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design

Dr Mick Abbott

Instead of limiting the numbers of people who have access to the wilderness could we have a goal to maximise the impact – the more people the better it is?

Editor of a new book Wild Heart: The possibility of wilderness in New Zealand, Dr Mick Abbott has strong views about the wilderness. For starters, let’s lose the idea that there is such a place. Rather than defined by geography, for Mick, wilderness is any place where we can have respectful relationships with indigenous ecosystems. Thus the wilderness is a way of understanding – of generativity and richness – rather than a specific place.

From bungy jumping to brushing teeth in Antarctica, this is our widest ranging interview yet.

Shane’s number of the week: 32. That’s 32 Celsius which was the temperature in Chicago in mid March.

Sam’s joined-up-thinking: Are the Millennium Goals aspirational targets, achievable, or low hanging fruit?

Trainspotting: Extra points for answers to these ten burning questions:

  1. How does the experience of a bungy jump take months?
  2. Why should we stop treating our land as if we were all motelliers?
  3. Is design an indulgence?
  4. What can we learn from Antarctica?
  5. How did he come to the realisation that the more stuff I carry with me, the less I ask of the place
  6. Why does he support a tunnel, but not a monorail?
  7. Where is water explicitly energy?
  8. How is 100% Pure an opportunity for us?
  9. Why do we take photos of places and ignore the real story behind the camera?
  10. How many months are there until the end of the Century?