The Exploration Revolution – My #TEDx Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne talk
Posted: 9 April, 2013 Filed under: 125, Community, Geography, Route 125, Sense, Travel, Types of exploration, Urban, Walk | Tags: exploration, fieldwork, Geography, Local, Mission:Explore, National Geographic, Polar, revolution, Route 125, Schools, TED, TEDx, Urban Earth Leave a comment »
I was delighted to be asked to speak at TEDxEHL last month at Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne. I used my 15 minutes to argue that we are currently going through an Exploration Revolution, but that we’re not making the most of it… especially in schools. The talk takes place during the 125th anniversary of National Geographic, a year in which many people have been asking the society “what’s left to explore?“. This short video answers that question and more.
Ecological Urbanism comes to life…
Posted: 8 April, 2013 Filed under: City, Community, External, Human, Population, Sense, Sight, Travel, Urban, Walk | Tags: books, city, eBook, Ecological Urbanism, exploration, explore, Film, Gareth Doherty, Geography, Harvard, Images, Mohsen Mostafavi, photography, Urban Earth Leave a comment »
The latest edition of Ecological Urbanism is terrible doorstop. The first edition is 655 pages, smells good, weighs 2kg and keeps most of my other books in their place. Despite its strengths, it can’t do video… something the latest version on the book can do. The original hardback book by Mohsen Mostafavi and Gareth Doherty features hundreds of photos that I took while walking across Mexico City, Mumbai and London for Urban Earth, a project in urban exploration that I started in 2008. Out today, the new version splits the book into digestible chapters and includes over 15,000 photographs within the 3 Urban Earth films that I made by taking pictures every 8 steps while crossing these massive cities. You’ll find the films in volume 2, Anticipate, and are accompanied by a short piece of text that Kye Askins and I wrote. I’m delighted to see the films come to life in the book. I hope you enjoy it.
The Ecological Urbanism project has a Facebook page that you can follow here.
What are the greatest British adventures to have with kids?
Posted: 16 March, 2013 Filed under: 125, Country, External, Route 125 | Tags: 125, adventure, Britain, explore Leave a comment »I’m currently planning to take Seb (my 9-year-old son) on a series of adventures to explore Britain. I would love to know where you think we should go and what we should do.
Is there a fantastic place that we should discover or an adventurous way of getting away that we should try? Is there a story or a creature that we should find? Where could we have the very best of experiences?
Please do share an idea or two with me. Many thanks.
What is the #FutureOfLocal?
Posted: 22 February, 2013 Filed under: #FutureOfLocal, Commercial, Geography, Human, Local, Tourism, Travel, Types of exploration | Tags: #ActiveLocal, #FutureOfLocal, Globalisation, InterContinental, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Juice, TED, TEDActive, Travel 1 Comment »
I’m very pleased to be working with InterContinental Hotels & Resorts to explore how globalisation is changing local places. It’s an innovative project to understand how the unique and complex interdependencies between people, countries and global brands are changing destination, including those that we call home.
This video introduces the project and is an invitation to join the TED conversation or share your opinion on Twitter through the hashtag #FutureOfLocal. I’m excited to be part of this investigation into the relationship between travel, sense of place, local needs and global brands. Please do contribute your thoughts, ideas and opinions as well as spread the word about this valuable and open conversation.
Rapha Explorers
Posted: 19 February, 2013 Filed under: Cycle, External, Fields, Road, Rural, Types of exploration, Urban | Tags: Brendon McConnel, Cycling, Icknield Way, Place, Rapha, Seb, Uffington, Westbury, White Horse Leave a comment »A good friend, Brendon McConnell, shared The Rapha Continental films with me this morning. We’d been chatting about a small adventure I went on this weekend with Seb (my son) to go hill rolling beside the Uffington White Horse. 110 metres long and around 3000 years old, it’s a great place to roll down ancient hills and to top it off, the landscape itself is called ‘rolling downland’. It was actually a confused conversation because Brendon was thinking about the Westbury White Horse in Wiltshire (a baby in comparison at just over 200 years old) that features in this film by Rapha, who make clothing for cyclists.
There is a whole series of poetic and beautifully made videos that manage to record and represent different senses of places. This film of the Icknield Way, including the Westbury White Horse, contrasts country with urban life so strongly that I actually felt a physical reaction when I watched it. These videos are such great examples of the importance of place(s) in our lives, and how exploration can deepen our understanding and enjoyment of them.
TEDxEHL 2013
Posted: 5 February, 2013 Filed under: Geography, Human, Sense, Tourism, UrbanStory | Tags: Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, everyday, exploration, Explorers, Global, Hotel, Local, Switzerland, TED, TEDx, Tourism Leave a comment »Next month I’m going to be making my way to Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne in Switzerland to give a talk at TEDxEHL 2013. Among others, I’m going to have the pleasure of sharing the stage with Caroline Duetsch Kubik, Mela Kocher and Doug Manuel. I’m excited to be taking part and can’t wait to work out what I’m going to say…
Me on National Geographic Live!
Posted: 14 January, 2013 Filed under: Geography, Sense, Sixth Sense, Smell, Sound, Taste, Touch, Types of exploration, Urban | Tags: exploration, Nat Geo Live, National Geographic Leave a comment »Last year I was lucky enough to be invited into National Geographic in Washington DC to give a Nat Geo Live! presentation. Part of National Geographic’s Geography Awareness Week this is my 50 minute presentation compressed into 20. I hope you like it.
