Ideas

A few interesting items for your consideration.

California 2050: A Vision Realized

The following piece was written as part of the interview process for my new role as Associate Planner with the California Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation in response to the following prompt: “It’s 2050 and California has succeeded in achieving our land use and climate policy goals.…

Asset Mapping for Systems Change

Asset mapping is a process of identifying and cataloging the resources, skills, and strengths that exist within a community, organization or ecosystem. It involves creating an inventory of the various assets that a community possesses, including physical assets, economic assets, human assets, social assets, cultural assets and more. The goal of asset mapping is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the existing resources within a community, which can then be leveraged for community development initiatives.

Bioregionalism: Coming home to place, connection, and mutuality

Bioregionalism is a philosophy that empowers improved coordination to address the polycrisis in ways that are hopeful, sustainable, democratic, and grounded in place, culture and ecology. Rather than abstract political boundaries, bioregionalism calls for the recognition of natural boundaries and ecosystems, along with human culture and inhabitation patterns, as the foundation for governance and economy. In doing so, bioregionalism encourages the developed world to reevaluate the way we organize ourselves and relate to each other and our place.

Humanity needs positive, long term futures, now

If humanity, even a small part of it, is unable to envision positive futures to guide our lives and actions, we're unlikely to ever live them.  We must break free from this downward spiral of negativity and shift our societal perspective on the future.  By allowing ourselves to dream beyond perceived limitations, we open the door to possibilities. Imagination, freed from constraints, plants the seed for potential positive futures.

Koyaanisqatsi: Seeing and feeling a life out of balance

“Koyaanisqatsi,” a Hopi word meaning “life out of balance.” The developed world suffers from an impoverished worldview. Our stories blind us to the humbling truth that humans are but a single thread in the vibrant fabric of life's vast tapestry. Without the deep meaning and “awe”-some knowing derived from understanding our interdependence with nature, we are living a life out of balance.

#CivicTech Primer: Uncharted territory

Civictech is a new(ish) sector focused expressly on the public good. This definition opens countless roads for exploration, and yet many are not currently taken. Radical innovation hasn’t disrupted voting, political discourse or wealth structures. Say what you will about the cult of disruption, I am optimistic that the civic tech movement will improve our public sphere.

#CivicTech Primer: What is civic tech?

Here in the Second Great Internet Bubble, we’ve come to accept Marc Andreessen’s maxim that “software is eating the world.” The evidence is outstanding for sectors like retail, social, finance and entertainment. And as you read this, software is quickly devouring many more sectors and systems, from transportation to health…

CivicMakers.org – Thoughts On A Successful CityCampSF

CivicMakers hosted a very successful CityCampSF recently. Here’s an excerpt from the event recap post over on CivicMakers.org. On Saturday, January 10th, more than 200 bright, shiny citizens showed up at the Code for America headquarters to share, listen and take action for a better San Francisco. In this alone,…

Building Community for Better Cities at CityCampSF

(Cross posted from the CivicMakers blog.) What happens when you gather local officials, city staff, entrepreneurs, designers, developers, journalists and citizens in a room for one day, and ask for their best ideas to improve their communities? You get CityCamp – a lot of excitement, a little chaos, plenty of…

A labor of love: Do the Wiggle!

Today is May Day. A time for celebration, for new beginnings. The start of my birth month. The start of Bike to Work Month. All in all, a terribly fitting time to share with the world my labor of love for the past year. Ladies and gents, I present to…