Active travel in a time of Energy Descent?! ;-)

I always wanted to write about Knowle West Media Centre and the fruitful work they have done in the community, but never found sufficient time to really sit down and get concentrated on the materials they provided to me.
Finally I'm home and this is a good place to leaf through and start with.

Reading blogs the other day by Rob Hopkins of Transition Culture and the exchange between his responses and Alex Steffen's critique of Transition at WorldChanging is quite interesting. They provide two different views on Transition and raised a vehement debate among each other's supporters, which needs more devotion to get explicit understanding. However, one point is quite amusing to me when Alex offered to fly over to UK to have a debate with Rob face to face next year, while Rob replied I no longer fly and your coming here would be, at least in climate terms, somewhat conterproductive. That reminds me my own experience of travel, particularly the recent trip to UK.

I was on a research trip for ecological art development in UK. Many people I met and interviewed are environmental-minded souls. A lot of them told me they give up flying and don't travel abroad any more. Since I just flew a long way from Asia to UK, those remarks always made me quite jittering and feeling guitly. So it took me of surprise when I came across a handbook by Knowle West Media Centre provided by KWMC staff Misty, the "Active Travel -- supporting you to become MORE ACTIVE!" It immediately grasped my attention.

The booklet is beautifully handled and designed, with a cover page of grass-green background and bright red hand-written titles, some silhouettes of activities against a simple but idyllic patterns, nicely knitted together, delivering a soothing atmosphere.




Inside it uses very lively words and smart designs to keep you follow their thread of message. In fact the booklet is to promote travel by walking or cycling, riding a horse or on roller skates! To quote from the handbook: ... anything that is people powered! No wonder it is "ACTIVE"! You have to be very active to take the trip of travelling around by those means! It is a humorous way to deliver the message while making impressive sense on readers or audiences.

On the back page of the booklet, it gives such instructions:

How To Use This Handbook
● Keep it safe and use it whenever you need motivating
● use our handy quiz to work out what is realistic for you
● Use it together with support from the AT team
● Take one step at a time; be proud of what you do, not what you don't do

I feel particularly inclined to the last line, about being proud of what you do, not what you don't do. It shows the sympathy with people who are not ready yet but willing to take a try. No accusing fingers to shy off the hesitant but warm-hearted support. It also shows an attitude of building up positive responses instead of rejective feelings. THAT is really something won my heart over.

walking as an artistic tool or method ....

Walking must be some kind of meditation for some artists, I guess.
Richard Long, maybe?
There seems to be a long tradition of walking in the countryside or the wildness in UK. Although now they walk dogs more often.

I heard from John Jordan that James used to lead a few groups of people walking in the city until the two artists decided to make the walk into a beautiful piece of work which is the fabulous opera piece along with a walk in the city: "And While London Burns".

I took the walk three times. First time quickly lost my way after getting into the Underground Bank Station and go round and round and round ....
I had to emerge from there to the ground and frustratedly walked along the Thames to listen to the audio. The river, the sound and the story made a strange combination, sometimes attached and sometimes detached, making the whole experience even more surreal. I knew I need a guide.

The second time I asked Claudia's help. She came as a guide. We shared the MP3 that I have, and listened to the story by using only one side of the earphone. So we had to walk like Siamese twins. :D However, wandering through the big high-rising buildings and seeing enormous amount of people and computer screens in the offices is thrilling. We still lost directions a few times but overall it is quite good and we ended up in front of the monument. Time was too late to get in and climb up.

Two days later, before the interview with John Jordan, I made the final trip to the Monument and listened to the audio while climbing up the stairs. That was the ending point of the whole work. Standing at the height of the tower and looking around all in front of you, brings another latitude of understanding and feeling. I can not but think, this is a very clever work. It even makes the audience perform on the stage of the city without self-consciousness. The audience is the actor, and the streets of the city are the stage; those high-rising buildings are the backdrop, and the pedestrians and automobiles become the living props. What a grand scale of the performance!

* * * *
some afterthoughts:

The physical presence is very important in this work,
as well as the integration of knowledge, senses, and movement or action.

For someone like me who gets lost a lot, it is a journey of building up a complex neurological web with intertwined linkages of right and wrong, virtual and real, at the same time.

A spiritual journey on River Thames -- Battersea Power Station and the revelation

The riverside walk came to a halt at Battersea Power Station.
The Power Station itself is a bleak scene.
However, it brings another revelation :-)

I found out some of the riverside walks I have walked through belong to the jurisdiction of Wandsworth.
Wandsworth?
sounds familiar.

Then I checked it in my files after back home, and BINGO! It is one of the venues that PLATFORM had carried out their project of "Still Waters"! That means it is possible for me to find out the exact sites and visit them by walking. I was like a sailor lost in the sea and suddenly see the beaming light from a lighthouse.

The first visit was paying to the river Wandle, particularly the micro-hydro turbine and a church bell at Bell Lane Creek. I still wonder, is it the installaton of the church bell that makes the name of Bell Lane Creek or the Bell Lane Creek that inspired PLATFORM to put a church bell there?
No idea.



Google map again,

without printer, I drew the map on my notebook with Battersea Power Station as a reference spot in my mind, up I went.

A spiritual journey on River Thames -- the frustration of riverside walk

The riverside walk in London is not always as pleasant as in Bristol or Totnes, sometimes could be very frustrating.

The Thames is a big and long river. It has many riverside walks. However, they don't connect well.

So many constructions are going on along the south bank of the river, you have to walk in and out, sometimes join the traffic flow next to the river and breathe all the conbustion waste from the cars. It's ridiculous.

I don't know about the property laws in UK. It seems the riverside belongs to private hands and thus deprives the public of enjoying it. Although the more recent idea of open space for new constructions might give opportunities for visitors to walk throuth the ground, but so many new unban development projects are boosted, the construction sites spread all over the river bank and set up blockages like the decorative diamonds on a waist band, making my experience of walking there horrendous.

The commercial billboards try to paint an ideal (although this is in doubt) picture of life on the riverside, again they all deliver a hypothetical, monotonous capitalist dream which probably promotes more vanity and greed then need.

Those towering buildings having been completed are either residential or for office use. From the windows facing to the river, I can see office workers staffing in there, each sitting in front of a computer. I don't know what's the value of yielding the riverside land use to these office buildings instead of public use for citizens or the river with its own virtue?

River has many functions benefitting people, not just being a scenic view like a landscape painting on the wall. However, modern unban planners have only treated it as an added value of their commodity and sometimes even regarded it as a source of problem with flood which stifled the many voices of the river. This reminds me of the talk a week ago in Bristol with PLATFORM artist James. One of their earlier works is dealing with a buried river in London - the Walbrook, amongst the main branches of Thames in London -- with a clinical psychologist.

James told me that in psychiatry, there is a term "dysphasia" describing the loss of ability to speech because of trauma. Applying the metaphor from psychiatry to the present damages on urban water systems, while the psychologist deals with children or adults who developed dysphasia after trauma, PLATFORM dealt with the buried Walbrook as it is dysphasic.

A spiritual journey on River Thames -- Prelude

Today is my big breakthrough. I suddenly realized what's my purpose in London. That didn't mean I don't have a plan to come here, but the plan had been thwarted due to my intervewees all moved to Bristol for the Cop 15. Fortunately the water taught me a lot, and it is the river Thames that enlightens me in big ways.

For almost two weeks in London (except the weekend to Bristol), I was puzzled and confused, trying to find out what to do in this big city. The situation is like I was dropped in the midst of sea, lost my senses of direction. Many people provided many information to help, but somehow I felt it would exhaust all my energy and focus if I just run around after these events. I was trapped in the house, not going anywhere for quite a while except necessary excurtions and meeting friends.

On Sunday afternoon when Bernie took Eva and me to Texco extra, I asked him where to go for the nearest waterside. He told me the locations and I decided to give a try.

I missed the days when I can walk along the waterside either in Bristol or Totnes, even in Exeter. Now I yearn to take a walk along the Thames, the main river that flowing through the city. In fact it is a salvational decision.

The first day I tried taking buses to Canary Wharf and failed the section between Cunning Town and Canary Wharf. But never mind. I walked along the water, made a big circle, came back disappointed, because I didn't get to the riverside of the Thames. All I walked about is the wharfs of the dockland. Next day I came up with another resolve, taking Westminster as the starting point.

Out from the underground, the big crowd of tourists surprised me. Even in this chilly weather, flocks of people from everywhere of Europe come to visit the city. London Eye is one of their favorites, full of parents and kids and youngsters. I avoided the crowd, taking a route on the south bank and walking towards west. This proves to be fruitful.

false finger

I probably put a false finger on Newham's mayor and council.
Sunday afternoon Bernie took me and Eva to Texco extra for shopping.
We talked about recycling and growing your own food on the way. He says his compost bins in his back garden were subsidized by the council; and people do have allotments from the council to grow small amounts of food in there. Each autumn they have competition of growing the best food. Some even get obssessed to sleep beside the plants in case other rivals may destroy the crops to assure the winner status in the game. We did passed by a place seeing many people working on slots of land and small shelters scattered in it.

But the effort still seems meager. Well intended doesn't necessarily mean satisfied results. There's a process needed. How to do the process with propriety? I guess that is a BIG question, to Newham council, and to everyone else.

Carbon Generation 碳世代

Carbon must be the hit word now.
Caron emission, carbon footprint, carbon capture and sequestration or storage, carbon cycle, carbon generation ... all are in a carbon era.

Carbon Generation is a performance done by London artist-activist group Platform. They currently have a big exhibition at Arnolfini Gallery in Bristol with a series of program on discussion, performance and workshops. The exhibition is entitled "C Words: carbon, climeate, capital, culture, How did you get here and where are we going?"

I went to see the exhibition all the way from London, taking two days over there, and attending the discussion on "Isn't this all just Green Imperialism?" For someone who comes from a different culture and different society like me, this topic seems more attractive. I'm really glad to know that Platform always examine and self-reflect on the related issues without self-rightousness even though they believe in activism. The discussion was broad, somehow difficult to pin down certain answers people usually like to have, but open up an expansive ground to think about which isn't too bad at all.

Platform's works are quite complex indeed, involving aspects of environmental, socio-economical, political and cultural. They're all intertwined and difficult to analyze by just cutting through. The same applys to their performance.

When Jane recommended me to stay and see the "Carbon Generation", I was a little bit reluctant. I thought the performance would be some kind of body movement and the title gives me an impression of some sort of chemical engineering, a bit dull and lackluster. But Janey wanted to stay and watch it for a while before she had to catch the train, so I stayed along.

It turned out to be the three performers (Tim Fairs, James Marriott, Benjamin D) made a beautifully scripted act by telling their family histories juxtaposed with the hard facts of cheap oil depletion or the so called peak oil. The method which required someone to look back 3 generations and 3 forward as well particularly invoked a yearning in me to do the same thing and similar application. The individual and personal approach seems to be working successfully on me.

I talked to James next morning and learned that their works obviously weren't just confined in the art gallery. They used to do it on street or workshops, involving corporate workers and city officials. Arnolfini is the first time they have it in an art gallery, and it's a test on a new turf to exert their ideas on art and works. Although some audience might question "Is this art?" James says he doesn't care a bit of it. I greatly admire their focus and passion which, as David Haley put it, never got lost in the diffent phases of their art and activist practicing.

how can Newham make itself sustainable?

Today I walked all the way to the town center of Eastham., through the street of westhem.
Not many people on the road. I found out here people either drive or take a bus.

The walk wasn't pleasant either. Too much combustion waste. Some garbage and quite a few broken glasses on the road. Pedestrians try to avoid eye contact or friendly encounter.

This morning I just found out a paper by Newham council explaining why it didn't get enough funding to do the development and to "provide high quality services for the population and open up the economic opportunities on the doorstep." It mentioned about more teachers and assistants, more social services staff, and roads maintenance are urgently needed. Howevr, they didn't put anything that related to ecological or sustainable.

I wonder if there are more green land along the way, and reducing the frequent and convinent buses, would people like to walk more or cycle more? If residents keep their yard and garden clean and tidy, would it be more pleasant to walk and see? And the ones who have put efforts to their gardens and yards will be more sensitive to the environmet and building up a sence of community and belonging?

All these are about raising awareness and building up a sense of honor for the community.


(cont. on Mon. Oct. 12)

Last night talked to a roommate Lotus, she felt the same way as Newhem wasn't so ready for the idea and implementation of sustainability. She suggested maybe it's because the area was expanding too fast to contain the big rush of immigrants that everything else was lagging behind. She is probably right indeed.



This photo was taken yesterday afternoon when I came back from Bristol and walked out the Plaistow underground station. It says "Your Mayor and councillors Investing in your area for a cleaner, greener and safer Newham." But I just wonder, they didn't say "HOW?" Only "street improvement" is far away enough to achieve all that.

Sources:
about Newhem: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Borough_of_Newham
Also see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newham_parks_and_open_spaces

news: Some 500 farmers from Changhwa County cast huge quantities of oyster shells and rice hulls on the ground in front of EPA

500 Changhwa farmers rally against polluting industries CHANGHUA, Taiwan --

Around 500 farmers and fishermen from the coastal village of Wanggong, Erlin Township, in the central Taiwan county of Changhua, rallied in front of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) headquarters yesterday, voicing strong opposition to the EPA's likely passage of an environmental impact evaluation report concerning the development of the fourth-stage site of the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP).

The protesters unfurled white protest banners and chanted that they don't want Changhua County to be polluted.

They further cast oyster shells and rice hulls to the ground in front the EPA, stating categorically that they objected to locating highly polluting manufacturing enterprises in the planned fourth-stage site of the CTSP, located near Wanggong village.

They were referring to Chunghwa Picture Tubes Co. (CPT), Ltd. and Au Optronics Corp. (AUO), both of whose plants in Xiangshan Township, Hsinchu County, northern Taiwan, had generated serious water pollution. The two firms have applied to locate to the fourth-stage site of the CTSP after development of the site is completed.

Lin Lian-zong, spokesman of the Wanggong Self-Relief Association, said the protest came in response to recent remarks made by Secretary General Lin Zhong-sen of the Cabinet that the environmental impact evaluation report concerning the development of the fourth-phase site of the CTSP would be passed in October and that the development project would kick off in November. The remarks, the spokesman claimed, implied the government has already received the evaluation report passed by the Environmental Impact Evaluation Committee of the EPA.
He continued that the nation's existing environmental protection law is short of regulations governing polluting emissions by high-tech industries, leading to a spate of pollution cases involving high-tech manufacturing operations.

“As the government has shown little regard for the development of local farming and fishing industries and the livelihood of farmers and fishermen, we have no other choice but to stage a protest, hoping the EPA will not pass the environmental impact evaluation report on the fourth-stage development project of the CTSP,” Lin said.

Meanwhile, Shih Yueh-ying, chief executive of the Changhua County Environmental Protection Alliance, suspected that the CTSP has yet to inspect the water pollution situations of the aforementioned two high-tech manufacturing enterprises, CPT and AUO. “We cannot leave our next generation live in a polluted environment,” Shih stressed.

She called for members of the environmental impact evaluation committee to say “no” to the fourth-development project of the CTSP until after pollution cases occurring at all the industrial zones around the island are settled.

“The CTSP Administration had better withdraw its fourth-stage development project, lest residents suffer nightmares,” Shih said.

In response, a spokesman with the EPA said that the EPA won't interfere in the independent operations of the environmental impact evaluation committee, and will fully respect the final decisions made by the committee concerning any major development projects.
The spokesman stressed that the EPA will not sacrifice environmental protection for economic benefits.


Sources from: http://www.chinapost.com.tw/life/environment/2009/10/06/227415/500-Changhwa.htm

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/photos/default.asp?ID=227415&GRP=Q

http://taiwansousa.blogspot.com/2009/10/stop-ctsp-erlin-science-park-protect.html

a few more words about plaistow

A few more words about Plaistow before I turn to Knowle West.

This evening Burnie took me and the other 3 lodgers to Tesco shopping.
He drove towards Eastham and said Eastham is more vibrant with a lot of Indian, Pakistani and Asian shops. There is also an open market - the Queens Market. While Stratford has more black and Caribbean population. Good that explains my speculation of Plaistow situating in between and showing both influences. Will the host of Olympic 2010 in Stratford help easing the tention and bringing prosperity to East End?

I just read news that a British economist Stefan Szymanski writes on Washington Post and pointed out the 5 myths about landing the Olympics. Sounds very pessimistic. I would put faith on the host like others and the officials of the hosting city, providing certain conditions such as well-thought renewed city planning and urban design, as well as better-improved community and social work. The former refers to what Alan Boldon has in mind for an eco-city, and the latter the example of Knowle West.

I'll come to Knowle West first.

Plaistow

Staying in Plaistow, East End of London makes me think harder.

Bernie came to Forest Hill to collect me. He drove from south to east, crossed the river Thames through the underwater tunnel, and talked about the area we were reaching. He said this is one of the roughest area in London, and people here are most pressured. Indeed I felt it when I walked out at night trying to fetch some food to fill my empty stomach. And I walked in a way as wary as everyone else!

Thought about Knowle West in Bristol. Are they different?
I think yes.

From the statistics of 2001, Knowle West has a population around 10881. This number may vary now. And the population consists of ethnic groups with white as the main group (94.3%); the mixed (including Asian, Black, Chinese or other) only composed with 5.7% of it. That's also the impression I got when I visited the community.

However,
For Plaistow, there isn't a number of its population on Wikipedia yet. But I searched for the London Borough it belongs to, which is Newham, for its 2008 estimation, the whole population in the borough is 249500, and the density is 6,890 /km2 (17,845 /sq mi). As for the composition of the ethnicities, the 2005 estimation shows white British is 32.6%; White Irish is 1.1%, and other White is 5.4%. Then they have mixed blood and Asians and Blacks. Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi are the biggest ethnic groups, with a population distribution of 12.1%, 8.7%, 9.0% respectively. Black African has a prominent appearance too: 12.7%. Other Black is 1.1%. Chinese and other as well as the mixed blood are relatively few, 1.4%, 2.4% and 3.7% respectively.

What does that mean?
Here you saw more Indian, Pakistani and Bangladishi as well as Black people rather than white British, contrast to the sterotype impression of Britain.

In Knowle West, social problems seemed come from labor class suffering the deprivation under economic depression and insufficient social welfare support. While in Plaistow (or Newham), the problems may rise from similar deprivation but aggravated by the prejudice towards colored people.

In such a community with big migrant population, I wonder, sometimes the migrants are the vitims instead of the trouble-makers in the society as many people thought about. They are the easy target for blaming on all kinds of crimes and the smaller incidents will be exposed with a manifiying glass. In turn, the notoriety brings even more difficulties to earn better social support in such conditions. If possible, comparing the types of crime from these two areas might show some interesting discoveries and diferent patterns too.

What can be done to help a community becoming sustainable in terms of the ecological concerns prescribed in the objectives of my research in this trip?

According to the report on Nov. 22, 2005 in Times cited by Wikipedia,
Newham is a challenging borough in a number of ways and currently has the second lowest recycling rate in the United Kingdom, which I strongly agreed with my own experience.

Maybe Knowle West is a good example to look at.



(will cont. on next)


sources from:
Knowle West: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowle_West,_Bristol
London Borough of Newham: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Borough_of_Newham#cite_note-3

keep an eye on this: world challenge 2009

Keep an eye on this,

World Challenge: Innovation and enterprise at grass roots level

(news from BBC)

Back in Manchester

Walking back from an excursion to the south, 3 kids on bicycles passed by. One of them called out '你好' in Chinese. I responded '你好'. Another one kid followed up, and called out '你好' too. I responded as well. They were quite satisfied to ride away.
I was surprised, but also felt happy about being 'acknowledged'. The kids might feel the same way.
I think education is quite important. The kids, not like in other cases, didn't see me as a threat; rather, they acknowledge my presence. If kids are taught and learn how to respect different cultures, then they will learn and know how to respect nature.

The 'mutual acknoledgement' should've worked for many situations, including the eco-promotion between government level and the local communities.

In Ulverston

David gave me a tour in Ulverston.
We walked along the hills, to the back of Lantern House and saw the stone wall that one of WSI members built. Through the holes left on the wall, we can see the green grass, the fences for the water.
Get in from the front of the building. David told me about the history of this building and its past development when he was working here. The 'Barn' was certainly one achievement of his management, and the uncovering of the town beck particularly.

Then we set out to see the other openings of the town beck. A few are on the car lot or nearby. Sandy did her own project after she found out the archive of WSI in Bristol University's library. Similarly, she traces the routes of the other three becks. David helped her.

David also showed me the mills, the 'ginges'(?) and 'snikies'(?), and the center of the town. That's the gathering place for their yearly event of lantern festival.

Walking back from all these places, such like a gate of the 'secret garden' (quote from Ivan) was opened up for you, or a multilayers universe unfolding in front of your eyes.

There were many further discussions on the merits of uncovering the town back between me and David, as well as some serious talk about the difference between shallow ecology and deep ecology and the difficulties that people faced to understand. I should delve into it another day.

Taiwan news: Record typhoon rain leaves trail of destruction across Southern Taiwan

Taiwan News, Staff Writer 2009-08-09 04:37 PM


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Record rainfall caused widespread flooding across Southern Taiwan in the wake of Typhoon Morakot Sunday, forcing thousands of people from their homes and ravaging bridges, roads and buildings.
The worst reports of flooding came from the counties of Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung at the country’s southern tip, but the rains would threaten Central Taiwan for the next two days, the Central Weather Bureau said.
The official death toll reached three, with 19 people injured and 31 missing, the authorities said. A total of 6,301 people had been evacuated. The dead included a 78-year-old man who was found dead near his home in Hsinhua, Tainan County, and a 63-year-old who had been unable to flee when his home in Kaoshu, Pingtung County, was flooded.
The levels of rainfall broke records, reaching between 2,500 and 2,900 millimeters for the past few days, levels higher than during flooding on August 7, 1959 which killed more than 600 people, mostly in the southwest.
The rainfall set one-day records Saturday, with one location, the Weiliao Mountain in Pingtung County, recording 1,403 millimeter, the highest ever for Taiwan. Of the ten highest one-day rainfall amounts, nine were reached on Saturday, the Central Weather Bureau said.
In one of the most spectacular consequences of the typhoon Sunday, a six-story hotel collapsed into a river in Chihpen, a popular hot springs destination in Taitung County. The three-decade-old Jinshuai Hotel, which was originally separated from the riverbank by several shops, was seen listing Sunday morning, before falling sideways into the water by noon.
The 22 staff members and 300 guests had left the building before it collapsed, reports said. Police later cordoned off the area to keep away sightseers.
The main bridge giving access to Chihpen was closed off after cracks appeared, leaving 300 people isolated. The military said it would build a temporary bridge. The city’s main road also saw a stretch of 200 meters disappear.
A total of 14 people were reported missing after water swept away a Water Resources Agency dormitory housing 30 workers in the Kaohsiung County township of Taoyuan. Helicopters were mobilized to find the missing workers.
A portion of the Shuangyuan Bridge, an important link between Kaohsiung and Pingtung Counties, collapsed into the Gaoping River early Sunday. Two cars carrying three people were seen sliding into the river. The 2-kilometer-long bridge links Linyuan in Kaohsiung County with Hsinyuan in Pingtung County.
Visiting the scene, Transportation Minister Mao Chi-kuo said flood control work on the river bed would be needed before the bridge could be rebuilt.
In Shuili, Nantou County, five cars were reported to have been swept away by the water with at least four people missing.
Pingtung County reported the most widespread flooding. Four bridges in the region were damaged and 16 others closed off.
In Linpien, one of the worst affected townships Saturday, water levels were falling, allowing residents out to go and buy food for the first time in three days. Premier Liu Chao-shiuan visited the area and said he would stay overnight.
In the other heavily hit Pingtung County township of Chiatung, the situation was still critical. The evacuation of 7,000 residents began early Sunday.
Helicopters lifted eight civilians and eight rescuers off a sandbank in a river in Chiuju, also in Pingtung County.
Tanei in Tainan County reported 4,000 residents cut off from the outside world. The military showed up with dinghies to evacuate people.
Reports of flooding and landslides, collapsed roads and bridges, and people swept away by rivers came in from several areas during the day.
The Central Weather Bureau warned that even though the typhoon had moved away, torrential rain was still likely to continue and to move north, endangering areas in Central Taiwan from Taichung to Miaoli. Late Sunday afternoon, strong rains were reported from Taichung City, with partial flooding on the town’s prominent Chungkang Road thoroughfare.
The aftermath of the typhoon also still caused havoc with traffic. Landslides and flooding left 91 roads across the country damaged or completely cut off, leaving hundreds of residents and travelers stranded.
High speed trains heading from Taipei to Kaohsiung unexpectedly went no further than Taichung, causing friction between passengers and staff. Conventional rail traffic between Changhua and Kaohsiung was cut until 3 p.m., but later resumed for the stretch between Changhua and Chiayi, reports said.
Agricultural losses amounted to NT$2.11 billion Sunday, with levels of damage in Kaohsiung, Pingtung, Tainan, Taitung and Hualien Counties reaching disaster status, making farmers in those regions eligible for special relief subsidies and low-interest loans, the Council of Agriculture said. Banana growers were the worst hit, losing more than 3,200 hectares worth of crops, according to provisional COA data.
The COA issued red alerts for landslides in 519 locations, while the Ministry of Education said the typhoon had damaged 268 schools. State utility Taiwan Power Corp. said 1.4 million households lost electricity.
In Southern Taiwan alone, hundreds of thousands of residents were left without running water, with restoring their supplies expected to take up to seven days, according to the Water Resources Agency.
During a visit to Chiayi, President Ma Ying-jeou ordered the establishment of a special disaster emergency response center for the South, while emphasizing the importance of food relief and prevention of further flooding. He ordered rubber dinghies transferred from Northern to Southern Taiwan. Ma earlier canceled a visit to Taitung after the local airport was closed.
Interior Minister Liao Liou-yi was to take charge of the Southern Taiwan emergency center, the government announced later.
The authorities in Hsinyi, Jenai and Shuili, mountainous parts of Nantou County prone to frequent landslides, said schools and offices on its territory would remain closed Monday. Tainan County closed its schools, but offices would be open Monday.
Kaohsiung County Magistrate Yang Chiu-hsing arrived from Europe Sunday, defending his decision to travel overseas by pointing out that the Central Weather Bureau had predicted the worst rain for Northwest Taiwan. The eye of Typhoon Morakot passed across Northern Taiwan from late Friday to Saturday afternoon, but most of the rain fell in the South.
Foreign trips by county magistrates during typhoons triggered widespread criticism last year.
Taipei County Magistrate Chou Hsi-wei lashed out at several local mayors Saturday for being away on overseas study trips.
Tainan City Mayor Hsu Tain-tsair criticized the military for its slow response. The armed forces mobilized nearly 3,000 soldiers to help with the evacuation of victims and to bring to supplies to isolated villages, sometimes in armored vehicles.
Humanitarian foundations, religious and political groups called for aid to Southern Taiwan Sunday. Bottled water and dry foods were the most necessary items, reports said. Local governments set up aid collection centers. Opposition Democratic Progressive Party Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen donated NT$1 million, her party said.

sources from: http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1026727&lang=eng_news&cate_img=49.jpg&cate_rss=news_Society_TAIWAN

about water

Waiting after quite a while, I finally received Sandy's reply.
She sends a link of her works. While reading the web pages, her experience reminds me my own experience about water too, which makes me feel thrilled.
In 2005, when I was in Japur, India, I met an old man from Canada. He is an engineer working as an adviser to Japur government for tape water system. He wanted to show me some videos about water on his computer but couldn't find the file. So he only showed his family's photo and gave me the title of that DVD on water as well as the name of the producer: Asian Development Bank.
After coming back, I searched Internet, found the web of ADB and the DVD, and worte to ask for a copy, which I keep along, always want to show to my people. Since then, water has always occupied a corner in my mind.
But even earlier, I recall the days working with China Times Express, water has already been an issue that grabbed the media's attention. There were many water resources conferences and reports, around the time of the 90s in last century. Need to check out more details.
Then, there was another example in 2007 when I first went to the residency in Donghouliao, Chiayi. I witnessed the village head bought some fishes and put them into the water channel in the village without fully understanding of ecology. Of course the fishes died after a few days.

a background of daylighting in the US (compared to the UK)

From what I have searched,
Ann L. Riley's Restoring Streams in Cities (1998, Island Press, Washington D.C.) seems to be one of the earliest text about the new tides of restoring and daylighting streams in urban area.
Then comes Richard Pinkham (2000, 2002).

Both are engineer or scientist background.

Ann L. Riley is executive director of the Waterways Restoration Institute, where she works on the design and installation of stream restoration projects. She is involved in the evaluation of national water policy for the National Research Council, the Institute for Water Resources, and federal task forces.

Richard Pinkham is an independent consultant and an Adjunct Research Scholar with Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), a nonprofit natural resources policy center. He advises clients and prepares research studies in the fields of urban and agricultural water efficiency, water system planning, stormwater management, stream restoration, instream flow protection, decentralized wastewater management, and water reuse.

His recent reports for the U.S. EPA and various foundations include Water 2010: Four Scenarios for 21st Century Water Systems; Re-Evaluating Stormwater: The Nine Mile Run Model for Restorative Redevelopment; and Daylighting: New Life for Buried Streams.


I didn't get a chance to read Riley's book yet. But according to Richard Pinkham (2000),
there are a few cases done in the 70s. One is in Napa, California and another in Urbana, Illinois.

... ... Daylighting began in the Bay Area when the city of Napa removed a cover over a channelized portion of Napa Creek in the 1970s. While this project did not renaturalize the stream, it may have been the first North American project to re-expose a previously hidden stream. ... ... (p.17)


The Urbana Park District re-established roughly 4,000 feet of the headwaters of Embarass (pronounced “Em-bruh”) Creek in the early 1970s by plugging and removing farm field drainage tiles at a newly purchased park property. Crews graded a rough channel into the landscape, allowing the creek to surface and redefine its path. This project was probably among the first in the country to re-establish a creek previously hidden by human actions, but it has received little attention to date. ... ... (p.28)


His words also replied half to my question of "why 1984"?


Berkeley completed the path-breaking Strawberry Creek project in 1984. ... ... The Strawberry Creek project is widely considered the archetype of daylighting. It inspired many other projects. ... ... (p.17)



trying to construct a time and spatial framework ~

Being radical

David gave a thorough reply to my questions.
Quite thought-provoking.

It seems he has been always radical on art, but very gentle on person, which is the kind of personality many people would appreciate, so do I.
There are a few points need more exploration: the Barcelona Olympics and Rio Earth Summit in 1992, and the "divining", as well as the assessment.

some rough idea continued ...

keep reading 《Mapping the Terrain》 ... ...

In fact, quite a few cases in the book are good examples with environmental concerns, and the impact last till today.

Such as Joseph Beuys' 7,000 Oaks (七千棵橡樹, 1982-87) , Mel Chin's Revival Field (田野再生, 1989~), Betsy Damon's Keepers of the Waters (蓄水的人, 1991-93) and L.A. River Project, (洛杉磯大河計劃, 1989-92), and, of course, not to mention Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison.

Coincidently, the Barbican art gallery in UK is going to open a big exhibition on the same footing:

Radical Nature
Art and Architecture for a Changing Planet 1969–2009
19 June 2009 - 18 October 2009


Eco- and Public art seem to share some common ground.

Worth to have a look while there.

a few coincidences

coincidence 1, establish a safe environment :

Artist Presentation by Arlene Raven (in the link of Reading Arlene Raven) v.s. museum of the corporation by platform.

coincidence 2, why 1984?

Is the daylighting of streams becoming a trend? Q&A by Richard Pinkham v.s. 《Mapping the Terrain》(2004，遠流中文版，p.235)

Maybe, the world exposition in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA (1984) holds the answer?

研究方法 method

to read
to see
to listen
to ask
to feel



方法架構

類型化的案例：新興視覺類藝術空間研究-以台北市為範疇成果報告
區域型研究的案例：藝文展演空間營運模式研究計畫-淡水藝術網絡成果報告

(國藝會調查研究成果：http://www.ncafroc.org.tw/Content/research-content.asp?Act_id=73)

some rough thoughts

I did some research on Internet about “daylighting” streams and get some stuff which I put together on the web site that I just launched to make it a database for my project. The links and the maps in there are my tools.

In the Q & A with Richard Pinkham from one source (3 Rivers 2nd Nature ), it is said that since 1984 till 2000, there were at least 20 daylighting projects that have been completed in the U.S., and at least another 20 were in various stages of development. When David Haley did his unculverting in Ulverston in 1992, it wasn't the first case in the world. However, most of the cases in the files tends to be scientist or engineer-initiated. He seems to be one of the earliest examples to take such task as an artist in Britain. I wonder, what is the impetus to make him undertook the work?

I also noticed in the WEN interview “David Haley on the Record” he mentioned that ‘I spent six or seven months trying to get permission to unculvert the river. It was at the time when the National Rivers Authority was handing over to the Environment Agency. When I eventually got permission to go ahead with the project the Planning Officer said he had never heard of someone applying to unculvert a river.’

Why it took so many months to get permission to unculvert? Does that have anything to do with the administrative transition of the National Rivers Authority? Or, the transition represented a more beneficial inclination towards ecological concerns, and opened up a bigger opportunity to carry out this kind of projects?

The London based artist group Platform also did quite a few works/projects on the buried rivers in London during the early 90s. It seems the unculverting/deculverting/daylighting streams became a focus around that time. Could that be related to the administrative transition or that simply is a result of the artistic effects since Platform recited the influence they have acquired from the current practioners/cultural activists and David Haley is among the list?

Maps of London's Thames valley

Fleet (Hampstead Heath-Blackfriars)



Wandle river



Wandle (wandsworth-merton)



Effra(Herne Hill)

Maps

Ulverston

Ulverston (closer-up)

Bristol

Totnes

Bibliography 參考文獻

(建置中)

Daylighting:

文章：


London River Restoration: Establishing Ecological Resilience and Community Benefit www.riversymposium.com/2006/index.php?element=06WEBBDavid - 116k

Daylighting and Restoring Streams in Rural Community City Centers: Case Studies www.nps.gov/ncrc/programs/rtca/helpfultools/daylighting.pdf - 1138k

Assessing the Feasibility of Creek Daylighting in San Francisco, Part I: A Synthesis of Lessons Learned from Existing Urban Daylighting Projects http://repositories.cdlib.org/wrca/restoration/smith/ - 1155k

URBAN STREAM DAYLIGHTING: Case Study Evaluations www.vwrrc.vt.edu/pdfs/specialreports/sr352007.pdf - 848k

Daylighting: New Life for Buried Streams www.rmi.org/images/other/Water/W00-32_Daylighting.pdf - 3051k

STREAM RESTORATION AND DAYLIGHTING: Opportunities in the Pittsburgh Region http://3r2n.collinsandgoto.com/revalued/stream-restoration-daylighting/index.htm

STREAM RESTORATION AND DAYLIGHTING: Opportunities in the Pittsburgh Region report http://3r2n.collinsandgoto.com/revalued/stream-restoration-daylighting/stream-restoration-and-daylighting.pdf - 303k



網站：

Daylighting (streams) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylighting_(streams)
The River Restoration Center http://www.therrc.co.uk/lrap.php
3 Rivers 2nd Nature http://3r2n.cfa.cmu.edu/policy/lost/
Daylighting streams: Water and Sewers Utilities http://vancouver.ca/engsvcs/watersewers/environment/streams.htm
Still Creek Enhancement http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/cityplans/stillcreek/index.htm
Restoring Rivers.org http://www.restoringrivers.org/oldsite/example/southeast/1longdale.html
Riverways Program http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/river/programs/stream/index.htm
Still Creek Rehabilitation and Enhancement Study http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/cityplans/stillcreek/study/index.htm

David Haley & WSI

相關連結：

David Haley on the Record http://www.wemmagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=71&Itemid=23

Welfare State International http://www.welfare-state.org/

Welfare State International : theater collection, University of Bristol http://www.bris.ac.uk/theatrecollection/welfarestate.html

Lanternhouse International http://www.lanternhouse.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=77&Itemid=12

General Readings

《量繪形貌－新類型公共藝術》(Mapping the Terrain : New Genre Public Art) edit. by Suzanne Lacy，2004，遠流中文版

Restoring Streams in Cities, Ann L. Riley, 1998, Island Press, Washington D.C.