The Sustainable Leadership Forum

12February2011

Reforming Capitalism

Posted by Admin under: Accounting; Economy; Forum; Future; History; Policy; Science; Sustainability.

I generally don’t have much time for economists, who in my view have mostly sought to elevate blinkered cynicism to the level of a science; and I have also not been a great fan of Michael Porter, the Harvard economist whose study of “clusters” in New Jersey seemed to me an exercise in the blindingly obvious.

But his latest work, “Creating Shared Value: How to reinvent capitalism—and unleash a wave of innovation and growth” (Harvard Business Review, Jan-Feb 2011; while you need to be a subscriber to reach the full article, you can get a lot of it by watching his “Reinventing Capitalism” video) seems to me to be nothing short of brilliant; while it is not entirely new, it is indeed a “big idea,” and it’s been put together by Porter and Mark R. Kramer in a novel and powerful way. Read the rest of this entry »

12February2011

The Ten-Thousand-Year Vision

Posted by Admin under: Creation; Evolution; Future; Inspiration; Religion; Science; Story; Sustainability.

Our friend Elyssa Serrilli recently sent us a note with a short essay by Thomas Berry:

I’d like to share with you a short essay on a transforming human consciousness that often inspires me; it’s by Thomas Berry. You may have seen it. I hope you enjoy it. The essay, called “The Ecozoic Era,” arrived just in time to inform a conversation with my (increasingly enlightened) daughter on the future we see for humanity. This in turn arose from a question about the future of language and communication, which is at the heart of her artistic endeavor—like that of all artists, essentially to invent a new language.

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5February2011

Sat. Feb. 19, 1-4: Changing Paradigms

Posted by Admin under: Events; Forum; Organization; Sustainability.

This month we invite you to continue a dialog with us as to whether humanity can be saved without

“A Profound Transformation in Consciousness”

Those of us who work in the business sector tend to make the argument for sustainability in economic terms — in its simplest form, that we need to avoid killing the Golden Goose, the planet, if we want to keep having it lay its eggs of gold for us. But the evidence is that this argument is simply not working fast enough to have companies and individuals change their behaviors. Read the rest of this entry »

1February2011

Photos from Jan 15 Tour of Half Moon House

Posted by Admin under: Events; Forum; Green Building.

Our friend May Li just sent us these photos of the event, along with some pictures from a greenhouse tour in China: Read the rest of this entry »

31January2011

The New Wealth Game

Posted by Admin under: Economy; Forum; Future; Global; Inspiration; Leadership; Organization; People; Science; Story; Sustainability.

The New Wealth Game is, at this point, a set of ideas for “Creating, Designing, Exploring, Simulating, Realizing, Testing, and Evaluating Elements of the New Sustainable Economy.”

Several rough ideas for descriptions and starting points are here: Read the rest of this entry »

14January2011

Developing the New Economy

Posted by Admin under: Creation; Economy; Evolution; Forum; History; Inspiration; Leadership; Organization; People; Permaculture; Resiliency; Sustainability.

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In “Time for a New Theory of Money” (Yes! Magazine, Oct 28, 2010), Ellen Brown argues that “By understanding that money is simply credit, we unleash it as a powerful tool for our communities.”

Both the article and the comments it provoked, along with a series of related posts and lists of everything from new ways of measuring wealth to Common Security Clubs to Seven Ways to Transform Banking, open up a treasure trove of new ideas and experiments for building the new economy. One that looks immediately relevant is Community Banking Initiative of the New Rules Project. The very idea of the New Rules Project — “designing rules as if community matters” — is itself remarkable, and is a project of The Institute for Local Self-Reliance, which has been working on issues of scale of institutions and distributed ownership since 1974. Read the rest of this entry »

1January2011

January 15 Tour of Energy-Efficient “Half Moon House”

Posted by Admin under: Events; Forum; Green Building; Leadership; People; Sustainability.

There are still a few places left for the tour on Saturday, January 15, 1-4 p.m.

Building Half Moon House – Putting Idealism into Practice

The next meeting of the Sustainable Leadership Forum (SLF) will be a tour of an energy efficient house in Madison, NJ with cider and snacks provided by the hosts. The house is designed and being built by SLF member, Chris Kellogg, and Helen Kaar.

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21December2010

State of the Sustainability Movement 2011, Part 2

Posted by Admin under: Economy; Events; Evolution; Forum; Future; Global; Haiti; History; Leadership; Organization; People; Permaculture; Policy; Science; Sustainability.

As soon as I wrote the original post, of course, I started discovering new signs of our times that are not adequately reflected in my earlier assessment. Let’s consider a few examples, and see what conclusions we can draw about where we are in the process, and where we might be going from here.

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19December2010

State of the Sustainability Movement 2011

Posted by Admin under: Cap & Trade; Economy; Events; Forum; Future; Global; History; Policy; Science; Story; Sustainability.

Thanks to all who attended the discussion and potluck Saturday… Here’s part of what it inspired (reprinted from my personal site):

In the Spring 1990 issue of In Context — which described itself as “A Quarterly Journal of Humane Sustainable Culture” — Robert Gilman described the state of the sustainability movement in his time, and I thought it would be interesting to review this and reflect on where we are today. (See “Sustainability: The State Of The Movement,” in Sustainability (IC#25), Spring 1990, Page 10.)

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25November2010

Dec 18 Party & Discussion

Posted by Admin under: Forum.

You are invited:
Sustainable Leadership Forum
Challenge & Strategy Session: “Reinventing Wealth“
Annual “Potluck for the Planet”
8 Revere Drive, Basking Ridge, NJ 07920
Saturday, December 18, 2010
1-4 p.m. Discussion 4-9 p.m. Potluck & Party

SLF December event: Dec 18th, 1-4 pm.: “Reinventing Wealth,” facilitated by Frank Wennin and Jonathan Cloud. First time participants guests free, or become an SLF member. (More on this below.)

All friends, friends of friends of all ages welcome, including contributions of appetizers, main and side dishes and desserts (locally and organically produced, if possible, or expressive of your aspirations or commitments) are welcome. Feel free to also bring wines or juices. Please RSVP for one or both events at rsvp@slforum.org.

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24November2010

Reinventing Wealth

Posted by Admin under: Accounting; Economy; Energy; Evolution; Future; Inspiration; Leadership; Organization; People; Permaculture; Resiliency.

Having addressed the issue, however imperfectly, of choosing what to measure and how to measure it, the next step seems to be creating a new economy alongside the old, that can eventually encompass, contain, and transcend it with a framework of sustainability.

This is the topic we have set for our discussion on December 18, from 1 to 4 p.m. at our home in Basking Ridge, to be followed by our annual “Potluck for the Planet,” from 4 to 8 p.m. Check out the invitation here:

and download the flier here: 2010HolidayPotluck (PDF).

If you’d like to attend, please RSVP to rsvp@slforum.org. The event is not limited to members, but you will be invited to sign up.

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24November2010

Your Mission, Should You Choose to Accept It

Posted by Admin under: Accounting; Creation; Economy; Forum; Inspiration; Leadership; Organization.

Here’s something that I started writing for the Volunteer Program, but everyone is invited to play.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to build a model of an alternative economy. You can look at this as playing a new game. The old game is called, maximize dollars. The new game is called, maximize real wealth.

Read the rest of this entry »