ENVIRONMENT PROVINCES
Environment Provinces are those where people establish a particular environment as their primary vision.
Environmental Concept Provinces
Most creative provinces will have environmental concepts among their Supporting Visions: the ways in which the provincials want to fashion the environment in which they live, work, and travel. But some will have an environmental concept as their Primary Vision.
Thus a Creative Province might be formed with the primary purpose of creating natural quietude, dark skies, or an organic environment. Or the province might want to create a special environment in which to accomplish something, such as a peaceful memorial setting, or children’s creative backyards.
A Milky Way Dark Skies Province
In this example, people in a prairie setting decide to take advantage of its big skies to create a Milky Way Dark Skies Province. Some of the Province’s founders are also involved with a nearby observatory. Their Vision is to restore and promote natural nighttime darkness for environmental, stargazing, health, and aesthetic purposes, and to promote stargazing and astronomy.
In the Province, outdoor artificial light is strictly limited: Down-lighting is used where street lighting is deemed necessary, and motion-detection lights and dogs are employed for security.
The Province draws to it all manner of stargazing activities, star mapping, star arts, and the many astronomical studies. Provincials become very astute at knowing the sky. Dark-sky industries are drawn to the Province, including telescope manufacturing, star maps, star art, and schools of astronomy and astrology.
Featured Animal Provinces
Featured Animal Provinces are those where a type of animal is encouraged, protected, and honored. These creative provinces will often be places where a unique habitat exists for a particular species.
Featured Animal Provinces include those that have as their Primary Vision the preservation of certain wild animals; the establishment of animal sanctuaries or rehabilitation enclaves; or the featuring of certain companion animals.
A Bengal Tiger Province
In this example, people in a region where there are forests containing Bengal tigers form a Bengal Tiger Province, with the Vision of helping to bring back probably the most magnificent creature on Earth to sustainable levels.
The Bengal Tiger Province collects in its membership government protected forests, tiger reserves, wildlife sanctuaries, and very importantly, many private properties that help to both enlarge the tiger’s domain and establish large buffer zones and migration corridors for keeping the tigers from more densely populated areas.
The Bengal Tiger Province also becomes a place for zoologists and other professionals to live and study the tiger in the wild, and to rehabilitate captive tigers and reintroduce them into the protected forests. The Province hosts wildlife tours as a provincial industry.
Environmental Restoration and Preservation Provinces
Creative provinces can be formed to restore and preserve wildernesses, bodies of water, other geological features, and natural states of being, beyond what are currently preserved by governments, private organizations, and individuals.
Provincials can make their own land properties, sea vessels, airplanes, land vehicles, and personal participation a key part of greater efforts to help the environment. Thus, such creative provinces will become natural restoration areas, wilderness buffer zones, links to larger wilderness parks, wildlife corridors, and watch zones.
Environmental Restoration and Preservation Provinces can be invaluable in any place, small or large, that needs environmental help: to revive prairies and meadows; to clean polluted bodies of water; to remove harmful, obsolete dams; to restore wetlands, forests, and jungles; and to restore natural states of being, such as natural quietude.
A Willow Creek Restoration Province
In this example, people create a Willow Creek Province with the Vision of restoring and protecting the water quality and aquatic life of a local stream, as well as restoring it as a local travelway. Provincials work to remove several obsolete dams that are preventing not only watercraft travel, but also the migration of critical aquatic species such as the eel, and they assiduously monitor and protect the stream.
The Province is run by a committee that includes stream ecologists, wetland biologists, and recreation and stream-travel planners.
A Province culture develops that includes canoe races and other watercraft events, creek-side picnics, and the old fashioned swimming hole complete with rope swings.
Linda Cook DeVona, book cover of Bridge Over Willow River, Illume Publications, courtesy of Jerry Rudnitskiy, author
Garden Provinces
Garden Provinces are those that have a Vision to create a garden environment of some kind. Garden Provinces can be provinces of private gardens, communal gardens, public gardens, or any combination thereof.
Garden Provinces differ from Farm and Cottage Industry Provinces in that their Primary Vision is to create a particular garden environment, rather than to create gardens specifically as industries. You will also see that there is a great deal of overlapping between garden provinces and architectural concept provinces, and it will be up to the provincial creators what their emphasis is to be.
An Old Rose Heritage Garden Province
In this example, an Old Rose Heritage Garden Province is created with the Vision of encouraging the cultivation of old rose varieties. These old roses, such as the Eden Rose, are very hardy and require no synthetic pesticides to survive.
Throughout the Province there are pathways with arches, fences, and arbors covered with cascading climbing roses of gorgeous scent. Ladybugs are used for aphid control, and everywhere there are bees gathering nectar.
A Rose Committee of Master Rose Gardeners runs the Province. Provincials develop a micro-industry of rose oil, potpourri, and other rose products.
Energy Provinces
The homes, businesses, and travelways of all creative provinces will employ various types of energy. But some provinces will be created with the Primary Vision of promoting a particular type of energy, or a way to use energy.
A T.S. Elliot Gaslight Province
Provincials will not have to recreate a period in history to have the enchantment of gas-lit homes or gas street lamps. Gas provinces could be formed with the vision of using local gas energy sources.
In this example, a T.S. Elliot Gaslight Province is entirely gas-powered, with a gas-powered local electric plant, and homes with gas lighting, gas fireplaces, gas heat, and gas cook stoves.
The most prominent cultural features of the T.S. Elliot Province are its beautiful and romantic displays of gas street lamps, horse-drawn carriages, and T.S. Elliot-inspired poetry.
Preludes
by T.S. Elliot
The winter evening settles down
With smell of steaks in passageways.
Six o’clock.
The burnt-out ends of smoky days.
And now a gusty shower wraps
The grimy scraps
Of withered leaves about your feet
And newspapers from vacant lots;
The showers beat
On broken blinds and chimney-pots,
And at the corner of the street
A lonely cab-horse steams and stamps.
And then the lighting of the lamps.