Cyber-Gardening and Biophilic Design in Future Cities

Today, in line with nature's integrated habitats and environments, the scope of biophilic architecture emerges as an essential issue for society wellbeing. When evaluating the possibilities of enhancing access to healthy food, the necessity of including every scale of living—from the smallest individual living space to collective living areas—should be discussed. In this study, cyber-gardening practices are evaluated from critical perspectives in terms of dystopia. Cyber-gardening, systems of self-organization, and self-sufficiency concepts are crucial to envisaging a sustainable city, food, and agriculture ecosystem. Biology, architecture, and urban design-oriented approaches have emerged in the works of design groups such as EcoLogic Studio. Emerging as a kind of bio-architectural hybrid, these new physical and digital interactive garden prototypes create augmented biospheres. In these new urban-food-agriculture scenarios composed of designed virtual interfaces, visitors are transformed into urban cyber-gardeners.

Interweaving positive and critical perspectives in management learning and teaching

Management learning is increasingly and rightfully called upon to address societal challenges beyond narrow concerns of economic performance. Within that agenda, we describe the generative aims of a special issue devoted to interweaving positive and critical perspectives in management learning and teaching. The five articles that comprise the issue describe the prospects for such interplay across a range of empirical and theoretical contexts. Together, these contributions suggest a way forward for work that is at once critical, positive, and reflexive. We identify key themes for future directions: the generative potential of contrarian learning dynamics, an ethics-first focus on ecological and human well-being, and the prospects of scholarly practice for systemic activism.