Sustainability Conversations ... Some people wait for the future

Leaders create it.

 
In 2006, Nobel Laureate and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore got the world talking about climate change with the Academy Award-winning film An Inconvenient Truth. It was just the beginning of a climate revolution, and later that year, he founded The Climate Reality Project to take the conversation forward and turn awareness into action. 

The Climate Reality Project is a diverse group of passionate individuals who have come together to help solve the greatest challenge of our time. We are cultural leaders, marketers, organizers, scientists, storytellers and more, and we are committed to building a better future together. 

 

 Ordinary people face challenges. Climate Reality Leaders embrace them. The Climate Reality Leadership Corps is a global network of activists committed to taking on the climate crisis and solving what is far and away the greatest challenge of our time.

The program takes great leaders and makes them exceptional, providing the training in climate science, communications, and organizing to tell the story of climate change and inspire communities everywhere to take action. The result is a dynamic group of world-changers shaping the conversation on climate in forums from family dinners to international summits and building a 21st-century movement for solutions.

iStart2Sing... Do you?

There is optimism about the winds of change blowing through the forests and plains of Africa, over the mountains and across its deserts, it will navigate the obstacles in its path. This will be a decentralised grassroots movement that will connect local struggles, that is committed to peace and nonviolent action. As it powerfully advocates in its Kilimanjaro Declaration.

“We assert our inherent rights as Africans and invite our governments, leaders, other stakeholders and institutions to join us in pursuing the Future We Want.”

The time for us to listen very carefully to the voices of the next generation is now.
- Jay Naidoo
Read more here

  

Mario Molina, Director of The Climate Leadership Corps at the Climate Reality Project is in South Africa holding strategic meetings with climate stakeholders on how to take the climate movement forward. Meet Mario at Food & Trees for Africa on 30 August 2016. Book here.  He will be interviewed on the iStart2 Show on Thursday 01 September at 17h30. Don’t miss what he has to say!

Keitu Gwangwa & Pierre du Toit host the iStart2 Show on Thursdays at 17h30. Radio Today broadcasts on 1485 MW (AM) in greater Johannesburg and countrywide on ‪#‎DStv‬ audio channel 869. 

Radio Today also streams globally on www.1485.org.za. 

Us? Why not? Now? Of course! You? Yes!!

Building and sustaining yourself and your business is hard work! It can only be sustained by visionary leaders who commit to making a change in the world. Leaders who stand up for what is right and who are prepared to challenge the status quo and contribute in making work and companies more worthy and better positioned to excel in a better sustainable future for all. 

This week on the iStart2 Show we chatted to some of our partners in

Coaching - Coba Röhm from Ignite - and Training & Development - Naledi and Oz Bantu from Grounded Partners about collaborating on new visions for the future. 

"Take time to stand still and look at me"

- Coba Röhm  

"How green is green? It is about changing lives"

- Oz Bantu on the iStart2 Show

Listen to the show and find out more about interesting projects in the making:

ITO Focus - The Green Network and iStart2 invite you to join hands with us to create a better world and a better South Africa and leaving sustainable footprints for the children of our children.

Please contact Pierre du Toit at spjdutoit@gmail.com if you are interested in a presentation about our services:

Maybe a morning workshop with Pops Mohamed and lessons learnt from our ancestors through music? Or get us in to help you with Entrepreneurial Capacity Building or Training in Evironmental Skills? We also offer a two day Team Building Through-Music-and-Art workshop to inspire your work teams. 

We look forward to collaborating with you! 


 
Don't miss the iStart2 Show at 17h30 on Thursday 1 August 2016 when we welcome Mario Molina to our studio in Johannesburg.

Mario is responsible for the design, strategic goals, and engagement programs for The Climate Reality Leadership Corps in the US and abroad. Mario joined the Climate Reality Project in April of 2013 and has spearheaded trainings for over 4,000 leaders in Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, South Africa, Turkey, and the US. 

His expertise in international climate policy and strategy combined with a strong background in metrics, analytics, and data drives the Leadership Corps with a data-driven engagement strategy across multiple sectors and demographics.

Prior to joining The Climate Reality Project, Mario was responsible for creating a climate education program that reached more than 1.5 million students across the United States, and several sustainability and conservation programs in Australia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, and Peru.

The Kilimanjaro Declaration ... #AfricansRising

Africans Rising
For Justice, Peace and Dignity 

The Kilimanjaro Declaration

We, the citizens and descendants of Africa, as part of the Africans Rising Movement, are outraged by the centuries of oppression; we condemn the plunder of our natural and mineral resources and the suppression of our fundamental human rights.

We are determined to foster an Africa-wide solidarity and unity of purpose of the Peoples of Africa to build the Future we want – a right to peace, social inclusion and shared prosperity.

On 23-24 August 2016, two hundred and seventy two representatives from civil society, trade unions, women, young people, men, media organisations and faith-based groups, from across Africa and the African diaspora gathered in Arusha, Tanzania and committed to build a pan-African movement that recognises the rights of our People.

THE CONFERENCE DECLARED THAT:

1. Africa is a rich continent. That wealth belongs to all our People, not to a narrow political and economic elite. We need to fight for economic development that embraces social inclusion and environmental care. We have a right to the ‘better life’ our governments have promised.
2. Africans have a diverse, rich and powerful heritage that is important to heal ourselves and repair the damage done by neoliberalism to our humanity and environment.  Being African, embracing the philosophy of Ubuntu should be a source of our pride.
3. African Youth are a critical foundation of building the success in our continent and must play a central role in building Africans Rising.
4. Africa’s Diaspora whether displaced through slavery or modern migration are part of Africa’s history and future. They are a reservoir of skills, resources and passion that must be harnessed and integrated into our movement.
5. We are committed to a decentralised, citizen-owned future that will build support and solidarity for local struggles, empower local leadership and immerse our activists in grassroots work of building social movements from below and beyond borders.
6. We are committed to building a citizen’s movement that is accountable to the constituencies we represent.

 THEREFORE, WE RESOLVE THAT OUR WORK SHOULD BUILD A LOCAL, NATIONAL, CONTINENTAL AND GLOBAL CAMPAIGN THAT IS:

1. Expanding space for civic and political action
2. Fighting for women’s rights and freedoms across society
3. Focussing our struggles on the right to Equity and Dignity
4. Demanding good governance as we fight corruption and impunity
5. Demanding climate and environmental justice

CALL ON OUR PEOPLE AND ACTIVISTS TO:

Join this Africans Rising Movement and mobilise our people around this shared vision; organise and connect local struggles under this umbrella; galvanise solidarity with all African struggles. This movement is committed to peace and non-violent action. We assert our inherent rights as Africans and invite our governments, leaders, other stakeholders and institutions to join us in pursuing the Future We Want.

iStart2 Join and support the Africans Rising Movement!

"Inspiring leaders from #Africa give me optimism for the future. Our future belongs to you"
- Jay Naidoo at the Arusha Conference.
 

"Exhausted but inspired, especially by the strength and commitment of young people here"
- Kumi Naidoo at the Arusha Conference

  

Sustainability Conversations ... Coaching, Training & Development

Sustainable development is the organizing principle for sustaining finite resources necessary to provide for the needs of future generations of life on the planet. It is a process that envisions a desirable future state for human societies in which living conditions and resource-use continue to meet human needs without undermining the "integrity, stability and beauty" of natural biotic systems. 

Sustainability isn't achieved by getting a few people in a room. You can’t just pay a consultancy and ask them to make your company sustainable. Maybe you think you can just show a simple training video to your staff? Unfortunately it doesn't work like that. It also doesn't help to just have all your  environmental compliance practices in place. Coaching, training and developing your staff in Sustainability is above and beyond. It means your organisation must be able to do business tomorrow better than they are today.... and start2 challenge the status quo!

Obtaining a quality education is the foundation to improving people’s lives and sustainable development

• Enrolment in primary education in developing countries has reached 91 per cent but 57 million children remain out of school
• More than half of children that have not enrolled in school live in sub-Saharan Africa
• An estimated 50 per cent of out-of-school children of primary school age live in conflict-affected areas
• 103 million youth worldwide lack basic literacy skills, and more than 60 per cent of them are women
  
  
  

According to the latest Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute report, South Africa has high growth rates and exceptionally high rates of product and process innovation, when compared to the global average of entrepreneurship data. Business could be booming in South Africa – if it wasn’t for the serious shortage in skills and start-up know-how. Sustainable Small Business support and mentorship is part of the answer.

A report released this year by the The Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute (GEDI) ranks South Africa 52nd out of 132 countries worldwide and first in sub-Saharan Africa in terms of entrepreneurship and its development.

This despite South Africa’s “alarmingly low level of entrepreneurial activity in spite of high unemployment” according to a report released earlier this year by another institution, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM).

According to the GEDI, South Africa’s entrepreneurial environment – when compared to global standards – excels in terms of its product and process innovation, competition, growth rate, opportunity start-ups, opportunity perception, risk acceptance among entrepreneurs and internationalisation.

The report also highlights South Africa’s most dooming setback: a substantial lack of risk capital and start-up skills in South Africa.

   Exciting reasons to get involved with

 The iStart2 Training & Development Network as your Sustainable Development Partner

Our Projects are managed by successful and experienced entrepreneurs from a variety of small and medium sized sustainable businesses.

Integrating mentorship and motivational skills from high profile business leaders, high calibre well known artists and experienced facilitators.

 Unique experiential learning and training methodologies, incorporating the broader sustainability concepts (ie people, planet, prosperity) and the skills that make small business entrepreneurs sustainable in the long term.

 Experiential learning centred around bespoke community involvement (ie vegetable gardens in schools, waste management initiatives and others). We also uniquely involve arts & culture activations that inspire and speak to the minds and hearts of people.

In essence entrepreneurs will be taught to "create something out of nothing." Hence our training projects culminates in festival events in collaboration with co-operatives, the community and smaller and larger businesses. This event assimilates the various learning deliverables into a coherent hands-on result, to the advantage of all participating parties.

This week on the iStart2 Show we speak to some of our Training Partners about Sustainable Coaching, Training & Development.  We invite trainers, facilitators and organisations to contact us to become part of building a network of Green & Sustainability Training Partners nationally.

Keitu Gwangwa & Pierre du Toit host the iStart2 Show on Thursdays at 17h30. Radio Today broadcasts on 1485 MW (AM) in greater Johannesburg and countrywide on ‪#‎DStv‬ audio channel 869.
Radio Today also streams globally on www.1485.org.za.

 

 
A new African Civil Society Initiative has been in gestation. In the past few months, more that 3,000 interested people have been in conversation on different platforms on how to reinvigorate civil society across the continent.

Read the latest news by Kumi Naidoo on the African Civil Society Initiative  here

The Bad Touch ... David Bellamy, Simone & Douglas J Shaw

Artist, scientist, designer and environmentalist, David Bellamy is inspired by almost everything in the natural world... “and by ferocity, kindness, generosity, ambition, valour”.

Design meets Biodiversity

Rooted in the disciplines of science and art, his work reflects deeply held philosophical perspectives on humanity’s place in nature, ie a biocentrism that extends value to all living things and the environment in which they flourish.

“Our basecloths are either 100% Libeco Belgian linen or 55% linen, because linen has lower pesticide and water consumption impacts, as well as being very hard-wearing, with a long life. Linen is also renowned for the fact that it is biodegradable and does not produce landfill waste or sea plastic. “Our inks are made locally by Dala, and are low-toxicity, water soluble inks, reducing pollution and enhancing safety.

“The subject matter of the designs point to current South African issues, whilst participating in global conversations. The design ethos involves generating a “new African language”, which doesn't rely on appropriation of the work of other and older cultures, and stereotypes.

“If one thinks through as many dimensions of visuality, meaning, content, and production, anything can be made to participate in the restoration and repair of the biosphere, as well as intervening in the designing of human thinking and perception, probably the principal and most urgent zone of “design activism and intervention”. – David Bellamy, August 2016

The bbellamy&bbellamy shop in Main Road, Muizenberg houses an extensive curated collection of imported fabrics, hand-picked by David over decades, and is a treasure trove for local decorators, fabric lovers and tourists.

 Health and Home

Simone Prinsloo, a single mom with two children got diagnosed with breast cancer and is currently undergoing chemotherapy. She lost her job and struggled to pay her house bond but tried holding on to her house in this difficult time. The Banksters and auctioneers then moved in and illegally sold her house with no regard to the Constitution or procedures required by Law. 

This brave woman tells her story on the iStart2 Show. We asked an Advocate of the Supreme Court, Douglas J Shaw,  to join us in Studio to give his opinion on the case. We have all seen the little heartless bot that will be running our lives at banks in future. It is time to bring back the humans?

 "No matter what you go through in life, 

you can make a difference"
- Simone Prinsloo on the iStart2 Show

To listen to the show, click play below:

Something to think about:

Make a difference out there this week :-)