This week our guest lecturer John Thackara, invited as part of the Fall Lecture Series 2016, inspired the audience with his lecture: The City and its Bioregion: A New Story of Place.

Drawing on a lifetime of travel in search of real-world alternatives that work, in his talk John described how in edge projects the world over a replacement, leave-things-better economy from the ground up.

He talked of the inspiring ways people are restoring the land, sharing water, making homes, growing food, designing clothes, journeying, and caring for each other.

John introduced the audience to soil restorers and river keepers; seed savers and de-pavers; cloud commuters and e-bike couriers; care farmers; food system curators; fibershed stewards; money designers and more – from Bali to Brazil.

In this new economy, care – for the wellbeing of social and ecological systems – replaces money as the ultimate measure of value. Growth takes on new meaning as the improved health of soils, plants, animals – and future generations.