I learnt from the Forum:

Rajinder shared The Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR
http://www.wotr.org/index.htm ) programmes in India and wowed us with many
similarities such as Shared Vision and Team Learning. Minimum local
participation as well as gender participation was also necessary for the
programmes to work. This shows a more wholesome system of other influencing
factors rather than just the men at work. (postnote: just saw Sheila's email
which also showed the influence of the family unit towards Global Warming at
http://www.lopn.net/ST_Casestudy21_GW.html)

Doing More with Less & the Inevitable:
Technology has produced crop variations that produce 3 times more food than
nature. Given Earth's limited resources, we have, with technology, reduced
wastage and produced more. However, the inevitable is that man always wanted
more. One way to prevent Earth from collapsing is tech grows faster than
deteroriation. Of course, there are other ways such as not wanting more, would
you?

Chee Wah

Sheila Damodaran <dmsl@...> wrote:
The two things that struck me at the Forum was:

To contain Global Warming is not to "do more" but think of ways to
do less. Many things that lead to our earth becoming "hotter" stems
from wanting to things bigger, better, faster. There is no two ways
about it. One leads to the other.

Remember that climate changes has no boundary. It does not say this
is Singapore and this is India and that what happens in one country
does not affect the other. When we forget our connectedness to the
whole and to the world, we lose sight of how what we do contribute
to global warming. Bring that into focus and watch how the ways we
respond to global warming change with it.

What other things struck you or what questions does this open up for
you?

Wish all a pleasant weekend.

Warm regards
Sheila

--- In LOPN@yahoogroups.com, "Sheila Damodaran" <dmsl@...> wrote:
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
> From: Sheila Damodaran
> Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2007 11:45 PM
> To: 'Keng Soon YEO'
> Cc: 'chancheewah1974001'; 'George
MADHAVAN'; 'jimmy.chew'; 'mpatan';
> 'rajinderraina@...'; 'wkkwok'

> Subject: RE: LOPN Sustainability Forum: Jan 19, 2007 (Friday,
2.30 - 6 pm)
>
This is absolutely great! I am sure Rajinder would be delighted!
>
> To Keng Soon's personal question, I too was holding that question
for the past several months and one of the reasons for my trip to
Boston, was to explore this while I was there - since the SoL
community is very much into this topic - of course, I am really
hoping we too can have more of such conversations here in Singapore,
which is the reason for this Forum.
>
> The outcome of the discussions and my thoughts are captured in the
pps and the link here: <http://www.lopn.net/ST_Casestudy21_GW.html>
http://www.lopn.net/ST_Casestudy21_GW.html. I have shared this with
Rajinder too. Would all of you print a copy of this (too) and bring
on Friday? Just print the GW_Print version.
>
> What questions open up for others?
>
> Warmly,
> Sheila
> Singapore
> +65-94790526 <http://www.lopn.net> http://www.lopn.net
>
> _____
>
> From: rajinder raina [mailto:rajinderraina@...]
> Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2007 1:56 PM
> To: cheewah chan
> Cc: Keng Soon YEO; dmsl@...; George MADHAVAN; jimmy.chew; mpatan;
> wkkwok
> Subject: Re: LOPN Sustainability Forum: Jan 19, 2007 (Friday,
2.30 - 6 pm)
>
>
> The discussion and thinking is going on well!
> Keep it going and we shall meet tomorrow. I am excited that we
will get to talk and hopefully understand the subject better at the
end of it.

> One thought for the day: All of us seem to know what is wrong, we
seem to know what could be done but the "how" part-from knowing to
doing? At a scale which could change our direction!!!
>
> See you all
> Rajinder
>
>
> On 1/18/07, cheewah chan <chancheewah1974001@...> wrote:
>
> KengSoon,
>
> 1a. Nuclear energy. I like it. Cheap. It's radiating anyway.
> 1b. Biofuels. I like it. Cheap, renewable, plentiful.
> But see the place where it is used. 1a. Russia, vast land,
Chernobyl,
> still ok. 1b. India, sunlight, land, crops, labour. Ultimately,
the
> easiest (also read cheapest) way to get energy works for each
community.
>
> 2. Environmental Cost Incorporation.
> They tried that for home applicances to include in cost of
disposal. I
> remember it didn't quite work out. But somebody got to pay, right?
> Millions of small little factories pumping out smoke on the
roads. How to
> control them? What if the wind blows elsewhere? Just my 5 minute
> suggestion: Containment, use and reduce at point of consumption.
e.g.
> catalytic convertors. Else, indirect tax and indirect efforts
loses % of $
> to corruption and distribution, who knows where $ goes to?
>
> U. Mindless Consumption.
> Man has consciousness and aims to achieve towards Godness or God-
like.
> The Royal Saskatchewan Museum's article on Can We Live Sustainably
guide has
> a good paragraph on what Earth meant to people, see pg 15:
> 1. Earth as a gift to the people
> 2. Earth is a living, self-regulating entity with a spirit named
as Gaia
> Hence the exploitation of Earth's resources to use Earth up for
the benefit
> of man or let the best man or Earth wins.
> We can discuss the 2 underlying models more on Friday.
>
> Chee Wah
>
>
> Keng Soon YEO <YEO_Keng_Soon@...> wrote:
>
> Hi all
>
> Just to get the ball rolling so as to speak. Chee Wah (an ex-
colleague who has also registered for the forum) and I had a brief
exchange of views the other day. Just to share very briefly what we
discussed about.
>
> CW is of the view that the use of the word "sustainability" may
give a "let's preserve the status quo" connotation. What other
alternative words could describe what we are trying to do to make it
a bit more sexy and encourage more participation?
>
> Other questions that we asked ourselves:
> - How important is it for the goal of environmental sustainability
to be
> achieved in our lifetime?
> - What should we do today? What is the most important thing for
humanity to start doing?
> - How may population control move us towards environmental
sustainability?
> What are the pros and cons of such a measure?
> - What are the latest technological solutions that could advance
the cause of environmental sustainability?
>
> I also have some personal questions of my own:
> - What is the group's view (Rajinder's view) on nuclear energy and
> biofuels?
> - What is the group's view (Rajinder's view) on tax restructing,
i.e. incorporate the indirect cost of say, burning a gallon of
gasoline in the form of a tax? This was advocated by some
environmental gurus like Mr Lester Brown, President of Earth Policy
Institute.
>
> The question utmost in my mind is this:
> - Many solutions ranging from alternative energies to population
control and resource conservation have been proposed by
environmental gurus and titans. Sadly, there is little progress and
acceptance by consumers, businesses and government policymakers
despite the obvious benefits, including cost. What could be our
underlying mental models which promotes this seemingly mindless
consumption and inhibits us from making the transition to
sustainability?
>
> Yeo Keng Soon l Assistant Director l Planning Division l Ministry
of the Environment and Water Resources l tel: +65 67319292 l fax:
+65 67319456 l
>
> A Clean Environment. Water for All. Together, a Sustainable
Singapore. Visit our website at http://www.mewr.gov.sg
<http://www.mewr.gov.sg/> .
>
> "Sheila
> Damodaran"
>
> net.sg <http://net.sg/> > ,
> George MADHAVAN/PUB/SINGOV@SINGOV ,
> 01/16/2007 ,
> 11:26 PM ,
> , Keng Soon
> YEO/MEWR/SINGOV@SINGOV
> Please respond cc
> to "'rajinder raina'"
>
>
> net.sg <http://net.sg/> > Subject
> LOPN Sustainability Forum: Jan 19,
> 2007 (Friday, 2.30 - 6 pm)
>
> Dear all,
>
> We are happy to inform you the venue details of the upcoming LOPN
Forum (http://www.lopn.net/Practitioners_Sharings.html).
>
> Date: January 19, 2007 (Fri)
> Time: 2.30 pm - 6 pm.
> Venue: Kembangan Community Club. The location is just a 5 mins
shaded walk from the Kembangan MRT station. The club can be seen
from the MRT station. Proceed to a café located on the ground floor
(is brightly lighted). See link:
http://www.streetdirectory.com/asia_travel/travel/travel.php?
buildingid=44855&masterid=54914&x=36836.2538&y=33938.9842&star=1&star
mode=1&level=5>
>
> We are adjusting the Forum to a more informal format which also
allow the speaker to understand your specific interests and hopes.
The reason we are doing it this way is we are noticing about 6-7
persos who have shown interest in the topic. It appears small but I
am just absolutely delighted that you have made it possible for the
snowball to start rolling here.
>
> If you thought there is a spefic focus that is important for you
and you would like Rajinder to know it ahead, do feel free to go
ahead and drop a line here. Treat it, as if the Forum has started!
>
> Kindly also read the note below from Rajinder.
>
> Warmly,
>
>
> Sheila
> Singapore
> +65-94790526
> http://www.lopn.net
>
>
> From: rajinder raina [mailto:rajinderraina@...]
> Sent: Monday, January 15, 2007 1:57 PM
> To: dmsl@...
> Cc: Sushil
> Subject: Re: LOPN Sustainability Forum: Jan 19, 2007 (Friday,
2.30 - 6 pm)
>
> Dear Sheila,
>
> While i was trying to prepare myself for the Forum in the last few
days, i realised that the best way to go about, especially in a
small group is to let them browse thru a few websites before they
come over. In any case i am no authority on the subject and in no
way am i going to drop 'pearls' of wisdom by showing them
captivating ppts!
>
> However if they can leisurely engage in some of the websites
below, i can assure you that they would be forced to 'Introspect'
and think very hard. Meeting in the Forum then would be very
fruitful for all. I don't mind the numbers, it does not matter. Even
if just 3 people show up it is fine.
>
> I was myself very pleaseantly surprised to see the amount of
research and initiatives that small groups of people have done
around sustainability-it is amazing what some people have actually
done on the ground.
>
> I would encourage you to go thru atleast some of them when you
find time.
> They are truely very encouraging and thought provoking.
> 1) www.neweconomics.org <http://www.neweconomics.org/>
> 2) www.zeri.org <http://www.zeri.org/>
> 3) www.feasta.org <http://www.feasta.org/>
> 4) www.isec.org.uk <http://www.isec.org.uk/>
> 5) www.ecovillage.org <http://www.ecovillage.org/>
> 6) www.gen-europe.org <http://www.gen-europe.org/>
> 7) www.cnvc.org <http://www.cnvc.org/>
> 8) www.icaworld.org <http://www.icaworld.org/>
> 9) www.oekodorf.or.at <http://www.oekodorf.or.at/>
> 10) www.livingroutes.org <http://www.livingroutes.org/>
> 11) www.ecovillage.wikicities.com
<http://www.ecovillage.wikicities.com/>
> 12) www.ecologicalsolutions.com.au
<http://www.ecologicalsolutions.com.au/>
> 13) www.villagedesign.org <http://www.villagedesign.org/>
> 14) www.redefiningprogress.org
<http://www.redefiningprogress.org/>
> 15) www.communityatwork.com <http://www.communityatwork.com/>
>
> I have some more but.....it might get overwhelming...
> Let me know what you think?
> Rajinder
>
> From: Mike Tan [mailto:mpatan@...]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 7:01 AM
> To: dmsl@...
> Cc: sharon@...; 'rajinder raina'
> Subject: RE: [LOPN] meeting Friday 19 Jan
>
>
> Hi Sheila
>
> The address is Kembangan Community Club. The location is just a 5
mins shaded walk from the Kembangan MRT station. No problems finding
the place as the club can be seen from the MRT station. The café is
located on the ground floor and is brightly lighted.
>
> Those driving, the street name is Lengkong Tiga. Look up the street
> directory and locate the venue. Car parks will be at the HDB
estate. The usual car park coupons apply and then it's a 3 min walk
to the café.
>
> I hope there'll be no crowd on Friday afternoon as this café is
open to the public…..no entrance fees…..no worries, Sharon….we'll
help you 'recover' costs. Our meeting will be from 2 to 6 pm.
>
> Sharon, grateful if you could help with the run power in case the
laptop runs beyond its battery life.
>
> Many thanks and I'll see the rest this Friday afternoon and look
forward to what Rajinder has to share.
>
> Warm regards
> Mike
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>






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