nber report final_v1
TRANSCRIPT
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The Global Commoners Roundtable Co-creating a New Ethical Planetary Civilization and Governance
Geneva, Switzerland 6-7 December 2010 A report describing a unique International group which will contribute to and support more sustainable economies, societies and environments in China and in the rest of the world.
"When the best rulers achieve their purpose their subjects claim the achievement as their own."
Chapter 17, Tao De Ching
New Blue Earth Roundtable www.newblueearth.org
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Preface
The New Blue Earth Roundtable was established in Switzerland in
September 2009. The Roundtable is committed to co-creating an
acceptable route to global governance and sustainability. It
delivers this objective through three pillars; as a think tank, a forum
for dialogues and by supporting and engaging in sustainable projects.
Participants are carefully selected to provide a significant diversity of
backgrounds and experiences; thereby honoring the principle of a
true multi stakeholder event. The objective of the roundtable
meetings is to dialogue, to build trust across multiple stakeholders
and very importantly, to influence global processes and frameworks.
Since its creation New Blue Earth Roundtable has convened four
successful roundtable events in Switzerland. These are the ‘Launch of
the New Blue Earth’ in September 2009, the ‘Springboard of your
life’ in October 2009, and Dr. Steve Chen hosted a seminar on the
‘Contribution of cloud computing in Disaster mitigation and climate
change’ in November 2009.
In December 2010, the New Blue Earth Roundtable hosted a two day conference in Geneva on the theme of
‘Co-creating an Ethical Planetary Civilization and Governance’. We invited an international group of 60
people to Geneva for two days to discuss how, by aligning and working with China, the world society could
avoid the suicidal trajectory upon which it was traveling. The meeting created a profound feeling of
camaraderie, collaboration and potential amongst the group and we called ourselves the ‘Global
Commoners’. A pallet of sustainable projects and initiatives were discussed, from capacity building using
new techniques, to creative breakthrough technologies in energy and water purification, health and
education for the rural poor, peace building and conflict resolution, eco-communities, new economics and
disaster relief being amongst them. Many of the group of ‘Global Commoners’ are acknowledged as world
experts in their field, and the dialogue was remarkable for its inspirational creativity and the opportunity it is
providing for paradigm shift discussions with China.
After the Conference, the ‘Global Commoners’ expressed their wish that the management of the New Blue
Earth Roundtable would explore ways to share and implement the results of the Geneva Group's knowledge
with China to support a more harmonious societal outcome for China and global society generally.
Lawrence Bloom Sonia Liu
Vice Chairman Co-founder & Executive Chairman
New Blue Earth Roundtable New Blue Earth Roundtable
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Background and Introduction
Over the last few decades the world has witnessed a surge in economic globalization that has created
material wealth and prosperity at a rate never seen before in the history of mankind. Hundreds of millions of
people in China, Asia, Latin America and Africa have been lifted out of poverty during this period. The flip
side of this increasing wealth is that we are now facing increasing systemic risks within and between nation-
states.
These have been made evident by recent crises, the latest being our financial system breakdown coupled
with shortages and major price rises in energy and food, regional conflicts, the growing risk of a major
epidemic, and the current climate change challenges.
To address these systemic breakdowns and the negative externalities of our global economy, there is a clear
need for a re-think of ethics, governance, global regulation and polity. The most significant challenge of this
century could simply be to create enhanced global community and governance models that will support our
global family to transcend the current outdated systems.
In this context, on December 6-7, 2010, an international group of thinkers, doers and connectors with
considerable track-records in multiple societal domains, gathered in Geneva Switzerland to dialogue, co-
develop and launch a series of initiatives and projects that will serve to address many of our current and
future global challenges. The key outcome of this event was the formation of a Global Commons with an
initial goal of opening a dialogue and collaboration with China for the co-design and implementation of a
series of sustainable and realizable projects.
China has been playing a growing and significant role in global economies and has also been addressing
many issues of strategic importance for its nation, people and future prosperity. Consequently the activities
of the proposed China - Global Commons Collaboration will be supported through international bridge
building activities between China and the rest of the world. It is our expectation that these dialogues will
serve to develop and accelerate collective global efforts to address our most pressing global and regional
challenges.
This collaboration will pioneer creative and resilient ideas and projects across multiple sectors of the Chinese
economy and disseminate the research that it conducts, generating compelling futures for China and its
partners. The methods used will ensure that all voices are heard and respected in the shaping of the
projects and initiatives as well as by challenging conventional thinking and going beyond the borders of our
current paradigms.
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Recommendation
The meeting in Geneva provided a platform for many interested and informed people to exchange ideas and make proposals that would add value to the Chinese people and potentially the world. The particular streams that would add the most value were considered to be:
Disaster Modeling, Prevention & Reduction and Post-Disaster Reconstruction.
Global Peace Building and Conflict Resolution
Holistic Societal Governance
Stimulating initiatives that address balance between personal and collective responsibility
Stimulating connectedness among people and change societal models through Information
Technology
Encouraging Institutions promoting Values, Virtues and Vision for Harmonious Living through
sustainable Ethics
Ethical Economics
Developing Self-sustaining People, Organizations and eco-communities
Stimulating Healthy living model
Stimulating Education for all
Stimulating sustainability through Innovation and technology
Understanding the deep prerequisites for a harmonious society
Proposals for discussion have been received from the groups of participants representing these streams,
which will need to be discussed with our colleagues in China to find areas of consensus.
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Delivering Holographic Change
We recognize that China and the world face many challenges which lead to a priority to establish self
sustaining communities simultaneously with implementing Disaster Relief Management technologies.
Dealing with both natural and complex disasters requires the need for rapid response, relief, rebuilding and
resilience. Self-sustainability requires inputs in Health, Education and Enterprise which it is possible to
manifest in eco-communities. Fundamental to all these initiatives are the development of harmonious values
to deliver ethical economics and trans-generational growth in peace and harmony.
In order to clarify the different proposals at the Geneva meeting, it has been necessary to integrate them
into an overall framework as shown in below figure.
* Holographic change is where each element of the change process is in harmony with the collective change
objectives so that just as in a hologram if you break it into pieces the total picture is retained in the smallest
part.
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Conclusion
The legacy of three hundred years of western scientific thoughts has created a tendency to analyze rather than synthesize. The spirit of the Chinese culture is the unity of humanity and nature together with holistic thinking and it is the harmonious hybrid of both cultures. There was much inspiration and collaboration at the event which enabled us to harmonize a number of the project streams and initiatives.
In this context, the ‘Global Commoners’ group is now exploring ways in which these streams can be
supported and promoted by deep collaboration throughout Chinese society in a way that could synthesize a
harmonious global impact.
Contributors
The Roundtable on the ‘Global Commoners’ was under the direct responsibility of Lawrence Bloom, Vice
Chairman and Sonia Liu, Executive Chairman.
The meeting was facilitated by Mike Anson and Greg Bernarda with the support and advice of Architects of
Group Genius in Milan and Meeting Coordinators: Yi Ming Woo, Minh Lam and Sophy Moeun.
This report was written by Dr. Royston Flude and Mike Anson
Photographs and Video production: Shu Chen Lin. Simultaneous translators: Yi Ming Woo and WuBo.
Participants
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Mr. Mike Anson, CEO of Leading Technologies Group SA, Switzerland Email: [email protected] Dr. Malou-Louise Anson, Co-founder of Life Quality Enhancement Organization, Switzerland Email: [email protected] Mr. James Anson, Psychology and Neuroscience student at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland Email: [email protected] Ms Sophia Awa, Vice Chairman of Ecoharmony World Asset Management Co., Ltd, China Email: [email protected] Ms Margret Baier, Co-founder Joytopia Akademie und Medienproduktion, Germany Email: [email protected] Mr. Greg Bernarda, Senior Consultant of Architects of Group Genius, Italy Email: [email protected] Dr. Bob Bishop, President of ICES Foundation, Switzerland Email: [email protected] Mr. Lawrence Bloom, Senior Policy Advisor in Lord Bell’s, Chime Communications plc, UK Email: [email protected] Mr. Greg Bowman, Co-founder & President of Bhairavi Energy, Canada Email: [email protected] Mr. John Bunzl, Founder of the International Simultaneous Policy Organization, UK
Email: [email protected]
Mr. Sesto Giovanni Castagnoli, Founder member & President of World Spirit Forum, Switzerland and International, Ambassador of Cities of Light, Guatemala Email: [email protected] Ms Gabriele Castagnoli, Core team member of World Spirit Forum, Switzerland Email: [email protected] Mr. Robert Chai, Project Executor, Shanghai Maxim Garment Accessories Co.,LTD, China Email: [email protected] Mr. Michael Chai, Marketing Specialist, Evermax Global Resource Co., Ltd, China Email: [email protected] Mr. Flora Chen, Associate Publisher of Zhong Tai Sheng Ye Consult Co.,Ltd, China Email: [email protected] Mr. Ivy Chen, Associate Lecturer of Zhong Tai Sheng Ye Consult Co.,Ltd, China Email: [email protected] Dr. Steve Chen, Chairman of Information SuperGrid Technology Inc., USA & China Email: [email protected]
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Mr. Nathan Cheng, Founder of Carbon Light Ltd, Hong Kong Email: [email protected] Dr. Scilla Elworthy, founder of the Oxford Research Group and Peace Direct, UK Email: [email protected] Mr. Greg Fisher, Chief Economist of ResPublica, UK Email: [email protected] Eur Ing Dr. Royston Flude, President of CMDC-SPOC, Switzerland and Chairman of Disaster Relief: Rotarian Action Group, Switzerland Email: [email protected] Dr. David Foo, Founder of Holistic Energy Therapy Centre, Malaysia Email: [email protected] Mr. Peter Forrest, Founder of the Holistic Education Foundation and tgl.tv, UK Email: [email protected] Ms Julia Häusermann, Founder and President of Rights and Humanity, UK Email: [email protected] Mr. Kees Hoogendijk, Chairman of Vital4life Foundation, the Netherlands Email: [email protected] Mr. Bernd Hückstädt, Co-founder Joytopia Akademie und Medienproduktion, Germany Email: [email protected] Mr. Simon Jones, Senior partner in Lord Bell’s, Chime Communications plc, UK Email: [email protected] Mr. Yuri Kalendarev, Sound Sculptures, Sound Performance, Italy Email: [email protected] Mr. Eric Kuenzi, Attorney at Law of Ekonsulting, Switzerland Email: [email protected] Mr. Minh Lam, Co-founder and Board Member of New Blue Earth Roundtable, Switzerland Email: [email protected] Ms Lilian Lee, Executive Chairman, Asia Europe Capital, China Email: [email protected] Mr. Shu Chen Lin, Consultant of Zhong Tai Sheng Ye Consult Co.,Ltd, China Email: [email protected] Ms Sonia Liu, Co-founder and Executive Chairman of New Blue Earth Roundtable, Switzerland Email: [email protected] Mr. Ray Liu, Chairman of Prolo Charitable Foundation, Hong Kong Email: [email protected]
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Ms Sophy Moeun, Zürcher Kantonalbank, Switzerland Email: [email protected] Dr. Poh-Kok Ng, Founder / Managing Director of EcoPure Industries Sdn. Bhd., Malaysia Email: [email protected] Mr. Sean Ong, Germany Email: [email protected] Mr. Nicolai Peitersen, Founder & CEO of Ethical Economy, UK Email: [email protected] Mr. Jonathan Tsu Rong Lin, Director of V. Arts Int’l Consulting Co., Ltd, Singapore Email: [email protected] Ms Carrin Sew, Chairman of Karina Fashion Enterprise, Malaysia Email: [email protected] Mr. Hoe Seng Soong, COO of Public Bank Berhad, Malaysia Email: [email protected] Mr. David Solomon, Cross cultural consultant, UK Email: [email protected]
Ms Felicia Tan, Design Director of De Art Hi-Fashion Specialist, Singapore Email: [email protected] Ms Hong Lan Tsang, Chairman of ZhongTai Shen Ye Consult Co., Ltd, China Email: [email protected] Ms Laura Utley, Founder of Global Communications for Conservation, USA Email: [email protected] Ms Shirley Wang, Director of Orion Shoes, Taiwan Email: [email protected]
Mr. Rob Wheeler, Process and Content Coordinator for the World Transforming Initiatives and a UN Representative for the Global Ecovillage Network, USA Email: [email protected] Sir John Whitmore, Executive Chairman of Performance Consultants, UK Email: [email protected] Mr. Bo Wu, Simultaneous translator, Shanghai, China Email: [email protected] Mr. Swee Lian Woo, President of Perfect China Ltd, Malaysia Email: [email protected] Mr. Yi Ming Woo, Crew member of New Blue Earth Roundtable, Malaysia Email: [email protected]