Sustainable Development, Talk about the good work being done to meet both the present and future needs of people and the planet.

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The final introduction.

Andrea Brennen | Saturday 30th January 2010

I promise.

In this post, wrapping up my first week writing about Sustainable Development for Justmeans, I want to give you a sense of what I'd like to try to do in my future posts. The reason I'm doing this is because I want to know ahead of time if y'all think it sounds boring. I mean, I know what I find interesting, but ideally, I'll be writing about things that someone else finds interesting as well. So, that said, if you have any comments - good or bad - please let me know and I'll try to do something about them.

As I mentioned in my first post, my aim is to try to provide a critical perspective regarding the Green Building industry. This is not because I'm anti-Sustainability, but rather, because I think there's a lot of Greenwashing out there and I don't really think it gets any of us very far to accept baseless [marketing] claims to green-ness. However, nor do I want to be simply a naysayercomplaining about problems without offering a better alternative.

The problem isI don't really have the answer. I don't know how we should do things to ensure that everyone on the planet experiences a more just, sustainable, peaceful, happy existence. I mean, it would be great if I didbut c'monyou can't really expect that, right?

So, what I'd like to do is to spend the next few months taking a careful look at a number of case studies - precedent projects that explore some aspect of Sustainable Development, and that offer a perspective on one or more of the many problematic issues associated with that catch phrase. Then [with your helphint, hint] I'd like to try to think carefully about each project, exploring what is actually being accomplished, and initiating a dialogue about the good aspects and the bad, the helpful and the hurtful, the sustainable and the not-so-green.

These case studies will explore various settings around the globe, many of which could be categorized as "extreme environments" [this shouldn't come as a surprise, considering my last post]; they might also be biased towards the scale of architecture as opposed to urban or regional development, but I will do my best to look at a wide range of projects.

I'll take on a new case study each week, devoting one post to background information, a second to a conversation with someone [other than myself] who can provide an inside perspective, and a third post to more general Sustainable Development issues initiated by the project. At any and all points, I'll gladly welcome your questions, critiques, and comments.

Please do let me know how you think it's goingI'm new to this, remember?

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