Introduction/Abstract: Sports is a major form of entertainment all over the world that affects our lives in numerous ways. Whether its participating in a sport ourselves or watching our favorite team, sports has become a fundamental part of our culture. Every year, the world engages as the great sports tournaments…

One topic that The World We Made lacks is sports. How will sports be affected in the future as we strive to live more sustainably? A major issue with sports in the future is travelling, especially by plane. Leagues and associations constantly try to increase their popularity, and have done…

Instead of designing a new policy initiative, I would want to enforce the idea of cap and trade. Cap and trade, also known as emissions trading, is a free-market-based approach. The government sets a cap on carbon emissions, and states, organizations, firms, or even individuals are given a quota or…

I found Catherine Flowers’ illustration on the lack of environmental justice in the U.S. both interesting and striking. She described why hookworm, a parasitic disease usually connotated with extreme poverty in other parts of the world, is now abundant in rural Alabama. The parasite enters the body through the skin,…

What struck me when reading Kim Stanley Robinson’s Green Earth is how the politicians changed their views on climate change as soon as they were subject to a natural disaster. Senator Phil Chase was the prime example of this in the novel. At first, he did not regard global warming…

What role, if any, might permaculture play in designing nature’s futures? I believe that permaculture plays a critical role in designing nature’s futures. As mentioned in the film we watched in class, permaculture is defined by not looking at our footprint as a negative consequence. Instead, we should focus on…

(June 25, 2011) Over a decade has passed since I arrived in Ecotopia. Unfortunately, progress has been stagnant over the past 12 years. Ecotopia’s relations to the United States are still nonexistent, which is backed up by the fact that I haven’t heard from anyone in the U.S. Maybe they…

Discussion prompt: Is there hope in the Anthropocene? Where do we find it? Can we make it? What can we do? Hope is a powerful feeling. It drives us through tough times and encourages us to find a solution. I believe that there is hope in every situation, whether during…

Discussion prompt: Post a critical or creative response to KSR’s Pacific Edge. As we discussed in class, visioning our future is essential when discussing environmental sustainability. An illustration of a green society could help us immensely in identifying the measures we must take in order to obtain that goal. This concept…

Discussion prompt: How can fiction positively or negatively shape our narratives of the design of nature’s future(s)? Be sure to give an example or two. Fiction is a great form of entertainment; we read fantasy books and watch science-fiction movies. However, fiction is more to us than just entertainment, as…