Spring of Sustainability

I've been enjoying listening/participating in the Spring of Sustainability program. Organized by The Shift Network and Sustainable World Coalition, this program started on March 26th and goes until June 22nd. This venture includes a season filled with speakers, presenters, panelists and interviews with the leaders in the sustainability movement. It's an opportunity to get a perspective of current and forthcoming trends and innovations related to education, energy, green building, social media and much more. The flexibility of being able to call in or listen and view powerpoints/images online and then have small group break-out sessions is fabulous. This gives participants an opportunity to discuss the points made in the interviews/panels with others from around the world.

These types of programs show the power of leveraging communications technologies and the blend of the traditional phone with the internet to bring people together and share ideas. It's also been interesting to hear about how topics such a climate change are being presented and received by the general public in different parts of the US and abroad.

Having this program extend over three months gives everyone a way of integrating the material and listening to recordings if unable to join in during the live shows. The next step would be to extend this virtual community by having local gatherings and events in the locations where participants are calling from so everyone meets in person.

Education and Ebooks

For hundreds of years we've been using traditional paper books to convey information. The computer revolution is now coming full spiral with the new computer tablets and smart phones. Apple's recent release of the iBooks app is leading the trend towards exploring new ways of learning, and will likely revolutionize how we read and share information for years to come.

iBooks is changing how we design and read textbooks. It includes: new ways of bookmarking, animations, videos, audio, a dictionary among so many other features. The iBook Author app takes it a step further and allows writers, teachers, students to create books that combine all these multimedia capabilities.

I'm thrilled at the possibilities of this technology to excite kids about learning and envision this wave as the beginning of a shift in how we communicate. The speed with which ebooks are taking hold is astonishing. The cost and materials savings in shifting from paper to electrons is undeniable. Ebooks keep information more current (less outdated textbooks in schools), and allows for students with different learning styles to engage more fully with the topics covered.

Keep an eye out for the "ebook wave" as it crests and schools add more "living textbooks" to their classroom. And as prices drop, their demand will increase. There are some great ebook educational titles coming out, and I was pleased to hear that The Sustainability Revolution was recently selected by Apple to demonstrate the capabilities of ebooks on the iPad platform in academic settings.

Seed Banks and Biodiversity

A week ago, I came across an interesting TEDx talk delivered by David Milarch who heads Archangel Ancient Tree Archive, a non-profit dedicated to cloning the world's ancient trees to preserve their genetic structure. In propagating these ancient species from around the world, including giant sequoia, coast redwoods, etc., they hope to create a living library that preserves the genetic structure of these trees and help scientists, perhaps generations from now, learn about their unique qualities that have stood the test of time. One of the questions that comes up is the importance of respecting the habitat integrity of these species so that if/when they are re-planted they remain in their original habitats and not in other regions where they are not originally found.

The Archangel Ancient Tree Archive work also brings to mind other seed storage initiatives including the Millennium Seed Bank Project launched by Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in 2000 and the Svalbard International Seed Vault in Norway. These efforts underscore the importance of protecting the biodiversity of life on earth and taking action to restore the damage that has been done by saving seeds and preserving the genetic diversity of the planet. These programs also point to taking seed saving back to the local level by doing what farmers and gardeners have done for thousands of years in saving seeds. These local actions will enhance the resiliency of seed saving initiatives rather than depending solely on international mega-seed bank programs.

David Milarch's TEDx Talk:

http://blog.ancienttreearchive.org/?p=315

http://blog.ancienttreearchive.org/?p=300

Related Links:

Plant Genebanks: Food Security. Geoffrey C. Hawtin and Jeremy Cherfas. ActionBioscience

The Moon Trees. David R Williams, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Uplifting Story: Reviving Coral

As this year draws to a close, I ran across an interesting story about reviving coral reefs. Off the coast of Bali a group has been experimenting for over a decade on building metal cages which are electrified with a low voltage. Apparently the electricity stimulates the growth of coral 2 to 6 times faster! An encouraging step forward given the deterioration of coral reefs throughout the world.

I'm a bit weary of "technological fixes;" however, I'm encouraged by the ingenuity and dedication of conservationists willing to try new approaches that remediate our destruction.

Check out details of article and video at at:

Electrified Cages Revive Near-Dead Corals

http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/electrified-cages-revive-near-dead-corals.html

YouTube video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6hjuEoURPZE

Thrive and Beyond...

As the catch-all "sustainability" term becomes more over-used and thereby more amorphous, new terms and language is emerging for what lies ahead. One of these terms in "thriving." What I like about thriving is that is conjures a positive vision for what is possible--- it presents a vision for where we are going and it's an inviting vision-- one that makes us want to be a part of it rather than fostering a bleak survivalist perspective. Starting with a "blue sky" approach for what we want and then calibrating it based on constraints is much more inviting, appealing and powerful than immediately jumping to the constraints.

New books, websites, movies and blogs (see links below) have emerged and continue to be developed asking questions which help to envision a better future for all. They cover topics in: food, energy, politics, entrepreneurship, social action, education, finance, personal development, etc., etc... The conversation about a thriving future helps to bridge the inner world that drives us as individuals with the outer world that we interact with on a daily basis.

A small sampling of links include:

Journey of the Universe: http://www.journeyoftheuniverse.org

New Stories: http://www.newstories.org

Pachamama Alliance: http://www.pachamama.org

Pioneers of Change: http://pioneersofchange.net

Thrive Napa Valley: http://www.thrivenv.org

Thrive Tribe: http://www.facebook.com/groups/thrivetribe

Thrive: What on Earth Will it Take? http://thrivemovement.com

Thrivability: A Collaborative Sketch: http://www.slideshare.net/NurtureGirl/thrivability-a-collaborative-sketch-3406586

Bioneers: Education for Action

A couple of weeks ago I attended the Education for Action working group at the Bioneers Conference in San Rafael, California. The objective of this group of about 40 is to find ways of leveraging sustainability education on a national scale. Quite an ambitious goal, yet as we broke it down into smaller chunks, we discovered that there were some aspects that were very doable!

It was intriguing that this group of leaders from the education, marketing, media, business and government sectors, among others, had deep experience and ideas on how best to engage a broad spectrum of people in sustainability education. The process our group underwent included working in smaller groups of about 7 people to drill down on a specific area which was then blended into the outcomes from the other groups. This is a long-term objective in which we focused on achievable goals. I'm excited to see what unfolds.

On a broader perspective, I'm thrilled to see how Bioneers is expanding its programs into: Dreaming New Mexico (a template for implementing regional sustainable practices); Food & Farming, Indigeneity, Women's Leadership and Education. One of the strongest aspects of The Bioneers is its network of people and organizations working of all aspects of sustainable practices. Leveraging this network into more specific programs is a wonderful way to turn the network into meaningful action.

Last year, I remember being pleasantly surprised to see TED talks on an airline flight. I look forward to seeing Bioneers talks in future flights, websites, television, radio and many other outlets. This is already underway as the 'Beyond Bioneers' phase of these ideas are mainstreamed.

Sustainable Leadership

As the term sustainability becomes more widespread, its meaning has undoubtedly morphed to mean many different things— living within nature's means; providing for future generations; protecting biodiversity, etc... What I see as emerging is the question: What can I do to make a difference in the world? And this question brings up the notion of leadership.

We may ask ourselves, what positive impact can I have in my immediate community? What can I do that has meaning and purpose? Recently, I finished reading Dan Millman's book, The Four Purposes of Life-- In his book, Millman describes the four purposes from an autobiographical perspective: first purpose: Learning Life's Lessons; second purpose: Finding Your Career and Calling; third purpose: Discovering Your Life Path; and fourth purpose: Attending to This Arising Moment. (FYI, Millman's well known book, Way of the Peaceful Warrior was made into a great film by the same name!).

An underlying theme in all the purposes, and indeed in finding our path, is slowing down and tuning into what resonates within us. It's definitely a challenge given the fast pace lives driven by technology, responsibilities, etc. Creating stillness and observing what's happening moment by moment...

Perhaps this is where sustainable leadership comes in: finding our purpose by creating the conditions that will clarify our life's path-- including, slowing down, observing, creating stillness, and being of service to others.

At a group level, David Logan has an interesting angle on Tribal Leadership. In his TED talk "David Logan on Tribal Leadership," he describes the different stages of tribal leadership and the importance of being able to communicate between the different stages.

Whether at the personal or tribal level, sustainable leadership appears to be gaining more visibility as we search for greater meaning in our actions.