SSI2030's New Year Challenge: Catalyze an "Educating the World for Regenerative Success" Campaign

I have found no better framing of our sustainability predicament that leads to an accurate understanding, the basis for authentic hope, and the possibility of constructive action than Donella Meadows' discussion (see the recent post) of love, hope and sustainability (Beyond the Limits: 1992). It is food for thought and a useful mental anchor, or at least perspective to remember, as we and the world move into 2013.

In addition, Sweden's educating a nation campaign  begun in 1990 with the launch of The Natural Step is an inspiring and instructive example of Donella's point. It may be worth contemplating them together as the basis for designing a global campaign in, say, 2014 (or sooner), such as, Educating the World for Sustainability (Regenerative) Decisions, Practice, and Success program!

The Strategic Sustainability Institute 2030's New Year's resolution and challenge to the sustainability community for 2013 is catalyzing such an educational/action initiative globally.

If you'd like to monitor or collaborate on this initiative, email me your interest. The Natural Step International (TNSI) is already reorganizing itself in this general direction, although not quite conceptualized as a collaborative, multi-stakeholder global educational/action campaign. Other organizations have or are mounting initiatives that could be stitched together into a larger, focused, poignant, and effective global campaign for strategic sustainability success.

Wishing you the best for transformational strategic sustainability in 2013,

Scott

New Year Greeting 2: Donella Meadows on Love, Hope, & Sustainability

I have found no better framing of our sustainability predicament that leads to an accurate understanding, the basis for authentic hope, and the possibility of constructive action than Donella Meadows' discussion of love, hope and sustainability (Beyond the Limits: 1992). It is food for thought and a useful mental anchor, or at least perspective to remember, as the world moves into 2013.

In addition, Sweden's educating a nation campaign begun in 1990 with the launch of The Natural Step is an inspiring and instructive example of Donella's point (see this post for a global educational campaign it inspired for me and SSI2030).

The summary below highlights Donella's key points for a constructive understanding of our predicament, and her rich, couple-page discussion follows in its entirety for your immersion, contemplation, enjoyment, inspiration, and synthesis.

Wishing you the best for transformational sustainability in 2013 (the clock is ticking),

Scott

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New Year Greeting 1: The Challenge & the Basis for Authentic Hope

The dawn of 2013 breaks with ominous storm clouds gathering on the sustainability horizon. We know them as climate change, peak oil, decreasing resource supply, increasing demand, accelerating environmental destruction (fisheries, forests, etc.), increasing inequality, fraying of the social fabric, and an ideological and fiscal assault on the commons. What are the implications for successfully responding to this widening sustainability challenge? Fortunately, the dawn also breaks with slivers of hope shining through the storm clouds in the form of inspiring innovation and leadership.

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Toxic Economic Development is NOT Development

Is our society capable of connecting the dots and operating from any type of objective logic which would avoid lethal assaults on the environment and society? Or are we destined as a species to extinction from an apparent emperor-has-no-clothes affliction for illogic? If economic development that creates toxic environments is NOT development by any rational and objective calculus, then why do we pursue it with an emperor-has-no-clothes logical illogic?

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C02 Emissions - Entering the Red Zone for a Catastrophic Climate Change Future

Recent reports (see below) indicate that even though some countries have consistently reduced their C02 emissions, global C02 production this past 2012 is the highest on record. In addition, global production trends appear to be dangerously pushing or exceeding levels required to keep global warming at or below 2 degrees Celsius. 

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Shift to Renewable Energy & Organic Agriculture Now

A high-level strategic understanding of the sustainability challenge, including the front-line climate change challenge, points quickly to two shifts that will drive the rest of the economic transformation to a sustainable society in the biosphere:  the shift to 100% renewable energy and the shift to 100% organic agriculture.

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New TNSI Global Strategic Sustainability Initiative

The Natural Step International (TNSI), after several years of strategic planning, has formulated a powerful, new, 5-year strategic direction 2012-2017.

The new direction addresses the cumulative insufficiency of global efforts to date, the increasing urgency and magnitude of the challenge, and the shrinking window of opportunity.

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Solar Breakthroughs and Natural Gas Push Back

Two unrelated recent articles illustrate the political economy of sustainability and the creative technological challenge, policy challenge, human character challenge, and evolutionary challenge of sustainability.

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Reflections on Whistler, The Natural Step, and Sustainability

I recently participated in a 3-day Natural Step strategic sustainability planning workshopheld in Whistler, British Columbia. The workshop and location combined to illuminate both leading edge progress and the challenge ahead. We were fortunate to have such an exceptional model of abundant nature and village-level sustainability at our doorsteps. My personal-professional reflections on the workshop and the state of the sustainability challenge and opportunities follow.

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Approaching the Planetary Tipping Point?

Finally, a decade or so after the path-breaking IPCC 4th Assessment Report that confirmed anthropogenic climate change (see article), a new report and multi-disciplinary research project (The Berkeley Initiative in Global Change Biology) is focusing on the likely global biological effects of climate change (see article).

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Life Beyond Growth

Alan AtKisson, long-time strategic sustainability pioneer, summarizes his new report and monitoring service, Life Beyond Growth, that integrates and synthesizes the range of economic ideas and practices that have gained currency in policy debates and practice recently. 

The Donella Meadows Institute published the summary, which provides links to the original AtKisson post and report.

Americans Don't Believe Adaptation or Geo-engineering Will Work

In a new paper based on a random survey, Brookings Institute Fellows "Christopher Borick and Barry Rabe summarize America's attitude towards using geoengineering solutions as a means to combat global warming. Highlights from their findings include:

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Sustainability Moves from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Improve your home's and community's energy efficiency with a deep energy retrofit and reduce emissions by up to 75%. Engineering studies show electric cars are cleaner and cost less now!

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Regenerative Design and Development - A Pioneer's Perspective

Regenerative design and development is next-generation sustainability innovation now, in its formative moment.  “Sustainability is a neighborhood phenomenon,” Busby says. “We’re moving from buildings to communities—it’s whole-systems thinking.”

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Living Future Challenge - A 2012 Buckminster Fuller Challenge Finalist

See the Announcement for details of the Challenge and other finalists.

The Living Building Challenge, launched by a pioneer in green architecture, is a philosophy, advocacy tool, and performance standard - setting the highest standard of environmental in buildings, reframing how buildings and infrastructure function within ecosystems.

 Also, explore the Bucky Challenge and Institute more generally.

Recent Developments in Green Growth

Is green growth the green-washing oxymoron that many sustainability practitioners think? Or is it the holy grail, the goose that lays the golden egg, the potential perpetual prosperity machine for the 21st century?

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How Much Will it Cost to Save Our Economy?

How Much Will it Cost to Save Our Economy’s Foundation?  Lester R. Brown www.earth-policy.org/book_bytes/2012/wotech10_ss4

Altogether, then, restoring the economy’s natural support systems—reforesting the earth, protecting topsoil, restoring rangelands and fisheries, stabilizing water tables, and protecting biological diversity—will require additional expenditures of just $110 billion per year. Many will ask, Can the world afford these investments? But the only appropriate question is, Can the world afford the consequences of not making these investments? 

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OECD Environmental Outlook 2050--Action Needed NOW!

A new OECD Outlook report: OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050--The Consequences of Inaction, provides a credible and sobering understanding of the inhospitable world of 2050 that we, humanity, will face if we do not choose to reverse our present business as usual (BAU) trajectory. The report presents policy recommendations to reverse course, but leaves implementation to enlightened national leaders and citizens, thereby concluding on the traditional simultaneously hopeful and unlikely note.

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Whole Systems Design and Factor 10 Engineering

You can find an accessible formulation and starting point for two fundamental practices underlying key sustainability strategies -- radical resource productivity and whole systems thinking -- at the Rocky Mountain Institute. 

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Elegant Pitstops Key to Multi-modal/Sustainable Transportation

Mark Kessler, architect and UC Davis Professor, will soon publish a book on the historical aspects of San Francisco's 1920s-era garages. On March 3-4, 2012, he exhibited a set of photographs of these garages at the Old Mint Building (5th & Mission). He gave a captivating lecture entitled "Elegant Pitstops--The Historicist Garages of San Francisco" in which he discussed the historical value of these buildings that are often invisible to the passerby. When combined with innovative land use-transportation policy, these historic resources could play an key, neighborhood-based, intermediate role in creating a fully funtional multi-modal and sustainable transportation system for 21st century San Francisco.

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