What Will Be Our Legacy?

In his Greenormal blog, John Grant offers what he thinks will be the ‘heritage we leave behind’ that future generations might thank us for. A mix of optimism and caution, the list proposed by Grant (author of four books, the most recent being The Green Marketing Manifesto) is a glimpse of the ten things that make up our generation’s footprint, including “our music,” “women’s empowerment,” and a few other innovations that are a bit less obvious, like:

5. The social venture. Where corporations were, community hybrids (public-private) ie cooperative-style organisations will be. We may still see massive global franchises for proven formulae (and not reinventing the wheel) but with local and/or employee ownership.

6. Open source. Restrictive IP and the modern cult of the patent is from a broader perspective (Odum argued) a key block on development and flexibility. And most breakthrough ideas originate in science parks and universities, not corporations.

7. Know-how. The stock of knowledge we have developed in the fat times may support us through the lean times; from medicine to nutrition to design. I imagine a definitive ‘bible’ in every town library collecting a sum of useful know-how on everything from what to do in a cholera outbreak to servicing a computer server.

8. Permaculture Design. The more I read about this, the more I think this is probably the key set of ideas of our age. One of its founders David Holmgren was profoundly influenced by Odum too. Permaculture will likely revolutionise agriculture; including their calls for turning every garden into a home farm. But it may also revolutionise human systems design in general. For instance, we need to convert systems from optimum profit (lean, just-in-time efficiency) to optimum resilience (lots of built in redundancy, providing some slack in times of crisis).

9. The internet. I seriously doubt that current trivial uses will be affordable, but as an essential means to share good ideas, crowd-sourced innovation processes, support efficient markets and a global sense of belonging…

10. A cautionary tale. Our whole (from a future view) totally mad modern lifestyle will probably be taught as a negative example, to support the new culture. ‘Imagine a day when people used to throw things away’!

Grant adds that while it’s impossible to really know what tomorrow’s society will take and learn from today’s, he think that considering what our legacy is helps shape our present-day mentality:

We need to realise that the world will change. And hence the things you direct all your energies into today may simply not be relevant tomorrow. This way of thinking can redirect your life’s work.

Those possible future heritage items are ultimately my own list of the sorts of things I think of as worthwhile to focus on. I wouldn’t dream of suggesting it is the right list or one which any reader should share. Rather I’d suggest it’s well worth forming such a list of your own. What can you build now, which will be valued by our descendents?

Greenormal: Today’s Work, Tomorrow’s Heritage