Nature First
Universal thinking
There are many factors currently consuming our attention, from the pandemic to the current inequality crisis. Whilst one of our priorities remains saving our current economic system, there will be recovery and the pandemic will eventually be over. However, recovery from the effects of global warming is far less certain.
The pandemic has demonstrated that barriers that seemed impossible to cross, have turned out to be easier to cross than expected. Bold and controversial actions are needed to achieve low carbon and energy-neutral societies. Efforts must be based on a future built within our existing society and the urgent time frame needed.
A closer, more spiritual connection to our planet is needed if we are to build a society of value, with each other and with all life on Earth. How we live will signify cultural and social changes that examine health and wellbeing, economic and environmental health.
The interconnectedness of all life on Earth has been understood, accepted and expressed as a universal truth throughout history. Humans are not separate from nature; for the future, we need and depend on nature. Being a good custodian of the Earth is universal and transcends borders, religions, communities and individuals.
Banner image: Typhoon coming on by Sondra Perry
“The pandemic will eventually be over. However, recovery from the effects of global warming is far less certain. ”
1/Think Bigger
Geological timeframe
We often choose to measure nature at a human pace rather than a geological pace. We have forgotten that we are part of a much older, more powerful world whose constancy we take for granted. Our notion of time disconnects us from the planet’s natural rhythms. We need a new sense of time based on the idea of deep time; think about the speed at which a tree grows. The Earth is 4,5 billion years old; the length of human existence on Earth is the blink of an eye, in comparison.
When scientists discuss the state of the Earth in the year 2100, it seems distant and abstract. We have lost a sense of connection with the future. It is time to think differently about our humanity. When we imagine 2100, we think in terms of technology and gadgets, but the future is not about cyborgs. What matters most is that there will be humans in 2100 that interact with each other on a stable and diverse planet.
Many of the decisions that are taken today will influence future generations. Decision-making now could significantly disadvantage future generations but taking a long perspective, a seven generations view, we can ensure decisions we make now relate to the welfare and well-being of generations to come.
Why this matters
Take a fresh look at time and place by thinking long term to reconnect with the natural world and each other.
The Northern European Enclosure Dam (NEED)/ Sjoerd Groeskamp & Joakim Kjellsson
The Dam is a proposal to protect Europeans against the expected sea level rises. Though technically possible, it is a warning to demonstrate the scale of future interventions in response to climate change. Read more here
Experimental BIOregenerative Station (EBIOS)/ Interstellar Lab
To explore and live in new worlds, we must first understand the conditions. A self-sustaining and zero waste dwelling located in the Mojave Desert replicates conditions on Mars for astronaut and space-settlement technology. See video here
Masterplanet/ Bjarke Ingels, BIG
In Masterplanet, BIG applies this thinking to the entire earth, laying out how we can redesign the planet to cut greenhouse emissions, reduce the carbon footprint, protect resources and adapt to climate change by lessening its effect with the technology we have in our hands today. Read more here
2/Geopolitics & commodities
Greening of the global economy
In order to build a global clean energy economy, large-scale investments in energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy sources are needed. China is at the forefront of developing and producing renewable energy; they aim to be climate neutral by 2060. At the same time, China is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases.
To achieve a green global economy, we need to search for alternative energy sources. This means building more sustainably designed cities and moving agriculture away from fossil fuel consumption. Electrification is one of the main ways of reducing greenhouse gases and helping economies meet their climate goals. Electricity now makes up 20% of the total energy consumption and is set to rise rapidly.
Commodities such as cobalt, nickel, and copper help make car batteries, charge cars, and distribute and store electricity. The turn to a green economy fuels a new metal and energy ‘supercycle’( a period when commodity prices enjoy an extended boom). Semiconductor chips are tiny but play an essential role as they are critical components in the digital devices and products used by billions daily. The pandemic has caused a shortage of semiconductors which slows down the electrification of cars.
Consumption behaviour can change if product prices are based on their environmental impact; the more CO2 emissions, the higher the price. This way, we are made more aware of how we can drastically reduce our climate impact. A weekly limit of several kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalents paid with climate-based currency can clarify the relationship between the products we consume and their effect on the climate.
Why this matters
The next three decades are likely to bring a supercycle in investments in clean energy infrastructure. The roll-out of electric cars and the shift to cleaner energy are the critical megatrend for commodities.
Places/ Tom Hegen and AXOR
AXOR questions the term “luxury” and its development. Luxury is now experiences and identity, rather than objects. With Hegen’s aerial photography, the severity of human interventions in nature is put on display. See more here
Our Glacial Perspectives/ Olafur Eliasson
The installation atop the Italian Alps begins with nine gates along a path, an analogy to the durations of the ice ages. It ends with a pavilion of rings that also tracks the path of the sun, and divides into equal yearly intervals. It magnifies an awareness of the glacial experience of time. See more here
BuyCloud/ Noa Jansma
The scarcity of clouds is put on a website for sale. The project explores humanity’s arrogance of ownership over natural phenomena. It is a reflection of colonialism, climate change, and future extraterrestrial conquest. See more here
3/Technology & biology
Regenerative systems
Globally there are 7.8 billion people, and the United Nations has predicted that as the world’s population grows, world food production should double by 2050. What system can cope with the sheer numbers of people we have? Both overpopulation or hyperconsumption have had an enormous impact on the planet. Women may hold the key to finding a solution by bending the global population curve. Invest in women and girls by providing regional, mindful and engaged policies for education and family planning.
About half of the habitable land on the planet is now used for agriculture. Less than a millennia ago, much of the countryside was wilderness. As populations increase, opportunities must be found for repurposing land currently used for agriculture. Technology could help restore the natural balance by changing the way we feed the world, replacing meat with plant-based products and use more efficient cultivation methods. The land now used for agriculture could be returned to the wilderness.
The rapid development of a coronavirus vaccine has given a boost to biotechnology. The fourth industrial revolution blurs boundaries between the physical, digital, and biological worlds and can make it possible to change land use and agriculture on a large scale. Developments in biotechnology make it possible to use just one per cent of the land that a conventional farm would use to grow the same amount of food. Agricultural biotechnology also allows farmers to produce in more impoverished growing conditions.
Why this matters
The future will be a mix of the natural and the technological. Use science to revolutionise the food system to grow food more effectively and let nature do its thing.
Global human-made mass exceeds all living biomass/ Emily Elhacham, Liad Ben-Uri, Jonathan Grozovski, Yinon M. Bar-On, Ron Milo
The Earth is now at the crossover point of the Anthropocene. Plastic currently outweighs living biomass. Humans have now made an intrusive imprint in the future of the Earth. See video here
GROW/ Studio Roosegaarde
Studio Roosegaarde illuminates an agricultural field with blue, red, and ultraviolet light. The light combinations are a prototype for plant growth and pesticide reduction. The spotlight is given to the farmer and field, a love child of art and science. See more here
Uprooting Agro-Systems/ Bram de Vos
The project proposes three methods to transform Amsterdam into an agriculturally self-sufficient city: syntropic farming, food forest, and vertical farming. This system aims to ease pressure on the global food chain. See more here
Super Sprout Factory/ Murakami Farm Co.
Based in Hiroshima, the plant factory is fully using artificial lighting. The factory significantly increases the production of broccoli. It contains high levels of sulforaphane which is better known by consumers for its health benefits. See more here
4/The rewilding movement
Let nature take over
We have grown accustomed to viewing the world divided into countries, but there is a renewed interest in looking at the world in biogeographical regions by grouping together related ecosystems. This can better help us to understand the underlying ecological fabric that surrounds us. Continental drift, climate and mountains are the critical factors that determine deep biological separations.
To counter the effects of the climate crisis, we need to alter how we manage the land and forests to ensure future biodiversities. Rewilding is the restoration of an entire ecosystem to its natural state by reintroducing and protecting native species and removing non-native species. Different management of the land encourages insects, birds and other small predators. Rewilding could see a return to more natural ecosystems.
Rewilding is gaining momentum as a way to restore natural ecosystems with minimal human intervention. This is not a backward step but rather a reappraisal of our relationship with the natural world.
We see a new vision that creates space for other species in the way we live; for example, unused spaces in a city can be repurposed for rewilding. It is time for novel approaches to ecosystems that embrace diversity.
Why this matters
Rewilding will lead to a retreat of our globalised world; we will see many local experiments with communities experimenting with better ways of using resources.
Camden Highline Proposal/ James Corner Field Operations
The proposal is a modular perforated timber system across four differing railway sections. It naturally integrates meadows and water, allowing it to flow through. A sense of wilderness is introduced back into the city landscape. See more here
Forest for Change/ Es Devlin
Devlin transforms the Somerset House courtyard into a forest of 400 trees. It rejects 18th-century ideology, in which a central courtyard must not be interrupted by organic materials. See more here
Wim Hof Method/ Wim Hof
Hof is a Dutch athlete that can withstand freezing temperatures. His method combines cold exposure and breathing techniques to improve and regulate the immune system. Deep breathing slows down the body, it induces a hypometabolic and restorative state. See more here
Further reading
Rewilding/ Paul Jepson & Cain Blythe
The goal of rewilding is to restore lost interactions between animals, plants and natural disturbance, benefiting nature and people.
Timefulness/ Marcia Bjornerud
Bjornerud explains the crucial ability to understand time from the perspective of a geologist, instead of a political or business scale. Unstable changes in the Earth demand a poly-temporal worldview, dubbed “timefulness”.
Rare Earth Frontiers/ Julie Michelle Klinger
Julie Michelle Klinger draws attention to the fact that the rare earths we rely on most are as common as copper or lead, and the implications of their extraction are global.
The Good Ancestor/ Roman Krznaric
Climate change calls for hugely ambitious solutions, from rewiring our growth-at-all-costs economy to giving voters of future generations a voice in our democracies. But at the heart of all these changes is one we can enact within ourselves: We must trade shortsightedness for long-term thinking. See his Ted Talk here