What if we built our cities to illuminate the invisible? To give people choice, safety and inclusion? Those benefits would extend to everyone and we’d end up with a thriving, active and diverse environment.
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We’ve got to stop separating the economy from the natural environment it exists within, as if it’s an entity independent of our making. We all have a role to play in this.
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It would seem the belief system behind urban development in many cities is that a healthy eco-system and a thriving city are mutually exclusive. But does that really have to be the case?
Read More While I’m confident it’s only men who holler bizarre obscenities at me as I’m cycling, women drivers often squeeze me out.
Read More Designing transport projects to help free up traffic is a flawed approach if done in isolation or prioritisation to the safe and active movement of people.
Read MoreWhenever I travel, I always feel like I’ve had a true experience of the city or town I’m in after I’ve used the public transport. It feels so inclusive.
Read More When the economy is unpacked, people are at its centre and people’s wellbeing is inextricably linked to nature. Investing in Biophilia can help redefine how we understand progress and challenge our perception of growth.
Read More By taking advantage of passive solar gain (orienting our homes towards the sun among other strategies), we can save money, be healthier, and have less impact on the environment.
Read More After attending my first formal Maori meeting (hui), I took home a new perspective on a culture I thought I already knew. Turns out I know very little but would love to learn more and I’ll become a better person for it. This experience for me has brought to life a mantra I already believe in—‘Treat others the way you want to be treated yourself’, I just understand it better now.
Read More What’s the measure of success of good urban form? For me, it’s equity. This looks like all members of the community enjoying access to safe, reliable and affordable transport that connects them within the community and to amenities. It’s housing that doesn’t have labels like ‘social’ and ‘affordable’ – everyone gets to live in a space that benefits their wellbeing. It’s also when the intrinsic value of nature is incorporated into our spaces, not built out.
Read More Students have been striking all over New Zealand. Much has been said about the rights and wrongs of them skipping school to march the streets. From my experience, these students understand more about the problem and solutions we’re facing than many of the adults making decisions on their behalf. I spoke to a few of them at the strike to get their thoughts on what the government should be doing to take action against climate change and what they were doing individually.
Read More I oppose the expansion of the Otakiri Water Bottling Plant in the Eastern Bay of Plenty (New Zealand) for a number of reasons, but it’s got me thinking about equity of resources and what that means from a humanitarian perspective. At some stage, unless we experience a massive global sustainability shift, water will become the most precious resource we have. We will need it and so will others.
Read More The Zero Carbon Bill was released by the New Zealand Government on the 8th May, 2019 and everyone has an opinion on it. Will it be any good for us, the biodiversity we cherish and the planet? The jury is definitely out on that one as scientists, academics, economists, politicians and everyday activists like me try to figure out what it will mean. Its intention is to get New Zealand on a pathway of no more than 1.5C warming, in a way which includes all sectors.
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