The chapter investigates the conflict between emerging “schools” of environmental thought in the 1960s and 1970s, focusing on Buckminster Fuller’s techno-optimist, libertarian environmentalism and its influence on today’s floating city concepts, like the UN-backed project in Busan. It addresses the questions of why and how Buckminster Fuller’s bright green environmentalism—blending ecological design with market-driven innovation—clashed with the technocritical, governmental reform-oriented dark green environmentalism of US officials and public intellectuals. Analyzing three cases, the chapter argues that these conflicts with dark green environmentalists demonstrated a lack of social acceptance for floating urban structures in US society due to Fuller’s libertarian views, aesthetic issues, pollution concerns, and limited governmental control over oceanic space. The chapter also highlights the lasting impact of Fuller’s ideas through the Whole Earth network and countercultural movements. The chapter contends that governmental and intergovernmental support for floating settlement ideas has grown since the 2010s, shaped by reemerging bright green environmentalist ideas.

This chapter shifts focus inward, analyzing how teams, leadership, and organizational psychology shape AI development outcomes. Through examples like Tesla’s safety controversies and Meta’s Galactica failure, it demonstrates that many AI failures stem not from technical flaws but from poor team dynamics, leadership gaps, and cognitive biases. The chapter draws on research in organizational psychology and decision-making to stress the importance of psychological safety, inclusive leadership, and diverse team composition. It warns against techno-optimism, novelty-seeking, and sunk-cost bias, urging organizations to integrate human judgment with machine intelligence in thoughtful, accountable ways.

Chapter 2 explores a broad range of differing academic and policy views on politics in relation to climate change mitigation – organised according to whether they are more in favour of depoliticising or politicising the issue and/or how it is governed. One of the aims of the chapter is to illuminate how relevant perspectives on politics are to how climate mitigation is approached, which actors are considered to have agency to drive emissions down, and the extent to which dedicating political capacity and public resources to processes of mitigation is deemed necessary. Perspectives on politics also influence what policy is understood to be for, for example, mainly technical or also social change, how its costs are distributed, whom it benefits, and which aspects of human systems need to be altered.

For three decades, politicians have promised that new technologies will solve climate change, but they haven’t emerged at meaningful scale. So, instead we must act with technologies we already have, which will involve some restraint. However, knowing this fact does not of itself motivate change. Instead, we present a new framing of our response to climate change as an expression of our values. The restraint, perhaps lasting for two or three decades, that is required to deal with climate change is not only a sacrifice. Embracing it can also help us to find a different good life, as responsible and joyful custodians of creation. The seven virtues inspire us to lift up our heads, be honest about the options and motivate our action, and encourage us to find a safe climate, in good faith.