[BLOG-LIKE POSTING] The Ark
Mar. 31st, 2003 03:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rfmcdonaldRight now, I'm at work, updating the PEI reference files. These are a collection of doucments indexed in the old-fashioned way, by index cards; at some point these will probably be converted to electronic format, but for the time being they're not and I'm actually using a typewriting. (Quite fun, this.)
Right now, I'm working on indexing various articles and proposals for The Ark. Founded by the New Alchemy Institute under John Todd, it was supposed to be (in the words of their proposal to the Canadian federal government) "a family-sized food, energy, and housing complex, including integrated solar, windmill, greenhouse, fish culture, and living components." The Ark came about as a result of a belief in the need for radical self-sufficiency, inspired by the famous Limits to Growth economic model which predicted that continued economic growth would lead to catastrophe by the early 21st century.
The Ark failed: there was bad relations with the community, and more importantly the technology didn't work. After an effort in the late 1980's to revive it, the Ark was torn down and replaced by an upscale inn such as are increasingly common along the PEI coast. John Todd has gone to found his own organization, while the New Alchemy Institute proper has evolved into The Green Centre.
Granted that this was entirely wrong-headed, not taking the market's ability to divide labour at efficient costs and (so far) avoid environmental apocalypse. It would be nice if something of similar intelligence and ambition would come about nowadays.
Right now, I'm working on indexing various articles and proposals for The Ark. Founded by the New Alchemy Institute under John Todd, it was supposed to be (in the words of their proposal to the Canadian federal government) "a family-sized food, energy, and housing complex, including integrated solar, windmill, greenhouse, fish culture, and living components." The Ark came about as a result of a belief in the need for radical self-sufficiency, inspired by the famous Limits to Growth economic model which predicted that continued economic growth would lead to catastrophe by the early 21st century.
The Ark failed: there was bad relations with the community, and more importantly the technology didn't work. After an effort in the late 1980's to revive it, the Ark was torn down and replaced by an upscale inn such as are increasingly common along the PEI coast. John Todd has gone to found his own organization, while the New Alchemy Institute proper has evolved into The Green Centre.
Granted that this was entirely wrong-headed, not taking the market's ability to divide labour at efficient costs and (so far) avoid environmental apocalypse. It would be nice if something of similar intelligence and ambition would come about nowadays.
