Campus Climate Leadership through the ACUPCC

At Second Nature, we recently released an excellent compilation of original articles covering a variety of climate action and education for sustainability topics related to fulfilling the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC).

The report, which is free to anyone from an ACUPCC institution, can be accessed here.

The compilation draws from the monthly ACUPCC Implementer newsletter -- to which anyone can subscribe for free.  If you're at all interested in sustainability and our future, I highly recommend signing up, it's not overwhelming to the inbox, and it's a great way to learn more about why higher education is such a critical leverage point in developing the leadership and implementing the solutions needed to create a sustainable society.

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Wheat Grass by DJ CAVEM

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Back to Basics: Taxes

Here's a great and relevant TEDx talk by Chuck Collins at Hampshire College - clearly timely in light of the Occupy Wall Street movement and the raging tax-cut debates in Congress - about his work to support the inheritance tax with Bill Gates (senior).

"We're nothing without each other" - an elegant way of noting that we are an inherently social species, and when the social fabric is systematically undermined, it's unsustainable.  We're all connected and no one acts in complete isolation.  Taxes have been demonized over the past 3 decades since Milton Friedman's free-market fundamentalism took hold of our economic thinking, and this video makes a compelling case for why that's bad for America and global society.




For more millionaires who agree with this point of view - see this interview about "Patriotic Millionaires"

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Redefining The Good Life

Just in time for holiday shopping season... here's a great animated video diving into the interplay of consumerism, happiness, and meeting human needs.



Sustainability is about meeting human needs - in ways that don't undermine the capacity of others to do so, now or in the future.  Check out this old post about distinguishing between human needs and satisfiers of those needs.

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Become the Next Sustainability Leader

Karl-Henrik Robert describes the greatest challenge to creating a sustainable society on the timescale needed: leadership.

Applications are now open for the next class in the Masters in Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability program - apply today.




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Occupy Economics

Check out the video below from economists voicing their support for the Occupy Wall Street movement, and acknowledging some of the failures in the discipline to avoid the recent economic collapse.  See also the statement of support and list of about 250 economists that have added their names so far.



Occupy Economics from Softbox on Vimeo.

The OWS movement is an excellent example of what happens when the ways in which we go about meeting our needs is socially unsustainable.  In the language of the sustainability principles, our economic system has "systematically undermined the capacity of some people (many people) to meet their needs" - eventually there will be consequences.

The video only touches on the ecological risks our current economic system poses to the continuation of a healthy, thriving global society, but it is a big step towards opening up the dialogue to a much wider audience. I hope this will help bring the work of ecological economists to the conversation in a much more meaningful way, so the discipline of economics can help us avoid the "big collapse" of broad, irreversible ecosystem failure, which will make our current economic woes look like a field day.

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Become a Sustainability Leader - MSLS Applications Open Dec 1

The challenges facing our global society are apparent on many levels. From a lack of social trust, climate change, poverty, pollution, species extinction, institutional failure and our inability to continue consuming at current levels, the change that needs to take place on a global scale is massive, compounding and complex. In order to combat these challenges, we need both strategic planning that adheres to the limits of the Earth's carrying capacity and leadership that inspires and creates systemic change in a collaborative manner across sectors, borders and disciplines.

I had the very good fortune of attending a graduate programme in Sweden, called the Master’s in Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability (MSLS) programme. We focused on the skills and knowledge necessary to create a sustainable 21st century. This experience taught me that the challenges facing our world require a systems thinking and scientific-based approach, and the ability to work collaboratively with diverse people.

And while this programme taught skills in team-work, facilitation, presentation, project management, communication and strategic planning it taught me so much more. This programme taught me that when you get a group of people together that want to make the world a better place, amazing things become possible. People begin to really listen to one another, enjoy working together and become more authentic. My class had students from over 30 countries and the alumni networks encompasses over 50 countries. Here, I learned the importance of community building, sharing common goals and how working together is not only a lot of fun, but provides the foundation for a sustainable society.

I am writing about this programme to let people know that applications for the MSLS cohort of 2012-2013 are opening December 1st, 2011 and close mid-January. I hope that you will read this and realize you too have an amazing opportunity to work with a dedicated international network that wants to change the world for the better.

Please visit the website www.bth.se/msls to see the full programme brochure and application procedures. If you are an EU citizen, the Swedish Government pays for your tuition. Outside the EU, tuition is 100,000SEK (just under $15,000) for this 10-month program. Scholarships are available and if you are a fee-paying student, you are welcome to visit www.kitesh.org to find out more about the free services available to assist you in the application and funding process.

Do yourself and the world a favor - go on the adventure of a lifetime and join the amazing network of alumni in the Master's in Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability.