Public Question

dominique pacheco

hello piers, et.al.

i threw this question out to my community of sustainability experts via my blog. you can find the answers here: http://mixingreality.com/2011/02/the-purple-list-how-can-we-help-the-sustainable-community-maintain-its-own-growth/

i would add that the issues of sustainability are so much bigger than is given attention via mainstream media, corporate citizens and the american public conversation. consumerism, and "going green" is only scratching the surface of what is necessary to make the real change for sustainability to come to the fore. small changes by individuals are necessary and the "no-brainer" part of the equation. check out alex bogusky and what he is doing with fearless cottage and common
http://mixingreality.com/2011/02/alex-bogusky-introduces-common/
if we were to do one thing to help this community maintain its growth, it would be to help it grow! by using some of the best business and marketing minds to bring the true issues of sustainability to the forefront of peoples' minds...via ideas, messages and media that are refined and effective.

cheers!
dp

Trudee Lunden

Having handled research, media, marketing and sales in the green LOHAS consumer sector, growing a sustainable lifestyle mindset for ¾ of the US population and reaching beyond the eco-friendly niche is critical to achieving real results. Here is my initial outline for potential persuasive tactics on how we can accomplish our goals:

Use ENTERTAINMENT to enlighten and inspire. After selling NEVs (Neighborhood Electric Cars) in the L.A. area – a unique challenge considering they are not freeway accessible! – I was driven to go the extra mile by producing uplifting commercial music with a message about how alternative transportation is fun and innovative, and why we all should get on board. Songs "Electricity" & "(Let’s Get) Wired" are posted on the following site:
http://www.ourstage.com/epk/electriccarmuses/songs - I'm currently using social media to advance this movement. Part of my vision (and personal dream) is to find a major artist (or 2) who will record these songs, because famous folks have a MUCH greater potential to strike an emotional chord and modify consumer behaviors than little ol' me.

Use K12 EDUCATION to build the next generation framework. Children can and should "guilt" parents into action, as our kids have the most at stake where sustainability is concerned and it's their future that will be most affected by "global weirding", peak oil, energy consumption, and our toxic chemical-ridden society. "Green & Sustainable" school programs and youth clubs can be modeled after the Boys & Girl Scouts of America. Kids can go around selling organic vegan cookies (that's just the beginning of what's possible.) I'm certain young creative minds everywhere will want to generate numerous ideas and become active participants.

Dangle MONEY as a carrot. John Voelcker is indeed correct that for most adults today, financial benefits and expenses are the bottom line. Along with record high gasoline prices in 2008, I saw a directly correlated spike in Electric Car interest as our phones started ringing off the hook and more people came to my dealership for test drives. Hyped worries about range anxiety are moot when one can't afford to drive long distances because fuel costs are skyrocketing. Reward consumers and businesses with more rebates, incentives and other viable alternatives, and we'll quickly tip the scales toward sustainability.

Use SCARE TACTICS to influence behaviors (hey, it works in politics!) Attention: graphic artists, web designers, filmmakers, producers, artists, creatives – here's your chance to develop a daily dose of Halloween Horror, making the central theme how miserable our world will look in the 22nd Century if our society continues down its destructive path. Use multimedia avenues as an innovative predictor giving the audience an eyeful. If we must, let's SHOCK it to 'em since this is no laughing matter, and oddly enough, people do respond quickly to fear as a survival instinct.

The above ideas are not all inclusive – just a start in the right direction. Ultimately we need an enlightened society that is not lazy and cares about all living, breathing beings to truly make a sustainable world. Have a great time at TED (wish I were going!)

Timothy Ryan

A sustainable community's growth hinges on its ability to frame the conversation with respect to the existing community's needs. Change can be slow and arduous, especially when it involves redirecting longstanding habits, but by focusing on the benefits that residents can derive from participating in sustainable practices, sustainable communities will be greeted with acceptance and grow. Therefore education and inclusion, become essential to informing better decisions that not help achieve the sustainable community's end goals, but help build support from local residents that in turn can eventually lead to larger, structural change at the government level.

Furthermore, while no doubt enacting change, sustainable communities often represent a return to traditional values. By focusing on core sentiments-community, equality, fairness- sustainable communities may find their message resonating with a wider audience, and enjoying an influence that far surpasses its humble beginnings.

Hernando GómezSalinas

Giving time and spaces in Media.
Giving childs info about that

Mark Lightowler

The planet, except for our attempts to do otherwise , is the master of resilience and sustainability. Looking to bio-systems that are self sustaining will help us understand how organize sustainable communities.

For example I have always wondered if the mathematics and structure of the human vascular system can be used to organise road travel. Replace red blood cells with cars and they are very similar. The body is fantastic about optimizing its traffic even when there is a blockage.

Mark

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We can help the sustainable community maintain its own growth exploring refined practices such as The Magoma Project (www.themagomaproject.org).

Ivan Sanchez

Three things:
Desirability: Sustainability, as many things in life should look and feel desirable. All cultural, political and social movements have specific elements that make them desirable to be part of. Movements need to have a common goal, a common enemy, heroes, myths, symbols and rituals. Is it possible to use those cultural elements to make sustainability projects more succesful? i think it is. It has worked for many leaders in the past. Good and bad. It's time we use this knowledge of what triggers people passions, for developing something good for all.

Choices: I see that a lot of plausible causes are not succesful when engaging people to act. But i've realized that it is not that the cause is not powerful enough, but that the options to join in are not as organic or easy to reach. Sustainaility needs to stand closer to people and give optios to join in. If sir Ken Robinson, for instance, used his knowledge to develop a set of choices that parents could use to ignite creative thinking at home, without having to wait a new breed of teachers or the (eventual) shift of education paradigm, people would join in at a global level. Paradoxically, that would be a way to accelerate the paradigm shift.

Expand the notion of profit: Companies that are serious about innovation are usually better at making money. Sustainability projects more often than not, create better ways to do things at many levels, so many people can get a plethora of benefits. The same way a teenage kid talks about subjects that enchant a girl he likes, despite he is genuinely interested in them, sustainability projects should be smart at pointing out what private companies and investors can extract from a given project. Aside from money making, there are many ways to draw atention from companies (talent, personnel loyalty, supply chain enhancements, cheaper and cleaner technologies, etc) and make them put their money on our projects. Because although we want to be sustainable we need money to start, right?

Melissa Sterry

The first thing the sustainability community needs to understand is that its aims and objectives are not by any means new, not by years, not my months, but by centuries. Great minds, from Leonardo da Vinci to Buckminster Fuller have come up with radical sustainability solutions in the past, which, had they been implemented would have gone a very long way to preventing humanity from getting into the truly abysmal state it's now in.

Today's society - modern society, is not designed based on the most intelligent outcomes. Our society is built on penny-pinching and power-mongering - in short it's built on ego. It's not the Einstein's that define our destiny, but the real-life versions of Ebenezer Scrooge - people who value money above all else. While we're all familiar with the cliche of the starving artist, in reality most of our greatest minds, both those alive and deceased - be they scientists, engineers or pioneers of any other variety were/are, on the whole, under-paid, under-resourced and in short, under-valued, as are their ideas. It's not the norm for our most able thinkers to be prized, but the exception and on the whole humanity preoccupies itself with numerous measurable implements of mediocracy.

Humankind cannot progress towards a new paradigm unless its universal value system is challenged. Until such time as it pays more to benefit society than oneself. Nor can it progress towards this paradigm unless if faces up to some harsh realities that are unpleasant for even the hardiest of palettes to accommodate. Life on Earth is finite. Our solar system is finite. Our universe is finite. If we cannot be honest with ourselves and confront the fact that ultimately we cannot save our planet or ourselves - therein every act of goodwill we engage in must be for a higher purpose - we're nothing if not delusional. All forms of matter have a sell-by-date. Many people are too scared to consider what exists beyond matter - beyond that which we can see, touch, feel, taste, smell. Indeed 21st Century man is so scared of that which he cannot measure that he has even become obsessive in his fear of death and the progression towards it otherwise known as aging.

It's time to stop playing with pixels and to look at the big picture, even if that picture is too large, too profound and too damn complicated for us to understand yet. Reducing everything to its lowest common denominator is not the answer, but you're all better men and women than me if you can figure out a way to explain that to an economist, an investor, a banker or a politician.

John Voelcker

Get ordinary citizens--not just advocacy groups and advisory bodies--to advocate for funding for research, limited trials, and purchase incentives at early stages of technology.

As for the community itself, "walking the walk" and integrated new sustainable practices into everyday life are the most effective way of broadening the discussion by demonstrating to non-enthusiasts that sustainability is possible, practical, and has an impact.

The first solar panel that goes up in a neighborhood, the first plug-in vehicle that arrives on a suburban cul-de-sac, the first installation of auto-off motion-sensing light switches ... all of those are concrete demonstrations that sustainability isn't a pie-in-the-sky, nice-to-have-one-day kind of utopian goal, but can be broken down into little changes that make a diffference.

And, of course, make it about money: The fastest way to get someone to change their life is to explain that they can save money.

Deanna Lawrence

Enable the authentic voice of each issue. Compelling methods of communication and true emotional connections will inspire movements. Nurture cultures to embrace the gift of diversity within each project and more importantly do not stifle people-to-people interaction. Seek out and celebrate original ideas to strengthen emotional connections.

A few thoughts:

Humility as a strength.

The natural process of discovery...better prepares you for future endeavors.

Key lessons offer far greater advantages when (pre)existing expectations are renounced or are adaptable to new environments.

"Social Wealth of the People" positioned against self-interest politics.