Lessons from lake restoration

I have just read a fascinating paper by Brian Moss (University of Liverpool) which is available on ResearchGate entitled “Tha art and science of lake restoration” from the journal Hydrobiologia (2007) 581:15-24 In this paper he highlights hard won lessons from practical experience. Among his very many wise comments he states that “high quality lakes

What does ‘regenerative investment’ mean now that Gaia is changing the rules of the game?

We are pleased to share a link to a blog post by this group’s co-founder, Paul Pivcevic and Isabel Carlisle, the director of the Bioregional Learning Centre based in Devon. It is a sobering read but does give us a glimpse of a way forwards with a new economics: https://bioregion.org.uk/what-does-regenerative-investment-mean-now-that-gaia-is-changing-the-rules-of-the-game/

Net Positive

Paul Polman (former CEO of Unilever) the co-author, with Andrew Winston, of the book ‘Net Positive: How courageous companies thrive by giving more than they take’, provided an interesting interview on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Today’ programme this morning (31/12/21). In it, he stated clearly that we can’t have healthy people without a healthy planet and

Community Wealth Building

Community Wealth Building has emerged over recent years principally in two flagship projects. One in Cleveland, USA and the other in Preston, UK. This is new approach to economics appears to align itself very well with bio-regional approaches to the climate and biodiversity emergencies. Community Wealth Building seeks to harness the economic influence of ‘anchor

Water Scarcity

“The risks of climate change and population growth on water scarcity in the UK remain hidden, with a new survey of 2,000 Brits revealing that water consumption is low down on the priority agenda for environmental concerns.” “Sir James Bevan, Chief Executive of England’s Environment Agency, said: “People might wonder how a country with such

Preventing a Hothouse Earth

“To prevent a Hothouse Earth and the bleakest dystopias of climate chaos and species extinction, the fossil fuel economy must be rapidly shut down from both ends: supply and demand. In its place we need an economy that operates safely within planetary boundaries while also providing “a good life for all”.” https://theecologist.org/2021/aug/31/jet-zero-one-way-ticket-climate-hell

Rivers and Sewers

Too often our rivers are dumping grounds for sewage with all the harm that does to the life of the river. However, there is heartening news from Brussels that a 200 metre stretch of the River Senne is to be opened to the elements again with more to follow. This has been accompanied by efforts

Planet Drum

‘Planet Drum’ was founded in San Francisco in 1973. It was they who, in association with community activists and ecologists, developed the concept of bioregion. Planet Drum describe the bioregional way as being one that takes “a grassroots approach to ecology that emphasises sustainability, community self-determination and regional self-reliance”. They also define a bioregion as “a

Local politics

A recently published book entitled ‘Remember Nature: 140 Artists’ ideas for Planet Earth’ (Published by Penguin Random House and edited by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Kostas Stasinopoulos. ISBN 978-0-141-99726-1) contains the following quote: “The ‘rural’ today is a contested zone where many critical issues collide: democracy, antagonism and social cohesion, autonomy and corporate control, the

‘Resisting the Attention Economy’

I have recently started reading Jenny Odell’s book ‘How to do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy’ (Melville House Publishing, ISBN 978-161219-855-2). Far from a call to inaction it is in fact about only doing nothing from the point of view of capitalist productivity. She asks us to question what we currently perceive as productive and