10.08.10 San Francisco Fort Mason Center: Global Summit II

OVF’s Jeff Buderer will be attending The Global Summit II (TGS) at the Fort Mason Center in SF on Nov 8th. The first preparatory event was held in Nov 08 at the Presidio in SF. At that event, Jeff had the chance to go and speak as a presenter discussing OVF’s work.

Background

Empowerment Works Founder and TGS producer Melanie St James has sought to link social justice, hands on international policy research and private sector entrepreneurship to enable more holistic and multi-sector collaboration. After founding Empowerment Works (EW) in 2001, she developed EW’s “7 Stages to Sustainability” approach to Asset Based Community Development. Most recently she has applied those techniques to her recent teaching of the 7 Stages to Sustainability curriculum (Fall 2009) to 90+ young women leaders in China for the World Academy for the Future of Women.

OVF, supported her selection as the Co-Chair on one of the panels discussing The Role of Technology on Indigenous Culture at the 5th International Symposium on Digital Earth in 2006. Also in April 2007, Jeff worked with Melanie on designing and planning for the first national press-conference on Colony Collapse Disorder, “Bees, Bio diversity and Food Security,” The event brought expert insights on sustainable agriculture, critical food security and bio-diversity to the mainstream media through the LA Times and the LA NBC affiliate.

Why The Global Summit?

The idea of the The Global Summit is to bring in stakeholders to this event who can co-create a process by which we cab built collective IQ in the emerging network that has brought us together for this conference. TGS is more than an event, but a platform for programs and bringing people knowledge and the resources to deliver results together. This is to be part of a “whole system approach to address humanity’s most critical challenges from the ground up.” A key reason or organizing principle of the conference is to make it a “catalyst for year-round collaboration of citizens, businesses and organizations working together to co-create a sustainable future.”

Event Objectives:

  1. Create the world’s first global citizen voting platform.
  2. Achieve the 8 Millennium Development Goals & The Earth Charter.
  3. Catalyze immediate climate change solutions & sustainable development.

Global Summit Approach

Promoting best practices in locally-led sustainable development, The Global Summit serves to unify and train global Partners in Empowerment (PIE) in the 7 Stages to Sustainability educational framework.

  1. Applying advances in communications to empower new voices to be heard;
  2. Unites the most powerful and grass-roots change makers to co-create hands-on solutions;
  3. Catalyze local action;
  4. Share what works best and facilitate innovation between network via what computer augmentation experts like Doug Engelbart call Collective IQ;
  5. Disseminate the most effective sustainable technologies on earth around alternative economic and governance models to create a global sustainable society.

Tech Expo

The event will feature an Sustainable Technology Expo - Theme: “21st Century Cities” including inspirational potential solutions (if there is a process for their mass dissemination at the grassroots) for a future Global Sustainable Society. One of the keys is how to deploy those technologies in a way that is humane, truly sustainable and empowering to the people in the communities that make up humanity. This conference is designed to highlight the coming together of relevant groups to make the kind of multisector approach needed to accomplish the goals mentioned in the Global Summit Approach section above.

At the nexus of economic development and environmental solutions is The Global Summit Sustainable Technology Expo. To demonstrate what’s working to all stakeholders, this front and center showcase runs full-time during all programming and during evening cultural events.

Celebrating the theme of “21st Century Cities”, The Global Summit II Sustainable Tech Expo features the greenest, cleanest and most grass-roots friendly technologies in 8 key categories (based on white paper by Tony Livoti of www.MBITA.org) that can create truly viable 21st Century Cities.

  1. Proficient water purification, conservation and recycling systems
  2. Capable waste management and recycling systems that process waste at the source
  3. Clean transportation systems designed for walking, bicycling and efficient transportation tramways
  4. Self-sustained renewable energy sources from wind, sun, bio-fuel crops, geothermal and waste mass integrated into a smart micro-grid energy plant
  5. Up-link satellite communication centers for education, business and entertainment
  6. Sustainable agricultural centers employing hydroponics, aqua-ponics, aero-ponics, vertical agriculture and other sustainable, agro-technology systems
  7. Preventive Medicine center that encompasses all of the products, technologies, remedies and sciences behind holistic medicine
  8. Green Construction center with efficient, portable, alterable, cost-effective and innovative building methodologies

Download Tech Expo Press Release

TGS as a Social Enterprise
The Global Summit is a 100% for-impact initiative with all proceeds supporting locally-led, sustainable development programs and education.

For more Information:

  • You can register here for the event.
  • TGS II Program Page
  • Multi-part Interview of Melanie by Voice America Business Internet Radio personality David Gibbons. It also included an interview with Barbara Marx-Hubbard who spoke with Melanie about the “Delivery of a whole system approach in addressing humanity’s most critical challenges from the ground up.”