TEDxOkanaganCollege 2011: The Challenge of Change by Dr. Merle Kindred

Dr. Merle Kindred discusses the challenges of embracing sustainable construction highlighting her experiences in India. Dr. Kindred's background is in education, theatre, and administration working in the US, Canada, the Caribbean, and India. Her dissertation for her doctorate in Rhetoric and Technical Communication focused on communication challenges involved in changing perception and use of energy in the residential built environment. Her Western case study revolved around her work based in Michigan's Upper Peninsula in creating energy efficient houses for high latitude conditions. Her Eastern case study focused on the work of Master Architect Laurie Baker and the Centre of Science and Technology for Rural Development (COSTFORD) in Kerala, India.

She is currently serving in India as a Volunteer Communications Consultant with COSTFORD and has commissioned a prototypical energy efficient house in tandem with her Indian "family of friends." She continues to present and publish in both the West and East on matters pertaining to transforming our relationship to energy. A chapter on her work appears in a book being published this summer entitled 'Ecofeminism and Rhetoric: Critical Perspectives on Sex, Technology, and Discourse'.