This paper in the General Futures section was first produced for the Brisbane Ideas Festival in 2006. It considers what I call the ‘civilisational challenge’ - the array of world concerns facing humanity. It then looks at three avenues of response: understanding, taking responsibility and taking action. Two appendices summarise 20 ‘world problems’ and possible solutions. A brief list of further reading is included.
This paper, written over a three year period, probes the 20th Century myth that America is THE land of the future. Much of the content is derived from what Americans themselves have written about the prospects for this influential nation. It attempts to avoid the shrill ‘anti-Americanism’ that is so common these days by taking a hard look at the model of development that it has promoted and that has been taken up around the world. It concludes that the myth cannot be sustained but that there are many paths out of the civilisational ‘dead end’ that current trends appear to foreshadow.
The paper was published in Foresight Vol 10, No 4, 2008, along with five other short essays in response.
Four of the series of ten monographs from the Australian Foresight Institute’s (AFI) research program carried out during 2001 to 2005 have been placed in the Foresight Monographs section. The first provides an overview of the whole program and its main conclusions. The second looks at the transformative cycle (or T-cycle for short), a tool or method for considering ‘breakdowns and renewals of meaning’. The third considers the development and uses of critical futures studies and one of its associated methods (CLA) in part through the bios of those involved. The final item is a succinct and very useful overview of futures in (not ‘of’) education. It is required reading for anyone considering introducing a futures perspective, futures tools and methods, into educational settings at any level.
Together these four publications provide access to several aspects of innovation and renewal in futures thinking and applied foresight. To locate the other monographs please go to: http://www.swinburne.edu.au/business/research_reports.html
if you’re interested in how to implement strategic foresight there’s no better source than this book edited by Andy Hines and Peter Bishop and published by Social Technologies in 2006. It draws on the work and experience of foresight practitioners around the world and distills this knowledge into six practical steps: framing, scanning, forecasting, visioning, planning and acting. The preface can be found here, along with a link to more info about the book.
Having been to two other similarly-titled ‘Future Summits’ I was interested in how Kevin Rudd’s much-heralded event held in Canberra in April 2008 would operate and what responses it would evoke. In this piece I take a critical look at what was missing in this and similar cases.
I’ve placed a small sample of my bird pictures in the Best Birds Gallery at right. I will slowly add to this section over time.
I’ve just uploaded three new papers that can be found in the general futures section at right.
I’ve watched this mural unfolding along the eastern wall of Dimmy’s store in Richmond for several years. It’s the work of artist Hayden Dewar who returns to the site each summer to add the next section. The mural begins at the left hand end with the early history of Dimmy’s in the mid-19th century. It then manages to incorporate a wide range of Australian icons, both human and otherwise.
The mural seems to have achieved respect from other street artists and has largely escaped being ‘bombed’ (defaced) by taggers. An article in the Melbourne Age by Martin Flanagan (Monday June 7th, 2004) provides some background on Dewar. But there is really no substitute for visiting the site and taking your own look at a unique and often witty reflection of Australian history and culture. I would not be surprised to see it designated one day as a national treasure.
The pictures above show sections of the mural and Dewar working in mid 2006. Some of my favourite sections are also shown below. (To be continued)
This section will provide an overview of my interests in, and explorations of, imaging. I’ll be adding to it periodically with a view to proving a sample of work, including some of my favourite images.
My earliest camera was a simple plastic one. I took the black and white films to be processed by a friend’s father. Later, at Chester College (1965-68) I joined the photographic society and learned to process the films myself. I took photos at college events, sold the pictures and used the income to buy my first single lens reflex (SLR). Later, in Bermuda I graduated to a pair of Pentax Spotmatic cameras and eventually a motor driven Hassleblad. With these I was able to accumulate a number of images of Bermuda wildlife, especially birds. This growing collection resulted in my first book, Birds in Bermuda (1975).
Back in the UK full time study and a young family prevented me from doing much more than taking the usual family pictures. The exception was provided by various antiquities accessible around Northern England and the Lake District – mainly carved crosses, early church decoration, stone circles and the like.
Like everyone else I took travel pictures wherever I went but, frankly, I’ve always found tourist images banal. Then, for my 60th birthday, my eldest son, Rohan, presented me with one of my biggest surprises ever – a Nikon D50. Suddenly a door opened into a new world of digital imaging. Along with the requisite software and a Macintosh computer I was not only able to return to my earlier preoccupation with wildlife, I was also able to digitise rare prints, negatives and slides and distribute copies to other family members. Furthermore, and like many others, I began to explore some of the features of Photoshop Elements and, among other things, to craft composite images from many different sources.
During 2008 and beyond I’ll be steadily adding new images here so if you’re interested in subjects that include wildlife, antiquities, street art and surrealism, you may want to bookmark the site and check back from time to time.
Welcome to my Word Press powered Weblog. The site is currently under construction! In the near future I’ll be adding regular blog entries, photographs and a selection of some of my shorter papers, both published and unpublished.
Richard.
