Living Future Europe attended COP27 with a Decarbonisation Day interactive session as part of the UNFCCC Climate Action Hub, with a call to action launching the LFE Biophilic Society.
The session entitled Storms and Starlight, facilitated by Carlo Battisti, Amira Ayoub and Martin Brown, outlined a visionary pathway to living futures for the built environment and those who live, work and play within our buildings and cities, exploring what a regenerative built environment would look like.
“We are on the cusp of something wonderfully regenerative or disastrously irreversible. Since 1987 and the Brundtland definition we have strived to “do nothing today to compromise future generations” and failed in doing so”
Storms or Starlight reflects whether we see fixing problems (Storms) or working with the potentials (Starlight) as our primary course of action.
Over the last 30 / 40 years a sustainability focus on only reducing impact has failed to arrest climate change. We cannot continue to think we can solve wicked problems with technology alone. We have not done so to date and are running out of time, necessitating a change in direction, resetting our compasses, to focus on potentials, for example, the emerging nature-based, biogenic materials, to be nature positive that will help us to become carbon positive.
However, with the recognition that being regenerative is not just what we do, what we design and build, but who we are and who we will become, the session highlighted the recognition of our “regenerative self” to collectively shape our built environment.
And it is an inner thing, as much as what we do it is who we are. And that means going on a journey, with others, listening to those who have been marginalised, working with indigenous wisdom that has a far better relationship with our earth, living in harmony with our world, (in the words of the harmonious harvest, to take only what we need and use all that we take)
Another world is possible, let us dare to be different. In the words of Arundhati Roy, on quiet days you can hear her breathing. We can have clean air and clear skies. healthy buildings, regenerative natural life systems and built environments that enable all life to thrive.
“And working with nature, truly working with nature, we will find that she can do much of the decarbonisation heavy lifting for us in the built environment”
Storms and Starlight
The interactive session invited attendees in theatre and online to share how they are feeling, what they feel uncomfortable with the messages coming from COP (the Storms) and the potentials they feel good about (the Starlights).
And then to move or vote as to where they are, on a line between Storms and Starlight and share why they have chosen that position
Closing the interactive session we asked what will you take away from today, from COP27
The Biophilic Society
Our Living Future Europe Call to action was the launch of the Biophilic Society
Reconnecting with nature will save our society
The Biophilic Society is a network (a living system) of biophilic lovers, experts, researchers, professionals aiming and working to set biophilia and biophilic design at the centre of the conversation on regenerative design, creating the conditions for their large-scale implementation.
This a call to action for you as well! How can you contribute? Taking these three steps
- Sign – Sign the virtual agreement as a founding member, and commit to advocate for this mission
- Share – Share your commitment and the values to increase visibility and reinforce identity
- Strengthen – Strengthen the network (living system) to augment the capacity and effectiveness
The Biophilic Society Manifesto
COP28
We have been invited by the UNFCCC Action Hub Team to consider Storms and Starlight for COP28 in Dubai, so watch this space. But it is an interesting thought – what would the Storms and Starlights (the problems and potentials) look like in a year and through the lens of a Dubai COP?
A recording of the session is available through the UNFCCC web pages here
