LCD Weekly Issue - 035 - Climate Action
⛰️ Words from the mountains
Two weeks ago, another climate change episode struck Spain.
"In the last few days, a seasonal weather system known in Spain as the "cold drop" or DANA (an acronym of depresión aislada en niveles altos: isolated depression at high levels) has caused heavy rain and flooding across Spain's Mediterranean coast and in Andalusia, especially in the Valencian Community, Castilla-La Mancha and the Balearic Islands. The storm has left hundreds dead and many more missing, with immense damage in the affected areas.
50 years ago, a DANA occurred every three or four years, typically in November. Today, they can happen all year round."
The damage has been really severe; the areas received a year's worth of rain in 8 hours. The local government's response is wholly inadequate. Overnight, dedicated volunteers from across the country arrived in Valencia and the surrounding areas to assist with cleanup efforts and search for missing individuals. Their commitment is commendable and essential in the face of this crisis and maybe even the climate crisis.
This is just one of many disasters happening around the world in recent years, and it is easy to feel hopeless and develop a form of climate anxiety. Designers are generally optimistic human beings, and in these times, we have to give space for our emotions but also stay positive to be able to act.
How can we create a positive space in the design community to support one another, find hope, and engage with communities that extend beyond the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?
🐅 LCD in the Wild - Creatives for Climate
There are incredible opportunities available for us to create a climate-positive future. Today, we showcase:
"Creatives for Climate is the largest and most diverse network of change-agents using creativity to drive climate action.
By transforming mindsets, skills-sets, services and creating opportunities to align work with a climate positive future, we support mission-driven frontrunners - across independents, employees and agencies - to thrive."
🪄 Inspiration- Bounce Back Naturally
This weekend, our dear community member Dustin shared this interesting article. It makes you think: What if, instead of replating rainforests, we let them recover and grow without any human intervention?
"A rainforest can spring up in one to three years — it can be brushy and hard to walk through," said Matthew Fagan, a conservation scientist and geographer at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and a coauthor of the paper. "In five years, you can have a completely closed canopy that's 20 feet high. I have walked in rainforests 80 feet high that are 10 to 15 years old. It just blows your mind."
🔥 Hot in the School - Course and Design Meets
Exciting news! Our waiting list is officially open!
Join us for our sixth cohort launching this spring!
By signing up, you'll be the first to receive important updates. Plus, we'll keep you in the loop with biweekly LCD information and invite you to two exclusive webinars just for waiting list members. Don't miss out on the chance to connect with others in our vibrant WhatsApp community!
With life-centered design, immersion, observation & conversation are crucial to establishing relationships with our natural environment and communities. We wish you more time for your design work with the Guide (pdf), which includes the following:
14 exercises to help you be more intentional with your design work
This week, our volunteer Taylor Kaus is participating in an engaging online event on sustainable design with our friend Ian Chambers.
"Join us at DesignMeets to explore this subject and listen to some experts in the field of design who are applying this approach in their practice. This virtual event will help us understand why sustainable design is crucial to the future of design practice and how to creatively integrate this thinking into your design processes. "
When: November 13th
Where: Zoom
Time: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EST
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That is all for this week!
See you next Monday!
Marce
