Day two of my amazing Hungary Journey

We had a revolution 200 years ago. It’s called the Industrial Revolution. Today, we are in the midst of another revolution. As with the last one, it will take a few generations to gain perspective so we can see this.

Today’s revolution is the Sustainability Revolution. How do we know? We can look to the last one – the same phenomena is happening: an upwelling of ideas, organizations, frameworks, rapid transformations paired with lots of failures and all topped off with lots of disruptions. Standing in the middle of it, it looks like chaos. It’s actually a period of discovery and creation –but the fallouts hurt and often keep us from seeing the creativity but perceiving the chaos.

As with any system there is resistance to disruptions. This is as it should be for some types of disruptions. Wars, famines, pandemics, environmental degradation, terrorism, and addiction. Nobody is okay with this. And to this, we need ways to keep going.

That is key in our work today. While we keep our eyes on the prize- Sustainability however you define that but you know its not happening today- we gird our loins for the work ahead.

Dennis Meadows, a founder of The Balaton Group, resilience. Resilience is not the end goal, but we need it if we are going to make it through this stage of the Sustainability Revolutions. What does resilience mean? Having enough in store to get buy, redundancy and putting in place what needs to be there so if you get knocked down, you can get up again. This is particularly important with disruptions- whether a war or a neighborhood torn by.

Jimela Haider, another Balaton fellows who has been working in Afghanistan talked about power relations and change agents. The change agents in Afghanistan are the women willing to got to the streets, not the powers in place. The change agents are the social capital, and when they are empowered, they create the sharing, caring and trusting society that lives through disruptions like war and pandemic so that life at that time is work living, and we emerge from the destruction happy.

Alan AtKisson, one of Sustainable Seattle’s founders and the Balaton Group leader, talked about keeping our eyes on the prize, asked what Sustainable Development is (and yes, he has the answers but asks for a purpose) and the importance of being conscientious and questioning in all we do.

Hungary? Go Jump in a Lake

Day one of my amazing Hungary journey by Laura Musikanski.

The Balaton Group is 30 years old today. What is the Balaton Group - it is a "network of professions" but really, it's a love fest. Well, not in the sense you are thinking of - but in another way. It's called Balaton because it all happens on the shores of Lake Balaton in Hungary, where 30 years ago, people from the Eastern block could meet with people from the West.

When I heard I was awarded a Donella Meadows fellowship I jumped for joy. Literally. It meant a group of very respected scientists, professors, researchers, politicians and professionals from all over the world thought the Happiness Initiative is an project worth hearing about. To me, it meant we were on the right track. And then it set in- eek. I was going to be among all these giants. As the days passed, I grew more anxious. The night before a case of the nerves kicked in resplendent with upset stomach, headache and even tooth-ache.

Well, I had nothing to worry about. Orientation quickly showed The Balaton Group is a place to get nurturing, help, and ideas from people who have the experience and knowledge of successful large projects. And the people are real. Somehow, this setting, and this organization breaks down the class, sector and other barriers and allows us to look at each other and the work we are doing with the eyes of a child and hearts full of love.

Each day, I will post about what is going on- what we learn, what others are doing and what it is like here.

Change Agentry for Sustainability

Why do some changes occur instantly, appear effortlessly, while other changes fail to occur at all?

Through a combination of hands-on and interactive activities Alan AtKisson’s class, Advanced Change Agentry for Sustainability, examined this thought providing insight on why change in Sustainability is different than change in other contexts and provided a “tool kit” on how to effectively produce this change.

The class began with an introduction to the ISIS pyramid. The ISIS pyramid identifies a clear process needed to induce change. The process begins with developing indicators, thinking about data and trends within the system. Once these are identified, begin building a map and identifying connections in the system you are attempting to change. After careful evaluation of the existing system you will integrate the innovation at systems key leverage points. The final step is developing a strategy to carefully and effectively communicate and incorporate the innovation into the existing system. ISIS- Indicator Identification, Systems Analysis, Innovation, and Strategy. The class reinforced change is powerful to all and it affects different people in different ways. We must know the players and stakeholders at all time.

Early in the class we examined the innovation adoption curve, discussing the importance of the “take off” phase and the different constituents involved in this process. This curve is key to understanding systems transformation. Alan uses an amoeba as a metaphor to describe the roles and relations in the process of this systems change. The innovation or intended change begins with an innovator. The innovator develops the idea, policy, initiative, and works to engage the change agent. The change agents absorb the idea from the innovator and then communicate it to the masses, beginning with the transformer. The transformers are open to ideas and are working to promote positive change, but act as the gatekeeper for the idea and are careful which idea they allow to pass through. The amoeba is reliant on the pieces in the center of the organism, in this case those are the “mainstreamers” and “laggards”. Once the mainstreamers and laggards (those following the critical mass) accept the change, it is difficult to reverse. Those who are unwilling to accept the change or don’t believe the change will occur at all were identified as the “reactionary(ies)” and “curmudgeons”. Do not spend too much time attempting to convince these parties. It is important to remember where to focus your energy throughout the change process.

The class provided five key aspects that may increase the likelihood of the idea/change to rapidly spread. These are;

Relative advantage- Is this idea better than the existing idea?
Complexity- complex ideas are difficult to spread;
Observability- Is the idea visible?
Trialability- Ideas with low trialability are difficult to spread;
Compatibility- Does it fit into the existing system?

These are several important pieces to think about as we change agents move forward with our projects aimed at producing change. To learn more about change agentry and the methods used I encourage you to look in to Alan AtKisson’s readings and publications available at http://EarthScan.co.uk.

Happiness Event Recap and Celebration

Sustainable Seattle is getting a reputation for putting on fantastic events. I say this as a completely unbiased source; Sustainable Seattle events with the aid of collaborators, performers and our dedicated donors truly are unique and wonderful outings that inspire, educate and entertain.

The Good Sheppard Center as a venue is beautiful. Our event corresponded with sunset and the stain glass windows colored our faces with reds, blues and yellows as Alan AtKisson took to the stage to perform a few of his witty and insightful songs and deliver a informative speech about the history of Sustainable Seattle. He spoke about the first meetings, the intents and the decisions that the group of founders made back in 1991 with a few winks and rib pokes to his fellow founders as they listened, shouted out anecdotes and laughed and laughed.

The night was a collection of talks, songs, music, potent potables, documentaries and socialization. The night started with a powerful performance by local band "Now We Are Six," a group that reminds one of "Muse," "Spoon," and an early "U2." We all crammed into the space which was not sufficient for the amount of revelers that arrived and we sampled food, booze and mingled with the founders raising a ruckus that lifted our hearts.

We showed a film documentary from the early nineties where the founders were featured talking about the launching of Sustainable Seattle. The crowd laughed, jeered and cheered when their younger versions of themselves spoke to the camera about their vision of the future. Many people shouted out at the screen yelling advice like "Get a haircut!" or "Shave!" The film brought back memories and challenged us as many of the issues and problems that the younger versions of the founders brought forth still are problems that we have yet to be solved.

We exceeded our fund-raising goals even when you include the ten percent offering that we are turning over to the Red cross for Japanese Tsunami relief. We would never had made our goals if not for the generosity of every single donor that reached deep into their own pockets and gave to an organization that is creating and maintaining innovated programs, projects and communication that will lead us to be more happier, more sustainable and more content.

Thank you for anyone who gave and thank you for any who attended, spread the word either word of mouth or social media. We really appreciate it and we will use your time and trust to bring about our mission "to be a resource and catalyst for positive change," by continuing to tie all of our work to our Happiness Initiative work.

Our programs and projects are based in and supportive of our indicator work. Our Happiness Initiative propagates and permeates all of our work. We are focused on the results and we have re-crafted and retrofitted all of our existing programs to be aligned with the Happiness Initiative. We are measuring our success and our work by the nine domains of happiness and targeting those domains in which the greater Seattle area scored low upon. We have even created a new program that focuses on individual actions and lifestyle changes called The Flow Campaign.

We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to all our partners and collaborators including: Taylor Shellfish, Honest Tea, Dry Soda, Yes! Magazine, Essential Baking, Ideal Network, EOS Alliance, Now We Are Six and many more. THANK YOU!

Happiness Newsletter

This is the first newsletter focused on our Happiness Initiative. You can sign up for our newsletter here and keep up to date with all our actions and projects.

So what is all this happiness stuff anyway?

Sustainable Seattle and Take Back Your Time joined forces to create our 5th set of sustainability indicators. With a 20 year history behind us, this time we are basing our work on the Gross National Happiness Index & the 9 Domains of Happiness.

"You get what you measure" says Seattle City Councilmember Mike O'Brien. That's what it's all about: getting a comprehensive assessment of our well-being and inspiring & engaging people, organizations and policy makers to action.


Happiness Schnappiness - what's it to me?

• Take the survey and find out. Over 4,400 have already taken it (see their results!).
• Check out the objective metrics - they complement the survey results to tell the whole story.
• Learn more & join the happiness project team.
• Watch the KCTS CNX show and KING 5 News Coverage.
• Join us March 16th for a Happiness Party!

Its a Happiness Party!

We are putting the fun in fundraiser to celebrate our 20th birthday party.

Join us March 16th - 5:30-9:30 at the The Chapel in the Good Shepherd Center.

Free Drinks, Free Finger Food and - get this- Music by our co-founder Alan AtKisson, New Leadership Andrew Cozin & Tim Flynn and a Super Surprise Performance by Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin. More about the event!

It will be fun.

Entry is free -and its a fundraiser so bring your credit card or check book.

Space is very limited, so RSVP now & don't for get your reusable cup!! SCHNAPPINESS!

Special Thank you to Mike Pennock, his crew for the Happiness Survey.

Sustainability Classes coming in March!

The Carbon Landscape and the basics of GHG accounting - Mar 9

Advanced Change Agentry for Sustainability - Mar 17

The Responsible Business - Mar 24

More to be confirmed for April & May:

Bike Commute 101

Visualization Tools for Sustainability

Climate Change Impacts on Water Resources

Raising Eco Kids

Designing Behavior Change Campaigns

Watch sustainableseattle.org/training for details