In the Briefing area at the start of the exhibition, Buz, Eco, Tek and Dug introduce themselves. They have found a way to communicate with you from the City of 2050 and they need your help. Questions of resources such as oil and water as well as methods of addressing climate change are all more pressing in 2050 but then there are also some new approaches to deal with them.

Buz, Tek, Eco, and Dug are friends yet they all have their own opinions and argue a lot. In fact their opinions echo four of the main approaches to dealing with the issues of sustainability that we face. You might agree with one of them most of the time or all of them some of the time, but they will definitely challenge your views.

Buz

Buz is what they call a people person. She is the one that keeps this group of friends together. Buz ‘s approach to a sustainable world is to make sure everyone’s needs are met, no matter who they are or where they live. She wants us all to agree on solutions which work for everyone, not just a few people. But sometimes keeping things equal and fair means making sacrifices that the others aren’t always happy with. 

Tek

Tek really likes her technology. And she likes to talk about it too, though sometimes she is a bit hard to understand. Tek reckons that technology can come to our rescue and help us live more sustainably, conserving resources and minimising effects on the environment. Though developing new technology can take energy and resources, Tek thinks it’s well worth it.

Dug

Dug likes tradition and would stick to the way everything used to be done, if he could. Dug reckons we don’t need new technology or approaches for us all to have a happy future. If we think about what we value, Dug thinks we can use what we already know to reduce our impact without radically changing how we live. He is thoughtful and likes to take time – a lot of time - to think about things.

Eco

Eco likes nature, man. He is always out and about doing the outdoors thing. He thinks that preserving all the natural environments on the planet and rebuilding some that humans have destroyed – is key to a sustainable future. And whilst he wants to keep us all from messing with the planet, he can be a bit annoying when he tries to show us how to do it.