‘This is a wonderful book that should be on the desk of every architect and planner. It shows how

Poor soil 
structure
Increased 
runoff 
Loss of 
biodiversity
Loss of eco-
system services 
Weeds
Reduced 
biomass 
Salinization
Leakage to 
ground water 
Increased 
fertilizers
Increased 
irrigation
Loss of 
fertility 

---

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Positive Development
But can positive impact mapping help us find large-scale eco-solutions?
Mapping can be an aid to moving towards closing loops and/or creating synergies in ever-wider 
circles [Box 39]. An example is provided by an initiative of Zero Waste Australia in collaboration 
with the Asian Network of Organic Recyclers. Australia is a nutrient-poor nation and Japan is, in a 
sense, suffering from nutrient overload. Japan imports much of its food from Australia and, with it, 
embodied nutrients. A simple mapping of nutrient (resource) flows shows that there is a net flow 
of nutrients out of Australia. This growing nutrient imbalance exacerbates other environmental 
problems in Australia as well. Boats shipping produce to Japan come back empty, so their hulls 
are filled with bilge water, which is then dumped in Australian waters. This bilge water contains 
foreign organisms that have caused ecological havoc in Australia’s marine ecosystems. Zero Waste 
Australia therefore proposed treating organic nutrients through bioconversion processes in Japan. The 
sterilized liquid compost would be shipped from Japan to rural Australia in the hulls of boats. This 
would simultaneously eliminate the need for the harmful foreign ballast water that is contaminating 
Australian waters and increase soil health in Australia.
17
As well as identifying solutions, however, 
we need to anticipate and avoid ‘adverse feedback’ loops, where a ‘solution’ in one context can 
inadvertently become a problem in another context. Scenario planning purports to look at the 
consequences of actions and policies, in relation to future changing contexts.