As we consider what Arcosanti will look like in say five years after its founder's death, we might do well to look at one of the last things he put forward in his life - the idea that cities and societies need to do more than reform but to Reformulate themselves to become ecologically and socially sustainable.
Rationale
At the end of his life Soleri talked about the need for something more fundamental in society than incremental reform which seems almost everyone would agree has gotten the progressive no where in terms of improving the overall socioeconomic dynamics of society. Soleri had become a critic of the Reform Movement and saw it as a failure. That we are not moving forward as a society corruption seems to be growing. Such a trend and relationship between corruption of the society and workshop of money and power as ends to themselves seem very predictable when looking at historical trends. Soleri warned us about the unhealthy worship of money and materials values.
Adding to what Soleri had said is the realization that Arcosanti and Arcology must be reformatted or reformulated to become relevant in offering a practical model of transformation for the world. From that process what needs to emerge is: A solid, consistent and compassionate ideology for changing not just the built environment but the very nature of what we see as our humanity. This ideology must not be classroom and neither should it be workplace based.
Reformulation Values and Outlook
By calling any movement to reform Arcosanti, a (Re)formulation process, we are putting Soleri’s very own prescriptions (or at least in the process considering some of concerns and trying to consider how a culture might be formed around these for building future societies) for fixing society and the world.
We are acknowledging what he had a problem with, while we are taking action where he seemed to be unable to act as a leader.
We are empowered with the realization that we must first create a model of change most immediate to us, especially before lecturing the larger society about what is wrong with it.
We must be a model of the change we want to see by figuring out how to put those ideals we hold dear into practical practice in our lives – in order to be taken seriously.
We must be honest with ourselves about our intentions, where we are going and how effectively we are getting there considering this reformulation process as a dynamic, living and evolving process.
Strategic Planning for Reformulation of Arcosanti and Arcology
By adding the term reformulation to the strategic planning process we make clear that this is not a plan for keeping business as usual or the status quo but rather that a major shift is going to be needed in order for our goals to be reached as part of the proposed 5 year medium term planning process. We might want to divide the planning process into three sections as seen below:
Short Term - can be done immediately to the next 3-12 months
Medium Term - will take some planning 2-5 years
Long Term - not the focus of the five year plan but of what can come after that. This will still be discussed in the plan but will not be the focus of what is to be accomplished five years from now.
It is important to note that this is a much about the process of building work teams among the community and alumni as it about the actual impact on a strategy. The challenge to this is figuring out what might be a generally agreed upon strategy for the community and alumni that is also supportive and compatible with Paolo's vision and also consider existing sensibilities and needs within CF.
A major goal is to have an ending outcome of this deliberative process that leads to a living document that explains clearly and concisely a set of possible scenarios.
Outline Strategy Goals for the focus of the planning document (with 5 years):
Achieve critical mass in that a baseline population of 150 will be able to exist at Arcosanti in a variety of diverse economic and social activities that are relevant to making the project a prototype for Global Arcology Development:
Define quantitative measures for defining Critical Mass Success such as population, business income and building construction and other forms of investment.
Consider non-quantitative measures such as resident morale, public and alumni perception of the project etc.
Develop more professional approaches and methods for managing the organization and the people in it.
Reboot existing Workshop program to develop an advanced state of the art educational program designed in a way similar to Ecosa Institute; focusing on a full immersion approach to learning of appropriate technologies relevant to Arcology creation.
Facilitate the incubation sustainable businesses developing technologies that are highly synergistic as you might expect within a Arcology.
Create more synergies between existing and proposed EcoTourism enterprises to increase the number of visitors and dollars coming into the project through tourism.
Reformulate the existing Arcosanti 5000 and Critical Mass designs to consider community, alumni and expert inputs so that a realistic and achievable plan for Critical Mass can be design implemented and completed within 5 years.
A serious community driven process in the Reformulation of Arcosanti may involve radical and comprehensive changes in what are the criteria for defining the reaching of that goal of reaching Critical Mass. This could or might include changes in the sequence of the building and the design of the buildings themselves.
Conclusion:
While the idea of reaching Arcosanti Critical Mass within five years is ambitious and some might say unrealistic, we can hardly see that such a goal is not compelling and necessary given the needs of humanity to quickly embark on a new path to development that ensures an authentic process of evolution towards a more enlightened state of being as human beings which involves the development of Arcology Eco-Cities.
Notes, References & Resources:
Lean Alternative @ Arco (link to Google Doc) is a outline for a possible strategy geared towards appropriate technology and sustainable development - what Soleri called the Lean Alternative.
Life After Arcology Blog Post/introduction of the "Arcosanti Reformulation Project" by Jeff Buderer: http://arcosanti.wordpress.com/2013/09/18/arcosanti-reformulation-project/
Arcosanti All Site and Community Council "Five lists " Strategy Discussion - a effort led by Jeff Buderer to get community inputs into the development of a strategy plan: AllSiteArcoGoal