An important idea and angle to a very real challenge, one that will be of growing importance: how do nonprofits and CBOs (Community-Based Organization) maintain and, when needed, scale their infrastructure to keep vital services going and respond to growing demand?
Sometimes, to discover opportunities to change our surroundings for the better, it’s just a question of reassessing what we are used to, looking at the defaults, and then finding what’s actually needed and appropriate to the current context and needs. The Nouveaux voisins / New Neighbors project does exactly that, by looking at something we barely notice, private yards, and finding ways of re-inventing them. They want to facilitate socio-ecological transitions and community-based climate action with a platform that brings together functions that are “pedagogical, actionable, evaluational, financial, and regulatory.”
Sometimes, making a difference doesn’t require a huge budget, new technology, or incredible innovation. Sometimes you just need to notice a need and look at existing services and equipment. This is what happened and is still being perfected in suburbs of Seattle, with the creation of specific bus routes to get people from various neighbourhoods to mountain trails, where they can enjoy nature and get some exercise. When you think about it, it’s pretty obvious that it’s a kind of service that should exist elsewhere, and that “transit agencies need to ensure that whatever their limitations, people can access public lands with public resources like transit.”
There are a lot of ways in which people frame a reaction to the climate crisis: building a circular economy, becoming more resilient, more sustainable, greener, etc. Often, whether from the start or through influence by various vested interests, the discourse and action or even potential actions are pulled towards consumerism. For example the original idea of sustainability is a great one, but sustaining what? When the concept is pulled towards sustaining the same lifestyle, just slightly less damageable, it becomes a delaying tactic, not a way forward.
At the height of lockdowns around the world, a number of people moved to smaller cities or villages, in some cases simply to find more space, in others to move back with parents or in cheaper places. Some had the privilege of a second home, while others moved ‘for good.’ Such a movement happened in Italy, temporarily revitalizing some long suffering and shrinking villages. Now there are new villagers, mayors, and other politicians hoping they can use the opportunity to keep this new life around.
