Monday, September 21, 2009 at 9:52PM As I type this, the Age of Stupid hits New York in a big way as the Big Apple takes centre stage of the world premiere, with showings in over 400 cinemas in 63 countries.
To put on a screening of your own click through to here http://www.indiescreenings.net/
Monday, July 27, 2009 at 3:55PM The Do Lectures are around 6 weeks away. The speakers are preparing their talks, and ticket holders readying for inspiration. We're offering a crowd-sourcing membership of the Do Lectures this year to raise money for the talks and help reach 1 million people next year. Here's why in words penned by Do founder and co-pilot David Hieatt
Why The Do Lectures matter?
And why becoming a member matters too?
We live in interesting times.
And we live in important times.
Most of the important business models have yet to be written.
Most of the ‘why didn’t I think of that’ answers for climate change have yet to be dreamt of.
Most of the important scientific or technological breakthroughs are just doodles on a notepad.
As well as interesting times, these are exciting times.
Necessity will make a good taskmaster. Crisis will make a good editor. Having finite resources will make us infinitely more creative with how we use them going forward.
Yup, interesting times.
And if consumers will have to change how they consume, and if business will have to change how they do business, then so will Government have to change how they govern.
Our system of having a four-year government for 100-year problems means tough decisions are rarely made. A manifesto designed to win votes isn’t the same as a manifesto designed to do what needs to be done for the safety of future generations.
And how we have treated this planet in the past will have to be different to how we treat it in the future. A tree helps produce oxygen, rain and sucks in carbon dioxide. Yet we only put a value to it once we cut it down. At the very same time as when it stops producing rain, when it stops producing oxygen and stops sucking in carbon dioxide.
Indeed these are interesting times.
We have to fill in a 3-page form to start an account with Fed Ex. Yet a badly run bank has to only fill in a 2-page form to get billions from the Government to shore up their bank.
Interesting times, indeed.
But rather than being a time to be down or despondent, this is the time for great change. And yes, there is much that needs changing. There is much to do.
But reassuringly the human mind is more creative than any computer will ever be. The answers will come from the brightest, stubborn-nest, and oddest of people.
And the thing that brings this oddball bunch together is that they are all stubborn dreamers. Brilliant enough to have the idea. Stubborn enough to make it happen.
Buckminster Fuller described the importance of vision best when he said, “ There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it’s going to be a butterfly”. But as well as the vision, you need that grit determination to make your idea live.
That is what The Do Lectures is here to Do. It is a platform for the Doers of the world to tell us their stories. So they can inspire the rest of us to go do something amazing too. In simple farming terms, it is just manure for the field. It is here to help grow ideas.
The Do Lectures is not a business, but it has to pay its way in the world. Appropriately a set of talks with sustainability at its heart needs to be, well, yes, sustainable.
To that end, we sell tickets for the event so the rest of the world can see them the talks for free. Our aim this year is for a million people to see the talks. To me, that is a lot of ‘mind manure’ being spread around the world.
So does the Do Lectures matter? I believe they do. And maybe they matter more in these interesting times than any other time.
I believe that ‘mind manure’ sure needs spreading around.
So my last question today is would you become a member of The Do Lectures?
Memberships costs £50. You will receive 4 newsletters a year. Have the inside track on choosing speakers and be able to make suggestions too. Have first refusal on future tickets. Receive a Do Lectures 2009 T-shirt that has a chance of coming with a golden ticket to this years Do lectures.
But the biggest thing of all is just to feel part of it. To feel like you are doing something to make this happen. To become a doer too.
So if this is crowd funding in its truest form, we need the crowd to put their hands up and say ‘I’m in.’ ‘I think The Do Lectures matter. Here’s my £50.’
A simple email to Claire@thedolectures.co.uk will be enough to start this off
Climate, Do Lectures, TYF, Wales, action, activism, change, food, sustainability Tuesday, July 21, 2009 at 11:42PM This December's COP15 talks are billed by many as one of the most, if not the most, important event in modern history as leaders from the world's countries discuss, argue, evade lobbyists and activitists, listen to economists and finally make the decisions that will determine the world's carbon descent pathway for the next decade and more.
Tens of thousands of people will be travelling to Copenhagen to make their voices heard, share stories and make a small mark of change in a critically important moment.
Today, I came across a wonderful website via the Not Stupid team, through which house-space is offered near Copehagen by families who want to provide accommodation for those committed to making a differerence. Genius in its simplicity: http://www.newlifecopenhagen.com/
Book your train tickets now
Copenhagen, action, activism, collaboration, difference Sunday, July 19, 2009 at 10:07PM This lovely paragraph was written by Kaos Pilot adviser Hanne Vibeke-Holst and forwarded to me by Do Collective colleague Em Metcalf. Kaos Pilots were founded and run by Uffe Elbæk and have developed into an outstanding education intiative to develop skills for real change. Uffe is joining us in Cardigan for the Do Lectures to share his story with us, and around a million others over the next year. Here are Hanne's words
You can see them in your mind’s eye; the young, bright-eyed pilots, who take off – the one after the other – in order to carry out their mission. They fly through the night, crossing borders and territories, filled with the courage and will powerthat comes from knowing that what they are doing is right. Undaunted, they plough through the clouds; without fear, they dodge enemy fire; without hesitation, they continue towards their goal like the true heroes of history, who know that the future is what you dream of today. They know that someone must undertake to navigate through chaos, that someone must dare to loose their foothold for a shortwhile, that someone must fly through the clouds to get a bird’s-eyeview of the world, in order not to sink into earth-bound resignation.They know that without daring and ambition, it will never be possible to find new solutions to old problems. Risky flights are needed to turn chaos into order – and order into chaos, when necessary. And I, where am I in all this, as I am not the one sitting with my hand on the control column in the small, exposed cockpit? I sit in the Tower, like a flying instructor who makes sure that the young pilots take off successfully. I give directions; I study the sun and the stars. I incite and I ground. I am there, a voice in the ear, when the aircraft nose dives and an emergency landing is the only possibility left; but I am also there when the wheels hit the runway, and yet another victory can be celebrated. I am there with my cool head and my warm heart. Because I cannot imagine a more meaningful place to be, now that darkness threatens to swallow us up, no matter where on this Earth we live.
Do Lectures, Kaos Pilots, activism, change Thursday, May 7, 2009 at 9:10PM Yesterday saw the first of three Welsh Assembly Government Community Climate Change events with a good starter in Llangollen's International Pavilion. Chaired by Steve Harris from Science Shops, with contributions from me on Million Minds, Doversity and biomimicry, Ken Peattie on his research into social change and digital communications and Rachel Nunn from Carbon Neutral Stirlingshire Project on the excellent progress that she and colleague made from a front-room project to a fully funded 20 year journey to 89% CO2 rediction.
The key to progress for us was the launch of the Do Connect - the project to map out the complex, connected actions that need to happen in the next three years to lay down the routemap for carbon reduction and sustainability. Emma Metcalf and Emma-Louise Hardman ran the workshop session which resulted in 100 action suggestions which will be built on at the next two events in 10 days' time.
Tick tock. 500 days to make the plan. 6 events in the next three weeks to get it populated. Join us.
