The Lions' Gate: Towards a Permaculture-inspired Blended Space

Abstract

In light of the devastating ecological effects of climate breakdown and with human well-being under severe stress, this paper presents The Lions' Gate - an in-development, urban, interactive permaculture project on-campus in Edinburgh, Scotland. We argue that to address limits to computing, a radical framework is needed. We position permaculture as an alternative to the economic growth model, and it's associated temporal controls. Our work is an attempt at shifting our thinking and doing by employing a blended spaces perspective to permaculture, university campuses and digital media. By starting from a permaculture view we have the ecological and ethical tools to practice alternatives to growth. As far as Sustainable Interaction Design (SiD) is concerned - in today's climate, actions must ultimately speak louder than words.