Metgasco’s “Community Consultative”: a Moment of Hilarity for the Bentley Blockade

I am old enough to have studied Latin in high school. It helps make me a good speller.  A moment of hilarity And today, Latin provided a moment of hilarity in battle to bring Metgasco to see reason about gas mining in the Northern Rivers. The goss now is that Metgasco is encouraging its shareholders… Continue reading Metgasco’s “Community Consultative”: a Moment of Hilarity for the Bentley Blockade

The Bentley Blockade: Weeping for the Earth

The text!   It would have looked better if I were digging out the composting toilet or planting organic veggies. But the truth is I was half-way into an egg and sausage McMuffin in Casino when the text came from Bentley.   I had to ring Yollana to make sure I had it right.  … Continue reading The Bentley Blockade: Weeping for the Earth

NIMBY psychology at Harvard University February 2013

  NIMBY psychology comes to Harvard — from Australia!   February was an exciting month for me. I spent it teaching in the Graduate School of Design (GSD) at Harvard University and giving lectures and classes at MIT and Tufts University.   It was exceptionally cold for a person who lives in the sub-tropics. A… Continue reading NIMBY psychology at Harvard University February 2013

Emotions Count in Community Engagement

                      There’s lots of discussion about emotion in community engagement these days.   Maybe that’s because we’ve ignored this important component for decades.   Adelaide’s independent newspaper, InDaily, recommends, following an interview with me last week, that we “consider emotion in community engagement.”   The… Continue reading Emotions Count in Community Engagement

Helping Sally at dinner: what to do at the dinner table when sustainability comes up?

Old friends having dinner and reminiscing in the comfort of Sally’s spacious home. We’re talking about the environmental crisis facing the Earth, and my concerns about flying across the Pacific Ocean from Australia for my teaching job in Vancouver. I’m certainly worried about the environmental impacts of all that travel and yet I really want… Continue reading Helping Sally at dinner: what to do at the dinner table when sustainability comes up?

Kitchen Table Sustainability launched at Bond University

9 December 2008 Successful book launch at Bond University, Gold Coast, Queensland, 3 December 2008   I love the new building of the Mirvac School of Sustainable Development at Bond University. It reminds me of the concept of “eco-revelatory design” made popular by a great new book by Randy Hester, Design for Ecological Democracy (2006).… Continue reading Kitchen Table Sustainability launched at Bond University

Rapturous reception at Avid Reader book launch for KTS

After years of drought, Brisbane was treated to a sparkling evening shower on Friday night, December 5th and a rapturous reception for Kitchen Table Sustainability.   Four of our book’s five authors were present at the book launch at popular West End bookstore, Avid Reader.   Cathy Wilkinson flew in from Swedish Lappland, Steph Vajda… Continue reading Rapturous reception at Avid Reader book launch for KTS

Kitchen Table Sustainability launched in Adelaide 22 November 2008

Reflections on the Adelaide book-signing event, November 2008 When I emigrated to Australia in October, 1968, the second person I met was Hugh Stretton, now widely regarded as one of Australia’s foremost urbanists. Ideas for Australian Cities In his kitchen at 61 Tynte Street, North Adelaide, actually at his kitchen table, Hugh was putting the… Continue reading Kitchen Table Sustainability launched in Adelaide 22 November 2008