Chris Turner, an old friend from Crazy Go Nuts University and author of the books Planet Simpson and The Geography of Hope, is launching his new book, The Leap, tonight (Wednesday, September 28th) at the Gladstone Hotel.
The titular leap is, in Turner’s own words, “the big jump we need to take that leads to our best possible, brightest future.” He calls it “The Great Leap Sideways”: a leap from our current unsustainable way of life, bound straight for ecological, energy and economic troubles, to a better way. This better way lets us pursue the same goals and preserves our quality of life, but is far less deleterious in the long run. And best of all, we have glimpses of this better way in many places in the world, right now.
Turner likes to quote sustainability guru Paul Hawken: “Civilization needs a new operating system. You are the programmers, and we need it within a few decades.”
The Leap is a field guide to that better way. Turner takes the reader on a tour of breakthroughs in renewable energy, “clean tech” and liveable urban design. He talks about the solar towers in Spain, the bike- and pedestrian-friendly avenues of Copenhagen (billed as the world’s most liveable city) and “green-collar” economies jump-starting the former East Germany and the American Rust Belt. These bits of that better way show us the better future, one that we could reach with a little effort.
Here’s Turner at TedXCalgary talking about The Leap:
I’m going to try and catch the launch. I was late in RSVPing, but if I bike down to the Gladstone and do some work at the Melody Bar later this afternoon before the event, I might be able to schmooze my way in.