Dr. Eric W. Sanderson, Senior Conservation Ecologist at the Wildlife Conservation Society, Submits The Welikia Project to the Buckminster Fuller Challenge
Challenge winner will receive $100,000
View the Welikia Project video at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Zkv_G0qGd4 Newswise — Bronx, NY, February 14, 2012- The Welikia Project led by Dr. Eric W. Sanderson had been submitted to the Buckminster Fuller Challenge – an annual international design challenge awarding $100,000 to support the development and implementation of a strategy that has significant potential to solve humanity's most pressing problems.
The Buckminster Fuller Challenge, is a significant milestone for The Welikia Project which seeks to map the original, historic ecological landscape of New York City. More than eight million people live in the New York metropolitan area and Welikia provides the best model of sustainability – ecosystems in nature.
“We applied because we are inspired by Buckminster Fuller’s example of integrated anticipatory design,” said Dr. Sanderson. “We believe that ecology should be as much a part of the fabric of the city as art, culture, fashion, and technology. The challenge grant is an opportunity to make our vision come alive.”
Dr. Sanderson’s Welikia Project was published in the Challenge’s Idea Index 1.0 – an educational networking database of socially-responsible initiatives in need of further funding. Visitors can communicate directly with project leadership to offer advice, criticism, and encouragement. http://challenge.bfi.org/ideaindex.
The Buckminster Fuller Challenge review process, recently named "Socially-Responsible Design's Highest Award" by Metropolis Magazine, brings together influential design science leaders such as Josè Zaglul, Vandana Shiva, Danny Hillis, William McDonough, John Thackara, Hunter Lovins, Kenny Ausubal, and Nina Simon.
Cities want to be sustainable but by and large don’t know how. The Welikia Project seeks to map the original, historic ecological landscape of New York City, the place where eight million people live, and provide the best model of sustainability we can think of: ecosystems in nature.
Those interested in sustainable urban ecosystems are encouraged to participate in the project by joining BFI’s online community and submitting comments and feedback on The Welikia Project page.
Dr. Sanderson expects to be a serious contender for the award and would consider a victory in the Challenge to be a tremendous honor. The Challenge presents the opportunity to become part of a network that is advancing and accelerating the practice of comprehensive, whole systems thinking and design to develop the kind of high impact global solutions we so desperately need.
Should The Welikia Projectwin the Challenge, the $100,000 prize would be leveraged to further the project through the foundational ecosystem mapping stage into collaborations with regional hydrologists, ecosystem scientists, and urban planners to marry our historic Mannahatta understandings with the ecosystem processes of a large city.
For more information on The Welikia Project, visit welikia.org.
The Wildlife Conservation Society saves wildlife and wild places worldwide. We do so through science, global conservation, education and the management of the world's largest system of urban wildlife parks, led by the flagship Bronx Zoo. Together these activities change attitudes towards nature and help people imagine wildlife and humans living in harmony. WCS is committed to this mission because it is essential to the integrity of life on Earth. www.wcs.org.
Special Note to the Media: If you would like to guide your readers or viewers to a web link where they can support these projects, please direct them to: http://www.wcs.org/donation.
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