Here is a quick (4 min) engaging video by Steven Johnson that provides a summary of some thoughts on how creativity and innovation happens in an incubated format. Hunches need to bump into each other to become new ideas or innovation breakthroughs. The increased connectivity of the Internet - networked world provides unprecedented opportunity to combine and borrow ideas from each other.
Progressives have lots of hunches but do not have a disciplined space to take chances and share our hunches and ideas so the synergy does not happen as much as it could. This is an inspiration for me as to what RebootAlberta could become-that place for hunches and ideas to bump into each other.
Progressive live in their heads and need a place where their creative progressive thought engage with others in face-to-face and connected spaces to share hunches. I am thinking long term to convert Reboot Alberta into a space and place for Alberta progressives to come and share, learn, create and engage in defining and designing the Alberta Aspiration - something much more vibrant than the low tax mindset of the Alberta Advantage.
BTW Johnson has a wonderful closing comment that resonates with me "Chance favours the connected mind." That is a mantra worth living in this day and age.
Thanks to Mark Holmgren for the link
If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Here is the Real Oil Sands Message for Albertans
Cambridge Strategies joined forces this week with CAUSE, Enmax, Mountain Equipment Co-op, ConocoPhillips, Calgary Centre for Global Community, Take Action Grants, the Calgary Foundation, the UofC Students' Union, the City of Calgary, Alberta Acts of Climate Change and the Good Earth Coffeehouse and Bakery to sponsor the Hunter Lovins lectures.
Hunter spoke on "Lean and Green: Sustainable Energy Solutions for Alberta." She spoke about options for our current electrical challenges. She made the business case for climate change protection, She outlined a way for Alberta to lead the way to energy solutions. All of these themes are near and dear to my heart and my business partner Satya Das and are outlined in his book "Green Oil: Clean Energy for the 21st Century?"
She and her husband co-founded the Rocky Mountain Institute and co-authored a book called Natural Capitalism with Paul Hawken. That is one of the most dog-eared books on my shelf and was a epiphany producing read for me a few years ago.
The Calgary Herald sure captured the essence of Lovins message in this editorial "Go Green and Get Rich!".
There is a great deal of soul searching for business and Albertans around our oil sands development as a source of prosperity, pride, innovation and most of all environmental stewardship. These are integrated aspects of responsible and sustainable oil sands development not mutually exclusive issues to be managed politically or with public relations.
I went into the Lovins lecture with an aspiration the my Alberta to be not merely destined to be the best place in the world but rather to aspire to be the best place for the world.
I came out of the Lovins lecture with more resolve than ever around the implications and potential that Alberta Aspiration to become reality. Progressive thinking Albertans have to get over their compliant complacency and return to full citizenship and activist participation in the political culture of this province to make that happen.
If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org
Hunter spoke on "Lean and Green: Sustainable Energy Solutions for Alberta." She spoke about options for our current electrical challenges. She made the business case for climate change protection, She outlined a way for Alberta to lead the way to energy solutions. All of these themes are near and dear to my heart and my business partner Satya Das and are outlined in his book "Green Oil: Clean Energy for the 21st Century?"
She and her husband co-founded the Rocky Mountain Institute and co-authored a book called Natural Capitalism with Paul Hawken. That is one of the most dog-eared books on my shelf and was a epiphany producing read for me a few years ago.
The Calgary Herald sure captured the essence of Lovins message in this editorial "Go Green and Get Rich!".
There is a great deal of soul searching for business and Albertans around our oil sands development as a source of prosperity, pride, innovation and most of all environmental stewardship. These are integrated aspects of responsible and sustainable oil sands development not mutually exclusive issues to be managed politically or with public relations.
I went into the Lovins lecture with an aspiration the my Alberta to be not merely destined to be the best place in the world but rather to aspire to be the best place for the world.
I came out of the Lovins lecture with more resolve than ever around the implications and potential that Alberta Aspiration to become reality. Progressive thinking Albertans have to get over their compliant complacency and return to full citizenship and activist participation in the political culture of this province to make that happen.
If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Satya Das & Ezra Levant Square Off Over Oil Sands at LitFest.
The Edmonton Litfest is all about non-fiction literature and promises to be great event this year. One of the highlights for Albertans will be a presentation of differing views about the Alberta oil sands by Satya Das the author of Green Oil-Clean Energy for the 21st Century and Ezra Levant the author of Ethical Oil.
Full disclosure I am the publisher of Green Oil and Satya is a long time friend and my business partner. I have purchased but not yet read Ezra's book...but I will soon. I have read a considerable amount of media on the Levant book and was at a dinner meeting with Danielle Smith, the leader of the right-wing Wildrose Alliance Party last Monday and she repeated the premise of Ethical Oil in her presentation. That being while we in Alberta may be dirty oil providers from the oil sands, compared to the alternative suppliers we are, on the whole, a much better ethical option for American fossil fuel needs.
I whole heartedly agree with Ezra's premise and have in fact posted a blog giving some free advice to Premier Stelmach in his recent meeting with US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. I suggest the American political interference in the middle east, the dishonest premise to start the Iraq for example is about US taking "blood oil" relative to our "dirty oil."
Where I think Ezra and Das (and I) would part company is while the premise is Ethical Oil is well founded it is insufficient to fix the problem of our so-called "dirty oil." I don't think the ethical arguments gets Albertans, as owners of the oil sands, off the hook...and we know it. We need to develop our oil sands with a higher ethical bar than we are the best of a bad lot. We know from our conjoint research done in conjunction with the Oil Sands Research and Information Network at the University of Alberta that environmental stewardship is the driving ethical values Albertans what to see guide and drive our oil sands development.
Creating prosperity without an integration of habitat protection, set standards for land, water and air quality, reclamation assurances to support on-going biodiversity and a focus on fixing the carbon footprint of development we are not really ethical oil. We expect more or ourselves than just being socially better and more secular than Saudi Arabia.
So come to Litfest on October 19 at the Stanley Milner Library Theatre to hear and participate in the Das-Levant discussions on the future development of the oil sands. The full Litfest program and ticket info is available at Tix on the Square:
Advance Passes and Individual Event Admission Tickets on sale now from Tix on the Square,online or by phone 780.420.1757 or Toll Free 1.877.888.1757. (Address - 9930 102 Avenue).
As a publisher let me suggest you buy the books and read them before hand. You can get them in better book stores in Edmonton. Green Oil is also available as a download from www.greenoilbook.com.
If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org
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| Satya Das |
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| Ezra Levant |
Full disclosure I am the publisher of Green Oil and Satya is a long time friend and my business partner. I have purchased but not yet read Ezra's book...but I will soon. I have read a considerable amount of media on the Levant book and was at a dinner meeting with Danielle Smith, the leader of the right-wing Wildrose Alliance Party last Monday and she repeated the premise of Ethical Oil in her presentation. That being while we in Alberta may be dirty oil providers from the oil sands, compared to the alternative suppliers we are, on the whole, a much better ethical option for American fossil fuel needs.
I whole heartedly agree with Ezra's premise and have in fact posted a blog giving some free advice to Premier Stelmach in his recent meeting with US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. I suggest the American political interference in the middle east, the dishonest premise to start the Iraq for example is about US taking "blood oil" relative to our "dirty oil."
Where I think Ezra and Das (and I) would part company is while the premise is Ethical Oil is well founded it is insufficient to fix the problem of our so-called "dirty oil." I don't think the ethical arguments gets Albertans, as owners of the oil sands, off the hook...and we know it. We need to develop our oil sands with a higher ethical bar than we are the best of a bad lot. We know from our conjoint research done in conjunction with the Oil Sands Research and Information Network at the University of Alberta that environmental stewardship is the driving ethical values Albertans what to see guide and drive our oil sands development.
Creating prosperity without an integration of habitat protection, set standards for land, water and air quality, reclamation assurances to support on-going biodiversity and a focus on fixing the carbon footprint of development we are not really ethical oil. We expect more or ourselves than just being socially better and more secular than Saudi Arabia.
So come to Litfest on October 19 at the Stanley Milner Library Theatre to hear and participate in the Das-Levant discussions on the future development of the oil sands. The full Litfest program and ticket info is available at Tix on the Square:
Advance Passes and Individual Event Admission Tickets on sale now from Tix on the Square,online or by phone 780.420.1757 or Toll Free 1.877.888.1757. (Address - 9930 102 Avenue).
As a publisher let me suggest you buy the books and read them before hand. You can get them in better book stores in Edmonton. Green Oil is also available as a download from www.greenoilbook.com.
If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org
Practicality of Life as a Vulnerable Post Secondary Student
I ran into Rebooter Carol Neuman yesterday. She is the soul behind the Student Councils' Executive group who represent all non-university post-secondary students in Alberta. She was quickly telling me about the serious hardships many students in Norquest and Bow Valley Colleges were facing due to a computer screw up at Alberta Employment and Immigration that has delayed support cheques getting out from government to marginalized and vulnerable people who are trying to upgrade their education.
The government funds they rely on to survive as students have been delayed due to some computer SNAFU. It also seems to me that the system, both technological and human, is too insensitive to the critical consequences of such screw ups on these students. I was told many had to drop out of school because they could not continue because of the delay receiving in the life changing funding they are relying on.
This is an emergency for these people and I hope the powers that be understand this and don't just see it as some kind of technical computer glitch. This has serious human consequences. I understand that the Alberta government messed up on the processing of funding for these people. This is obviously a life changing experience for many - but not in the way it is supposed to be changing their lives.
Personal debt levels are very high these days for everyday Albertans. Debt concerns are to the point there is a general anxiety amongst many middle class Albertans over how sustainable their futures are. I am told that many middle class people are just two pay cheques away from poverty. Scary. Aspirations to better their standards of living are diminishing as they feel they are running harder and longer just to stay in the same place...life on the treadmill. Youth are even in worse shape.
Take that level of concern and add marginalization, poverty and vulnerability to the emotional mix and you get a toxic brew for folks trying to better themselves through education and upgrading. When they get the courage and conviction to take on more education in order to become self-reliant and resilient they sure don't need the kick in head of a funding fiasco.
I am told the bucks problem stops at Minister Thomas Lukaszuk's desk. I know Thomas and believe he is all about doing the right thing. This right thing is urgent as well as important. I hope Minister Lukaszuk if fully and forcefully engaged in resolving this problem given the emergency it is for so many vulnerable Albertans who are just trying to better themselves.
If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org
The government funds they rely on to survive as students have been delayed due to some computer SNAFU. It also seems to me that the system, both technological and human, is too insensitive to the critical consequences of such screw ups on these students. I was told many had to drop out of school because they could not continue because of the delay receiving in the life changing funding they are relying on.
This is an emergency for these people and I hope the powers that be understand this and don't just see it as some kind of technical computer glitch. This has serious human consequences. I understand that the Alberta government messed up on the processing of funding for these people. This is obviously a life changing experience for many - but not in the way it is supposed to be changing their lives.
Personal debt levels are very high these days for everyday Albertans. Debt concerns are to the point there is a general anxiety amongst many middle class Albertans over how sustainable their futures are. I am told that many middle class people are just two pay cheques away from poverty. Scary. Aspirations to better their standards of living are diminishing as they feel they are running harder and longer just to stay in the same place...life on the treadmill. Youth are even in worse shape.
Take that level of concern and add marginalization, poverty and vulnerability to the emotional mix and you get a toxic brew for folks trying to better themselves through education and upgrading. When they get the courage and conviction to take on more education in order to become self-reliant and resilient they sure don't need the kick in head of a funding fiasco.
I am told the bucks problem stops at Minister Thomas Lukaszuk's desk. I know Thomas and believe he is all about doing the right thing. This right thing is urgent as well as important. I hope Minister Lukaszuk if fully and forcefully engaged in resolving this problem given the emergency it is for so many vulnerable Albertans who are just trying to better themselves.
If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Ken Robinson is Coming to Alberta
Sir Ken Robinson is a gift to consciousness about culture, education and creativity. He has humour and humanity as a gift to his audience. You need to watch this and watch for when he comes to Alberta and be there.
He is one of the most influential minds of our times...and times are a changin'
If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org
He is one of the most influential minds of our times...and times are a changin'
If you want a progressive political culture in the Next Alberta register now for RebootAlberta 3.0 at www.rebootalberta.org
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