Author: stephenhinton

OPINION: upgrade the monetary system and pay people to do the right thing

Stephen Hinton 2016, photo Maj-Lis Koivisto

 

Money and markets are powerful tools in developing our world, most would agree. However,  the negative effects, some might say unintended results of their application are painfully apparent. These include environmental degradation, unequal distribution and crowded, unhealthy cities. To achieve a sustainable future, and the Sustainable Development Goals in particular, all options for changing the economic system should be on the table.   Should we abandon industrial capitalism and our present monetary system altogether? Should we introduce a form of sustainable five-year planning regime? Continue reading “OPINION: upgrade the monetary system and pay people to do the right thing”

5 P WORKSHOPS: exploring potential for local economy, markets and enterprises

Recruiting to local enterprises
“Shopping”

Economic progress has been uneven to say the least. People and the environment are still experiencing stresses even in countries with higher living standards. Could re-focussing the local economy be part of the answer? A regenerative local economy includes all citizens, recirculates money to ensure thriving local businesses and it works to ensure a sustainable use of resources.

But there is a lot to learn. You could organise presentations and lectures from experts. Another way to explore the potential of revitalizing the local economy is to simply simulate the experience to see how far a group of people can come. Continue reading “5 P WORKSHOPS: exploring potential for local economy, markets and enterprises”

New guides to the circular economy available

Understanding the circular economy needs you to have a grounding in physics, biology, economics supply chain and several other disciplines.

To help you apply circular economy thinking in your work we have developed a series of guides, presentations, videos and workshops that gives you the essentials without having to study these disciplines.

For example:

A GUIDE TO THE ESSENTIALS OF THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY

First presented at the Caux Foundation conference on Trust and Integrity in the Global Economy (TIGE), a 40-minute overview of the absolute essentials explains:

  • Two main cycles – and the absolutely essential crossover points that should always be monitored.
  • Three  elements of the circular economy, their cycles, their essential differences and why understanding them will help you grasp circularity.
  • Four spheres, their interaction points essential to pinpoint in all supply chain and economic activity.

Read more here.

 

 

We are not running out of energy; capitalism is.

Stephen Hinton 2016, photo Maj-Lis Koivisto

Most of the energy used in the world economy comes from non-renewable sources. Analysts fear that the expanding extraction of energy will not keep up with the expanding economy and …well… the the economy will deflate like a balloon and everyone will be worse off. Worst for the poor who have very little already. Or they fear that the climate will collapse because we are pouring too much carbon dioxide into it just to stay alive. Either way, the economy is so dependent on energy, they say, that we will go into a period of recessions and undermine peace is many ways. Not strictly true in my opinion  that there is too little energy: there is enough energy to keep everyone fed and housed within planetary boundaries. It’s just that there is not enough to keep capitalism going. And it is the failings of capitalism that we need to address if we are to make this peace project real, not energy supplies. Continue reading “We are not running out of energy; capitalism is.”

OPINION: Accounting needs to adapt to the circular economy

Photo: Maj-Lis Koivisto

We often hear about how hard it is to change the course of large ships, and as an analogy our current economic system seems to be hard to turn away from its course of counter-sustainability. However, large tankers DO make it into port. I would like to offer the idea that our economy can change course too. As with large ships, we need to understand and master the controls. Very few talk about accounting and sustainability. That is a shame, as several built-in features (and some easy to build in) could offer a way to turn the economy around. It’s not rocket science and it would be a big leap forward!
 Continue reading “OPINION: Accounting needs to adapt to the circular economy”

Citizen Science being tried in Swedish Municipality

As part of the EU project Ground Truth, to set up citizen observatories, the municipality where the eco-village I am engaged in is the site for  a campaign to explore how citizen involvement can improve understanding and decision making around the water cycle.

Citizen science is on the increase. Using their own observations and mobile devices, citizens can provide a new data stream of local information about their environment, complementing existing systems and data sources.

 Ground Truth 2.0 is a 3-year EC funded project that is setting up and validating six citizen observatories in real conditions, in four European and two African demonstration cases. The project is demonstrating that such observatories are technologically feasible, can be implemented sustainably and that they have many societal and economic benefits. The ultimate objective is the global market uptake of the concept and the enabling technologies.

READ MORE

Ground truth

The Swedish Municipal Water Blitz

The business of peace WEBINAR

PAST WEBINAR: If we have the power to make such a mess of this world then surely we have the power to bring peace

 

Details

Continue reading “The business of peace WEBINAR”