31.10.2009 von Guido.

The only thing for certain is that everything changes. The rate of change increases. If you want to hang on you better speed up. That is the message of today. It could however be useful to remind everyone that our basic needs never change. The need to be seen and appreciated! It is the need to belong. The need for nearness and care, and for a little love! This is given only through slowness in human relations. In order to master changes, we have to recover slowness, reflection and togetherness. There we will find real renewal.

There are now sub-movements like slow travel, slow parenting, slow art, slow sex, etc. All of them promote the idea that we should slow down, relax, and take our time at things instead of “getting it done and moving on”.

Fred Wilson is not much for any orthodoxy but he does appreciate the sentiment behind the slow movement and he’s been thinking about what “slow capital” would be. Here are some basic tenets of slow capital:

1) doesn’t rush to conclusions and doesn’t expect entrepreneurs to do so either

2) flows into a company based on the company’s needs, not the investor’s needs

3) starts small and grows with the company as it grows

4) has no set timetable for getting liquid: slow capital is patient capital

5) takes the time to understand the company and the people who make it up

There’s a reason why Warren Buffet is the best investor of his generation.

My personal opinion on that is that we need to get back into the right set of values, living values. Slow has never been different. It only comes into our consciousness as we have to cope with the speed of information. In order to approach the slow movement we need to change education.

Guido

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28.10.2009 von Guido.

Schränkt eine Gesellschaft den Zugang zu Bildung auf eine Elite ein, zerstört sie ihre Grundlage und verarmt geistig.

Geschrieben in sayings, education, people | 1 Kommentar »

28.10.2009 von Guido.

• What is Earth Overshoot Day?
• What is Overshoot?
• How is Earth Overshoot Day Calculated?

What is Earth Overshoot Day?

Earth Overshoot Day marks an unfortunate milestone: the day when humanity begins living beyond its ecological means. Beyond that day, we move into the ecological equivalent of deficit spending, utilizing resources at a rate faster than what the planet can regenerate in a calendar year.

Globally, we now require the equivalent of 1.4 planets to support our lifestyles. Put another way, in less than 10 months, humanity will have used ecological services it takes 12 months for the Earth to regenerate.

Of course, we only have one Earth. The fact that we are using (or “spending” natural capital) faster than it can replenish is similar to having expenditures that continually exceed income. In planetary terms, the results of our ecological overspending are becoming more clear by the day. Climate change – a result of carbon being emitted faster than it can be reabsorbed by the forests and seas – is the most obvious and arguably pressing result. But there are others as well: shrinking forests, species loss, fisheries collapse and freshwater stress to name a few.

Click here for Media Inquiries

What is Overshoot?

Just like any company, nature has a budget — it can only produce so many resources and absorb so much waste every year. The problem is, our demand for nature’s services is exceeding what it can provide.

In 2009, humanity is projected to use about 40 percent more than nature can regenerate this year. This problem — using resources faster than they can regenerate and creating waste such as CO2 faster than it can be absorbed — is called ecological overshoot.

We currently maintain this overshoot by liquidating the planet’s natural resources. For example we can cut trees faster than they re-grow, and catch fish at a rate faster than they repopulate. While this can be done for a short while, overshoot ultimately leads to the depletion of resources on which our economy depends.

Humanity first went into overshoot in 1986; before that time the global community consumed resources and produced carbon dioxide at a rate consistent with what the planet could produce and reabsorb. By 1996, however, humanity was using 15 percent more resources in a year than the planet could supply, with Earth Overshoot Day falling in November. This year, more than two decades since we first went into overshoot, because we are now demanding resources at a rate of 40 percent faster than the planet can produce them.

In 2008, Earth Overshoot Day was reached on September 23.

How is Earth Overshoot Day Calculated?

[ world biocapacity / world Ecological Footprint ] x 365 = Earth Overshoot Day Day

Put simply, Earth Overshoot Day shows the day on which our total Ecological Footprint (measured in global hectares) is equal to the biocapacity (also measured in global hectares) that nature can regenerate in that year. For the rest of the year, we are accumulating debt by depleting our natural capital and letting waste accumulate.

The day of the year on which humanity enters into overshoot and begins adding to our ecological debt is calculated by calculating the ratio of global available biocapacity to global Ecological Footprint and multiplying by 365. From this, we find the number of days of demand that the biosphere could supply, and the number of days we operate in overshoot.

This ratio shows that in 2009, in just 268 days, we demanded the biosphere’s entire capacity for the year. The 267th day of the year is September 25.

If you have further questions about the Ecological Footprint and overshoot calculations, there are a number of resources available through our website to learn more: See the Living Planet Report and the Earth Overshoot Day Media Backgrounder for definitions, data and further information about overshoot. You can also read our methodology paper for a more technical overview of our calculation methods, and visit our glossary page for definitions of terms. If you have further inquiries about Earth Overshoot Day, please contact Nicole Freeling.

Geschrieben in ecology, sustainability | Keine Kommentare »

27.10.2009 von Guido.

26. Oktober 2009 Zu den Mysterien der Finanzkrise zählt, dass der deutsche Staat sich trotz aller Konjunkturpakete und Rettungsaktionen für die Banken günstig finanziert. Selten fiel Schuldenmachen so leicht: Eine zehnjährige Bundesanleihe ist, wenn sie in diesen Tagen begeben wird, mit knapp 3,4 Prozent verzinst.

Der rekordniedrige Leitzins von einem Prozent kann das niedrige Niveau der Verzinsung nicht allein erklären, zumal die Schuld rasant wächst - allein im nächsten Jahr in der Größenordnung von 100 Milliarden Euro und bis zum Jahr 2013 werden etwa 250 Milliarden Euro an Nettoneuverschuldung erwartet. Die Inflation ist als Schreckgespenst für die nähere Zukunft zwar kein Thema. Mittelfristig rechnen die meisten Anleger aber mit Teuerungsraten von mehr als 2 Prozent, Pessimisten mit einem noch höheren Tempo der Geldentwertung.

Wer kauft die Staatsanleihen?

Trotzdem kann die Bundesrepublik Deutschland Finanzagentur GmbH die neuen Anleihen, die sie für den Bund begibt, bisher ohne größere Schwierigkeiten verkaufen. Allein in diesem Jahr wird sie neue Schuldtitel von 329 Milliarden Euro begeben. Im vergangenen Jahr gab es zwar zwei Emissionen, bei denen die Nachfrage geringer als das Angebot war. Doch das waren Ausnahmen. In der Regel gehen die Auktionen, meist montags und mittwochs, geräuschlos über die Bühne.

Wer sind also die Käufer, die sich in guten, noch mehr aber in schlechten Zeiten mit Bundesanleihen eindecken? Verkauft werden die Anleihen an die 27 Banken der Bietergruppe, darunter Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank und DZ Bank, aber auch ausländische Adressen wie Morgan Stanley und Credit Suisse. Sie sind nur Mittler und verkaufen die Anleihen zum überwiegenden Teil weiter.

Genaue amtliche Zahlen über die Investoren gibt es nicht. Bei der Finanzagentur heißt es, dass etwa die Hälfte der Anleihen im Euro-Raum verkauft wird, ein gutes Viertel nach Asien und der Rest überwiegend an Anleger, die in Dollar, Pfund und Schweizer Franken rechnen. Über die Daueremissionen, zum Beispiel Bundesschatzbriefe, erhalte der Bund etwa 3 Prozent seines geliehenen Geldes direkt von inländischen Privatanlegern, sagt ein Sprecher der Schuldenagentur.Aus inoffiziellen Quellen sind auch für den großen Rest detailliertere Schätzungen zu hören. “Wenn heute eine Bundesanleihe verkauft wird, geht mindestens die Hälfte an Notenbanken und Staatsfonds im Ausland”, sagt ein Fachmann aus dem Umfeld der Finanzagentur. Die Käufe der Zentralbanken habe es schon immer gegeben, aber ihr Anteil sei in den vergangenen Jahren stark gestiegen.

… Notenbanken und Staatsfonds im Ausland

Mit der Einführung des Euro hätten zunächst viele Zentralbanken ihre Währungsreserven aus der Gemeinschaftswährung abgezogen. Der Dollaranteil stieg stark an. Von Mitte 2002 an begann von Asien ausgehend eine Gegenbewegung, die sich von 2005 an verstärkte. Besonders asiatische Zentralbanken versuchen seitdem den Dollar-Anteil an ihren Reserven zu reduzieren, auch zugunsten des Euro. In den vergangenen zehn Jahren ist dadurch der Euro-Anteil an den veröffentlichten Währungsreserven - sie machen etwa die Hälfte der gesamten Reserven aus - von 18 auf 26 Prozent gestiegen. Es gibt Schätzungen, dass der Anteil an den gesamten Währungsreserven deutlich höher liegt, weil Länder wie Venezuela und Iran dem Vernehmen nach neue Mittel gar nicht oder kaum noch in Dollar anlegen und bei der Neuanlage vor allem auf den Euro ausweichen.

Von dieser hohen Nachfrage der Zentralbanken profitiert vor allem der deutsche Staat. Denn wenn sich die ausländischen Notenbanken zu einer Diversifizierung ihrer Reserven entschlössen, bevorzugten sie den liquidesten Markt und den Schuldner mit dem besten Ruf, erläutert ein Berater institutioneller Anleger. Das sei in Europa noch immer der Bund.

Diese Bevorzugung drückt sich auch in den Finanzierungskonditionen aus. Nachdem im Jahr 2006 die Zinsen der meisten Staaten des Euro-Raums noch nahezu gleichauf lagen - zeitweise waren die Konditionen für Frankreich sogar etwas günstiger als für Deutschland - haben sich in der Finanzkrise wieder hohe Unterschiede herausgebildet. Andere Länder wie Frankreich oder Österreich, die auch einen sehr guten Ruf als Schuldner haben, müssen ihren Gläubigern derzeit einen Renditeaufschlag von etwa 0,3 Prozentpunkten bieten im Vergleich zu deutschen Staatsanleihen. Länder wie Griechenland zahlen für ihre neuen langfristigen Anleihen derzeit sogar mehr als ein Prozent Zinsaufschlag.

Text: ruh., F.A.Z.
Bildmaterial: F.A.Z.

Geschrieben in staatsanleihen, sovereign wealth fonds | 1 Kommentar »

26.10.2009 von Guido.

The 7 principles of Grameen Social Business

http://www.grameencreativelab.com/a-concept-to-eradicate-poverty/7-principles.html

1. Business objective will be to overcome poverty, or one or more problems (such as education, health, technology access, and environment) which threaten people and society; not profit maximization.
2. Financial and economic sustainability.
3. Investors get back their investment amount only. No dividend is given beyond investment money.
4. When investment amount is paid back, company profit stays with the company for expansion and improvement.
5. Environmentally conscious.
6. Workforce gets market wage with better working conditions.
7. …do it with joy.

Geschrieben in funding, social business | 1 Kommentar »

26.10.2009 von Guido.

Von Frank Seidlitz 25. Oktober 2009, 04:00 Uhr

http://www.welt.de/die-welt/wirtschaft/article4967889/Getreide-ist-das-neue-Gold.html

Ein Wettlauf um Ackerböden und Rohstoffquellen ist entbrannt. Reiche Schwellenländer wie Saudi-Arabien und Wachstumsriesen wie China sichern sich weltweit Land und Anbaulizenzen. Die Uno warnt schon vor einem “Neokolonialismus”. Die Regierungen der Industriestaaten sind alarmiert, denn das Ringen um Nahrungsmittel- und Ölversorgung droht politische Konflikte zu provozieren

Die Unterschrift kostete Marc Ravalomanana sein Amt. Schon in den Wochen und Monaten vor dem Vertragsabschluss zwischen der Regierung Madagaskars und dem südkoreanischen Daewoo-Konzern rumorte es auf der Insel vor Afrika gewaltig. Ravalomanana löste einen regelrechten Bürgerkrieg aus: Dem Präsidenten wurden ein diktatorischer Regierungsstil und massive Korruption vorgeworfen. Der Vertrag mit Daewoo war dann nur noch der Tropfen, der das Fass zum Überlaufen brachte. In einer Nacht-und-Nebel-Aktion hatte der 59-Jährige die Hälfte des fruchtbaren Ackerlandes Madagaskars verscherbeln wollen. Auf rund 1,3 Millionen Hektar hätte Daewoo über 99 Jahre etwa Futtermais für Südkoreas Schweine anbauen können. Dabei ist Madagaskar selbst auf Nahrungsmittelimporte angewiesen. Im Februar stürzte er dann über diesen Landverkauf.

Das war ein vorläufiger Höhepunkt einer Entwicklung, die in Zukunft für noch heftigere Auseinandersetzungen und Wirtschaftskonflikte sorgen könnte: “Offshore Farming”. Kritiker nennen es schlicht “Landraub”. Der weltweite Wettlauf um Grund und Boden hat in den letzten beiden Jahren enorme Ausmaße angenommen. “Nach den Rekordpreisen beim Öl drohen nun Preisexplosionen bei Agrarböden und Rohstoffen und neue Verteilungskämpfe um die knappen Güter”, warnt ein ranghoher Diplomat des Auswärtigen Amtes. Der Daewoo-Vertrag mit Madagaskar ist dafür der beste Beleg und reiht sich in eine Entwicklung ein, die derzeit stark an Geschwindigkeit gewinnt.

Reiche Ölstaaten und boomende Schwellenländer sichern sich weltweit immer mehr Agrarflächen, Abbaugebiete für seltene Rohstoffe und exklusive Lizenzen für die eigene Ölversorgung. Experten schätzen, dass allein in Afrika innerhalb von drei Jahren rund 20 Millionen Hektar an ausländische Investoren gegangen sind. Unter denen, besonders brisant, befinden sich immer öfter auch staatliche Akteure. Jacques Diouf, der Chef der Welternährungsorganisation FAO, warnt daher bereits vor einem “Neokolonialismus” und neuen Abhängigkeiten in der Weltwirtschaft.

Geschrieben in agriculture, sovereign wealth fonds | Keine Kommentare »

26.10.2009 von Guido.

Lifelong learning

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lifelong learning, also known as LLL, is the “lifelong, lifewide, voluntary, and self-motivated”^[1] pursuit of knowledge for either personal or professional reasons. As such, it not only enhances social inclusion, active citizenship and personal development, but also competitiveness and employability.^[2]

The term recognises that learning is not confined to childhood or the classroom, but takes place throughout life and in a range of situations. During the last fifty years, constant scientific and technological innovation and change has had a profound effect on learning needs and styles. Learning can no longer be divided into a place and time to acquire knowledge (school) and a place and time to apply the knowledge acquired (the workplace).^[3]

Learning economy

Lifelong learning may be most usefully thought of as a policy response by largely western governments to a changing world. These underlying changes are a move away from manufacturing to a services economy, the emergence of the knowledge economy and the decline of many traditional institutions which has been requiring individuals to become more active in managing their lives.^[4]

This has led to the realization that formal learning, typically concentrated in the earlier stages of life, can no longer sustain an individual throughout their life.

In a book by Christopher Day, published in 1998, Developing Teachers: The Challenge of Lifelong Learning, there was recognition towards the role of teachers in inculcating lifelong learning in the formal teachings of his/her students while at the same time realising the need for teachers to practice lifelong learning, in order to develop themselves as well. Through this realisation, that throughout a teachers/educators professional being, lifelong learning is a must[1].

In October 2006 the European Commission published a Communication entitled “Adult learning: It is never too late to learn.”^[2] This document suggests lifelong learning to be the core of the ambitious Lisbon 2010-process, in which the whole of the European Union should become a learning area. In December 2007, the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education published a “Report on Adult learning: It is never too late to learn”, which recognized the Commission Communication and a number of related recommendations and resolutions, and which urged member states to establish a lifelong learning culture.^[5][6]

In 2008, the OECD published an article entitled “Recognition of non-formal and informal learning in OECD countries: A very good idea in jeopardy?” which advocates a pragmatic approach to formal recognition of informal and non-formal learning. The author bases the distinctions between ‘formal’, ‘informal’ and ‘non-formal’ learning on three criteria. ^[7][8] The article points out that ‘qualification’ and ‘certification’ are “not very useful” in making the distinction between formal and informal and non-formal learning, and should be dropped. A common understanding of the meaning of the terms, or at least a framework for definition has important implications for workers in a global labour market and participants in formal and informal/non-formal learning environments.

Now, these days the buzz word is on metacognition - thinking about thinking, a higher order of thinking, that students and learners try to achieve to be better people. In this day and age, the ability to think what beyond what others do, thinking outside the storage room where the box is placed is a must have quality where with the ability to access the internet for the plethora of information that is not only written, complements the learning experience and enables anyone and everyone to practice lifelong learning - formally and informally.

Lifelong learning contexts

Although the term is widely used in a variety of contexts its meaning is often unclear.^[9]

There are several established contexts for lifelong learning beyond traditional “brick and mortar” schooling:

• Home schooling where this involves learning to learn or the development of informal learning patterns.
• Adult education or the acquisition of formal qualifications or work and leisure skills later in life.
• Continuing education which often describes extension or not-for-credit courses offered by higher education institutions.
• Knowledge work which includes professional development and on-the-job training.
• Personal learning environments or self-directed learning using a range of sources and tools including online applications.

Metacognition

Literally ‘thinking about the process of knowing,’ metacognition refers to “higher order thinking which involves active control over the cognitive processes engaged in learning.”^[10]

Metacognition involves:

• Knowledge: awareness of your own thought processes and learning styles, and knowledge of the strategies that might be used for different learning tasks.
• Control or self-regulation: keeping track of your thinking processes, regulating and evaluating them.^[11]

While the study of metacognition originally gave educational psychologists insights into what differentiated successful students from their less successful peers, it is increasingly being used to inform teaching that aims to make students more aware of their learning processes, and show them how to regulate those processes for more effective learning throughout their lives.^[12]

As lifelong learning is “lifelong, lifewide, voluntary, and self-motivated”^[1] learning to learn, that is, learning how to recognize learning strategies, and monitor and evaluate learning, is a pre-condition for lifelong learning. Metacognition is an essential first step in developing lifelong learning.

In practice

In India and elsewhere, the “University of the Third Age” (U3A) provides an example of the almost spontaneous emergence of autonomous learning groups accessing the expertise of their own members in the pursuit of knowledge and shared experience. No prior qualifications and no subsequent certificates feature in this approach to learning for its own sake and, as participants testify, engagement in this type of learning in later life can indeed ‘prolong active life’.

In Sweden the successful concept of study circles, an idea launched almost a century ago, still represents a large portion of the adult education provision. The concept has since spread, and for instance, is a common practice in Finland as well. A study circle is one of the most democratic forms of a learning environment that has been created. There are no teachers and the group decides on what content will be covered, scope will be used, as well as a delivery method.

Sometimes lifelong learning aims to provide educational opportunities outside standard educational systems — which can be cost-prohibitive, if it is available at all. On the other hand, formal administrative units devoted to this discipline exist in a number of universities. For example, the ‘Academy of Lifelong Learning’ is an administrative unit within the University-wide ‘Professional and Continuing Studies’ unit at the University of Delaware.^[13] Another example is the Jagiellonian University Extension (Wszechnica Uniwersytetu Jagiellonskiego), which is one of the most comprehensive Polish centers for lifelong learning (open learning, organizational learning, community learning).^[14]

In recent years ‘Lifelong Learning’ has been adopted in the UK as an umbrella term for post-compulsory education that falls outside of the UK Higher Education system - Further Education, Community Education, Work-based Learning and similar voluntary, public sector and commercial settings.

Lifelong learning professionals

As the Jagiellonian University Extension defines it, there are seven main professional profiles in the Lifelong Learning domain:

• trainer
• coach
• competency assessor
• consultant
• training project manager
• curriculum designer
• mentor

See also

• Adult education
• Andrew Cohen
• Autonomous learning
• Brain fitness
• Community college
• Continuing education
• Experiential education
• Folkbildning in Scandinavia an approach to community education
• Further education
• History of personal learning environments
• Learning
• Learning community
• Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes
• Part-Time Learner
• UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning
• University of the Third Age (U3A)
• Vocational education
• Widening participation

Further reading

• Lifelong Learning and the New Educational Order by John Field (Trentham Books, 2006) ISBN 1-85856-346-1
• The Rapture of Maturity: A Legacy of Lifelong Learning by Charles D. Hayes ISBN 09621979-4-7
• SELF-UNIVERSITY: The Price of Tuition is the Desire to Learn. Your Degree is a Better life by Charles D. Hayes ISBN 0-9621979-0-4
• Beyond the American Dream: Lifelong Learning and the Search for Meaning in a Postmodern World by Charles D. Hayes ISBN 0-9621979-2-0
• Pastore G., Un’altra chance. Il futuro progettato tra formazione e flessibilità, in Mario Aldo Toscano, Homo instabilis. Sociologia della precarietà, Grandevetro/Jaca Book, Milano 2007 ISBN 978-88-16-40804-3
• “Nine Shift: Work, life, and education in the 21st Century,” By William A. Draves and Julie Coates ISBN1-57722-030-7

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} [Department of Education and Science (2000). Learning for Life: White Paper on Adult Education. Dublin: Stationery Office. http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/1a/c6/5e.pdf]
2. ^ ^{a b} Commission of the European Communities: “Adult learning: It is never too late to learn“. COM(2006) 614 final. Brussels, 23.10.2006.
3. ^ Fischer, Gerhard (2000). “Lifelong Learning - More than Training” in Journal of Interactive Learning Research, Volume 11 issue 3/4 pp 265-294.
4. ^ Field, John (2006). Lifelong Learning and the New Educational Order. Trentham Books, 2006. ISBN 1-85856-346-1
5. ^ European Parliament: Committee on Culture and Education: Report on Adult learning: It is never too late to learn (2007/2114(INI)). December 11, 2007.
6. ^ For an interim report, see European Commission: Education and Culture: ‘Education & Training 2010’: Main policy initiatives and outputs in education and training since the year 2000. February 2008.
7. ^ “whether the learning involves objectives, whether it is intentional and whether it leads to a qualification (the terms ‘qualification’ and ‘certification’ are taken as synonymous here, and they both refer to the process and the final outcome)”
8. ^ [”Recognition of non-formal and informal learning in OECD countries: A very good idea in jeopardy?” http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/9/16/41851819.pdf]
9. ^ Aspin, David N. & Chapman, Judith D. (2007) “Lifelong Learning Concepts and Conceptions” in: David N. Aspin, ed.: Philosophical Perspectives on Lifelong Learning, Springer. ISBN 1402061927
10. ^ Livingston, Jennifer A. (1997). “Metacognition: An Overview“
11. ^ Pintrich, Paul R (2002) The role of metacognitive knowledge in learning, teaching, and assessing Theory Into Practice, Autumn http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NQM/is_4_41/ai_94872708
12. ^ Livingston, Jennifer A. (1997) Metacognition: An Overview http://www.gse.buffalo.edu/fas/shuell/CEP564/Metacog.htm
13. ^ “Academy of Lifelong Learning“. University of Delaware. 2006. http://www.academy.udel.edu/. Retrieved 2006-05-06. 
14. ^ “Wszechnica Uniwersytetu Jagiellonskiego“. The Jagiellonian University. 2007. http://www.wszechnica.uj.edu.pl/. Retrieved 2007-05-15.

Geschrieben in education, lifelong learning | Keine Kommentare »

24.10.2009 von Guido.

Yesterday, the European Xing Ambassador meeting was held in Palma.

Interesting how Xing sees the special Group development. More input comes from front people from Hamburg and Cologne.

How to create a revenue model on these virtual communities.

Antoni from 6th grade has the right appraoch

Geschrieben in Communities | Keine Kommentare »

23.10.2009 von Guido.

“Yesterday, I had a great talk with a Group of mainly Spanish people talking about the future development of companies related to sustainble business.

All in all, the meeting showed that there is a lot of hope for the next generation of business decision makers.

It is all about values and to treat and live them consciously.

Here are the points to discuss for business in order to live values:

Fear: reduce it naturally by finding out why they are there. Have trust and confidence in yoursefl

Heart: you will open up once you have your “fear-key” found and you will get it back 1000 times BUT you need to be 110% comitted.

Skills: define the necessary tools, your strength and weaknesses and go for your motivation. The missing point will be organized if your heart is there.

Coaching: receive coaching support from outside as a mirror which will help you to make your process sound.

That should help as a frame for “new and old entrepreneurs”.

Geschrieben in sustainability, management, csr | Keine Kommentare »