The tasks we performed today in the kitchen at Cluney House were pretty much the same as last week – more cleaning dishes and preparing dishes. The crew this time was different from last week, larger in fact, with only the head chef Jonathan who was also there last week. I do a lot of cooking at home, so it was good to get some tips about cooking more with vegetables and getting to try out some fresh rocket delivered from the garden. It was nice to meet some new faces, although I feel I perhaps would have gained more if our work departments were swapped giving us an insight into a different part of the community.
I have been thinking a lot today about the visit we had last night, and imagining the family on the croft going about their routine, and it has made me think a lot about how comfortable our lives, especially in the western world really is. I had an opportunity later in the day to discuss this with Graham, and we talked about how difficult it is to encourage people to part with so many comfortable aspects of their lives. Again, not that people have to live a lifestyle illustrated on the croft, but more about what our limits are – what are we really prepared to live without, which comforts are really truly necessary.
I've been attempting to fit in any reading for my essay into any free time I have, so my head was a little busy with thoughts when we started what will be a 2 and a half day lesson on System Thinking. To be honest, my first impression is that it is something that we have certainly been thinking about for the past week and a half, and in fact longer – something that was introduced to us formally in our Environmental Studies class with talks about earth systems and feedback loops, and even a presentation we were required to give on a specific element, mine being Tungsten – see below for an image of my life system diagram.
I have been thinking a lot today about the visit we had last night, and imagining the family on the croft going about their routine, and it has made me think a lot about how comfortable our lives, especially in the western world really is. I had an opportunity later in the day to discuss this with Graham, and we talked about how difficult it is to encourage people to part with so many comfortable aspects of their lives. Again, not that people have to live a lifestyle illustrated on the croft, but more about what our limits are – what are we really prepared to live without, which comforts are really truly necessary.
I've been attempting to fit in any reading for my essay into any free time I have, so my head was a little busy with thoughts when we started what will be a 2 and a half day lesson on System Thinking. To be honest, my first impression is that it is something that we have certainly been thinking about for the past week and a half, and in fact longer – something that was introduced to us formally in our Environmental Studies class with talks about earth systems and feedback loops, and even a presentation we were required to give on a specific element, mine being Tungsten – see below for an image of my life system diagram.
I also think that the fact that many of us have even signed up for this course and the diversity of nationalities and occupations mean that we are already predisposed to this way of thinking – we maybe just didn't have a word for it. My only concern is that we may be dedicating too much time to this topic in the next couple of days – I guess we'll see.
Our very long day ended with a short design charette/crit of proposals to alter and extend the existing Universal Hall. The teams were divided into two groups of 4, trying to get a fair share of experience and specialisms spread out. It felt good to have something concrete to be working on, taking on board some of the things we have beein mulling over the past few days. Our group worked well and I though we did a fairly good presentation of our ideas, although there was a quiet member in our group who we will need to try and bring in more for the design charette next week. It was a shame to see that the other group had not co-ordinated so well, something that they will need to work on. Their group highlighted that it's not necessarily about talents and skills but also balanced communication.
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