11January2010
Posted by Admin under: Events; Forum.
- Re-Party, Movie and Potluck for the Planet: Sunday, January 17th, 3 – 8 pm (movie, Earth 2100, 5 -6:30 pm), at our home: 8 Revere Drive, Basking Ridge, NJ 07920 (use 07921 with some GPS systems, as we border Bedminster). RSVP, bring a dish, a friend or associate, and expand what you know and feel about sustainability. Directions are here: Directions Zelin Cloud. Please park on Revere Drive.
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31December2009
Posted by Admin under: Cap & Trade; Carbon Tax; Evolution; Forum; Future; Science; Sustainability.
A couple of years ago I suggested to Frank Felder, Director of Rutgers’ Center for Energy, Environmental, and Economic Policy (CEEEP), that we co-sponsor a debate on the relative merits of cap-and-trade vs. a carbon tax. The idea went nowhere, because the conventional wisdom, then as now, is that anything with the word “tax” in it is a political nonstarter.
I thought this was shortsighted then, and think it is still short-sighted now. If we fail to discuss what may be better alternatives because they are not politically popular, they will never get the chance to become widely considered, and we will have allowed a self-fulfilling prophecy to dictate our fate. Political acceptability is an important factor in choosing a course of action. But it is not the only one. If a carbon tax (or, as some prefer to call it, a “fee”) is a better approach, then we need to figure out how to make it palatable. And if cap-and-trade will, as others claim, do more harm than good, then we need to consider how to de-legitimize it.
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30December2009
Posted by Admin under: Forum.
Well, here we are, a day or so away from a new year and indeed a new decade – one that like every other in the foreseeable future will need to be a decade of sustainable development.(1) To put it simply, from here on every human being will be impacted by issues of sustainability as long as we continue to exist on this planet, and we’d better get used to managing our relationship to nature (and as a consequence also our relationship to each other) in a way that is regenerative rather than degenerative.
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30December2009
Posted by Admin under: Forum.
Location: Zelin-Cloud Residence, 8 Revere Drive, Basking Ridge, NJ
Directions: Click here
Description: Please join us at our home for a post-New Year’s celebration, with a special viewing of Earth 2100. We want to bring together both our local and our far-flung NJ communities, for an afternoon / evening of food and conversation and the viewing of this dramatic imagining of our unfolding future.
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29September2009
Posted by Admin under: Events; Forum; Organization.
A lot has been happening since our first full-day program in July, and we’ve been doing a lot of rethinking, discussing, and following up on member projects. We are now ready to present a new series of programs and events, as detailed below.
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21August2009
Posted by Admin under: Evolution; Future; History; Science; Story; Sustainability.
As we enter a new age devoted to the achievement of sustainability on this planet, I believe we need a statement of principles, of fundamental truths, and of ideals. The great swirl of voices that we call “the media,” and that in some sense we inhabit, reflects the assumptions of our culture, the issues we are currently debating – and the ones we are avoiding. This conversation then spills over from the media into our social conversations, with colleagues and with our fellow citizens. Yet it is most often superficial, misinformed, and misguided, so we need to return to some fundamental considerations. Read the rest of this entry »
3August2009
Posted by Admin under: Forum.
During the month of August we are focusing on the Sustainable Leadership Forum‘s member program, on the volunteer program, and on the development of the SLF Program Investment Fund. Read the rest of this entry »
16June2009
Posted by Admin under: Forum; Organization; Sustainability.
We’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the organizations we have, what’s right and what’s wrong with them, and what we need for our current societal crises.
It’s not because there is anything wrong with the organizations we have in the area of sustainability. It’s that we need many more of them, and we need ones that address whatever is missing. (This distinction, between “what’s wrong” and “what’s missing,” is one that was used to great effect by Werner Erhard, and Landmark Education is one of the models we will examine.) There is something wrong with our larger society, however, and our organization needs to address this.
It foundational to our work that humanity needs to change course, to alter its direction. It’s not even enough to “go green” in the hopes of creating a new economic boom like the last one, or the one before. When the boom-and-bust cycle becomes global, because all of our economies are connected; and when the net effect of the “boom” part of the cycle is damaging the ultimate foundation of the economy, namely the planet, then we can no longer accept the inevitability of this cycle.
Here are some of the organizations, and organizational models, that we’ve looked at: Read the rest of this entry »
16June2009
Posted by Admin under: Forum.
If we are on an unsustainable course – which it is increasingly clear we are – we obviously need to change direction. But we are on our present course because of who we are: we got ourselves here, and we are going to need to change ourselves profoundly in order to find ourselves going in a different direction, as a species. Read the rest of this entry »
16June2009
Posted by Admin under: Creation; Evolution; Forum; Future; History; Religion; Science; Story; Sustainability.
Our friend Dwight Collins has recently published – through his Collins Foundation Press – “The Evolutionary Epic: Science’s Story and Humanity’s Response,” a book which discusses the new “creation story” which has emerged in the last few years from our growing scientific understanding of the universe and our concurrent reflections on the human condition.
In the publisher’s foreword he writes:
A recent Worldwatch Institute study indicates that in about 1985, humanity’s “ecological footprint,” a measure of the rate at which we are consuming the Earth’s resources, began to exceed the rate at which the Earth is able to renew them. This disparity continues to grow. A majority of our natural scientists worldwide agree that we have begun to witness the first major collapse of species diversity since an asteroid collided with the Earth 65 million years ago. Read the rest of this entry »
11June2009
Posted by Admin under: Forum.
The Sustainable Leadership Forum is a non-profit, membership-based organization that supports the highest level of transformational leadership for a sustainable future. At the core of the organization is an inquiry into the nature of the change that is needed, and how to bring it about.
Our programs are a reflection of this inquiry. We hold regular meetings to discuss members’ projects and initiatives, and day-long trainings to deepen our awareness and understanding of the challenges and opportunities of our times.
Our organization is designed to evolve, and draws on a variety of organizational models that have proven successful in other fields. Members invest time and money that is deposited to their account, and can be spent, loaned, or invested in member projects. The Forum is a hub for member initiatives, and a vehicle for cross-fertilization.
Special projects at this time include a youth leadership initiative and a career transition program, both carried out in association with partner organizations.
So what is leadership, and what is transformation? We throw these words around easily, but what do they really mean? For most of us, we usually operate on the “we know it when we see it” model, and it’s easier to provide examples than adequate definitions.
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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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