Money is a powerful force in complex societies. It represents access to food, security, and health. In some cases it represents freedom itself. Money is credit, and in the case of national currencies, a piece of money (whether it be a dollar, a rupee, or a yuan) represents an IOU from the government. Money’s ultimate power lies in our collective faith in its value. The movement of money allows products [...]
How can an organization address urban food security and social inclusion while meeting the shifting needs and interests of a community? The word “roulant” in French means “rolling” which conjures an image of some kind of cycle or circle –something that gives back. Cycles and interconnections are often hidden from urban life, despite their omnipresence. Sometimes organizations can bring these cycles to life and build new connections within urban spaces. [...]
How can new businesses connect the social to the ecological? The Ghana Bamboo Bikes is a social enterprise founded by Bernice Dapaah promotes social development in Ghana. It aspires to reduce climate change while providing rural jobs. Ghana Bamboo Bikes Initiative has grown from a project idea into an award winning social enterprise. It is one of a number of bamboo bike companies in Ghana, that include Bamboo Bikes Limited, Yonso Project, [...]
How do we challenge people's deeply-held beliefs about how the world works and all the associated behaviours that go along with these? Cascoland is an international network of artists, architects, designers and performers sharing a fascination for interdisciplinary interventions in public space, promoting mobilization, participation and networking through artistic exchange and collaboration. Projects are executed with multi-disciplinary teams of artists and designers. Cascoland activates public space through artistic interventions, construction [...]
Building a sense of community, stewardship and sharing through cohousing communities: can alternative ways of living and making decisions found within intentional communities scale up? How? Heartwood Cohousing is one of many cohousing communities throughout the world. There are about 150 in the USA alone. Heartwood's goal is to recreate an old-fashioned neighbourhood where neighbours cooperate to live more sustainably. Heartwood has 100 hectares of land, 25 irrigated, with an organic farm that [...]
Can tourism be remodelled to encourage learning about sustainable, ethical travel? Tourism is a global industry, and also seen as an important part of economic growth, especially in developing countries. It can be a very positive thing, but it needs to be done in a fair and sustainable way. That is not the case in most places today, and getting the information on how to be a responsible traveller out [...]
How can we turn individual urban improvement initiatives into systemic change to produce resilient, livable cities? Cities for People is an initiative based in Montreal, Canada that believes that like an ecosystem, a city’s strength and resilience depends on its ability to nurture the full diversity of its inhabitants and give them what they need not just to survive, but thrive. Cities for people has focussed on fostering collaboration, cross-pollinating [...]
Can a formal appeal to human decency and traditional national values cause a massive uprising that might impact how a country is governed? And can celebrities help the cause? The Leap Manifesto is a call to arms to create a Canada based on caring for the Earth and each other. The Manifesto outlines a set of demands ranging from implementing rights for indigenous peoples, to a complete shift to green energy, to national childcare [...]
Refugees Welcome has been described as Air BnB for refugees. It is a site that aims to connect refugees with people who have spare rooms to let in their apartments/houses. It was started by a couple Mareike Geiling and Jonas Kakoschke in Berlin, initially to host refugees in Germany and Austria, but it is branching out into other EU countries. It is essentially a platform that enables ordinary people to help out with [...]
Can corporations and economic powers just DECIDE to act more ethically towards citizens and the environment? How effective might a social covenant be? The New Social Covenant (http://newsocialcovenant.org/about_us.php) was developed at the World Economic Forum in Davos. There are at least 36 entities that have signed on. Covenanters agree to act in the interest of three universal aspirations: (1) the dignity of the person; (2) the importance of the common good that [...]