Overview

This work is about sharing regional resources and services of the planet to meet the needs of all living beings and their community patterns. It uses ecological design to create a simple method to implement and manage the sharing: First, we assess what the planet needs to keep developing in a stable flow, then we set aside a satisfactory area of the planet to ensure the continuing operation of evolution in wild systems. Next, we measure the ranges of productivities of wild ecosystems as well as agricultural and urban systems, then use those results to determine optimum human populations for regions. Within human systems, every culture would claim a share of local resources and global services. For example, the Colorado river would be allocated a percentage of water to keep the river and its downstream ecosystems healthy-this may require 50% or more of all the water flow. The remaining water would be divided between resident cultures sharing the river environments up and downstream. This approach promises a fair way to deal with carbon emissions, toxic wastes, and energy use, also. The equal apportionment of 'resources' to all cooperating participants in a regional commons is supported by the practice of recognizing and honoring the legacy of the entire planet that hosts its legatees as tenants and is supported by the 'rule' of all beings together, although in the human legal system, humans represent the interests of all other beings, much as they are starting to do now. This reapportionment is enhanced by the wisdom of harmony and the drawing and making of ecological zones, which emphasizes the relative separation of wild and artificial areas. This reapportionment of 'resources' that human communities have already claimed, as well as of resources that have been badly distributed as a result of theft or violence, may cause some degree of discomfort or suffering, but that is minimal compared to the suffering and death under the current industrial system, which encourages the consumption of everything and large differences in the distribution of wealth. Like metaphysics, ecological design has a vision that exceeds its bounds and a reach that exceeds its grasp. And, we have to use it to explore possibilities of local and regional harmony, without having enough knowledge or experience. Ecological design requires participation and cooperation to accomplish its ambitious goals. It has to be flexible and adapt to changing environments. It has to be adaptive and accept feedback. This means understanding challenges and problems, as well as natural and artificial ecosystems, histories and cycles, before using a variety of physical and conceptual tools to create ecological designs on regional scales, but considering the local and global implications. This means trying to design places, ecosystems and landscapes, as well as cycles and processes. It means redesigning flows of minerals and gases, wetlands and streams, domestic and wild forests, and animal paths and reserves. It means redesigning human patterns, from transportation corridors to traditional and modern cultures. It means redesigning agriculture, cities-traditional cities and proposed arcologies-buildings, neighborhoods, vehicles, industries, and medicine. It means trying to redesign civilization out of physical and social traps; it means redefining cultural adaptations, corporate goals and responsibilities, formal commons, styles of conflict, economic frameworks, political forms and sizes, religious applications, and even advertising. The purpose of all this is to restore harmony to systems that support health and development.

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9781499194593

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Alan Wittbecker is Senior Design Ecologist with SynGeo ArchiGraph, LLC in Florida, where he works on a variety of wildlife and communication projects. He is also Professor of Environmental Science at Ringling College in Sarasota. Contributors' biographies on the web or in the book.

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