Dissemination

Vol. 3 in the Cultura21 eBooks Series on Culture and Sustainability

This post comes to you from Cultura21

The Cultura21 eBooks Series on Culture and Sustainability presents findings from inter- and trans-disciplinary perspectives in research and practice. The eBooks are published openly online by Cultura21 Institut e.V. in order to support broad dissemination and to stimulate further debates in civil society and further action-research in the field.

The city today is increasingly conceptualized using terms such as ‘creative cities’ or ‘creative class’, stressing the importance of culture. The effects this can have on cities and neighbourhoods has been criticised from the wider field of sociology.  This critique can be examined and placed in the context of the analysis of a culture of unsustainability, in order to identify how the concept of creative cities may bring about unsustainable tendencies. Building on this, a re-conceptualization of creative cities, based on an understanding of the role of the artist in cultures of sustainability is possible. Rethinking terms such as creativity can help form possible frameworks, which support sustainable creative cities.

Julia Hahn (1981) studied Applied Cultural Sciences (2003 – 2010) at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg.

Vol. 3: Julia Hahn: Creative Cities and (Un)Sustainability – Cultural Perspectives (PDF download)

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura211 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21
Go to Cultura21

Cultura21 Launches New Website

Dear all,

Today, I have the pleasure to announce on this list, two important news from Cultura21: Our relaunched, redesigned, multilingual website at cultura21.net, and the new Cultura21 eBooks series:

New Website: just launched

Please visit http://www.cultura21.net to discover our redesigned website. On this new website, you will find information not only about the activities of Cultura21, but also about other news relevant to Cultura21 themes. Don’t hesitate to browse through the 46 “pages” (top menu bar) and 100 “posts” (right-hand “categories” menu) already available on the website. You will also find a new ‘forum’ on the website (for which you will have to register, in order to contribute).

The website is currently available in the following languages: English, French, German, Spanish, and Esperanto. Further languages will follow (Danish and Turkish are expected for the future).

The web-magazine and the wiki remain available at the same web addresses as usual, and they are linked from the new website too.

With many thanks to the editors who made this possible, and most especially to Roland Prüfer, our designer and webmaster!

Cultura21 eBooks series: 3 volumes already available

The Cultura21 eBooks Series on Culture and Sustainability, edited by Sacha Kagan and Davide Brocchi, presents findings from inter- and trans-disciplinary perspectives in research and practice. The eBooks are published openly online by Cultura21 Institut e.V. in order to support broad dissemination and to stimulate further debates in civil society and further action-research in the field.

The eBooks, which are available as PDF files, are published as part of Cultura21’s Web Magazine and thus can be found at: http://magazin.cultura21.de/piazza/texte and the latest eBook from the series can be found also on our new multilingual website at http://www.cultura21.net.

So far (since December 2010), three eBooks have been released already, in three different languages (German, French and English):
– Vol. 1: Lisa Grabe. Das „Projekt Nachhaltigkeit“. Zu den Grenzen des Nachhaltigkeitskonzepts aus kultureller Perspektive. PDF direct link
– Vol. 2: David Knaute. Le Syndrome Karamoja: Repenser la crise des sociétés pastorales dans le contexte de la globalisation. PDF direct link
– Vol. 3: Julia Hahn. Creative Cities and (Un)Sustainability – Cultural Perspectives. PDF direct link

Kind regards,
Sacha

Vol. 2 in the Cultura21 eBooks Series on Culture and Sustainability

This post comes to you from Cultura21

The Cultura21 eBooks Series on Culture and Sustainability presents findings from inter- and trans-disciplinary perspectives in research and practice. The eBooks are published openly online by Cultura21 Institut e.V. in order to support broad dissemination and to stimulate further debates in civil society and further action-research in the field.

Karamoja, a semi-arid region located north-east of Uganda, is the land of Karimojong pastoralists. It is also a region in crisis: it is affected by arms trafficking, a demographic boom, climate change as well as other complicated development issues. More than that, Karamoja is a place where questions of “development” and “sustainability” intermingle in all their dimensions: environmental, historical, cultural, economic and political. This publication aims at presenting the complexity of all those challenges through the exploration of an innovative methodology to analyze environmental disasters: the Syndrome Approach.

David Knaute (1981) has coordinated in 2008-2009 an advocacy campaign on the crisis in Karamoja (www.karamoja.eu). He currently lives in Paris where besides his professional activities, he prepares a PhD thesis at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS).

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura211 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

Design for the Other 90%

Of the world’s total population of 6.5 billion, 5.8 billion people, or 90%, have little or no access to most of the products and services many of us take for granted; in fact, nearly half do not have regular access to food, clean water, or shelter. Design for the Other 90% explores a growing movement among designers to design low-cost solutions for this “other 90%.” Through partnerships both local and global, individuals and organizations are finding unique ways to address the basic challenges of survival and progress faced by the world’s poor and marginalized.

Designers, engineers, students and professors, architects, and social entrepreneurs from all over the globe are devising cost-effective ways to increase access to food and water, energy, education, healthcare, revenue-generating activities, and affordable transportation for those who most need them. And an increasing number of initiatives are providing solutions for underserved populations in developed countries such as the United States.

This movement has its roots in the 1960s and 1970s, when economists and designers looked to find simple, low-cost solutions to combat poverty. More recently, designers are working directly with end users of their products, emphasizing co-creation to respond to their needs. Many of these projects employ market principles for income generation as a way out of poverty. Poor rural farmers become micro-entrepreneurs, while cottage industries emerge in more urban areas. Some designs are patented to control the quality of their important breakthroughs, while others are open source in nature to allow for easier dissemination and adaptation, locally and internationally.

Encompassing a broad set of modern social and economic concerns, these design innovations often support responsible, sustainable economic policy. They help, rather than exploit, poorer economies; minimize environmental impact; increase social inclusion; improve healthcare at all levels; and advance the quality and accessibility of education. These designers’ voices are passionate, and their points of view range widely on how best to address these important issues. Each object on display tells a story, and provides a window through which we can observe this expanding field. Design for the Other 90% demonstrates how design can be a dynamic force in saving and transforming lives, at home and around the world.

Design for the Other 90%: Cooper Hewitt Exhibition |About.