The plan
Project: Seedbomb Burlington
Seedbombing, or aerial reforestation, refers to the practice of introducing vegetation to land by throwing or dropping compressed bundles of soil containing live vegetation (seed balls). Undertaken with the goal of re-naturalizing barren or ecologically underutilized land, seedbombing is an ecological practice for reviving urban environments.
Seedbomb Burlington is a place-specific project intended to provide people with skills and knowledge for remapping, reimagining, and rewilding their city through the practice of site-specific seeding with ecologically appropriate plants. It is a project of social and ecological reclamation and information dispersal, involving seeds, soil, boots, bikes, vacant landscapes, maps and smart phones, social and locative media, and time, gentle time.
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About
We live in a different world than did previous generations of humanity. Billions of humans can access a vast ocean of information at their fingertips. Digital media have helped construct a sphere of thickly networked, hypermediate, and interactive communication links that span all levels of human society around the globe.
How do these new media environments affect and interact with the social and biophysical environments that preceded them, and that continue to undergird them?
The concept of “media ecology” is not new. From the medium theories of Harold Innis, Marshall McLuhan, Walter Ong, and Neil Postman to the media ecologies of Felix Guattari, Matthew Fuller, Jussi Parikka, and others; from the “mental environmentalism” of Adbusters and other culture jammers to the “cultural environmentalism” of public domain defenders like James Boyle and Lawrence Lessig — understandings of media as ecologies and of ecology as mediated converge in many ways today.
We are beyond the old debates between the caffeinated cyberoptimism of the digerati and the anti-technology pessimism of the Heideggers, Elluls, and Zerzans. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t precariously poised over the abyss. Ecological calamity stares us in the face, and we need some kind of new “natural contract” with the planet, as philosopher Michel Serres has called for. How can digital media help us get there?
e2mc seeks to explore the relationships between media and ecologies: material, social, and perceptual ecologies within which mediations play an increasingly powerful, complex, and transformative role. It is devoted to the idea of “evolving ecological media culture”: an evolution of a media culture that is cognizant of its multiple ecological contours and connections.
e2mc begins as an experiment, a class exercise for ENVS 204 “Media Ecologies and Cultural Politics,” a senior undergraduate class at the University of Vermont. But it will not limit itself to traditional pedagogical constraints. Where it leads we will see. We invite any and all to share in the adventure.
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Hey everyone,
The facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/pages/Seedbomb-Burlington/470377906364032?notif_t=page_new_likes
If you want to be an admin, friend me and let me know.
Mark your calendars and spread the word:
The two public workshops will take place on Sunday April 21 at 1 p.m. in Burlington City Hall Park, and on Monday April 22 (Earth Day) throughout the day on the campus of UVM.
What does everyone think about putting a note about this into the ENV-TALK listserv? So that all the environmental students see it?
I was planning to do that. But if you want to take the initiative, feel free. It seems most of the relevant details are in place.
Here’s the list of media sites so far:
http://blog.uvm.edu/e2mc/2013/04/09/the-plan/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Seedbomb-Burlington/470377906364032
http://www.facebook.com/events/507875435935578/
http://www.reddit.com/r/Seedbomb/
I actually shortened the facebook URL so that it’s now http://www.facebook.com/seedbombbtv.
Great – thanks, Zach. Will the longer one still work? (I sent in an email to ENV-TALK with it listed. But I could send another with the correct info if need be.)
Some seed source suggestions (from Brian Collier): http://www.americanmeadows.com/wildflower-seeds/wildflower-mix/regional-wildflower-mixtures/northeast-wildflower-seed-mix (local and good
for “regionally” native flower mixes), http://www.americanmeadows.com/wildflower-seeds/wildflower-mix/regional-wildflower-mixtures/northeast-wildflower-seed-mix (more locally native & more expensive), or contact http://www.newenglandwild.org/
Hey everyone, I got this email yesterday after posting about Seedbomb Burlington to Front Porch Forum:
“Hello. I work at Edmunds Middle School. We are hosting a Day of Service on May 15th from 8:30-10:45 AM. We are desperately in need of projects for some of our homerooms and I think this would be a great project. Would you be interested in working with a group of 10 students and their teacher to do this?
Let me know asap and we can talk details.
Thanks!”
This sounds like a great opportunity but their day of service is also on May 15th, when school is over. What do you think?