Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Green Collar Jobs: follow-up

Hi folks
To follow up on our brief but crucial discussion on how many jobs the green economy will generate and who will get those jobs, check out “Community Jobs and the Green Economy”, a groundbreaking report by Apollo Alliance and Urban Habitat

http://home.apolloalliance.org/community-jobs-report/Community-Jobs-in-the-Green-Economy.pdf

or, for a briefer intro, with some nice links to related articles

http://home.apolloalliance.org/community-jobs-report/

I have hard copies of this report on order for each of you, and you can also order them free directly from publications@apolloalliance.org

Also see related articles by Van Jones and others in the Just Sustainability Resources I gave out and put on the blog
Elan

Resource for Social Behavior Change

Hi Folks
Here's a resource I've put together that may help if you're looking for more ways to advance the Social Change efforts. the lens used here is Building Social Capital.

Ideas for Building Social Capital- 09/24/2007

Get to know 1 or 2 of your immediate neighbors on the bloc, on the floor you live or work on, etc., in an ongoing, substantial way

Recognize others in your everyday life (bank tellers, grocery clerks, colleagues, etc.) for their unique presence and gifts, as you go about your day. Be open and loving to a wider range of people than is your current pattern.

Get to know one or two people well over time who are part of a world you rarely connect with (elders/children, low-income/working class people, people of color/immigrants, people with disabilities, people with different sexual preferences than yours, etc.)

Practice being a bridge. Link isolated parts of your community and your life. See yourself as a connector between people, groups, disconnected domains (such as the social justice and sustainability worlds)

Help your social group/block/neighborhood/community etc. find effective, engaging ways to discover & share:
• Common skills and interests
• Common needs they have, barriers to meeting those needs, and ways to overcome the barriers
• Playful ways to connect outside of the usual talking mode (games, music, dance, outdoor experiences, etc.)
• How they are shaped by their diverse backgrounds, cultural heritages. Could also include ways to celebrate those heritages
• A common vision and core values, and ways to realize that vision
• Stories of our lives (could include drawing & sharing a timeline of key turning points in one’s life, or a map of key elements of one’s life)
• Facilitation, communication and other community-building skills

Link people by supporting each other’s wish to live more sustainably, such as:
• Finding alternatives to solo car travel
• Creating a local/organic food purchasing coop, community garden, etc.
• Sharing resources of any kind (tools, skills, vehicles, local knowledge, childcare, garden produce and seeds, etc.)
• Home energy efficiency parties
• Monitoring and reducing trash levels, ecological footprint, energy use levels , etc.
• Creating sustainable living learning circles and/or video/discussion series
• Etc

Co-create attractive common indoor & outdoor places for people in your life to connect in

Create shared artistic experiences, (visual, musical, theatrical, movement, etc.) in common spaces

Create festivals for sharing peoples’ different cultures