The Point

Friday, December 29, 2006

What to watch: 2007

Björk in snow (bjork.com/Erez Sabag)

Three things to watch in 2007:

Björk's new album - I am waiting with great anticipation for her new record. Her last stand-alone album, Medúlla, successfully caught everyone listening by surprise, to say the least. I appreciate that she doesn't sing for the sake of reaching as many people as possible. Some people want to listen to her experimenting with making beats out of cards shuffling and throat singing; others do not. For those of us that do, so much the better, because she's a brilliant (if bizarre) artist through and through. Now she's apparently working on a hip-hop album of all things. How can you say no to this woman? She's insatiable. The best part? She's reportedly producing it with Timbaland. Yes yes yes.

Darfur and Jan Eliasson - The genocide that wouldn't go away. Kofi Annan just appointed Jan Eliasson, former President of the United Nations General assembly and former Swedish foreign minister, as the Secretary-General's Special Envoy in Darfur. It's way past the point of humanitarian collapse. Aid agencies are pulling out after facing '"unprecedented difficulties" because of military activity and direct violence against them.' Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has conditionally accepted a joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force in the region, but has intimated the government may allow little more than logistical support from the UN troops, and only a few hundred of them at that (as opposed to at least 22 000 troops in the joint force that many many corners are saying are urgently needed).

It is an understatement to say that there is something of a conflict of interest here. Why on earth al-Bashir's government, who have been accused of complicity in the genocide themselves, should have the final say in whether UN forces are allowed into the region to bring an end to the slaughter... is simply beyond me. It's absurd. Let's see how closely Ban Ki-moon listens to Eliasson in the new year and whether the international community has the balls to finally act.

Huangbaiyu - On this little village rest the hopes of a nation. Sort of. Despite what the Kyoto Accord might imply, there can be no discussion of creating sustainable societies today without China and India, and the former is taking an ambitious step in a tiny community in Liaoning called Huangbaiyu. William McDonough is the co-author of Cradle-to-Cradle, a book about truly circular ways of living in a very nutritious way which you can expect to hear a lot more about here and which you should pick up now. He's also part of the China-US Centre for Sustainable Development, which recenty launched a project in Huangbaiyu to create more sustainable homes for the residents, taking into account the cradle-to-cradle concept of making things that are locally appropriate, use energy intelligently, and give net benefits to the environment they are part of. The problem? It seems no one asked the residents about the project.

Locals are complaining that the new homes have yards that are way too small to support the small home-based agriculture they depend on to supplement their income, and are far too expensive. So far, not a single one of the 42 homes built in the first phase of the project has any takers. Part of the problem is likely that the 'local partner' in the project, Dai Xiaolong, is the village's leader as well as a chief investor. An experienced businessman, he should be commended for pursuing environmental sustainability for his community for more than just altruistic reasons - after all, no company is going to invest in something for the benefit of society as a whole if it's not going to make them a profit. It seems the project has taken a series of bizarre turns, though. Only one house is solar-powered as planned, the building materials being used aren't at all what was originally envisaged, the houses are apparently being built with garages...

It reminds me, actually, of the lack of consideration of the needs of the actual residents that seems to be threatening the veneer of 'sustainability' over Edmonton's Downtown East plan. It will be well worth watching what happens in Huangbaiyu next year, because the number of fingers in this particular pie means what happens in Liaoning will likely help set the tone for other sustainable development projects in the Middle Kingdom.

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posted by Christopher at 2:05 p.m.

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