Interesting times

There is an old Chinese proverb (though some believe it may also have been a curse) which says: “may you live in interesting times”.

I suspect people have always thought their own times are interesting – after all, they are the only times we will ever know. But the events of the last few weeks – the near collapse of the global financial system and the looming possibility of a deep recession – may prove to really live up to the proverb.

There’s a sense that we really are at a turning point in history. As always though, just how interesting will be for the history books to judge.

It’s certainly given an interesting and relevant context to my summer assignment. You may remember from my last blog, but I had chosen to get to grips with question 5:

“The orthodox (capitalist) reading of ‘the economic’ is one which promotes competition and self-interest over cooperation and mutual aid. What are the implications of this when promoting social and economic sustainability?”

While recent events may have placed capitalist competition and self-interest on the back foot, I’m not sure it spells the death knell of market forces entirely (as some have predicted).

The jury is probably also still out on the consequences for sustainable communities. The only thing that is certain is: nothing is certain. Things are changing rapidly and will certainly be done in a new way in future. There are new opportunities which could bring radical change but we don’t know what they are yet.

For me personally, radical change was certainly on the agenda as the start of the second year of my foundation degree in sustainable communities approached. I have to confess I came very close to giving up the course. Things were just getting too hectic for me, I had too much on and didn’t think I could find the time to devote to my assignments. But, like the financial markets perhaps, I walked up to the brink and then took a step back.

I reminded myself that ultimately there’s a very valuable qualification to come at the end of this. And then I thought of all the other good stuff.

For a start there was our first project on returning after the summer break. This was a visit to a real life environmentally sustainable community – the Hockerton Housing Project in Nottingham. I was seriously impressed (though it may have helped that it was a nice sunny day).

As I continue my quest to bring an Arts Business Centre and a creative spaces network to the East Riding of Yorkshire, this is the sort of stuff which is going to prove really useful. I am currently contributing to a feasibility study for the centre which demands consideration be given to sustainability. Similarly, the realisation that I will be involved in some of the planning decisions around delivering the Arts Business Centre has acted as a further incentive to stick with it (especially given there will be more of a focus on this in year 2).

Then there’s all the regeneration work I am involved with in Bridlington – on Yorkshire Forward’s Urban Renaissance Programme and as vice-chair of the Core Steering Group, Bridlington Regeneration Partnership. I genuinely feel, one year into the course, that my credibility in these institutions has gone up. I no longer feel like I’m “that artist bloke from down the high street” – but someone who can confidently conduct conversations on planning and government policy and the role of creative industries in delivering sustainable communities. That’s really important to me.

And then I thought of all the help and support I have been given since I was diagnosed as dyslexic at the end of year one. That’s included a host of valuable reading material I have been directed towards and some really useful learning tips including mind mapping, a much more visual approach which suits me down to a tee.

So it looks like you’re stuck with me for another year at least!

This is the fourth blog from Carlo Verda in a series about the Academy’s foundation degree.