To fix the world's ecological crises we'll have to make some tough choices, particularly living with less stuff. Art can play an essential role in imagining and communicating a more sustainable future.
Every day brings new calls for sustainability, as humanity's actual behaviour moves ever further away from it. What can we learn from an obscure Austrian philosopher?
Do you see the future the same way as Leonardo?
EPA/Christophe Archambault/pool
Leonardo DiCaprio's new climate documentary is an urgent call for the promised green tech revolution. But it shows too much faith in politicians and corporations to change their ways.
By championing economic growth, the Sustainable Development Goals are a barely disguised defence of the market fundamentalism that underpins business-as-usual. But in an age of planetary limits, sustained economic growth is not the solution to our social and environmental ills, but their cause.
The Calafou community lives in a repurposed factory complex near Barcelona.
Dvdgmz/Wikimedia Commons
Not all ecovillages are created equal - but the best ones show us how to live more sustainably, by embracing collectivism, sourcing renewable energy, and moving away from prevailing consumer culture.
How can we live within the means of our planet? Almost all environmental literature grossly underestimates what is needed for our civilisation to become sustainable.
Growth as cancel cells.
National Cancer Institute, modified by Elizabeth Tunstall"
The Cool Japan program models how a new approach to the design industry might work in the degrowth economy. To paraphrase designer and engineer Buckminster Fuller, the best way to predict the future is to design it.
Using urban space for food production makes food easier to transport, not to mention cheaper.
littleny/Shutterstock.com
The aftermath of Christmas is a good time to think about where consumer-capitalism is getting us. The sad fact is that, with these values, our society can never be ecologically sustainable or just. Accelerating…
David Fincher’s film shows the desolation of failed suburban promises.
Twentieth Century Fox
The film Gone Girl (2014) is dividing critics along gender lines. Men see it as a gripping, fresh thriller while women have expressed alarm over a range of issues. Chief in recent days is criticism of…