The Resource Balanced Economy

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The circular economy is the idea that we get all our resource needs from recycling around rubbish. Instead of trying to actually fix the circular economy, I completely came up with a completely different idea. And so this entirely new concept is going to be based on four basic challenges. The energy systems required to be developed will be fundamentally different. We've got to decide that human society is part of the environment, as opposed to separate to it. A long term survival is linked to the long term stability of the biodiversity of life systems. It's not rocket science, but here we are.

In this episode, Simon Michaux returns to discuss his new paper “A Resource Balanced Economy”, which outlines an alternative economic and social system. This conversation builds off of his two previous episodes on The Great Simplification, unpacking the ideas and tools that will be helpful in planning for an unknown future with more energy and material constraints. How can we be more intentional about the design of our technology to make products that are longer lasting and easier to reuse? How can we organize society to create resilient communities based around actual human needs, rather than endless efficiency geared towards growth? Can an ‘Arcadian Blueprint’ emerge, and at what scale, and by whom?

About Simon Michaux:

Dr. Simon Michaux is an Associate Professor of Geometallurgy at the Geological Survey of Finland. He has a PhD in mining engineering. Dr. Michaux’s long-term work is on societal transformation toward a circular economy.

For Show Notes and More visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/68-simon-michaux

To watch this video episode on Youtube → htt ps://youtu.be/bb801wdRULM