NLP Community Leadership Project

Environment Group
Notes from 17 & 18 June 1997

1. Initial Key Questions (from 17 June)
   1. What if the society of the future has beliefs and values that honor sustainable communities and diverse life forms?
   2. What if there were no waste of resources (i.e., everything is recycled) and that we could develop sources of clean energy to fuel our societies?
   3. How can we teach people the awareness and motivation that our survival is tied to the balance of the environment?
   4. What if we knew we were immortal, and would return over and over to this Earth?
   
   
2. Strategic Visioning: a Seven Step Process (from 18 June)
   1. Definition of Environment:
      1. The location or matrix or medium in which we live. This medium includes Nature, the physical, chemical, biological, and energetic world, our fellow humans, thoughts, emotions, and all other influences. We affect, and are affected by, this medium through our relationship with its elements and influences.
      2. Seen another way, the environment is the consequence of our perceptions and actions.
      3. The environment can also be seen as the consequence of the action of human beings on the physical world, producing serious problems like contamination with chemical, biological, and energy, affecting physical health, including mental disorders, as well impacts on natural resources.
      
      
   2. Stakeholder Identification
      1. human beings
      2. plants, animals, all life
      3. farmers and agribusiness
      4. fishermen and foresters
      5. big banks ($$)
      6. business and industry
      7. health/healers
      8. energy sources
      9. chemical manufacturing and sales
      10. hydraulic mining
      11. etc.
      
      
   3. Scanning and Forecasting (description of our current relationship to our environment- The Present State)
      1. Positive trends
         1. Growing Concern for environment
         2. Earth Summit bringing new conventions to care for the environment/political arena
      2. "negative" trends
         1. population expansion
         2. lack of education
         3. species disappearing
         4. world hunger: death from starvation
         5. desertification and deforestation
         6. erosion/population (degradation of resources - air/water)
   4. Vision and Mission
      1. The Big Vision (Future State)
         
         In 2017, individuals and communities have beliefs, attitudes, capabilities, and behaviors that it support their health and the health of the planet.
         
         People <--> mutual respect <--> planet contains life
         
         Time frame: 2017 (20 years)
         
         Scenarios:
         
         1. Equal? distribution of adequate resources worldwide, or b) distribution of resources adequate to promote health and healthy environment on both a local and a global scale
         2. scientists research neutralization of pollution, renewable resources, and recycling technology
         3. "Guardian Angel" Think Tanks develop strategies for improving planetary health (multinational and local)
         4. Guardian Angel Groups supported by NLP Facilitators so that all interests are heard and understood
         5. other life forms and planetary emissaries are invited to planetary health conventions
         6. by 2017, everyone is an NLP facilitator
         7. scientific research is developing balanced and efficient and renewable food forms (nutrient intense, health vitamins mix)
         8. quality of life indicators revised to reflect health & diversity of life goals
         9. people have the opportunity and means to act to create health and a healthy environment
         10. people have the motivation, opportunity, and means to create health and a healthy environment locally and globally
      2. Mission
         
         To Improve quality of life for all living beings
         
         
      3. Specific vision/linked-projects to fulfill the Big Vision
         1. create a modeling project to specify what (if any) beliefs, attitudes, capabilities, and/or behaviors are common among effective long-term farmers, traditional villagers, and other "ecologists" who live in a healthy balance with the planet (include diverse strategies to illustrate and preserve diversity, taking account of different cultural filters in different areas of the world.
         2. identify (between and among cultures) the beliefs, values/attitudes, and behavior of people adequately caring for the planet, or for their locality
         3. work with all sectors to "audit" beliefs, values, capability and behaviors regarding: environmental sustainability.
         4. integrate "Healthy Planet" beliefs, values, attitudes, and behaviors with:
            1. curricula for kids, and professional training,
            2. in papers spread through all social and governmental levels via magazines, newspapers, and professional journals, and the electronic media (radio, TV, Internet -- the Web)
            3. in conversation and in consulting
            4. etc.
         5. develop a network of NLP facilitators to assist community groups and local government envision and plan healthy (and sustainable) futures 6) media campaign to build value of healthy life-preserving products.
            
            
         NOTE: The following is a list of initial thoughts on how to achieve the big vision? How specifically? Some suggestions:
         
         1. identify beliefs, values, capabilities and behaviors that support individual and planetary health (sustainable cultures)
         2. visual squash environment and business, etc.
         3. determine stakeholder viewpoints.
         4. change the costumer and producer at the same time. They are a unique system.
         
         Going to second position, the following stakeholder views were illicited from members of the team:
         1. doctor: the current system (centralized/major medical system) would change: to more localized care; learn more about the local health resources: plants, animals, etc. and would mean that I would become more of a teacher to help people learn how to take care of themselves (empowering) -- how would they be paid? People would pay the doctor until get ill? Mission is to support life.
         2. local merchant: healthy local economy in long run: healthy available income stream; expect profit from quality of life rather than Big Bucks ("Enough is Enough" as Economic Goal)
            Mission: provide well for family, serve locally community with services and products they need; supply the tools for local production, market local goods
         3. World Bank officer: helps money get moved to the right places, that is where its needed. Plus will generate new bank jobs -- tell what is advisable for the local area. More money available for promoting clean industry and investigating polluting practices.
            Mission: redistribution of resources, so better balance of resources throughout the world. Criteria include sustainability and ecological impact.
         4. energy provider: could take some of the profits that are currently invested in new forms of energy (wind, wave, solar energy), need to shut down/ cleanup nuclear plants; and must make a lot of changes: need to create many local energy plants.
            Money invested only in clean, renewable industry.
            Mission: provide energy resources for everybody who lives here, and want to make a profit.
         5. agronomist: get to design many new plants that are locally adapted.
            Mission: design new varieties of plants
         6. forester: opportunity to diversify practices to raise and protect forest diversify and productivity, including new forest products and services (e.g., in Atlantic rain forest in Brazil in 10m square there are 10,000 species, of which only 70 percent are known -- of potential value).
            Mission: provide products and services from the forest; make an honest/adequate living.
         7. biochemical industry: go broke, or expand into nutrient-herbals, super-nutrients (investment from World Bank?). Recyclable fertilizers, biological pest control.
            Mission: make products to protect the health of people and of nature, because nature is the source of products.
         8. politician: will develop regulations to support "green" businesses, chemical industry, and re-investment. They will do this because people will vote for a platform of health and sustainability.
            Mission: to assist people in gaining health
      
      
   5. Beliefs and values underlying project work
      1. people deserve opportunities and means to health and quality of life
      2. diversity is necessary, and collaboration yields more ideas and better strategies
      3. sharing of resources is valuable, & by sharing we can create more opportunities for individual, community, and planetary health

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