The Modern Day Heretic

A couple of months back I was at a conference called Signs of Change, where I was surrounded by interesting people and interesting ideas.

The conference was one of the first of its kind - a conference brought together for the new digital world ~ several seperate geographical hubs connected together by video conference technology. The aim was to bring together over 250 people without having the need to all travel great distances around NZ just to attend; we saved time, energy and a massive carbon footprint.

Here's a couple of excerpts from the Conference Manifesto;

My own journey to this new path starts in the past and the grief I have felt for what has been lost. But I am a thinking person, and I can choose a new way.

We have enough
We can share what we have
If we used less, it would be fine
We can move ourselves
The economy does not need to grow in order for us to thrive
Business can be ethical and fair
Business can express and nurture cultural values
Health is the care of humans
Public space in our cities belongs to humans
Open space belongs to wild things
We can meet at the market face to face
We can have humane relationships with the animals we depend on
We can work with Earth's systems
We can build our homes and buildings to last for 600 years
We look upstream to manage our waste
We derive wealth from our waste
We protect what nature creates, and we restore what we have damaged
We listen to what Earth's complex systems tell us
Our leaders listen to us and derive power from the mana of ethical behaviour and decisions
The powerful protect the weak
We are learning that this place is our home
We are weaving all the threads together
The most important people in our village are those who will be us some day
and we are listening to them.

The conference was based around sustainability - cross sectors and disciplines, to share and inspire, to inform and to collaborate. I came out feeling buoyed by the experience and the possibilities for the future.

I feel part of a building movement for a sustainable future - part technology, part innovation, but with a core value that 'more is not necessarily always better'.

The term 'heretic' has overtly religious connotations due to it being coined as a catch-cry in the last centuries to identify the enemy of religions; but actually it has nothing to do with religion originally. It comes from the Greek language, and means 'taking an opposing viewpoint'. We are the heretics of our age - we oppose the idea of unbridled growth, extractive industries, of lifestyle with no conscience of its impacts on the environment on which we rely.

Take a moment to think about how materialism/economic growth may not quite be the future. Have a watch of this amazing talk on TED.com.

As we move into 2011, take a moment to consider the opportunities that lie ahead to be a part of the solution instead of part of the problem.

Be good, live well, and exist with passion.

Building something special

Every now and then I get the hairs on the back of my neck rise up to remind me that what I'm talking about is something I'm truly passionate about and believe in.

Lately I have been experiencing it at work.

I've been very lucky to have linked up with Zealandia's Education team which enables me to talk about my passion every time I do a tour; the environment, ecosystems, and how and why New Zealand is unique and wonderful. Several times recently I have found myself quite impassioned when telling the youngsters about why we're relying on them to continue the conservation that we've begun in New Zealand, and how they can be part of the future of this very special country.

Strangely, I've also been finding I have a similar feeling with Enspiral recently. I've been talking with a lot of people about this venture - even doing some recruitment to get people on board to bolster the ranks and build the business. A couple of times I have spent 5 minutes or so communicating our vision, and what we feel can flow out of this exciting business if we hold true to our values and get the model right. It's been fun, interesting, challenging, inspiring, and keeping my eyes up to the future of what could be achieved has kept me focused and motivated.

It's nice to be part of two individual, un-related work places which both push me and test me in different ways, and balance two very different areas of my skills and interests.

It's been a good way to close out 2010 in a new city.