John Thackara

There is an all-out global assault on the idea that government should help ppl & that ppl should help one another.

That's what ZM represents.

Elites of both parties in the US are engaged in this assault. Their goal: turn "the masses" against each other & prevent them from expecting better of gov.

How to balance proximity and modernity — John Thackara John Thackara Newsletter August 2025 "Balancing proximity and modernity” is the informal theme for our last MeetUp of the year which starts on 28 August (until 4 September). I'm borrowing the words ...

How to balance proximity and modernity? Is 'Rurality 2.0' a viable thing? Our last MeetUp of the year runs from 28 August to 4 September thackara.com/notopic/how-...

How to balance proximity and modernity — John Thackara John Thackara Newsletter August 2025 "Balancing proximity and modernity” is the informal theme for our last MeetUp of the year which starts on 28 August (until 4 September). I'm borrowing the words ...

How to balance proximity and modernity? Is 'Rurality 2.0' a viable thing? Our last MeetUp of the year runs from 28 August to 4 September thackara.com/notopic/how-...

far too long

Happy to have it confirmed by Frédéric Bosqué that we're "reconciling modernity with proximity" here in Les Cévennes - and that we're part of a movement called "Rurality 2.0". 4thgenerationcivilization.substack.com/p/from-the-b...

and here are some of the projects people bring to Meetups to work on ...

Intrigued by the notion of designing for life as a practice, many come to our MeetUps to unlock obstacles on a project, thesis, course, or book. They use the week here to move it forward. France, 28 August to 4 September thackara.com/meetinfrance/

This smart and enticing catalogue just arrived from @hslu_masterdesign in Lucerne. It poses a question ("Homo Ludens In Crisis") and suggests an answer (Eco-Social Design) before you even open it. (Decl: some these guys are friends of mine and my own name appears on page 41 - and so?)

Witte halvemaanzweefvlieg | White-bowed smoothwing
(Scaeva pyrastri), man | male

#amsterdamsebos #vlieg #fly #diptera #insectphotography #ElkeDagEenInsect

The Rise of a New Grain Alliance – Germany’s Free Bakers Sow the Seeds of Change A new idea is brewing in Germany, with the first seeds sown of a new alliance along the food value chain for cereals and legumes. ARC2020’s President Hannes Lorenzen reports on how farmers, bakers, se...

A new alliance is forming in Germany - one that unites actors in an agroecological value chain from seed to bread 🌾🧑‍🌾🥖 www.arc2020.eu/the-rise-of-...

#Agroecology #SustainableFarming

@kellypendergrast.bsky.social

@kellypendergrast.bsky.social

This is such a hard choice! Either: a) read endless papers and attend research conferences on degrowth; or b) download this excellent and free guide to maintenance, repair and care as a practice.
themaintainers.org/study-guide/

The Summit on Microbiome Stewardship is happening this week!!!

Program details and free registration can be found here.  Please note, the webinars and the workshop each require registration to help us manage attendance. Who should attend? Students, and professionals from any discipline, are…

PART 1: Why agroecology matters
PART 2: Agroecology is also urban
PART 3: What agroecology needs from us
PART 4: Potential of AgTech and AI
PART 5: Shanghai Urban Ecologies Lab
resilience.org/stories/2025...

PART 1: Why agroecology matters
PART 2: Agroecology is also urban
PART 3: What agroecology needs from us
PART 4: Potential of AgTech and AI
PART 5: Shanghai Urban Ecologies Lab
resilience.org/stories/2025...

Social security for food? In France the idea is not utopian - regional schemes are being built. In this webinar Mathieu Dalmais and Les Colibris explain how. 30 June (in French) r.news.colibris-lemouvement.org/mk/mr/sh/1t6...

nice one!

congrats on the much-deserved name call, but does "we will make investments such as..." mean new money, as such?

Rather beautifully, Professor Mahmood Mamdani's dedication in "Neither Settler Nor Native" is to his trail-blazing son, @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social.

He quotes the revolutionary Chinese writer Lu Xun's famous concluding lines in "Hometown":

「其實地上本沒有路，走的人多了，也便成了路。」

-魯迅，故鄉
#everynightapoem

The virtual Summit on Microbiome Stewardship is just two weeks away!!!

Program details and free registration can be found here.  Please note, the webinars and the workshop each require registration to help us manage attendance. Who should attend? Students, and professionals from any discipline,…

‘That’s what I want. For a child to hold their breath for a second. To feel something stir.’ This is a moving interview with Zaro Weil, whose new book of poetry for children, "I Hear The Trees", has just been published. booksforkeeps.co.uk/article/the-...

‘That’s what I want. For a child to hold their breath for a second. To feel something stir.’ This is a moving interview with Zaro Weil, whose new book of poetry for children, "I Hear The Trees", has just been published. booksforkeeps.co.uk/article/the-...

The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review - Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review (2006) assessed a wide range of evidence on the impacts of climate change and on the economic costs.

The 800-page 'Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change' was published by-and-for the insurance industry 18 years ago. It was referred to by risk managers, but ignored by everyone else. And here we are. www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminst...

What should individuals do in a world filled with conflict? Physics limits underlie today's conflict. Governments are being forced to cut back. Individual efforts cannot change this outcome. Stay away from conflict!

A fascinating read - but is thinking, at this moment, beside the point? I recommend reading Gail Tverberg, an actuary, alongside Professor Martin. As she reminds us," the system causing the problem is physics-based". ourfiniteworld.com/2025/06/18/w...

44,000 Toronto Bikeshare trips in one day.

The system costs about $14-million net to run; a major expansion will be $20-million.

The proposed Highway 413 extension could cost 500 times that much to move 7x the number of people

Wild - in a good way - that these extraordinary posters on indigenous futurisms by Dr Ambelin Kwaymullina were commissioned by (and shown at) a School of Cybernetics @ourANU. They're a must-read. cybernetics.anu.edu.au/projects/Ind...

thanks, in turn for for introducing me, via this link, to the concept of Doikayt, or “hereness". It sounds so much richer than the word "local" that shapes so much sustainability discourse. I'm going to read Molly Crabapple's book to find out if I'm right about that

Trump’s provocations have turned Angelenos into pedestrians

Transsion wheels into Africa’s EV market with same playbook that conquered mobile phones The Chinese company behind 50% of Africa’s smartphone sales now wants to dominate its roads.

This, right here, is where the global future of mobility is happening restofworld.org/2025/transsi...