Young Global Leaders: http://www.younggloballeaders.org/
4 days conference:
day 1: dignity day, visit to vancouver schools, talking to kids about the concept of 'dignity' and the initiative to allow everyone to lead a dignified life ('we're all the same'). opening reception with Gordon Campbell (president of BC) and Klaus Schwab (chairman wef, founder ygl)
day 2: plenary session on what we do, why we're here, what we want to achieve. panels and interactive sessions on (see final programme). museum of anthropology - dinner and performance.
day 3: business brainstorming. priorities for 2020; presentations and round tables: poverty and development, education, environment, global governance and security, health, new initiatives. outdoor team building. dinner with members of foundation board
day 4: defining a common vision + action plans for task-forces. new ideas worth following up. closing panel. informal networking.
innovations for the future (from ygl meeting san francisco): digital media, biotech, alternative energy
ygl - leaders
participatory leadership inspiring reason + emotion
too many overeducated but demotivated people in the world
emphasis on personal communication and contact
'you can't be a leader without the will to serve' - always ask yourself - how can i personally contribute?
creativity and leadership: process of eliminating options (michelangelo - david)
—
discussion about similarities and differences in the ygl community: why are we here (1 table - open src software in the US, art+tech in belgium and holland, thai parliament (education), poverty eradication in mozambique, art and human rights (video) in kenya, alpha-tech - broadband and alternative energy in canada):
openness sharing and participation
to share technology and ideas (open source, creative commons)
participation in shaping the cultural, social, ecological and technological future
awareness of individual issues on a global scale
fight ignorance: either don't know or don't want to know
people from different parts of the world are focusing on different priorities, but all issues are linked (environmental+economic+cultural issues can't be seen as separate) - eg. open src <> microfinance + how do we scale this?
poverty and human rights
poverty eradication (can technology bridge the gap between the non/educated?
access - technological development to improve people's lives, using all possible means, never leaving out any part of the world
focus on human rights - raising awareness through film, the arts… to help people liberate themselves
environment
benefit of ygl
existing task forces:
1. environment: focus on climate change )
need to communicate alarming facts
get people out of apathy
focus on solutions rather than problems (from environmentalism being a burden to becoming an opportunity)
tf focused on an 'umbrella campaign' (love-hate, cool-uncool…)
2. governance and security
understanding why good people do evil things to each other
promotional campaign: setting up a non-profit film company for awareness and prevention of genocide
legitimacy index (current systems - both informal and formal (relationship very messy), still based on military, wealth, territory)
world government (UN comes the closest, but skewed - either big territory, the US or winners in WWII)
3. microfinance
spreading awareness between regulators and industry
getting leaders of financial institutions interested
different microfinance business models
dignity initiative - appeal to people's emotions to inspire action (individual / social…)
access to financial products for the poor
informal sector (small businesses - 70% of employment - the base of the pyramid)
scalable micro-enterprises
current model - very labour intensive
4. health
there is lots of money for r&d on drugs, not so much for treatment
more affordable medicine
states don't do much
press business and local government
individual self-care and prevention - diet, exercise…
5. education
progress for educational system, global database on schools
'grassroots dignity college' - need translation in many languages
6. new task forces
6.1 diversity on the bottom line - to promote cultural and religious understanding through basic education
6.2 social and action networks
environmental TF in detail
“undeniable” facts:
temperature raise of 1.5C in the coming century
increase of greenhouse gas
changing sea-currents
raise of water levels
climactic and tectonic uncertainty
biological mass extinction
deforestation
proliferation of heat absorbing surfaces
depletion of fossil fuels
in the face of these issues – too much apathy around the globe:
usual responses:
ygl mission: empowering the individuals to ditch this apathy )
first things to change:
how we look at and use energy: in our own companies, with our clients/audiences/users
how we produce and distribute energy
disconnection between scientists/technologists - society+business
YGL to influence:
issues with energy production:
problem with fossil fuels: low energy ratio, high emission of co2
alternative energy production needed:
short term: bio-fuels (ethanol), solar energy, wind-power, nuclear energy, geothermal, hydro-power
longer term: hydrogen fuels (nuclear fusion – see fusion in a bubble UCLA)
increasing efficiency of current energy production and consumption
finding better ways to generate energy
push r&d in alternative energy, for 'cool' technology (solar tech much more increase in efficiency than internal combustion motors)
'small is profitable' - solutions of right size for the right place
things to address in short term concerning energy production and consumption: waste, biofuels, natural gas
waste - mostly produced in transportation: because of heat dissipation, rolling resistance, aerodynamic drag – problem with the weight of vehicles ('platform physics') - lightweight steel, aluminium-titanium alloys, carbon-fibre composits (until now used in aerospace and sports)
biofuels - mostly ethanol: in the US from corn (not efficient), in Brazil from sugarcane (more efficient). another good solution - cellulose based ethanol (from switch grass and woody parts of plants) - can be grown on depleted agricultural land, where it doesn't need to compete with other crops
natural gas - wasted producing electricity. more appliances / transport should use it. electricity power plants are too often 'peak' plants - we need to find a better way to store the energy and use only when needed.
nuclear future?
“i don't like the stuff, but it's there and i know what to do with it”
even green-peace is beginning to change their opinion about it
until now nuclear power very wasteful – it is possible to recycle and enrich uranium. we have enough uranium for about 100 years. if enriched, for about 1000.
waste: now - 1 gigawat fission reactor - 12 steel barrels per year. for the entire earth we would need 10000 such reactors. it takes 5-10 years, 1 billion USD to build one. ideal - break uranium down to Iron 56 — not radioactive, no waste (needs research!).
nuclear security - big issue (chernobyl - preventable human mistake)
more general short term proposals: from passive awareness to positive action (individuals, communities, businesses, politicians)
individuals
better insulation
changing modes of transport, fly less
more efficient lighting and heating systems
recycle
minimise waste
conscious consumer's attitude (organic, fair trade…)
consumer push on business
…
business and regulators
CMC: conservation - mitigation - conversion
lowering agricultural subsidies and growing cash crops
encouraging manufacturers to design greener solutions
adapting existing and designing new forms of transport
insurance policies against weather derivatives
changing standards and regulations (often don't allow for green solutions)
decoupling power consumption from economic growth
address global warming and poverty simultaneously
green pathways out of poverty. social, economic and spiritual u-turn:
conservation of natural resources
regulation of bad investment in good solutions
from rich to poor, from problem to solution
makes people equal again
large green voter base (community health benefits across the board)
from reduce, reuse, recycle (environmentalist) to:
reengineer: policy, built environment
reinvest/reinvent - relationships business/govt (subsidies, tax, zoning)
retrain - workforce, technology…
designers and developers
visualisation and design of new 'green' products and services
creating a new mindset - not about 'don't do' but about 'do'
get the 'early adopters on the side (designers, architects, engineers…) - educating developers
working on biomimetic and biophilic design
“whole system design”
getting consumers on the side: ferrary look with a green engine; the feelgood factor
influencing behaviour change (making green living positive and aspirational, rather than finger-wagging. people have to see there are others (idols, role models, the mr nobody like me) taking the initiative - people will act, but not alone ('if you will, i will).
example: minergie houses in switzerland, sustainable buildings in india, israel and iceland off oil (environmental + social)
how far is it possible to go within the current paradigm, how much we can stretch it, is it enough?
need for a more fundamental change in life and life-style - addressing issues holistically
need to attract grass-roots ngos, designers, eco-activists and arts collectives
moving from communist views to open understanding of society
consulting groups most effective to get things from accademia to realworld situations
how to reshape economics if necessary
think and do tank
science of well-being
architectural approaches - how much critical mass reuqired to make a city carbon free?
examples:
smarttransportation.org (vancouver public taxi)
takingitglobal.org
report 'resources from the future' (1951 - pentagon?) – not able to manage resources of the world based on what was there then
carbon offset options (frequent flyers in buying tickets, ups and fedex - optional deliveries)
book - beyond short termism
green-collar workers (environmental issues for dealing with poverty
Existing YGL initiatives
BRANDING AND CAMPAIGN
ygl campaign - passionate, motivated, optimistic and solution driven. not so much about profit, but about well-being; changing things more fundamentally, targeting ideas and beliefs; legitimately the next generation, since they;re young. required to have a sequel to the gore movie called details
framework around the question - why is it good for me – ie environmental issues as a business proposition – economic - public health - environmental issues
umbrella campaign; creating awareness, outline business opportunities and the dangers of being a laggard; working with the wef for the framework of economic and regulatory systems
C20 (or 21, 22…) - c20 initiative - 20 of the largest cities as examples of 'green city' )
globalcool
media, communication and analytics - getting celebrities to promote green lifestyle (embargoed until end of june)
indexing good sustainable business practices
summit in iceland, october 2006
–> powerful groups to unite in the cause (never before did these groups agree on a single issue!:
shareholder activists
philantropists
investors and VCs (CERES - carbon disclosure project)
religious groups (agglomerated religions own 7% of earth + large investments. 11000 environmental projects since 1989!)
large pension funds (including academic retirement funds)
powerful investors representing cities
NGOs
people working on the cutting edge of all practices
scientific community (to work on lowering princeton wedges), sponsoring students and faculty
concordia institute for sustainability
cities are the best answer (in scandinavia national govts as well)
decision makers
bankers and other financial leaders
eco-artists and activitists (eco-fest in nairobi)
human rights network (hurinet)
media (newsweek will bring out a special issue on this)
what people want to contribute:
foam - minimise our own ecological footprint (we still need about 2 planets); help concept and design for (a segment of) the umbrella awareness campaign; retreat/conference on sustainable media for designers, artists, engineers and architects; forestation and green city initiatives (seedballing); working locally in brussels and amsterdam for the C20 initiative - public actions, collaborating with neighbourhood committees, working with local govt…;
video journalist network (face of aids:
http://www.faceofaids.com ), can help documenting 'best practices', working with dissemination agencies to distribute 'self-created content' and generate a massive online repository - documenting our processes, if needed for other people
awareness campaign for agriculture - developing a 'cool rose' needing less water, resistant to pests… organically grown…
developing the index and advising clients to become greener (+ offer solutions, help, mentoring and contacts)
attracting investors and fundraising
attracting role models (famous people, but also your next door neighbour people) to get to groups of people who don't care about the environment
need to mobilise small businesses
localising / situating marketing campaign
combining arts and music (cd with music by african artists to promote the cause)
delhi - now all public transport - natural gas – had to happen through law enforcement - it needed a communication strategy to all levels of society - to communicate how lives can change
lobbying groups to target policy and public services
distributed power station in london
if you visualise things well, it's easy to get both individual consumers and policy people
summary concrete actions ygl environmental tf beginning 2006
awareness promotion campaign (targeting businesses first, then governments and communities)
C20 - 20 major cities carbon-free - public events, large scale actions, policy decisions, media campaigns
index for businesses (how to change to help minimise climate change_)
fundraising for sustainable development
support for r&d in alternative energy
summit in iceland
connecting with different task forces:
education: access to schools world-wide for workshops, information sessions, lessons…
health: connecting environmental thinking with food, diet, exercise and individual well-being
on conflict and cooperation
distinction: people who preach fear / people who preach trust
ultimate cooperation - world government?
for diversity, not for tolerance (i don't want to be tolerated!)
media - conflict sells better than cooperation
the west should learn more about islam, and about how much of our civilisation is built on / depends on islam
keeping promises: every time you promise something, record and publish it!
–
it's a small world
online communities:
ability to self-publish, reach, search and expand (sales, raising kids)
leveraging social connections
portable reputations
they enable the 'fringe' - no top down management
seeming self-organisation – social filtering and tagging
mash-up of work and play
MMORPGS driving business models and environments
SAP knowledge network
challenges: disruption, no maps, different styles, approaches and languages (the 'lawyer salad')
infosys: 'knowledge networks - p2p network. employees get points for contributing
open source communities: amplifiers for people and their desires
leaky technology - impossible to keep undisclosed (pentagon – how do we classify it / / it's too late, we better find ways to make friends)
business brainstorming
challenges:
cultural clash (japanese business does not respect other cultures. US business very goal oriented)
hiring good people
stagnation/innovation
for profit/non profit
language issues + decision making:
asian - consensus building; US - cut through decisions
vision is not a problem, execution is (need to build execution aspects into mission statements
team-building: with personal trainers ('cracking'), social events, outdoor activities
attention economy - everyone overloaded by information. solutions to relax:
walk before email
think before pressing enter
don't Cc if not necessary
never send an email angry
no closet emailing on vacation
write letters by hand sometimes
if all fails - therapy!
we're all in search of balance; more focus on self + well being (yoga, nail polish !!!!???, civic action, charity….)
closing remarks
always refocus on individual behaviours and emotions
think up menaingful metrics and indexing (bringing the individual up to scale)
govern on the side of problem solvers
review products with carbon signatures
leveraging the ygl network (online, locally) - creating a ygl voice
ideas and products designed and distributed globally, not just for the benefit of the west
we should change the position from which we ask questions - from the individual → network → institution
the role of the leader is to ask questions
'economists are left brain philosophers'
young local leaders
mentoring new ygls / old global leaders
getting fellow ygls out of danger
top level executive education, ygl fellowships for students
from poverty reduction to wealth creation
leading by example - making a difference
balance between action and thoughtful leadership