II R E C O M M E N D A T I O N S
OVERALL FRAMEWORK
As part of the proposed STW group response to the UN call, the following is a recommended framework for the process of the evolution of a new economic model for survival.
Rationale
The research done by the group suggests that while there is an impressive amount of work already being done -- in terms of theoretical analysis as well as actual practice initiatives, projects and programs, there is currently no coherent overall model in existence that would meet the expectations of the UN call and could be implemented at a global scale to replace current systems and practice. The discussion of the STW thread also suggests that it would also be undesirable and counterproductive to have such a model implemented by some global authority, top-down fashion, if it is not based on the participation and support of all affected groups, and that the overall 'model' be kept to a minimal set of common agreements leaving room for the development of a wide variety of local, individual or small group variations. The first task must therefore be to establish a coherent framework for the discourse that can bring about such broad support. The proposal consists of some suggestions for such a process framework. It builds on all efforts aiming at transformation currently done within existing institutions, but also provides opportunity and support for the emergence of new institutions and societal organization.
Description - Overview
The proposed framework consists of the following major components that combine both the many ‘action’ initiatives already underway, grouped loosely as ‘local’ level activities, and the ‘global’ provisions supporting and coordinating these activities and drawing upon their results and experiences to feed a global discourse articulating and shaping the common agreements underlying the many diverse local efforts.
The major components are:
* The ‘Local action' initiatives, projects, programs, studies;
* The global Coordination and Support network aiming at supporting, funding, information-sharing, documenting the activities and projects;
* The Discourse framework;
* The Research component supporting both the local initiatives as needed and the global discourse; and
• The Education and Information system making the results of the other components available to the population everywhere, and supporting the needed training for the new practices and tools.
For each of these components, selected examples will be listed, of activities and initiatives that are generally supported by the group (based on perceived sentiment and explicit posts), items that should be initiated, developed, studied, as well as practices, projects, policies that the group feels should be ended or abandoned. The components can be loosely grouped into 'local level', small-scale initiatives , experiments, and programs, and 'global' support networks.
A) Local level initiatives
The research done by participants in the discussion revealed an impressive array of initiatives, projects, research, programs and experiments being already undertaken by individuals, groups, companies, universities, non-govenment organizations and governments. We can distinguish the following categories of item sin this group:
a) projects already being undertaken by individuals, groups, communities, companies, nations and international / transnational organizations;
b) ‘ready-to-go’ projects for which the resources, tools, techniques are available today and that only would need ‘startup’ help to be implemented in the near future; and
c) project 'ideas' that are needed, either as responses to problems and emergencies caused by natural disasters or human conflicts, for which adequate preparations must be made, or as components for innovative implementation of new modes of operation (new economic models) that are currently not yet available.
d) practices, activities, policies that are considered detrimental to sustainability and thus should be ended.
The endorsed projects a-c will be largely incremental, local, initially small scale, experimental. Their experimental nature implies that their eventual success and performance towards 'ensuring an economic model for survival' cannot currently be guaranteed. But such experiments are needed for various reasons: to generate much needed information about 'what works' and what does not work; but also as opportunities for people to create 'their own' versions of desirable future, and to develop the variety of different versions of economic cultural, societal models within an overall set of agreements for compatibility, cooperation and nonviolent conflict resolution.
Examples of such projects will be described in the section describing the 'local action' activities in more detail.
Global framework components:
B) Coordination / networking and support of local action projects
A global system for compiling and sharing information for local action projects, coordinating and networking these, securing funding, monitoring their performance and success. An important part of this -- that will be shared with the following discourse component -- will be a service for the translation of information between ethnic languages as well as between different conceptual / philosophical, religious frames or reference and ideologies.
C) The Discourse component
This component will be a platform for the global discussion of all the issues that must be explored, for which solutions must be found and decided upon in the development of the eventual economic model. It will be the vehicle for encouraging, empowering and facilitating wide participation in the discussion and decision-making about those issues for which global agreements are needed.
The translation service mentioned in the above Coordination component will be a vital part of this discourse framework.
The discourse comment should include an element for the systematic and transparent evaluation of contributions to the discourse: specifically, for the evaluation of the merit of arguments. The development of specific measures of this kind is urgently needed to provide a transparent link (currently missing) between discourse and the criteria used to achieve decisions.
The support system for this component will be based on further development of the conceptual basis of the 'Issue Based Information System' (IBIS) or 'Argumentative Planning Information System' ideas proposed by the late professor H. Rittel [..] The specific IT platform for this should be based on an adaptation of current social network discussion forum (blogs, wiki models) to the IBIS idea, until a better, integrated platform has been developed. The development of such a platform should be a first step for this component.
D) The Research component
The development of the knowledge, tools, measurements etc. for the evolution of a new economic system will require intense, coordinated research. Setting up new institutions for this will only be a small part of the overall framework at least initially, so the initial thrust will be to develop an effective cooperation network between all the institutions currently doing research: public and private universities, government and internationally funded research centers, corporate research laboratories.
Special attention should be given to the 'systems thinking' efforts aimed at develop models of the social, economic, environmental systems so as to enhance our understanding of these systems and guide the development of meaningful policies towards a sustainable future.
E) The Education and Information component
Eventually, 'ensuring an economic -- as well as social, environmental and political -- model for survival will require adoption of new attitudes, tools, institutional patters and habits. This will require information and training of humanity as a whole. The results of the action project experiments, the discourse, the research results must be made available to citizens and children everywhere. But beyond mere information, citizens must be inspired, encouraged, enabled and empowered to shape their future. Provisions must be made available to acquire the tools and skills needed. An important ‘prerequisite’ aspect of this is the acquisition of the ethical and moral principles and attitudes (cooperation, nonviolent conflict resolution, compassion, solidarity etc.) that must be learned not only by being exposed to instruction but essentially through appropriate living experiences: games, internships, ‘camps’, involvement in a variety of community activities.
The process
The transformation towards more sustainable institutions and modes of operation will proceed simultaneously by two avenues:
1. Gradual, incremental changes, new practices, adaptations, experiments of existing institutions of local, national, international government entities as well as private enterprise companies, all of which are already engaged in improving their practices at various levels of intensity and commitment. (The projects described under (a) of component A above)
2. Since needed change may be resisted by entrenched interests of existing institutions, a second avenue toward change must consist of the establishment of new institutions or organizations for cooperation and (self-governance) -- entities that can overcome the constraints and sources of conflict, resistance to change, and inefficiency inherent in existing institutions.
An essential part of the proposal addressing this aspect is the suggestion to provide opportunities for initiating such innovation experiments in areas that are in need of international aid redevelopment due to natural disasters or armed conflict -- as possible laboratories for the development of new forms of organization. Specific details will be presented in the Appendix section on 'Innovation Zones' [….]
The diagram illustrates the various components and relationships of the proposed framework.
(diagram [1]) UN1 REV.jpg
