2016 – Futuristic hope
Worried about the state of our global ecosystem? Already 2016 is off to a good start with 5 forward-looking, inspiring events that took place in DC. They provide a hopeful glimpse at what’s to come in the not-so-distant future:
Feb 5 @ Inter-American Development Bank (IDB): “Colombia 2030: A Sustainable and Peaceful Future”
This morning the President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, beautifully described his vision for prioritizing education to reach ambitious yet possible goals
Feb 4 @ Inter-American Development Bank (IDB): “It’s disruption time! How the collaborative economy is transforming world economies”
Robin Chase, Founder of ZipCar, and Luis Alberto Moreno, IDB President, discussed how ‘excess capacity’ – e.g., cars sitting unused – means opportunity for business and sustainability. Why should people invest in having only one job, when having several jobs provides more job satisfaction, diversity and security? If you think this is abstract futuristic talk, you should have heard the IDB employee’s enthusiasm. There will still be roles for institutions, but they will play adapted roles.
Feb 4 @ Cultural Programs of the National Academy of Sciences: “Social media tour of Sentient Chamber”
Hosted by Alana Quinn of CPNAS, Philip Beesley led a tour of his art installation “Sentient Chamber” which explores human-nature interactions with whispers, subtlety and mesmerizing fractals that draw you in to their enveloping tentacles and visions of a more gentle future.
Feb 4 @ Cultural Programs of the National Academy of Sciences: “Ideation, Translation, and Realization: DC Art Science Evening Rendezvous (DASER)”
What is creativity? How do we use it to promote a sustainable future? Rich discussion included recognition of a need to provide opportunities for slow, complex, fragile, inter-disciplinary explorations, both in school and in the workplace
Presenters: Kimberly Suda-Blake (Senior Program Director, National Academies Keck Futures Initiative); David A. Edwards (Founder and Director, Le Laboratoire); Richard N. Foster (Co-Chair, Presidents’ Circle of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine); Patricia Olynyk (Director, Graduate School of Art, Washington University); Philip Beesley (Director, Living Architecter Systems Group); JD Talasek (Director, Cultural Programs, National Academy of Sciences)
Jan 29 @ Georgetown University/ Indigenous Delegation “The Invisible Killer – Radioactive Pollution in Unsuspected Places”
Even Snowzilla couldn’t get this group down. Native American and #CleanUpTheMines representatives gathered to raise awareness about thousands of hazardous abandoned uranium mines throughout the United States and promote a stronger bonds between human groups and with nature
For more pictures: https://www.instagram.com/heathers2pence/