The first (?) Industrial Ecology blog !
Hi guys,
I made this blog in order to have a space for some informal communication about Industrial Ecology. For a start I invite all 1st and 2nd year students and all teachers of the Interuniverstity MSc IE programme to participate.
The idea is that everybody can post anything (preferably relevant to Industrial Ecology) on this blog. Opinions, news items, pictures anything goes.
First let me ask you to react on the following quote:
"The general public does not understand what the term Industrial Ecology means which makes its worldwide implementation impossible".
Rene
I made this blog in order to have a space for some informal communication about Industrial Ecology. For a start I invite all 1st and 2nd year students and all teachers of the Interuniverstity MSc IE programme to participate.
The idea is that everybody can post anything (preferably relevant to Industrial Ecology) on this blog. Opinions, news items, pictures anything goes.
First let me ask you to react on the following quote:
"The general public does not understand what the term Industrial Ecology means which makes its worldwide implementation impossible".
Rene
posted by rene at 11:06 PM
8 Comments:
JEPP,
I suppose that is a problem indeed. It always takes too long to explain what it is if anybody asks and I myself am sometimes still dubious whether I explain it right.
And if you explain to girls what you studies they are by far less impressed than "environmental management" because it is not obvious that "industrial ecologists" are also friends of the Earth. And people at TU Delft on the other hand respond: "what? industrial design? Cool studies!".
So I would indeed say I am worse of with the term "Industrial Ecology", but I like the studies and what it's all about very much still.
Ok, I wanna comment on my own thing although it is strange. While brushing the teeth I had to think of it again and came to the conclusion that I actually could NOT find a better neme to describe IE than - indeed IE. Therefore I think it would be fun to see what you guys come up with, some other name for "industrial ecology" which might be easier udnderstood and more attractive to the opposite sex. how was that? ...invitation to tender...
Oh, I have forgotten about "comment function".
Till, it's good chance to make them have an interest.
If I say "I study environmental management", they just say "Alright, EM. Now I gotta go, sorry".
But actually they (are forced to) ask "what is IE?"... good start
At this moment it is perhaps too much to ask for understanding the concept of 'Industrial Ecology' by a broader public. If IE is based on a system's approach, I suppose we should start (once more) by explaining how the current system works: these days products seem to fall of the trees like ripe oranges. In our society we consciously or unconsciously try to hide what has to be done before products can be put on the shelves. I can think of some nice 'educational programs' for children and adults to create some insight(I wish I could follow them myself).
But on the other hand it is good to work on technical, economical, legal and managerial solutions as well. I'm just not sure if everybody will be ready for them.
I agree that the fact that IE is a term that needs some explanation quite often turns out to be good thing because it's a good conversation starter.
I also like the idea of Janneke to have some educational programmes. Actually, one of the main goals of this line of work is to get into "Klokhuis" (ask your Dutch fellow students if you haven't got a clue what Klokhuis is). I think that with a lot of enthousiasm and hard work we might be able to make something, for instance at NEMO (http://www.e-nemo.nl/) or Naturalis (http://www.naturalis.nl). Maybe you could even make this into your thesis project !
en, IE , as "science of sustainability" is a bit beyond the conmmon undersdanding for the people out of this field. so it's important to keep in mind the definition of IE.:-).
Focused on Rene's statement: "The general public does not understand what the term Industrial Ecology means which makes its worldwide implementation impossible".
The premisse is right, but the logical conclusion is not. Change it into: "The general public does not understand what the term Goal Gasification means which makes its worldwide implementation impossible". Or insert the term "Monetary Policy" or "Enzymatic Catalysis". You see: the general public doesn't need to know everything. In fact, I am glad that even I, a well-educated person, am not aware of 99% of what happens in the world.
As a matter of fact, I googled some names of MSC programmes across the world, and found bizarre names like "Urban Geography", "Systems and Control", "Banking in Transition Economies", and "Quantum Optics and Quantum Information". Is this any better than "Industrial Ecology"?
OR
Didn't you mean "Industrial Ecology" as a field of study, but as a guiding principle in public life? That's something different, and I'm not sure we should seriously demand the general public to act according to the rules of IE. But that's another thread, I guess.
Let’s talk about economy!
Some years ago, after organising some demonstrations for the South American Indians
I was invited to Brazil and I went to a secret place in the Amazonian forest to receive the ad honorem degree from the University of the Forest.
The teachers were the forest keepers, those of the sky, time and love.
They explained me that the rain forest held the heaven and if it had been cut down, the sky would have fallen upon the earth putting an end to the time of conscience and, in this way, love would disappear forever.
They asked me for a speech to hold during the graduation ceremony.
I decided to talk about development and economy.
I explained that if you seed a grain of maize, a plant will grow that will give 1000 grains so that the year yield of maize is 9999%.
A banknote of 5 $ “planted” in a bank has a yield of 5%.
I said that if there are hundred fish in some water, every year, leaving a hundred, you can fish at least one thousand of them, with a yield of 1000%.
A piece of gold put in a safe stays the same the next year!
I explained that thanks to technology, men have invented instruments with which we can transform the wind, the sun, the waves and currents into light, power and heat that are movable in the distance and with which we can supply power to useful devices.
I explained that with a solar panel we can obtain light during the centuries. A yield of at least 100.000%.
A litre of gasoline when burnt, is burnt for ever and has a yield of 0 approx.
I said that cutting a bough from a tree we can obtain vegetable fibres endlessly, because the branch grows again with a yield of 10.000.000.000%.
But if you cut the tree without seeding another, the yield is below 0, since the benefits obtained by its wood cannot ever pay off the loss of that tree.
Because it is scientifically proved that heaven is held by the trees.
By cutting trees, a series of devastating climate changes are triggered and in fact the sky would fall upon the earth and it will crash everyone and everything, including human beings, so that everything would end and we would all die and there won’t be a today a yesterday or a tomorrow any longer.
“There won’t be any kind of development or economy any more. And running as far as we can will not be enough since, when everything ends, everything ends and there won’t be time not to run away”
When all ends, there won’t be the past, the present or the future.
For love we need a lot of past, present and future and if there is no more time to love, so there can’t be love either.
Then I turned towards the world and said:
“Please, if you are listening to this speech and if you are cutting a tree from the forest, stop it now!
Take a bough, take two, but please, don’t cut the whole tree.
If you cut a bough and you come back next year, you’ll find another.
If you cut the tree, there is nothing else between the earth and the sky, there is nothing to hold the sky upon our head.
If you cut the trees, the sky will fall upon your head and we are going to die: that means that there won’t be a yesterday, a today or a tomorrow and there won’t be love any more. For nobody, not even for you!
If you truly want to cut a tree, put a seed and you’ll see another one grow”
They clapped, they kissed me, they hug me, they shook hands, some started to cry and turned the ad honorem degree into a degree with the highest marks.
100 MILLIONS OF TONS
http://100-milioni-di-tonnellate.blogspot.com/2007/08/100-millions-of-tons.html
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