Tuesday, May 18, 2010

The Hannover Principle

Source: The Hannover Principles Design for Sustainability

By: William McDonough & Partners, 2000

Reflection:

It is my final week of training at the new job. This morning, we had a module called Commitment to Action, the gist of which is that intentions, ultimately, are worth nothing. It is action that actually “makes the world a better place.” This is something that resonates with me on a deep, fundamental level. I spent the first part of my life wandering through the world, recognizing problems and hoping for solutions. Ugh, that trash in the sidewalk is ugly. Somebody should really pick that up and put it in the garbage can. Hmmm, Cathy has something stuck in her teeth. Somebody should really let her know. Wow, I really like those shoes. I hope somebody says something to her. Thoughts like these are evidence that my heart was in the right place, but thoughts like these didn’t clean the sidewalks, or prevent Cathy from having an embarrassing afternoon, or boost the confidence of the woman with the nice shoes, and isn’t that the purpose of those thoughts? On my right bicep is a tattoo. It is a delta, which is, as the physics geeks out there know, the symbol for change. It is my always and constant reminder to live those immortal words of Ghandi, which I consider to be the most powerful ever uttered, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Pick up the trash, tell Cathy to get some floss, and compliment the woman with the shoes. If somebody should do it, be that somebody. This is not an easy standard, and I fall short more often than not, but if I can live up to those words even a tiny fraction of the time, I have made a greater difference than all the good thoughts I have ever had or ever will have, combined.

The Hannover Principle is a heavy, philosophical, and inspirational document. It envisions a world in which our culture of unsustainable consumption has been transformed into something we can live with for the foreseeable future. It does not ask the question, “Is this possible?” It just says, “This is how it has to be.” (Although I doubt McDonough would argue this is the only way things could be in our quest for sustainability) I don’t disagree. The Way Things Are is not sustainable, and unless that changes, our unsustainable culture and the creatures who propagate it will cease to exist, rendering the former question moot.

My thoughts when reading The Hannover Principles, and I purposefully avoided using the term criticism, for reasons I’ll discuss later, is that it represents good intentions. There are a lot of goals and guidelines about how the expo should be carried out. This is the first I had heard of the Hannover Expo, so I don’t know if these intentions were acted on, or with what success the goals were met, although I am certain, given the time and motivation, I could have found out. Even if the expo adhered strictly to the guidelines, and all the goals were met with great success, so what? It’s an expo. It is, literally, a microcosm, and these issues are of the macro level or greater. The ultimate question is, what do we do with these good intentions?

Forgive me if that’s an obvious question, but it seems important enough to risk being trite. Again, this is not criticism; it is simply recognition that we have identified a good starting point, intentions, and must move on to the next phase, action. Current cities and the way in which they’re planned (or not, as it turns out) are not sustainable. We need to change that, so let’s have an expo that explores ideas of sustainable cities. And then what?

Clearly, the intentions aren’t going to save the world, and one person acting on good intentions isn’t going to save the world, and a whole city of people acting on good intentions are not going to save the world, and it may not even be possible for an entire country, acting on good intentions, to save the world (although it would depend on the country I suppose). So the first action must be the dissemination of information. I think we get this, though the manner in which it’s communicated often leaves much to be desired. Then, because one person, acting alone, cannot save the world, we need to empower others to make changes when appropriate and possible. While the details of this are complex and daunting, on a theoretical level it's simple: education. Make people aware they have the power to change, and give them the tools to do so. Easier said than done...

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