|
July 2009 Newsletter
Updates from Kosmos Associates
|
|
|
|
|
Support Kosmos Journal
|
|
Donate
|
Tara Stuart (left) and Donna Corse at
the Kosmos exhibit table during the Chicago conference
|
|
|
Melissa Etheridge gave a rousing
performance at the GATE event.
|
|
Another highlight was a keynote
presentation by Eckhart Tolle.
|
|
|
|
A Letter for You
|
|
Dear Friends,
This has been an unusually busy time for Kosmos Associates as our
partnerships and collaborations continue to expand. After several years
of correspondence, I met Kamran Mofid, the founder of Globalization for the
Common Good, at this year's conference. It was clear why his
dream of bringing many of us together to share our work has been
growing. I already knew this man was wise and experienced, but what I
had not expected was the genuine smile and the human touch that exuded
his love for bringing all our work together for the common good.
Meeting him made me think how important these human qualities are for
effective leadership and inspiring us to do our best.
One of the highlights for Kosmos Board members Tara Stuart, John
Schmidt, James Quilligan and me was spending time with the global
commons group that James Quilligan brought to the conference, including
experts David Bollier
and David Martin.
James Quilligan and David Martin spent late nights dedicated to writing
a declaration of the common good. Kosmos will share this powerful
declaration in our next issue, along with some photos of all of us.
Then it was on to Hollywood to attend the launching of the Global
Alliance for Transformational Entertainment (GATE). I did not know what
to expect as I was not an inside member of this group. However, the
need to uplift the Hollywood entertainment we are subjected to these
days left no hesitation on my part to send the 500 copies of Kosmos Journal for
their gift bags as they had requested. I am awaiting further word of
the next steps when the next GATE meeting will be planned in
December. And I am wondering what effect Kosmos Journal might have on this
group. Does my little gesture matter? We do so many things because they
are the right thing to do, rather than measuring their consequences. I
keep thinking maybe just one person who left that evening with a Kosmos Journal in
hand will make a difference.
We are looking forward to the launching of the 2020 Climate Leadership
Campaign in Brazil next month. Several of our integral
friends will be there -- our friends from Europe, as well as James
Quilligan. Jim Garrison, President of The State of the World
Forum, has gathered some of best and brightest in the new
consciousness and integral movements. I am excited to see what we can
develop together to make a worldwide campaign work. Can we bring
together the hundreds of groups already committed to reversing climate
change? We will let you know as this effort unfolds.
Please read below about the Huffington Post blogs by Christiana Wyly
with James Quilligan. Both Christiana and James will be part of the US
delegation to the Brazil climate strategy conference. In addition to
these recent blogs on the global financial status by one of the world's
most informed economists, Christiana will publish blogs by others
partnering with the State of the World Forum on the 10-year climate
campaign.
We are asking all of our readers to make comments about these blogs at
the Huffington Post. It seems that if a blog is positioned in a
favorable spot depends upon how many comments are made. Please help
support this campaign by taking just a few minutes to join us and share
your thoughts.
One Kosmos Many Voices,
Founder | Editor in Chief | Art Director
|
|
|
|
|
Balancing the World Economy
Join the Conversation with James Quilligan and Christiana
Wyly
|
 Last week, international
economic policy expert James Quilligan submitted an essay to the
progressive columnist Christiana Wyly, who offered her blog space to
quickly make the article public through the Huffington Post. James'
article - Stimulate This! -
was written in response to the outcome of the UN Conference on World
Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development.
Although the present global financial crisis originated with the world's
more developed nations, it has been the citizens of the lesser developed
nations that have suffered - and will increasingly suffer - the resulting
fallout. Developed nations must overcome their self-serving interests and
coordinate efforts to help the poorest nations and to begin to reverse
our devastating environmental damage. We truly are at a pivotal moment in
world affairs. How will we respond?
The follow-up interviews with James are now online (part 2; part 3). We
encourage you to read the interviews and add your comments. Please use
your voice to show the Huffington Post and other media sources that this
is the kind of meaningful dialogue that you wish to see!
Because it is so hard to recapture the eloquence in James' pen - he has
been a speechwriter for political and royal figures in the past - here
are a few quotes from the article and interview.
"While the world is still engaged in its old juggling contest
involving foreign reserves, trade balances, financial leveraging,
international balance of payments and the global balance of power, many
new variables have now inserted themselves into the prime equation --
including human needs, human rights, human security, energy security and
ecological debt."
"The immediate crisis we are facing is to shift from seeing energy,
nature, food and water as monetized commodities to recognizing them as
reserve values that are essential for our survival and well-being. Only
then shall we understand that money is a cultural creation expressing the
intrinsic value of these commons -- and not a function of the marketplace
or of a Central Bank. The creation of a new international monetary system
is just around the corner and global value must be integrally informed by
human beings, culture, the environment and energy, which means a complete
rethinking of all our values for a fair, inclusive and sustainable
globalization supported by an authentically new and resilient
multilateralism."
To read more of James Quilligan's work, please visit the Centre for Global
Negotiations.
 Environmental
advocate Christiana Wyly is
an enthusiastic supporter of Kosmos
Journal. Her ongoing dialogue with James Quilligan is
the first of a series of online pieces featuring the integral global
activists who will launch the 2020 Climate Leadership Campaign in Brazil
next month. Kosmos applauds Christiana's work and we encourage you to
find out more about the impact of this innovative young changemaker.
|
|
Uncommonly Good Reading to Inspire Action for
the Common Good
|
|
 You
can read the abstracts of all of the presentations at the recent
Globalization for the Common Good conference in the program. Find the
Kosmos Associates' abstracts on pages 15 and 20.
The conference delegates expressed their recommendations for the critical
and timely action needed for the common good in the Chicago Declaration.
 Kosmos
is introducing our readers to the crucial importance of recognizing and
developing global commons organizations to balance the driving force of
corporations and governments in creating a sustainable future. Intrigued
about the global commons and want to know more? Highly recommended by
James Quilligan and Nancy, this brief edited volume is a great primer on
the many facets of the global commons. The best online resource on the
subject is Kosmos contributor David Bollier's website: www.onthecommons.org.
The Global Idea of 'the Commons'.
Edited by D.M. Nonini.
New York: Berghahn Books, 2007.
Future issues will be available in this digital format and
you may subscribe (1 year
/ 2 issues for $12; 2 years / 4 issues for $20).
Would you like to turn some friends on to Kosmos? Please forward
this email using the link below. Thank you for supporting Kosmos Journal!
|
|
Coming Soon...
|
|
More on the global commons
An update on GlobalShift2012
2020 Climate Leadership Campaign launch in Brazil
Introducing our Kosmos Global Ambassadors program
An off-the-beaten-path Kosmos travel opportunity
|
|
|
|
|
