The first time I read this, I thought it seemed too cute:

So my suggestion about where to write would be: select a bioregion as your patch. A bioregion is defined by the interconnectedness, and the interdependence, of its natural systems. It’s an ideal context in which to explore what co-dependency with one’s place can mean for people.

Many bylines these days describe a story’s writer as “London-based,” or “Tokyo-based.” My reaction is to think: So? Imagine how different it would be to describe yourself as a “Central Valley BioRegion–based writer” if you’re from that part of California; or a Hudson River Watershed–based writer, if you’re located in that part of upstate New York.

In Norway you could be a writer based in the Caledonian Buckling. Me? I’m a writer based in the “Steppic BioRegion” (formerly known as Occitania, or southwest France).

But then I read it again and decided I really liked it. (Cross-reference with Kevin Kelly’s Big Here quiz, which I guarantee will put you in your place.)

And there’s actually a ton of interesting, counterintuitive stuff in the piece, which is an adaptation of a speech by John Thackara. He manages to talk about, erm, the collapse of civilization without being apocalyptic—no mean feat.