Innovation was not born in the boardroom or invented by analysts. It is the foundation of our need and ability to survive. And that, is not a negative concept.
Yesterday, I was watching a report on the Current television channel regarding the deadly cyclone Sidr, that affected people in Bangladesh and other areas, in 2007.
It is not unusual to have cyclones occur in this area. Sidr was unusual in size however, and this time, the consequences are different for a number of reasons.
A young architect in Bangladesh, has innovated to deal with the sudden crowding issues of "climate refugees" and accelerated warming tendencies in the Himalayas that are causing flooding. All of this complicates the terrible results of the cyclone.
"Climate refugees" is a new term for many of us.
In response, the architect has helped to build schoolrooms on boats in selected waterways.
His point is: "To live with the water". He is going forward to say that an entire educational system can exist on water and so can farms and other services.
Children are now effectively working in these water schools in a place that remains devastated in many ways.
In Flood-Prone Bangladesh, a Future That Floats
September 28, 2007 by Voice of South
Like a scene out of the 1995 post-apocalyptic movie “Water world,” in which the continents are submerged after the polar ice caps melt and the survivors live out at sea, the boat schools and libraries are a creative response to flooding that scientists largely agree has been worsened by global warming.
Melting glaciers in the Himalayas are already causing sea levels to rise here, and scientists say Bangladesh may lose up to 20 percent of its land by 2030 as a result of flooding. That Bangladesh is among the most vulnerable countries on the planet to climate change is a tragedy for its 150 million people, most of whom are destitute.
The need for a Bangladeshi Water world, experts say, has never been more urgent.
“For Bangladesh, boats are the future,” said Abul Hasanat Mohammed Rezwan, an architect who started the boats project here and who now oversees it as executive director of the nonprofit Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha, a name that means self-reliance. “As Bangladeshi citizens, it’s our responsibility to find solutions because the potential for human disaster is so huge. We have to be bold. Everyone loves land. But the question is: Will there be enough? Millions of people will have nowhere to go.”
http://current.com/items/77475961_real_life_waterworld will give you an overall picture of the devastation.What does innovation seem to mean in your work environment?
Best,
Sal
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