Loading...
Please wait, while we are loading the content...
Towards an Ecological Society: How Landscape Architecture can contribute to a Cultural Transition
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Brandsma, Sicco H. Kupers, P. I. M. Oudes, H. H. |
| Copyright Year | 2010 |
| Abstract | In the last decades, the impoverishment of our biophysical environment has become quite clear. Ecological thinking can be a proper way to deal with these issues. However, environmental awareness hardly seems to penetrate all layers of society. It seems that, although promising ecological plans exist, modern thinking, with its focus on efficiency and economics, is still largely present in the development of the environment. A shift towards an ecological based society is necessary. The purpose of this paper is to explore why a transition towards ecological thinking is hard to accomplish and how the field of landscape architecture can contribute to this transition. This is done by placing ecological thinking in the cultural context of modern society. For this a conceptualization of cultural adaptation is used, which can explain how a cultural transition works and what the position of landscape architecture in a culture is. It becomes clear that ecological aesthetics are not well appreciated in society yet and that ecological modernization the science that describes and prescribes how ecological transition could work in economical and political organizations is hampered due to a missing power base. Modern thinking is still dominating economical and political organizations and therefore lacks environmental issues and globalization problems. Since these organizations are the investors and the commissioners of landscape projects, these projects often neglect environmental issues. For a transition towards an ecological based society, ecological understanding and acceptance of ecological based aesthetics by all layers of society are essential. To do so, landscape architects can contribute in four ways: (1) bringing different disciplines together, by creating holistic designs and integrative plans; (2) making workable concepts, by translating current environmental knowledge in practical design solutions; (3) visualizing ideas to communicate with people and create debates; and (4) realizing iconic strategic projects to inspire ordinary people. Introduction In an increasingly industrializing world, the consequences of human actions on the environment have become increasingly apparent. In different fields of science, experts seem to agree that within a few decades several crises will occur if no effective action is undertaken. It comes down to the fact that human society threatens the earth‟s living systems. One can think of numerous problems, for example the loss of species, destruction of agricultural lands, depletion of forest and fisheries, loss of human cultural diversity and declining urban cores. Since the environmental crisis in the 1970s, ecological design has emerged as an approach that could work on these problems. Van der Ryn and Cowan (1996) named five principles for ecological design as solutions to the numerous environmental problems: (1) solutions grow from place: there has to be more attention to the context of the place, the unique cultural and physical characteristics; (2) ecological accounting: environmental and social factors, like energy, water, materials and indoor and outdoor air quality, are equally appraised next to the financial side of the design; (3) design with nature: designing with regard for nature, for example by using the movement of the sun in the design of a building; (4) everyone is a designer: the design process should be an open process by collaborating with all the stakeholders; and (5) make nature visible: in an increasing urban world it is critical to enable children and adults to see and access natural systems and processes. In this paper, we define ecological design as “any form of design that minimizes environmentally destructive impacts by integrating itself with living processes” (Van der Ryn and Cowan 1996, p.18). The problems regarding the earth‟s living systems show that a transition towards a society based on ecological principles is needed. But ecological design does not seem to be well accepted in some parts of society. Landscape architecture can be seen as a promising field to address the environmental problems (Johnson and Hill, 2002), also because it has ecological thinking at the core of its legacy (Mozingo, 1997). However, the field of design and planning has not always been aware of this position, and even now the field has to evolve in order to play an important role (Forman, 2002). |
| Starting Page | 39 |
| Ending Page | 49 |
| Page Count | 11 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://edepot.wur.nl/168978 |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
