Creating a more enduring, ecological future.

Ecolacy: a dialectic
The challenges of technology and necessity of human dignity.

Technological catalysts

Rivers and Salmon migrations

Conceptualizing the conflict over competing resource uses:
Columbia River watershed, "large ecosystems:"
Lee's organizational schema,
Adaptations & Urban Planning Myths
The human dimensions in ecological situations
Design suggestions
 

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ecolacy means ecological literacy: it is a dialectic between numerate and literate evidence that are best interpreted in an ecolate perspective.


"O" for organize your thoughts
Consistent and compatible, literate and numerate answers to "and then what?"

Columbia River Gorge looking north and east from Oregon to Washington state.

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Criteria Table 1:

then what?\

criteria
numerate
literate
consistent    
compatible    

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The challenges of technology and necessity of human dignity.



Technology has the ability to catalyze changes, or to speed-up and bring about impacts at an ever increasing rate of speed, to which human's -- or so Hardin argues -- are more or less unreliable in their responses to technological affects.

Consider the  affects of automotive transportation, super-tankers, electricity, or even fire on human behavior.

Compare these modern technical changes to the impacts of these electronic techniques on natural conditions.
 
 

ecocycles

Problem Solving Table 2:

Every ecological problem has three dimensions: Physical, Biological, & Social

Dimensions | criteria numerate literate
Physical
Biological
Social

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The Grand Coulee Dam, Washington State.


Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River in Washington state.Are large dams on rivers and example of technological catalysts in that they spur-on the economic growth of a region?

 

Columbia River watershed is a drainage basin that extends into Canada and five states in the Pacific Northwest.
 

    • Physical, basin for drainage aerial sizes, elevations, climate.
    • Biological, biogeographical provinces habitat, species, genetic diversity.
    • Social, urban, rural and wild population, women's status.
How has the Columbia River come to symbolize the conflict between economics and ecology?
 
What are the economic benefits derived from the river and the watershed?

Describe the ecological value and biological wealth of the Columbia River basin and the ecosystem services derived from these natural assets of the watershed:
 

What is the reason for needing to discover a more sustainable use of the Columbia River?

Dam at the Dalles

Consider several examples of each from the readings with respect to the Columbia River and the mountain ranges that give rise to this vast tributary system:

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Conceptualizing the conflict over competing resource uses:
 


dimensions features The resources  description sources
Physical, the river:
Biological the fisheries & wildlife:
Social the people, cities, industries:
ecolate, consequences of impacts, & then what?

Salmon

Salmon habitat, California coastal river.

Lee. pp. 18-50., Bronowski. pp. 49-80.

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Columbia River watershed, "large ecosystems:" multi-jurisdictional, international.


Columbia basin

Canada

Grand Coulee Dam (11) USA

Bonneville Dam (1)

Snake river watershed (Idaho)
The Columbia River Basin is an international watershed in that the Canadian and United States border crosses the area just south of the Okanagon Valley and River in British Columbia. The almost twenty dams on this river interfere with the passage of fish from the ocean and estuary into the tributaries upriver where they must return to spawn another generation of fish.


Kai Lee's organizational schema, his approach to the basin's ecological problems.

1 learning from the past
2 correcting errors
3 understanding and applying adaptive management
4 participating in bounded conflict
5 devising action plans and assessing the expected outcomes.

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Contrasting Kai Lee's with Hardin's language.
 

New terms:
 old terms:
scientific knowledge
+ Bounded conflict
 + ecolacy
Social Learning 
Ecological vision or imagination

 

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Adaptational & Urban Planning Myths


What does it mean to be adaptive in a biologically and ecologically sensitive way?
flow


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Table for assessing ways to solve ecological problems:

Dimensions | criteria numerate literate ecolate
Physical
Biological
Social

example: anadromous fishes.

migration

Salmon require cold clear water in rock bedded streams flowing across numerous acres of forested land for sufficient eggs to grow into fry and from fry into fingerlings or else they will go extinct in their range.

Salmon run

They stay close to home streams as young and live in and along the river and tidal estuary habitat as they mature. Salmon spend their adult lives at sea returning to home rivers to spawn from spring to late summer and early fall.
 

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migration


The human dimensions in ecological situations

Vehicle of ecological services

habitat human requirements end uses
 

acronym ecosystem's features importance numerate estimate use for ecosystem service
W water initial necessity; 1 gallon to 5 quarts daily  health, hygiene, electricity
E energy secondary necessity, 2500 calories daily  food, fuel, electricity, transport
A air initial necessity,  55 cubic feet, minutes  combustion, respiration
L land tertiary necessity,  100 - 1000 square feet  functions, forage, storage

weal, old English from the Germanic root word for wealth; wald, or forest, or wooded landscape.


See The Weald in southern England.

more on weal
 

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Design suggestions

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Ecosystems and adaptive strategies • Creating a more ecological future
The human dimensions in ecological situations
The challenges of technology, Lee. pp. 18-50.
The necessity of human dignity, Bronowski. pp. 49-80.
Adaptiveness & Urban Planning Myths, Lee. pp. 51-86.

 

Ecolacy: a dialectic
Technological catalysts
Columbia River watershed, "large ecosystems:"
Adaptiveness & Urban Planning Myths
The human dimensions in ecological situations
Lee's organizational schema,

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