All Blog Posts Tagged 'energy-power' - InnovatingSMART2024-03-19T13:39:55Zhttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profiles/blog/feed?tag=energy-power&xn_auth=noTo Local Business: A Love Lettertag:www.innovatingsmart.org,2020-05-28:5294332:BlogPost:527202020-05-28T19:00:00.000ZSue Lebeckhttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/SueLebeck
<p>On this cusp, in these moments as we peek out to play, I serenade the local businesses which, daily, make my day. </p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/5428360088?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/5428360088?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="250"></img></a></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong><br></br> TO LOCAL, WITH LOVE<br></br> <br></br></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">All the things I miss most don't come in a box. <br></br> These make me more human, more well and less lost:…</p>
<p>On this cusp, in these moments as we peek out to play, I serenade the local businesses which, daily, make my day. </p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/5428360088?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/5428360088?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="250"/></a></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong><br/> TO LOCAL, WITH LOVE<br/> <br/></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">All the things I miss most don't come in a box. <br/> These make me more human, more well and less lost:</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">A spin at the gym, a pint at the pub. <br/> Chats with a houseless reader to learn what he loves.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Daily markets, nightly music and restaurants all please. <br/> Galleries of arts, libations and curations, too, feed.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><br/> Pop-up servings of song, conversation, feasts for the eyes. <br/>Maybe a new dish or cuisine, or some other surprise.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Faithful communities of ideas, prayer and dance. <br/> Circular economies of books, clothing and chance.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Local centers for health, security, learning. <br/> Playgrounds and performance - for these I am yearning.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><br/> My ghosted town shocked my senses, the result of what’s best <br/> As we flatten the curve of a most complex guest.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">As essential workers work overtime and families struggle in place, <br/> As those ill strain to breathe, let’s take care when we meet face to face:</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Let’s see the chains that supply us, kiss the ground we stand on. <br/> Let’s still save tons of fugitive carbon. All this wisdom - hard-won!</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><br/> For in vibrant communities, wellness is served on a platter. <br/> Food for the body-mind-heart, room for expression, what matters.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">So - as we come back to play within local timing and size, <br/> Let’s come recharged by our experience – with new insights, fresh eyes.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">To re-create community consciously - if from six feet apart -<br/> With more authentic masks, brighter eyes, cleaner hands and bigger hearts.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"></p>Dreams Come True on the Cool Blocktag:www.innovatingsmart.org,2017-03-28:5294332:BlogPost:489052017-03-28T20:18:54.000ZSue Lebeckhttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/SueLebeck
<p>Ten years ago, a Big Idea constellated in the mind of pro-social behavior change researcher and innovator David Gershon, CEO of the Empowerment Institute. The idea was to operationalize the modest goal of keeping the planet viable into the long-term future and improving the quality of life for humanity at the same time.</p>
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<p>For the full post,…</p>
<p>Ten years ago, a Big Idea constellated in the mind of pro-social behavior change researcher and innovator David Gershon, CEO of the Empowerment Institute. The idea was to operationalize the modest goal of keeping the planet viable into the long-term future and improving the quality of life for humanity at the same time.</p>
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<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2311746529?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="350" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2311746529?profile=RESIZE_480x480"/></a></p>
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<p>For the full post, see article published at CityMinded.org in October 2016: <br/> <a href="http://Ten%20years%20ago,%20a%20Big%20Idea%20constellated%20in%20the%20mind%20of%20pro-social%20behavior%20change%20researcher%20and%20innovator%20David%20Gershon,%20CEO%20of%20the%20Empowerment%20Institute.%20The%20idea%20was%20to%20operationalize%20the%20modest%20goal%20of%20keeping%20the%20planet%20viable%20into%20the%20long-term%20future%20and%20improving%20the%20quality%20of%20life%20for%20humanity%20at%20the%20same%20time." target="_blank">Dreams Come True on the Cool Block</a></p>Rich Toolkits for Tomorrow's Civic Innovatorstag:www.innovatingsmart.org,2017-03-28:5294332:BlogPost:486052017-03-28T20:17:42.000ZSue Lebeckhttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/SueLebeck
<p>As enthusiastic hackathon teams gathered in Richmond, California for the second annual Meeting of the Minds (MotM) Civic Hackathon in mid-October (<a href="http://cityminded.org/meeting-of-the-minds-2015-hackathon-recap-14371">find the story here</a>), the energy and creativity levels were high. “I’m very impressed at the creative applications that were directly relevant to the city of Richmond’s needs,” observed MotM Executive Director <a href="http://cityminded.org/about/directors">Jessie…</a></p>
<p>As enthusiastic hackathon teams gathered in Richmond, California for the second annual Meeting of the Minds (MotM) Civic Hackathon in mid-October (<a href="http://cityminded.org/meeting-of-the-minds-2015-hackathon-recap-14371">find the story here</a>), the energy and creativity levels were high. “I’m very impressed at the creative applications that were directly relevant to the city of Richmond’s needs,” observed MotM Executive Director <a href="http://cityminded.org/about/directors">Jessie Hahn</a> as the hackathon wrapped up.</p>
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<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2311746529?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="350" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2311746529?profile=RESIZE_480x480"/></a></p>
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<p>For the full post, see article published at CityMinded.org in January 2016: <br/> <a href="http://cityminded.org/stepping-up-rich-tool-kits-for-tomorrows-civic-innovators-14642" target="_blank">Stepping Up: Rich Toolkits for Tomorrow's Civic Innovators</a></p>Three Mantras to Guide You to 2050tag:www.innovatingsmart.org,2017-03-28:5294332:BlogPost:486032017-03-28T20:16:10.000ZSue Lebeckhttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/SueLebeck
<p>This post is written in response to the Meeting of the Minds October 6th group blogging event, <a href="http://cityminded.org/cal/dear-2015/">“Dear 2015</a>”, which asks, “The year is 2050. Write a letter to the people of 2015 describing what your city is like, and give them advice on the next 35 years.”</p>
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<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2311746529?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2311746529?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="350"></img></a></p>
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<p>Published at CityMinded.org in October…</p>
<p>This post is written in response to the Meeting of the Minds October 6th group blogging event, <a href="http://cityminded.org/cal/dear-2015/">“Dear 2015</a>”, which asks, “The year is 2050. Write a letter to the people of 2015 describing what your city is like, and give them advice on the next 35 years.”</p>
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<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2311746529?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="350" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2311746529?profile=RESIZE_480x480"/></a></p>
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<p>Published at CityMinded.org in October 2015: <br/> <a href="http://cityminded.org/3-mantras-to-guide-you-to-2050-14126" target="_blank">Three Mantras to Guide You to 2050</a></p>New Years and New Babiestag:www.innovatingsmart.org,2015-01-07:5294332:BlogPost:461022015-01-07T01:30:00.000ZSue Lebeckhttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/SueLebeck
<p>Happy New Year 2015! </p>
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<p>At InnovatingSMART, we are greeting the New Year with excitement as we continue the creative journeys we embarked upon this last year. Indeed -- 2014 was a year for new babies in the InnovatingSMART team!<br></br> <br></br> For Editor Nathaniel Gloekler, this development was quite literal, as he is now the father of a beautiful almost-one-year-old baby boy. Contemplating this most potent of transitions, Nathaniel shared his meditative musings on Birthing…</p>
<p>Happy New Year 2015! </p>
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<p>At InnovatingSMART, we are greeting the New Year with excitement as we continue the creative journeys we embarked upon this last year. Indeed -- 2014 was a year for new babies in the InnovatingSMART team!<br/> <br/> For Editor Nathaniel Gloekler, this development was quite literal, as he is now the father of a beautiful almost-one-year-old baby boy. Contemplating this most potent of transitions, Nathaniel shared his meditative musings on Birthing Babies with me at the seven-month mark of Fatherhood. Thank you Nathaniel! May the loving awe you bring to your journey stay with you. You will be a wonderful dad!</p>
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<p>Meanwhile, encouraged by my own grown daug<a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545193502?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="300" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545193502?profile=RESIZE_320x320"/></a>hter, I have birthed a baby too -- if figuratively -- this year. My baby is not a human, but a human mission, embodied in the exquisitely alive realm of cities. <br/> <br/> My interests in SMART innovation, inspired and fed by you, <a href="http://www.greenbiz.com/users/sue-lebeck" target="_blank">led me to explore the emerging field of “smart cities”</a>. This exploration, in turn, <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/profiles/blogs/from-innovatingsmart-to-city-protocol-task-force" target="_blank">led m</a><a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/profiles/blogs/from-innovatingsmart-to-city-protocol-task-force" target="_blank">e to the role of my dreams</a>. <br/> <br/> As of July 1<sup>st</sup>, I am privileged and pleased to be the international Chair of the <a href="http://www.cptf.cityprotocol.org/" target="_blank">City Protocol Task Force (CPTF).</a> Hosted by the City Protocol Society, my work with the CPTF will allow me – and you! -- to help shape and create the <a href="http://cityminded.org/first-city-protocol-agreement-let-us-know-think-12197" target="_blank">Internet of Cities</a>. <br/> <br/> Please join us! Just go to <a href="http://www.cptf.cityprotocol.org">www.cptf.cityprotocol.org</a>, and click on "Register".</p>
<p><br/> Finally, here is this year's green business review — in haiku. Enjoy these <a href="http://www.greenbiz.com/article/smart-cities-2014-year-review-haiku" target="_blank">Smart City Haiku</a>! Your stories will continue to live on these pages.<br/> <br/> Cheers to SMART innovation for the centuries ahead!<br/><br/> Warmly,<br/> Sue</p>
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<p></p>City Protocol sets foundation to create an Interoperable City Platformtag:www.innovatingsmart.org,2014-07-23:5294332:BlogPost:459032014-07-23T21:42:39.000ZSue Lebeckhttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/SueLebeck
<p>For more on City Protocol, check out my blog post at Meeting of the Minds, <a href="http://cityminded.org/city-protocols-anatomy-sets-foundation-interoperable-city-platform-11350" target="_blank">here</a>! You will learn about our first deliverable, City Anatomy, and find out a little about what's on deck.</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
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<p>For more on City Protocol, check out my blog post at Meeting of the Minds, <a href="http://cityminded.org/city-protocols-anatomy-sets-foundation-interoperable-city-platform-11350" target="_blank">here</a>! You will learn about our first deliverable, City Anatomy, and find out a little about what's on deck.</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p></p>My journey to: City Protocol Task Forcetag:www.innovatingsmart.org,2014-07-23:5294332:BlogPost:456452014-07-23T20:00:00.000ZSue Lebeckhttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/SueLebeck
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">I am writing today to THANK YOU each for <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/SueLebeck" target="_blank">joining me in the InnovatingSMART adventure</a></span>, and to announce where it has taken me personally and professionally. …</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">I am writing today to THANK YOU each for <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/SueLebeck" target="_blank">joining me in the InnovatingSMART adventure</a></span>, and to announce where it has taken me personally and professionally. </span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Let there be no mistake -- I would not have arrived here were it not for YOU.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">InnovatingSMART has given me a platform to pursue my professional interests, and to be near what I love. It has also given me an opportunity to discover more clearly what I think and what I have to offer next. There is nothing like having allies and an audience to help you articulate your visions and discoveries more clearly to yourself.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">InnovatingSMART allowed me to request press passes to conferences of great interest over the last several years, including all of the GreenBiz conferences that have been held in San Francisco. This led ultimately to my becoming a <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://www.greenbiz.com/users/sue-lebeck" target="_blank">contributor to the GreenBiz news platform</a></span>. GreenBiz.com is filled with fascinating stories about SMART innovators, and my knowledge and interests were further refined by reading and writing for that platform.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Over time, my interest in all-things-smart became a particular interest in Smart Cities. Feeding that interest first is the <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/profiles/blogs/cool-community-engagement-with-cool-city-challenge" target="_blank"><font face="Calibri" size="3">Cool City Challenge</font></a>, a social innovation initiative that seeks to take low-carbon and resilient living to scale within cities, block by block. </span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Colleagues had turned me on to a similar concept -- in a creative circle hosted by <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/showcase-of-solutions-for-planetary-sustainability" target="_blank">Sustainable Silicon Valley</a> -- which we came to call <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://sustainablesv.org/ecocloud/index.php/solutions/view/222" target="_blank">Mission: Resiliency</a></span>. When I discovered that the <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://www.coolcitychallenge.org" target="_blank">Cool City Challenge</a></span> was implementing that idea and more, I began assisting them in their formative efforts, e.g., by mapping their social innovation program to a set of software specifications.<br/> <br/> Inspired by the potential of city-centered innovation, I began researching the many and varied dimensions of the Smart City concept. Over a few months I developed a series of six GreenBiz articles on the topic of <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://www.greenbiz.com/users/sue-lebeck" target="_blank">standards for Smart Cities</a></span>.<br/></span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545197133?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="300" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545197133?profile=RESIZE_320x320"/></a></span></span></span>Early in this process, one of my research sources sent me materials which mentioned the <a href="http://www.cityprotocol.org/" target="_blank"></a><span style="color: #000000;"><a href="http://www.cityprotocol.org/" target="_blank">City Protocol Society</a>,</span> an organization founded by leading smart cities and businesses, and centered in Barcelona. While developing the questions I wished to ask them, I discovered they had an unfilled position for an international Chair of the <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://www.cptf.cityprotocol.org" target="_blank"></a></span><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://www.cptf.cityprotocol.org" target="_blank">City Protocol Task Force (CPTF).</a></span></span> I am privileged and pleased to have taken up that role. I began my service on July 1<sup>st</sup>.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">What is the CPTF? You may have heard of the</span> <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://www.ietf.org/" target="_blank"></a></span></span><span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://www.ietf.org/" target="_blank">IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force),</a></span> </span><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">which defined many of the Internet standards you use today. (Turns out I was involved indirectly with the IETF, and directly with many other protocol standardization processes, during an earlier career.) Think of the CPTF as being like the IETF for Cities. </span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">The CPTF seeks to define a common systems view for cities, and then round up or write the protocols that will help SMART innovators develop and SMART cities deploy common solutions that can work across many different cities – building up the market for the innovative solutions, and bringing down the prices for cities. For more about City Protocol and CPTF, check out my recent <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://cityminded.org/city-protocols-anatomy-sets-foundation-interoperable-city-platform-11350" target="_blank">blog post at CityMinded.org</a></span>.<br/> <br/> I love this work! </span> <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"><br/> <br/></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">If there are lessons from my InnovatingSMART experience that I wish to share with you now, they are these…<br/></span> <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"><br/></span> <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">First Lesson -<br/> Always follow your curiosity and continually research things you are interested in. If you can, write, make videos or make art about it. Then share it. The Internet provides powerful, flexible, relatively simple ways to do that. While researching, be sure to talk to others interested in your topic, and ask them for stories, opinions, quotes and pointers. They will help you find things you never would have found without them.<br/></span> <span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"><br/></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Second lesson -<br/> (echoed by pretty much every SMART innovator we’ve collectively asked):<br/> Be patient. Take care of your financial needs in whatever ways you can, but always be feeding your dreams. The journey itself will be a pleasure. And who knows? it may lead you to something cooler than you’d imagined.<br/> <br/></span> <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Third lesson -<br/> Be not afraid. The CPTF Chair position has a three-year term. After that? I can imagine but I cannot know. The position itself will take me to the next leg of this journey.</span></p>
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<p>p.s. F<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">rom time to time I will be contributing articles on City Protocol to the green business press, via <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://www.greenbiz.com/users/sue-lebeck" target="_blank">my blog at GreenBiz</a></span>. Please watch for news there. You can</span> <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://www.greenbiz.com/enewsletter/signup" target="_blank"></a></span></span><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"><a href="http://www.greenbiz.com/enewsletter/signup" target="_blank">sign up</a></span></span></span> <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">to have newsletters sent directly to your inbox (my articles are typically included in the VERGE newsletter, as well as the daily GREENBUZZ). Thank you!!</span></p>Giving Thankstag:www.innovatingsmart.org,2013-11-19:5294332:BlogPost:437632013-11-19T06:00:00.000ZSue Lebeckhttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/SueLebeck
<p>InnovatingSMART has sent me on a journey. From <a href="http://innovatingsmart.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=eef87f3b2ef642e6833d35b71&id=82e729e596&e=7d5240b9d1" style="color: #3399cc; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">high-performance materials</a> and…</p>
<p>InnovatingSMART has sent me on a journey. From <a style="color: #3399cc; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://innovatingsmart.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=eef87f3b2ef642e6833d35b71&id=82e729e596&e=7d5240b9d1" target="_blank">high-performance materials</a> and <a style="color: #3399cc; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://innovatingsmart.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=eef87f3b2ef642e6833d35b71&id=cb3cf7d3e6&e=7d5240b9d1" target="_blank">high-impact business structures</a> to <a style="color: #3399cc; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://innovatingsmart.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=eef87f3b2ef642e6833d35b71&id=3797e203b7&e=7d5240b9d1" target="_blank">smart asset management systems</a> and <a style="color: #3399cc; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://innovatingsmart.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=eef87f3b2ef642e6833d35b71&id=d0b615d4b2&e=7d5240b9d1" target="_blank">smart grids</a>, InnovatingSMART has been a channel for connecting me with fascinating folks doing <a style="color: #3399cc; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://innovatingsmart.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=eef87f3b2ef642e6833d35b71&id=f8bd87f481&e=7d5240b9d1" target="_blank">SMART innovation</a>. What better way to go deep into a broad field than to sit down with the SMART pioneers and practitioners?<br/><br/>My love of all things SMART has fed my appreciation of information-technology infused infrastructural systems. From <a style="color: #3399cc; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://innovatingsmart.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=eef87f3b2ef642e6833d35b71&id=b7fa5206f7&e=7d5240b9d1" target="_blank">smart buildings</a> and <a style="color: #3399cc; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://innovatingsmart.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=eef87f3b2ef642e6833d35b71&id=e8f310fb03&e=7d5240b9d1" target="_blank">smart cities</a> to <a style="color: #3399cc; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://innovatingsmart.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=eef87f3b2ef642e6833d35b71&id=64dc479e24&e=7d5240b9d1" target="_blank">collaborative transportation</a> and <a style="color: #3399cc; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://innovatingsmart.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=eef87f3b2ef642e6833d35b71&id=7417377f51&e=7d5240b9d1" target="_blank">collaborative carbon reduction movements</a>, data-rich software systems are playing a central role in realizing the efficient systems of the future. A computer scientist and innovation management specialist, I have moved from merely observing SMART innovation afoot to directly participating myself.<br/><br/>The <a style="color: #3399cc; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://innovatingsmart.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=eef87f3b2ef642e6833d35b71&id=1762382e6d&e=7d5240b9d1" target="_blank">Cool City Challenge</a> is my current participation focus. There I am providing technological direction and refining the user requirements of the software systems that will support this timely and mission-critical social innovation.<br/><br/>My practice of observation continues with GreenBiz which has invited me to become a monthly contributor to their own daily stories-of-sustainability practice. My writings will continue to explore the interfaces which open our systems to widespread SMART innovation. Check out <a style="color: #3399cc; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://innovatingsmart.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=eef87f3b2ef642e6833d35b71&id=1842cc6b27&e=7d5240b9d1" target="_blank">my first article</a> and <a style="color: #3399cc; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://innovatingsmart.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=eef87f3b2ef642e6833d35b71&id=092cda621d&e=7d5240b9d1" target="_blank">watch for more</a> over the next weeks and months.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545203498?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="240" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545203498?profile=original"/></a>I am grateful for InnovatingSMART and give thanks to both the <a style="color: #3399cc; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://innovatingsmart.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=eef87f3b2ef642e6833d35b71&id=8cae5fbf40&e=7d5240b9d1" target="_blank">creative team</a> that helped me build it as well as to <a style="color: #3399cc; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://innovatingsmart.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=eef87f3b2ef642e6833d35b71&id=b7dd14e477&e=7d5240b9d1" target="_blank">InnovatingSMART editor Nathaniel Gloekler</a>, who graciously and beautifully supports me on the production side. We will continue to bring you InnovatingSMART in 2014 on a quarterly and occasional basis.<br/><br/>Most of all, I am grateful to you <a style="color: #3399cc; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://innovatingsmart.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=eef87f3b2ef642e6833d35b71&id=3f9c13f274&e=7d5240b9d1" target="_blank">SMART innovators</a>! Have a sustaining and delightful Thanksgiving, and a merry winter holiday season from all of us at InnovatingSMART. See you in the spring!</p>
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<p><a style="color: #3399cc; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://innovatingsmart.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=eef87f3b2ef642e6833d35b71&id=84643c52fd&e=7d5240b9d1"></a><a style="color: #3399cc; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://innovatingsmart.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=eef87f3b2ef642e6833d35b71&id=1e16f50aaa&e=7d5240b9d1" target="_self"><span style="font-size: 9px;">photo by woodleywonderworks</span></a></p>Making Change Together with the Cool City Challengetag:www.innovatingsmart.org,2013-09-10:5294332:BlogPost:425182013-09-10T01:30:00.000ZSue Lebeckhttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/SueLebeck
<p>At this morning’s EPA webinar (part of a <a href="http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/ecocomm.nsf/climate+change/sustainableconsumptionwebinars" target="_blank">dynamite series</a> by <a href="http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/ECOCOMM.NSF/climate+change/wccmmf" target="_blank">EPA's</a> West Coast Climate and Materials Management Forum), <a href="http://yosemite.epa.gov/r10/ECOCOMM.NSF/Climate+Change/driving_change_webinar_2013" target="_blank">Annie Leonard</a> shared what she has learned on her journey…</p>
<p>At this morning’s EPA webinar (part of a <a href="http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/ecocomm.nsf/climate+change/sustainableconsumptionwebinars" target="_blank">dynamite series</a> by <a href="http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/ECOCOMM.NSF/climate+change/wccmmf" target="_blank">EPA's</a> West Coast Climate and Materials Management Forum), <a href="http://yosemite.epa.gov/r10/ECOCOMM.NSF/Climate+Change/driving_change_webinar_2013" target="_blank">Annie Leonard</a> shared what she has learned on her journey with the now famous <a href="http://www.storyofstuff.org" target="_blank">Story of Stuff</a>. “Information is a poor predictor of behavior change”, says Annie, pointing to loads of studies. The real barriers to behavior change are structural, economic and legal. They are also cultural, and – what Annie cites as the biggest barrier of all – “We are losing our <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/profiles/blogs/from-consumers-to-citizens" target="_blank">citizen muscle</a>. We’ve lost our ability to make change.”</p>
<div><p>Enter the <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/cool-city-challenge-scaling-the-low-carbon-diet" target="_blank">Cool City Challenge</a> - a new initiative about making cultural change, and building citizen muscle around the themes of low carbon lifestyles, resiliency, fun! and more. Best of all, once our muscles are rebuilt, we can take our collective "demand" and apply encouragement (where deserved) and pressure (where needed) to evolve the "supply" structures, economics and laws that drive our (needs-to-be) Green Economy.<br/> <br/> So what is the Cool City Challenge?<br/> <br/> I discovered this unique SMART innovation as part of the <a href="http://sustainablesv.org/ecocloud/index.php/showcase-of-solutions-for-planetary-sustainability/finalists/finalists-list" target="_blank">NASA/SSV Showcase of Solutions for Planetary Sustainability</a> back in May. Several colleagues and I submitted a like-minded idea, having hatched it in a sustainable design workshop hosted by SSV. Focused on building neighborhood resiliency in response to the warning cry of Superstorm Sandy, <a href="http://sustainablesv.org/ecocloud/index.php/solutions/view/222" target="_blank">Mission: Resiliency</a> took a game-full approach to building local collaboration muscle through targeted missions. How exciting for us when the <a href="http://sustainablesv.org/ecocloud/index.php/solutions/view/118" target="_blank">Cool City Challenge</a> won the "human impact" category in the Showcase. Here was an initiative designed, in its own way, to do what we visualized and more.<br/> <br/> <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545193125?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="326" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545193125?profile=RESIZE_480x480"/></a>In addition to creating <a href="http://www.empowermentinstitute.net/index.php/community/resilient-community" target="_blank">resilient neighborhoods</a>, the Cool City Challenge seeks to help households "<a href="http://www.empowermentinstitute.net/index.php/community/low-carbon-diet" target="_blank">achieve deep carbon reduction</a>, <a href="http://www.empowermentinstitute.net/index.php/community/green-living" target="_blank">catalyze demand driven green economic development</a>" and <a href="http://www.empowermentinstitute.net/index.php/community/livable-neighborhood" target="_blank">collaborate to create more "livable" cities, neighborhoods and blocks</a>. The CCC folks will be integrating their proven programs in these four areas, all created, developed and evolved by the <a href="http://www.empowermentinstitute.net" target="_blank">Empowerment Institute</a>, an organization devoted to social innovation.<br/> <br/> Based on specific actions, complete with stepwise recipes and linked to local resources, the Cool City Challenge initiative will engage its participants in a very direct way. Having tested out these programs "a mile wide and an inch deep" in 300 cities in 8 different countries, the Empowerment Institute has now designed the CCC initiative for deep-dive implementation within a few early adopter cities, which can then become teaching cities to the nation and the world. Five Northern California cities have signed up to vie for the opportunity to become deep-dive early adopters - including San Francisco, Palo Alto, Davis, Sonoma and San Rafael.<br/> <br/> The Cool City Challenge exhibits all the qualities of "SMART", and I am personally committed to helping this effort succeed. It's "system-savvy", in that it links green economy "demand" with "supply" to activate a whole sustainable system. From participation levels to actions taken and more, its many dimensions will be measured, allowing it to be managed intelligently -- learning, responding and adapting to real-world findings. Beyond the first-order actions it catalyzes, the CCC will engage in regenerative second-order change. The change propagation methodology - centered in practices like shared visions, win/win strategies, and teaching peers -- is described in <a href="http://www.empowermentinstitute.net/index.php/about/about-david-gershon" target="_blank">CCC leader David Gershon's</a> book, <a href="http://www.empowermentinstitute.net/index.php/books" target="_blank">Social Change 2.0</a>. Finally, though based on proven programs and led by a preeminent social change leader, the CCC ultimately relies on and builds out trust in its participants and their neighbors. It is this trust -- the kind that is built through direct engagement with one another -- that is the coolest result of all.<br/> <br/> Stayed tuned for news as the <a href="http://www.coolcitychallenge.org" target="_blank">Cool City movement</a> takes shape and unfolds!</p>
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<p> </p>Incubating Naturetag:www.innovatingsmart.org,2013-07-16:5294332:BlogPost:379422013-07-16T20:30:00.000ZSue Lebeckhttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/SueLebeck
<p>Because nature has proven so successful in her engineering over the last 3.8 billion years, <a href="http://www.asknature.org/article/view/what_is_ask_nature" target="_blank">"asking nature"</a> and <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/biomimicry-s-ask-nature-service" target="_blank">mining her expertise</a> has become a smart tactic for innovative businesses. A critical part of that business innovation will be to sort out how to translate Nature's…</p>
<p>Because nature has proven so successful in her engineering over the last 3.8 billion years, <a href="http://www.asknature.org/article/view/what_is_ask_nature" target="_blank">"asking nature"</a> and <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/biomimicry-s-ask-nature-service" target="_blank">mining her expertise</a> has become a smart tactic for innovative businesses. A critical part of that business innovation will be to sort out how to translate Nature's skill and know-how into solutions to the myriad challenges and opportunities we face.<a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545195488?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="250" class="align-right" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545195488?profile=original"/></a><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545212035?profile=original" target="_self"></a></p>
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<p><a href="http://www.greenbiz.com/bio/tom-mckeag" target="_blank">Tom McKeag</a>, author of “The Biomimicry Column” at GreenBiz.com, explains <a href="http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2013/03/05/three-ways-bring-nature-inspired-ideas-market?page=full">the challenges of bringing biomimetic products to market</a>. Mother Nature does not typically provide us whole-cloth solutions, but instead “structure, process or system emulations that are embedded in everyday items.” It is left up to us to mimic those properties, apply them into meaningful products and solutions, and get them taken up into the market. Tom describes the challenge further: “Not only must we translate an idea into tangible material, but we must also abstract an alien worldview into the methods and materials we are familiar with.” **</p>
<p><br/> To that end, several incubation models have emerged in recent years, all aiming to nurture technologies which have thrived in Nature’s laboratories. Today’s <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/the-center-for-bioinspiration-at-the-san-diego-zoo" target="_blank">SMART innovation interview</a>, the last in a series of innovation stories from <a href="http://www.greenbiz.com/events/greenbiz-forum/2013/02/san-francisco" target="_blank">GreenBiz’ 2013 San Francisco Forum</a>, represents a new one to watch closely. In this model, corporations are invited to bring their industrial challenges to the [San Diego] zoo. There, in the first of a two-workshop process, biologists match animal and plant species’ natural adaptations to the functional requirements of the specific industrial challenge brought to bear. Once the biologists have gathered the myriad options, the engineers and designers get to work.</p>
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<p>Other Bio-incubators have started up in recent years, applying diverse models in their quest. <a href="http://www.startupnectar.com/" target="_blank">StartUpNectar</a>, for example, is a biomimicry incubator spawned by the <a href="http://www.bayareabiomimicry.org/">Bay Area Biomimicry Network</a>. Currently in Beta, StartUpNectar’s incubation service and organization is itself informed by the core biomimetic <a href="http://biomimicry.net/about/biomimicry/biomimicry-designlens/lifes-principles/" target="_blank">Principles of Life</a>. Meanwhile <a href="http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2013/06/04/growing-business-bio-inspired-design-empire-state" target="_blank">in NY State</a>, NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority) has "embraced biomimicry as one avenue to innovation", matching "clean tech companies with academics doing cutting edge research in natural systems and programs."</p>
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<p>As with all living systems, survival of the fittest (incubator) will certainly be at play in the years to come. But forgive us at InnovatingSMART for hoping they all succeed!</p>
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<p>** Follow Tom McKeag at GreenBiz for great stories at <a href="http://www.greenbiz.com/engage/featured-blogs/the-biomimicry-column" target="_blank">The Biomimicry Column</a>. For a deeper dive, check out the <a href="http://zqjournal.org/" target="_blank">Zygote Quarterly</a>, a gorgeous online publication which Tom co-edits.</p>
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<p></p>The Transportation Revolutiontag:www.innovatingsmart.org,2013-06-11:5294332:BlogPost:355712013-06-11T01:30:00.000ZSue Lebeckhttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/SueLebeck
<p>My husband and I are active participants in the now-familiar data-informed “sharing economy”-- a collection of cloud-based networks matching temporarily available assets with the people who need them now. Avid <a href="http://www.airbnb.com/">AirBnB</a> hosts, my former home office frequently holds vacationers and future San Franciscans as they discover The City. <a href="http://www.zipcar.com/">ZipCar</a> members now too, we let go of our rarely needed second car (a sexy 300ZX) with…</p>
<p>My husband and I are active participants in the now-familiar data-informed “sharing economy”-- a collection of cloud-based networks matching temporarily available assets with the people who need them now. Avid <a href="http://www.airbnb.com/">AirBnB</a> hosts, my former home office frequently holds vacationers and future San Franciscans as they discover The City. <a href="http://www.zipcar.com/">ZipCar</a> members now too, we let go of our rarely needed second car (a sexy 300ZX) with confidence (if a touch of wistfulness) and never looked back. Thoughtful early adopters, we’ve been impressed with the counter-intuitive freedoms and added vitality these cultural experiments have brought into our lives. </p>
<p><br/> From <a href="http://www.zipcar.com/" target="_blank">ZipCar</a> and <a href="https://www.citycarshare.org/" target="_blank">CityCarShare</a> (for professionally-owned sharable assets) to <a href="https://relayrides.com/">RelayRides</a> (for personally-owned shareable assets), car-sharing has become a welcome answer to the “Do I really need to own a car/second-car?” question. Though we’ve been slower to embrace the so-called “ride-sharing” movement (a dynamic pseudo-commercial marketplace responding to a growing need for on-demand trips about town), I anticipate being won over there, ultimately, as well. But more on that in a minute. </p>
<p><br/> Indeed, it appears that a “transportation revolution” is being staged today. It is being staged (and occasionally fought) through creative innovation on many fronts, involving traditional and non-traditional players, and expanding the boundaries of what it means to “share”. In a world where leaders in <a href="http://ucgef.org/en/events/smart-eco-city-solutions-waste-and-water-resiliency">massive population centers</a> substitute “mobility” for “workability” when declaring the three pillars of a Smart City, a “transportation revolution” is certainly overdue. </p>
<p><br/> In light of this, today’s featured stories extend this asset-sharing ethos in two powerful directions. In the first, <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/bikes-make-life-better" target="_blank">BikesMakeLifeBetter</a> helps companies design pools of bicycling assets for sharing across a corporate communities, generating both functional and cultural benefits. In the second, the <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/innovation-at-the-post-office" target="_blank">U.S. Postal Service</a> is innovating behind the scenes -- collaborating with competitors UPS and FedEx to share strategic bits of their asset infrastructure and making them each more efficient and effective. Innovative initiatives like these generate a culture of sharing that goes beyond the person-to-person, creating perhaps a new normal for business.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545192937?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="300" class="align-right" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545192937?profile=original"/></a><br/> But now - back to the "ride-sharing" movement. Today's ride-share services began in a manner true to their name. Using cloud-based ride-boards, riders could conveniently find anything from a ride to work to a trip across the country with someone going the same way. This arrangement, when executed well, delivers a clear triple-bottom-line to all those involved. <a href="http://www.zimride.com/">ZimRide</a> and <a href="http://www.side.cr/">SideCar</a> were leaders in mainstreaming this practice. </p>
<p>But from a business perspective, apparently the real money (managed technically as a donation) comes from the more chronic scenario of needing a quick lift across town. Catalyzed by a chronic under-supply of cabs when you need them, San Francisco-based ZimRide and SideCar have both come to emphasize this new on-demand ride-sharing model -- ZimRide through its one-year-old <a href="http://www.lyft.me/">Lyft</a> service (which recently received a <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/23/lyft-a16z/">capital infusion</a> from Andreessen Horowitz), and SideCar through a recent change in messaging on its website. </p>
<p>The fever has gotten so high that recently <a href="https://www.uber.com/">Uber</a>, the ground-breaking network of professional drivers responding to the same taxicab under-supply, has <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2013/06/07/uber-lower-uberx-fares/">responded</a> to this new competition with reduced prices. Meanwhile, upstart <a href="http://instantcab.com/">InstantCab</a> is merging the two models, creating networks of both professional and community drivers for on-demand trips about town.</p>
<p>But is this new phenomena really “ride-sharing” (eliminating the need for more cars on the road)? Or is it yet another new business model for making friends and raising cash off the sunken costs of already-owned assets? In many cases, it is the latter. But hey, even this is what we need now. I'd like to think that those pink-mustachioed drivers were out and about anyway and didn’t hit the busy streets only in the hope of picking up riders. But as long as they make the no-car or low-car lifestyle choice more feasible, I say "Bring it on!"</p>SSV Showcase of Solutions for Planetary Sustainabilitytag:www.innovatingsmart.org,2013-05-15:5294332:BlogPost:326522013-05-15T03:30:00.000ZSue Lebeckhttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/SueLebeck
<p align="center"><b>WEST Summit 2013 to Showcase Solutions for Planetary Sustainability</b></p>
<p><b>What: </b> Sustainable Silicon Valley (SSV) and NASA will present the fourth annual Water, Energy and Smart Technology (WEST) Summit/Showcase to discuss critical solutions for planetary sustainability. The event will showcase game-changing, scalable, multiple-benefits solutions that address mitigation and adaptation to climate change, water availability and other issues threatening planetary…</p>
<p align="center"><b>WEST Summit 2013 to Showcase Solutions for Planetary Sustainability</b></p>
<p><b>What: </b> Sustainable Silicon Valley (SSV) and NASA will present the fourth annual Water, Energy and Smart Technology (WEST) Summit/Showcase to discuss critical solutions for planetary sustainability. The event will showcase game-changing, scalable, multiple-benefits solutions that address mitigation and adaptation to climate change, water availability and other issues threatening planetary sustainability. Participants will include venture capitalists, government officials, sustainability leaders, corporate and entrepreneurial solution providers and researchers.</p>
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<p><b>Where:</b> NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Mountain View, Calif.</p>
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<p><b>When:</b> Thursday, May 23, 8:30 a.m.-7 p.m. PT</p>
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<p><b>Details:</b> The all-day event will feature nearly 100 solutions to planetary sustainability, world-renowned speakers, break-out sessions ranging from the Life Support Systems of the Planet to Intelligent Integrated Infrastructure, as well as an expo featuring the latest in green technology. The symposium will create an opportunity for lively interchange among scientists, engineers, inventors, bankers, investors, and corporate and government leaders to define the scope and scale of the challenges we face and bring Silicon Valley ingenuity and NASA systems design capabilities together to create revolutionary change for a sustainable future.</p>
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<p>The WEST Summit/Showcase 2013 will feature prominent speakers from the public and private sector, including:</p>
<ul>
<li>Mohanijit Jolly, Managing Director, DFJ</li>
<li>Rami Branitzky, CEO, Numenta</li>
<li>Dr. Anthony D. Barnosky, Professor, Department of Integrative Biology, Curator at Museum of Palentology, UC Berkeley</li>
<li>Kristiina Vogt, Professor of Forest Resources, University of Washington</li>
<li>Vince Siciliano, President & CEO, New Resource Bank</li>
<li>Dr. Wallace J. Nichols, Research Associate, California Academy of Sciences</li>
<li>Kathrin Winkler, VP Corporate Sustainability & Chief Sustainability Officer, EMC Corporation</li>
<li>Steve Zornetzer, Associate Director, NASA Ames Research Center</li>
<li>James E. Hansen, retired head of NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies</li>
<li>Waleed Adbalati, Director of the Earth Science Observation Center at the University of Colorado and former chief scientist for NASA</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p>In addition, 10 finalists will be featured in the Call for Solutions for Planetary Sustainability competition. Those spotlighted, whose ideas range from energy-reduction technology to supply chain sustainability, will have the opportunity to pitch their solutions to a panel of venture capitalists, academics, executives and government officials. They'll receive immediate feedback from the panel on feasibility, potential partnering, etc.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>WEST Summit/Showcase Resources</b></p>
<p>WEST Summit/Showcase agenda: <a href="http://www.sustainablesv.org/content/agenda-0" target="_blank">http://www.sustainablesv.org/content/agenda-0</a><a href="http://www.sustainablesv.org/content/agenda-0." target="_blank">.</a><br/> Speaker information: <a href="http://www.sustainablesv.org/content/speakers-2" target="_blank">http://www.sustainablesv.org/content/speakers-2.</a></p>
<p>Solution finalists: <a href="http://sustainablesv.org/ecocloud/index.php/showcase-of-solutions-for-planetary-sustainability/finalists/finalists-list" target="_blank">http://sustainablesv.org/ecocloud/index.php/showcase-of-solutions-for-planetary-sustainability/finalists/finalists-list</a>. </p>
<p>For more information about Sustainable Silicon Valley, the WEST Summit/Showcase or to arrange an interview with President and Executive Director Marianna Grossman, please contact SSV at <a href="mailto:info@sustainablesv.org" target="_blank">info@sustainablesv.org</a>.</p>
<p></p>
<p><b>About Sustainable Silicon Valley<br/></b> Sustainable Silicon Valley (SSV) envisions a healthy environment, a vibrant economy and a socially equitable community in Silicon Valley and throughout the world. As a growing consortium of companies, governmental entities, academic and research institutions and non-profit organizations, we work together to achieve this vision through collaboration and innovation, bringing solutions from Silicon Valley’s inventors, entrepreneurs and enterprises to solve problems and create resilience in our region and in regions around the world. For more information, visit <a href="http://www.sustainablesv.org/" target="_blank">www.sustainablesv.org</a>.</p>
<p><b>Media Contacts:<br/></b> Marianna Grossman<br/> President, Executive Director, SSV<br/> <a href="mailto:mgrossman@sustainablesv.org" target="_blank">mgrossman@sustainablesv.org</a><br/> <a target="_blank">(650) 318-3638, ext. 101</a></p>
<p>Martina Frndova<br/> WEST Summit Program Director, SSV<br/> <a href="mailto:mfrndova@sustainablesv.org" target="_blank">mfrndova@sustainablesv.org</a><br/> <a target="_blank">(650) 318-3638, ext. 274</a></p>
<p>Ken Heiman<br/> Manager of Public Relations, SSV<br/> <a href="mailto:kheiman@sustainablesv.org" target="_blank">kheiman@sustainablesv.org</a><br/> <a target="_blank">(650) 318-3638, ext. 116</a></p>From Consumers to Citizenstag:www.innovatingsmart.org,2013-05-15:5294332:BlogPost:326502013-05-15T03:00:00.000ZSue Lebeckhttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/SueLebeck
<p><em>Consumers.</em> When did <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preamble_to_the_United_States_Constitution" target="_blank">we the people</a> become so thoroughly downgraded in our primary societal role? I <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/profiles/blogs/free-to-become-customers-again">explored this state of affairs</a> one recent fourth of July. The <a href="http://www.greenbiz.com/slideshow/2013/03/01">CEO of Patagonia</a> captured the spirit of my angst more succinctly at the…</p>
<p><em>Consumers.</em> When did <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preamble_to_the_United_States_Constitution" target="_blank">we the people</a> become so thoroughly downgraded in our primary societal role? I <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/profiles/blogs/free-to-become-customers-again">explored this state of affairs</a> one recent fourth of July. The <a href="http://www.greenbiz.com/slideshow/2013/03/01">CEO of Patagonia</a> captured the spirit of my angst more succinctly at the 2013 GreenBiz Forum with his admonition to transform “from consumers to citizens”, thus re-instating our always and proper role.<br/> <br/> Today we spotlight entrepreneurs creating new tools to help restore this simple ethos, in a world challenged by oft-mysterious consumable offerings. <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/farmigo-let-s-grow-together" target="_blank">Farmigo</a> CEO Benzi Ronen describes the innovative social platform he's created to connect communities of consumers with communities of local and sustainable farmers. <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/adventure-capitalists-empowering-powerfulme" target="_blank">Adventure Capitalist</a> Megan Joy Havrda highlights <a href="http://powerfulme.net/home">PowerfulMe</a>, a potent shopping tool developed by one of her clients to empower rushed shoppers in making sustainable and conscientious choices. </p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2311755118?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="300" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2311755118?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="300"/></a>Consumer product providers themselves are “getting” this growing need and opportunity to engage mindfully with their communities. <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/the-shelton-group-wastingwaterisweird" target="_blank">Suzanne Shelton’s</a> marketing and PR firm facilitates this interaction through multi-brand collaborative campaigns like <a href="http://www.wastingwaterisweird.com/">WastingWaterIsWierd.</a> Meet “Rip the Drip” yourself and be forever changed.<br/> <br/> This call to citizenship is the subject of a recent book by former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. <em><a href="http://citizenville.com/" target="_blank">Citizenville</a></em> urges a new and innovative relationship with government. As if in response, the citizen engagement theme appeared again and again in Sustainable Silicon Valley’s (SSV) recent ideation campaign, the Showcase of Solutions for Planetary Sustainability (<a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/profiles/blogs/ssv-showcase-of-solutions-for-planetary-sustainability" target="_blank">culminating in a May 23 event at NASA/Ames</a>). The <a href="http://sustainablesv.org/ecocloud/index.php/showcase-of-solutions-for-planetary-sustainability/finalists/finalists-list" target="_blank">Showcase Finalists list</a> is alive with platform concepts designed to engage consumers and communities in collaborative acts of sustainability. One idea making the Finalist list was developed by two creative colleagues and myself in a “sustainable design workshop” held by SSV shortly after Superstorm Sandy. <a href="http://sustainablesv.org/ecocloud/index.php/solutions/view/222" target="_blank"><em>Mission: Resiliency</em></a> utilizes a “mission”-oriented gamification platform to help communities prepare collaboratively for both sudden and gradual disruption. A similarly-spirited and popular idea, the <a href="http://sustainablesv.org/ecocloud/index.php/solutions/view/118" target="_blank"><em>Cool City Challenge</em></a> focuses on creating City-wide competitions based on the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0963032720/?tag=mh0b-20&hvadid=1845698194&ref=pd_sl_20hxmiz2bi_e" target="_blank"><em>The Low-Carbon Diet</em></a>. <br/> <br/> Clearly, a hunger is upon us. Let’s feed this appetite for citizen engagement, and enthusiasticaly claim our role as Citizens again.</p>Creating with Constraintstag:www.innovatingsmart.org,2013-04-10:5294332:BlogPost:294562013-04-10T00:00:00.000ZSue Lebeckhttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/SueLebeck
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upcycling">Upcycling</a> is a creative business practice with the power to literally transform our material world. Adam Wegener and Scott Hamlin are the creators of two young businesses which are applying upcycling principles to innovate the very way they approach product innovation. Adam is out to inspire a generation of future upcyclers, while Scott is out to change the way the apparel supply chain is materially sourced. The “waste” materials they are…</p>
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upcycling">Upcycling</a> is a creative business practice with the power to literally transform our material world. Adam Wegener and Scott Hamlin are the creators of two young businesses which are applying upcycling principles to innovate the very way they approach product innovation. Adam is out to inspire a generation of future upcyclers, while Scott is out to change the way the apparel supply chain is materially sourced. The “waste” materials they are upcycling are perfectly sound, ready to be used/reused, and carrying forward their sunken costs including their natural resources and the overall carbon footprint involved in their production. <br/> <br/> Businesses based on upcycling principles begin with the question: “What can we design with the materials that already exist?” The “up” materials chosen for upcycling become the canvas and paint for the creative process. The creative constraints are a “given”, and the properties inherent to the upcycled objects and materials are inherited -- ready to serve again in the context of a new product life. <br/> <br/> Adam’s product line at <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/trashamps-reuse-it-for-music" target="_blank">TrashAmps</a> focuses on linking music with trash. His objective is to reveal upcycling as cool while presenting an accessible example to young consumers and future upcyclers. Beverage cans are the trash of choice here. Interestingly, their reuse creates an implicit branding partnership with beverage-makers, while taking advantage of an existing widespread infrastructure created to hold cans. There is more than a sleeve of aluminum being reused here!<br/> <br/> Meanwhile, Scott ‘s product line at <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/looptworks-upcycled-from-excess" target="_blank">LooptWorks</a> focuses on designing new sportswear products exclusively from pre-consumer waste --which he aptly reframes as “excess materials”, having calculated that pre-consumer waste amasses in the apparel business at 70x that of post-consumer waste. Their process designs, manufactures and distributes limited runs of both classic and freshly original designs, delivering boutique sportswear at non-boutique prices! <br/> <br/> <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545193706?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="120" class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545193706?profile=RESIZE_180x180" width="120"/></a>The results of both new businesses are stylish and beautiful – nothing boring here! I quickly found my daughter’s April birthday gift (modeled by her here) in LooptWorks’ delightful and frequently-changing catalog. And who could help but smile to find the portable speakers in your backpack skinned in this week’s favorite beverage package?<br/> <br/> Does upcycling matter? Only <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/material-transformation" target="_blank">more than we ever thought.</a> So be inspired by these young entrepreneurs who are innovatively embracing the creative constraints before us. </p>Mo'Data, Mo'Data, Mo'Datatag:www.innovatingsmart.org,2013-03-12:5294332:BlogPost:279062013-03-12T23:30:00.000ZSue Lebeckhttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/SueLebeck
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2311747956?profile=original" target="_self"></a>Sustainability is, at last, becoming deeply embedded into business decision-making and practice. "Mo'Data" is my translation of the mantra I heard from business leaders last month, as they described what is needed most to get this job done. From KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to EPDs (Environmental Product Declarations) to LCAs (Life Cycle Assessments), "Mo'Data" is the focus of…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2311747956?profile=original" target="_self"></a>Sustainability is, at last, becoming deeply embedded into business decision-making and practice. "Mo'Data" is my translation of the mantra I heard from business leaders last month, as they described what is needed most to get this job done. From KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to EPDs (Environmental Product Declarations) to LCAs (Life Cycle Assessments), "Mo'Data" is the focus of this month's installment of InnovatingSMART's <em>2013 GreenBiz Forum Series</em>. </p>
<p><br/> <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2311747956?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="350" class="align-right" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2311747956?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="350"/></a>Beginning with the business-accounting side of things, new and newly emphasized players include, respectively, SASB and Trucost. The innovators at <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/sasb-informing-the-investment-community" target="_blank">SASB</a> are working hard to get sustainability accounting reported as <a href="http://www.sasb.org/materiality/important/" target="_blank">"materiality"</a> for business investors. The goal is to get SASB (Sustainability Accounting Standards Board) data reported along with FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board) data, and introduced into Investor-directed SEC "10-K" and "20-F" reports as part of an <a href="http://www.sasb.org/approach/form-10-k/" target="_blank">Integrated Reporting</a> effort. The effect of this development could be huge, as the investment community (including, in our own ways, you and me) drives, rewards, and punishes much of what happens and doesn't happen in our economy. </p>
<p><br/> Meanwhile, <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/trucost-putting-a-price-on-natural-capital" target="_blank">Trucost</a>, a UK company which has been putting a price on natural capital since 2000, has this year become a partner to GreenBiz in the telling of their annual intelligence narrative. Trucost characterizes the natural capital costs embedded in global industries and uses environmental performance data (carbon, water, land use, pollutants, waste and commodity flows) to help companies, investors, governments, researchers and academics understand the "economic consequences of natural capital dependency".</p>
<p><br/> Complementing industry-level accounting (Trucost) and corporate-level accounting (SASB), is a new program by Microsoft which introduces business-unit accounting for sustainability. Shared in the "One New Idea" segment of the Forum, <a href="http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2013/02/12/microsofts-carbon-pricing-scheme-progress-report?page=full" target="_blank">Microsoft's internal carbon fee</a> holds each business unit accountable for its carbon emissions, and makes each financially pay for or substantively mitigate these costs. </p>
<p><br/> On the product-development and -procurement side of things, is <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/tsc-the-sustainability-consortium" target="_blank">The Sustainability Consortium</a> (TSC) and one of its underlying methodologies, <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/lca-holistic-decision-support" target="_blank">LifeCycle Assessment</a> (LCA). TSC was founded by two universities and one very, very large retailer to create a system for measuring and reporting (through KPIs and other knowledge products) the sustainability impacts of consumer goods. Joined now by many players, including many other large but less diversified retailers, this difficult effort continues to be led by university efforts and shaped by the needs of Walmart - perhaps the most influential and diverse retailer in the world. This is hard work, which builds on top of the work of others while also - and uniquely - tackling a multi-stakeholder, multi-sector, and soon-to-be international scope. </p>
<p><br/> Meanwhile, LCA informs TSC's work, but is not yet a core element. LCA is a decision-support methodology that looks at the full lifecyle of a product -- from material extraction and processing, to manufacturing, distribution, use, and ultimate disposal. A decades-old methodology, LCA is slowly beginning to extend its outlook beyond "cradle-to-grave" and toward a "cradle-to-cradle" mentality. A new audience that has energized LCA in recent years is the building construction industry; there has been an enormous effort to develop building product EPDs to facilitate greater transparency and better decisions. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Coupled with LCA but not discussed explicitly at the GreenBiz Forum is Materials Flow Analysis (MFA). Focusing on the stocks and flows of the underlying materials, MFA brings a critical lens which moves beyond the product level to the materials behind them. Look for more on materials management in our April issue; my own view is that much work is needed on closing materials loops and supporting large-scale industrial ecologies within and across industries. We cannot afford to be an April Fool about this one.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Mo'Data, Mo'Data, Mo'Data. Only when we get smarter and better informed will our decision-making rise to meet the urgent needs of sustainability. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>Risk, Resilience and Love: Lessons from Woodstocktag:www.innovatingsmart.org,2013-02-13:5294332:BlogPost:271122013-02-13T10:00:00.000ZSue Lebeckhttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/SueLebeck
<p>As GreenBiz unveils its <a href="http://info.greenbiz.com/rs/greenbizgroup/images/state-green-business-2013.pdf?mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRonv6TAZKXonjHpfsX56OwuWa%2B3lMI%2F0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4ASMZrI%2BSLDwEYGJlv6SgFSLHEMa5qw7gMXRQ%3D" target="_blank">State of Green Biz 2013</a> report this week, risk and resilience emerge as new touch-words for sustainability. The implications for business will be further explored at the …</p>
<p>As GreenBiz unveils its <a href="http://info.greenbiz.com/rs/greenbizgroup/images/state-green-business-2013.pdf?mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRonv6TAZKXonjHpfsX56OwuWa%2B3lMI%2F0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4ASMZrI%2BSLDwEYGJlv6SgFSLHEMa5qw7gMXRQ%3D" target="_blank">State of Green Biz 2013</a> report this week, risk and resilience emerge as new touch-words for sustainability. The implications for business will be further explored at the <a href="http://www.greenbiz.com/events/greenbiz-forum/2013/02/san-francisco" target="_blank">GreenBiz Forum in San Francisco</a> and New York later this month. But what about the implications for society? How will we respond as communities if faced with over-crowding, strained infrastructures, and unexpected climate events? <a href="http://www.makower.com/projects/woodstock" target="_blank">Woodstock: The Oral History</a> provides clues for preparing our communities wisely. And yes, LOVE is the answer.<br/> <br/> <i><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545208701?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="174" class="align-right" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545208701?profile=RESIZE_180x180" width="174"/></a>Woodstock</i> was written by GreenBiz ‘ executive editor Joel Makower (<a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/joel-makower-and-the-state-of-green-business" target="_blank">see our interview with Joel</a>) in 1989 as a way to celebrate the 20<sup>th</sup> anniversary of the infamously over-subscribed three-day concert in upstate New York. It was re-released in 2009, the event’s 40<sup>th</sup> anniversary, and is a timely story for our day. <i>Woodstock: The Oral History</i> is a story of environmental and economic strife. It is also a story of social creativity, care-centered risk-mitigation and cheerful resilience. </p>
<p>Woodstock was the product of a grand vision and an organic design. It succeeded despite obstacle after obstacle, through a combination of capitalization, commitment, fearlessness, inclusion and creative surrender. Central to the success of Woodstock was its genius security design, managed masterfully by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hog_Farm" target="_blank">Hog Farm</a>, a well-known commune flown in from New Mexico and assigned this task. A sample of Hog Farm genius can be found in an anecdote by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wavy_Gravy" target="_blank">Wavy Gravy</a>, clown and co-founder, as he reflected 20 years later with Joel:</p>
<blockquote><p><i>We just thought if everybody was a cop there couldn’t possibly be a problem. That was the logic. What we’d try and do is take the hard edge away from the concept of security, which is people helping each other out…. So we decided to call it the "Please Force" [instead of the Police Force].</i></p>
</blockquote>
<p><br/> His wife completes the story:</p>
<blockquote><p><i>So we made a bunch of arm bands. The idea was that when we saw someone who was taking responsibility in a really excellent way that we would have an extra arm band in our pocket and would say, “You are part of the Please Force. Help out wherever you can”…. It really worked well.</i></p>
</blockquote>
<p><br/> Other lessons (and reminders) I gleaned from my read of <em>Woodstock,</em> each which informs risk-mitigation and resiliency-building, include these:</p>
<ul>
<li>People need and expect free places to convene, especially during times of great change.</li>
<li>People feel more secure if they are having fun.</li>
<li>Large-scale positive “vibes” can absorb and neutralize negative ones.</li>
<li>To create a culture of competence and security, recruit people gifted in the behaviors you want modeled to act as teachers and mentors.</li>
<li>Respond to characters who threaten to disrupt your efforts by inviting them to join you and creating roles for them.</li>
<li>If someone is feeling out of control with a problem, help them to get themselves centered, and then put them to work helping someone else. Their act of helping others will further help them.</li>
<li>An atmosphere of love, and/or group yoga, can create a natural high.</li>
<li>An atmosphere of non-judgment helps keep things cool.</li>
<li>Solve problems as they arise.</li>
<li>Music and art can contain a challenging situation.</li>
<li>Don't forget to bless the kitchen.</li>
<li>When resources are scarce, sharing is the answer. When resources are not scarce, sharing may still be the answer.</li>
<li>Reality is a tapestry of diverse perspectives.</li>
<li>At times things can get very muddy. It's OK.</li>
</ul>
<p><br/> In <i>The Oral History</i>, Woodstock is ultimately revealed as part social experiment and part spiritual pilgrimage, whose soundtrack was an amazing rock ‘n roll concert. Long after it stopped making business sense, Woodstock’s sense of mission carried the day and changed the world. While re-creating Woodstock is not the task at hand today, perhaps remembering and learning from it is. Because yes, LOVE is [part of] the answer.</p>New Year, New Worldtag:www.innovatingsmart.org,2013-01-10:5294332:BlogPost:267072013-01-10T04:00:00.000ZSue Lebeckhttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/SueLebeck
<p>"It's the <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012.html" target="_blank">end of the world</a> as we know it, and I feel fine!" Such was my personal soundtrack during a road-trip move across the country with my family in 1989. And such is an appropriate soundtrack as we begin this next cycle of the Mayan long-count calendar.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>New worlds and new times invite -- nay, demand -- change. We've often offered…</p>
<p>"It's the <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012.html" target="_blank">end of the world</a> as we know it, and I feel fine!" Such was my personal soundtrack during a road-trip move across the country with my family in 1989. And such is an appropriate soundtrack as we begin this next cycle of the Mayan long-count calendar.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>New worlds and new times invite -- nay, demand -- change. We've often offered <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/profiles/blog/list?tag=changing" target="_blank">change resources</a> here at InnovatingSMART, and at this new time I offer a batch of personal favorites especially for SMART innovators. I hope they inspire you as much as they've inspired me....</p>
<p> </p>
<p>My first favorite resource for the New Year is a personal methodology defined as <a href="http://www.thebiggergame.com/" target="_blank">The Bigger Game</a> and described in a book of the same title by Rick Tamlyn and the late Laura Whitworth. The Bigger Game urges us each toward our next big "Gulp" challenge. I have done my homework and picked my own Bigger Game for the coming year, and am excited to start to play. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Gulp" challenges can surprise you, in that sometimes focusing on less is actually your Bigger Game. What do I mean by that? As sustainability-driven advocates and innovators, we sometimes live in a permanent state of feeling the need to "save the planet". This is a huge game-state that can exhaust us and be, well, unsustainable. But to focus on one "Compelling Purpose" that you "care about madly", and pursuing it creatively and with as much excellence as you can muster and as many well-aligned collaborators as you can find... such is a game is invigorating to play! As the book describes, you know your game is "Bigger" when you don't already know how to do it. While the book gives feeling-based guidance on how to recognize your own next Bigger Game, Scott Dinsmore of <a href="http://liveyourlegend.net/" target="_blank">Live Your Legend</a> offers <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/profiles/blogs/find-your-passion" target="_blank">this list of questions</a> to help you tease out what you care about most.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>My second favorite resource for the New Year is a new book just published by colleagues Laszlo Gyorffy and Lisa Friedman. <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/creating-value-through-co-star" target="_blank">Creating Value with CO-STAR</a> is a "how-to book for innovators around the world". Laszlo and Lisa have been helping entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs crystalize the value of their ideas and craft their perfect pitches since before I met them six years ago. I am thrilled to see that they have published this simple but powerful method for all to use. Find out more in this month's spotlighted innovation story.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Finally, I am looking forward to receiving my new copy of <a href="http://www.greatfromthestart.com/about-the-author/" target="_blank">Great from the Start</a>, by start-up lawyer John Montgomery. I met John several years ago at an SAP-hosted "Future Salon". <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_(organization)" target="_blank">Citizens United</a> had just won their play to give corporations unlimited political advertising privileges. John shared with us the work he'd been doing for years to make inspired entrepreneurs aware that they could "bake" their ideals to change the world (while making money) right into their Articles of Incorporation. Since then, John has helped codify this by co-crafting the language that has become the <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/profiles/blogs/celebrating-new-legislation-the-california-benefit-corporation" target="_blank">Benefit Corporation</a> under California law. This law makes binding a corporation's decision to serve it stakeholders, not merely its shareholders. It is informed and supported by the B Corporation certification provided by <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/b-labs" target="_blank">B-Lab</a>; this certification is not a legal requirement, but it is a great guide to any business bold enough to hold themselves to a higher bar.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Yes, we can only hope that we are at the end of the world as we know it. "Business as usual" is so <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baktun" target="_blank">"last baktun".</a> Thank you, REM!</p>
<p> </p>Find Your Passiontag:www.innovatingsmart.org,2013-01-09:5294332:BlogPost:269092013-01-09T05:00:00.000ZSue Lebeckhttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/SueLebeck
<p align="left"><span class="font-size-3">27 Questions to Find Your Passion</span></p>
<p align="left">Created by <a href="http://liveyourlegend.net/" target="_blank">Scott Dinsmore of Live Your Legend</a>, and sent to me by a friend, Bill Daul, Leader of <a href="http://nextnowcollab.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">NextNow</a><br></br> <br></br> Guidance:</p>
<p align="left">You are the only one who can find your passion - It’s inside you and just has to be uncovered. Use the below to explore what…</p>
<p align="left"><span class="font-size-3">27 Questions to Find Your Passion</span></p>
<p align="left">Created by <a href="http://liveyourlegend.net/" target="_blank">Scott Dinsmore of Live Your Legend</a>, and sent to me by a friend, Bill Daul, Leader of <a href="http://nextnowcollab.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">NextNow</a><br/> <br/> Guidance:</p>
<p align="left">You are the only one who can find your passion - It’s inside you and just has to be uncovered. Use the below to explore what lights you on fire. Don’t rush through these. Go somewhere quiet, with no internet and dedicate at least 2-3 hours to developing your answers. Some may apply more than others. That’s fine. Allow your mind to run wild. These questions will only be useful if you allow them to.I t’s time to start living with passion!</p>
<p align="left"></p>
<p align="left">1.What makes you happiest in your life? What excites you?</p>
<p align="left">2.What do you do that makes you feel invincible?</p>
<p align="left">3.What do people thank you for?</p>
<p align="left">4.What are you ridiculously good at? What are your precious gifts?</p>
<p align="left">5.Who do you look up to? Who are your mentors? Who inspires you? Why?</p>
<p align="left">6.When was the last time you massively over-delivered on something? What</p>
<p align="left">was it and why did you work so damn hard?</p>
<p align="left">7.When was the last time you were in a state of flow, in the zone and</p>
<p align="left">totally lost track of time? What were you doing?</p>
<p align="left">8.Imagine you won $158 million in the lottery. It's now three months later.</p>
<p align="left">How will you spend tomorrow?</p>
<p align="left">9. What would you do if you knew you could not fail?</p>
<p align="left">10. If you could have or do anything, what would it be?</p>
<p align="left">11. What topics do you find yourself continuously arguing or defending</p>
<p align="left">with others? What beliefs does your stance represent?</p>
<p align="left">12. What makes you most angry about the state of the world? With</p>
<p align="left">unlimited resources how could you fix it?</p>
<p align="left">13. What are you most afraid of for the next generation, whether you have</p>
<p align="left">kids or not?</p>
<p align="left">14. What do you love helping people with? How do you most commonly help</p>
<p align="left">others?</p>
<p align="left">15. What’s your favorite section in the bookstore? What’s the first</p>
<p align="left">magazine you’d pick up at the grocery store?</p>
<p align="left">16. When was the last time you couldn't sleep because you were so excited</p>
<p align="left">about what you had to work on? What was it?</p>
<p align="left">17. If you trusted that your art (your creativity) would support your life,</p>
<p align="left">How would you live?</p>
<p align="left">18. Out of all your current work roles, what would you gladly do for</p>
<p align="left">free?</p>
<p align="left">19. If you were able to be a member of the audience at your own funeral (in</p>
<p align="left">100 years or so) what would you want to hear people say?</p>
<p align="left">20. What do you want to be remembered for - what dent do you want to have</p>
<p align="left">put in the world?</p>
<p align="left">21. What do your friends always tell you you'd be good at, that you should</p>
<p align="left">do for a living (i.e. “he’d make a great…)? If you don't remember, then go</p>
<p align="left">ask five of them.</p>
<p align="left">22. What are you naturally curious about?</p>
<p align="left">23. If you had a free hour to surf the internet, what would you explore?</p>
<p align="left">24. Think back to when you were 5 or10 years old. What did you want to be</p>
<p align="left">when you grew up? Anything goes. What skills and metaphors do these</p>
<p align="left">represent (i.e. pilot may be a symbol for freedom)?</p>
<p align="left">25. If you could write a book to help the world, that is guaranteed to be a</p>
<p align="left">best seller, what would the title be? What's it about?</p>
<p align="left">26. What careers do you find yourself dreaming of? What jobs do others</p>
<p align="left">have that you wish were yours?</p>
<p align="left">27. What 3-5 dream jobs or businesses can you imagine that would firmly</p>
<p align="left">embody your core beliefs about the world. Sky’s the limit.</p>
<p align="left">And a bonus…</p>
<p>28. What revolution do you want to lead?</p>
<p> </p>
<p align="left">Copyright -</p>
<p align="left"><a href="http://www.LiveYourLegend.net"><font color="#0000FF" size="2" face="Copperplate"><font color="#0000FF" size="2" face="Copperplate"><font color="#0000FF" size="2" face="Copperplate">www.LiveYourLegend.net</font></font></font></a> <font size="2" face="Copperplate"><font size="2" face="Copperplate">-</font></font> <font color="#0000FF" size="2" face="Copperplate"><font color="#0000FF" size="2" face="Copperplate"><font color="#0000FF" size="2" face="Copperplate">@_Scott_Dinsmore</font></font></font></p>On the VERGE of a Smarter Worldtag:www.innovatingsmart.org,2012-12-05:5294332:BlogPost:263482012-12-05T01:30:00.000ZSue Lebeckhttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/SueLebeck
<p>Warmed up by <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/profiles/blogs/giving-thanks-for-tech-ingenuity" target="_blank">Clean Tech Open</a> last month, I next had the pleasure of wallowing in the creative juices of GreenBiz’ VERGE@GreenBuild conference. This was PlayLand for anyone interested in building a smarter tomorrow. Focused on the built environment, VERGE opened with a 48-hour marathon of creativity referred to as HackCity. It continued with…</p>
<p>Warmed up by <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/profiles/blogs/giving-thanks-for-tech-ingenuity" target="_blank">Clean Tech Open</a> last month, I next had the pleasure of wallowing in the creative juices of GreenBiz’ VERGE@GreenBuild conference. This was PlayLand for anyone interested in building a smarter tomorrow. Focused on the built environment, VERGE opened with a 48-hour marathon of creativity referred to as HackCity. It continued with <a href="http://vergecon.greenbiz.com/" target="_blank">two multi-layered days</a> of panel sessions, workshops and “Great Ideas” from those who operate “on the verge” every day – collaborating across cities, transforming transportation, managing energy-consuming assets, engineering net-zero-energy buildings, making meaning out of data, and crafting creative communities. Informed and inspired, I next spent a day in the <a href="http://greenbuildexpo.org/home.aspx" target="_blank">massive Expo that is GreenBuild</a> (more on that next year) and spoke with cutting-edge folks working concretely (sometimes literally) on new materials, new design and sourcing tools, and new ways to observe and manage our buildings.</p>
<p><img width="475" class="align-right" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545194153?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="475"/><br/> While at the <a href="http://www.greenbiz.com/microsite/verge" target="_blank">VERGE</a> conference, I was privileged with a Press Pass that gave me access to and space for <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations" target="_blank">InnovatingSMART-style</a> one-on-one conversations – personal stories with SMART innovators shaping the future. The result is synthesized/aggregated in this month’s <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/conversations-on-the-verge" target="_blank">spotlighted story.</a> I hope you enjoy listening to these stories as much as I enjoyed collecting them!</p>
<p><br/> Over the course of the week, I found myself craving a synthesizing picture that would allow me to see the core elements of this VERGE emergence all together, and in relationship to one another. To satisfy the craving, I drafted the simple conceptual architecture shown here.</p>
<p><br/> A <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/page/team-members" target="_blank">former software architect</a> (my colleagues and I did our bit to shape the commercial architecture of the Internet) I look forward to watching, and perhaps helping, the operational architectures of these SMART infrastructures take shape. If we can get the architectures just right, the sustainability-creating SMART innovation that has already begun will surely be unleashed. Finally, we are standing on the VERGE of a SMARTer world. Time to get moving!</p>
<p> </p>
<p></p>Giving Thanks for Tech Ingenuitytag:www.innovatingsmart.org,2012-11-14:5294332:BlogPost:264382012-11-14T21:00:00.000ZSue Lebeckhttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/SueLebeck
<p>As the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday approaches, I am grateful for the technology ingenuity that is busy at work, helping us break down the man-made walls separating us from our own smarter future. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>One great way to thank our technology innovators is to join them on their “Hero’s Journey”. This is the raison d'être of the <a href="http://www.cleantechopen.com/app.cgi/content/home/index" target="_blank">Clean Tech Open</a>, the world-class mentorship program for the clean tech…</p>
<p>As the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday approaches, I am grateful for the technology ingenuity that is busy at work, helping us break down the man-made walls separating us from our own smarter future. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>One great way to thank our technology innovators is to join them on their “Hero’s Journey”. This is the raison d'être of the <a href="http://www.cleantechopen.com/app.cgi/content/home/index" target="_blank">Clean Tech Open</a>, the world-class mentorship program for the clean tech community, which celebrated its annual “Academy Awards” last week.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545194366?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-right" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545194366?profile=original" width="345"/></a></p>
<p>Congratulations to CTO 2012 <a href="http://cleantechopenglobalforum.com/meet-a-finalist-hevt/" target="_blank">Grand Prize Winner HEVT</a>, and all the <a href="http://energypriorities.com/2012/10/cleantech-open-announces-2012-finalists/" target="_blank">finalists</a>, semifinalists, participants and alumni who convened at the <a href="http://www.hayesmansion.com/" target="_blank">Hayes Mansion</a> in San Jose, CA to celebrate the past year’s installment of entrepreneurial effort. Challenges being met by these dedicated innovators range from <a href="http://www.hevt.com/" target="_blank">HEVT's</a> next-generation hybrid-electric motors to <a href="http://www.skiptorenew.com" target="_blank">SkipToRenew's</a> petroleum-replacing biodegradable industrial bio-lubricants to <a href="http://www.hivelighting.com" target="_blank">HIVE's</a> high-intensity, low-energy wide-spectrum plasma light fixtures for the TV and film biz. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>My personal grand prize pick is <a href="http://grgreen.com/" target="_blank">GR Green</a>, which has developed recycled and recyclable roof tile and siding solutions that are so clean they are safe to eat ("But don't.") Synthetic replacements for cedar, these materials are attractive, performant, cost-effective and install like cedar. (I look forward to discovering more building material innovations at <a href="http://www.greenbuildexpo.org/Home.aspx" target="_blank">GreenBuild Expo</a> this week.) </p>
<p> </p>
<p>A close contender for “favorite” status is <a href="http://micronictechnologies.com/" target="_blank">Micronic Technologies</a>, which has developed a micro-desalination "tornado" solution, which literally removes everything from water but, well, the water. Simply revolutionary. Always a fan of SMART management solutions, I enjoyed conversations also with the CEOs of <a href="http://www.smartoes.com" target="_blank">SMART Office Energy Solutions'</a> wireless plug-and-play systems, <a href="http://www.retroluxapp.com" target="_blank">Retrolux'</a> lighting lifecycle management systems, and many more.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>While at CTO, I spoke with many visionary problem-solvers, and formally joined the community that supports these heroes. CTO tribe members -- my heartfelt <em>Thank You</em> goes out to every one of you!</p>Concentrated Solar at the Micro Scaletag:www.innovatingsmart.org,2012-10-09:5294332:BlogPost:260172012-10-09T06:11:06.000ZEckhart Beattyhttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/EckhartBeatty
<p>According to award-winning Sollector Systems, optimally effective micro scale concentrating solar energy technology is found at approximately 3 meters in diameter. This is much smaller than most popular CSP systems, which we consider to be significantly less efficient with respect to energy collected and expended to run its systems.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Find a sneak preview here: </p>
<p><a href="http://www.sollecsys.com/">http://www.sollecsys.com/…</a></p>
<p></p>
<p>According to award-winning Sollector Systems, optimally effective micro scale concentrating solar energy technology is found at approximately 3 meters in diameter. This is much smaller than most popular CSP systems, which we consider to be significantly less efficient with respect to energy collected and expended to run its systems.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Find a sneak preview here: </p>
<p><a href="http://www.sollecsys.com/">http://www.sollecsys.com/</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.cleantechopen.com/app.cgi/teams/1705/">http://www.cleantechopen.com/app.cgi/teams/1705/</a></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>"Post-Recognition" Collaborationtag:www.innovatingsmart.org,2012-10-03:5294332:BlogPost:260092012-10-03T02:00:00.000ZSue Lebeckhttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/SueLebeck
<p>In Austin, Texas last week, the <a href="http://sxsweco.com/" target="_blank">SXSW Eco</a> community convened for its second year to address “the need for a concerted, cross sector approach to solving the recognized challenges facing the economy, the environment and civil society”. Their aim: “to drive the conversation of sustainability beyond rhetoric and towards solutions. “ </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The SXSW Eco folks are perhaps naming our era as they reach out to “professionals at the…</p>
<p>In Austin, Texas last week, the <a href="http://sxsweco.com/" target="_blank">SXSW Eco</a> community convened for its second year to address “the need for a concerted, cross sector approach to solving the recognized challenges facing the economy, the environment and civil society”. Their aim: “to drive the conversation of sustainability beyond rhetoric and towards solutions. “ </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The SXSW Eco folks are perhaps naming our era as they reach out to “professionals at the forefront of the post-recognition discussion”. “Post-Recognition discussion". I like it. "Post-Recognition" previews today as a turning point in history. It names the current era which our children’s grand-children will look back upon and tell stories about. It acknowledges the potent time we are living in now. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>In parallel acts of of “Post-Recognition”, <a href="http://www.sustainablesv.org" target="_blank">Sustainable Silicon Valley</a> in collaboration with the <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/sustainability-base/index.html" target="_blank">NASA/Ames Sustainability Base</a> came out last week with the details of their <a href="http://www.sustainablesv.org/content/call-solutions" target="_blank">Call for Solutions</a> as <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/showcase-of-solutions-for-planetary-sustainability" target="_blank">previewed here</a> last month. In the words of Executive Director Marianna Grossman, “the intersection of different zones results in a very fertile area“. Indeed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Meanwhile, <a href="http://www.svforum.com" target="_blank">SVForum</a> will look at the systems-integration opportunity of the “Post-Recognition” era as they host a <a href="http://svforum.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Calendar.eventDetail&eventID=14270" target="_blank">Clean-Tech Mashup</a> on convergence and innovation next Tuesday. Organizers of this event observe that “leading companies … are looking at traditional problems and opportunities in a more aggregated way and with a new mindset. … In pursuit of the solutions, companies are partnering, prototyping, and exploring for value in major new ways”. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>And next month, the message gets louder as GreenBiz and GreenBuild collaborate to bring the <a href="http://www.greenbiz.com/events/verge/2012/11/san-francisco?AffiliateData=rhblk" target="_blank">VERGE</a> conversation to San Francisco “to illuminate the opportunities for radical efficiencies created through technology advancements in energy, buildings and transportation… VERGE explores company engagement in a vast web of relationships to exploit convergence, from industry standards to employee engagement to NGO partnerships”.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The momentum potential of these one-after-another conversations is encouraging. Only by focusing on clean-tech/sustainability as the cross-sector inter-systems collaboration challenge it is will we create the correct frame to get this right. May "Post-Recognition" mark a fertile time, and may the era of collaboration begin!</p>Creative Spaces: Summertimes and Showcasestag:www.innovatingsmart.org,2012-09-05:5294332:BlogPost:257152012-09-05T03:00:00.000ZSue Lebeckhttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/SueLebeck
<p>Ah, summertime! A vacation to Tuscany, a visit from my daughter, a publishing break – such are the spaces that allow creativity to thrive. And yet, we close our summer breaks fittingly with a celebration of Labor and the generative fruits of our work – which often have their genesis in the creative spaces of summer. We highlight two such initiatives today.</p>
<p><br></br> The first creative initiative comes from the always-generative…</p>
<p>Ah, summertime! A vacation to Tuscany, a visit from my daughter, a publishing break – such are the spaces that allow creativity to thrive. And yet, we close our summer breaks fittingly with a celebration of Labor and the generative fruits of our work – which often have their genesis in the creative spaces of summer. We highlight two such initiatives today.</p>
<p><br/> The first creative initiative comes from the always-generative <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/regenerative-collaboration-at-sustainable-silicon-valley" target="_blank">Sustainable Silicon Valley (SSV).</a> This time Executive Director Marianna Grossman teamed up with Dr. Steven F. Zornetzer, Associate Director and design/build leader of the <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/sustainability-base-nasa-ames-space-station-on-earth" target="_blank">Sustainability Base</a> at the NASA/Ames Research Center. Together, they are launching a <a href="http://www.sustainablesv.org/content/showcase-launch" target="_blank">Showcase Competition</a>, "to identify and showcase solutions that can scale to have a positive impact for sustainability on a planetary scale." Details of this <a href="http://www.sustainablesv.org" target="_blank">“Call for Solutions for Planetary Sustainability”</a> will be announced on September 12. </p>
<p></p>
<p>InnovatingSMART was fortunate to attend the invitation-only Launch event at NASA on August 23, and today’s <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/showcase-of-solutions-for-planetary-sustainability" target="_blank">spotlighted SMART innovation interview</a> with Marianna comes from there. A preview of solutions was unveiled as a core part of the event as well, and several will be spotlighted by us next month. The upcoming submission and sharing of solutions to the Showcase Competition will be facilitated by SSV’s online community at EcoCloud. Hear about it from Martha Lyons of the <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/submit-solutions-to-the-ecocloud" target="_blank">EcoCloud team.</a></p>
<p><br/> The second creative initiative comes from yours truly. Always eager to help innovation networks constellate around SMART innovation, I will be complementing my <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/starnet-innovating-through-all" target="_blank">R&D collaboration</a> work at StarNet LCC with several generative services designed to help you visualize and realize your own SMART innovation initiatives. <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org" target="_blank">ImagineSMART! InnovateSMART! CelebrateSMART!</a> will be coming soon. Let us know if your organization would like to become an early adopter. Because as Marianna says, "<span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">Life is short, and this is not a dress rehearsal</span>. Go for it!"</p>No Surprisestag:www.innovatingsmart.org,2012-06-06:5294332:BlogPost:246682012-06-06T05:30:00.000ZSue Lebeckhttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/SueLebeck
<p>Trust is at the core of what I care about.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Trust is the <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/page/smart-design" target="_blank">sustainable-design-quality</a> behind the "T" in "SMART" innovation. Trust is also at the center of our work at <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/starnet-innovating-through-all" target="_blank">StarNet</a>, where we create conditions for leaders across an industry to come together to lift their shared…</p>
<p>Trust is at the core of what I care about.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Trust is the <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/page/smart-design" target="_blank">sustainable-design-quality</a> behind the "T" in "SMART" innovation. Trust is also at the center of our work at <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/starnet-innovating-through-all" target="_blank">StarNet</a>, where we create conditions for leaders across an industry to come together to lift their shared innovation platform, creating higher ground on which to compete. Indeed, trust is the most needed where the goal is the most ambitious. </p>
<p></p>
<p>So I was especially pleased to sit down with Susan Lucas-Conwell, successful CEO of SVForum who last year took the reins at the <a href="http://www.greatplacetowork.com/" target="_blank">Great Place to Work</a> institute, whose very mission is to help organizations build trust that could lead to Fortune (Fortune's <a href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2011/index.html" target="_blank">100 Best Companies to Work For</a>, that is).</p>
<p></p>
<p>Before <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/building-trust-with-great-place-to-work-institute" target="_blank">our chat</a> (see today's spotlighted story), Susan gifted me with a copy of <a href="http://www.greatplacetowork.com/publications-and-events/books/721-the-trustworthy-leader" target="_blank">The Trustworthy Leader</a>, hot off the presses, by Institute co-founder Amy Lyman. Drawing on twenty years of research, Amy observes the process of trust as a circular one -- an evolving cycle based in Honor and capable of Moving through Uncertainty, applying the practices of Inclusion, Engaging Followers, Sharing Information and Developing Others. These trust practices are discussed in detail, and demonstrated through stories of great workplaces in her book. Ultimately, Amy summarizes Trust as "integrity between actions and words." Or, as my partner at StarNet likes to say, "No Surprises".</p>
<p> </p>
<p>To that end, I'd like to let you know now that changes are ahead for InnovatingSMART. I am committed to <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/page/about-1" target="_blank">sustaining</a> and building this living narrative of sustainable innovation and practice. Yet in light of the exciting demands of working at StarNet, and the desire to keep InnovatingSMART fresh and relevant, some shift will need to emerge. What shift? We hold that as a question for now. In the meantime, we will take our space in July, and return to you with hints of this narrative's next chapter in late August.<br/> <br/> Have a great summer, full of adventure and wonder, but if possible "No Surprises". Enjoy!</p>May is Game-Readiness Month for Change-Makerstag:www.innovatingsmart.org,2012-05-02:5294332:BlogPost:246512012-05-02T01:30:00.000ZSue Lebeckhttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/SueLebeck
<p>Whether we feel we are experiencing too much change or not yet enough, change IS the massively multiplayer adventure game on the table these days. And the game is much more fun if we are prepared!</p>
<p> <br></br> Admired colleagues are serving up some great preparations for change-makers this month, and you will want to get your share. Marianna Grossman’s <em>Sustainable Silicon Valley WEST - Climate Change and Resiliency…</em></p>
<p>Whether we feel we are experiencing too much change or not yet enough, change IS the massively multiplayer adventure game on the table these days. And the game is much more fun if we are prepared!</p>
<p> <br/> Admired colleagues are serving up some great preparations for change-makers this month, and you will want to get your share. Marianna Grossman’s <em>Sustainable Silicon Valley WEST - Climate Change and Resiliency</em> <a href="http://www.sustainablesv.org/content/west-summit" target="_blank">conference</a> is happening on May 24th, preceded conveniently on May 22nd by Electronic Arts’ Andy Billings' <a href="http://scu.edu/business/edc/take-the-lead-on-change.cfm" target="_blank">workshop</a> on <em>Skills and Toolkits to Help You Navigate Change</em>. Addressing the high stakes adventures games ahead, both will prepare you - ensuring more fun, and with more friends.<br/> </p>
<p><a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/regenerative-collaboration-at-sustainable-silicon-valley" target="_blank">Marianna</a> says: “Meet with pioneers who are leading global companies to adapt to the new climate and economic era... with revolutionary approaches to a sustainable future.” And from <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/profiles/blogs/leading-the-change-ahead-begin" target="_blank">Andy</a>: “We will share our change experiences in a fun, hands-on, interactive workshop... I am teamed up with Glenn Tobe, a very wise and entertaining veteran of the organizational change world.”</p>
<p><br/> So get ready! Because “In today’s organization, change leadership can come from anyone”.</p>
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<p><em><strong>Pst!</strong></em> Looking ahead to June, join SSV’s Sustainability Leaders <a href="http://www.sustainablesv.org/civicrm/event/info?id=61&reset=1" target="_blank">Forum</a> where the guest speaker will be famed co-author of <a href="http://www.mcdonough.com/cradle_to_cradle.htm" target="_blank">Cradle to Cradle</a>, William McDonough. His most recent project is NASA/Ames’ <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/features/2012/sustainability_base_feature.html" target="_blank">Sustainability Base</a>, dedicated <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/william-mcdonough--partners-celebrates-dedication-of-sustainability-base---nasas-first-space-station-on-earth-148296115.html" target="_blank">last month</a> and featured in today’s InnovatingSMART story spotlight.</p>
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<p></p>A New Cultural Narrative for Sustainabilitytag:www.innovatingsmart.org,2012-04-03:5294332:BlogPost:247762012-04-03T19:00:00.000ZSue Lebeckhttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/SueLebeck
<p>Last year at one of the many sustainability-focused conversations I joined, a wise woman in the audience expressed well the conundrum we are living. Despite our talk and activity around sustainable practice, our current cultural narratives of consumption and narrow measures of success are working against us. We have no narrative for creating a world with regenerativity and sustainability at its core. Without a new story, we are well-intended players trapped in an out-of-date…</p>
<p>Last year at one of the many sustainability-focused conversations I joined, a wise woman in the audience expressed well the conundrum we are living. Despite our talk and activity around sustainable practice, our current cultural narratives of consumption and narrow measures of success are working against us. We have no narrative for creating a world with regenerativity and sustainability at its core. Without a new story, we are well-intended players trapped in an out-of-date game.</p>
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<p>In response to that call-to-cultural-story, today we unveil our own first attempt at articulating such a narrative. We have created a meta-story from the many stories of SMART innovation now in our video archive. The result is the 7-minute video in this month's spotlight: <em><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsuHvN5GG3s&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">Shaping the Future Today</a>. </em> Its messages will be familiar to our readers. Its themes draw the outlines of our adventure ahead. They include:</p>
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<p><em>Our partnership with nature:</em> Nature will re-enter daily experience. It will populate our urban landscapes, and inform the sucess of our most effectively-designed systems.</p>
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<p><em>Business is changing:</em> The rules of the business game are changing. Business of the future will be characterized by interacting systems, collaborative R&D, and triple-bottom-lines. Together, we will create a regenerative capitalism system which grows the underlying social and environmental systems on which our wealth is built.</p>
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<p><em>Buyers hold power:</em> From individual consumers and prosumers, to organizations and institutional buyers, we will create the enlightened markets which shape the successful businesses of tomorrow.</p>
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<p><em>Collaboration is key:</em> Community networks and innovation networks will drive cultural and business change. The power of collaboration will be unleashed.</p>
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<p>Yes, we are in this together, and we must be bold. We ARE shaping the future. Today.</p>Wisdom for Aspiring SMART Innovators, from IBM SmartCamptag:www.innovatingsmart.org,2012-03-06:5294332:BlogPost:236922012-03-06T03:00:00.000ZAlyson Greenleehttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/AlysonGreenlee
<p>“Be passionate but realistic. Learn to adapt, and don't give up. It’ll take longer than you think, but you'll change the world.”</p>
<p>Those were some of the words of wisdom passed on from the stories of entrepreneurs and innovators at IBM’s SmartCamp Global Finals here in San Francisco on February 2<sup>nd</sup>, 2012. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/yourobservations/forum/topics/wisdom-for-aspiring-smart-innovators-from-ibm-smartcamp" target="_blank">Get the full…</a></p>
<p>“Be passionate but realistic. Learn to adapt, and don't give up. It’ll take longer than you think, but you'll change the world.”</p>
<p>Those were some of the words of wisdom passed on from the stories of entrepreneurs and innovators at IBM’s SmartCamp Global Finals here in San Francisco on February 2<sup>nd</sup>, 2012. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/yourobservations/forum/topics/wisdom-for-aspiring-smart-innovators-from-ibm-smartcamp" target="_blank">Get the full story in our "Observations" section...</a></p>
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<p></p>Half-time? Or Game-change?tag:www.innovatingsmart.org,2012-02-09:5294332:BlogPost:199722012-02-09T04:30:00.000ZSue Lebeckhttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/SueLebeck
<p>What a difference a year makes. While <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/profiles/blogs/green-scores-big-at-45th-super" target="_blank">last year’s SuperBowl ads</a> optimistically touted the latest in “green” cars, this year’s most-talked-about SuperBowl ad called the alarm on our current social crisis. Yes, Clint Eastwood’s <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/it-s-half-time-in-america" target="_blank">“It’s Half-time in America”</a> pep-talk…</p>
<p>What a difference a year makes. While <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/profiles/blogs/green-scores-big-at-45th-super" target="_blank">last year’s SuperBowl ads</a> optimistically touted the latest in “green” cars, this year’s most-talked-about SuperBowl ad called the alarm on our current social crisis. Yes, Clint Eastwood’s <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/it-s-half-time-in-america" target="_blank">“It’s Half-time in America”</a> pep-talk left a deep, if confused, mark on its audiences. Whatever your personal reaction, the inescapable and poignant message remains: “What are we going to do now?”</p>
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<p>Eastwood's “half-time” metaphor was a powerful and contextually perfect construct for urging a leadership huddle all across America. Indeed - we face a time where we need to look candidly and honestly at where we are, and figure out how we will “play the game” in the future if we hope to be successful. We are perched at a point where our next plays could serve us very, very well, or very, very badly.</p>
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<p>I applaud the ad, <a href="http://www.innovatingsmart.org/group/theinnovations/forum/topics/it-s-half-time-in-america" target="_blank">innovative in unintended ways</a>. Still, I can’t help but notice that Eastwood’s metaphor feels stifling to me. "Half-time” is not, in my view, the place we are in. The very idea of settling for a future which lasts a couple-hundred years, and ends in big winners and big losers makes my heart sick. The concept is a non-starter. Indeed, who is even the opponent in this game “America” is playing? No, what we need is not two more quarters of our current game. What we need is to change the game – its premises, its interactions, its rules, its definitions of success -- and we need to change them soon. </p>
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<p>Luckily, America changes it rules rather regularly. From the abolishment of slavery, to granting women the right to vote, from the first industrial age to the civil rights movement, and from automation to globalization, America has changed its rules time and time again. Disruption is central to this process. But as a living system, committed to staying alive, the creative changes that insist on emerging at each key juncture ultimately prevail, and the systems around them adapt. </p>
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<p>What is the game change emerging now? It begins with the “comeback” itself – the regenerative return of <a href="http://www.fareedzakaria.com/home/Articles/Entries/2012/1/26_The_Case_for_Making_It_in_the_USA.html" target="_blank">American manufacturing</a>, as modelled by Eastwood’s Chrysler. But a “comeback” is not enough. In 2012, a return to turning out cars that top out at 31 mpg* is a return to the past, not a platform for building the future. </p>
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<p>A platform for building the future will require much more. A platform for building the future will require new performance expectations, new collaborations, new points of view and new paradigms. Fundamentally, it will require <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_bottom_line" target="_blank">triple-bottom-line thinking</a> which understands that people-planet-profit must grow together if they are to thrive. It will require regenerative social ecologies and creative <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_ecology" target="_blank">industrial ecologies</a>, which use the wastestreams from one industry to feed the input needs of another. It will require collective intelligence and full-press collaboration. It will also require expanded courage and risk-sharing, and the dissolution of false enemies and their creativity-consuming dynamics. </p>
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<p>Half-time or not, how will we transform this game?</p>
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<p>* Forgive my impatience. I’ve been getting 40-45 mpg since 2003. </p>100 Years of Innovationtag:www.innovatingsmart.org,2012-01-04:5294332:BlogPost:135502012-01-04T01:00:00.000ZSue Lebeckhttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/SueLebeck
<p>In the after-glow of holiday magic, we are reminded of our power - and responsibility - to create magic in the world. Suspending disbelief, we stretch our imaginations and, at least for a time, expand our view of what is possible. </p>
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<p>Recently, my colleagues and I answered an invitation to consider how to expand our collective view of what is possible in the field of commercial space. In responding to DARPA’s <a href="http://www.100yss.org/index.html" target="_blank">One…</a></p>
<p>In the after-glow of holiday magic, we are reminded of our power - and responsibility - to create magic in the world. Suspending disbelief, we stretch our imaginations and, at least for a time, expand our view of what is possible. </p>
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<p>Recently, my colleagues and I answered an invitation to consider how to expand our collective view of what is possible in the field of commercial space. In responding to DARPA’s <a href="http://www.100yss.org/index.html" target="_blank">One Hundred Year StarShip</a>, we responded to a call to create an organization designed to spawn a century of innovation. What a refreshing request! In a time when short-term thinking rules even as long-term needs abound, being invited to structurally generate innovation over three to four generations is exciting in itself. What could be achieved in 100 years of commercial space innovation? Indeed, what could be achieved in 100 years of innovation in any field we set our focused collaborative attention to? </p>
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<p>Commercial Space may not be the first field which comes to mind in a sustainability context. Yet, the marriage of business and space travel has the potential to re-generate our collective excitement in the sciences (biology, physics, chemistry and more), and to re-inspire business to take on both difficult challenges and accountable risk. Meanwhile, advanced earth observation systems will extend the information and motivation needed to creatively sustain the earth. Best of all, long-distance space travel and long-term space habitation will challenge and inform our understanding of living systems, and of life itself. Food, water, oxygen and even waste will stand out as the precious and regenerative elements that they are, and new systems for managing them creatively will emerge. Self-sustaining energy sources will be required to power these systems. Additionally, extended life in space will require new and conscious spaces to be created for human interaction - work, play, expression, contemplation, entertainment and relationship. Where nothing can be taken for granted, active practices of presence and vitality-creation will rule, and re-inspire these aspects of life on earth.</p>
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<p>The innovation which is to come will invite record numbers to make space travel, space-informed research and space-life a part of their lives. Along the way, they will be personally enabled to behold, understand, imitate and revere the wonder that is Earth. </p>
<p> </p>On Being Santatag:www.innovatingsmart.org,2011-12-21:5294332:BlogPost:138262011-12-21T02:00:00.000ZSue Lebeckhttp://www.innovatingsmart.org/profile/SueLebeck
<p>As many of you know, my mid-life crisis came early. After fifteen years in the networking industry commercializing and connecting people to the Internet, I stepped back in the mid-90’s to look at the people we were connecting and, well, people in general. For several years, I directed my creative energy to parenting, studying psychology and seeking the meaning of life (or at least the meaning of mine). I did not find the meaning of life, but I did learn how we create meaning for life. …</p>
<p>As many of you know, my mid-life crisis came early. After fifteen years in the networking industry commercializing and connecting people to the Internet, I stepped back in the mid-90’s to look at the people we were connecting and, well, people in general. For several years, I directed my creative energy to parenting, studying psychology and seeking the meaning of life (or at least the meaning of mine). I did not find the meaning of life, but I did learn how we create meaning for life. The answer – through story.</p>
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<p>Story is writ large at holiday time. Each of “the holidays” attends to and breathes life into a sustaining cultural story – a story which we ultimately choose, embrace, customize and share with others. Our chosen story is our way of reconnecting with our humanity, reminding ourselves what we and others need, and searching for nuggets of wisdom.</p>
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<p>As a middle-aged girl from Iowa, my holiday story is, naturally, the Santa story. Santa is the guy who delivers "magic". Forever. Year after year. Santa is a sustainability-driven guy. He inspires and cares for the youngest generation, and in so doing provides for all generations at the same time. Santa takes the long view. He bestows gifts that delight today (a song, or a sweet), gifts that comfort day after day (a sweater, a sofa), and gifts that will generate experience and growth (a book, a bike, a computer, a car). Santa forms a generative platform on which others can create. Santa is cool.</p>
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<p>When we are very young, Santa [insert inspiring holiday character here] is outside of us. But as we grow, Santa moves inside. By school-age, we begin to share in the Santa-creation experience. By adulthood, we begin to design our own form of Santa-ness , based on what is important to us. What do we wish to create? To give? To hope for? What magical effect do we seek to generate through our gifts?</p>
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<p>One thing is for sure – we must each become our unique form of Santa. At holiday time, and all of the time. If we refuse -- there will be no delight, no comfort, no learning, no platform on which to create. There will be no magic. By creating [insert inspiring holiday character here], we create our meaning for life.</p>