Herbert Girardet
Herbert Girardet (born 25 May 1943) is a German-British writer, filmmaker, lecturer and international consultant.
Life and work
[edit]Herbert Girardet was born in 1943 in Essen, Germany,[1] the son of a publishing executive. After reading history at Tübingen and Berlin universities, he moved to London in 1964 and embraced the nascent counterculture then taking hold there: the literary editor Diana Athill, who knew him during this time, described him in her memoir Make Believe as "the drop-out son of a rich German family... deep in the process of discovering his own loathing of capitalism, violence, and racism."[2]
In 1971, as a community worker in Notting Hill Gate, Girardet befriended the US Black Power activist Hakim Jamal, a published author. The they decided to join forces to set up a commune and a publishing enterprise 'The First Caribbean Publishing Company'[3] for producing educational materials on black history and emancipation in Georgetown, Guyana. But this project quickly foundered amid the chaos caused by Jamal's mental instability.[4][5] Arriving back in London soon afterwards, Girardet returned to academia and received a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and economics from the London School of Economics in 1975.[6]
Since then, Girardet has worked as a cultural and urban ecologist – as a writer, filmmaker, lecturer and international consultant – specialising in 'regenerative development'. He is the author and co-author of 14 books and reports, and 50 TV documentaries primarily concerned with the interaction between a global civilisation and the world’s environment. He is a recipient of a UN Global 500 award for outstanding environmental services. He has written in publications such as Resurgence, The Ecologist, Green Futures, Urban Futures, Habitat Debate, The Guardian, The Independent and The Observer.[citation needed]
He is co-founder and honorary member of the World Future Council,[7] and a full member of the Club of Rome.[8] He has been a consultant to UN Habitat and UNEP, and to cities such as London, Vienna, Riyadh and Bristol.[9] As inaugural 'thinker in residence', he developed a green development strategy for Adelaide which has been fully implemented.[8] He is an honorary fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects,[10] and a visiting professor at the University of the West of England.[9]
He is married with two grown-up sons, and lives with his wife Barbara in Tintern, Monmouthshire.
Books
[edit]- Creating Regenerative Cities: How we can develop a regenerative relationship between our cities and planet earth; Routledge, 2015.
- A Renewable World: Alternative energy systems and how they can help us create a viable and equitable future; Green Books, 2009.
- Cities, People, Planet: Learning from urban history to enhance the relationship between urban people and our home planet; Wiley, 2004 and 2008.
- Surviving The Century: 12 authors write about how we might evade the collision course between ourselves and our own future; Routledge, 2008.
- Creating The World Future Council: The booklet which launched a new international NGO – the World Future Council; Green Books, 2005.
- Creating A Sustainable Adelaide: Report on practical policies for creating a green new deal for Adelaide and South Australia, 2003.
- The Peoples’ Planet: Based on a six-part television series produced by NHK, Tokyo, and CNN; published only in Japanese by NHK, 2000.
- 'Creating Sustainable Cities: Cities are wasteful superorganisms that need a better understanding of how to develop a circular metabolism; Green Books, 1999.
- Making Cities Work: Organisational challenges and practicalities of creating a sustainable world of cities; Earthscan 1996.
- The Gaia Atlas Of Cities: New directions for sustainable urban living, in theory and practice; Gaia Books, 1992 and 1996.
- Earthrise: How we are affecting the biosphere, and how we can try to get out of the mess we have been making; Paladin, 1992.
- Blueprint For A Green Planet: Practical day-today action to fight pollution and to live sustainably; Dorling Kindersley, 1987.
- Far From Paradise: A history of human impacts on the environment, based on a seven-part television series: BBC Publications, 1986.
- Land For The People: At a time of economic uncertainty, we need a new balance between urban and rural living; Crescent Books, 1976.
Nine of these books have been published in various foreign-language editions.
Television documentaries
[edit]Herbert Girardet has produced 50 television documentaries on sustainable development, including:
- The Peoples’ Planet: Six-part series filmed in 20 countries, on addressing human impacts on the biosphere, and alternatives to pollution and destruction; CNN, NHK, Tokyo, Discovery Channel and Canal Plus, Paris, 2000.
- Deadline 2000: 28 three-minute films featuring leading voices in the sustainability movement; Channel 4, London, 1999.
- Metropolis: 50-minute documentary about London’s metabolism, examining London’s resource use, economy and waste disposal; Channel 4, London, 1998.
- Ancient Knowledge, Modern World: 20-minute interview-based documentary with Dr. Oku Ampofo, founder of Ghana’s Centre for Research into Plant Medicine, 1997.
- Urban Best Practices: 40-min film about urban regeneration projects in various countries, made for the UN City Summit in Istanbul, 1996.
- Letter To The Kayapo: Anita Roddick confirming the commitment of the Bodyshop to help protect the Amazon and its people, 1990.
- Halting The Fires: 50-minute documentary about the fires set in the Amazon to establish cattle ranches and mines; and about alternatives to deforestation; filmed in Brazil for Channel 4, and ARD, Hamburg, 1989.
- The Altamira Gathering: 15-minute news documentary about the first ever gathering of Amazonian tribes to try and protect their rainforest home; filmed in Brazil for Channel 4, London, 1989.
- Jungle Pharmacy: 50-minute documentary on the plant remedies used by Amazonian Indians, and their relevance for modern medicine; filmed in Brazil, Peru, the UK and US; Channel 4. Winner of five awards at environmental film festivals, 1988.
- Towards A Green Planet: Series of six 20-minute films on personal action to reduce human impacts on the environment; Channel 4, London, 1987.
- Far From Paradise, the story of human impact on the environment: Pioneering seven-hour series filmed in 12 countries, initiated/ researched by me and presented by John Seymour; BBC 2, ZDF, Germany, ORF, Austria, and RAI, Italy, 1986.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ The Environment Encyclopedia and Directory. Europa Publications Limited, 2001, S. 488.
- ^ Diana Athill (2012). Make Believe: A True Story. London: Granta. p. 118.
Patrick French, in his introduction to Athill's book, attributes to Girardet the "perfectly Nabokovian name" of 'Herbert G. Herbert' - an error that has never been corrected in any subsequent edition.
- ^ BENSON, Gale. "Autograph postcard sent from Gale Benson in Port of Spain, Trinidad to Oz magazine editor Jim Anderson in London". BeatBooks. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
postmarked November 8, 1971, only a month after her arrival with Hakim Jamal from Guyana and less than two months before she was murdered... The company she mentions, the non-existent First Caribbean Publishing Company, was Hakim's ruse to hustle funding from the German publishing heir Herbert Girardet, his counterpart to Michael X's former benefactor, Nigel Samuel.
- ^ Athill, Make Believe, pp. 124–27.
- ^ HASSETT, GEORGE (19 February 2020). "THE LIFE AND DEATH OF HAKIM JAMAL". BINJ. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ Herbert Girardet (1990). "The metabolism of cities". In David Cadman; Geoffrey Payne (eds.). The Living City. Routledge. p. 170. ISBN 9780429197307. Retrieved 19 October 2024 – via uat.taylorfrancis.com.
- ^ "About our work". World Future Council. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ a b "Girardet, Herbert". Club of Rome. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ a b Bals, Helena (20 April 2023). "Herbert Girardet". World Future Council. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ "RIBA Awards - Royal Institute of British Architects" (PDF). www.architecture.com. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
