It’s about people. It’s about us.
… it’s about what we value – past, present and future.
It’s about using our imagination, creativity and ingenuity
… how we work together and how we resolve conflicting
priorities.
How creative we can be, as groups as well as individuals,
toward building legacies.
How we value values, ideas and inventions… beyond the worlds
of science and technology
… in the worlds of business and governance systems;
… worlds that have huge impacts on our lives and communities
… worlds that we built from our values, our creativity, our ingenuity
and our courage.
And, until we bring the occasional ‘visioning’ dialogues
of official planning together with the daily ‘technical’
assessments that feed land use development decisions (e.g.)
… until the technicians, and developers, and investors
learn how to truly reflect the spectrum of societal values
As given through our “smart growth” policies
As also given through our public consultation opportunities,
in addition to our political systems
And, until we stop piecemealing decisions, including
“sustainability” decisions
… and replace reactive, confrontational consultation
and decision processes with respectful, engaging and deliberative processes
… on the ground… in real time
We will continue to wonder around, bumble along, get old,
feel alone…. Well, we’ll all get old anyway.
I am occasionally heartened.
Some days are better than others, and today is one of them.
Because …
today I went to my city council’s Planning and Land Use Committee meeting.
And I got a healthy dose of respect for what they, with their staff,
are trying to do.
They have limited resources.
They have more priorities than time to deal with them.
They struggle with finding creative ways to engage everyone
… in making Victoria a liveable city
for everyone… in a timely manner… in a manner that counts…
in a manner that will make a difference… for everyone.
After all the questions and discussions; after the technical clarifications
… and a few platitudes, it all came back to
Being people sitting around the table together, listening
to each other, building common ground
… and I only saw one smart inanimate object come out
of a pocket during the whole time.
kimwalker.ca 
Great post, Kim. I, unfortunately, after nearly 2 years of struggling and rebelling am now actually falling in love with my smart inanimate object! Photos and vids on every excursion from home…oh well!
Yes, and I regularly curse and talk to my smart inanimate object that I sit in front of almost every day. If I hadn’t seen that quick pocket check during the meeting, I wouldn’t have thought about phones…
when I started this post I was actually thinking about our current obsession with the “sustainable” development of buildings rather than of society.
Back to your little pocket sized object… they truly have revolutionized our relation to the world whether they be constant connections with friends/families, referencing products and specs on-site, or connecting with your environment via pics and vids on a daily basis. Just as long as it’s love, Lee, and not mindlessness or obsession… ; )
Cheers Kim.
Sustainability is a mantra from the 80’s that refuses to die … corporate monetization reigns…
Have you read/heard of a book called: A user’s guide to the crisis of civilization and how to save it, by Ahmed, Nafeez Mosaddeq?
I’ve just dabbled in it at the library but at last somebody’s putting the whole ‘crisis’ narrative together. I’ve tried to skim bits of it twice but keep being drawn back to it for more. He’s onto something v big!
Back to the phones: I now can do research at an amazing pace and scan docs for quotes, etc. After cursing Bill Gates all those years for all the time he wasted forcing me to fight with Word, at last the technology really is substantively efficient!
Nice weekend and cheers from here,
L..
I’ll have to look for that book Lee. You are a walking library!
… I still fight with Word! … cheers Lee