Week 1 HW: Principles and Practices

Bio-Inspired Fashion Photo Credits: Iris van Herpen

First, describe a biological engineering application or tool you want to develop and why. This could be inspired by an idea for your HTGAA class project and/or something for which you are already doing in your research, or something you are just curious about.

Fashion is intrinsically tied to one’s identity, and I want to engender a fabric that can allow people to express themselves and their values while respecting the environment. Currently, the vast majority of ecologically sustainable fashion focuses on minimizing environmental harm; however, many have yet to explore how fashion can be an avenue to reverse terrestrial and aquatic destruction!

The vision: Engineer a microbial system capable of degrading PET synthetic waste into nutrient feedstocks for the growth of new biotextiles! Furthermore, I want to explore synthesizing living fabrics containing dormant microbes that have the potential to revitalize upon reaching a landfill (ensuring the garment actively remediates its environment at the end of its life cycle).

Next, describe one or more governance/policy goals related to ensuring that this application or tool contributes to an “ethical” future, like ensuring non-malfeasance (preventing harm). Break big goals down into two or more specific sub-goals.

Goal 1: Promote Global Environmental Justice Prioritize ecological restoration to sustain a livable planet for all of Earth’s inhabitants. Sub-goal 1.1 Engineer tools and design practices serving to actively depollute contaminated terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Sub-goal 1.2 Actively foster symbiotic relationships between organisms in one’s local community.

Goal 2: Inspire Self-Expression Empower people of all identites to utilize biological systems to articulate their ideas. Sub-goal 2.1 Encourage aesthetic autonomy by democratizing biotextile technology. Sub-goal 2.2 Diversify design perspectives to cultivate unique wearbale material systems.

Next, describe at least three different potential governance “actions” by considering the four aspects below (Purpose, Design, Assumptions, Risks of Failure & “Success”).

Action 1: Require Industrial Depollution Credits As opposed to carbon credits, which targets preventative efforts to reduce pollution, industrial depollution credits will require top-pollutive companies (namely construction and fast fashion) to purchase credits to support bioremediation efforts in heavily polluted cities. Actors in this plan may include the EPA, industrial CEOs, and biotech/cleantech startups!

Action 2: Activating Community Biofabrication + Art/STEAM Labs This action focuses on activating public labs to prioritize artistic endeavors/STEAM-based exploration. Educational institutions and their international research partners must provide open-source curricula to establish accessible lab spaces.

Action 3: Design Symbiotic Urban Planning for Under-served Communities I propose we mandate living architecture in zones that have been historically denied green spaces. Actors I envision participating in this action are local councils and city planners who will be responsible for rezoning industrial land to create space for bio-remedial parks.

Next, score each of your governance actions against your rubric of policy goals.Outline any trade-offs you considered.