Events
Eco Industrial Parks & Community Development
Friday 3 October 2008
Strategic Futurist Marcus Barber will both key note and act as Master of Ceremonies at the Lockhart Industrial symposium on the 9th of October, in Lockhart NSW. Marcus will discuss the clear business advantages that Eco Industrial parks provide to businesses, the way that symbiotic supply chains work to improve business resilience and the way that local communities can take charge of the direction they want their community to head towards
One of the key challenges for local communities, especially those in regional and rural locations, is the ability for that community to shape its own direction. The emergence of Eco Industrial parks provides one avenue with both a clear focal point for local communities as well as a clear and specific business case in mind. By connecting emerging issues like retention of younger employees within the local community to the need to lower the costs of doing business, to the emergence of carbon based costs and marketing opportunities, local communities quickly see the social and business benefits of building closer and more deliberate local partnerships. Importantly it provides the community a means for taking action without having to rely on the 'say so' from large Government agencies that might otherwise dictate a different or less desirable future, or who despite good intentions may not understand the real community issues.
Along with Marcus Barber the Lockhart forum is bringing together some of the most knowledgeable specialists in the field of agriculture, business development, industrial symbiosis and strategic futures work to share with the local community the benefits likely to accrue through developing an Eco Industrial Park.
Please RSVP to lockprogress@bigpond.com or Greg Smith (Chairman) Lockhart Industrial Park Committee 69205556 or Max Day (President) Lockhart & District Progress Association 69205526 (042869383) for catering purposes.
Keep informed - Sign up
Events
Friday 16 July 2010
A series of recent activities has me writing on the idea of 'future strategy' and how different organisations are approaching their future development. What is interesting is the strong sense that preparing for your potential future requires multiple paths forward, not a single 'home run'. To that end I've recently considered sporting bodies and local community driven programs which has triggered these 'thought bubbles'
Read more...
Monday 5 July 2010
Stephen Downes is one the handful of bloggers I follow consistently. I do so because Downes (unlike many others unfortunately) like to write about his thinking AS WELL AS promoting the thinking of others, whether or not he agrees with them. In that way you get a solid collection of alternative views within his field of endeavour (learning & teaching et al). The link below will take you to a presentation by David Harvey that walks you through an interesting interpretation of the Capitalist model and where we are at in the world affairs. Whether or not you agree with the content, it is highly recommended
Read more...
Monday 28 June 2010
Coming off what has been undoubtedly my busiest period (3 months) in the past decade, I'm in the throws of catching up on some light reading. I usually have at least two books on the go and my preference is for the books to be about diverse topics because it allows the mind to seek out random connections. I once 'solved' the nuclear fusion problem whilst reading books by Umberto Eco and John D Barrow. A physicist friend of mine suggested my idea was radical and yet theoretically possible. But I digress. Right now I have a wide combination - 'From Poverty to Peace' by Duncan Green looks at ways in which we can empower people to help themselves more effectively, whilst looking at the myriad of mistakes so commonly made in the area of 'aid'. 'New knowledge in Human Values' is an older book edited by Ambraham Maslow with a wide contribution of thoughts from the likes of Pitirim Sorokin, Dorothy Lee and Paul Tillich (among others) and is a walk through some of the thinking about Human Values emerging in the late 1950's. The chapters are appropriately dense undertakings and I'm finding it hard to stick with, especially as I'm more inclined to lean towards the model of Clare W Graves and his Value Systems Thoery; 'Coercion as Cure' by Thomas Szasz is a ripper of a book thus far, though I'm only a few chapters in, I can tell the quality of a book by how much 'tagging' I do within a text
Read more...
