"The person figured here is not an autonomous, rational actor but an unfolding, shifting biography of culturally and materially specific experiences, relations, and possibilities inflected by each next encounter (...) in uniquely particular ways." (Lucy Suchman, Human-machine reconfigurations: plans and situated actions, 2009, 281)
“Prevention and mitigation of drought risk have a far lower cost than reaction and response. (…) [T]his report emphasizes the continuum from short-term proactive drought preparedness and response through to long-term prospective risk management and risk reduction.” United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (2021). GAR Special Report on Drought 2021. Geneva. | Report page.
Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA ( CC )
"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 )
"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 )
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 )
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?
Labels:
art,
environment,
life,
mindfulness,
opportunities,
raw materials,
tapestry,
upcyle,
windows
Images by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC)
"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 )
"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)
Note: Toolkit "‘Environmental Rehabilitation and Repurposing’ looks into questions of governance, institutions and tools to support regional decision‑makers in the process of repurposing coal related infrastructure".
Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC)
"Planters, scientists, policy makers and anyone else who is interested in trees will enjoy using the resources. (...) The present lack of knowledge globally about tree species and their uses is a major constraint in achieving the full potential of trees to help address the crises affecting all life on Earth. It is this knowledge gap that the Platform aims to help close. The benefits of increased access to improved knowledge include enhanced food and nutritional security for communities, higher incomes, healthier people and landscapes, and more and cheaper energy. Benefits also include effectively restored soils and forests and the better provision of ecosystem services, such as cleaner air and water." in World Agroforestry (ICRAF), Global Tree Knowledge Platform. Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC)
“There are a total of 399 protected areas in Portugal, 167 Natura 2000 sites - 62 Special Protection Areas (Birds Directive) and 102 Sites of Community Importance (Habitat Directive) - as well as 232 sites designated under national laws. The protected area network in Portugal is strongly influenced by Natura 2000 sites, which make up 60% of the total area covered by protected areas.” in Biodiversity in Portugal [data displayed in February 17, 2021].
See Green Infrastructures in Portugal. See also report from EU (2020) "Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services: The state and trends of ecosystems in the European Union", that gives an assessment of the key ecosystems in the EU, evaluates the EU 2020 biodiversity targets, and provides a baseline for the 2030 biodiversity policy and EU nature restoration plan.
Labels:
biodiversity,
ecosystems,
Equinox,
Natura 2000,
Portugal,
protected areas,
report,
services,
Spring
"Halting land transformation and degradation could contribute 6.6 (range 2–11) GtCO2e per year to greenhouse gas emission reductions between 2020 and 2050, and land restoration-related activities could contribute a further 18.6 (range 1.8–35.5) GtCO2e per year over the same period, while simultaneously restoring ecological function and ecosystem services, and in some cases, biodiversity" p.73, 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).
Labels:
Alert,
biodiversity,
carbon dioxide,
changed,
climate change,
decarbonisation,
Nature,
report
“(…) the analysis suggests that NCS [Natural Climate Solutions] have the potential to limit the pace of climate change significantly, delivering up to one-third of net emission reductions required by 2030. But what makes investments in nature especially attractive if done well is the enormous and varied array of “co-benefits” that can arise alongside directly addressing the biodiversity and climate crises – benefits that accrue to nature and to communities.” World Economic Forum (2021). Consultation: Nature and Net Zero.
Labels:
analysis,
climate change,
consultation,
investments,
Natural Climate Solutions,
Nature,
NCS,
WEF
"Achieving transformative change requires that the fundamental drivers of overconsumption are addressed, through changes in personal values, norms, economic and social operating rules, technologies and regulations. Given the interconnected nature of climate change, loss of biodiversity, land degradation, and air and water pollution, it is essential that these problems are tackled together urgently." (p. 107) United Nations Environment Programme (2021). Making Peace with Nature: A scientific blueprint to tackle the climate, biodiversity and pollution emergencies.
"The report serves to translate the current state of scientific knowledge into crisp, clear and digestible facts-based messages that the world can relate to and follow up on. It first provides an Earth diagnosis of current and projected human-induced environmental change, by putting facts and interlinkages in perspective, including by using smart infographics. In building on this diagnosis, the report identifies the shifts needed to close gaps between current actions and those needed to achieve sustainable development. The analysis is anchored in current economic, social and ecological reality and framed by economics and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. By synthesizing the latest scientific findings from the global environmental assessments, the report communicates the current status of the world’s urgent issues and opportunities to solve them." 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).
«In this picture, commercial surveillance is not merely an unfortunate accident or occasional lapse. It is neither a necessary development of information capitalism nor a necessary product of digital technology or the internet. It is a specifically constructed human choice, an unprecedented market form, an original solution to emergency, and the underlying mechanism through which a new asset class is created on the cheap and converted revenue. Surveillance is the path to profit that overrides “we the people”, taking our decision rights without permission and even when we say “no”. » Shoshana Zuboff, 2019. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: the fight for a human future at the new frontier of power. Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC).
2021 11 14 note: See comments on rights conceded by Portuguese law in https://www.panelfit.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Portugal.pdf
«The human need for a space of inviolable refuge has persisted in civilized societies from ancient time but it is now under attack as surveillance capital creates a world of “no exit” with profound implications for the human future at this new frontier of power.» Shoshana Zuboff, 2019. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: the fight for a human future at the new frontier of power. Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC).
2021 11 14 note: See comments on rights conceded by Portuguese law in https://www.panelfit.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Portugal.pdf
“Home is where we know and are known, where we love and are beloved. Home is mastery, voice, relationship, and sanctuary; part freedom, part flourishing… part refuge, part prospect.” Shoshana Zuboff, 2019. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: the fight for a human future at the new frontier of power. Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC).
