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You may be interested in an upcoming e-Dialogue this coming Thursday, October 27th, on What is the Meaning of Progress and Growth in the 21th century? This is a critical question that all communities are facing in conversations around the meaning of the good society. This real time on-line dialogue is the first in the series of Robert Bateman Conversations, a forum for provocative dialogue and idea sharing around critical questions of the day.

How do we develop systems of governance, education and health that connect, not disconnect us from what is important to our humanity, that bridge the divided selves we have become as a result of the solitudes, silos and stovepipes of our current institutions. The most critical solitude to blow away is the artificial separation between reason and emotion. This video, which talks about a new revolution in consciousness, discusses the new humanism based on three principles: 1.

Often late at night, interesting what the dark brings, I wonder about the meaning of life and what is progress?  I just read an interesting history of the drone program by Professor Derek Gregory at UBC, and his critique of the legal and ethical issues with the U.S. assertion it has the right to deploy drones anywhere in the world.

We will be publishing a case story shortly on youth entrepreneurship and micro-credit. In that case, it talks about a lack in the school system about encouraging entreprenurial choices for young people. Equally, I wonder why business schools across Canada do not talk about co-operatives as a viable business model. A few facts.

We are currently in election mode here in Ontario, and taxes have raised their ugly head again, at the expense of any meaningful discussion about policy and vision on the part of the leaders. Personal attacks tied to taxes are going to be the death of infrastructure and democracy in the long run. Mark Kingwell has spoken eloquently about the loss of civility among elected leaders.

Over the summer, while swimming and gardening taking a much needed vacation, I began to think about what I would like to discuss over this year, and I thought about the meaning of the good society (Bellah, 1991). Etzionni (2000) has written ". . .compatible with the vision of a good society is that the best way to change the direction of a society is to have "megalogues" about the substnace of members' values and the intensity of their commitments to the values they affirm.

My research team just spent three days at a three-day workshop in Kingsburgh, Nova Scotia, a beautiful piece of this country with both lakes and the ocean, staying with dear friends who rent small houses by the sea. We were working on the community vitality tool and the website, which we hope to launch in September.

I got up very early this morning, around 5:00 a.m. and have been watching the light come up through the trees, the blue of the sky begins to emerge, looks like it will be a beautiful day here at the lake. Having the privilege of living by a lake in a forest, makes me pause for reflection, makes me slow down in ways that I can't in a city. How much we take for granted, until it is gone, and some things we cannot afford to take for granted, the worms, the pollinators that are so essential for life.

This is a brilliant example of both technical and social innovation, using waste products turned into toys for children. It is also a wonderful demonstration of using those same toys to teach some basic science. John Robinson and I have argued since 1995 that we have enough science, we know enough, we have enough information to act now for sustainable development. Imagine if we could also design and redesign with such elegant simplicity as the toys in this video.