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Traditional modern approaches to human progress and
development sought to map out phenomena to understand
the properties of life. This led to specialized fields
that were increasingly isolated from each other. The
goal and result of this specialization was commodification
- how can we take apart nature so as to master it? There
was little concern to how we were affecting the interrelatedness
of these systems as we were taking them apart on both
a local and planetary level.
Now there is rising desire among more socially and
ecologically conscious folks to map out how human and
natural systems interact with each other so we can understand
how our economy is altering the ecology, and make the
necessary changes to create a modern, sustainable global
economy. An important aspect of this involves the building
of knowledge bases that allow humanity
to adapt itself to the techniques nature uses to regenerate
and restore the integrity of natural
systems, what Paul Hawken in the book
The
Ecology of Commerce calls the restorative
economy.
Sustainable design is a way of designing systems that
are sustainable in terms of how they use resources.
This involves rethinking manufacturing and resource
cultivation processes and creating a built environment
and industrial base that by mimicking natural processes
can more harmoniously interact with nature (for more
see biomimickry). The science of restorative
systems and restorative economics
goes beyond the creation of sustainable design because
it is a process for restoring ecosystems degraded
by unsustainable economic activities.
Western agriculture relies on crop monocultures involving
large plantations or farms and a high level of inputs
including petroleum, chemicals such as pesticides and
fertilizers and as well as expensive farm implements. Sustainable
alternatives such as biodynamic agriculture,
bio-intensive agriculture and permaculture
are all economically viable alternatives to Western
agriculture that are not only sustainable but can restore
degraded ecosystems.
go here for more on the Restorative Economy...
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Putting Restorative Economics
into Practice
The practitioners of the restorative economy
call themselves bioneers. An important
distinction between Restorative and sustainable design
and conventional approaches is the interdisciplinary
way in which bioneers stitch all their many different
ideas into a coherent whole. The Bioneers Conference
is annual gathering of Bioneers from all over the world.
Gaviotas
in Columbia and Auroville
in India are two noteworthy examples that have demonstrated
the viability of locally based restorative economies.
These ecovillages grow a portion of
their own food while:
- Restoring local ecosystems
- Creating jobs for local people,
- Developing appropriate technologies
designed specifically to address the needs of the
developing world at the grassroots
- Promoting locally based but highly scalable carbon
sequestration technologies techniques
- And most importantly providing inspiration.
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