July

"O fermento havia desaparecido do pão da terra. Uma presença de graciosidade, alegria e liberdade, uma fonte de energia eléctrica desvanecera-se. Um gato erguera-se e abandonara a sala." Karen Blixen (2003). África Minha. Público: Coleção Mil Folhas. Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA ( CC )

July

"Everyday of continued exponential growth brings the world systems closer to the limits to that growth. A decision to do nothing is a decision to increase the risk of collapse." Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, Jorgen Randers & William W. Behrens III (1972). The Limits to Growth. Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA ( CC )

June

The Craftsman "(...) focuses on the intimate connection between hand and head. Every good craftsman conducts a dialogue between concrete practices and thinking; this dialogue evolves into sustaining habits, and this habits establish a rhythm between problem solving and problem finding." Richard Sennet, 2009. The Craftsman.

Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA ( CC )

June

“The slowness of the craft time serves as a source of satisfaction (…). Slow craft time also enables the work of reflection and imagination – which the push for quick results cannot.” Richard Sennet, 2009. The Craftsman. Penguin Books.

Photo of tapestry (78 x 93 cm) by Monica Pinheiro CC BY-NC-SA (CC) 2021.

June

What can we do with what we already have? What is the environment giving in abundance that we can use to solve a need or a problem? Knowledge, art, technology, resources, «things»? While we aspire for something else, what can we do with what we have?

Cut out plants may be garbage, food, play, or energy. They are also colour pallets, materials for creating tapestries, windows for other worlds. Plants, seeds, bark, and all kinds of different materials that lay around in the environment. Feeling the touch, discovering the colour, memorizing the smell. Weaving quietly different textures and tensions. Creating peace to guide action. Liberating the mind to shape possibilities.

 

Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA ( CC ).

Summer

This Epiphyllum (mixed in a vase with other plants) only flourished twice since 2009. The first time was in August 2018 and this time marking the solstice. She started to open slightly during the day, amid rain and lower temperatures but in the beginning of nightfall, there she was blooming and releasing her exquisite perfume. In 2018 I though she was a day flower but it turns out she is a moon flower, a delicate beauty that came to announce summer time. 

Images by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC)

June

Images by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC)

June

"Any human activity that does not require a large flow of irreplaceable resources or produce severe environmental degradation might continue to grow indefinitely." (Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, Jorgen Randers & William W. Behrens III (1972). The Limits to Growth).  Some activities are CO2 negative, like gardening, so they can and should be indefinitely increased. Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA ( CC )

June

"People always said they wanted the truth, but really they were perfectly content with a facsimile." Kate Atkinson, 2018. Transcription. Painting by Jianhua Tan.

June

Images by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC)

June

 

"Human knowledge, ingenuity, technology and cooperation can transform societies and economies and secure a sustainable future. (...) Each individual and organization has a role to play in moving society along pathways toward a sustainable future that will vary across nations, regions and contexts, including through existing institutions and policy approaches." United Nations Environment Programme (2021). Making Peace with Nature: A scientific blueprint to tackle the climate, biodiversity and pollution emergencies. Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC)

June

 

"Whether in the case of donor-supported schemes or government-supported tree-based restoration interventions, it is crucial that sustainable financing solutions for such projects go beyond the planting stage. This can only be achieved if the scope of the restoration intervention is seen as a process beyond tree planting that requires more investment to ensure the planted seedlings also grow to be trees." See figure 1, page 12. Duguma L, Minang P, Aynekulu E, Carsan S, Nzyoka J, Bah A, Jamnadass R. 2020. From Tree Planting to Tree Growing: Rethinking Ecosystem Restoration Through Trees. ICRAF Working Paper No 304. World Agroforestry. Photograph by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC).

June

 

"Our current data economy is based on collecting as much personal data as possible, storing it indefinitely, and selling it to the highest bidder. Having so much sensitive data circulating freely is reckless. By designing our economy around surveillance, we are building a dangerous structure for social control that is at odds with freedom." by Carissa Véliz in The Reboot. Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC)

June

 

"So, what is your vision? What do you really want? What would make this a world that would make you excited to get up in the morning and go to work in it? (...) What kind of world would that be?" in «Final Warning Limits to Growth». Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC)

June

 Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC)

June

Covering solar, wind, bioenergy, geothermal and marine energy, the "Global Atlas for Renewable Energy is an online platform intended to help users - policymakers and investors - to find renewable energy resources maps for locations across the world (...) aimed at closing the gap between countries that have access to the necessary data and expertise to evaluate the potential for renewable energy deployment in their countries and those that lack these elements." 

 

"The Global Atlas platform provides different sorts of simulators developed by the contributors or as part of the Global Atlas initiative", including a tool for bioenergy simulation, "based on the user's chosen geographic scope". 

 

Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC)