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![Toward an Urban Ecology](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/e65f074c-8534-4266-86e0-4a2c9a7e15d0/41214257010_2766e7d41a_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1376%2C0%2C5504%2C5504&w=290)
What is the role of design in addressing climate change and social fragmentation? Landscape architect Kate Orff of SCAPE explores how to generate new forms of ecological citizenship through participation, engagement, and stewardship. Projects such as the Venice Biennale Lagoon installation, Living Breakwaters in New York’s Harbor, Detroit’s Open Spaces, and Town Branch Par...
![Is the Next Big Urban Innovation Hiding in Plain Sight? (Aspen Policy Series)](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/ffb56210-d57c-4c90-86f8-61a5d3db2d20/19389386571_2049c42a1c_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=824%2C0%2C3280%2C3280&w=290)
Innovation is the driver of economic growth in the global economy, and cities and metropolitan areas are the wellspring of innovation. But the benefits of innovation and the resources that support innovation do not always reach all corners of the metropolis, and this exacerbates economic and social divisions that hinder our economy and weaken our communities. We can bridge...
![Can Cities Save America?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/4df1e676-e00b-4d62-bf64-2c25ccff4456/9167517054_bf23b56a1b_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=824%2C0%2C3280%2C3280&w=290)
Across the nation, cities and metropolitan areas, and the networks of pragmatic leaders who govern them, are taking on the big issues that Washington won’t—or can’t—solve. They are reshaping our economy and fixing our broken political system.
![How to Beautify a City](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/5c312310-d89f-413d-8ee2-77c7b48575c4/52186625194_b166890670_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C5504%2C5504&w=290)
The word city is not exactly synonymous with nature. Yet increasingly, urban landscapes offer innovative canvases for designers and artists who use ecology and horticulture as their medium. As the bustling field of landscape architecture makes its way into everything from infrastructure projects like the High Line to commercial stores lining Fifth Avenue, how are these des...
![To Have or to Hold: NFTs and the Art World](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/a3803037-973d-42f4-b4ec-3b439c233f43/52190107454_1c8067ff9e_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=749%2C0%2C3905%2C3905&w=290)
The advent of NFTs as a means of selling artwork raises many questions about creative practice and the marketplace. Do NFTs as a category of collectables work in tandem with or replace three-dimensional art objects? What does it mean for traditional gatekeepers of artistic value, including art dealers and museum curators, to be faced with a new means of conveying work from...
![Books From Our 2018 Speakers](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null15c64e63-080d-4c66-808a-b1b2ed97eb34/2018-AI_ReadThis-Social.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C788%2C788&w=290)
The Aspen Ideas Festival team is proud to showcase the diverse writing of our speakers. Their books will be highlighted in talks at the Festival and available at the campus bookstore.
![Eileen Fisher Sows the Seeds of a Better Business Model](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/9ed4ee0c-ea2a-4b77-b96e-401b11c64d3c/42958112672_fc05e79fb1_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=300%2C0%2C1067%2C1066&w=290)
![The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/nulle2ac6c14-0d27-4c6e-a03b-2ca49620f44f/48146445867_da73611009_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=262%2C0%2C1075%2C1075&w=290)
During a personal low point of loneliness and pain, David Brooks wanted to write his way to a better life. For five years, he did just that, researching and writing about people who’ve lived joyous and committed lives, exploring the wisdom they offer on finding purpose and living well. The result is his latest book, The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life. Brooks s...
![Africa’s Creative Renaissance](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/nullf505f996-f6a9-4d76-8e65-4b29e82ac879/48127910366_5776c8058c_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1012%2C0%2C4024%2C4024&w=290)
Africa is having a creative moment. Architects, fashion designers, illustrators, furniture designers, jewelers, and others are collecting a continent’s worth of influences and showcasing them on a global stage. Organizations are stepping forward to champion the notion that creativity and design have the power to fuel an economic revolution. One such organization, Design In...
Artist Dustin Yellin spins tales about how the human world and the worlds of critters, plants, and rocks have always been a collection of enmeshed networks, some hidden. Touching on his multidisciplinary approach, which crosses several traditionally siloed fields, he draws attention to the ways in which everyone and everything is interconnected despite various physical, ec...
![Thriving through the Arts](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/6dc4415e-0138-47d4-8a1f-0d5a9fbf00e9/53809639789_0816c2615c_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=3197%2C969%2C2554%2C2553&w=290)
Science is confirming what artists have long known—the arts change the body, brain, and behavior. An interdisciplinary new field known as neuroarts is building that evidence and exploring ways to put knowledge into practice. “Imagine a world in which music and the visual arts, dance and movement, theatre and storytelling, architecture and design, and many other art modalit...
![Designing Meaningful Work to Build a Sustainable Company: An Interview with Eileen Fisher](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/1058a426-9dd6-42d7-b4c9-bcb1c6093d77/42350282834_b2cebdc243_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1376%2C0%2C5504%2C5504&w=290)
Despite discussion of work-life balance, work is not something separate from our life, but integral to it. Good work is a critical component to a good life. As societies across the globe struggle with economic division and working people who feel left behind, can companies invent a world of work that is more sustainable? The Eileen Fisher company is a certified B corporati...
![Aif Stock Hero Images 6](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/a7f9ad39-1246-4986-8121-12fc8c16089f/AIFStockHeroImages6.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=ab287a&q=80&rect=2623%2C0%2C3377%2C3375&w=400)
![Aif Stock Hero Images 6](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/a7f9ad39-1246-4986-8121-12fc8c16089f/AIFStockHeroImages6.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=2623%2C0%2C3377%2C3375&w=400)
William Shakespeare started writing plays in an era when popular theater was exploding and cementing its place in culture. Audiences spanned economic classes, professions and educational backgrounds, and he was keenly aware of the need to write for all attendees. He frequently wrestled with topics that retain relevance for society across centuries, such as power struggles,...