Big Ecology in an Era of Thinking Small

In a post from Plan.Place, Thomas Rainer argues that, in an era where big solutions to big problems seem virtually impossible, it’s worth focusing on strategies for addressing environmental challenges incrementally. He outlines four productive strategies for creating change inspired by landscape architecture.

“Environmentalism is in a decade-long slump. It’s increasingly hard to ignore the chorus of articles declaring the death of the environmental movement. Each international summit or national election brings with it grand pledges of action followed by complete inaction and inertia. Even at a local scale, the popular mood seems to have turned against large, sweeping changes in public transportation or conservation. One thing is for certain: the age of the big project is over.

The problem, however, is that big projects are needed more than ever. The earth is warming, perhaps catastrophically; invasive species are infiltrating the last wild places; and the recent drought in the West threatens entire population centers and global food prices.  Every significant indicator of global environmental health is heading in the wrong direction. Both globally (climate change) and locally (D.C.’s combined sewer system), our environmental challenges almost certainly require complex, large-scale infrastructural initiatives; political consensus across countries and municipalities; and the public’s willingness to support massive projects. All of which now seems impossible.

Or is it? If big thinking is dead, can we leverage small, incremental actions to make a big difference?

Perhaps so.  Against a dark and stormy horizon, I’d like to think that there are actually glimmers of light in the cracks. To the comatose environmental movement, I’d like to make a modest proposal: consider how landscape architecture has recently approached large-scale ecological & urban issues. In the last decade, the profession of landscape architecture has begun to remake itself. Faced with the global scale of environmental challenges, landscape architects have expanded their focus from gardens, parks, and plazas to pursue bigger game: the design of cities and natural processes that shape it. Whether it is former landfill sites, water treatment facilities, or urban flood management, landscape architects have begun to address complex urban environmental issues with projects that are innovative, attractive, and functional.”