Prince of Wales 'Harmony: A New Way of Looking At Our World Video
/‘Harmony: A New Way of Looking At Our World” is an excellent narrative about the ways is which we humans have lost our sense of collective spirit and connection to nature. The film presumes that the cycles of life doesn’t separate plants, animals and humans into distinct categories.
HRH The Prince of Wales argues that humans have stewardship over the land, but not domination of nature. It is our collective responsibility to nurture nature, as it cares back for us.
The film is not about the Prince of Wales, but rather his ideas and life-long passions. For all the critics of Prince Charles who say that he lacks feeling, they haven’t seen him in the tomato beds.
We meet many people around the world, who articulate the philosophy of ‘Harmony’ in terms that are universal to all of us but also expressed within a geopolitical context.
What is remarkable, of course, is that for decades people have chided The Prince of Wales for his beliefs in organic farming, sustainability and even the role of ‘Harmony’ in fighting global poverty. Now he is on the forefront of these ideas and is taken very seriously.
The Green Revolution
The film spends a good amount of time on real-world, global-development issues including the fact that for most small farmers pesticides, insecticides, genetically-modified seeds have only narrowed the profit margins for farming.
The green revolution is ebbing in India and has never taken off in Africa. Even Howard Buffett is looking at alternatives that are small-scale for farmers, agreeing that big agra probably isn’t the answer.
Biomimicry
The subject of biomimicry is front and center in the film, with Janine Benyus sharing her insights about the wealth of knowledge nature is holding on the subject of sustainable design. The concept of biomimicry finds design solutions in nature, rather than assuming that technological innovation driven by the human mind will outsmart nature.
A key point in the film is that nature will not run out of energy, having a finely-developed system of inputs and outputs to run the planet. It is humans, with our careless, all-consuming attitude of not replenishing our nature bank that will cause us to run out of energy.Through biomimicry, we may find important answers to how nature conserves energy because she is much more efficient than humans are.
The film focuses moving forward in sensible ways, not returning to a pre-modern culture, which is unrealistic. The message is urgent but not head-banging for accusatory.
Harmony with Nature
Rather ‘Harmony: A New Way of Looking At Our World’ challenges us to get smart about our futures, and also to break away from a purely digital, technological existence. What matters is the world of our grandchildren and generations beyond.
Who are we to determine that they should not know nature, an intimate companion to human existence? The now famous Janine Benyus TED Talks video is in the biomimicy article. It remains one of the most powerful and thought-provoking 20 minutes of my life. Anne
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