Global Citizens Blog

Posts Tagged ‘limits’

Help Last Call “Change the Ending!”

Posted by Sarah Parkinson, Published: April 30th, 2013

Last Call, a new documentary film, revisits the message of The Limits to Growth and shares a compelling vision of a sustainable future. It’s been forty years since Donella Meadows and her team at MIT published The Limits to Growth, but their message still needs to be heard–today more than ever. When their groundbreaking book first came out in 1972, the [...]

The Happiness Initiative: The Serious Business of Well-Being

Posted by Sarah Parkinson, Published: February 26th, 2013

By Laura Musikanski and John de Graaf

Growth in GDP was long ago decoupled from personal indicators of well-being, as many Americans report being overworked, stressed, and lonely. (image credit: Stanley Wood) Happiness: is it just a fad of the day or the wave of the future? On July 19th, 2011, the United Nations (UN) passed a resolution urging governments across the globe to start measuring happiness and [...]

Could Economic Growth Kill Us?

Posted by Sarah Parkinson, Published: November 13th, 2012

By Mark Buchanan

This article was first published on November 11 in Bloomberg. Even if we could maintain perpetual growth, it could lead to disastrous outcomes for our economies and societies. (Image credit: woodleywonderworks) Now that the U.S. presidential election is over, attention has turned to the challenge of keeping the world’s largest economy growing. The underlying assumption is that growth is always the proper [...]

Managing Complexity: A Simulation’s Insights into Climate Change

Posted by Sarah Parkinson, Published: October 19th, 2012

By Sarah Parkinson

Using the En-ROADS simulation tool to visualize our energy choices and understand their implications Elizabeth Sawin When we talk about climate change, we’re really talking about systems—a whole web of linked issues. We can’t really discuss the eroding health of our planet without bringing up the causes of that decline, such as habitat destruction and resource extraction. Mention of resource extraction brings [...]

What the Economic Crisis Really Means and What We Can Do About It

Posted by Sarah Parkinson, Published: October 17th, 2012

By Theo Kitchener

We were told that the global financial crisis of 2008 happened because irresponsible borrowers couldn’t afford to pay back their loans. This is true, but it was also part of a much deeper problem. The issue is that our economic system is based on the need for continuous, perpetual growth. It’s highly likely that we’re already in the beginnings of [...]

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Since its founding in 1996 by environmental leader Donella Meadows, our Institute has been at the forefront of sustainability thinking and training. Our initiatives have addressed economic, environmental, and social challenges from a range of angles and at many levels. In everything we do, the disciplines of systems thinking and organizational learning inform and shape our work. It is this focus on whole-system analysis, combined with careful listening, truth telling, and visioning, that make the Donella Meadows Institute unique among sustainability organizations.  Read More

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