Community Strength

Growing a green kid
WEB Reference, October 2006 (David Suzuki Foundation) - Sing it with me: I believe that children are the future/teach them well and let them lead the way…! Even if you’re not a parent, you might be a grandparent or an aunt or uncle or a teacher with children in your life. Little people have a habit of being lovable. And as adults we do our best to protect them. But are we doing enough to safeguard their health from environmental toxins? There are lots of small things we can do to educate our size smalls about the environment and protect their health. Read on and find out! http://www.davidsuzuki.org/NatureChallenge/newsletters/GreenKids_oct06/

Questioning Consumption / Local Living Economies

Buy Nothing Christmas
WEB Reference (Adbusters) - Buy Nothing Day is only one day. Our earth, our minds, our communities deserve more than that. So this year, let's take the fun, passion and message of BND and spin it to inspire a whole shop-free season! Gather family and friends, let's rise above the consumer binge and celebrate a Buy Nothing Christmas. But wait. Without the plastic gifts, how will you show you care? There are many creative ways… http://www.adbusters.org/metas/eco/bnd/bnd_xmas/

Social Enterprise and Innovation

The Steady Rise of The ‘Citizen Sector’
WEB Reference, March 1, 2006 (Clare Goff, Financial Times) - Whenever Bill Drayton spoke about “social enterprise” in the early 1980s his comments met with blank looks. “The smart ones would call it an oxymoron,” he recalls. Today the phrase he coined to describe ideas that combine business acumen with social reform is often on the lips of politicians of all hues. The concept has attracted both interest and money from billionaire financiers, including Warren Buffett. It has also generated a platform at the World Economic Forum at Davos, and is a standard option at many business schools. Mr Drayton - who says he has been a social entrepreneur since the age of 12 - is specific about its meaning. “At some deep intuitive level a social entrepreneur knows they have to change the whole of society,” says Mr. Drayton. “They are married to a vision.” http://www.ashoka.org/files/FinancialTimeMar06Ltr.pdf

Local Living Communities

Chicago Measure would let Neighborhoods Ban Formula Businesses
CHICAGO, USA, Oct. 11, 2006 (Hometown Advantage News) - Some neighborhood business districts in Chicago would be allowed to ban formula businesses under an ordinance drafted by city officials. The measure would establish a process by which residents could apply to have all formula businesses prohibited in their neighborhoods. Formula businesses are defined in the ordinance as retail stores or restaurants that share similar merchandise, décor, signage, and a trademark with five or more other establishments. http://www.newrules.org/retail/news_slug.php?slugid=344

The Economics of Life in Balance
HAWAII, November 22, 2006 (Regina Gregory, YES Magazine) - Pacific Island cultures thrived for millennia on an economy that is nothing like Adam Smith's free-market, self-interest-first model. But "aren't you interested in unemployment?" Smith asks Vinaka, a typical islander, in an imaginary interview. "We're not eager to work hard all day, every day. We are content to earn what is needed...you need a concept of enoughness." Let your students role-play the pro's and con's of our consumer-driven culture by learning a different approach to economics—"Pononomics"—from the Hawaiian word "pono" meaning "good." http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?id=1579

Empowerment for Social Change / Personal Sustainability

InterChange: Inner Change Igniting World Change
EDMONTON, November 2006 - Explore your potential and connect with your passion in this innovative group designed to support people working (or thinking about working) towards global change. Call 492-3746 for more information.
When: Wednesday evenings
Where: University of Alberta, Education Clinic