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.