21November2010
Posted by Admin under: Accounting; Economy; Events; Evolution; Forum; Future; Global; History; Inspiration; Leadership; Organization; People; Permaculture; Policy; Resiliency; Science; Story; Sustainability.
Clearly what we started discussing at our meeting on Saturday is a new economics of value, which in our view needs to be an economics of sustainable value. The case for this is almost embarrassingly self-evident: if we are counting the wrong things as measures of our success, we will be led to maximize the wrong things and thereby continually weaken the foundation of our true prosperity, which is the natural and human capital which we need to invest wisely and with the help of our financial capital, in the future of the planet.
This is not simply a matter of altruism — although altruism itself is something we are starting to understand is part of our social capital — but is truly a matter of “self-interest,” both individually and understood in the larger sense of our selfhood as a species and part of the biosphere on this planet. As Patagonia’s Yves Chouinard declared, “There is no business on a dead planet.” While it is unlikely that we could actually destroy life entirely on this planet, we could certainly do grave damage to it in a number of ways, and almost none of these are good for people or for business.
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5November2010
Posted by Admin under: Economy; Events; Forum; Policy; Sustainability.
Sustainable Leadership Forum Challenge & Strategy Series
Topic: Measuring Sustainable Value
When: Saturday, November 20, 1-4 p.m.
Where: Morris County Library, at 30 Hanover Avenue, Whippany, NJ 07981.
RSVP to rsvp@slforum.org. Members and first-time guests are free.
Peter Burgess, author of True Value Metrics (forthcoming) will be the featured guest at the next meeting of the Sustainable Leadership Forum, at the Morris County Library, on Saturday November 20, 1-4 p.m.
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5November2010
Posted by Admin under: Accounting; Economy; Policy; Sustainability.
Peter Burgess writes:
True Value Metrics (TVM) has evolved over a very long time … the idea of double entry accountancy is several hundred years old … and is the core of the methodology. Enabling technology has emerged over the past fifty years and amazing data systems are now possible. TVM is a paradigm shift in the way socio-economic activities are evaluated:
- The original purpose of accountancy centuries ago was to ensure that merchant adventurers made good use of the money entrusted to them… and brought back goods of value. …. TVM takes this original basic idea and does the same thing with the resources that decision makers in modern society are entrusted with. Read the rest of this entry »
2November2010
Posted by Admin under: Economy; Forum; People; Policy; Science; Story; Sustainability.
Although it sounds dry, this is actually a pretty interesting topic: how do we decide what actually constitutes “prosperity”? How do we measure it?
The problem of measuring sustainable economic activity may seem like an abstract one, but it is actually critically important to how and what we manage in our economy. If we’re not measuring the right things, and actually measuring the wrong ones, our policies will continue to have increasingly harmful effects; these may be masked by our measures, but accumulating catastrophic environmental threats which will have consequences for us and for future generations. Even the normally bland Wikipedia states, “if the aim of economic activity is to produce ecologically sustainable increases in the overall human standard of living, GDP is a perverse measurement; it treats loss of ecosystem services as a benefit instead of a cost.”
How we measure, and what we measure, as economic benefit has all kinds of implications. For one thing, we consider profit, or economic prosperity, as one component of the triple bottom line, along with the social and the environmental. And yet we haven’t gotten much beyond conventional notions of “profit” or “economic growth” or measures such as GDP or GNP.
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17October2010
Posted by Admin under: Economy; Energy; Events; Forum; Future; Inspiration; Leadership; Organization; Policy; Sustainability.
We had a very interesting discussion at our first “challenge and strategy” session on October 16. It was a large and energized group that focused on to move the dialog forward around the paper issued through the Institute for Sustainable Enterprise at Fairleigh Dickinson University on “Developing and Implementing a Sustainable Growth Strategy for New Jersey.”
In order to present the paper, I extracted key highlights for a slide presentation (which we also distributed as a handout), and then Rob Benjamin and I invited people to think about how we could go about having a major impact on policy and public discourse in this area. In particular, we asked them to consider
- Who are the audiences?
- What data do we need?
- How do we engineer the change?
- How do we handle breakdowns?
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9October2010
Posted by Admin under: Economy; Energy; Events; Forum; Future; Policy; Sustainability.
One of the greatest challenges we face in society is re-orienting our economic thinking, and translating what are becoming the increasingly obvious facts of planetary distress into concrete policies that move in a more sustainable direction.
We will be discussing this on Saturday, October 16, from 1-4 at the Morris County Library, with a special focus on the paper recently co-authored with the Institute for Sustainable Enterprise at Fairleigh Dickinson University, “Developing and Implementing a Sustainable Economic Growth Strategy for New Jersey.” Our discussion will be the second of several events in which we seek to devise a strategy to incorporate major elements of sustainability into economic policy in NJ. (We invite you to download this paper by clicking on the link above, and read it before the session.)
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24September2010
Posted by Admin under: Events; Forum; Leadership; Policy; Sustainability.
Pretty much by accident we discovered what we should have known all along, which is that the old “expert talk” model of recent SLF membership meetings is not what most of us are looking for. This is not to say that there’s no role for “talks,” or PowerPoints, or other kinds of presentations. But what we found is that a group of leaders works best when it’s sharing an adventure and is challenged to come up with ideas in response to an issue or problem.
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23September2010
Posted by Admin under: Events; Forum; Inspiration; Organization; People; Science; Story.
NGM Exclusive: New Jersey leaders gather inspiration from famous inventor Thomas Edison
By NGM Correspondent Dana Patterson
Over 35 children and adults toured Thomas Alva Edison’s laboratory and museum in West Orange, New Jersey to gather inspiration and ideas about creating a sustainable future through learning about the history and inventions of the famous Edison. The tour was hosted by the Sustainable Leadership Forum, a series of workshops designed to bring people together to share ideas, insights, questions, and intuitions in order to create a possible future for intelligent life on this planet.
Known for the phonograph, lightbulb, nickel-iron storage battery, and the first working electrical train, Edison was the leading innovative inventor and scientist of his time. In 1887, he had one of the most cutting edge chemistry labs in the world, as well as a keen business model that led to 1,053 patents.
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5September2010
Posted by Admin under: Events; Forum; Green Building; Leadership; People; Sustainability.
We are rescheduling this tour, and will post the new date as soon as we have it.
Building Half Moon House – Putting Idealism into Practice
The next meeting of the Sustainable Leadership Forum (SLF) will be rescheduled, a tour of an energy efficient house in Madison, NJ and a potluck lunch. The house is designed and being built by SLF member, Chris Kellogg, and Helen Kaar.
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29August2010
Posted by Admin under: Creation; Events; Evolution; Forum; Future; Inspiration; Leadership; Organization; People; Religion; Science; Story; Sustainability.
My thanks to everyone who attended the Edison Museum Tour and the lunch at Bob and Thelma Levy‘s (and especially to the Levys for hosting this). In my view, something remarkable happened in our conversation after the tour, in that people spoke of their own passions and visions, and began to share ideas and possibilities for a more sustainable future.
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13August2010
Posted by Admin under: Forum; Organization; People; Sustainability.
Perhaps you’ve attended one of our Sustainable Leadership Forum (SLF) meetings, or signed up online, in been in touch with one of the founders. I hope you found it interesting and valuable.
But since we realize not everyone can or will attend every event, and we want to keep in touch with you, we’d like to invite you to become a member of our organization.
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6August2010
Posted by Admin under: Events; Forum; Inspiration; Science; Story; Sustainability.
Trip of Inspiration for a Sustainable World, Facilitated by Bob Levy
A special event of the Sustainable Leadership Forum
Thomas Edison National Historical Park
211 Main Street
West Orange, NJ 07052
August 28, 2010 ~ 10 a.m.
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Past Events
Correction: We'll be hosting this year's holiday potluck — "Bringing Solar Power Home for the Holidays" — on Saturday, December 15, 2012 from 4 to 9 p.m. Click here for more details. RSVP to rsvp@slforum.org.
Saturday, November 17, 2012, 10 a.m. Eastern: Sustainable Neighborhood & Community Conversations (III).
Saturday, October 13, 2012, 10 a.m. Eastern: Transforming Neighborhoods and Communities II.
Saturday, September 8, 2012, 10 a.m. Eastern: Transforming Neighborhoods & Communities.
Saturday, June 16, 2012: SLF Potluck June 16: Sustainable Living Communities.
The Sustainable Haiti Conference took place April 23-25, 2012 in Miami.
"Inside Job" Movie Party. Saturday, February 11th, 6:00 PM, Liberty Ridge, The Hills, Bernards Twp, Basking Ridge, NJ 07920.
2nd 'Buy Haitian, Restore Haiti Conference', January 26, 2012, Karibe Convention Center, Petion Ville, Haiti
Dec 11 SLF Potluck: "Bringing Sustainability Home for the Holidays" Basking Ridge, NJ. RSVP to rsvp@slforum.org.
Saturday, July 9, 2011, 4 p.m. Open House Party & Potluck, Saturday, July 9, 4 p.m., Basking Ridge, NJ.
RSVP to rsvp@slforum.org
Saturday, May 21, 1-4 p.m. EcoCenter Update. At the Morristown EcoCenter, 55 Bank Street, Morristown, NJ 07960.
Saturday, April 16, 1-4 p.m. "Haiti & Us: The Leading Edge of Sustainable Development." At the Morristown EcoCenter, 55 Bank Street, Morristown, NJ 07960. A copy of the update presentation has been posted here.
Saturday, March 19, 1-4 p.m. "Creating the Morristown EcoCenter." Held at 55 Bank Street, Morristown, the site of the proposed EcoCenter.
Saturday, February 19, 1-4 p.m. Monthly meeting, ""A Profound Transformation in Consciousness," Morris County Library, Whippany, NJ. Click here for details.
Saturday, January 15, 1-4 p.m. Putting Idealism into Practice: Tour of Half Moon House. Click here for details.
Saturday, December 18, 1-4 p.m. Challenge & Strategy Session: "Reinventing Wealth," followed by our annual "Potluck for the Planet" from 4 to 8. Click here for details.
Saturday, November 20, 1-4 p.m. Challenge & Strategy Session: "How Do We Measure Sustainable Value?". Click here for details.
Saturday, October 16, 1-4 p.m. Challenge and Strategy Session: "Toward a Sustainable Growth Strategy for New Jersey".
Download the slide presentation here, and the discussion paper here.
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Leadership Quotes
"Nearly every man who develops an idea works it up to the point where it looks impossible, and then he gets discouraged. That's not the place to become discouraged."
(Thomas A. Edison—thanks to Regan Caton)
"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” (G.B. Shaw)
"There is the true joy of life: to be used by a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; to be thoroughly worn out before being thrown on the scrap heap; to be a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that life will not devote itself to making you happy." (G.B. Shaw)
"Leadership is a privilege to better the lives of others. It is not an opportunity to satisfy personal greed." (Mwai Kibaki, President of Kenya - thanks to Christine Comaford, Rules for Renegades)
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