Issue 243 • July/August 2007

Welcome

Welcome • Satish Kumar

It is 'cool' to be an optimist.

Frontline

Low-Carbon Lifestyles • Jonathan Dawson & Jenny Pickerill

Reduce your carbon footprint by living in an ecovillage.

A Frugal Philosophy • Robert Colville

The philosophy of freegans who buy nothing and simply utilise the waste from our excessive consumerism.

Pass It On • Helen Banks

How Freecycle can help us to save the world from landfill by giving away things we don't need.

Buy a Bale • Paul Kingsnorth

Bristol's Knowle West Media Centre is building a £3 million straw-bale community headquarters.

Hope under Fire • Paul Kingsnorth

Rasha Zidan founded the Knowledge for Iraqi Women Society to raise awareness of the suffering of women under occupation.

Worlds Converging • Nick Hart-Williams

The Converging World is forging partnerships to create social justice whilst developing renewable energy projects.

Keynotes

Evolution of Wisdom • Deepak Chopra

God is a field of consciousness that pervades the universe.

Freedom from Fear • James Sainsbury

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

The Human Impact • Sir Crispin Tickell

Humans are more than mere producers or consumers.

Rainforest Renaissance • Gunter Pauli

Re-establishing the rainforests of the Amazon: how Gaviotas moved from a pilot to a mega-project.

Undercurrents

Field Schools • Jules Pretty

Local wisdom networks of farmers provide an improved understanding of ecology.

Kanyini • Bob Randall

A member of the Yankunytjatjarea people describes the four dimensions of aboriginal life.

Life is Art • Haku Shah

Celebrating the culture and lives of the Adivasis, the original people of India.

The Coal Pushers • Philip Carter

The plight of Adivasis in Jharkhand State, India who have been driven out of their homes by coal mining.

The Arts

The Longitudinal Installation • Xavier Cortada

A stark and moving installation in Antarctica, representing those affected by climate change.

Divine Beauty • Anne Price-Owen

The art of Welsh painter and poet David Jones.

Paradise Discovered • Philip Vann

The rich, visionary, figurative drawings and woodcuts of Paul Bloomer.

Art in Action • Ross Ashcroft

Thirty years on, the annual Art in Action festival at Reperry Manor, Oxfordshire, England, continues to nourish the soul.

Breathing In and Out • Andy Goldsworthy

Andy Goldsworthy's 2007-08 residency at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park includes seminal works such as Clay Rooms and Rainshadows.

The Threshold • Adam Thorpe

Seeing the good in the gloom. A short story.

The Crochet Reef • Lorna Howarth

Margaret and Christine Wetheim use the art of crochet to manifest hyperbolic space.

Regulars

Voice From The South - DEMOCRATIC & DIVERSE • Vandana Shiva

Manifesto on the Future of Food: good food is a citizens' right.

Slow Travel - TRAVEL TO BE TRANSFORMED • Rory Maclean

A nostalgic return to the overland trail to India, where the journey was valued as much as the destination.

Gardening - ON PRUNING • Brigitte Norland

A careful look at the art of pruning.

Deep Spirit - THE BURNE-JONES EFFECT • Thomas Moore

The Burne-Jones Effect: how a small piece of art can trump a mammoth machine.

Visionaries - LAURENS VAN DER POST • William Atkinson

Laurens van der Post was a master storyteller who championed the survival of the Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert.

Poetry - MEREDITH ANDREA • Helen Moore

Meredith Andrea's poems speak with a heartfelt directness of our interdependence with all beings.

Letters to the Editors

Reviews

Planting Ideas • Robert Butler

Unbowed by Wangari Maathai. The persistence and seriousness of one woman's vision.

A PHILOSOPHICAL GIANT • Michael Tobias

Of Myself: Atmaparichay by Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore's quiet genius.

A QUEST FOR TRUTH • Chris Clarke

The Science of Oneness by Malcolm Hollick. Science must extend beyond one particular way of knowing.

SURVIVAL STRATEGIES • Chellis Glendinning

After Eden by Kirkpatrick Sale. A controversial take on the origins of modern human behaviour.

A JOURNEY WORTH MAKING • Clive Gilson

The Poem and the Journey: And Sixty Poems to Read Along the Way by Ruth Padel. Discovering the delights of poetry.

THE PERFUMES OF POETRY • Paul Matthews

Falling out of the Skin into the Soul: A Divan for Scheherazade by Noel Cobb. Celebrating the importance of 'soul', which so much in our culture seems intent on denying.

The Power of Metaphors • John Moat

At Five in the Afternoon directed by Samira Makhmalbaf and Stray Dogs directed by Marziyeh Meshkini. Two Iranian films portraying the impact of war on women.

TRAUMA BY PROXY • Roger Franklin

Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace by Maxine Hong Kingston. A lie does not become the truth when it is wrapped in a national flag.

Building a Future • Richard St. George

A View to the Future: JT Group - A Radical Approach to Building and Development by Roland Adburgham. An extraordinary building company.

REPLACING LIGHT BULBS • John Elkington

Make Poverty Business: Increase Profits and Reduce Risks by Engaging with the Poor by Craig Wilson and Peter Wilson. How businesses can play their part in making better decisions in the fight against poverty.

BOOKS IN BRIEF • Juliette Collins

The End of the Wild by Stephen M. Meyer, Not Buying It by Judith Levine, Market Schmarket by Molly Scott Cato, Land Art by Ben Tufnell, Extreme Weather by Peter Bunyard.

Web Exclusives

Article - ALL ROADS LEAD TO ERMO! • Tony Gee

Workshop is 21st century education.

Review - LOVE'S GOLD • Cherry Gilchrist

The Crucible of Love by Jay Ramsay

Review - MAKING POVERTY'S HISTORY • Ed Hamer

How Rich Countries Got Rich… and Why Poor Countries Stay Poor by Erik S. Reinert

Review - PURSUIT OF PEACE • Swati Chopra

Battle for Peace by Krishna Kumar

Review - WHOLE PLANET • Horatio Morpurgo

Earthy Realism by Mary Midgley