Design 21: Social Design Network

One blessing in disguise with the fuel price crisis is that it’s spurring more people to actually consider, for once in their lives, the quainter modes of travel: public transport, biking and last but not least, walking. In New Zealand there’s a Walking Conference on today that aims to bring the kind of change in attitudes, policy, funding, design and infrastructure that will facilitate walking (and biking). Yes, even a small country like NZ has become too reliant on the car. Though sheep outnumber people 20 to 1 (most don't drive however), the urban sprawl of Auckland, NZ's largest city for example, rivals that of Los Angeles – making it nigh on impossible to navigate without a car. Run by Living Streets Aoteoroa, the theme of this year’s conference is Double the Feet on the Street and by bringing together delegates from around the country, it hopes to help create walking-friendly communities. Leaders and advocates from local and central government, academia, engineering, planning, community groups and more will be in attendance. Guest speaker is American Dan Burden who founded the organization Walkable Communities. Walking advocates tout advantages beyond immediate gas crisis consumer savings, citing benefits for economic and community development and of course health perks for kids and grown-ups alike. Naturally, the conference website's How to Get There section includes such options as the Short Walk, the Scenic Walk, the Challenging Walk (the challenge being to n...

Our friends Down Under set the example last year, and now tomorrow it's up to the rest of us the world over. Earth Hour urges people all over the world to turn off their power for an hour.

Created by WWF in Sydney, Australia in 2007, Earth Hour has grown from a single event into a global movement. In 2008, millions of people, businesses, governments and civic organizations in nearly 200 cities around the globe will turn out for Earth Hour.

"This is the perfect opportunity for individuals, governments, businesses and communities around the world to unite for a common purpose, in response to a global issue that affect us all."

• Carter S. Roberts, President and CEO WWF

Dinner by candlelight, perhaps?

I don't know if the US is at a disadvantage - but yes, attitudes and infrastructure will be difficult and costly to change now. Agree that developing nations should be wary of becoming gas-guzzling societies that privilege convenience and commodity over community and environment. So how do you balance that concern with the need for moving more people and goods around at a more efficient rate to improve business and daily activity?

This is an interesting point. Because while coming up with ways to facilitate low-energy forms of transport in an overly-reliant car culture like here in the US is necessary, so is providing safer, more efficient and affordable transport for families in India. (Kind of reminded of how some in the US love to talk about China's rapid development and its impact on the environment, when the US has a fraction of the population and only up till very recently was the biggest producer.) Still, every country has a responsibility to the environment and something that's going to be more accessible and high production run should guarantee low emissions (as in real, not labeled). Perhaps some of the solutions for DESIGN 21's bicycle competition will address these needs.

Hi, I work at DESIGN 21. The logo design criteria stated in the competition brief were created by MCA-I.