Hybrid Community Diversified Cooperative

“Hybridizing” the Cooperative Model

This concept is one of my more interesting ideas and describes in some detail the creation of a sort of "regional community center", including the creation of a physical set of facilities to catalyze innovation, entrepreneurship and community empowerment.

This chapter of the Vision book begins a “Master Mind” dialog for evolving the concept of a new type of cooperative. There is something incredibly powerful about the "cooperative". It transformed agriculture. And yet in the U.S. it has really been limited in its utilization and evolution. Also, in my opinion, it tends to have a "corporate" feel. The idea of a "hybrid" would be to adjust the concept of "one vote per member". This concept rings of democracy which may not be the ultimate form of a cooperative venture, because in "a democracy" you could have 49% of the group disgruntled. That to me is not a workable model.

An evolution of the original concept of the cooperative might be derived from Napoleon Hill’s book “Think and Grow Rich” describing the functioning of the Master Mind (see discussion in the book chapter). A process built into the Cooperative could involve assurance of 100% alignment regarding actionable efforts. The key to tapping into incredible powers would be to assure "pure" collaboration. In many historical and contemporary human endeavors small percentages of dissonant opinions and voices resulted in ultimate failure.

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statement_on_the_Co-operative_Identity
2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business

To download this chapter, or any others from my book, follow this link "Vision - We Are Re-creating the World, a Resource Manual "tool-box" for Revitalization and Empowerment Through Grass-roots Strategies and Environmental Awareness.

Regional Revitalization and Empowerment Stategies (RRES)

2011 is the year for Regional Revitalization and Empowerment Strategies.

Empowerment involves helping people to realize their own abilities to be the masters of their own destiny, to make dreams come true. The best toolset I have found so far is Desmond Green's The Practice. It is the first of two books in this book The Global Citizenship Passport. Download it for FREE!

http://jamaicaselfmanagementinstitute.yolasite.com/resources/GlobalPassportDesmondDGreen002.pdf

From the Jamaica Self Management Institute

The Regional and Community Empowerment Project – Colombia

The Regional and Community Empowerment Project – Colombia
By Andrew N. Skadberg, Ph.D.

This abstract was recently accepted for the conference Tourism Progress and Peace. I see the pieces of this puzzle coming together very nicely, as this has been a dedicated effort to develop over the last 22 years. So, in the interests of gaining supporting energies, I am posting this description here to make it known to the world, so to speak. There is much more already written about the details, and the various components are being built and could become a very lengthy blog, but this will provide a nice summary for those who might be curious about what I have been working on for the last 3 years.

No matter what happens I am grateful to Sandy Dhuyvetter of TravelTalkMedia for "lighting this fire". Also, to my friend Desmond Green who is my co-creator of some beautiful opportunities brewing in Jamaica. There are many more to thank, but for the time being this will suffice.

Abstract
Tourism in Colombia has vast potentials. However, one of the most significant challenges is the stigma of Colombia being a risky place to travel that has been created via mainstream media. Another challenge is shifting the Colombia people’s mindset as they too have been influenced by what some have called a “culture of violence”. The aim of the project currently underway in Colombia is to develop strategies to grow tourism and economic opportunities via what we term “revitalization and empowerment”, which involves diversification and strengthening of regional and community economies. Currently underway is a grass-roots strategy for empowering regions and people to develop tourism and other complimentary industries (e.g. agriculture, arts and music, entrepreneurship). Foundational principles build on creating educational platforms and utilizing individual and community empowerment strategies. An additional imperative is a strong foundation on environmental awareness and protection. To accomplish this multi-faceted approach involves educating people about the criticality of the human-nature relationship, and the utilization of remote-sensing sciences for identifying and ameliorating environmental challenges and threats.

The Regional and Community Empowerment Project (RCEP) is comprised of three primary “Initiatives” 1) Education, 2) Branding/Marketing, and 3) Developing New Technologies.

Initiative I – Education: Creating the Tourism, Agricultural and Community Economic Diversification Institute—the “TACED Institute” for tourism and value-added agricultural technical assistance.

The TACED Institute provides access to information and technical assistance with an entrepreneurial focus. The TACED Institute supports holistic economic development strategies focused on tourism, innovation in agriculture and small business development. Additionally the TACED Institute provides on-site, hands-on training seminars to local “trainers” to create a network of “tech-transfer associates” throughout regions. The initiative partners with regional organizations and businesses to develop educational outreach programs.

Initiative II – Branding/Marketing: “Experience Your Region” regional tourism destination branding (national and internationally marketed). – the actual “brand/trademark” will be developed from the initiative itself.

Regional branding is marketed both nationally and internationally as “Experience Your Region”, as experiential tourism destination(s). The purpose of this initiative is to expand experiential tourism in the region based on existing tourism attractions and those developing, in addition to the existing and developing infrastructure.

Initiative III Developing New Technologies: Supporting both the Education and Marketing aspects of the RCEP are access portals for people and communities in Colombia, and for international travelers to find travel opportunities.

The purpose of these new technologies is to provide: 1) a complete “package” of answers to questions that traveler’s might have, 2) customized information about the places they are/will be traveling, and 3) support for rural communities and small businesses to market themselves. Additional technologies support the creation of a “virtual” university providing practical education tools, including, initially 1) English, 2) tourism, and 3) entrepreneurship. The final element of technology development is the utilization of remote-sensing, and spatial sciences for more effective planning and for creating viable solutions for environmental impacts that are ubiquitous in nearly all places where development has occurred.

Release of 1st Book - When Love Guides Your Thoughts

Dear Friends,

This is an exciting day!!! We've have officially released our first book "When Love Guides Your Thoughts".

The book lays down some basic principles, "rules" for thinking, and invites us, humanity, to create a new foundation for life on seeking the "truth" and on Love. No words here in this blog can do it service.

The book, and the new team members coming online is like a super-charge of new energy to Solomon Source. Look for a newly launched Web site in the near future. Also, Join us at our Collaborative Network, and follow us at Twitter for updates.

ALL proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to Solomons Source for efforts to assist humanity. So to purchase this book is like a donation to humanity.

Here is a snapshot of the "tentative" new Web design.

Taking Care of the Whole (person, community)

Dear readers,

Here is an excerpt from a proposal prepared for the Reverence for Life University initiative in Jamaica - the 4th "R" initiative.

As Wallace D. Wattles so clearly stated, in The Science of Getting Rich (1910),

“Those who do not quite fill their present places are dead weight upon society, government, commerce, and industry; they must be carried along by others at a great expense.” (Wattles 1910).

An analogy for an individual that then could extend to communities, nations and the world might be that if a person was to only take care of half of his body (if that could be done): to literally not feed it, bath it or take any efforts to assist it to be a healthy partner to the other half of his body. One can easily imagine how healthy or happy that person might be, dragging around a half dead body.

This may seem to be a ridiculous analogy because there is no way that a person could only sustain half his body. However, is the analogy that ridiculous? If we extend the analogy to the world only about ½ of the world’s population has access to clean water. That would seem to be the most basic human right, but one half of our “body” or “collective being” is not getting the most basic needs fulfilled. Now, if we take this hypothetical situation and extend it to any other “body” that exists in the human condition – a community, a nation, the world, wouldn’t the actions of leaving behind and not caring for a significant portion of the system denigrate the whole?

Throughout human history we can see that this has been the case. Take the civil war in the United States, what was the result of the two halves of the nation fighting – tremendous strife and suffering. An endless number of examples could be cited. And currently, if one looks from this perspective across the globe, one can easily observe this “ailing body” syndrome. Dis-ease (allegorically used) is rife, poverty and human blight are ubiquitous, and extremely denigrated environmental conditions exist in every corner of the globe.

The solution to this dilemma seems to evade us. Yet as one looks in another place, in the lives of some awakened people, there seems to be great harmony, peace, prosperity and abundance. Is the solution so elusive and difficult that only a few can utilize and implement it? No! And this truth is well established in literature and spiritual traditions that has come to us throughout the ages. The solution is clearly stated in Wattles’s book, to move from the
competitive to the creative, or to awaken.

Now the challenge appears to be to identify why “the masses” are not able to grasp or get access to the tools by which to improve their condition. We believe Wattles addresses this in his book somewhat indirectly. The word “Rich” appears to rankle people, or maybe more accurately causes fear. Wattles is specifically referring to money in his book, but is also addressing the idea of abundant living in the form of “improved lives”.

All the Best! - Andy