Christina Figueres
Regen Notes is a companion to Zoom Regenerative, where we join regenerative dots, share themes and work that invigorates, inspires and feeds our curiosity.
Regen Notes 16, the latest newsletter off the press covers Pollinator Loss, Consulting, Biodiversity Net Gain, Carbon Peak, Peatbog Super Heroes, Mushrooms, Zoom Regenerative, Locus, LFE Masterclass, Folk on Foot, Spell Songs.
Somehow, whilst we had all been busy, while had been doing all the small things that add up to life … the future had slipped into the present.
To Fairsnape blog followers and subscribers: Firstly thank you for your support. Posts here, on the fairsnape blog, will continue. However the newsletter format of substack gives a longform, newsletter based approach, joining the dots of regenerative thinking and practice with the built environment.
RESTORD 2030 A Regenerative Guide for Educators, Students and Practitioners.
A primer for the (re)imagination of a city ten years into the future. The City of RESTORD.
We are on the cusp of something regeneratively wonderful or something irreversibly disastrous. Use of the word ‘regenerative’ has seen a welcome resurgence, applied to everything, from farming to leadership, fashion, culture, economics and the built environment.
Its current use reflects the urgency we now face as climate change and ecological breakdown become increasingly palpable. It represents a desire and a focused switch in mindset, away from the mechanistic, away from being only less bad, the common and dominant discourse, to one that is living and sees ourselves and the built environment as interactive parts of the beautiful and complex ecosystem web.
RESTORE: {verb} to bring back to a state of health, soundness, and vigour.
RESTORD: {noun} a city that is socially just, ecologically robust and culturally rich.
RESTORD2030, a guide for educators, students and practitioners, will be of interest to teachers in primary and secondary education, to lecturers and teachers in university education and those delivering sustainability courses, and workshops, including continuous professional development for (planning, design, construction, facilities management) practitioners. It is available for free download below.
RESTORD 2030 aims to inspire users to create new and enhance existing sustainability modules with a regenerative climate and ecological focus.
It is pinned on the need for us to understand what good looks like and to imagine a regenerative future, and then to identify the steps that will move us towards that goal.
It is not that regenerative thinking is new. It has been at the core of ecological thinking for decades, traced back to acclaimed and influential writers on nature and ecology such as Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson and many others. Importantly, it has likewise been the foundation of many indigenous cultures since time immemorial.
Along with the increased use of the term ‘regenerative’ we have a changing narrative. And this is important, as it is narratives that define us and contribute, in turn, to how we define and shape our future. The future is not something that just happens to us, but it is something that we create. As Arundhati Roy noted in April 2020, we need ‘to imagine the future we want and be prepared to fight for it’.
Yet, unless we urgently address the level of ecological and climate literacy, and levels of climate awareness within all areas of education, we will not have the narratives, insights and knowledge to imagine our future, to recognize goodness and what it looks like and to be able to fight for it.
“to all who work in the built environment – the explicit purpose of your work must be to craft and cultivate the fertile conditions for life to thrive.”
Michelle Holliday preface to RESTORD2030 ‘‘Love Letter to Those Who Shape our World’.
Amanda Gorman The Hill We Climb. Image Unsplash/Yannick Pulver
Part One contains a selection of new thoughtful articles on education and awareness interventions based on, and enhancing the work from RESTORE publications, relating to the need for a new mindset and a nar-rative for a regenerative future.
Part Two provides insights into what modules are available through RESTORE members and the wider regenerative fraternity.
Part Three provides a reference portal into the myriad publications, presentations, articles, papers, videos and more from the four years of the RESTORE action.
Part Four provides a listing with details of the authors and contributors who can be contacted to facilitate elements of regenerative focused education and to give relevant advice on those themes.
The most important aspect of regenerative business today is to inspire future generations, future projects and future ideas to reach higher, to be bolder and to be far, far, more disruptive.
Martin Brown. Author
Image Unsplash/Paweł Czerwiński
EDITORS Martin Brown, Carlo Battisti.
CONTRIBUTORS Ann Vanner, Alison Watson, Blerta Vula, Giulia Sonetti, Ivan Šulc, Jelena Brajković, Zvi Weinstein, with Michelle Holliday (Guest Preface) Anna Williamson (TM and Vastu Architecture). Scott McAulay (Climate Literacy) Francesco Gonella (Systems Thinking) and Lydia Singh (RegenVast)
Having finally completed our HUMAN. NATURE. BUILT ENVIRONMENT Scale Jumping chapter together for the RESTORE WG5 publication yesterday , and then hosted a wonderful #ZoomRegenerative session last night that explored the regenerative mindful human-nature connection, this very relevant and timely article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Nature is under pressure. Ecosystems are being degraded rapidly and a billion species are at risk of extinction. This is the shocking picture set out by an independent intergovernmental body, the Inter-governmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). The platform was established to make stronger connections between science and policy. Its view is that the only solution to the crisis is radical change in the way humans live.
Humans are deeply implicated in the crisis underpinned by the notion of the anthropocene, which is the time that humans have become the dominant impact on earth. This is highlighted in the current crises of a global pandemic, racial tensions and growing inequalities.
There is a lot of research on the impacts that human actions will have on the future of the planet. These range from carbon emissions leading to climate change through to plastic waste devastating ocean life. But there’s little research on what sort of future people want. This is even more true for understanding what a better future could look like for different people and in different contexts. Such stories of the future are important tools for decision-makers whose choices will bring about change.
The IPBES expert group on scenarios and models responded to this gap in positive stories of nature. We worked on creating visions that reflect the diverse values that nature holds for people. We also wanted these visions to be applicable in different contexts.
We started with a workshop in New Zealand in 2017, with 73 participants from 31 countries, representing all UN regions. Using a method developed from the Seeds of Good Anthropocenes project in South Africa, the participants identified “seeds” of change that they believed would be the start of a better future. These seeds were as diverse as displacing GDP growth as a metric and giving rivers legal standing, and as distinct as centres of distinction on indigenous and local knowledge and gene editing technologies.
How the 7 desirable visions generated in the 2017 workshop in New Zealand formed the basis of the Nature Futures Framework that sets out three core values of nature: nature for nature, nature for society and nature as culture. These value perspectives build on the IPBES guidance on multiple values for nature. Authors’ own and images from Mary Brake, Reflection Graphics; Dave Leigh, Emphasise Ltd.; Pepper Lindgren-Streicher, Pepper Curry Design
Building from the visions, the expert group then developed the Nature Futures Framework. This is a simple way to show and talk about the ways in which nature has value for people:
● Nature for nature, in which nature has value in and of itself;
● Nature for society, in which nature is primarily valued for the benefits or uses people derive from it;
● Nature as culture, in which humans are perceived as an integral part of nature.
The framework aims to illustrate all the ways nature is appreciated. It’s intended to allow multiple voices to debate what a more desirable future for people and the planet could look like. A recent application of the framework with youth from around the world illustrated some common features of desirable futures. These included an emphasis on diverse community solutions, a reconnection with nature and a reconfiguration of the economic system to showcase what really is valuable for well-being.
Differences include how technology is employed in the future. This looks into whether it’s a central solution like energy and transport for example, in a hyper-connected world where everyone is educated about diverse cultures and places. It could also be a more locally diverse future that emphasises being in place and where innovation is based on indigenous and local knowledge. What these diverse futures show is not a “better or worse” future, but alternatives that can help inform decisions in the present. People have a diversity of relationships with nature. Only when this is appreciated can the world find its way to a better future.
A call to arms for participation
Reaching this global understanding requires buy-in and input from as many people around the world as possible. The newly constituted IPBES Task Force on Scenarios and Models is, therefore, calling on researchers and practitioners to contribute. They can take part in scenario processes or use the framework in their own exercises.
It is especially important to get participation from the African continent. The region is often marginalised in global environmental scenarios, despite its bio-cultural diversity. To reach as wide an audience as possible, the Nature Futures Framework’s paper on creating desirable futures has been translated into a range of languages under-represented in global research. These include Afrikaans, Arabic, Bemba, isiZulu, Setswana, Shona, Twi, Wolof, and Yoruba.
Before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 was to be a “super year” for nature. Various global decisions that will shape the planet’s future were to be taken, including the Convention on Biological Diversity’s renegotiation of biodiversity targets. As these events have been postponed, and as the world seeks to recover from the pandemic, it is even more essential that decisions about the future consider humans’ diverse relationships with nature.
Such decisions can be supported by visions, scenarios and pathways that are collectively developed and made accessible to all interested stakeholders. New types of globally relevant scenarios are urgently needed to show what could be achieved and catalyse the interventions needed to move towards these more desirable futures.
A starting point can be registering as a stakeholder on the IPBES portal: https://ipbes.net/. Building a better future requires everyone’s buy-in. The scientific community is starting to realise how important it is to listen to voices from the ground. Without these voices, targets for the planet will remain out of reach.
Here are nine regenerative graphics and charts that have shaped, and are shaping, my sustainability thinking and may inspire others., There are a number that I have created, inspired by regenerative thinking from others. Some concepts are a few years old now and well established but remain very powerful, others new, inspirational and provide deeper insights into regenerative sustainability
For a Regenerative Worldview.We may (or may not) have left behind our Ego worldview, but in the Eco era (since Brundtland when we pledged not to compromised tomorrows generation) our key indicators are still heading in the wrong direction. A new mindset and approach, Seva, that sees our relationship and responsibilities as part of the planetary eco systems, not apart from. A worldview, whilst still core to indigenous cultures, is necessary to embrace actions needed to address the climate and ecological emergency we find ourselves in. (More)
For Regenerative Sustainability.It was Yvon Chouinard who said we should not use the word sustainability until we are giving more back than we take. This format appeared in FutuREstorative, based on many similar, earlier graphics, illustrates sustainability as a bridge, a tipping point between being degenerative and regenerative approaches to sustainability and economics. (More)
For Regenerative Climate– The warming stripes from Ed Hawkins visualising temperature differences have become a powerful image in understanding climate change and hence recognition of climate crisis. I have reversed the stripes to encourage discussion on regenerative approaches we need to reverse temperature increases – and get back to safe levels. (more)
For Regenerative Practitioners– The regenerative practitioner framework that commences with self actualising, something more and more regenerative built environment projects are embracing as they kick off, ensuring all project members are in the ‘regenerative’ mindset. (More)
For Regenerative Resources and Materials. This butterfly diagram, illustrating the Circular Economy approach from the Ellen MacArthur Foundationhas been called the most important diagram for sustainability.
For Regenerative Wellbeing… the New Economics Foundation five key elements to wellbeing, connecting, being active, taking notice, learning, and giving.
ForRegenerative Communities.This excellent colourful graphic captures the vital elements in Rob Hopkins From What is to What If book, along with a very good dose of Transition Town thinking …
Regenerative Economics. Kate Raworth’s Doughnut Economics has captured the zeitgeist of the moment as we seek meaning in regenerative economics aligned to regenerative sustainability. Moving away from degenerative economics where ‘growth and development is linked to increasing consumption of finite resources’.
The transition to a Regenerative Economy is about seeing the world in a different way: a shift to an ecological world view in which nature is the model.
Design can no longer be only concerned with reducing environmental impacts within the threshold of greenhouse gas emissions. Buildings today must be developed to reverse the effects of climate change, enhance natural systems, the built environment and habitants health.
“Regenerative Design in the Digital Practice” explores how the regenerative concept is now being applied to the regenerative design of cities and buildings. A series of digital design approaches are exemplified via a series of examples drawn from leading international practitioners and researchers.
“Regenerative Design in the Digital Practice” fills a gap in the existing literature by introducing fundamental design principles of regenerative design practice whilst acknowledging the potential and imperative of integrating science, big data and multi-discipline digital tools in the design process.
This book offers those involved within the built environment a wide range of insights into regenerative design from international design practitioners and researchers in the field. As well as theoretical insights into the historical, cultural and philosophical development of regenerative design, practical insights are framed in a set of key regenerative design principles, methods and performance simulation tools. Finally, the ability to create regenerative designs and the positive impacts they bring are demonstrated through a series of built examples.
Pillars of Regenerative Design
CONTENTS:
REGENERATIVE DEFINITIONS FOR DESIGNERS The Pillars of Regenerative Design Edited Martin Brown, Emanuele Naboni, Lisanne Havinga TOOLS AND DATA FOR HOLISTIC MODELLING Simulating Regenerative Futures Edited Emanuele Naboni, Clarice Bleil de Souza, Terri Peters, Lisanne Havinga CLIMATE AND ENERGY FOR REGENERATIVE URBAN DESIGN Local Context, Adaptation, Resilience Edited Emanuele Naboni, Ata Chokhachian, Luca Finnochiaro, Lisanne Havinga CARBON AND ECOLOGY WITHIN THE DESIGN PROCESS Environmental Impact Assessment Edited Lisanne Havinga, Catherine De Wolf, Antonino Marvuglia, Emanuele Naboni HUMAN WELL-BEING VIA CERTIFICATION AND TOOLS Comfort, Health, Satisfaction, Well-being Edited Angela Loder, Sergio Altomonte, Emanuele Naboni, Lisanne Havinga CASE STUDIES SHOWCASING REGENERATIVE DESIGN 346 From Theory to Realisation Edited by Emanuele Naboni, Lisanne Having
An exploration in progressing a paradigm shift in built environment thinking, from sustainability to restorative sustainability and on to regenerative sustainability.
Regenerative Construction and Operation
Bridging the gap between design and construction, following a Life Cycle Approach consisting of practical approaches for procurement, construction, operation and future life.
Future titles will include Regenerative Technologies, Scale Jumping and Atlas of Solutions.
What is the collective noun for declarations? An argument, (used to describe architects and wizards) sounds a good fit. But I like a Promise of Declarations.
Coupled with recent findings from the IPCC, the UK’s CCC Net Zero Report and inspiration from Greta Thunberg and school strikers, over 100 local authorities, have declared a climate emergency and / or committed to net zero carbon by 2030 or 2050. And within the built environment we have declarations from Architects (now over 500 practice signatures), Landscape Architects, Structural Engineers, Service Engineers, Creative Communicators and even Construction Supply Chains. Check them out:
And, if anyone is setting up, or knows of a construction sector emergency declaration, I would be more than keen to assist/support
Tell the Truth: The first objective of call of extinction rebellion is to recognise that a climate emergency exists and to tell the truth. The second is to Act Now. Now that these groups, institutes, practices and individuals have recognised a climate emergency problem exists, we can act, and now is the time to turn these commitments into actions.
Act Now – All of these declarations have similar, reassuring, commitments for faster change in our industry towards regenerative approaches. And in doing so recognising that business as usual sustainability (BAUS) has not moved the needle on carbon, global climate temperatures or biodiversity.
“faster change in our industry towards regenerative design practices”
Reducing Impact no longer cuts it We need to move positive good of Regenerative Sustainability
Act Now – Reimagine carbon – the greatest contribution we can make in the built environment, given that we emit 40% of emissions, is to design, deliver buildings that store carbon.
Reimagine Carbon, Carbon is not the Enemy
Act Now – Declare: Only with greater transparency in respect of the products we use, can we address impacts our buildings have on human, biodiversity and planetary health. Declare is focused on taking toxic materials out of the Built Environment through fostering a transparent materials economy free of toxins and harmful chemicals.
3 Collaborate and going beyond silos, we cannot do this alone and will need the might of all good collaborative working approaches from the last 30 years. One powerful benefit of Living Building Challenge accreditation, in not awarding certification until design intent is proven over a 12 months continuous period, is the way in which design, construction, facilities managers and those using the building have to collaborate for sustainable success
The current use of the extinction symbol by Extinction Rebellion, is establishing the symbol as the image of climate breakdown akin to the (CND) peace symbol. In addition, the vision, messages and demands from Extinction Rebellion, (echoed by Greta Thunberg, the SchoolsStrike4Climate and David Attenborough’s BBC Climate Change: The Facts) is resonating with business and the built environment sector. And as I mentioned in a tweet this morning – XR has done more for climate change, climate breakdown awareness than the sustainability movement has done, with (as the Guardian reported) Support for Extinction Rebellion in the UK has quadrupled in the past nine days as public concern about the scale of the ecological crisis grows.
The symbol represents extinction. The circle signifies the planet, while the hourglass inside serves as a warning that time is rapidly running out for many species. The world is currently undergoing a mass extinction event, and this symbol is intended to help raise awareness of the urgent need for change in order to address this crisis. Estimates are that somewhere between 30,000 and 140,000 species are becoming extinct every year in what scientists have named the Holocene, or Sixth Mass Extinction. This ongoing process of destruction is being caused by the impact of human activity. Within the next few decades approximately 50% of all species that now exist will have become extinct. Such a catastrophic loss of biodiversity is highly likely to cause widespread ecosystem collapse and consequently render the planet uninhabitable for humans.
Although aimed at the Government, we can learn from XR – their demands are very closely aligned to those seeking a regenerative built environment
Extinction Rebellion ‘Demands’:
1 ACKNOWLEDGE: tell the truth by acknowledging and declaring a climate and ecological emergency, working with others to communicate the urgency for change
2 ACT: Act now to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025
3 COLLABORATE: create and be led by the decisions of a Citizens’ Assembly on climate and ecological justice.
We believed that we had time and techniques to reform this capitalist system towards something sustainable. It was a wonderful idea at the time, and even got its swansong with international agreement of sustainable development goals
Jem Bendell
Decarbonization by 2025 is a very tough goal, but …we have met tough goals before. We won’t get there by looking at bird photos and picking up litter on Earth Day once a year
Where to start? … ‘tell the truth’, … acknowledge a #ClimateEmergency exists and our built environment role .. and set zero carbon targets for 2025,
Martin Brown @fairsnape At the moment we are on track to fail our own industry strategy target carbon reduction 50% by 2025 … how will we explain that to next gen? #XConstruction
Whether you agree with Extinction Rebellion approach, or not, we need all means, advocates, media and approaches to raise awareness, tell the truth and starting acting.
USE OF EXTINCTION SYMBOL: No extinction symbol merchandise exists, and it never will do. The free use of the extinction symbol by individuals in their personal artwork or other forms of expression is strongly welcomed and encouraged, but any form of commercial use of the symbol is completely against its ethos and should therefore be refrained from. To reiterate, please do not use the symbol on any items that will be sold, or for any other fundraising purposes. There are no exceptions to this policy.
Again the question of what we mean by sustainability has arisen from various directions, and will, no doubt, continue to do so … Prompted by reading Lloyd Alters recent post in Treehugger, here are my thoughts …
Lloyd Alter in his TreeHugger post What’s a Better Term for Sustainable Design, calls for a vote between Sustainable Design and Responsible Design, citing standards such as One Planet Living, Living Building Challenge that go beyond sustainability.
I have long hooked on to a comment from Yvon Chouinard (Patagonia, The Responsible Company)that we should not be using the word sustainability until we give more back than we take, and that’s more back to the environment, but also to the place and culture in which we are based, the people we live and work with, those who work for us, and the society & communities in which we live work and play.
I am co-editing chapters for the forthcoming RESTORE Regenerative Design publication that also borrows much from regenerative standards, whilst embracing ecological perspectives, such as Commoners four laws of ecology. I would offer regenerative design as an alternative to sustainable or responsible design.
Listening to Bruce Springsteen’s brilliant Broadway performance I was struck by his piece on 1+1=3 – this is regenerative sustainability. It’s where the magic happens, it’s the magic of rock and roll, classical music, poetry where the sum of parts is far greater than the parts. Currently buildings and products struggle to make 1+1=2.
RESTORE 2018 publication (Sustainability, Restorative To Regenerative) defined regenerative sustainability as enabling eco and social systems to flourish but also pushed thinking forward, to embrace a Seva approach, where we design as part of nature, rather than apart from nature (the Eco stage). It requires a paradigm switch in how we see ourselves as part of nature.
This was highlighted on my recent visit to Future Build where more than one green building supplier used the expression of giving nature a home within our buildings. Seva thinking would reverse this, to promoting green build products that nature would tolerate in its home.
It is when the capacity of a place to sustain itself becomes ruptured that the human mind is forced to reflect upon ecology. Only then do most of us consider the interconnections between plants and animals and their environment. Ecology teaches that you cannot damage one part of a system without causing knock-on effects elsewhere. From Soul and Soil by Alastair McIntosh (a book I am currently reading described as ‘extraordinary, weaving together theology, mythology, economics, ecology, history, poetics and politics as the author journeys towards a radical new philosophy of community, spirit and place)
The abstract and papers for the forthcoming American Geographers event Nature’s New Urban Worlds: Questions of Sustainability perhaps reflects the current zeitgeist, where nature is being used in the design and forging of new urban worlds.
Within FutuREstorative: Towards a New Sustainability I flagged how the language we use is important, for clarity in what we are describing and attempting to achieve, but also in the often combative adversarial expressions we use, (of competitions, wining, beating etc) adopted from business and no doubt Sun Tzu’s Art of War thinking, and that we rarely, (although I must admit more increasingly), hear words of love, caring and compassion within the sustainability lexicon.
Is it ok to use the word sustainability?
My view, at the moment, is that it is ok to use the word sustainability, but not as something we have achieved, but as our striving for a tipping point (as per Chouinard’s quote). In this thinking we do not have many, if any, sustainable products or buildings. With perhaps exceptions such as natural, nature-based, building materials and buildings like the Bullitt Centre (not only for what it is today but also the ethos and philosophy on the way it was envisaged and designed)
I will be describing the work of RESTORE and the thinking behind Ego, Eco, Seva at the Living Futures 19 conference in Seattle on 2 May.
Business as Usual Sustainability may well prove to be our barrier in addressing the climate change issues we face. To only ‘sustain’ is no longer enough, we now have a real urgency to embrace regenerative sustainability, to thrive … and to enable thriving.
The last three decades have given us many opportunities to embrace sustainability, but have only done so reluctantly and given the worsening CO2, air quality and health issues associated with our buildings, inadequately. So now the options available to us are increasingly radical and of necessity transformative.
The recent 2018 IPCC report has given us 12 years to avoid a painful climate breakdown and the risk of irreversibly destabilising the Earth’s climate. If we are to meet the targets in front of us, related to the 2015 Paris Agreement, the SDG’s and here at home in the UK Built Environment with our CO2 reduction by 2025 targets, we need to move way beyond Business as Usual Sustainability …
The report confirmed that we must take widespread changes to design, construction, maintenance and re-use of buildings. It reinforces buildings account for 40% of CO2 emissions with building materials such as cement and concrete accounting for some 8% of the global figure. In essence this would require no construction, building, industry, plant or vehicles using gas, oil, coal or fossil fuels; a building products sector converted to green natural products and / or non-toxic chemistry; and heavy industries like cement, steel and aluminum production either using carbon-free energy sources or not used in buildings.
Further, the construction and use of buildings will by necessity need to be positive, not passive, neutral or negative – sequestering and capturing more carbon than emitted, generating more energy than used, improving air quality rather than polluting and improving inhabitants wellbeing rather than contributing to health problems.
The best time to start radically reducing carbon was 30 years ago, the second best time is to start today.
Its time to step up.
We can do this.
The Paris 1.5 aspiration is still within our reach – just! Thankfully the 2018 IPCC report does contain at least one positive, and that is anthropogenic emissions up now are unlikely to cause further warming of more than 0.5°C over the next two to three decades or on a century time scale.
This means that, if we stop using fossil fuels today, the carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that have already been released into the atmosphere to date are not likely to warm the earth the additional 0.5°C, either by 2030, or 2050, or even by 2100.
No doubt you have read many end of 2018, start of 2019 sustainable lifestyle things we can do – from eating less meat, cycling not driving, avoiding fossil fuel energy – and these are all good, and things we should be doing. But we can do more, and in the built environment we can make significant and meaningful progress in, for example:
Educate and Advocate As individuals, as organisations and as a sector we must educate and advocate. Many of those entering the design and construction sector over the next twelve years are still in education (many at primary school and have a whole secondary and university education in front of them)They need to be inspired and motivated for a built environment that will be radically different to the one we have today.
Reverse the Performance Gap The performance gap between design and actual causes unnecessary co2 emissions. As with the Living Building Challenge, let’s make award of any sustainable standard only on achievement of or bettering of the agreed design intent. Perhaps planning should only be given, or priority given to buildings that positively make a contribution – on carbon, water, or air quality. A challenge for Building Regulations and Planning requirements to step up.
Grow from Thousands to Billions Trees: “Our planet’s future climate is inextricably tied to the future of its forests,” states the 2018 IPCC report, calling for billions of trees to be planted and protected. We have the skills, materials and mindsets to design, construct and maintain buildings that function as trees. Perhaps the flagship here is the Bullitt centre, but we have thousands of buildings around the world that have regenerative attributes. Building on the title of the 2018 World Green Building Council report we can ramp this up from Thousands to Billions – to all buildings.
Monarch Butterfly (selected as cover image for FutuREstorative)
FutuREgenerative
In 2016, FutuREstorative sought to set out what a new sustainability could look like, moving thinking in the built environment from the ‘reducing harm’ sustainability business as usual approach to one that is restorative, regenerative with a connected worldview. working with natural systems, healing harm done in the past.
I must admit I shied away from using the word regenerative in the title of the 2016 edition. Within the UK regenerative has had an uncomfortable meaning, associated with ‘building schools for the future’ and other less successful programmes. As a Project Manager for a regeneration programme in East Lancashire, I saw first hand, just how uncomfortable the ‘regeneration’ label sat with local communities and the wider sustainability agendas.
I am delighted that FutuREstorative has been adopted by many practices (it has inspired at least two start-ups that I know of here in the UK), is being translated into Portuguese and has been adopted by academic organisations around the world. It has also provided the backbone for the EU COST RESTORE programme.
However, and thankfully, the world of sustainability has moved on a-pace, much has progressed from 2016, (Paris, SDG’s, IPCC and WWF reports) Increasingly we hear much more, and are seeing more examples of regenerative sustainability and ecologically principled design in relation to our buildings, And this includes regenerative buildings that are designed to heal people and planet. I see this as part of what Daniel Wahl refers to as ‘regeneration rising’ but are far from reaching a tipping point.
So, into 2019, my plans are to …
update FutuREstorative, reframing and possibly re-titling as FutuREgenerative to reflect current regenerative activities globally and pushing our thinking further. Over the coming weeks I will be collating regenerative stories and looking for blog style contributions from those at the sharp end of regenerative sustainability, within the built environment and beyond
further support and enable the communities of practice and discussion groups that have emerged and are growing around FutuREstorative
If you would like to get involved in sharing your stories and experience through FutuREstorative communities of practice then please do reach out.
Fairsnape 