1. Treehugging, Ecomapping,
and Our Uncertain Future
Design Camp 8
May 5, 2007
Kevin Byrne
Minneapolis College of Art + Design
U.S.A.

2. 1. Treehugging
• Gut check, technical
• Language/labels experimentation
• Treehugging anniversaries
• Visual treehugging via ecomaps

7. 1999 NEETF/Roper Report Card
Test Your Knowledge!
1. How is most of the electricity in the U.S. generated? Is it: Survey Response
a. By burning oil, coal, and wood 28%
b. With nuclear power 14
c. Through solar energy 4
d. At hydro electric power plants? 37
Don’t know 18
2. What is the most common cause of pollution of streams, rivers, and oceans?
Is it...
a. Dumping of garbage by cities 17%
b. Surface water running off yards, city streets, paved lots, and farm fields 24
c. Trash washed into the ocean from beaches 5
d. Waste dumped by factories? 44
Don’t know 9
3. What do you think is the main cause of global climate change,
that is, the warming of the planet Earth? Is it...
a. A recent increase in oxygen in the atmosphere 5%
b. Sunlight radiating more strongly through a hole in the upper ozone layer 26
c. More carbon emissions from autos, homes, and industry 45
d. Increased activity from volcanoes worldwide? 5
Don’t know 19
4. To the best of your knowledge, what percentage of the world’s water is
fresh and available for use? Is it...
a. 1% 13%
b. 5% 20
c. 10% 27
d. 33%? 17
Don’t know 23

8. Google hits (circa 2007)
• Tree huggers = 2 million hits
• Environmentalism = 4 million
• Sustainable development = 61 m

9. 2007 Highlight Anniversaries
• 45th Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring published
• 4o Environmental Defense Fund (DDT fight)
• 37 Earth Day, Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi
• 35 Clean Water Act (U.S.A.)
• 28 Three Mile Island nuclear accident
• 25 U.N. World Charter published
• 22 Sinking of Rainbow Warrior, Auckland, NZ
• 20 U.N. Brundtland Report released
• 15 Earth Summit (Rio), Ecofootprint coined
• 10 Kyoto Protocol signed, Roper Green Report
•5 U.N. Sustainability Summit (Jo’berg) held

11. What is sustainable
development?
•Our childrens’ future: don’t mortgage it
•Think about systems:
ideas & resources must flow in circles
•Triple-bottom-line:
people, planet, and profit
•Sustainable design: plan & make
stuff

12. More Google hits
• Ecomap = 100,000 hits
• Cartography = 8 million
• Green map = 185 million
• Internet map = .5 billion

13. Static/paper ecomaps by scale
global…
• Simple, interesting…
• Maplecroft
• Sheffield University
national…
• Sudan’s minefields and ethnic mayhem
• Maori migration
• Constructed U.S.A.

15. MAPLECROFT Climate and Energy Series
M
e
o
m
i
c
g
e
a
T
i
M
l
r
e
i
a
Carbon resources - levels of proven reserves of oil, gas and coal. Darker Greenhouse gas emissions - levels of greenhouse gas emissions per e
shades represent higher levels of reserves. capita. Darker shades represent higher levels of emissions. c

16. Water Resources Produced by the SASI group (Sheffield) and Mark Newman (Michigan)
Water resources here include only
freshwater, because saline (sea) water
requires treatment before most uses.
Only 43 600 cublic kilometres of
freshwater is available as a resource
each year, despite more than twice
this amount falling as precipitation
(rain and snow). Much is lost through
evaporation. Those countries with
higher rainfall often have larger water
resources. Of all the water available,
the regions of South America and Asia
Pacific have the most.
People living in Kuwait use sea water
that is processed at a desalination
plant. As such Kuwait has no area on
this map because there are no
freshwater resources there.
Territory size shows the proportion of all worldwide
freshwater resources found there.
MOST AND LEAST WATER RESOURCES WORLD WATER RESOURCE DISTRIBUTION
Rank Territory Value Rank Territory Value
1 Sao Tome and Principe 227 190 Qatar 0.46 Eastern Europe 2%
South America 30%
2 Sierra Leone 223 191 Oman 0.32
North America 15%
3 Costa Rica 220 192 Turkmenistan 0.29
4 Liberia 208 193 Niger 0.28
Land area 5 Colombia 203 194 Bahamas 0.20 Eastern Asia 7% Western Europe 4%
Technical notes 6 Bhutan 202 195 Egypt 0.18 Japan 1%
• These data are from the United Nations Central Africa 4%
Environment Programme. 7 Panama 198 196 United Arab Emirates 0.18 Middle East 11% Southeastern Africa 2%
• Only freshwater resources are shown here. 8 Taiwan 186 197 Saudi Arabia 0.11 Northern Africa 3%
• *Kuwait had no recorded freshwater resources Southern Asia 4%
• See website for further information.
9 Papua New Guinea 177 198 Mauritania 0.04 Asia Pacific 17%
10 Malaysia 177 199 Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 0.03
centimetres of water per year (cubic centimetres of water volume per square centimetre of land area)*
“The Amazonian basin, where ten of the twenty largest rivers in the world are to be found ... represents one
fifth of the entire fresh water reserves of the planet. ” Brazilian Government’s Ministry of External Affairs, 2002
www.worldmapper.org © Copyright 2006 SASI Group (University of Sheffield) and Mark Newman (University of Michigan) Map 102

17. Water Use Produced by the SASI group (Sheffield) and Mark Newman (Michigan)
Four thousand cubic kilometres of
water are used by people each year
around the world, for domestic,
agricultural and other industrial
purposes. This does not include non-
consumptive uses such as energy
generation, mining, and recreation.
China, India and the United States use
the most water. These are also the
territories where the most people live.
But water use per person is about
three times higher in the United States
than it is in India and China.
Whilst everybody needs water, people
use hugely varying quantities. On
average, people living in Central Africa
each use only 2% of the water used
by each person living in North
America.
Territory size shows the proportion of worldwide water
use occuring there.
MOST AND LEAST WATER USAGE WORLD WATER USE
Rank Territory Value Rank Territory Value Eastern Asia 17%
South America 5%
1 Bangladesh 64 191 Djibouti 0.04 Eastern Europe 4%
2 Bahrain 44 192 Namibia 0.03 Middle East 11%
3 Mauritius 31 194 Angola 0.03
4 Belgium 27 193 Mongolia 0.03 North America 16%
Land area 5 Japan 24 195 Botswana 0.03 Asia Pacific 9%
Technical notes 6 Netherlands 24 196 Chad 0.02 Western Europe 6%
• Data are from the United Nations Environment
Programme. 7 Pakistan 23 197 Papua New Guinea 0.02
• See website for further information. 8 Maldives 23 198 Dem Republic Congo 0.02 Japan 2%
Southern Asia 24% Central Africa 0.076%
9 Viet Nam 23 199 Congo 0.01 Southeastern Africa 1%
Northern Africa 4%
10 India 22 200 Central African Republic <0.01
centimetres of water use per year (cubic centimetres of water volume per square centimetre of land area)
“... the right to water emanates from and is indispensable for an adequate standard of living as it is one of the
most fundamental conditions for survival.” Céline Dubreuil, 2006
www.worldmapper.org © Copyright 2006 SASI Group (University of Sheffield) and Mark Newman (University of Michigan) Map 104

18. Carbon Damage Produced by the SASI group (Sheffield) and Mark Newman (Michigan)
This map shows estimated carbon
damage due to emissions. Carbon
damage is estimated by the World
Bank as being US$20 per tonne of
carbon dioxide emitted. Another way
to show carbon damage would be to
show the variable costs incurred due
to varying effects of carbon emissions.
Carbon damage could also be
measured in non-economic terms.
One problem in showing carbon
damage is that we do not yet know
the precise form, distribution and
severity of the damage from global
warming. This map shows what a
uniform financial fee for carbon
emissions would be: 25% would be
paid by the United States, 18% by
China, and 11% by Western Europe.
Territory size shows the proportion of all carbon damage
caused by that territory. This is measured as the weight
of carbon dioxide emitted; carbon damage is assumed.
HIGHEST AND LOWEST CARBON DAMAGE CARBON DAMAGE
50
Rank Territory Value Rank Territory Value
carbon damage in billions of US$ in 2003
45
North America
1 Trinidad & Tobago 157 190 Madagascar 0.58
40
2 United States 151 191 Burkina Faso 0.57
Western Europe
Middle East
3 Kuwait 125 192 Uganda 0.50 35
Eastern Asia
4 Greenland 119 193 Ethiopia 0.46 30
Eastern Europe
Southern Asia
Land area 5 Bahamas 119 194 Malawi 0.45 25
Southeastern Africa
South America
Technical notes
6 Australia 112 195 Democratic Republic of Congo 0.32
Asia Pacific
Northern Africa
20
• Data are from the World Bank’s 2005 World
7 Singapore 107 196 Cambodia 0.30
Japan
Development Indicators.
Central Africa
15
• *Data are estimated for territories with no data.
Chad was recorded as causing US$0 of carbon
8 Estonia 101 197 Burundi 0.27 10
damage, and would rank 200 in the table. 9 Canada 99 198 Mali 0.27
5
• Carbon damage is estimated as US$20 per tonne
in 1995 prices.
10 Saudi Arabia 97 199 Central African Republic 0.26
0
• See website for further information. carbon damage in US$ per person, per year, 2003*
“Can there be compensation for the loss of a country, its history, its culture, its way of life? How do you put a
price on that? Who will pay it?” Eun Jung Cahill Che, 2002
www.worldmapper.org © Copyright 2006 SASI Group (University of Sheffield) and Mark Newman (University of Michigan) Map 315

25. MAP 2: MÄORI REGIONAL MIGRATION, 1996–2001
(Source: 2001 Census of Population and Dwellings, population aged 15+, Statistics New Zealand)
Note: Regional migration refers to the movement by Mäori between Census night 1996 and Census night 2001.
NORTHLAND
AUCKLAND 5949 BAY of PLENTY
8418
14,655 NORTHLAND
594
831 -777
-6726
AUCKLAND -7824
WAIKATO
-13,824 10,701 GISBORNE
996 2670
WAIKATO BAY
of
Significant inter-regional migration PLENTY -828
-3498
-9705 GISBORNE
MA
TARANAKI HAWKE’S BAY
NA
3001 to 4000 people from 1996 to 2001 HAWKE’S
WA
2061 BAY 4104
TARANAKI
TU
WA
2001 to 3000 people from 1996 to 2001 MANAWATÜ/
-255 WANGANUI
NG
-2316
1000 to 2000 people from 1996 to 2001 -411
AN
UI
-4515
5886
NOTE: Only those inter-regional migrations WELLINGTON
involving more than 1000 people per annum TASMAN -
have been shown.
NELSON - WELLINGTON
2067 number
MARLBOROUGH -1005 of persons
6861
429 -6891 3642
387 255
WEST COAST Gross population gain 495
-300 -1638 Net gain
-687
TASMAN/NELSON/
and or
WEST COAST MARLBOROUGH -6606
Gross population loss Net loss
-606
CANTERBURY 4214
4323
846 NOTE: All squares representing
SOUTHLAND CANTERBURY population gain and loss
are proportional in size
1077 to the actual stated figures.
-3477
-567 OTAG O
-1644
OTAGO
SOUTHLAND 1989
192
Mäori regional migration,
-1797
gain and loss by region, 1996 – 2001
CARTOGRAPHIC ART COMPANY 09/2004

26. Fig. 1.The spatial distribution and density of ISA for the conterminous United States.The aggre-
gated area of ISA is nearly the size of the state of Ohio.

27. Ecomaps by scale (cont’d)
regional/urban/indigenous…
• Islands of Salish Sea (B.C., Canada)
• Stonecountry (Roper River, Australia)
• Twin Cities impervious pavement
community/neighborhood…
• Green System Maps
• Footprint maps
• Examples from undergrad coursework

29. 2003 Georgia Basin/Puget Sound Research Conference
Map #4. Texada Island, Coordinator, Lee Thorpe, Artist Amanda Martinson

35. Agriculture
Forest
Shrub & Herbaceous
Water
0 % Impervious
Urban/Developed
100 % Impervious
Miles
0 4.5 9 18
Figure 4. Maps of impervious surface area in the Twin Cities
Metropolitan Area (above) and in the City of Woodbury,
Minnesota (left). Each map depicts land cover and the percent of
impervious surface area; one at a multi-county scale and one at a
city scale. The percentage of impervious surface area is depicted
as a continuous variable, ranging from 0 to 100% imperviousness
based on greenness. Areas shaded in black have the highest
percentage of imperviousness (low greenness), while areas shaded
in white have the lowest percentage of imperviousness (high
greenness). These maps were created using Landsat TM imagery
from the year 2000, calibrated from aerial photograph
measurements.
Miles
0 1 2 4
3

36. WHAT’S A GREEN MAP?
A Green Map is a locally created map of the
natural and cultural environment
All use Green Map System’s globally designed
Icons to promote green resources and citizen
involvement
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a W F ~ k G g 2 ß s Q œ ® w r ¨
: e Œ c C D b B › d ƒ £ P i ‡ I j | 2 / *
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Tour 1 Green Map Atlas · Guided Tour · www.greenatlas.org · © Green Map® System 2004

37. Ten inspiring Green
Map Stories
Each unique Story follows a
consistent structure. This
design template:
– facilitates translation
into any language
– helps you compare
different mapmaking
approaches
– sets a format for
future Atlas
volumes covering
other regions
or themes
Tour 5 Green Map Atlas · Guided Tour · www.greenatlas.org · © Green Map® System 2004