Summer Institute in Sustainability (UBC, July 20-25)

Excerpt from the University of British Columbia's website: The UBC/UW Summer Institute in Sustainability is an intensive professional development program targeted to administrators in corporations, local and provincial governments, and universities and colleges who wish to integrate sustainability as a core value in their organization and develop sustainability policies and procedures that are mindful of public policy, stakeholder interest and the bottom line.

WiserEarth - Infrastructure For the Spontaneous Coordination of Sustainability Success?

Paul Hawkens founded WiserEarth in 2007 to provide an infrastructure for "people who are transforming the world;" to provide the connectivity needed to support the spontaneous coordination and cooperation needed by the "more than one million organizations and the one hundred million individuals who actively work towards ecological sustainability, economic justice, human rights, and political accountability" around the world everyday to enhance their effectiveness in remaking a sustainable world. The following excerpts from the WiserEarth website expand on its mission.

WiserEarth serves the people who are transforming the world. It is a community-editable international directory and networking forum that maps out and connects the largest movement in the world – the hundreds of thousands of organizations within civil society that address social justice, poverty, and the environment.

WiserEarth provides the tools and a platform for non-profit organizations, funders, social entrepreneurs, students, organizers, academics, activists, scientists, and citizens to find each other, make connections, build alliances and share resources.

The more than one million organizations and the one hundred million individuals who actively work towards ecological sustainability, economic justice, human rights, and political accountability work on issues that are systemically interconnected and intertwined. However, their effectiveness to prevent harm and institute positive change is undermined by the lack of a collective awareness, duplicative efforts, and poor connectivity. A widely diverse network of organizations is the best defense against injustice, but to be effective, it needs to be connected and intelligent. What is missing is a map and directory of this network that includes the resources for communication and cooperation, created and managed by the community; in essence, an infrastructure through which to coordinate our efforts. WiserEarth provides this movement a way to see itself and become connected. 

I have given hundreds of talks about the environment in the past fifteen years, I'm not sure how many. After talks people come up to talk, ask questions, or exchange business cards. People are creatures and we like to exchange, meet, touch our antennae. Many of my friends to this day I met this way. Those offering their cards work on the most salient issues of our day: climate change, poverty, deforestation, peace, water, hunger, conservation, human rights, and more. They were from the non-profit and non-governmental world, also known as civil society, and they looked after rivers and bays, educated consumers about sustainable agriculture, retrofitted houses with solar panels, lobbied state legislatures about pollution, fought against corporate-weighted trade policies, were studying hard at school, worked to green inner cities, or taught children about the environment. Quite simply, they were trying to safeguard nature and justice. I now believe there are over one million organizations working towards ecological sustainability and social justice. Maybe two.

This website is a result of counting. It is a gift of the thousands of organizations that want to save the earth from our basest instincts and create a culture of peace in its place. It is also the gift of the thousands and thousands of hours devoted to it by volunteers, interns, and staff members of Natural Capital Institute. It is now your site, top to bottom.

Sustainability Success Requires Constancy and Commitment -- The Case of California

This story from Matier & Ross about the staffing needs for implementing California's path-breaking AB32 greenhouse gas legislation illustrates clearly the daily political and financial challenges of implementing sustainability initiatives.  The Governor is  adding 211 staff persons at a cost of $55.4M, in the context of an estimated budget deficit of up to $20B. Shortsighted accounting suggests postponing, i.e., not funding, the bill for one year. The larger perspective sees the $1.7B venture capitalists have invested in green technology companies in the past year. Governor's budget plan grows green staff, Phillip Matier,Andrew Ross, Sunday, May 4, 2008

The Politics of Agricultural Reform

Farm bill upends normal political order, Carolyn Lochhead, Chronicle Washington Bureau, Sunday, May 4, 2008. [excerpts]

Farm bills come around just once every five years and usually fly under the radar of most lawmakers and the public, making it easy for Congress to tout the bills as aid to family farmers. The commodity supports - born as temporary economic aids in the 1930s - are mind-numbingly complicated and get little notice outside the farm press, despite their enormous impact on U.S. food policy. Urban lawmakers are normally happy to vote for crop subsidies in exchange for food-stamp votes from rural lawmakers. It is textbook political logrolling.

The bill would spend about $5 billion a year on automatic payments, mostly to farmers of five crops - corn, wheat, cotton, rice and soybeans - giving two-thirds of the money to the top 10 percent of growers. Embarrassed by the spectacle, some farm-state lawmakers pushed for payment limits, fearing a loss of public support for farm aid.

"This is not even the illusion of reform," said Rep. Ron Kind, a Wisconsin Democrat who intends to fight a $1.7 billion cut in money added by the House for conservation. "Not when you dole out $50 billion in direct payments over 10 years that bear no relation to market prices or production.

 "The administration is our ally in wanting more significant commodity reform," said Heather Fenney, coordinator of the California Food and Justice Coalition, a Berkeley-based group pushing for healthier food and sustainable farming.

"We've wondered if we weren't living in a parallel universe," said Ken Cook, president of Environmental Working Group. "The president has been to the left of the speaker."

 "This is not even the illusion of reform," said Rep. Ron Kind, a Wisconsin Democrat who intends to fight a $1.7 billion cut in money added by the House for conservation. "Not when you dole out $50 billion in direct payments over 10 years that bear no relation to market prices or production. ... The president is right."

Ferd Hoefner, policy director of the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, called the administration's proposals a mixed bag, saying administration officials "sit in the room with an incredible amount of leverage and don't negotiate."

Congress, however, produced "an utter lack of effective pro-family-farmer reform," Hoefner added.

The Habit of Out-of-the-Box Innovation

Unboxed, Janet Rae-Dupree, NYT, 5-4-08, Can You Becom a Creature of New Habits, reviews the lie that knowing what your good at and doing even more it creates excellence.  If not, what does?  Read on. . .

FriendFeed Technology

Essay - Friends May Be the Best Guide Through the Noise, By BRAD STONE, Published: May 4, 2008

This essay reviews new tools to cut through the exponentially expanding volume of info, and to follow the web publishing cross-platform publishing of individuals. That’s where the sites like FriendFeed, Iminta, Plaxo, Readr, Mugshot and others try to harness the wisdom of friends.

Common Wealth by Jeffrey D. Sachs

A economist, and Director of Columbia University's Earth Institute, argues for global cooperation around shared goals of sustainable development. (Penguin Press, $27.95).  Reviews.   The U.S. News and World Reports says,

Jeffrey Sachs on Beating Global Poverty

The Colombia economist says it can be done with little investing

By Kirk Shinkle

Posted April 11, 2008

Economist Jeffrey Sachs, Columbia University's current rock star-cum-academic, has mastered the art of being audacious in a pleasantly reasoned sort of way. In his new book, Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet, he posits that global poverty, plus a host of other ills, can be conquered for a cost that amounts to pocket change for rich-world nations. The price tag, either shamefully low or totally unrealistic, prompts the question, "If we can, why haven't we?" Excerpts of a chat with Sachs: . . .

Dr. John Todd and Living Machines

EnviroEducation.com Interview with Dr. John Todd: Professional & Academic Perspectives of Ecological Design.
Dr. John Todd Dr. John Todd is an internationally-recognized biologist and a visionary leader in the field of ecological design who was named a "Hero of the Earth" by Time magazine in 1999 and one of the 20th Century's top thirty-five inventors by the Lemelson-MIT Program for Invention and Innovation. He holds four patents and is the inventor of Living Machines, or ecological engines, for the treatment of wastes, production of foods, generation of fuels and the restoration of damaged aquatic environments. He recently won the first annual Buckminster Fuller Challenge with his proposal -- Comprehensive Design for a Carbon Neutral World: The Challenge of Appalachia. Author of over two hundred technical and popular articles on biology and planetary stewardship, Dr. Todd is the Founder and President of Ocean Arks International, a non profit research and education organization; co-founded Living Technologies Inc., an ecological design, engineering, and construction firm in Burlington, Vermont; and a Research Professor in the University of Vermont's Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources.

Bainbridge Graduate Institute (sustainability MBA)

BGI's pioneering MBA and Certificate programs prepare diverse leaders to build enterprises that are economically successful, socially responsible and environmentally sustainable.

Erasmus University - Rotterdam

 Two programs are worth noting:

 1.  Launch of RSM's Sustainability and Climate Research Centre  Launched in 2007 to address the question, what do we do next?  Climate change is arguably the biggest management challenge facing the world. Companies are both part of the problem and part of the solution. Yet a recent literature review shows that only 1.3% of articles published in top-tier management journals are focused on environmental issues; an even smaller subset tackle climate change, mostly in practitioner related journals (e.g., Harvard Business Review’s October 2007 special issue on climate). But there is still a large gap in our managerial knowledge base. . .

2.   Off-campus Ph.D. Program on Cleaner Production, Cleaner Products, Industrial Ecology and Sustainability
Introduction  Launched in 1995, early in world society's quickening response to the sustainability challenge, the PhD program supports the development of a scientific program on cleaner production in three respects: (1) establishing a conceptual framework; (2) disseminating core knowledge from natural and social science disciplines, including problem definitions, change strategies, technological and social methodologies; and (3) teaching and applying clear, appropriate methods of evaluating present research and revising the research agenda to reflect lessons learned. The program is specifically designed to provide qualified students the opportunity to pursue substantive research, while continuing to work in their jobs or related occupational settings. Current patterns of industrial and economic growth are causing a mounting burden upon the life support system of nature. It is now increasingly evident that the corrective approaches of pollution control and top-down environmental regulation are not sufficient to solve these problems, and to prevent new ones from arising. There is an urgent need for a paradigm shift to pollution prevention, and for economic development strategies that sharply minimize negative environmental and social impacts while restoring past damage wherever possible. Case studies in Cleaner Production, Eco-Product Design, and Industrial Ecology approaches show considerable promise in what some scientists call “the next industrial revolution.” Interest is mounting on the part of industry, and among governments whose regulatory structures are grossly inadequate to address the scale of environmental degradation that results from existing industrial practices. As a result, there is rapidly growing awareness of the need for in-depth scientific research and theoretical elaboration of the foundations of cleaner production and sustainable development, and thus for a new generation of scientist-practitioners.

Presidio School of Management - Executive Program in Sustainable Management

From their website:  Our 5-month program is designed to provide a true competitive advantage: Participants gain a deep perspective on what makes a sustainable business, as well as practical skills on how to shift a corporate culture, take realistic steps toward lasting change, win over skeptics, and apply sustainable principles to benefit both the bottom line and society.

Stanford Exec Ed and Sustainability

Business Strategies for Environmental Sustainability, 2008 Dates: September 14 - 20; Program Tuition: $9,000 USD; Application Deadline: June 23, 2008 

Harvard Business Review - Environment & Sustainability

 The 2000 special edition Harvard Business Review on Business and the Environment, by Amory Lovins, Hunter Lovins, Paul Hawken, and Forest Reinhardt, has been recycled partially into the 2007 special edition Harvard Business Review on Green Business Strategy. There is an issue in 2002 on a complimentary topic, the Harvard Business Review on the Innovative Enterprise by Peter F. Drucker, and John Seely Brown.

Sir Ken Robinson - Creativity & Innovation Leader

Speaker and author.  Recent book, Out of Our Minds:  Learning to be Creative.  Google the name. Many links.

State of the Future (2007) - UN Millenium Project

An annual evaluation of the global situation, prospects, and strategies, reported by a unique system of futurist networks around the world (2007 is the 11th edition).  www.millennium-project.org

Feed the World by Studying Vocabulary -- www.FreeRice.com

Study for the SATs, etc., or simply expand your vocabularly and generate one grain of free rice with each correct answer? Sound silly? Ineffective? Maybe, but it works.

Begun in the fall of 2007, web use has sky rocketed and the site is responsible for sending 30 BILLION grains of rice to date. 

Go to www.freerice.com to join in the fun and good work!

Winner -- Buckminster Fuller Challenge 2008 -- Comprehensive Design for a Carbon Neutral World: The Challenge of Appalachia

John Todd scales up ecological design for the 21st century by applying it to a comprehensive strategy for the betterment of Appalachia, a culturally rich region, but long lagging in terms of economic development.  This proposal is worth some study by students of ecological design and comprehensive anticipatory design science. Read the press release from the BFI then follow the link the the BFI website for more details and related resouces.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, visit: http://challenge.bfi.org
Contact: Matt Barron, Tel: 718.290.9283, Email: challenge@bfi.org
THE FIRST ANNUAL BUCKMINSTER FULLER CHALLENGE WINNER ANNOUNCED

MAY 2nd, 2008 NEW YORK CITY — The Buckminster Fuller Institute is pleased to announce that Comprehensive Design for a Carbon Neutral World: The Challenge of Appalachia submitted by Dr. John Todd has been selected as the winner of the 2008 Buckminster Fuller Challenge.

“Dr. John Todd’s comprehensive design strategy to bring about a carbon neutral world, in the opinion of this jury, best embodies the bold, visionary approach to large scale societal transformation pioneered by Buckminster Fuller. Dr. Todd’s proposal sets forth a profound vision to heal the environmental and economic scars of the Appalachian region and a detailed strategy to build a dynamic sustainable economic basis for lasting renewal,” said the Buckminster Fuller Challenge jurors in a statement about their decision.

“Dr. Todd’s vision sets forth a new theory of ecological design weaving together a set of processes - from restoration of land to geo-sequestration of carbon, to community involvement, to long-term economic vitality - to create a blueprint for a future for Appalachia that envisions a harmonious self-sustaining community. This is one of the only true whole systems projects that is place based but widely applicable.” To read the full statement by the jury, visit: http://challenge.bfi.org
Allegra Fuller Snyder, Fuller’s daughter, remarked, “My father identified himself as a Comprehensive Anticipatory Design Scientist. Each word is essential to understanding in what way he felt an individual must be competent to be effective in fully implementing constructive visions for our collective planetary future. John Todd’s response meets that Challenge, literally and figuratively. My father, who knew, and admired, Dr. Todd’s work in the 1970s, would certainly agree.”

“The selection by the jury of Dr. Todd’s project sets the bar for the Challenge for years to come. We are thrilled the jury selected a courageous and truly integrated vision that sets forth a detailed strategy to bring about a vibrant and life-sustaining future. The depth and breadth of this vision is stunning and I hope it becomes a catalyst for reflection and lively discussion across disciplines about contemporary approaches to solving the major issues facing us today,” said Elizabeth Thompson, Executive Director of the Buckminster Fuller Institute.

In addition to selecting the winner, the jury also identified two runners-up for their innovative work. The Barefoot College submitted by Bunker Roy was selected as the first runner-up and Promoting Biogas and Training Bedouin Women submitted by Kevin Leopold was selected as the second runner-up.

The winner will receive a $100,000 prize at a press conference and conferring ceremony June 23rd, 2008 at 2pm at The Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place in New York City.

For more information, visit http://challenge.bfi.org

 This email is sent from:
The Buckminster Fuller Institute
181 N11th St, Suite 402
Brooklyn, 11211

San Francisco State University MBA - Sustainability Emphasis

The San Francisco State College of Business added a sustainability emphasis to their MBA curriculum in the fall of 2007. From their website:

This emphasis provides students with an in-depth appreciation of the environmental and social dimensions of conducting business in a global market. Three aspects of sustainable business that improve a firm's long-term performance will be emphasized: managing risks (regulatory, reputation, litigation, market), values-driven leadership, and recognizing market opportunities created by environmental and social challenges. Learning outcomes include how to articulate the business case for sustainability, develop and lead internal and external coalitions needed to drive organizational change, and implement metrics for measuring progress and providing accountability.

Links:  http://cob.sfsu.edu/mba/programs/sustainable/index.cfm another link to only the video (and its a good one) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pua2YwCDxLo

Gil Friend and Natural Logic

Gill is one of the early pioneers and sustainability practitioners. From his website: http://www.natlogic.com/

Building exceptional environmental and economic performance by embedding the laws of nature at the heart of enterprise. Natural Logic delivers strategic sustainability consulting to companies and communities, with integrated, results-focused programs that build profit and competitive advantage while reducing your organization's environmental footprint, waste and risk.

Presidio School of Management

The Presidio School of Management is one of the leading sustainability educator and problem-solving pioneers, and one of the few emphasizing a systems approach to sustainability -- as opposed simply to corporate social responsibility or environmental performance -- as an essential key for understanding and effectiveness.

From their web site:  Business has the power to change the world. Presidio School of Management believes that business holds the power to address the world's most critical environmental, economic and social problems. As one of the first business schools to focus on sustainability, Presidio is now a leader in a mainstream movement embraced by some of the world's top companies. Sustainable management is integral to every course in our groundbreaking MBA and Executive programs. At the heart of our curriculum, we place students in leading companies and non-profits to work on real-world solutions. We're rethinking leadership and acting on sustainable ideas . . . http://www.presidiomba.org/