First A Direct Hit – Now Here We Are

The hit was a body blow – it took us off course – and it elevated our awareness that place is central to our wellbeing. Whether your PLACE is deciduous, evergreen, desert, concrete, or swampy, this is the place to learn how to be inspired and how to inspire others to action.

Chaos is not a scene of disorder…it is a scene of emerging order.      Edward S. Casey,   The Fate of Place

This digital age, with the internet and globalism, has flipped the switch. We know much more about networks, collaborations, the wisdom of the crowd. It is not possible for top-down, siloed, action to create a COVID vaccine, let alone multiple ones, absent scientific collaboration, systems science, and digital processing. Top-down acts in a linear fashion, it tweaks things like policies and markets. Bottom-up changes things, by changing the system (think ecosystem) they operate in.

When change agents working in complex systems (places) where elements mutually interact – change something over there and the system adjusts itself over here – this is where patterns emerge. Patterns (often multiple patterns together) help people recognize what has worked and can help create design interventions to create the desired change.

This site begins with four doorways (blogs) leading the way to understanding this DIY approach to creating PLACEFULNESS. Taking the needs of place personally, people, places and professionals work collaboratively using science, technology, tools, and creativity to protect ourselves and foster our capabilities by building resilient places.

In plain sight. There is a new emerging order in the shadow of Globalism, we call it PLACEFULNESS. Instead of finance capital or material capital used to fuel globalism, Places leverage place capital – human capital, natural capital, social capital, cultural capital – to create opportunities and solve problems.

“There is something in all of us that loves to put together a puzzle, that loves to see the image of the whole emerge.”  Peter M. Senge

Human Capital

A place that is sufficiently attractive to people, holds on to residents. It may also attract new residents, like remote workers, as a result of the qualities of a place. Experiences of place, that cannot be represented on the network, create rising cultural and economic value. A PLACEFULNESS focus on both  Place quality and Place distinctiveness are engines of change for the future.

Natural Capital

Nature provides vital services for people – here are three examples – clean water, clean air, food. Whether in the wild, parks, or urban green spaces, biophilic attributes connect people to place. Often overlooked, however, is the opportunity to put back in place natural processes at every turn, like restoring the capacity of soils to provide natural carbon sinks that also mitigate climate change and add fresh water to the aquifer.

Cultural Capital

Once with a focus on social mobility, Cultural Capital has new relevance with a  focus on multicultural literacy and diversity releasing shared values and collaboration in place. For people, social mobility and cultural currency allows movement in a variety of social geographies.

Social Capital

Bonding and Bridging Capital are both components of Social Capital – bonding within a group, tribe, affinity group and bridging between one kind of group and another. Both change the capacity of place. More than civic connectedness, Social Capital is proven to improve the lives of people, the future of a community, and democracy itself.

Pattern Recognition

Humans have a super power, pattern recognition. In a place, patterns are collectively structured social knowledge existing throughout a range of disciplines, organizations, and local places. When understood within the complex ecosystem of a place, this social knowledge holds both a current understanding of problems and opportunities, and the seeds for a new flourishing.