1-2-3 of Integral City as Three Faces of God

Marilyn, I really enjoyed your interview. I watched the movie about Cuba a while ago and as I have posted elsewhere become really interested and increasingly involved in the transition town movement.  I was with Rob Hopkins(author of the Transition Towns Handbook) at the Schumacher College for a workshop in March...and Don Beck was there talking one evening earlier the week earlier.  I was delighted that the Transition Towns Working Committee had also incorporated Spiral Dynamics into their working plan.  

I also see the Integral City as the three faces of God, as this translates into the creed "take care of yourself, take care of each other, take care of this place."  I am relieved to begin to hear this level of discussion on the integral level.  At last year's Integral Theory Conference, I could not really understand anything at the one talk that I attended on 'integral ecology', and did not see anything in the talk that was practical or relevant to my community.    Given that I have worked for years in this movement and read a lot of books, it made me wonder what exactly was going on.  I have often been concerned that  'boomeritis'-itis and  "the mean green meme"-itis , in effect, has weaken the entire, and essential green meme in the integral movement as a whole...and in doing so, in effect, has thrown many wonderful environmentalists/ecologists/ecodesigners out into some limbo land at  a time when they are most needed.   Another absolutely amazing mind in this field is Gunter Paul with the Zero Emissions Research Initiative. (www.zeri.org)  He was the first week's teacher in this course at Schumacher called Systems Thinking in Practice.  He is spellbinding to listen to..... to watch the amazing design solutions that have been developed and yet are hung up on the morass of our old and slow thinking patterns..... So many examples:  The reclamation of deserts in China by Mulberry trees, that house the silk worm, producing silk; the design of cradle to cradle sewage systems involving microrrhizal fungi, and mushrooms, and fish and algae; the design of building with termite-like heating and cooling systems; the collection of water in the desert using the biomimicry of the desert beetles bumps on their backs for dew collecting; the creations of micro climate cooling mimicking the zebra stripes........  the Bioneers..... all of these people are just brilliant!.... and I often wonder where they are in the integral movement, or why integral thinkers have not sought these amazing people out.   Similarly, I am surprised that Jim Garrison had not heard of the Cuban situation.   If  ever there was a time to get practical, and to look to the places where community solutions are emerging on the ground, NOW IS IT!  To me this is the most interesting stuff in the world right now.  And it is so fascinating to try to look at why we have a resistances (especially with the SD lens) to embracing all these amazing designs solutions.   I have to wonder about the resistance on the Integral level too.... and I wonder if a symptom of the 'green' meme allergy.  If it is, it is time for integral to get over itself.   

I loved listening to Don Beck talk about the problems of 'green' at the Schumacher College, whilst acknowledging that it perhaps is the most remarkable, eclectic ecological college in the world.  He did so with the deepest respect for what Schumacher is doing integrating human activity consciously into the earth's community, along with a genuine concern about how to have sustainable funding and how to get the message of Schumacher out to the world, at this most important and critical time.  (there is a weak orange meme aspect in the land of green, almost always) Of course, there was resistance to what he had to say too.... but what a wonderful wizard he is at holding the ground.   I noticed, then, that you are on his booklet as a SD consultant.... it is great to hear your voice here! Thank you. 

Jane 

 The fabric of my life is the cloth with which it is my task to polish the lens of my own perception.