![WORLD 3 Visioning a Better World: Co-Creating a Global Eco-civilization ,[object Object],[object Object],© 2012 Giordano Bruno GlobalShift University](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
Recommended
Recommended
More Related Content
Similar to W3 module 2
Similar to W3 module 2 (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
W3 module 2
- 1. For Classroom Use Only! No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing from the Giordano Bruno GlobalShift University. © 2012 Giordano Bruno GlobalShift University
- 4. © 2012 Giordano Bruno GlobalShift University LEARNING UNIT 2 The Natural Step Framework LEARNING UNIT 3 Integral Sustainovation® LEARNING UNIT 1 Biomimicry LEARNING UNIT 4 Engaging in Dialogue Image: Visual Dialogue at the California Institute of Integral Studies Photo Courtesy: Regina Rowland
- 10. 4 System Conditions © 2012 Giordano Bruno GlobalShift University Image Source: 4 System Conditions http://www.naturalstep.org/en/the-system-conditions
- 11. Backcasting © 2012 Giordano Bruno GlobalShift University Image Source: Backcasting http://www.naturalstep.org/en/backcasting
- 15. Bohm Dialogue © 2012 Giordano Bruno GlobalShift University Source: http://steveomohundro.com/2011/08/11/bohm-dialogue/
- 16. Core Principles © 2012 Giordano Bruno GlobalShift University Unfolding Participation Coherence Awareness Behavior Capacities Voicing Listening Respecting Suspending Bohm Dialogue Source: William Isaacs, Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together
Editor's Notes
- NOTE: All slide scripts have been updated on the slide script file and NOT here in this box!!! For text look into the slide script file!!! World 3: Visioning a Better World: Co-Creating a Global Eco-civilization Module 2: Transformative Change By Transformative Change we mean a fundamental shift in culture (the basic assumptions that a group of people agree to and from which intentions, beliefs, values, and behavior emerge). This shift occurs in the underlying pattern that hold a system together. In this module you will learn about designing for transformative change – which is to say designing whole-system approaches, developing strategies, and curating emergence to create this kind of paradigmatic shift over time, resulting in the “co-created and thriving future” you want to live in and contribute to, the kind of world shift you have been learning about since you began this series of world courses.
- NOTE: All slide scripts have been updated on the slide script file and NOT here in this box!!! For text look into the slide script file!!! You will be asked to reflect on the following questions throughout this module: What kinds of perspectives are needed to cocreate a Global Shift toward a more environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling and socially just society? How can the pragmatic frameworks of Biomimicry, The Natural Step, or Integral Sustainovation® serve you in your quest to become an evolutionary change agent? What are the sorts of skills that designers of social and cultural change need to cultivate in themselves? How can you best prepare for the task of facilitating a group process that brings out the highest aspirations and the deepest potential of humanity?
- NOTE: All slide scripts have been updated on the slide script file and NOT here in this box!!! For text look into the slide script file!!! In this Module, you will learn about several methodologies, such as Biomimicry, The Natural Step Framework, Integral Sustainovation®, and various forms of holding dialogue. As you move through the units think about how these could be used in inspiring transformative change in your communities.
- NOTE: All slide scripts have been updated on the slide script file and NOT here in this box!!! For text look into the slide script file!!! Unit 1 introduces you to Biomimicry. The Biomimicry Institute defines Biomimicry as “a discipline that studies nature's ideas and then imitates these designs and processes to solve human problems.” It derives its meaning from bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate. Think of it as "innovation inspired by nature." The core idea, the Biomimicry Institute goes on to say, “is that nature has already solved many of the problems we are grappling with. Animals, plants, and microbes are the consummate engineers. They have found what works, what is appropriate, and most important, what lasts here on Earth. After 3.8 billion years of research and development, failures are fossils, and what surrounds us is the secret to survival. The conscious emulation of life's genius is a survival strategy for the human race, a path to a sustainable future. The more our world functions like the natural world, the more likely we are to endure on this home that is ours, but not ours alone.”
- NOTE: All slide scripts have been updated on the slide script file and NOT here in this box!!! For text look into the slide script file!!! As the pioneer and leading organization addressing all things biomimic, the Biomimicry Institute suggest three frames for biomimicry: “ Looking at Nature as Model, Measure, and Mentor If we want to consciously emulate nature's genius, we need to look at nature differently. In biomimicry, we look at nature as model, measure, and mentor. Nature as model: Biomimicry is a new science that studies nature’s models and then emulates these forms, process, systems, and strategies to solve human problems – sustainably. Nature as measure: Biomimicry uses an ecological standard to judge the sustainability of our innovations. Nature as measure is captured in Life's Principles and is embedded in the evalute step of the Biomimicry Design Spiral. Nature as mentor: Biomimicry is a new way of viewing and valuing nature. It introduces an era based not on what we can extract from the natural world, but what we can learn from it.” “ Innovators from all walks of life—engineers, managers, designers, architects, business leaders, and more--can use biomimicry as a tool to create more sustainable designs. The Biomimicry process of consulting life’s genius, described in the Design Spiral, can serve as a guide to help innovators use biomimicry to biologize a challenge, query the natural world for inspiration, then evaluate to ensure that the final design mimics nature at all levels—form, process, and ecosystem.” “ A spiral emphasizes the reiterative nature of the process—that is, after solving one challenge, then evaluating how well it meets life’s principles, another challenge often arises, and the design process begins anew.”
- NOTE: All slide scripts have been updated on the slide script file and NOT here in this box!!! For text look into the slide script file!!! NOTE: Lina's source needs to be mentioned here in the script and probably on the page, too. Biomimicry embeds Life’s Principles into every design solution: Be locally attuned and responsive (use readily available materials, cultivate cooperative relationships, leverage cyclical processes, use feedback loops). Adapt to changing conditions (incorporate diversity, embody resilience through variation, redundancy, and decentralization, maintain integrity through self-renewal) Evolve to survive (replicate strategies that work, integrate the unexpected, reshuffle information) Use life-friendly chemistry (build selectively with a small subset of elements, break down products into benign constituents, do chemistry in water) Integrate development with growth (combine modular and nested components, build from the bottom-up, self-organize) Be resource (material and energy) efficient (use multi-functional design, use low-energy processes, recycle all materials, fit form to function)
- NOTE: All slide scripts have been updated on the slide script file and NOT here in this box!!! For text look into the slide script file!!! Unit 2 introduces you to the The Natural Step (TNS) Framework which is based on systems thinking; recognizing that what happens in one part of a system affects every other part. Think of a soccer team. We can’t understand why the team lost the game until we look at how each player – the goal keeper, defenders and forwards - all worked together on the field. We won’t learn much if we just study one member of the team. The TNS Framework gives an organisation the tools to look at the whole team, understand the rules of the game, define success, and move towards it together. Any successful team must have a common language and understanding in order to facilitate cooperation. The TNS Framework provides this shared mental model of sustainability by helping people across organisations, disciplines and cultures to communicate effectively, build consensus and ultimately move toward their vision. We use an upstream approach that anticipates and avoids problems before they occur, rather than reacting to their downstream effects. This scientifically rigorous Framework gives organisations the tools to perform a gap analysis using the lens of sustainability, and then work toward closing the gap. Furthermore, The Natural Step Framework complements other sustainability tools and methodologies, such as life cycle analysis or environmental management systems, by providing the context and strategic vision that makes them more effective. The Natural Step Framework: * uses metaphors such as a funnel <http://www.naturalstep.org/en/the-funnel> to illustrate the problem with our current industrial system, and a scientific understanding to identify how we can open the walls of that funnel. * defines sustainability with 4 sustainability principles <http://www.naturalstep.org/the-system-con ditions> that individuals and organisations can u se to build strategies toward sustainability. * has evolved through a practice that demonstrates that strategic sustainability requires: > * backcasting from sustainability principles (planning from success) > * prioritisation of actions to ensure that all selected actions are (1) moving > in the right direction (towards sustainability), (2) flexible platforms that > avoid dead-end investments, and (3) good business decisions (ie. offer > an adequate return on investment). The Natural Step Framework has been used in strategic decision-making by hundreds of organisations, in multiple sectors, across supply chains and in various scales, offering concrete and simple ways to accelerate change toward sustainability.
- NOTE: All slide scripts have been updated on the slide script file and NOT here in this box!!! For text look into the slide script file!!! The 5-level framework is a model for planning in complex systems. It allows us to be deliberate and thoughtful in our journey toward sustainability. System Level – identification of the scope of the system we’re dealing with. In the case of a game, the system would be the playing field and all of it's components. In terms of sustainability, the system is the entire biosphere. So we need an understanding of the way our system works. The funnel, a core concept at this level is the idea that we are currently operating in a “funnel”. The funnel is a metaphor that helps us visualise the economic, social and environmental pressures that are growing on society as natural resources and ecosystem services diminish and the population’s number and consumption grows. Success Level – In this case the success level is “sustainability.” Success in the game is winning, usually measured by the team that scored the most points. In the field of sustainable development, sustainability means that nature is not subject to systematic increases in: concentrations of substances from the Earth’s crust; concentrations of substances produced by society; degradation by physical means; and, in that society, people are not subject to conditions that systematically undermine their capacity to meet their needs. Strategic Level – these are some strategic guidelines for organisations to follow in implementing the framework and taking actions towards sustainability. Following our game example, this level would be the strategizing level as the team members come together to plan a goal. The most important strategy to focus on is backcasting from principles: it consists of establishing a vision of the organisation in the future where the four sustainability principles are not being violated and then ‘backcasting’ to the present to see what specific actions should be taken first to start strategically working towards that vision. Action Level – these are the concrete actions that are taken on the path to sustainability. Depending on the nature of the organisation, they could include things like phasing out fossil fuel use by switching some capacity to renewable energy, or substituting metals that are naturally abundant in the biosphere and therefore benign for ones that are scarce and potentially harmful. In our game analogy, actions would be moving towards the net to score a goal, passing to team-mates, etc. Tools Level - here we find a variety of tools that help organizations manage their path towards sustainability. Certain tools are effective in different situations, but a lot of them work well together and create synergies when utilized within the context of the framework. They include Environmental Management Systems, ISO 14001, Life Cycle Assessment, Factor 10, Natural Capitalism, Ecological Footprinting, Zero Emission, etc. A lot of these tools have great organizations behind them and are helping organizations with various environmental and / or sustainability initiatives. In our game, tools would be the monitoring equipment that athletes use, their fitness equipment and any strategy books they can get their hands on.
- NOTE: All slide scripts have been updated on the slide script file and NOT here in this box!!! For text look into the slide script file!!! Left to its own devices, the earth is a sustainable system. As we continue to learn, however, the accumulated impacts of human activity over the past two centuries are now threatening our continued well-being. An international network of scientists have unanimously and publically concluded that human society is damaging nature and altering life-supporting natural structures and functions in three fundamental ways. Consequently, they were able to define three basic conditions that must be met if we want to maintain the essential natural resources, structures and functions that sustain human society. Further, acknowledging that human action is the primary cause of the rapid change we see in nature today, they included a fourth system condition that focuses on the social and economic considerations that drive those actions and the capacity of human beings to meet their basic needs. While written to be clear scientifically, the specific wording of the four system conditions can be confusing to non-scientists who try to put them to work. Fortunately, the system conditions can be reworded as basic sustainability principles that provide explicit guidance for any individual or any organization interested in moving towards sustainability. To become a sustainable society we must... eliminate our contribution to the progressive buildup of substances extracted from the Earth's crust (for example, heavy metals and fossil fuels) eliminate our contribution to the progressive buildup of chemicals and compounds produced by society (for example, dioxins, PCBs, and DDT ) eliminate our contribution to the progressive physical degradation and destruction of nature and natural processes (for example, over harvesting forests and paving over critical wildlife habitat); and eliminate our contribution to conditions that undermine people’s capacity to meet their basic human needs (for example, unsafe working conditions and not enough pay to live on). These basic principles might seem to imply that we must rid society of all materials extracted from the earth and all substances produced by society and that, further, we must never disturb a natural landscape. But that’s not what they mean. The problem is not that we mine and use heavy metals, or use chemicals and compounds produced by society, or disrupt natural processes, or even temporarily interfere with people’s capacity to meet their basic needs. It is, rather, that our industrial system has developed so that substances extracted from the earth and produced by society will continue to build up indefinitely in natural systems. That means a progressive buildup of pollutants and substances that not only harm us directly but damage natural processes that have taken billions of years to develop. With respect to the fourth sustainability principle, The Natural Step’s understanding of human needs is based on the work of the Chilean economist Manfred Max-Neef. Max-Neef identifies nine fundamental human needs that are consistent across time and cultures: subsistence, protection, affection, understanding, participation, leisure, creation, identity and freedom. Max-Neef points out that these fundamental human needs cannot be substituted one for another and that a lack of any of them represents a poverty of some kind.
- NOTE: All slide scripts have been updated on the slide script file and NOT here in this box!!! For text look into the slide script file!!! The concept of “backcasting” is central to a strategic approach for sustainable development. It is a way of planning in which a successful outcome is imagined in the future, followed by the question: “what do we need to do today to reach that successful outcome?” This is more effective than relying too much on forecasting, which tends to have the effect of presenting a more limited range of options, hence stifling creativity, and more important, it projects the problems of today into the future. In the context of sustainability, we can imagine an infinite number of scenarios for a sustainable society – and ‘backcasting from scenarios’ can be thought of as a jigsaw puzzle, in which we have a shared picture of where we want to go, and we put the pieces together to get there. However, getting large groups of people to agree on a desired future scenario is often all but impossible. Further, scenarios that are too specific may limit innovation, and distract our minds from the innovative, creative solutions necessary for sustainable development. So strategic sustainable development relies on ‘backcasting from sustainability principles – which are based in science, and represent something we can all agree on: if these principles are violated, our global society is un-sustainable. To achieve a sustainable society, we know we have to not violate those principles – we don’t know exactly what that society will look like, but we can define success on a principle level. In that way, backcasting from principles is more like chess – we don’t know exactly what success will look like, but we know the principles of checkmate – and we go about playing the game in a strategic ways, always keeping that vision of future success in mind. Natural systems are complex and non-linear, and while we understand more and more about how they behave on the principle level, we still cannot predict the weather. Social systems are far more complex. Still, we try to force these systems into models so we can ‘understand’ them and ‘predict’ how they will behave. To do this, we are forced to make assumptions that often make the models reductionist, simplistic, and absurd. For example, in economic systems the assumptions that all people are ‘rational actors’ and that there is ‘perfect information’. In large part, this is due to a tradition of compartmentalized disciplines in academia, where the social scientists have pushed a quantitative, value-neutral approach to studying these systems in the misguided pursuit of establishing concrete laws similar to the laws of nature. Even if we could predict the future, why would we want to? We have the power to create a better future. The complexity of social systems within the biosphere demands a whole-system perspective and employing backcasting from sustainability principles. In this way, we can acknowledge the value-laden reality of social systems. We can all take a transdisciplinary approach to learning to better understand the basic constraints we must operate in. And together, we can implement the dramatic change in societal design necessary to create a sustainable society.
- NOTE: All slide scripts have been updated on the slide script file and NOT here in this box!!! For text look into the slide script file!!! Once success is described in the system, we then need to create a strategy to get there. The scientific information AND practical experience shows that we need to backcast from sustainability principles, and that the actions resulting from this must be prioritised using 3 strategic prioritisation questions. During the operationalisation of The Natural Step Framework, organisations must find a way to prioritise the actions that come from their initial brainstorms (usually during the D step of the ABCD approach). This can be done using these three strategic prioritisation questions: Is this action moving you toward or away from sustainability vision? Is this action a flexible platform toward your sustainability vision? Will this action offer an adequate return on investment*? *Note that ROI (return on investment) is traditionally seen as a return on financial investment, but it can also mean a return on political, social or another type of investment. The work that flows out of backcasting from sustainability principles and answering these 3 strategic prioritisation questions will differ from one organisation to another, and will become a source of inspiration and leadership. Tools help support the realization of actions as well as measure the strategy’s progress and the state of the system. The Natural Step Framework can be used in conjunction with many other tools since sustainability is complex and requires an varied arsenal of tools and concepts. The Natural Step Framework has evolved over 20 years of experience, successes and challenges, with the influence of many different concepts and lines of thought. Putting the Framework into practice involves: Following a strategic process, such as the ABCD approach, or another similar graphical representation or metaphor that allows use of the Framework without getting lost in theory or vocabulary, Realising that change is about creating and maintaining momentum in dynamic human structures (not machines and spare parts). Each TNS practitioner has their own preferred methods, but we do share a few engagement attitudes and perspectives on change. In our practice, we see more and more organisations that have already completed many actions toward sustainability and are unsure about the value of committing to a sustainability framework. We increasingly answer that question with the following questions of our own: Does your organisation have a definition of sustainability? What is, with reference to this definition, your gap to sustainability? What are you doing, at the strategic level of the organisation, to bridge that gap? An ability to answer these questions demonstrates that an organisation is taking a strategic approach to sustainability.
- NOTE: All slide scripts have been updated on the slide script file and NOT here in this box!!! For text look into the slide script file!!! The Integral Sustainovation ® Praxis was developed for individuals and any kind of organization of any size or sector interested in understanding systemic sustainability and the sustainability challenge in all its aspects, and transforming themselves toward sustainability stewardship. Organizations with a vision for systemic sustainability participate, consciously, in designing and practicing new behaviors, innovating new products, services, experiences, structures and systems from which new social systems, consumption patterns and the new economy are emerging through collaborative efforts and evolutionary leadership. The Integral Sustainovation® model includes four horizontal dimensions held in four domains of reality evoking four worlds. Each of these four worlds unfolds in five vertical stages to syntonize in OnePurpose toward InfiniteNoThingness. The theory of Integral Sustainovation® provides an intellectual and philosophical underpinning for a series of sustainovation orientations and practices that integrate mind, body, heart, and spirit in the Integral Sustainovation® Praxis.
- NOTE: All slide scripts have been updated on the slide script file and NOT here in this box!!! For text look into the slide script file!!! Although called different names, the five vertical stages in each horizontal dimension of Integral Sustainovation® correlate to the same developmental stages in each domain. They refer, however, to a different part of the individual and collective interior and exterior landscapes. An in-depth presentation of the model is provided in this model’s Unit 3.
- Bohm Dialogue is a freely-flowing group conversation that makes an attempt to more effectively investigate the crisis that face society by utilizing a holistic understanding of the way thoughts and consciousness relate to universal reality. Dialogue needs to be contrasted with discussion. Bohm used to point out that the word “discussion” has the same root as percussion and concussion. A discussion is something like a “Ping-Pong” game where we are hitting the ball back and forth between us. The purpose of the game is normally “to win.” Similarly, in a group discussion, one view is accepted over the other ones. In contrast, a dialogue gives first priority to finding coherence and the truth. The word “dialogue” comes from the Greek dialogos. Dia means through. Logos means word or meaning. Therefore, a dialogue is in Bohm’s words “meaning passing or moving through…a free flow of meaning between people.” The purpose of a dialogue is to go beyond any one individual’s understanding.
- To effectively practice Bohm’s Dialogue, you need to understand the core principles on which the method is built and embrace key behavior capacities. Bohm’s Dialogue rests on four main principles, which you are already familiar with since they are grounded in concepts and ideas presented in the World 1 course — namely, an holistic view of the world and Bohm’s implicate and explicate order theory. Let’s briefly review these four principles: The process of Unfolding refers to Bohm’s idea that our observed reality (i.e., the explicate order) exists as a constant potential that emerges from a holographic field (i.e., the implicate order) through a process of constant unfolding. Participation reinforces the idea that everything is connected and that the essence of a whole system can be found in the system’s parts and that the whole is aware of the parts. It also means that, as participants in a dialogue, we are not separated from the rest of the world, that is, “We are in the world, and the world is in us.” Coherence speaks to the concept of wholeness, that everything is already whole; we must look for the ways that it is. Awareness reminds us to practice self-perception and to remain aware of the many different voices within ourselves. The four behavioral capacities when practicing a dialogue are as follow: Voicing reminds us that we must speaking the truth of one’s own authority, that is, what one really is and thinks. Each of us needs to ask ourselves: what needs to be said at this moment? The ability to listen, both one another and the voice in our own mind, as well as being aware our own feelings and emotion, is a critical communication skill. This must be done openly, without resistance or imposition. The question to ask ourselves during a dialogue is “How does this feel?” Respecting relates to the integrity of another’s position and the impossibility of fully understanding it. The key question then, is “How does this fit within the whole?” Finally, Suspension of assumptions, judgment, and certainty is necessary to letting go of old views and opening our mind to new emergent learning. To support this process of inquiry, one must ask: How does this work? The understanding of the core principles and the practice of the behavior capacities will give you the critical skills to inquire into very complex and politically-charged questions and challenges with an open mind and perhaps more importantly, an open heart.
- NOTE: All slide scripts have been updated on the slide script file and NOT here in this box!!! For text look into the slide script file!!!
- NOTE: All slide scripts have been updated on the slide script file and NOT here in this box!!! For text look into the slide script file!!!