Tuesday 31 December 2013
Smartphone controlled paper air plane
http://mashable.com/2013/11/30/paper-airplane-smartphone/?utm_cid=mash-com-fb-main-link
Light pollution in the US
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/07/let-there-be-night/278070/
City plot - city gardens in NY
http://cityplot.org/apply-now-for-funded-cityplot-workshops-and-trainings/
Poem on immigration maths in the UK
http://www.upworthy.com/next-time-someone-tells-you-that-immigrants-are-destroying-our-country-show-them-this?g=2
Suburbia by CASS student
http://www.thecass.com/news-events/2013/december/riba-presidents-medals-cass
Monday 30 December 2013
Jostein Gaarder: Sophie's World
a novel covering history of philosophy from Socrates to Sartre on a background of a story of a 14 year old girl.
Philosophy for general public kind of book.
Vunka said I must read.
Philosophy for general public kind of book.
Vunka said I must read.
COOPERATIVES promoted by USDA
http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/SupportDocuments/rdRuralCoop_Sept_Oct13Vr_Web.pdf
newsletter of US Department of Agriculture summarising progress of agricultural cooperatives in 2013 in rural America.
Cooperatives might just be the way to go forward in rural colonias.
Thursday 12 December 2013
alternative energy
http://mashable.com/2013/12/10/alternative-energy-products/?utm_cid=mash-com-fb-main-link#gallery/gadgets-powered-by-unusual-means/52a6e715b589e42bf5002074
Tuesday 3 December 2013
Shermeen's blog
http://yousifshermeen.blogspot.com/
Wei Yan's class:
http://faculty.arch.tamu.edu/wyan/ARCH689/students.html
Wei Yan's class:
http://faculty.arch.tamu.edu/wyan/ARCH689/students.html
Sunday 24 November 2013
lean construction - games
Zofia Rybkowski described that as part of lean construction course she runs an assignment to create a game. As an example she mentioned one of the students' designed games:
Everyone gets given a letter size piece of paper and is told to make a paper plane in three minutes. Follows a competition and which plane flies the furthest is the winner. The winner then teaches everyone how s/he built her/his plane and round two of building/testing is on. Then the best few get to share their techniques. The cycle goes on.
The result is that everyone in the group progresses, everyone becomes quite confident and no-one in the team/company gets fired.
This is such a clever idea.
I like it so much better than just pure capitalist competition.
I do wonder whether this can work in the colonias and how.
Everyone gets given a letter size piece of paper and is told to make a paper plane in three minutes. Follows a competition and which plane flies the furthest is the winner. The winner then teaches everyone how s/he built her/his plane and round two of building/testing is on. Then the best few get to share their techniques. The cycle goes on.
The result is that everyone in the group progresses, everyone becomes quite confident and no-one in the team/company gets fired.
This is such a clever idea.
I like it so much better than just pure capitalist competition.
I do wonder whether this can work in the colonias and how.
immigration hackathon
I wonder whether a hackathon in Las Lomas with planners, transport engineers, construction scientists,
urban designers, lawyers, etc. would be just the thing to do.
Or perhaps do hackathons work when there is a specific issue - like immigration and a specific tool - online/tech and the convergence of what the two have to offer is the most fruitful.
people with first hand experience on one side - people with skills to create apps and websites on the other.
So the hackers provide a public space where the 'clients' can make themselves visible and support their cause by lobbying the right people.
Does this encourage illegal immigration? When the invitees were undocumented immigrants?
Are the state boundaries essentially illegal?
This is an event organized by private firm.
How will the government respond? Can it 'regulate' events like this?
Would this be handy for colonias?
http://mashable.com/2013/11/22/hackathon-for-immigration-reform/?utm_cid=mash-com-fb-main-link
It is hour 22 of a 24-hour hackathon, where coders join together to build new products and programs from scratch in a short amount of time. The scene is not uncommon in Silicon Valley. Every startup and tech company worth its weight in code has hosted at least one internal hackathon. (LinkedIn, for example, has a company-wide one every month.)
But the scene in building No. 3 is different. Many of the coders are undocumented immigrants, and the projects they are working on could very well change their lives.
LinkedIn played host to the first known DREAMer Hackathon on Thursday, bringing together 20 to 25 undocumented immigrants to join Silicon Valley tech veterans in a quest to further immigration reform. The teams created projects like websites and apps, some meant to educate citizens about immigration issues, others meant to connect constituents with the congressional leaders who represent them. (A few actually do both.)
Friday 22 November 2013
Roaming the Boundaries: The Less Explored Roles of Architects in the Low-Income Settlements of Texas.
CARLOS A. REIMERS
The Catholic University of America
Roaming the Boundaries: The Less Explored Roles of Architects in the Low-Income Settlements of Texas.
- colonias are periurban settlements
- extra legal development
- architecture and low-income housing - in US: contemporary efforts date back to work of
Charles Abrams:
- http://cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-11950-4/
- book on social policy and state expansion in the early 20th Century U.S.
Sunday 17 November 2013
Oil production in America - example of brilliant infographic
http://www.oilposter.org/images/oil-age-2010-ve-xlg-outlined.jpg
Urban observatory
http://www.urbanobservatory.org/compare/index.html
comparison of cities' maps including land-use, transport, and other indicators.
comparison of cities' maps including land-use, transport, and other indicators.
d3 infographics
https://github.com/mbostock/d3/wiki/Gallery
a gallery of open source codes for animated, interactive data visualisation tools and graphs.
a gallery of open source codes for animated, interactive data visualisation tools and graphs.
Carl Sagan - podcasts of American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History holds a series of podcasts about science.
http://www.amnh.org/podcast/snc/
The particular podcast I listened to was 1hr and 22 minutes long and was about the approach of Peter Sagan to science and religion and the overlaps, differences and Carl's overall opinions on the topic of god, God and science.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Sagan
It is a fascinating, gentle and calm discussion of Carl's former colleague, wife and the moderator. They manage to portray Carl's own position, the way he argued for it and the way he would answer to classic rebuttals. His thesis was that intelligent design (new name for creationism) is not correct, however that the science itself - in its mere 4000 years of studying the Earth - is perhaps as close to some Truth about the cosmos as is religion. The difference is that science does not claim it knows the unknown, where else most religions do.
Sunday 10 November 2013
Microcredit for Americans
Microcredit for Americans
New York Times
By SHAILA DEWAN
Published: October 28, 2013
Colonias program promotoras help Socorro flooding victims
Colonias program promotoras help Socorro flooding victims
http://one.arch.tamu.edu/news/2013/10/29/colonias-program-promotoras-help-socorro-flooding-victims/
The Texas A&M Colonias Program came to the aid of flood-stricken West Texans last September when heavy rain and rising water drove many colonia residents in Socorro, a suburb of El Paso, from their homes.
The local community center, operated by the Colonias Program and the city of Socorro, was transformed into an emergency operations center, and the program’s community workers, known as promotoras, were dispersed around the community to check on residents threatened by the floodwaters.
http://one.arch.tamu.edu/news/2013/10/29/colonias-program-promotoras-help-socorro-flooding-victims/
Colonias and Public Policy in Texas and Mexico Urbanization by Stealth
Peter Ward:
Colonias and Public Policy in Texas and Mexico Urbanization by Stealth
This book is about the phenomenon of colonias in Texas and in northern Mexican border states. While the focus is upon the Texas-Mexico border, the findings will bear scrutiny in all of the border states, given that throughout the border region colonias are important low-income housing areas, the principal characteristics of which are cheaply acquired land, inadequate infrastructure, and self-help dwelling construction. But despite the enormous social costs associated with living and raising a family under these conditions, colonias are home for a large number of people—indeed, in Mexico, for the majority of the population in many cities. Fortunately, the physical conditions in colonias improve over time. They are, in the words of one author, "Slums of hope" (Lloyd 1979), such that between fifteen and twenty years after their establishment they have often become integrated working-class districts with paved roads, services installed, and consolidated dwellings, many with two stories. They are, then, both a problem and a solution—at least if one takes a long-term perspective (Mangin 1967).
http://utpress.utexas.edu/index.php/books/warcol
Colonias and Public Policy in Texas and Mexico Urbanization by Stealth
This book is about the phenomenon of colonias in Texas and in northern Mexican border states. While the focus is upon the Texas-Mexico border, the findings will bear scrutiny in all of the border states, given that throughout the border region colonias are important low-income housing areas, the principal characteristics of which are cheaply acquired land, inadequate infrastructure, and self-help dwelling construction. But despite the enormous social costs associated with living and raising a family under these conditions, colonias are home for a large number of people—indeed, in Mexico, for the majority of the population in many cities. Fortunately, the physical conditions in colonias improve over time. They are, in the words of one author, "Slums of hope" (Lloyd 1979), such that between fifteen and twenty years after their establishment they have often become integrated working-class districts with paved roads, services installed, and consolidated dwellings, many with two stories. They are, then, both a problem and a solution—at least if one takes a long-term perspective (Mangin 1967).
http://utpress.utexas.edu/index.php/books/warcol
FREE TRADE AND THE ENVIRONMENT: A CASE STUDY OF THE TEXAS COLONIAS
F. Andrew Schoolmaster:
FREE TRADE AND THE ENVIRONMENT:
A CASE STUDY OF THE TEXAS COLONIAS
Department of Geography
University of North Texas
http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1131&context=greatplainsresearch
FREE TRADE AND THE ENVIRONMENT:
A CASE STUDY OF THE TEXAS COLONIAS
Department of Geography
University of North Texas
http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1131&context=greatplainsresearch
Dell Innovation Challenge
Social venture competition organized by University of Texas.
http://www.dellchallenge.org/
http://www.dellchallenge.org/
New Institute at Berkeley
New Institute for Business and Social Impact launched at Berkeley.
http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/IBSI/
Research will also be an important aspect of the institute’s role, galvanizing the Haas faculty’s thought leadership in areas ranging from corporate social responsibility and multi-sector leadership to fraud, corruption, and ethics; environmental governance; poverty; health efficacy; gender parity; and more. The institute will house several of the school’s current centers and programs that already provide courses, activities, and research spanning the for-profit, nonprofit, and public sectors. They include: The Center for Nonprofit and Public Leadership, which works with organizations whose mission is to improve social and environmental sustainability. The Center for Responsible Business, which integrates social and environmental goals into the business models of for-profit enterprises. The Graduate Program in Health Management, which trains students for the future of health finance, health systems, and new innovations in health care. The Haas Global Social Venture Competition, which is the nation’s largest student-run competition for approaches to social and environmental challenges. The Institute is also launching an initiative on the impact of women on business and the economy. Through classes, applied research, a speakers' series, and seminars with leading executives, this program will explore strategies to foster the advancement of women in corporate management, entrepreneurship and nonprofit leadership.
source:
http://newsroom.haas.berkeley.edu/article/berkeley-haas-boost-its-efforts-creating-social-and-environmental-impact-vibrant-hub?utm_source=buffer&utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=buffere81ba&utm_medium=twitter
http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/IBSI/
Research will also be an important aspect of the institute’s role, galvanizing the Haas faculty’s thought leadership in areas ranging from corporate social responsibility and multi-sector leadership to fraud, corruption, and ethics; environmental governance; poverty; health efficacy; gender parity; and more. The institute will house several of the school’s current centers and programs that already provide courses, activities, and research spanning the for-profit, nonprofit, and public sectors. They include: The Center for Nonprofit and Public Leadership, which works with organizations whose mission is to improve social and environmental sustainability. The Center for Responsible Business, which integrates social and environmental goals into the business models of for-profit enterprises. The Graduate Program in Health Management, which trains students for the future of health finance, health systems, and new innovations in health care. The Haas Global Social Venture Competition, which is the nation’s largest student-run competition for approaches to social and environmental challenges. The Institute is also launching an initiative on the impact of women on business and the economy. Through classes, applied research, a speakers' series, and seminars with leading executives, this program will explore strategies to foster the advancement of women in corporate management, entrepreneurship and nonprofit leadership.
source:
http://newsroom.haas.berkeley.edu/article/berkeley-haas-boost-its-efforts-creating-social-and-environmental-impact-vibrant-hub?utm_source=buffer&utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=buffere81ba&utm_medium=twitter
Field Experiments
Macartan Humphreys and Jeremy M. Weinstein:
Field Experiments and the Political Economy of Development
http://www.columbia.edu/~mh2245/papers1/HW_ARPS09.pdf
Esther Duflo
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(Department of Economics and Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab)
BREAD, CEPR, NBER
January 2006
Field Experiments in Development Economics
http://economics.mit.edu/files/800
Field Experiment
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_experiment
Field Experiments and the Political Economy of Development
http://www.columbia.edu/~mh2245/papers1/HW_ARPS09.pdf
Esther Duflo
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(Department of Economics and Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab)
BREAD, CEPR, NBER
January 2006
http://economics.mit.edu/files/800
Field Experiment
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_experiment
Thursday 7 November 2013
Super-Awesome Sylvia - 11 yo maker
A maker, tinkerer and online celebrity, Sylvia Todd has attracted more than a million views on YouTube of the show she produces and hosts, called “Sylvia’s Super-Awesome Maker Show.” Not bad reach for an 11-year-old.
Published: April 23, 2013http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/04/23/science/super-awesome-sylvia-video-grid.html?ref=science#index
Arduino - open platform
Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It's intended for artists, designers, hobbyists and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments.
http://arduino.cc/
http://arduino.cc/
Texas Development Water Board
The Texas Water Development Board offers grants to any person(s) or political subdivision(s) of the State of Texas for water research that addresses one of the Texas Water Development Board's research topics published in the recent Request For Proposals. The Board defines research to be scientific activities that are undertaken to address practical problems rather than to expand the frontiers of knowledge.
Financing of the Water Research Program is through the TWDB's Research and Planning Fund.
http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/financial/programs/WRG/index.asp
The priority research topic for fiscal year 2013 funding is listed below as it appeared in the
Request for Statements of Qualifications. Detailed information on this topic in the Request for
Statements of Qualifications is included in Attachment A.
• Testing water quality in a municipal wastewater effluent treated to drinking water
standards.
http://www.twdb.texas.gov/board/2013/08/Board/Brd25.pdf
Tuesday 5 November 2013
Steven A. Moore: Technology and Place - Sustainable Architecture and the Blueprint Farm
In this book, Steven Moore demonstrates how the various stakeholders' competing definitions of "sustainability," "technology," and "place" ultimately doomed an experimental agricultural project designed to benefit farm workers displaced by the industrialization of agriculture in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
http://utpress.utexas.edu/index.php/books/mootec
Sunday 3 November 2013
bordercoalition.org
The Border Low Income Housing Coalition (BLIHC) is a grassroots coalition that responds to the severely substandard conditions found in colonias along the Texas-Mexico border. It consists of 350 low-income border residents, housing providers, advocates, government officials, and lenders, united in the pursuit of socially and economically just community development policies.
The Coalition is led by colonia residents, who have experienced first-hand the unnecessary suffering in border communities that lack basic infrastructure such as water, wastewater, electricity and sewage services. The BLIHC is devoted to the belief that through a unified coalition of border residents, change is possible.
The BLIHC has a history of successfully challenging the State of Texas and its elected officials to improve living conditions in border colonias. Since it’s founding in 1993, the BLIHC has secured the allocation of over $50 million in public funds and has played a pivotal role in reforming the State’s housing agency.
The BLIHC devotes itself on an array of community development issues, including housing, infrastructure, water quality, public health, and democratic, accountable governance. Gloria Romo, the Texas Low Income Housing Information Service’s (TxLIHIS) community organizer, is striving to reorganize the BLIHC through her organizing efforts in Laredo-area colonias. From our office in Austin, TxLIHIS is making the Coalition’s work accessible to the public, press, and policy-makers.
This website tells the story of the Border Coalition: of its meager beginnings, its challenges, its astounding victories, and its outlook for the future.
(2005)
source:
http://www.bordercoalition.org/page9/page9.html
The Coalition is led by colonia residents, who have experienced first-hand the unnecessary suffering in border communities that lack basic infrastructure such as water, wastewater, electricity and sewage services. The BLIHC is devoted to the belief that through a unified coalition of border residents, change is possible.
The BLIHC has a history of successfully challenging the State of Texas and its elected officials to improve living conditions in border colonias. Since it’s founding in 1993, the BLIHC has secured the allocation of over $50 million in public funds and has played a pivotal role in reforming the State’s housing agency.
The BLIHC devotes itself on an array of community development issues, including housing, infrastructure, water quality, public health, and democratic, accountable governance. Gloria Romo, the Texas Low Income Housing Information Service’s (TxLIHIS) community organizer, is striving to reorganize the BLIHC through her organizing efforts in Laredo-area colonias. From our office in Austin, TxLIHIS is making the Coalition’s work accessible to the public, press, and policy-makers.
This website tells the story of the Border Coalition: of its meager beginnings, its challenges, its astounding victories, and its outlook for the future.
(2005)
source:
http://www.bordercoalition.org/page9/page9.html
Freakonomics podcast
http://freakonomics.com/2013/10/03/how-to-think-about-money-choose-your-hometown-and-buy-an-electric-toothbrush-a-new-freakonomics-radio-podcast/
Attorney General - Colonias prevention
The Office of the Attorney General has enforcement responsibilities under several of these laws. To assist the public and governmental agencies in understanding and following these laws, the Office of the Attorney General has compiled them into a booklet and developed assorted materials to explain them.
Texas laws intended to prevent colonias take a variety of forms and apply in a variety of circumstances. The Texas Legislature has refined these laws during the past 15 years. Some of the major laws apply only in the border area or in "economically distressed" counties with high unemployment and low per capita income.
The laws have four major thrusts:
- (1) requiring subdividers to provide basic infrastructure (water, sewer, roads, and drainage) when creating (or "platting") new residential developments,
(2) restricting the advertising and selling of lots that are not platted or that lack water and sewer,
(3) limiting connections to utilities in substandard areas, and
(4) mandating certain disclosures and protections when lots are sold through contracts for deeds.
https://www.oag.state.tx.us/agency/weeklyag/2010/0410colonia.pdf
source:
https://www.oag.state.tx.us/consumer/border/colonias.shtml
Attorney General - colonias map
https://maps.oag.state.tx.us/colgeog/colgeog_online.html#app=a527&1d99-selectedIndex=1
Monday 28 October 2013
Sunday 27 October 2013
Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers
http://www.valorebooks.com/textbooks/business-model-generation-a-handbook-for-visionaries-game-changers-and-challengers/9780470876411#default=buy&utm_source=Froogle&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=Froogle&date=10/24/13
me: Am starting to visualize the funding for colonias like a massive massive pot hanging upside down over the desert.
Sent at 18:36 on Sunday
me: it is hanging quite close, but the sticky mush of funding is not moving. it just hangs there. then there are the normal people - including you and I staring at that mush.
Sent at 18:37 on Sunday
Edna: jajajaja
yes
thats one version for sure
me: and then there are these flies - NGOs and Non-profits of white hipsters who sit a bit on the mush, sip it, take a lil ball and then fly around and then sit with the tiny ball on one small shit.
Most people in the desert won't even see the flies, and they don't know what the mush is. maybe they jump a bit to see, but its too far.
eh
Tuesday 22 October 2013
Catalog of Federal and Domestic Assistance
source: https://www.cfda.gov/
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) provides a full listing of all Federal programs available to State and local governments (including the District of Columbia); federally-recognized Indian tribal governments; Territories (and possessions) of the United States; domestic public, quasi- public, and private profit and nonprofit organizations and institutions; specialized groups; and individuals.
 461 | Department of Health and Human Services |
|---|---|
| 270 | Department of the Interior |
| 251 | Department of Agriculture |
| 125 | Department of Housing and Urban Development |
| 125 | Department of Justice |
Monday 21 October 2013
grants and funding
Title: Dissertation Fieldwork Grants
Sponsor: Wenner-Gren Foundation
Deadline: 11/1/2013 (additional deadline 5/1/2014)
Amount: $20,000
Description/Eligibility: Dissertation Fieldwork Grants are awarded to aid doctoral or thesis research. The program contributes to the Foundation's overall mission to support basic research in anthropology and to ensure that the discipline continues to be a source of vibrant and significant work that furthers our understanding of humanity's cultural and biological origins, development, and variation. The Foundation supports research that demonstrates a clear link to anthropological theory and debates, and promises to make a solid contribution to advancing these ideas. There is no preference for any methodology, research location, or subfield. The Foundation particularly welcomes proposals that employ a comparative perspective, can generate innovative approaches or ideas, and/or integrate two or more subfields. Students must be enrolled in a doctoral program (or equivalent, if applying from outside the United States) at the time of application. Students of all nationalities are eligible to apply.
How to Apply: Submit directly to sponsor by November 1. See grant announcement for materials to be submitted with proposal.
Title: American Dissertation Fellowships
Sponsor: American Association of University Women (AAUW)
Deadline: 11/15/2013
Amount: $20,000
Description/Eligibility: Dissertation Fellowships are available to women who will complete their dissertation writing between July 1, 2014, and June 30, 2015. Applicants must have completed all course work, passed all preliminary examinations, and received approval for their research proposals or plans by the preceding November. Students holding fellowships for writing a dissertation in the year prior to the AAUW fellowships year are not eligible. Open to applicants in all fields of study.Scholars engaged in science, technology, engineering, and math fields or researching gender issues are especially encouraged to apply. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
How to Apply: Submit directly to sponsor. See grant announcement for materials to be submitted with proposal.
Title: Joseph L. Fisher Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship
Sponsor: Resources for the Future (RFF)
Deadline: 2/22/2013 (2014 date not yet posted)
Amount: $18,000
Description/Eligibility: In honor of the late Joseph L. Fisher, president of Resources for the Future (RFF) from 1959–1974, RFF will award fellowships for the coming academic year in support of doctoral dissertation research on issues related to the environment, natural resources, or energy. RFF’s primary research disciplines are economics and other social sciences. Proposals originating in these fields will have the greatest likelihood of success. This fellowship is intended to be the principal source of support for graduate students in the final year of their dissertation research. The program is open to both U.S. and non-U.S. citizens, provided the latter have proper work and residency documentation.
How to Apply: Submit directly to sponsor by February 22. See grant announcement for materials to be submitted with proposal.
Sunday 20 October 2013
University of Texas-Pan American: Rural Enterprise Development
http://portal.utpa.edu/utpa_main/ce_home/red_home_2011
provide technical assistance and outreach services to improve the economic condition of rural areas in Texas with an emphasis in the South Texas region through the development of rural cooperatives and farmers markets, the creation of training opportunities for primarily Hispanic and other minority farmers and ranchers, and the active promotion of transparency in all matters.
provide technical assistance and outreach services to improve the economic condition of rural areas in Texas with an emphasis in the South Texas region through the development of rural cooperatives and farmers markets, the creation of training opportunities for primarily Hispanic and other minority farmers and ranchers, and the active promotion of transparency in all matters.
Us political system
source: wikimedia
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Political_System_of_the_United_States.svg
Prometheus radio
- Non-profit organization
- builds community radio stations
http://www.prometheusradio.org/
- builds community radio stations
http://www.prometheusradio.org/
Ya se pudo! - KPCN radio barn raising
Unrepresented Latino farm workers in Woodburn, Oregon ask want their voices to be heard, want a radio station.
Prometheus radio organizes conference/workshop/'barn raising' building of a radio station.
http://www.upworthy.com/normally-i-d-say-you-shouldn-t-steal-from-the-amish-but-one-of-their-ideas-was-too-good-to-pass-up-3?c=ufb1
Saturday 19 October 2013
Critique of Appropriate Technology Movement
Kelvin W. Willoughby: Technology Choice: A Critique of the Appropriate Technology Movement
http://www.amazon.com/Technology-Choice-Critique-Appropriate-Movement/dp/1853390577?tag=ecosia-20Practical Action
Practical action
http://practicalaction.org/waste-management-answers
Founded by E.F. Schumacher in 1966 after publishing article in Observer.
Previously called: Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG).
The advisory centre was meant to promote and educate about the use of appropriate technology in developing world.
areas of focus:
- energy access
- urban water and waste
- food and agriculture
- disaster risk reduction
http://practicalaction.org/document-library-11
http://practicalaction.org/waste-management-answers
Founded by E.F. Schumacher in 1966 after publishing article in Observer.
Previously called: Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG).
The advisory centre was meant to promote and educate about the use of appropriate technology in developing world.
areas of focus:
- energy access
- urban water and waste
- food and agriculture
- disaster risk reduction
http://practicalaction.org/document-library-11
Ivan Illich
similar opinion to E.F. Schumacher
- conviviality
(intermediate technologies etc. )
http://conviviality.ouvaton.org/article.php3?id_article=7
Founded a language school/free university for intellectuals in Cuernavaca, Mexico.
Books:
- conviviality
(intermediate technologies etc. )
http://conviviality.ouvaton.org/article.php3?id_article=7
Founded a language school/free university for intellectuals in Cuernavaca, Mexico.
Books:
- Celebration of Awareness (1971)
- Deschooling Society (1971)
- Tools for Conviviality (1973)
- Energy and Equity (1974)
- Medical Nemesis (1976)
- The Right To Useful Unemployment And Its Professional Enemies (1978)
- Toward a History of Needs (1978)
- Shadow Work (1981)
E.F. Schumacher
One man: E.F. Schumacher is behind/inspired so many great initiatives - which I suspect many encounter separately, as I did.
- Schumacher College in Totnes, Devon
- Resurgence Magazine (now Resurgence & Ecologist)
- Green Books publishing company
- Practical Action - NGO
- New Economics Foundation
- New Economics Institute
- Soil Association
- Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT)
- Jeevika Trust
- Schumacher Institute in Bristol
article in the Observer, weekend review (29th August, 1965):
How to help them help themselves
slogan:
"find out what the people are doing and help them to do it better. "
books/ essays:
Buddhist Economics
Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered
http://www.amazon.com/Small-Is-Beautiful-Economics-Mattered/dp/0060916303?tag=ecosia-20
A Guide for the Perplexed
Wikipedia:
The Schumacher Circle is a family of organisations which were founded in E.F. Schumacher's memory or were inspired by his work, and which cooperate to support each other. The circle includes[11] the Schumacher College in Totnes, Devon, Resurgence Magazine (now Resurgence & Ecologist), publishing company Green Books, international non-governmental organisation Practical Action, the New Economics Foundation in the UK, the New Economics Institute (formerly called the E. F. Schumacher Society) founded in New England,[12] the Soil Association, the educational centre Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) North Wales, the Jeevika Trust, and the research organisation Schumacher Institute in Bristol.
Tuesday 15 October 2013
Research topic ATM
Directed study with Edna and Cecilia, 15th October, 2013:
What urban form could maximise benefits from infrastructure as a social enterprise?
three variables:
- finances
- people
- urban form
comments:
- start up would be a great learning curve and a case study in itself
- infrastructure can be many things - perhaps mobility would be achievable with small grant
- step back and define what is a city, what is a democracy - it is the luxury we have in academia, we can assume that anything can be questioned and changed.
- what am I challenging?
- what is the problem exactly?
- would I want to use current funding as a frame for the whole research?
- it would be great to think about the research with a grant application in mind, if it does not work out, it is also OK.
- Can the solution be quite flexible, incremental, in stages? So that can be applied in smaller doses?
- Do we have to move houses? Is that the best solution?
What urban form could maximise benefits from infrastructure as a social enterprise?
three variables:
- finances
- people
- urban form
comments:
- start up would be a great learning curve and a case study in itself
- infrastructure can be many things - perhaps mobility would be achievable with small grant
- step back and define what is a city, what is a democracy - it is the luxury we have in academia, we can assume that anything can be questioned and changed.
- what am I challenging?
- what is the problem exactly?
- would I want to use current funding as a frame for the whole research?
- it would be great to think about the research with a grant application in mind, if it does not work out, it is also OK.
- Can the solution be quite flexible, incremental, in stages? So that can be applied in smaller doses?
- Do we have to move houses? Is that the best solution?
Research question ATM
For Research Symposium poster:
Learning from Colonias in Texas:
Analysis of self-organizing structure and urban manifestation in
unincorporated settlements
Introduction:
Colonias are unincorporated
settlements along the U.S. -
Mexico border. They lack physical
infrastructure and civic facilities.
Upgrading colonias requires selforganization
and collective effort in
fi nding, obtaining and implementing
funding programs. Could the effort
benefi t from an alternative urban
form and infrastructure?
Abstract:
The research sets to analyze existing
colonias and propose alternative
infrastructure and urban form in
response to available fi nancial and
organizational capacity.
Hypotheses:
Self-organizing capacity of colonias’
residents is an asset that can be
employed in building settlements.
Alternative infrastructure (water/
sewage) can be cheaper to install,
run, and generates income.
Objective:
Finding a point at which the lack of
access to credit, unemployment,
availability of land, natural resources
and human capital can converge into
a viable unincorporated settlement.
Approach:
→ Case studies of infrastructure
installation in existing colonias in
Texas.
→ Case studies of self-organization
leading to obtaining funds for the
upgrade of physical infrastructure
in colonias in Texas.
→ Case studies of social-enterprise
cities
→ Action research in pilot colonia
in Texas
→ Interviews in colonias
→ Architectural/ urban/ business
proposal
Current funding programs for Colonias research:
Current funding programs for Colonias research:
International: U.S. & Mexico
- Border Environment Cooperation Commission (BECC)
- North American Development Bank (NADB)
- Conagua
Federal: U.S.
- US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- US Department of Agriculture
State: Texas
- Texas Water Development Board (TWDB)
- Texas Department of Agriculture
- Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
- Texas Workforce Commission
- Texas Commission of Environmental Quality (TCEQ)
Nuestra Casa
Presentation by Cecilia on 8th October 2013.
Nuestra Casa is a program run by CRG (Community Research Group) who offer micro - loans to residents of colonias for home improvements.
The study argues that colonias residents are credit-worthy, they can pay off a small loan from their salaries. Hence small loans do not have to be used only on income generating activities.
Nuestra Casa does not require collateral.
Number of 'lost' loans declined over the years.
Nuestra Casa is a program run by CRG (Community Research Group) who offer micro - loans to residents of colonias for home improvements.
The study argues that colonias residents are credit-worthy, they can pay off a small loan from their salaries. Hence small loans do not have to be used only on income generating activities.
Nuestra Casa does not require collateral.
Number of 'lost' loans declined over the years.
Big Ideas Competition - call
Big ideas competition
Purpose - provide funds for student led social venture, non-profit start-ups
Eligibility - at least 1 tamu/Berkeley/St. Mary student in a team, student led,
faculty/professionals can participate, but not lead.
Interdisciplinary teams, individuals
Average award: $ 5,000
Max award: $ 10,000
Includes mentoring and partnering up with other students
http://bigideas.berkeley.edu/contest/
Lets set up a start up in Las Lomas. It is imperative to collaborate with a locally based organization to be able to provide follow up, offer trust, longevity etc.
+
Colonias Unidas are looking to generate income.
=
IDEAL.
Lets set up a start up in Las Lomas. It is imperative to collaborate with a locally based organization to be able to provide follow up, offer trust, longevity etc.
+
Colonias Unidas are looking to generate income.
=
IDEAL.
Non - profit, NGO _ definitions
Nonprofit
A corporation or an association that conducts business for the benefit of the general public without shareholders
and without a profit motive.
- cannot operate for profit (cannot distribute corporate income to shareholders)
- funds acquired must stay within the corporate accounts to pay for reasonable salaries,
expenses, and the activities of the corporation.
- Salaries are not considered personal benefits because they are necessary for the operation of the corporation.
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Non-profit+organization
NGOs
Are legally constituted corporations created by natural or legal people that operate
independently from any form of government.
- organizations that are not a part of a government and are not conventional for-profit businesses
- In the cases in which NGOs are funded totally or partially by governments, the NGO maintains its nongovernmental
status by excluding government representatives from membership in the organization.
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Non-government+organisation
David Harvey: The Right to the City
Argument: Ever growing economic surplus is absorbed by ever
growing urbanization + consumption (in capitalism)
Harvey shows on examples from history that for capitalism to work, surplus capital must be absorbed. He argues the biggest absorbent is the built environment - growing urbanization. (grows in scale, spreads from developed to developing > globe, spreads from rich to poor - credit instruments)
On examples from history Harvey shows that a 'destructive' event i.e. Haussmann's new plan for Paris stimulates economy, creates jobs and consumption and ultimately growth. This growth has its limits - geographical, financial, demand, natural etc. when the limit is reached for the particular 'type' of growth, we experience a crisis. Growth stops, prices explode, jobs stop, all slows down. Then a new absorbent must be invented in order to 'stimulate' the economy, create jobs and wealth to be spent on more wealth creation. That is followed by another - bigger - crisis, followed by bigger 'destruction'. (war or) Consider NY & Moses; 2008 credit crunch - the collapse of suburb?
Can we start slowing down, or better, can we not create absorbents with creating new colonias?
Hernando De Soto: The Other Path_self-organization
Hernando De Soto: The Other Path
Ch.2: Informal Housing (p.26-29)
Informal organizations:
1) elected democratic organ to first execute the invasion, then:
Basic aim: to protect and increase the value of the property
acquired
- negotiating with authorities
- preserving law and order
- provide services
- registering properties in the settlement
- administering justice
- public works
- committees to undertake specific tasks (obtaining
water supply, sewage system, electricity, roads, and
sidewalks)
- budget based on income from settlers' dues less
expenditures, public works, complying with bureaucratic
procedures, fund for bribing – all approved by general
assembly
- public works often carried out by residents (cost
reduction)
2) Cooperatives, Associations set up to buy agricultural land
illegally (to avoid expropriation)
Basic aim: to bring interested buyers together in a legal
entities (then buy land or stage invasion)
- identify land
- formalize contracts with owners
- critical mass + sufficient money
- professionals involved – 'speculators' (inf. estate brokers)
- technical assistance – drawing up plans for infrastructure,
Transportation
- drawing up plans of houses
(Meeting with Cecilia and Edna, 15th October 2013)
TAMU Research Symposium - 21st Oct 2013
http://symposium.arch.tamu.edu/2013/schedule/
see:
Yu Xiao - Enhancing Local Economic Disaster Resiliency through Industrial Diversification? Evidence from the 1993 Midwest Flood
Shannon Van Zandt - Inequities in Long-term Housing Recovery after Disasters
Cecilia Giusti - Texas Colonias: Citizen Participation and Community Development Urban Affairs Association 43th. Annual Conference, April 3-6 2013, San Francisco California
Jorge Venegas - The Promise and Unintended Consequences of Technology
Sarah DeYong - Sigfried Giedion, Team X and the Evolution of a Relational Idea
Mardelle Shepley - Design Characteristics of a Healthy and Productive Healthcare Work Environment
Kenneth Joh - Examining Trends in Walking Travel in Southern California, 2001-2009: Insights from National and Regional Travel Surveys For most of the past half-century, automobiles have been the dominant mode of transportation in North America
Ifte Choudhury - Rainwater Harvesting for Domestic Consumption in Bangladesh
Chanam Lee - School-based Environmental Approaches to Promote Walking to School: Modifiable micro-scale environmental factors
Wei Li - Assessing Benefits of Walkability to Single Family Property Values: a Hedonic Study in Austin, Texas
Xuemei Zhu - A Walkable Community’s Impacts on Residents’ Physical and Social Health
see:
Yu Xiao - Enhancing Local Economic Disaster Resiliency through Industrial Diversification? Evidence from the 1993 Midwest Flood
Shannon Van Zandt - Inequities in Long-term Housing Recovery after Disasters
Cecilia Giusti - Texas Colonias: Citizen Participation and Community Development Urban Affairs Association 43th. Annual Conference, April 3-6 2013, San Francisco California
Jorge Venegas - The Promise and Unintended Consequences of Technology
Sarah DeYong - Sigfried Giedion, Team X and the Evolution of a Relational Idea
Mardelle Shepley - Design Characteristics of a Healthy and Productive Healthcare Work Environment
Kenneth Joh - Examining Trends in Walking Travel in Southern California, 2001-2009: Insights from National and Regional Travel Surveys For most of the past half-century, automobiles have been the dominant mode of transportation in North America
Ifte Choudhury - Rainwater Harvesting for Domestic Consumption in Bangladesh
Chanam Lee - School-based Environmental Approaches to Promote Walking to School: Modifiable micro-scale environmental factors
Wei Li - Assessing Benefits of Walkability to Single Family Property Values: a Hedonic Study in Austin, Texas
Xuemei Zhu - A Walkable Community’s Impacts on Residents’ Physical and Social Health
Meeting with Pliny 12th October 2013
- I should go to a colonia, live there, build a house with my own resources and hands
- CMPBS are working on a colonia near Austin, I should come to the center on weekends and work on a proposal, help them - help me
- Sasha - contact, engineer, sewage, in colonias
- CMPBS are working on a colonia near Austin, I should come to the center on weekends and work on a proposal, help them - help me
- Sasha - contact, engineer, sewage, in colonias
Monday 30 September 2013
The Colonias Reader: Economy, Housing, and Public Health in U.S.-Mexico Border Colonias.
The book I used for searching the history of colonias, the Bracero program, policies, etc.
http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=nGMKjPUR_cgC&oi=fnd&pg=PA4&dq=The+Colonias+Reader:+Economy,+Housing,+and+Public+Health+in+U.S.-Mexico+Border+Colonias.&ots=td6dFoVNgI&sig=zMuK3djhMy4ZwLRKpoqXHb25s5c#v=onepage&q=The%20Colonias%20Reader%3A%20Economy%2C%20Housing%2C%20and%20Public%20Health%20in%20U.S.-Mexico%20Border%20Colonias.&f=false
Sunday 29 September 2013
Reports to the President of the United States
Reports on the state of border region from 1995 to date.
http://www.epa.gov/ocem/gneb/gneb_president_reports.htm
http://www.epa.gov/ocem/gneb/gneb_president_reports.htm
Section 16.343:Minimum State Standards and Model Political Subdivision Rules
Texas Water Code
Section 16.343:Minimum State Standards and Model Political Subdivision Rules
This code defines standards to be adhered to for Model Political Subdivision.
http://www.weblaws.org/texas/laws/tex._water_code_section_16.343_minimum_state_standards_and_model_political_subdivision_rules
Saturday 28 September 2013
P3: People, Prosperity and the Planet Student Design Competition for Sustainability
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as part of the P3-People, Prosperity and the Planet Award Program, intends to seek applications proposing to research, develop, and design solutions to real world challenges involving the overall sustainability of human society. The P3 competition highlights the use of scientific principles in creating innovative projects focused on sustainability. The P3 Award program was developed to foster progress toward sustainability by achieving the mutual goals of economic prosperity, protection of the planet, and improved quality of life for its people-- people, prosperity, and the planet – the three pillars of sustainability. The EPA offers the P3 competition in order to respond to the technical needs of the world while moving towards the goal of sustainability.
http://www.epa.gov/P3/
http://www.epa.gov/P3/
EPA OnCampus Eco-Ambassador
Working with school representatives and fellow students, OnCampus ecoAmbassadors implement projects from EPA programs to help green their campuses, promote environmental awareness and carry out the EPA's mission to protect human health and the environment.
http://www.epa.gov/oncampus/
http://www.epa.gov/oncampus/
EPA funding/fellowship
- Fellowships
- American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology Policy Fellowships
- Association of Schools of Public Health/EPA Fellowship Program
- EPA Office of Research and Development Post-Doctoral Research Program
- Greater Research Opportunities (GRO) Undergraduate Fellowships
- National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council Resident Research Associateship Program
- National Network for Environmental Management Studies (NNEMS)
- Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) Fellowships
- Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program
- Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Fellowships for Graduate Environmental Study
- Scholarships
http://epa.gov/fellowships/
Technologies for Development 2014 Conference, Luasanne
The Openness Paradigm: How Synergies Between Open Access, Open Data, Open Science, Open Source Hardware, Open Drug Discovery Support Development?
http://biodesign.cc/2013/09/26/call-for-abstracts/#!
4-6 June 2014 | EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
Citizen and open science activities from environmental monitoring to drug discovery, projects supporting Open Data and Open Access, and various Open Hardware initiatives for affordable laboratory equipment define a new paradigm for development, which needs reflection and evaluation. We are seeking for case studies, which document the opportunities, challenges and synergies behind the paradigm of openness: open data projects, which advocate sharing and publishing of raw scientific data rather than only results, open access advocacy promoting unrestricted access to peer-reviewed scientific publications, open hardware and capacity building for research, but also open drug discovery projects, which apply these principles to hasten the discovery of affordable and free of licenses drugs. While some projects concentrate on building research infrastructure and networks around open source technologies, other often emphasize the power of crowdsourcing and various e-science platforms and citizen science models of work, which involve the communities in various data collection practices. We would like to discuss these practices and their synergies to understand how they support resilience, agency and self-determination of various communities in the Global South. We are especially interested to hear how they enable novel South to South and South to North research cooperation. Does the paradigm of openness create conditions for the Global South to become an equal partner in research and development efforts? The panel will map and reflect upon these initiatives and case studies to understand the problems these new networks face and to define the best practices as well as policy recommendations, which would support the openness paradigm. In addition to the panel, we are planning to organize a hackathon and dedicate a space for showcasing open hardware for science projects, which will be accessible to the public.
http://biodesign.cc/2013/09/26/call-for-abstracts/#!
Big Ideas competition
eligibility - at least one TAMU/Berkeley/St. Mary student in a team, student led, faculty/professionals can participate, but not lead.
They are looking for interdisciplinary teams, but solo people do win too.
team can submit multiple ideas
individual can be in multiple teams
average award: $ 5,000
max award: $ 10,000
must show how remaining funds will be obtained
the process includes mentoring and partnering up with other students if needed - with business students, mentoring from experts in the market/field
the startup must be non-profit/social venture
http://bigideas.berkeley.edu/
Tuesday 24 September 2013
Sharon Zukin: "Pacification by cappuccino"
Sharon Zukin is professor of sociology at Brooklyn College and at the CUNY Graduate Center. Zukin is the author of books on cities, culture and consumer culture, and a researcher on urban, cultural and economic change. She was Broeklundian Professor from 1996 to 2008. She received the Lynd Award for Career Achievement in urban sociology, from the American Sociological Association, and the C. Wright Mills Book Award for Landscapes of Power. She was visiting professor at the University of Amsterdam, 2010-11.
Teaching at the New School, New York
http://www.newschool.edu/continuing-education/events.aspx?id=85604
BOOKS:
Loft Living (1982)
The Cultures of Cities (1995)
Naked City: The Death and Life of Authentic Urban Places (Oxford University Press, 2010) is an update to Jane Jacobs' The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961)
Landscapes of Power: From Detroit to Disney World (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991)
Point of Purchase
Teaching at the New School, New York
http://www.newschool.edu/continuing-education/events.aspx?id=85604
BOOKS:
Loft Living (1982)
The Cultures of Cities (1995)
Naked City: The Death and Life of Authentic Urban Places (Oxford University Press, 2010) is an update to Jane Jacobs' The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961)
Landscapes of Power: From Detroit to Disney World (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991)
Point of Purchase
Monday 23 September 2013
Mitchel, D. : The Right to the City: Social Justice and the Fight for Public Space
Mitchel, D. : The Right to the City: Social Justice and the Fight for Public Space
In the wake of recent terrorist attacks, efforts to secure the American city have life-or-death implications. Yet demands for heightened surveillance and security throw into sharp relief timeless questions about the nature of public space, how it is to be used, and under what conditions. Blending historical and geographical analysis, this book examines the vital relationship between struggles over public space and movements for social justice in the United States. Presented are a series of linked cases that explore the judicial response to public demonstrations by early twentieth-century workers, and comparable legal issues surrounding anti-abortion protests today; the Free Speech Movement and the history of People's Park in Berkeley; and the plight of homeless people facing new laws against their presence in urban streets. The central focus is how political dissent gains meaning and momentum--and is regulated and policed--in the real, physical spaces of the city.
Harvey, D. C., Hawkins, H., & Thomas, N. J. (2012). Thinking creative clusters beyond the city: people, places and networks.
Harvey, D. C., Hawkins, H., & Thomas, N. J. (2012). Thinking creative clusters beyond the city: people, places and networks. Geoforum, 43(3), 529-539. doi:http://dx.doi.org.lib-ezproxy.tamu.edu:2048/10.1016/j.geoforum.2011.11.010
Abstract
This paper develops an ethnographic study of a small rural based ‘creative cluster’, called Krowji, situated in the town of Redruth in West Cornwall, UK. The dominant geographies of creative industries research and policy in recent years have an acknowledged urban bias together with a focus on narratives of agglomeration. This paper sits alongside research that brings to the fore ‘other’ geographies of cultural production, and reflects an increasing interest in work on creativity in rural areas. Following work by Storper and Pratt, we explore Krowji’s complex interdependencies, investigating ‘the relations within, without and across the cluster’. We focus on the relationships between Krowji and its surrounding area together with the spatialities and temporalities of the relations that occur across and beyond the cluster. We address the dynamics and durability of relations formed within the cluster also paying attention to their disconnections. In offering this analysis we develop a valuable counterpoint to the urban bias of much work on creative clusters and we contribute to work that is looking more closely at the temporalities and spatialities of cultural production. Further, we point towards the value of ethnographical research on the creative industries.
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