Whatever you might think about Prince Charles his commitment to the environment is indisputable. Highgrove has been a model of sustainable agriculture for decades. He has funded many projects and foundations aimed at developing sustainable goals for many years. His philanthropy has mostly been overshadowed by Diana's because she was in the news but he has been a powerful voice for sustainable living for a long time.
Last week he made a statement that got the attention of a lot more people than usual. TheGUARDIAN article gives an overview. At a conference in Mumbai the Prince said:
"I strongly believe that the west has much to learn from societies and places which, while sometimes poorer in material terms are infinitely richer in the ways in which they live and organise themselves as communities," he told planners, charity workers and government officials.
"It may be the case that in a few years' time such communities will be perceived as best equipped to face the challenges that confront us because they have a built-in resilience and genuinely durable ways of living."
Many of us are old enough to have parents or clients who lived through the Depression who say that they did not really notice much of a difference because they were already poor and it did not change a lot for them. They already lived lives of simplicity and frugality because they had no choice. If you have know these people for very long, you notice that many of them still live well below their means and are quite content to do so because they are content to have "enough". Prince Charles has a foundationwhich studies the built environment and which assist in the study of the impact and practicality of traditional architecture. One of the things sustainable agriculture and sustainable housing have in common is being rooted in their location. He argues, among other things that the application of global housing solutions is part of the problem rather than the solution. Building skyscrapers in India to house the poor is not an appropriate local housing solution.
In the same speech he quoted Robert F. Kenedy saying "One might well argue that a relentless quest for near-term growth has failed to recognize all the hidden assets and values which are vital to longer term sustainability. In the memorable words of Robert Kennedy, over forty years ago, ‘the Gross National Product measures everything except that which makes life worthwhile'."Perhaps these are the principles that we need to remember as we move forward in our efforts to create a new greener economy with safe, sustainable housing available for all.
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