bring in 'da fun

According to the Thefuntheory.com (an initiative of Volkwagen), changing people's behavior (for the better) is as easy as introducing some fun into mundane tasks like throwing away garbage. Even if it's just a fun way for some Volkswagen employees to get a few laughs, or generate a little "green" publicity for the car company, it's a nice thought - changing behavior doesn't always have to be a deep psychological experiment, or a matter of garnering support to change public policy (though this is lovely as well) - sometimes we just have to put a little fun into it!

One of their projects, the world's deepest bin:

unlikely dream job: maldives cabinet member

Agence France-Presse — Getty Images (via New York Times)

Apparently the Maldives government is getting creative with its campaign to combat climate change. The President, VP and cabinet members held a meeting 20 feet under water to highlight the fact that if we, globally, don't cut our carbon emissions and engage in more sustainable activity, the effects - including possibly engulfing entire countries - will be irreversible.

Ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December - the first global meeting of its kind - accountability of each country is key. Though this underwater meeting is definitely largely a publicity stunt, I think that it's also a unique and clever way to integrate their local culture and environment to garner support for creative and innovative strategies to combat climate change. Plus, it's pretty baller.

IDEO: living climate change

Living Climate Change is a initiative of design and innovation consultancy, IDEO, that serves as an online space to discuss our approaches to climate change, particularly with the view that designers can play an essential role in visualizing our futures.

Instead of relying on policymakers to solve our climate change problems, thereby positioning ourselves as passive observers, the forum encourages us to all participate in thinking critically about shaping and adapting to our changing global world.

Living Climate Change is formatted as a blog with essays, imagery, visions etc. that are also categorized by various topics (ex: campaigns, photography, transit, youth etc). Though is it promoted as an open format for discussion, as of right now only certain contributions are published, and it relies largely on experts to create the material. It was launched fairly recently - at the end of September - so I wonder if the format will become more democratic as the site evolves...

Sea the Forest for its trees

 

The Umi-no-Mori ("Sea Forest") project is an initiative of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The project involves the conversion of a 30-meter high, 217-acre wide landfill on Tokyo Bay into a forest, including the planting of over 70,000 trees over the next three years. Grade-school children will be actively involved in planting these trees, which according to project chair Tadao Ando, will help them "understand that the environment is closely tied with human activity" (via Bloomberg).

Umi-no-Mori was initiated in part to support the city's 2016 Olympic bid. Not only will the forest serve to remind its visitors of Tokyo's commitment to "greening" the city, it will serve as the equestrian field in Tokyo's Olympic Park. The project chair (and very active board member of the Tokyo 2016 Olympic committee) is architect Tadao Ando, who is known for projects that emphasize a harmony between the built and landscaped world. As a Chicagoan I suppose he's currently my rival, but I think Tokyo's "carbon minus" approach to the bid would be so interesting to see in implementation. Will also be interesting to see if the Umi-no-Mori project still goes forward if the city doesn't win the bid...

park(ing) day chicago!

Friday was Park(ing) Day! Park(ing) Day began in 2005 with an installation by architecture & design firm Rebar ("interdisciplinary studio operating at the intersection of art, design and activism") based in San Francisco.  It has since grow to worldwide movement that encourages civic participation in reimagining our urban  infrastructure to include greater focus on open, green public spaces, versus our current car-centric urban landscapes.

In Chicago, architecture firm Moss Design, along with industrial design firm Strand Design, conceived of "urban park" in two parking spots outside Southport Grocery.

Video interview from WBEZ blog with Matt Nardella of Moss Design, the sustainable design studio in Lakeview on the making of and concept behind their parking spot design.

PARKing Day from WBEZ on Vimeo.

There doesn't seem to be as much critical mass behind the movement in Chicago as in other cities - haven't heard much about other groups/individuals participating in Chicago. I did get a note through my UIC listserv that the Urban Planning department there was leading an initiative on campus.

Park(ing) Day is particularly pertinent to Chicago with the recent heavily contested deal to privatize metered parking throughout the city.

Some shots from other cities, various years:

Original Park(ing) Day in San Francisco, 2005

Chicago, 2007

Honolulu, 2008

New York, 2008

Portland, 2009

UPDATE: Just received images of UIC's parking day this year. Wish I'd made it!

More here.

melting zoo

Artist Kawano Takeshi was commissioned by the Italy-based communications research center, Fabrica, to raise awareness about the effects of climate change.

 

 

I haven't been able to find much else out about Kawano Takeshi's work, but these works have gotten a lot of attention. They have a lot of impact as graphics, but I imagine if the sculptures are life-like they'd have much more effect in person. Like going to a melting zoo...