Living Future

So I just returned from the Living Future unConference ’19 where I was a speaker. But let’s back up, because you may not know what Living Future is. It is the conference of the International Living Future Institute (ILFI), the organization which was founded to oversee the Living Building Challenge (LBC) in 2009. The LBC was itself created and implemented by the Cascadia (Pacific Northwest) Green Building Council in 2005. It represented the major leap that the building industry must take in order to truly achieve a viable future for humanity in the time with which we have to do it. It brings to light, in essence, that half measures just won’t cut it. But rather than ranting off into a technical explanation of what the various certification programs of ILFI do, I’ll just share their mission and vision in their own words:

“The International Living Future Institute’s mission is to lead the transformation toward a civilization that is socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative. We are premised on the belief that providing a compelling vision for the future is a fundamental requirement for reconciling humanity’s relationship with the natural world.”

For those of you familiar with my work as an architect and Shannon’s work as a builder, you know that we designed-built the first project in Texas to seek LBC certification, the Living Building Challenge Studio at the Monarch School in Houston. That project is still on track to be certified and we believe will eventually get there. It is not an easy thing to do. There are currently only twenty buildings in the world that have achieved full certification. In this case, additional funds are needed for the rainwater harvesting and urban farming components of the project. Fundraising is difficult when you are also having to fundraise to provide a very expensive education for students with neurological differences such as autism. And yet they persist, because they know that the challenges that they are addressing are not just simply sociological, they are fundamentally ecological. Thank God for people who are able to see that we have to treat the root of our problems rather than just the symptoms. By the way, here are a few photos of the LBC Studio, which serves as the hub for environmental education at The Monarch School:

It was actually the Living Future unConference that introduced me to the Regenesis Institute. I subsequently went through their Regenerative Practitioners training. I have been working with them ever since not only to implement regenerative practice in, well, practice, but also to pilot this training at the university level. So it was only fitting that I return to the Living Future unConference to present the culmination of five years of work at Prairie View A&M University to do just that. Along the way I have picked up colleagues at other universities who I have mentioned before- Jonathan Bean and Mary Rogero- who I come to adore even more every time I get to spend time with them. I first presented both the regenerative frameworks with Jonathan and Mary in an effort to start a dialogue about how we need to reframe architectural education and practice. I then presented The Fly Flat project along with my PVAMU students. I don’t know why this always surprises me, but the work resonated with our fellow conference attendees so much that they expressed deep gratitude for the work that we are doing, which at least one person expressed in tears. Ah, and if I haven’t shared images of The Fly Flat, our affordable, net-zero, resilient infill housing solution for low-income minority neighborhoods in Houston, here are a few:

Now for the conference takeaways. Keynote speakers Bill McKibben (should need no introduction) and Mary Robinson (also should need no introduction, but is the former President of Ireland and has led many initiatives on human rights and climate change via the UN and her own foundations) both reminded that we are down to only 11 years to change course, while noting that events of the last few weeks finally feel like we are headed toward a breakthrough. For example, New York City just passed its Green New Deal. Mark Chambers, the NYC Chief Sustainability Officer, spoke about the fact that their ability to move forward with such a bold policy- which includes 100% renewable power for all city buildings and requires all new construction to have either a green roof or rooftop solar- was only possible because they understood that they first had to implement social equity policies such as free daycare, a more realistic paid maternity leave, and a $15 minimum wage. In other words, they understood that they had to make it possible for people to care about climate change by first addressing their fundamental survival issues. More importantly, we have to understand that social issues and environmental issues are the same issue. Sociological and environmental challenges will only be overcome simultaneously. Incidentally, that is also what is so powerful about our LBC Studio and Fly Flat projects. They address the entire social-ecological system at once.

Eleven years isn’t much time to work with. The thought of it is overwhelming. When people ask me what my prognosis is, my honest response is always an honest “ugh.” There is no guarantee how this thing is going to go. We are in need of a paradigm shift. Yet, what I know about paradigm shifts is that they are sudden, instantaneous even. One moment the world is one way, and the next it is completely different. This is hard for us to imagine. It helps to realize that the transition is not actually sudden, it’s just that it is invisible until its not. The signs of the paradigm shift that we are in need of are everywhere if you happen to be looking for them. Even better is to participate in any and every little thing that is shifting the field in the direction of supporting our new reality. Bill McKibben would ask that you volunteer your time to protest. Charles Eisenstein would ask that you become conscientious of how every minute action in your daily life might support and celebrate your inherent connection to nature. Greta Thunberg would ask that adults would, well, adult. Whatever you choose to do, Mary Robinson would ask that you remember the words of Nelson Mandela:

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”

And in response to someone who once asked him how he remained an optimist:

“I’m not an optimist, I’m a prisoner of hope.”