The Vine

Jeremy Rifkin—economist, prolific author, and adviser to EU governments—offers this fascinating and promising view of a possible future.

As he reasons: If empathy is wired into our biology, and technology is fostering a new global awareness and identity, isn’t it possible to rethink the human narrative as a single race writ large in a single biosphere? (Witness, for example, the rapid worldwide outreach to Haitian earthquake victims.)

The cynical response would be to brush this off as Pollyanna, a well intentioned but sappy notion a la Esperanto and “We Are the World.” After all, scientists, philosophers and theologians have been exploring and debating the root of human nature for millennia, and yet we still fight wars.

But that would be missing the point. What Rifkin does so effectively here is help us see who we are—and who we might become. It’s well worth contemplating.

We’re excited to announce the next two offerings in The Vine’s ongoing salon series (with more in the works for Spring ‘11). Attendance at both will be limited to 50 participants. Registration is here.

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SEPTEMBER SALON: SEEING WHAT’S NEXT
Dev Patnaik, Jump Associates
Thursday • September 16, 2010 • San Mateo, CA
Workshop 9:00am – 5:00pm, Reception 5:00–7:00pm
Fee: $395, includes program materials, lunch and reception

This is not a new cycle. This is a new order. And the surest way to see the new opportunities that lie ahead—and move toward them with confidence—is through empathy, creativity and execution.

Jump Associates is one of the world’s leading growth strategy firms, helping companies (Nike, Target and GE among them) navigate uncertainty, create new businesses, and reinvent existing ones. And they especially like big, ambiguous challenges—the kinds of things you don’t know how to face, but can’t afford not to. Now they’re turning their considerable brainpower to the future of housing and community.

Jump founder Dev Patnaik is the author of Wired to Care, named one of BusinessWeek’s Best Innovation and Design Books of 2009. If you saw Dev’s keynote at PCBC, you got just a taste of what we’ll cover in this much deeper—and more hands-on—dive.

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OCTOBER SALON: IS AGRICULTURE THE NEW GOLF?
Hart Howerton Planners & Architects
Thursday • October 28, 2010 • Fairfield, CA
Workshop & Tour 10:00am – 5:00pm
Reception & Farm-to-Table Dinner 5:00–8:00pm
Fee: $395, includes program materials, lunch, reception and dinner ($345 without dinner)

“Only 17 percent of people living in golf course communities play golf more than once a year. Why not grow food?”

Andrés Duany first posed that question, and now the innovative thinkers at Hart Howerton are making it happen in a remarkable project that combines new development, existing agriculture, and new models of public/private collaboration. The answer turns out to be an intriguing glimpse into a possible future of life in America.

Combining new development with existing agriculture brings promise as well as pitfalls. The team behind Solano County’s Middle Green Valley Specific Plan and its successful public/private partnership will highlight lessons learned for anyone interested in the revitalization of local agriculture—built upon complementary development models for landowners, developers, designers, land use specialists, regional agencies, and financial institutions.

A fabulous Farm-to-Table evening event showcasing many of the products of the local foodshed will conclude the day.

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The Vine 2010 Salon Series is sponsored by Target

Speaking of New Yorker covers, this week’s is particularly apt.

Enlarge the image and you’ll see that each person is plugged into his or her own private world of headsets—except the for the ones who are trying to get their attention: the musician, the protester, the soapbox guy, the (Barney-costumed) leaflet distributor, and the baby.

Calls to mind the great quote from Herbert Prochnow: “A city is a large community where people are lonesome together.”

It’s not an indictment of cities.

It’s a commentary on us.

As a parting thought…if I may attempt to wrap the themes of “city” and “community” into a shameless plug for PCBC…I’m hoping to catch up with many of you in San Francisco next week, where our own little community will most assuredly not be lonesome together. See you soon.