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Self-Determination, Not Goodwill, Will Decide the Global South’s Future
Self-Determination, Not Goodwill, Will Decide the Global South’s Future
The Global South did not cause this crisis, but we are determined to define its solution. In Punjab, that solution begins with clean streets, safe water, affordable energy, and credible finance – all bound by one idea: the path out of climate despair runs through green...
Maryam Nawaz Sharif
Community-Driven Catalysts for Degrowth
Community-Driven Catalysts for Degrowth
By embedding degrowth principles in local, everyday practice, "Kreisler" associations offer a vision for urban provisioning beyond extraction and individualism and toward a communal, crisis-resilient future.
Cléo Mieulet
The US Is Broken. Time to Think About What Comes Next
The US Is Broken. Time to Think About What Comes Next
Recalling William Appleman Williams' vision for a continental confederation of regional commonwealths.
Patrick Mazza
Start Building the World You Want to Live in After Trump's Dark Age
Start Building the World You Want to Live in After Trump's Dark Age
As Trump demolishes the old and drives America toward a darker future, the Democrats’ instinct has been to grieve, resist, and dream of restoration. But restoration may be the wrong goal.
Richard Sclove
The Real Prison Is Traffic: Debunking The 15-minute City Conspiracy
The Real Prison Is Traffic: Debunking The 15-minute City Conspiracy
Most American towns before the 1950s were already 15-minute cities. What changed wasn’t freedom—it was corporations dismantling transit to profit from cars and sprawl.
Tim Hjersted
The Suburbs Are Literally Killing the Planet
The Suburbs Are Literally Killing the Planet
Cities are not associated with being green, but when you measure carbon emissions per household, suburbanites have a much higher carbon footprint than city dwellers. And that’s because American-style suburbia is designed in a way that forces people to live unsustainable...
19 min
A Localism Manifesto
A Localism Manifesto
With this manifesto, we are putting national governments everywhere on notice. We are not going away. We will become bolder in our local experiments and in our challenges to your authority.
Michael Shuman
We Went To a Texas Town Emptied By ICE Raids
We Went To a Texas Town Emptied By ICE Raids
In 2024 McAllen, Texas had a booming economy, with $100 million in increased sales tax revenue from 2023. Now, residents tell us that it's a ghost town and the local economy is hurting. Why? ICE raids on shops and factories have left workers too scared to go outside.
5 min
24 Hours In an Illegal, Car-free Community
24 Hours In an Illegal, Car-free Community
Ever wondered what it would be like to live in a neighborhood that wasn’t designed around cars? Well - in most of the country that’s actually illegal. But in Tempe, AZ there’s a new development called Culdesac that has managed to make it happen. This community is designed...
17 min
The Regenerative Revolution Is Now: 30 Documentaries About Regenerating Ecosystems, Local Economies, and Healthier, Joyful Lives
The Regenerative Revolution Is Now: 30 Documentaries About Regenerating Ecosystems, Local Economies, and Healthier, Joyful Lives
Regenerative living is a revolutionary philosophy rooted in reciprocity, creativity, and care.
Films For Action
What Does a Solarpunk City Look Like?
What Does a Solarpunk City Look Like?
In this video, I examine why we need solarpunk, ecosocialist, and degrowth-oriented cities. Specifically, I look at what those future cities might look like, and the failures of capitalist cities today. - OCC
28 min
The Absolute Best Transportation for Cities
The Absolute Best Transportation for Cities
Patreon: https://patreon.com/notjustbikes
36 min
How Two Billionaires Erased a Rural Ohio Town
How Two Billionaires Erased a Rural Ohio Town
Today we will be exploring the homes abandoned in New Albany, Ohio, and why they went abandoned. - Stringer media
44 min
Public Banking 101
Public Banking 101
The details can be complex, but the value of public banking is actually simple to understand.
3 min
Localization Action Guide: 137 Actions to Resist and Renew
Localization Action Guide: 137 Actions to Resist and Renew
Join the localization movement to build resilient local economies and flourishing communities. Local Futures produced a detailed Localization Action Guide to encourage everyone to 'GO LOCAL' - anytime, anyplace. It offers tangible and tested ways for individuals, communities...
Local Futures
LAFD: Design For Disaster - The Story of the Bel Air Conflagration
LAFD: Design For Disaster - The Story of the Bel Air Conflagration
This 1962 documentary film produced by the Los Angeles Fire Department, describes the historic Bel Air / Brentwood wildfire that started on November 5, 1961 in the Bel Air community of Los Angeles. Over the course of three days, the wind-driven fire destroyed 484 homes...
27 min
The Future Is Local: Bioregioning 101
The Future Is Local: Bioregioning 101
The past century has been marked by the rise of globalization in every sense of the word - through production, culture, agriculture, consumption and more. This trend has brought great wealth and opportunities to many people - but what have we lost and forgotten through this...
89 min
All-Aboard for Free Public Transport
All-Aboard for Free Public Transport
From utopia to reality: fare-free public transport in Brazil.
Daniel Santini
This Detroit Agrihood is Transforming its Community - Michigan Urban Farming Initiative Tour
This Detroit Agrihood is Transforming its Community - Michigan Urban Farming Initiative Tour
A tour of MIUFI (Michigian Urban Farming Initiative) and interview with its manager - Quan Blunt.
13 min
65 Documentaries Inspiring the Transition From Empire to Earth Community
65 Documentaries Inspiring the Transition From Empire to Earth Community
We are living in a time of profound transition, a moment when humanity must choose its path forward. The old systems—of empire, domination, and exploitation—are showing signs of weakness, and in their wake, we have the opportunity to build something far more life-affirming. A...
Tim Hjersted
A Progressive Call to Arms: Laboratories of Democracy
A Progressive Call to Arms: Laboratories of Democracy
The Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Throughout the history of our nation, this amendment has...
Keeling Baker
Transforming Cities, Changing the System
Transforming Cities, Changing the System
The system is broken—so where do we start building a new one? Faced with interlocking ecological, economic, and political crises, local innovators are organizing at the city level to develop real foundations for systemic alternatives.
6 min
Right to Housing and Its Relation to Democracy
Right to Housing and Its Relation to Democracy
Housing is absolutely essential to human flourishing. Without stable shelter, it all falls apart.~Matthew Desmond[1]The issue of housing is of fundamental importance that has a direct connection, among other basic rights, to democratic participation. Despite that (or because...
Yavor Tarinski
Closer to Home: Voices of Hope in a Time of Crisis
Closer to Home: Voices of Hope in a Time of Crisis (2024)
This 35-minute film is a united call for a new economy, delivered by those who have committed their lives to working for systemic change.
34 min
The Power of Local: Community Solutions to Our Global Crisis
The Power of Local: Community Solutions to Our Global Crisis (2024)
This 42-minute film is bursting with examples of exciting localization initiatives across the world.
43 min
Alter Nativas: Building Possible Futures
Alter Nativas: Building Possible Futures (2023)
“Alter Natives” is a documentary about transition initiatives and ecosocial regeneration; a collective project to make visible transformative experiences in our geographies and inspire other possible futures. “Alternatives”, from Latin Alter (other) and Nativus (born), refers...
115 min
How This Car-Free Neighborhood Unlocks Sustainable Cities
How This Car-Free Neighborhood Unlocks Sustainable Cities
Culdesac, a new car-free community in Tempe, Arizona, is the most Edenic urban space I have seen. Join me on a recent visit and conversation with its CEO Ryan Johnson—who explained how to unlock sustainability in the US and design our way out of the loneliness epidemic. This...
12 min
This is [Not] Who We Are
This is [Not] Who We Are (trailer)
This Is [Not] Who We Are explores the gap between Boulder, Colorado's progressive self-image and the lived experiences of its small but resilient Black community. Boulder is emblematic of predominantly white communities that profess an inclusive ethic but live in a segregated...
4 min
It's Basic
It's Basic (trailer)
When the Coronavirus Pandemic threw livelihoods into uncertainty and consequently spurred the creation of multiple direct government assistance programs, every American was given first-hand experience with the concept of Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI), an idea that has been...
3 min
From Citizens of Nations to Citizens of Cities
From Citizens of Nations to Citizens of Cities
[C]itizens today no longer even approximate the high and eminently human standard of citizenship that was established in the Hellenic world—a meaning that must be recovered, as well as the personal and social training, or paideia, for producing citizens.~Murray...
Yavor Tarinski
How the US Property Tax System Robs The Poor to Pay For The Wealthy
How the US Property Tax System Robs The Poor to Pay For The Wealthy
Discover the shocking truth about a secret racket in America that's been hiding in plain sight for years; High-value homes are escaping their fair share of property taxes, burdening less wealthy neighbors and straining city budgets.
18 min
How To Build A Solarpunk City
How To Build A Solarpunk City
"I believe our cities should belong to us. They should be cooperative, co-creative, ecological, and egalitarian spaces, by and for the people. We have so much untapped urban potential just waiting to be explored. Join me as we determine how to build a solarpunk...
42 min
How The "15 Minute City" Conspiracy Theory Fooled People Into Fighting for The Status Quo
How The "15 Minute City" Conspiracy Theory Fooled People Into Fighting for The Status Quo
A bunch of "free thinkers" on the internet want you to believe walkable, healthier cities are a plot to enslave you.
Tim Hjersted
Even Small Towns are Great Here (5 Years in the Netherlands)
Even Small Towns are Great Here (5 Years in the Netherlands)
We’ve lived in the Netherlands for 5 years now and we’ve been to a lot of small towns and cities in that time. The thing that surprised us the most is that there’s good urbanism pretty much everywhere. - Not Just Bikes
19 min
15-Minute Cities for Leftists
15-Minute Cities for Leftists
15-minute cities could be the solution to climate change and income inequality. Or they could just make everything worse. What we do know is that they probably aren't dystopian walled-cities. Let's explore what everyone is saying about 15-minute cities and start to work out...
27 min
We the Power | The Future of Energy is Community-Owned
We the Power | The Future of Energy is Community-Owned (2021)
A film about the citizen-led community-energy movement in Europe and the visionaries lighting the way.
39 min
How to Turn Your Neighborhood into a Village
How to Turn Your Neighborhood into a Village
Permaculture instructor Andrew Millison journeys to Portland, Oregon to talk with architect Mark Lakeman, founder of Communitecture Architecture and the City Repair Project. Mark initiated a movement in Portland to transform the homogenous neighborhoods of the city into...
17 min
How to Bring Back Front Yard Businesses
How to Bring Back Front Yard Businesses
How do we add mixed uses in single detached neighborhoods? People have some ideas… - About Here
9 min
How 15-Minute Cities Are Shaking Up the World
How 15-Minute Cities Are Shaking Up the World
In this video, we explore the concept of the 15-minute city, debunking common misconceptions and conspiracy theories surrounding it. We'll reframe the discussion to focus on the true intentions behind the idea, emphasizing its potential to create sustainable and thriving...
13 min
The Most Sustainable City In America
The Most Sustainable City In America
Over the last few weeks, I reached out to sustainability experts around the world, crunched a bunch of numbers, and asked all of you for help finding the most sustainable city in America. Here's what I learned. - Distilled
12 min
A Quiet Revolution: Seed Sovereignty in the City
A Quiet Revolution: Seed Sovereignty in the City
Londoners are rising to the challenges of climate change, food poverty, entrenched inequality and our nation’s mental and physical health crises by reviving one of the oldest human activities of all- sowing, saving and sharing seeds.
9 min
Beautiful No Dig Permaculture Kitchen Garden
Beautiful No Dig Permaculture Kitchen Garden
This video is of Tim and Maddy Harland's beautiful no-dig permaculture kitchen garden in Hapmshire UK. Tim and Maddy are the founders of the fantastic @PermacultureMagazine and have a tranquil vegetable garden, meadow and food forest at their home that has been maturing for...
11 min
Cities Aren't Loud: Cars Are Loud
Cities Aren't Loud: Cars Are Loud
Urban noise is a common problem, and the vast majority of it is created by motor vehicles. Noise is far too often dismissed as a minor nuisance, rather than the legitimate health issue that it is. The book "Curbing Traffic" has a chapter about the health impacts of noise...
18 min
The Orange Pill: There's Something Wrong With Suburbia
The Orange Pill: There's Something Wrong With Suburbia
This video was filmed on an actual CRT monitor, in an actual pile of garbage, at the side of an actual stroad.
3 min
Why the Suburbs Are Terrible for Us (and the Planet)
Why the Suburbs Are Terrible for Us (and the Planet)
In this video essay, I look at why the suburbs are so terrible for people and the planet. Specifically, I look at the racist history of the suburbs in the United States in order to understand how the suburbs came about. The suburbs have a dark history of white supremacy and...
18 min
When Trees Meet Buildings
When Trees Meet Buildings
Architects, engineers and developers are creating increasingly greener structures - and doing it in a more literal way than ever before.
12 min
Biophilic Design: The Architecture of Life
Biophilic Design: The Architecture of Life (2011)
Biophilic Design is an innovative way of designing the places where we live, work, and learn. We need nature in a deep and fundamental fashion, but we have often designed our cities and suburbs in ways that both degrade the environment and alienate us from nature.
60 min
The Modern Eco Village | BedZED
The Modern Eco Village | BedZED
The BedZED eco-village is a sustainable housing development based in London, UK. Going Green went to the eco-village to see both the green building design and the sustainable community.
4 min
Planet Local: A Quiet Revolution
Planet Local: A Quiet Revolution (2022)
Planet Local shows a quiet and transformative revolution emerging worldwide.
51 min
Why We Won't Raise Our Kids in Suburbia
Why We Won't Raise Our Kids in Suburbia
"Of all the reasons why we moved to the Netherlands, the independence of children is probably the most important one."
13 min
Redefining Prosperity
Redefining Prosperity (2018)
The story of how a mining town recovered from its legacy of pollution and prospered by building community around the battle to save their beautiful river. Born in the California Gold Rush, Nevada City was once the scene of some of the most destructive environmental...
57 min
Hiding in the Walls
Hiding in the Walls (trailer)
Hiding in the Walls captures the complicated and devastating story of Baltimore’s lead poisoning epidemic. It takes a deep dive into the origins of lead poisoning, the failures of local leadership to stop the problem, and ultimately how it came to be a dangerous part of daily...
2 min
Why Everywhere in the US is Starting to Look the Same
Why Everywhere in the US is Starting to Look the Same
On the homogenization of American cities...
21 min
Forest Condominium is Ecosystem of 150 Trees, 60+ Apartments
Forest Condominium is Ecosystem of 150 Trees, 60+ Apartments
With 150 trees sprouting across 5 floors of terraces, balconies, and roof gardens, apartment complex "25 Verde" in Italy rises like a giant treehouse, a forest-building ecosystem combining geothermal energy, water reuse, and natural cooling.
25 min
Going Circular
Going Circular (2021)
Imagine a future where we mimic the genius of nature—to re-calibrate the way humankind lives, breathes, builds—respecting the limits of our resources and transforming the modern world. Going Circular unlocks the secrets to circularity, an innovative concept that could save...
88 min
Why We Won't Raise Our Kids in Suburbia (and Moved to the Netherlands Instead)
Why We Won't Raise Our Kids in Suburbia (and Moved to the Netherlands Instead)
I was always told, growing up, that the suburbs (of Canada) are a good place to raise children. But I've come to appreciate the importance of independence for the a child's development, something that's nearly impossible in today's car-dependent suburbs. It was pretty clear...
12 min
How 100% Clean Energy Could Power Our Cities and Towns
How 100% Clean Energy Could Power Our Cities and Towns
Grist built this tiny model town to show what it would look like if we tried to transition to 100% clean energy. In the real world, it’s even more difficult. Staff reporter Shannon Osaka wrote about what it really means when cities say they’re going ‘100 percent renewable.’
6 min
Why Do We Make Life So Hard? | Jon Jondai
Why Do We Make Life So Hard? | Jon Jondai
Jon Jondai shares his life story of trying to find success in the city only to turn around and come back home to live a life of freedom.
10 min
Detropia
Detropia (trailer)
Originally the birthplace of the middle class, Detroit is now on the brink of complete collapse. Loosing over 25% of it’s population and 50% of its manufacturing jobs over the past decade, Detroit is now in a state of emergency. Racial tension, globalization, lack of...
3 min
Seven European cities pilot solutions to be more circular
Seven European cities pilot solutions to be more circular
The Circular Economy Action Plan, adopted by the European Commission in 2020, is one of the cornerstones of the European Green Deal. The plan includes a series of measures to ensure that the resources used in the EU are kept in use for as long as possible. The final goal is...
5 min
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