TED 2011’s Big Idea for Global Sustainability

Ever wanted to build your own community? And no, I don't mean spending every waking hour on The Sims renovating your virtual dream house. This big idea, straight from TED2011, could empower humans everywhere with the essential tools to create civilisations, DIY-style.

TED fellow Marcin Jakubowski has identified 50 machines critical to our modern way of life — everything from tractors to ovens to brick-making machines. Determined to re-design these machines to be modular, long-lasting and made of local recyclable materials, Jakubowski began Open Source Ecology, a project  uniting a community of farmers, engineers and supporters hell-bent on developing an open-source 'Global Village Construction Set'.

In essence, it's a suite of machines that are essential for setting up any civilisation. The best bit? Machinery is made up of interchangeable life-sized LEGO-like parts, and has the potential to democratise industrial production and enhance supply chains to be more environmentally sustainable. Jabukowski says the Global Village Construction Set "lowers the barriers to entry into farming, building, and manufacturing and can be seen as a life-size lego-like set of modular tools that can create entire economies."

[Via GOOD]