Ancient Bio-Indicator Recalibrated by Modern Remote Sensing for Timeless Almanac by GAEA

Hi Morgan, Thanks so much for your feedback - it is really great food for thought - and we look forward to getting a lively discussion going on these topics. It has been quite a challenge for us expressing our thoughts clearly on such a fascinatingly complex and nuanced subject while staying within the character limits! Without a doubt, further discussion and feedback will help us to develop, refine and clarify our ideas. Firstly, it is certainly true that something might be lost once the calendars are presented in the form of documents. Despite our intention to make every possible effort at accommodating the diversity of different variations of the calendars and local languages, it is fair to expect some negative impact on the dynamism (or perception of dynamism) within this system. With that said, any approach or intervention is likely to carry some trade-offs, and we felt this approach offered a lot in facilitating adoption (or re-adoption) as well as to encouraging widespread engagement with the project. From our experiences in both Sri Lanka and Nepal, we've seen many homes where virtually the only decorations on the walls were a religious ornament and one or more wall calendars. Often the calendars were many years old; they were hung up because they were useful and free but kept up simply because they were attractive. With regards to your second point, it certainly isn't the aim to mediate the one calendar entirely through the other by overlaying the body calendar on top of the Gregorian. The ambition is rather to present the two systems together, but as independent and parallel, as the first step towards "letting go of these reference points and trying to understand temporal relationships within an agroecosystem". A useful metaphor might be language learning, where initially one must mediate the second language, at least to some degree, through the mother tongue (i.e. translate words and phrases). Over time, however, greater fluency is achieved and the new language gains internal coherency, nuance and connotation in the mind of the speaker which is understood independently of any other language. Ultimately, the two languages exist as separate wholes operating in parallel, each serving essentially the same purpose but still uniquely suited to use in different contexts. Thanks again for your feedback! Warm Regards, GAEA

I'd love to see some visual examples that could serve as inspiration for the project. It's true, wall calendars are ubiquitous. I wonder what kind of design principles could guide the process of making an engaging, informative, dynamic, and actionable artifact like this.

20 days left to iron out your proposal! Don’t forget to share with your networks to maximize discussion before the deadline! Click on "Share conversation" at the top of this page!

3 days left until the judges will read through your proposal! Take this chance to invite others to weigh-in and ensure your proposal is as comprehensive and accurate as possible! Now is the time to make any last minute changes!