Moreover, I’ve been mulling these ideas for a few weeks now. In a word, “yes”. Or perhaps “yes.” Never was quite sure about that period.

In anycase, universal participation, or perhaps the potential for universal participation, seems to be some sort of cognitive pivot for the sustainability industry. By the industry, I mean those architects/engineers/owners /constructors/scientists /etceteras forming the discourse around “green”.

Are we builders or social workers?
Are we profiteers or nurturers?
To whom are we responsible? Clients or the masses?
For what should we strive? Efficiency of energy or effectiveness of education?

Kicking in the Valley of Knowledge, most of us see these things as not always exclusive, but posses only marginal understanding of how to achieve both sides of dichotomies we see as false.

I asked a friend tonight about the place of art in this sustainability movement, why do we keep this stuff around, etc. She said that people like to see things made by other peoples hands. We *like* handmade stuff. From porcelain to paintings, from bowls to blogs, Crafts/arts show that someone, somewhere, somewhen loved a creation so much as to fashion it into being.

How does this pivot the industry? These designers see themselves as a kind of queen ant directing the construction of a colony that they, themselves will never use. Will the occupants be comfortable? Will they be happy? Is there enough natural lighting? How much will it cost to heat/cool this place? It’s easy for the Skywalker of Sustainability to miss Yoda in the Dagobah of Building-Oriented Thinking.

But our goal isn’t 20% less steel in new officemonsters, nor are we after ubiquitous green roofs nor windmills running our computers. The problems we’re after scoff at the scale of buildings, blocks or districts, defy cities, states and regions, and thumb their noses at nations, Unions and even continents. We’re trying to save the environment of every single being rocketing around Sol on this particular iron chunk, and to do that we need the participation of *every single being*.

Most of our sisters and brothers know this already; we’re sort of the last to the party.

Universal participation. Problems so large belong to everyone. Maybe we could get off our high tech archi-engineering horse and let everyone else get in on this noise.

And… fin.