Thursday, 24 January 2019 at 6:00 pm – Thursday, 24 January 2019 at 7:30 pm
David Haley - Ecological Resilience: life support systems for ‘homosapiens-urbis’
Date: Thursday 24th January 2019
Time: 6pm – 7.30pm
Location: Business School, Manchester Metropolitan University
Tickets: Free – Available on Eventbrite: david-haley-ecological-resislience.eventbrite.com
Master of Landscape Architecture Open Lectures 2018-19
Ecological Resilience: life support systems for ‘homosapiens-urbis’
David makes art with ecology, to inquire and learn. He works internationally, with ecosystems and their inhabitants, to generate dialogues that question climate change, species extinction and urban development.
From the Fertile Crescent to agro-industry, from mineral extraction to heritage theme park, the synergy between urban and rural landscapes has always been at the expense of the latter. As human populations embark on the greatest transformative challenges in our history, we may question ‘what is land for’ and how may it contribute to human and non-human life support systems?
Based on ecological arts projects in Cumbria, Manchester and Henan Province, China, this presentation will consider the paradox of Sustainable Development as it is played out through ‘ecosystem services’, ‘natural capital’, conservation and restoration. While ‘heritage is what culture makes of history’, our marketing aspirations seem reminiscent of 18th century Romanticism, deluded by techno-fix solutions to ‘wicked problems’. The presentation will propose reinventing the metabolism of Northern Britain as a key to ‘capable futures’ for adaptation to ecological resilience.
The MLA Open Lecture series is delivered by invited guest speakers, mainly from outside MMU whose work is closely connected to the overarching focus of the Master of Landscape Architecture Atelier projects for the year. In this case, they are entitled 'Reinventing Rurality' and involve a series of speakers whose research or publications look at the challenges and opportunities faced by rural landscapes and communities today from a range of different perspectives. These lectures are also part of a longer term ambition to develop a research project around the theme of the Hyper-Rural. This will sit mainly within the Architecture Research Centre but also involve researchers from a wide range of disciplines including potentially Geography, Ecology, Fine Arts and Humanities. The project will work with external partners in the UK and internationally to explore potential rural futures and the landscapes which these may give rise to. A current MSARC bid has been submitted and further bids are planned to the AHRC and NWCDTP over the coming year. The lecture series is led by Eddy Fox, Programme Leader for Landscape Architecture within the MSA and supported by Ian Fisher. Jo Phillips is the principal research assistant for the Hyoer Rural research project.