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Somebody has to do something, it is just incredibly pathetic it has to be us. (Gerry Garcia)

In the good society, we have the courage to face the big ‘sticky’ questions, and are not an ostriches stinking our heads in the sand. This requires unprecedented leadership independent of vested interests arguing to maintain the status quo. People in the good society direct their policy-makers to think and plan strategically around critical issues of the day.

What is the possibility of achieving a 2-degree future now? What are the global impacts of continuing low-income industrialization in India and China. India's GDP per capita is presently 1/3 that of China, with a huge scope for very high growth rates. This has fundamental implications for mitigation and adaptation analysis and policy, globally and for all nations. Most likely, we will see a 4-degree future. What are the ramifications for human society?

Did you know that 97% of homes in Copenhagen have district heating? Listen to architect Bjarke Ingels talk about the design challenge, how to build units sustainability with architectural alchemy and public participation, create spontaneous social encounters, and a public service market place. How do we take the symbol of the problem and turn it into fun--a CO² smoke ring? How does a power plant in Copenhagen include a park and a man-made mountain for skiing?

Fuel exports and GDP, what does this graph mean for Canada’s future vitality, especially given scenarios of peak oil and our dependence upon non-renewable resources? With our economic well-being so tied to the export of fuel, and the increasing world-wide demand of newly industrialized countries (NICs), such as China and India, what does this mean for our own energy security, and sovereignty, especially given the increasing investment by China in the Alberta Tar Sands? And yet, this country’s economy is so very reliant on natural resources; a good society asks, 'at what cost?'

Some interesting numbers concerning human settlement patterns in the next decades—the surprising math of cities and corporations. There is an extraordinary simplicity in life and an economy of scale. All of life is controlled by networks, and apply universal principles. Do all of the constraints follow?  Is this true for cities and companies?

I am delighted to finally announce the launch of the vitality tool, Vt. It has taken almost a year and a half to develop this tool, and we deliberatively designed it to make you think about the meaning of vitality for your own community. You can also add to the six proxy indicators that we identified from our discussion papers that best typify.

We recently produced this video, a vision for 2015 for sustainable community development. I deliberatively chose 2015 because I believe we have enough information, enough science to act now to achieve this dream, what is needed is political will. Just imagine if we had a Federal Government that had the courage to implement a policy of virtually zero waste in the private and public sectors by 2015. How much innovation would that spark in our industrial leaders?