Empowerment on an Unstable Planet

Carl Taylor, Daniel Taylor, Jesse Taylor

November 22, 2011

Introduction

Key Points:

• Since World War II development projects have invested 2.3 trillion dollars and as a result 5 billion lives have been improved yet 2 billion people have been excluded.
• The current development systems are working at only 2/3 capacity and have been paired with planetary destruction and human destruction.
• Today terror can appear anywhere and epidemics like swine and bird flu show the world just how interconnected we are.  Currently though, the responses of isolation and conferences are inadequate.
• This book is about solutions.  A process that advances all. (innovation?)
•  Human energy rather than money is the true currency of social change.  (pg. 10) (innovation?)
•   Human energy is a product of human hands, hearts and minds ; combustion of calories (pg . 13)
•   Social change happens because of what people do.
•  Mobilization of human energies occur community by community (process)
• Community action has the potential to scale up to global solutions (innovation?
• Growth through people teaching each other, people holding each other accountable, people acting daily in adaptive decisions to respond to opportunities (process)
• Social change can begin anywhere at any time.  Social change operates in the complex intersection of economics, human social relations and natural ecology (pg. 19) (process)
• Gandhi demonstrated the power of human energy to achieve freedom.  Economic opportunities, political liberties, social powers, good health, basic education, cultivation of initiative and protective security.
• Using their energies people can overthrow their burdens and obtain freedom without consuming or selling off their scarce resources working in partnership with their governments and the experts they can access, building on what they already have (innovation?)
• What is needed is a process of community strengthening through which individuals are supported (innovation?)
•  Definition of community:  A group with something in common and potential to act together.  3-Way partnership with government, and outside in partners.  Large enough to resist exploitation and small enough that each individual has a voice in shaping impact for themselves. Can extend across geographic locations.
•  SEED-SCALE is premised on communities taking action alone.  This is how it differs from “grassroots” or bottom-up approaches.  It is a more comprehensive theory of change than a methodology.  A means to structure and channel individual actions toward context-specific solutions.  Has the same set of functions but applications will all differ.  Helps communities, governments and social-change agents (NGO, academicians) adapt the ever-changing circumstances of our unstable planet.  One is never completely powerless; there is always something to be done.  SEED-SCALE is not a formula to be followed but a mindset with which to bring forward energy that is ready to grow (pg. 21). Field work in over 70 countries (pg. 20).
• SEED-Self-Evaluation of effective decision making. Means by which each individual and each community identifies the next effective action in the midst of changing circumstances.
•  SCALE ONE- Stimulating community awareness, learning and energy.  Evolves within policies, finances and knowledge.
•  SCALE SQUARED-Self-help centers for action learning and experimentation. Evolves within policies, finances and knowledge.
•  SCALE CUBED-Synthesis of collaboration , adaptive learning and extension.
•   Progress – The ability to learn, to adapt and to innovate

Discussion Notes:

·       SEED-SCALE is very relevant to the restructuring process we are undergoing now.

·       This is a game changer

·       Communities acting with what they have .

·       Individual minds and energies are part of the network as per the Johnson book.

·       The 2 billion people who are unreached may not have been empowered.

·       Quote: “I am feeling empowered using my gifts and blossoming in this new structure; thinking and acting outside the box ” Super Collider Club Member.

Next Steps:

·       We need to set systems to document how we are applying SEED-SCALE within.  The first step is developing a baseline questionnaire for our global partners.  Led by Pat and Becky

·       Set up the Super Collider Blog

·       We will need to find ways to answer the following questions:

1.     Question:  What does it mean when we have collective action and it is the individuals who are supported?

2.     Question: How does our network interpret human energy?  We should circulate this question to partners, students and alumni.

3.     Question:  How will we get more of the team members to feel more comfortable in a system with less structure?

4.     Question:  How do we support the individual by mentoring them?