For events in Burbank & Santa Barbara see: http://empowermentworks.org/inspired/?p=119
See www.blueeconomy.de for more info!
A little over a week ago we received an e-mail message from sustain-0-preneur, Gunter Pauli - keynote of The Global Summit 2008- announcing his new book-both launching- and -titled, “The Blue Economy”. Since then, we’ve been following his global message and tracking down related events. Days later, Dr. A
ntonia Neubauer, Founder of READ Global which has ongoing projects in Bhutan wrote in with praise for Gunter’s local involvement and thanks for meeting him at The Global Summit 2008 where she was Collaborating Nonprofit Chair and presented READ Global’s exemplary community development model. Nice to see the spiral of connection to impact.
Now, I know you’ll enjoy Gunter’s words. Don’t miss purchase link and Bhutan Article link below for a taste of innovation from “The Blue Economy”. NOTE: Purchase his book by April 1st and receive 10% off(links below). Better yet, catch him live if you can at one of the events listed below in Santa Barbara, LA, Hawaii, and the Bay Area. And stay tuned to www.BlueEconomy.de for updates!
__________________________________________________
from Gunter Pauli 3/21/10
“Hello!
If you have the time take a look at www.BlueEconomy.de.
After 5 years of research, sifting through a lot of scientific data, meeting scholars and academia, discussing with entrepreneurs and financiers, journalists and policy makers I summarized my findings and impressions with a vision that I call “The Blue Economy”.
The book went through a lot of vetting and debates, not the least with the Club of Rome which accepted it as a report. However meetings with UN delegations in Vienna, and Kenya, roundtables with leading companies in Japan, Sweden, France and Brazil, exchanges with NGOs in the US and India offered me a clear insight on how we can go beyond the best of “The Green Economy.”
Last Friday (March 19) I had the opportunity here in Thimphu, Bhutan to brief for the first time ever a government on the opportunities for developing new industries, creating jobs, building up social capital, responding to basic needs and establish competitive enterprises that put society on a path towards sustainability building on what the nation has in cultural and natural resources - working with what is locally available.
I had selected 16 potential industries for development and an audience of officials including the UN representatives left the room enthused, seeing that another development is possible, a development that I call “The Blue Economy” named after this beautiful mother Earth who is blue as can be when we admire her from the universe. Those who would like to call is the Green Economy 2.0 - are free to do so.
We are now working with a group of architects in Bhutan, building a strategy to avoid the disasters that struck Haiti and Chile. Bhutan suffered from its own earthquakes last year, which went by rather unnoticed in the rest of the world. However, this country has left its traditional building techniques and embraced reinforced concrete and cement as the standard unknowingly preparing the nation for a disaster when the next earthquake hits.
Thanks to Anders Nyquist, the pioneer in green building design who created his own eco-village in Northern Sweden already in 1966, we are designing a pathway towards a building system for Bhutan that is based on its traditional designs with centuries of embedded wisdom, while blending this with the latest principles of “Design with the Flow” as already imagined by Leonardo da Vinci in de 15th century! It is a platform that would allow the integration of about 50 innovations, which could support the local economy beyond what anyone imagined.
While Bhutan is at crossroads, bringing the world its National Happiness Index, the world is at crossroads as well. It is in this context that I am delighted to be able to contribute to the debate - but more important - that I am capable of bringing inspiration and action to the entrepreneurs who are prepared to take the risk and build up that new economy from the grassroots up - with passion and enthusiasm.
Here in Bhutan we now have more interest in “The Blue Economy” per capita than anywhere else. However in the next months I will venture into India, Japan, Korea, USA, and Sweden in order to share these insights and offer my enthusiasm. We have such a wealth of opportunities to make a difference. In the mean time I will keep on releasing one after the other the examples from around the world so that we can see that the ideas and innovations 
formulated are not simply an inspiration, but that somewhere in the world, it is already being implemented.
If you wish to follow the implementation of these innovations around the world, check periodically on www.zeri.org and if you like to receive a weekly update on the new business models, subscribe to www.BlueEconomy.de. There are several language versions. UNEP - a great supporter from the outset has placed a series of video clips on its YouTube site produced by my friends of Virgin Earth in Japan.
Wishing you good reading, inspiration for action, and desire to share.
kindly,
gunter”
–
Prof. Gunter Pauli
Founder of ZERI www.zeri.org
Author of The Blue Economy www.BlueEconomy.de
The Blue Economy
10 Years; 100 Innovations; 100 Million Jobs by Gunter Pauli To pre-order the book, please go to http://www.paradigm-pubs.com/catalog/detail/BluEco. You will receive a 10% discount if you order before April 1, 2010 and key in the promotional code: TBE4110.
Read / Download PDF of Article: From Myth to Reality:
A Journey through Modern-Day Bhutan and Reflections about its Future
Upcoming EVENTS:
~ April 23, 24, 25, 2010 ~
Santa Barbara City College Campus, Santa Barbara, California
Hosted by the SBCC Center for Sustainability
~Evening Talk & Book-Signing, Fri, April 23, 7:30 - 9:30pm, SBCC Fe Bland Auditorium $15~
~Building the Blue Economy Workshop with Gunter Pauli, plus guests*** ,
SBCC Campus, Sat, April 24, 9am - 5pm, $120 ($100 early registration/April 3)~
~Retreat with Gunter Pauli, Sunday, April 25, 10am - 4pm $300 ($250 early registration/April 3)~
How a new generation of entrepreneurs can bring
innovations to the marketplace, secure basic needs for all,
and make sustainable businesses competitive.
***Saturday Workshop with Gunter Pauli/Afternoon break-out sessions with:
Woody Tasch, President of Slow Money
Kreigh Hampel, City of
Randy Grissom, Director of the
Sponsored by the
Co-sponsors:
Event Info, www.sbpermaculture.org, margie@sbpermaculture.org, (805)962-2571
**April 26, 2010 –
Arid Lands Inst @
Woodbury University and the Arid Lands Institute will host a reception, talk and book signing for Dr. Gunter Pauli, April 26, 2010, starting with a reception at 5:30 pm, talk at 6:30 pm, and a book signing at approximately 7:30 pm.
http://aridlands.woodbury.edu/
Please contact Kreigh Hampel at (818) 238-3900 for more information.
+ On April 27, 2010
An Evening with Gunter Pauli (Fort Mason in SF) [see full EW event post]
**Oahu, Hawaii, Sept. 13-17, 2010Please check out the conference, Launching The Blue Economy, at http://www.zeroemissionshawaii.orgTHE WORLD CONGRESS ON ZERO EMISSIONS INITIATIVES
LAUNCHING “THE BLUE ECONOMY”
HAWAII CONVENTION CENTER
HONOLULU, HAWAI‘I FROM SEPTEMBER 13-17, 2010
Empowerment Works!(EW) is proud to share the inspirational work of John Marshall Roberts - a remarkable “Social Entrepreneur” in the EW Partners in Empowerment (PIE) network - with you.
We first connected with John as a volunteer from the Evenson Design Group while seeking partners to co-create The Global Summit. He collaborated in our first strategic think-tank almost a year ago at jungle [8] creative (EW Partner in Empowerment extraordinaire who’s pro-bono team, led by principal Lainie Liberti, brought The Global Summit brand and website to life), where it was clear John’s extraordinary understanding of what makes people tick would support, not just our own messaging, but the sustainability movement.
This has remained evident in his speaking presentations, new book, “Igniting Inspiration: A Persuasion Manual for Visionaries,”(available through Amazon here and array of articles written for SUSTAINABLE BRANDS INTERNATIONAL’s Sustainable Life Media, the most recent of which is presented BELOW for you to savor.
Congratulations John! Readers, read on!
Three Species of Environmental Cynic (and How to Beat Them)
Cynicism and resignation, properly viewed, are but the last stages of mental resistance before a person lets go of limiting beliefs. Here’s how to give the cynics in your circle a little nudge in the right direction. By John Marshall Roberts
As I travel around the country speaking at sustainability gatherings, I get a lot of tough questions. People are frustrated. They care deeply about sustainability and they want to make a difference, but they keep bumping up against cynical naysayers who seem unwilling to share their vision. “How can I get my employees to buy into my new environmental initiative without asking for a kickback?” a weary plant manager asks. “How can I make my boss to see that we can’t stay profitable if we don’t make tough choices now?” a sinking product designer inquires. “How can we possibly get customers who don’t give a damn about the environment to pay an extra $2 for our organic free-trade widget?” a battle-hardened CMO pleads.
With each inquiry I perk up. Yes, it’s a strange reaction, I know. But with these sorts of questions something inside me clicks. Perhaps it’s because I realize - deep in my bones - that each of these frustrating situations holds the seed of a new possibility. Cynicism and resignation, properly viewed, are but the last stages of mental resistance before a person lets go of limiting beliefs and surrenders to a larger planetary vision. Mentally resistant bosses, employees, spouses, and co-workers are like butterflies trapped in the suffocating cocoon of past learning. Through their resistance they are secretly asking for you to help lead them towards a more liberated perspective. And - with the proper communication tools at your disposal - this is exactly what you’ll do.
Cynicism Is the Lack of Inspiration
If President Obama proved anything with his mind-blowing presidential run, it’s that inspiration sells. But what is inspiration exactly? Moreover, how can we, ordinary folks without the inborn gifts of world-shaping rhetoric, learn to inspire others to take action towards our most cherished green initiatives?
Two words: humility and insight. We must first realize that inspiration is not a “what,” but rather a “how.” The experience of being inspired is so utterly mysterious and incomprehensible that trying to describe it in words is a fools errand. Why? Because inspiration is precisely what happens when we are willing to let go of words, release the past, and direct our imagination towards the vision of heretofore unseen possibilities. In other words, inspiration is what happens when we - if only for a moment - are willing to suspend our ongoing steady-state cynicism and simply wonder.
Once we understand this, we can start to see that - as aspiring change agents - we’ve been framing our communication challenge incorrectly. We’ve been trying to pummel our way through to people’s core by engaging and reasoning with their battle-hardened, past-colored lenses. We’ve been hoping that, through sheer force and reason, we’ll lead others to the sustainability promised land of our personal vision. And the irony of ironies is that our belief in the efficacy of forcing is itself a form of cynicism - it stems from our hidden belief that people are shallow and easily duped.
The moral of the story? We can’t ignite inspiration with cynicism any more than we can heat a sandwich with a refrigerator. Just as cold is that lack of heat, cynicism is the lack of inspiration. No amount of forcing or earnest pleading will ever change that.
A Cynic by Any Other Name…
In my work as a communications strategist, I’ve discovered three major species of environmental cynicism infecting virtually all of my clients. These ’species’ are actually three highly popular mental strategies that everyday ordinary folks use to avoid taking environmental action. As we cover these below, revisit your own experience and see if they don’t ring true.
Sustainability Cynic # 1: The Non-Believer
Description: The non-believer has decided that the jury is still out on global warming. These folks tend to eagerly dismiss the idea of man-made climate change(and the sustainability movement in-general) as some sort of grand opportunistic hoax perpetrated by fear mongering opportunists. Facts and arguments do little to change this deeply entrenched, highly irrational belief.
Deeper causes: The non-believer mindset is animated by one underlying force: repressed fear. Individuals who think this way are terrified of uncertainty and have uncommonly strong need for security. They tend to form strong, black and white opinions about a variety of social, economic and political topics, and crave absolute clarity from their chosen authority figures. They tend to believe that - in any given situation - there is just one absolute truth, and one leader qualified to dispense it.
Favorite world-shaping metaphor: Life is a test.
Communication strategies: Reasoning with this sort of cynic is hopeless. Don’t even try. Any scientific facts you give will fall upon deaf ears because they are not willing to consider that they may be wrong. Understand that - because these folks view life as a pass or fail test - they are clenched tight against being on the wrong side of the truth. To these folks the implications of being wrong are far too disastrous to even consider.
So what can you do to get through to them?
First of all, listen That’s right. Ask questions, sit back, and listen. Let them tell you all about their opinion. As they speak, do your best to feel grateful and compassionate for what the are telling you - realize that they are confessing their deeper fears to you under the protective guise of steadfast clarity and resolve. Don’t judge, don’t argue, don’t rebut - simply ask questions and listen.
Once you’ve listened thoroughly, you’ll usually find that these folks will relax their opinions slightly. Due to the laws of reciprocity, they’ll then usually ask you what you think. At this point it’s usually most effective to talk on a very personal level about your reasons for being interested in sustainability. Talk about your children, your family, your love of nature, your country, or the world - the “we’re all in it together” universals. The non-believers take heart in the basic universals of being a human, and the notion of duty and shared purpose. If you can help them see how your commitment to sustainability stems from a deeper longing for a meaningful purpose, you will access their humanity and win over a new dutiful, disciplined ally.
Sustainability Cynic # 2:The Hard-Boiled Capitalist
Description: The hard-boiled capitalists have decided that sustainability cannot coexist with profitability, and tend to dismiss sustainable visionaries as romantic idealists. Highly competitive and pragmatic, they will usually express these beliefs not through over tirades, but rather through a business strategies that focus almost exclusively upon the financial bottom line (with little or no homage paid to environmental and humanistic implications, except insofar as they relate directly to financial or legal interests). When cornered, these cynics will often claim that it’s too late to fix the problem anyway, so why bother?
Deeper causes: Hard-boiled capitalistic cynicism is hard-wired into most business people in the
Resonant world-shaping metaphor: Life is a game.
Communication strategies: Whatever you do, do not start by citing the nobility of your cause! To these cynics, noble causes are for those poor saps who never put away childish things and entered “real world.”
Instead, present your initiative first through a financial lens. Do your homework! Show how your initiative will help create a sustainable competitive advantage in your particular industry or niche. The key word here is “competition.” Hard-boiled capitalist cynics frame the world as a game in which the most clever person wins. Use this metaphor freely in your communications with hard boiled capitalists. Find a competitor in your industry. Are they beating your on an important sustainability issue or dimension? If so, bring this up as leverage. Let this person know that unless they take action soon, they may be left behind for good. Nothing gets a hard-boiled capitalists blood boiling more than the fear of losing. Use this knowledge to strategically ignite their passions towards your worthy cause.
Sustainability Cynic #3: The Environmental Elitist
Description: Unlike the earlier types, this cynical species has a passionate interest in the environmental movement. Unfortunately (and ironically), this passion is often expressed in a way that undermines the very movement they seek to promote. Deeply mistrustful of large organizations (and of capitalism in general) these cynics seem to regard all human institutions as cancers on butt of mother nature. They tend to favor low-tech environmental solutions that bring people together in a spirit of community, and are prone to make strong value-judgments about “non-believers” and “hard-boiled capitalists” who might not immediately share their cherished values.
Deeper causes: The psychology of the Environmental Elitist is held in place by a naggingly constant inner upwelling of frustration and guilt. These folks are the ultimate romantic idealists, and are often disappointed by the great disparity between their ideals and the cold hard facts of reality. What’s more, they tend to feel personally responsible for every bit of suffering in the world. They usually deal with this guilt by projecting it outwards onto others who don’t share their lofty ideals. They also have a strong distaste for authority. Looking around the world, they are painfully aware of the damage caused by people who blindly buy into the rules and prescriptions of the properly sanctioned authorities - be they political, religious or economic.
Core world-shaping metaphor: Mankind is a family.
Communication strategies: When dealing with this species of cynic, it’s important to first let them know that you are ‘on the same team’, and that you share their basic values. By doing this, you will engender a level of trust that allows for a much deeper rapport. Once trust is established, your challenge is to call these folks to see how they may ultimately undermine their own agenda by being so quick to judge. Are they willing step down from the ivory castle of Platonic ideals and accept their flawed fellow human being as is, without indictment or reproach? Would they be willing to trade an ounce of ideology for a pound of pragmatism?
Ask questions and listen. Where does their core guilt and frustration lie? Usually you’ll find that they unconsciously vilify the very corporate leaders that they would need to get buy-in from to get their pet projects up and running. The irony of this self-sabotage is blaring - use humor to make such contradictions evident. Be straight. Be authentic. Don’t let the pie-eyed idealism fool you - these hard core cynics are seeking for truths that would leave most other ordinary cynics quaking in their boots. Existential weaklings they are not! Show them that you can see the inherent value of their sometimes scoffed at environmental quest. Use the “mankind as family” metaphor whenever possible. Appeal to their inherent belief in humanity. Question their assumptions. Leave no stone unturned. But at the end of it all, focus on the need for concrete, measurable results. Show them that their lofty ideals are achievable if they only had the gumption to stop complaining, buck up, and start trusting other people. Inspire them with a grandiose vision, yes, but then show them the immediate next step that must be taken to translate that vision into tangible reality.
The Common Denominator? A Frustrated Desire to Serve
Whatever types of mental resistance you may come across in yourself and others, never forget this one core truth: all humans secretly long be of service. Cynicism - no matter how entrenched and virulent - is but a rocky layer of frustration caked around a universally human altruistic impulse that has been repressed through years of social conditioning and survival-based thinking. The truly sustainable leaders of tomorrow will be those with the humility to keep this core truth in mind as they engage in the seductive mind-play of engaging cynicism and igniting eco-inspiration on a massive scale. Try as we might, we can’t get away from the shared source that sustains us. Instead of escaping, why not just embrace it? Barack Obama did this with his game-changing presidential campaign, and has started chain reaction the likes of which our generation has never before seen. The implications are still being written, and the next step starts with you.
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John Marshall Roberts is an author, speaker, and communications strategist for a variety of sustainable and socially conscious clients. His new book, “Igniting Inspiration: A Persuasion Manual for Visionaries,” is available here. Find more information on his blog.
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On the occasion of my first residency at Goddard College, the cab driver who drove me to the school from the airport proffered his opinion that Burlington, and Vermont in general, were exceptionally great places to live. “Why?,” I asked. “Quality of life,” he immediately responded—perhaps not realizing that his answer could be considered tautological, but also entirely unaware that my avowed purpose in pursuing the MA in Individualized Studies was specifically to investigate the many measures that have been developed to assess ‘quality of life’ at the societal level.
More on EW Research Fellow Michael Abrams Writes Paper on Social Capital & Well Being
December 22, 2007
Welcoming Kachina Katrina as EW’s Newest Research Fellow
EW is pleased to welcome Community Organizer, Kachina Katrina Zavalney as an EW Research Fellow!
In addition to her innovations in non-profit collaboration and human capacity building, Empowerment Works has distinguished Kachina as “Research Fellow” for her work in creating a “Community Organizers Toolkit” for inspired people who want to do something about the problems in this world, and don’t know where to start, this kit outlines specific practices and resources for local solutions.
Started as a masters degree project, this comprehensive community organizers tool kit covers the basics of group formation and organizational tools with resources in every subject for further exploration. To address the key issues related to this field, Katrina conducted interviews with community organizers, researched techniques, and evaluated existing programs focused on community development.
As an official EW Research Fellow, Kachina will further develop her Community Organizers Toolkit, synthesizing tools for community organizing, and is empowered to raise funds for it as a non-profit program. Download the Community Organizers Toolkit.
Kachina has much to bring to EW, including the further linking of her many networks and projects (she threads together her networks very well in her bio) that are of relevance to EW.
Kachina Katrina has an amazing background as a organizer, community builder, event planner, educator and consultant for organizational development:
- Currently supporting James Kalin, a green developer (who is currently promoting a low cost ecologically designed mobile home through his company Virtually Green) in his effort to transform a mobile home park into an ecovillage in Napa Valley. They are using a high yield agricultural technique called spin farming and will be transferring these practices to the East Bay in CA to bring healthier food to the people that need it.
- Learned and practiced community building sharpening organizing skills with the City Repair project in Portland, OR since 1999, becoming their national outreach coordinator.
- Helped Bay Localize bring in tools and models that area groups and municipal governments can implement in their own locales to bring the production of food, energy, and essential goods and services closer to home.
- Lined up speakers for Earth Dance International in the Bay area
- Assisted Michael Gosney producing the Digital Be-IN, a celebratory event that begins with a two-hour, multidisciplinary exploration of Biomimicry as it relates to information and social networks, economics, education, green tech, urban development, bioregionalism, and the worldwide “movement without a name” combining social justice and sustainability at this critical juncture in human evolution, then heads into music into the night with activation zones through out the venue.
Her main gig is coordinating events for the Urban Alliance for Sustainability (UAS) in San Francisco, CA, assisting UAS to integrate and inspire the sustainability movement in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. She is currently mapping the ecology of the sustainable movement in the Bay Area, and with this information is creating alliances so that people can be empowered to effectively work together more on issues they care about.
EW looks forward to serving as platform for Kachina to put her theoretical and practical experience to work in global programs and in non-profit collaboration through the PIE network.
See Kachina Katrina’s Linked In Page
