What Earth in 2125 could look like | Iseult Gillespie - podcast episode cover

What Earth in 2125 could look like | Iseult Gillespie

Jan 16, 20267 min
--:--
--:--
Download Metacast podcast app
Listen to this episode in Metacast mobile app
Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more

Summary

This episode introduces Solarpunk, an art and social movement offering a hopeful vision of Earth in 2125. It contrasts bleak and hyper-technological futures with one where nature, technology, art, and social justice coexist in sustainable cities. The lesson showcases imaginative transformations in Los Angeles, Lagos, and São Paulo, demonstrating how current tools can solve problems. It concludes by highlighting global communities already embracing these principles for a more equitable future.

Episode description

Faced with the realities of current crises, it’s easy to assume our world is headed in a bleak direction. But there’s good reason to be hopeful— with developments in science and technology, a positive future is more viable than ever before. So, what if the future was awesome? Iseult Gillespie explores what three cities could look like in 100 years if we harness the tools we have at our disposal. [Directed by Devin Clark, Augenblick Studios, narrated by Alexandra Panzer, music by Tom Kaericher].


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Intro / Opening

Ibland är rent. Något du ser. Det är något du känner. När fönsterna är kristaller. Med kanske fönsetvättar, dammsugare och Får du ett resultat som håller? Se hela utbudet på casha.se. याल्स करें Jag älskar krispet. Felix Point. Eller någon annan. Hej, det här är Nadja. Och det här är Elsa från Deskav. Nu när vi har samarbet med Salando måste vi tipsa om Salando-appen. Hur man kan.

Skrolla i feen för att hitta inspiration, nya varumärker. Man kan göra mod. Du älskar ju mod. Har du någonsin satt ihop en outfit, en stil utan en modboard. Det som är så bra med Salando är att allt finns samlat på ett och samma ställe. Dessutom har de snabb leverans på saker som skickas från Salando en till två dagar. Nu det är helt otroligt. Så om du också vill ha svar på what do I wear, gå in på salando.se och bli inspirerad nu.

Imagining a Solarpunk Future

If you spent any time online lately, you've probably seen visions of two kinds of features. Food shortages and chaos. Or the hyper technological kind where gleaming towers and self-driving But today's TED Ed lesson offers a third vision. Precise. It's called SolarPunk and it's a little bit of a little bit of a little They collaborate.

I'm Sherelle Dorsey and this is TED Tech, a podcast from TED. Today's lesson isn't just about energy, it's about imagination. Solarpunk envisions a world where nature, technology, art, and social justice coexist to create equitable systems that serve us all. It challenges the idea of the Hope is naive and instead suggests that optimism, when grounded in science and community, might be the most powerful technology. And now, your Ted Ed lesson of the day.

Faced with the realities of current crises, it's easy to assume our world is headed in a bleak direction. But there's good reason to be hopeful. With developments in science and technology, a positive future is more viable than ever before. So what if the future was awesome? Let's explore what the future of three cities could look like if we harness the tools we already have at our disposal to solve today's problem.

These visions are inspired by SolarPunk, an art and social movement that imagines sustainable worlds in which humans, nature, and technology exist in harmony.

Sustainable Visions for Global Cities

It's twenty one twenty five. In the past, Los Angeles was running out of water, and its citizens were dependent on five million cars. Today, people glide down Highway 101 on electric bikes, buses, and trains. There's no fee for these services. Instead, folks contribute their technical or gardening skills or provide entertainment for others as they go. Year-round, sunlight makes LA well suited to solar infrastructure, but water is still limited.

City dwellers manage this by maintaining water efficient farms in high rises and within the seventeen million square meters of land that once housed parking spaces. Here, students and scientists missed local fruit, vegetables, and grains with nutrients. They also create portable farms, stacking layers of plant and fertilizer into temperature-controlled shipping containers that can be transported out to city residents and beyond.

In Lagos, Nigeria, the city's coast is completely transformed. In the past, sand mining and urban expansion eroded roughly eighty-four percent of the shoreline, which put the city at risk of catastrophic flooding. But the city responded by restoring the wetlands, which now act as natural sponges. An intricate array of pipes, equipped with turbines, capture the energy of flowing water and convert it into electricity.

This powers buildings and services all over Lagos, like the city's famous Balogun Market, where people come together to trade, socialize, and entertain. Along the coast, people steward thousands of native mangrove plants. which act as carbon sinks, clean up the pollutants of the past, and support biodiversity. This area celebrates the mangrove in many forms. Local designers use its tannins to dye fabrics, while scientists research its pharmaceutical potential and its uses as a natural pesticide.

Further out to sea, people embrace sustainable fishing practices and repurpose fish processing waste to power ships, floating farms, and public housing. Meanwhile, São Paulo Brazil has fully reimagined housing. In its industrial past, the city battled heavy pollution, and up to a third of the population lived in unsanitary conditions.

But today, homes, schools, local government buildings, and entertainment spaces are made from repurposed materials from the former auto industry. These buildings generate their own solar power and capture rainwater to reuse. At the center sits a new solar football stadium, which generates energy and doubles as an incubator for growing native plants.

In areas where the land remains toxic, citizen scientists are stewarding thousands of mushrooms. These mushrooms break down the bonds in the decades-old chemicals which remain in soil long after the burning of oil, gas, and household garbage. They then produce new spores, attracting insects and birds to the area once again.

Real-World Steps Towards Optimism

These versions of LA, Lagos, and Sao Paulo embody the principle of life enmeshed with the promises and limitations of its surroundings. And while this future may seem far from reach, it is achievable. And it might not even take us a hundred years to get there. All over the world, communities are embracing these and similar ideas to build more sustainable systems.

In Vancouver, indigenous First Nations are building affordable net zero housing projects incorporating green spaces and bike infrastructure. In Singapore, urban farms flourish on skyscrapers and in the shells of former prisons. In Prague, urban beekeeping takes flight in hotels and theaters. Optimism can be a powerful mobilizing force. From natural technologies to renewable energy, we have so many transformative tools at our disposal. All we need is the will to implement them.

That was your TED Ed Lesson of the Day by East Saul. Yeah. Nino. And the show is fact checked. Special thanks to the first. Galardo, Daniela, Maria Ladias, tense. Yvonne and Roxanne Hilash. If you're enjoying the show, make sure to subscribe and leave us a review so other people can find us too. I'm Sherelle Dorsey. Let's keep digging into the future. Join me next week for more. Sa du, här hör vi hjärtslagen. Vi finns här när du vill räkna på bolån. För allt tid. Stort urval trön.

Premium Bobels kvalitet. av tröjor till 40% rabatt. Ta på dig att förebygga en brand på en skola, att utbilda en arbetsplats. Ta på dig att vara där när det händer, rädda liv i den trafikorycka eller att trösta någon i en svår situation. Ta på dig uppgiften och utbilda dig till. Läs om utbildningen på mcf.se. Myndigheten för civilt försvar.

This transcript was generated by Metacast using AI and may contain inaccuracies. Learn more about transcripts.
For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android