Home
Artists
Search Recent Random
Posts
Search DMs Popular Hash Lookup Tags Random
Importer
Import FAQ
Register
Partychan Matrix ThePornDude
Home Artists Posts Import Register
The Offical Matrix Groupchat is online! >>CLICK HERE<<

AMA about our Solarpunk Future (Patreon)

Published:
2022-11-20 19:23:47
Imported:
2023-06

Content

Hi everyone! This month's all-Patron bonus is an AMA with me :) This time around I would like to daydream about the future. So ask me about any category of our modern lives (communication, education, transport, energy...) and I will share my thoughts on what a solarpunk future version of that could look like! 

[Update]: Forgot to add... as usual please put one comment per request, I'll get to as many as I can. "Like" the ones you'd like to see the most! <3 thanks so much for all the requests so far, it's already got the ol' noggin' turning :)

Files

Comments

Matt Zweig

Is there a viable form of international travel without planes running on petro-chemical energy?

Matt Zweig
>>96017992

How would Solarpunk meals be different than today’s meals? Is there something that we couldn’t (or wouldn’t) cook today?

Matt Zweig
>>96017992

Most Solarpunk art I’ve seen is either dense urbanism or rural farmland; is there a Solarpunk suburb between the city edge and the farmland?

Thor Wilbanks

Similar to international travel, will international commerce be as prevalent? Do we expect battery container ships or ones running on bio-fuel?

Thor Wilbanks

How do we deal with so much of technology depending on toxic and unsustainable processes? Can we transition to less toxic microelectronics, or will we use them much more sparingly?

Anonymous

Education! What would solarpunk education look like for you?

NJGR
>>96061118

Education was also my thought! Would education become more localized again, helping us live more sustainably in a local community/region?

Anonymous

I would be interested in your thoughts on medicine in a solarpunk future.

jam

All really interesting questions 😊🌱

jam
>>96017992

Will there be International Travel in a solarpunk future... yes! Humans have always wanted to travel and be together, and even if we need to find ways to do without our now-common means of travel (flying), it absolutely will have a place in the world. How? 1) The need for travel will be REDUCED (by improving resources and experiences closer to home, and improving methods of distant connection), 2) The need for FAST travel will be reduced (by changing the way we view time away from work and barriers to temporary residence), and 3) by investing in low or no-carbon means of travel, whether that means zeppelins, advanced sailing, expanded rail, or tech that can properly decarbonize airplanes. "Slow travel" will be the norm, and it'll be wayyyyy slower than what "slow travel" is considered to be nowadays.

jam
>>96017992

Meals There will always be a place for a home-cooked meal with special, personal ingredients in a solarpunk future. Food is essential to being human! In my vision of a solarpunk future, the cultural expectation around each person providing for their own food will change. Food will be processed collectively and provided to all. This food will emphasize sustainable, local, in-season and preserved ingredients. Consumption of animal products will be greatly reduced (but in some places they will make sense). For example - many fewer eggs in winter, milk only during cow breeding season without separating the calf, butchering selectively and rarely. "Exotic" ingredients will also be available, but rare. Much more likely to use a freeze-dried strawberry than a fresh one in winter. Oranges will return to their role in Northern places as a holiday treasure :)

jam
>>96017992

Suburbs In a solarpunk future there is definitely space for a lifestyle between rural and urban. It won't look like the existing single-family-detached housing common in North America, but it will strive to provide what people seek from suburban lifestyles: calm and quiet, private, "safe" for children, affordable, closer to nature, and with space for hobbies. To achieve this, I imagine small, dense neighborhoods established as mostly-self-sufficient* "cells" surrounded by a buffer of nature and connected by rail. It's important to understand that densification does not necessarily mean urbanization! *by self-sufficient I mean there's a small general store, a barber, a dentist, a clinic and other being-alive related essentials within each block, not 100% self-sufficiency. Much more resilient though!

jam
>>96027603

International Commerce Similarly to travel, in my vision of a solarpunk future there is still a role for international commerce, but it will look quite different. Pillar #1 is still reduction - communities will be oriented primarily around what can be provided locally. The need for specialty items will be reduced through a shift in culture (anticonsumption, repair, upcycling) and by transforming into a "library economy". Ultra-local manufacturing will allow DESIGNS to be sold internationally, but produced locally. Also, I imagine weekly markets where anyone from away can set up, allowing for slow-travelling artisans and specialists instead of bespoke direct shipments. For rare specialty materials, the emphasis will be to locate these industries only where such a material can be responsibly harvested and managed by the locals. (So, no exporting raw materials to be refined elsewhere and sold back.)

jam
>>96027677

Toxic Processes Yes, there is a solarpunk future free of toxic processes. Pillar #1 is always reduction, and when it comes to goods, reduction has a many-fold impact. You reduce the need for the item itself, all the energy and materials required to fabricate it AND the packaging and transport. AND, for each item you can reduce, this impact magnifies back up the supply chain (it's true for each part that makes the finished piece). Aside from anticonsumption, this reduction can be achieved by eliminating the NEED. In a solarpunk future the need for lithium batteries for cars, for example, will be significantly reduced by eliminating the need for personal vehicles (local orientation of lifestyle, efficient and affordable no-carbon public transport, sharing of what few vehicles are needed.) Further reduction can be achieved through STANDARDIZATION of anything with a toxic footprint (only 3 models of battery available, for example), which will also facilitiate repair and recycling. Any remaining toxic process that are determined to produce a needed function will be gradually replaced. Recent staggering advances in biology and chemistry will only be amplified as global access to education and collaboration continues to improve. New materials and processes will evolve that follow the principles of biomimicry and regeneration rather than the old model of extraction and refinement.

jam
>>96061118

Education! Eduction in a solarpunk future will be very different for young people. I was struck with the way childhood education among the Dene was described in the book "Paying the Land". I think in a solarpunk future we will have reflected on what matters in education and learning methods from many different cultures. For example, among the Dene, a child's early life was simply going along with the daily life of the village, doing whatever age-appropriate task was possible. The smallest children were often most closely taught by elders. The elders would notice individual traits of the child and gently nudge them to try different pursuits. A child's day would be focused on the collective effort of all to provide a good life. The child would learn how to take care of themselves and others, how to cook, clean, mend, negotiate, collaborate, understand the common values, maintain health and safety and bring joy to others through creativity. As it is for everyone else in the community, when the needs and responsibilities are met, there is much space to rest and play. As they grow, children are encouraged to pursue projects that interest them. A local mentor is identified (sometimes even within a business) who can support their learning by getting help on age-appropriate tasks towards their own pursuits. Educator specialists will still have a role, but they are more oriented towards "teaching the teachers" (helping everyone in the community to improve their teaching skills), or stepping in when a challenging issue arises. Educator specialists will monitor all the children in their local region and make sure each is supported. Changing interest and projects will be seen as completely normal and expected. The role of libraries will expand, and specialist educators will also exist there to help people of any age with their project, teaching them math or science or other topics as required. In adolesence, education will start to become oriented around specific skills (rather than degrees). If a youth wants to contribute to a specific project or trade, a system of apprenticeship may be available. For more direct/basic skills, anyone who can already do that skill can be authorized to teach (and compensated for this work.) There won't be so much pressure to relocate to "get a degree" and "get a career" because people will be much more supported locally, but if a person is interested, they can travel to learn with a specialist mentor or industry. Privilege and resource will be tied to responsibility. If a person needs a specific resource for their desired project, they may need to take on certain responsibilities to provide for it. In this way a person can become more specialized if they develop a particular interest. The system of "research for the sake of expanding knowledge" will still exist, but again resources and privileges are granted on the basis of solving the most pressing problems.

jam
>>96097041

Medecine In my vision of a solarpunk future, there is still space for a hospital where someone can go when they get very sick, advanced research into medicines, and technology having a role in treatment. However, compared to our current system, way way WAY more effort will be expended towards maintaining everyone's health in a holistic way. PREVENTION will be emphasized more than treatment. This effort will be broadly distributed, ensuring that as many people as possible have the most basic-level skills in understanding how to care for themselves and treat others in their neighborhood. A high number of people will be trained in basic nursing, first aid, and mental health care. From this group people will continue to specialize, but the emphasis will be on training MORE people with more basic skills than fully-fledged specialists. The roots of illness and injury will be aggressively removed. Toxic processes and pollution is a direct cause of many diseases. Car-centric neighborhood design another cause of many injuries and accidents. Trauma, loneliness and lack of rest will also be treated with the urgency that we now apply towards something like cancer. Collectively providing everyone with nutritious prepared food (and other basics like housing and clothing) is another major means of improving general health. Healthy activities (group sports, gym equipment and instruction, dance groups) will be communally provided for. Restoring nature and creating buffers between our communities, reducing such vigorous travel, will reduce many outbreaks and pathogens. In tandem with this, all natural processes will be much more greatly understood as we are forced to deeply understand the natural systems around us. This will give rise to new discoveries for how to treat the diseases that will still arise. (oh also it should go without saying that in my vision of a solarpunk future, the health care system is completely free and accessible to all. :) )