indiebio – Page 6

7 September 202313 November 2023

Connected data, connected people

In my previous post about the end of expertise, I made the point that the root concerns of conspiracy theorists are valid. The suspicion and mistrust of powerful players are valid. That, if governments and corporations are not going to make the actual shift then we need to make that shift. Everyday people must make that shift.

Here I want to add some comments about the role of structured data in making it easier to access relevant evidence, or supporting insights, and hence, maintaining accountability.

5 September 20235 September 2023

The end of expertise: two routes with similar roots

.The idea for my metaverse project, peduncle, was born during the extreme drought in Cape Town around 2016, when a city of more than 4 million people were about to run out of water. It was a combination of climate change and mismanagement, but how we as scientists and engineers responded to it was, to me, equally inadequate than the people in power.

This threw me into an identity crisis about myself as a scientist and engineer – an “expert”. Someone shared Lesley Green’s article and I realised what I am dealing with inside myself is part of a bigger crisis: “the end of expertise”.

5 September 20235 September 2023

Worldbuilding the real world: build good ruins – Part 2

Part 1 is here: https://indiebio.co.za/worldbuilding-the-real-world-build-good-ruins-part-1/

The first part concluded that we need to build from the bottom, that top-down, expert-led action is not enough anymore, that community work of everyday is the resilience we need to thrive in these interesting times.

When we pursue bottom up design and implementation, these still need to be guided by common principles that comes from a higher view – so yes, there is still space for urban planners, government, but it becomes more of a conversation. How can we imagine and visualise this, as a global community of communities? Metarkitex talks about public space in the digital world, and asks do these public spaces exist online? Are they accessible and welcoming to everyone?

Public space developed to a space where people can go without aim or arrangement

This post continues with clips from an interview with Vandana Shiva and Dougald Hine.

22 August 202322 August 2023

Thinking about public spheres

I am interested in how the digital world, that can dissolve geographical boundaries, can help us keep governments around the world accountable, from the bottom up.

This led me to think about what democracy actually is.

Democracy is meaningful participation

14 August 202313 November 2023

Write-up, research outline try 2.

Here I’ve been trying to write a story with the headings, understandable to everyday people, assuming that the body will have the meaty academic content.

We are in crisis, and we need to act with some urgency.

There are two ways to act in crisis, and these are currently in tension.

The first way is to rely on traditional expertise, which is a “command and control strategy”, it is top-down. Experts say things and the rest of us do the things.

The second way is to do it ourselves, as a community, we just get in and do it.

14 August 202313 November 2023

Carver Go West

How far can we go and get home on a single charge?

This weekend we decided to “go for a quick drive, and be back around noon to take a nap”. Predictably, it turned into a large-scale adventure of the best sort. In order to test how far the Carver can go and get back home without being charged, we decided to “go West” until the battery hits 60% (more than half left, to give us enough buffer) before turning back home. We were hoping to get to Lomba da Maia to walk to the Praia da Viola, the beach that made us fall in love with the Azores.

10 August 202313 November 2023

Research outline

I am starting formal research about the community aspect of peduncle. Something about the end of expertise in a context of managing urban resources in a sociology of risk. I felt stuck so I wrote all the little things that I consider important on sticky notes and tried to group them. This is a first pass at the story that emerges.

Core values: curiosity, ethic of care, end of expertise, scenius (genius of scenes), interfaces, spaces between (outside and within), plurality?

22 June 202325 June 2023

My Carver, my Azores

Quick stop at the Parque Natural da Ribeira dos Caldeirões

The Carver finally arrived, getting it shipped was a mission, probably availability related, and finding the right company. Seems like shipping things under 30kg is easy, and an entire car or container is easy, but the middle bit is a challenge, somehow. We ended up with Bentrans, and I recommend them. I bought this Base model (max 45kph) second-hand from Living Plus and Pedro is just great. We’re still deciding if I will upgrade to the faster S+ (max 90kph) and then either return or sell this one, but honestly the Base is doing just fine on these twisty roads.

10 June 202310 June 2023

Infrastructure for appropriate scale

What do I mean with appropriate scale? It’s a “how long is a piece of string” question, but to put a number on it, things that serve about 1000 to 10,000 people at a time, so, about a neighbourhood’s worth of people.

27 May 202317 November 2023

Business idea: True zero-emission, sustainable Atlantic seafare for livestock, passengers and freight.

There is a gap in the market for sustainable sea travel stopping in the Azores. Yachts are slow and uncomfortable on high seas, and cruise ships are too big, environmentally unfriendly and on set routes. Cargo ships are not often available to passengers and the welfare of livestock on these ships are uncertain. This business idea is tailored for commuter travel of especially remote workers, and specialised livestock travelling on the East Coast of USA – Azores – Europe trade route. It caters to discerning clients who wish to travel more sustainably, as well as clients who have their animals’ welfare top of mind.