1 The global sustainability crisis
This is the problem that led UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to issue his call for ‘revolutionary thinking and action to ensure an economic model for survival’ at the 2011 Wold Economic Forum in Davos: itself a nest of related problems:
– dwindling resources, food, water, energy for a growing world population; – climate change, environmental degradation – hunger, poverty, inequality; human rights – disasters – corruption, government mismanagement etc.
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a. A global framework for coordination of projects, participatory discourse and negotiation, research support, education and information
A global communication framework is needed for the coordination of many diverse, small local action projects and initiatives that should be encouraged and supported both as innovation laboratories for experiments with new approaches in all areas of societal organization and opportunities for people to pursue their visions, within a global framework of agreements for cooperation and conflict resolution. Its main components, besides the various action projects, are the coordination component, the discourse component, the research support component, and the education / information componen
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e. The argumentative planning game
To familiarize citizens with the tools of the argumentative discourse — faster than would be possible through the current system of public education — it is proposed to develop an ‘argumentative planning game (including the evaluation component discussed in items c and d above). The game aims at promoting (and rewarding) cooperation (rewarding win-win outcomes), critical thinking and evaluation; and should be developed both for ‘live’ applications and for wide participation in large planning discussions via videogame, cellphone and internet technology.
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f. ‘Civic credit points’
The measures of discussion contribution merit creates the possibility of establishing ‘civic credit point’ accounts for citizens, which provide legitimation / authorization for public decision-making (i.e. power) positions. Decisions require a ‘performance bond’ or ‘investment’ of credit points, used up with each decision, but with the possibility of earning further credit with successful decisions. This can provide a form of control of power: Power decisions can only be activated with adequate credit.
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h. Innovation zones in areas damaged by disasters
Innovation efforts (and funding for these) are often resisted by existing structures that see these as competition and unwarranted ‘unfair’ expenditures. The proposal to encourage the establishment of ‘innovation zones’ for experiments with alternative organization of social and economic practices in areas damaged or destroyed by disasters sidesteps this problem. Emergency aid that will be spent in such areas might be devoted to innovative infrastructure and organization instead of mere re-construction of traditional structures. Successful experiments will encourage adjacent areas to adopt new practices and solutions; less successful efforts will gradually be replaced by improved traditional solutions — but will have produced valuable information about what works and what does not work.
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David Braden I find it curious that you would want to experiment "in places where the existing infrastructure systems have been destroyed by natural or man-made disasters" Thor. Where infrastructure has been destroyed there are fewer resources to work with. When we started with Community Sufficiency Technologies we were thinking about starting in areas of the greatest need . . . such as low income areas of cities and food deserts. However, people who are not getting enough spend all their energy getting what they can.
Our current thinking is that it will take individuals who have resources in the current structure to build the alternative structures that will provide a place for those now left out. (4.3 billion people living on less than $5 a day is not a man-made disaster?)
Like · Reply · 1 · 22 mins
Thor Mann David, I am all for the kind of initiatives you are working on; with the added provision of more systematic exchange and evaluation of the experiences, successes as well as obstacles (points d and e of my proposal).
The self-sufficiency principle combined with self-determination is not, in my opinion, as obviously beyond debate: as soon as a unit -- small local initiative, region or nation -- is constrained to only some necessity resources (consider e.g. a fishing community) and experiences the need for resources that another unit produces -- wood for the boats, some other food types -- and engages in trade, agreements / treaties / contracts will be needed, and some guarantees of these being adhered to. It also raises questions about 'property rights' -- an easy principle is that if you plant or sow a crop, you should be able to prevent others from harvesting it -- but not so easy when it's the 'right' to water or other natural resources: what about the communities downstream from you? so some agreements superseding or constraining the self-determination principle will be needed?
Like · Reply · 2 · 14 hrs
David Braden You assume that we must first tear down the systems that are in place to deal with property rights and such. What I am saying that it is premature to talk about a new global system without upgrading the local systems on which it is based.
When we change what we need from government government will adapt to the change. It is a complex adaptive system built up from the choices of the individual participants.
Thor Mann David Braden: I emphatically do not assume that we must first 'tear down the systems that are in place' in order to develop the new system. My suggestion is -- getting to the question of 'how' to gain more information about what works and what doesn't -- to encourage and support the development of 'alternative' experiments and initiatives in places where the existing infrastructure systems have been destroyed by natural or man-made disasters. Then if the new ideas 'work' well, it gives the adjacent structures the opportunity to gradually change according to the new system. Conversely, if it doesn't work, the new system can be gradually be re-absorbed into existing structures, that perhaps have learned to themselves adjust somewhat to avoid their own dysfunctionalities that have caused the destruction or failure to adequately deal with natural disasters. I have proposed this 'innovation zone' concept in my writing especially in response to the big LinkedIn Systems Thinking World discussion trying to answer Ban Ki Moon's 2011 call for 'revolutionary thinking and action to ensure an economic model for survival'. The idea needs much refinement and discussion, I admit -- especially as soon as we extend the concept of 'places where existing structures have been destroyed' to non-territorial /geographic 'places' within existing societies.
Like · Reply · 4 hrs
Esteban Trev Thor Mann I would focus on what works for focusing on what doesn't work will not work smile emoticon I agree with you that instead of tearing down the system we better focus on cultivating and constructing a better alternative and let the tearing down system tear itself down...
Like · Reply · 4 hrs
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M Ichael Josefowicz David Braden The sense in which I agree withThor Mann are places like Newark and Detroit. There is an opportunity when a crisis removes legacy social structure. ww.huffingtonpost.com/news/detroit-revitalization/
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. Quality of life measures based on value of occasions (human experiences) and image
While governments everywhere are beginning to follow the initiative of the kingdom of Bhutan in introducing quality of life or citizen happiness measures, to complement and perhaps eventually replace traditional economic measures such as growth or Gross Domestic Product, the indices adopted are usually quite general and therefore not very helpful in developing policies for improvement. An approach growing out of work to develop better measures of the value of built environment suggests an alternative set of measures of the quality of human experiences (‘occasions’) and the imagery evoked by the settings for these experiences. The resulting measures would be much more detailed, allow pinpointing the specific features of the environment or life conditions influencing citizens’ value assessments, and would therefore be more helpful in suggesting projects and policies for improvement.
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