QUANTUM SHIFT IN THE GLOBAL BRAIN

HOW THE NEW SCIENTIFIC REALITY CAN CHANGE US AND OUR WORLD

ERVIN LASZLO

INNER TRADITIONS                    2008

www.InnerTraditions.com

PART XVI

 

 Chapter 16: Principal Activities of the Club of Budapest

The Club of Budapest:

1. Collaborates in the development and operation of a global degree-granting institution of higher learning with the vital mission of educating and training a new generation of positive change agents able to work in existing and newly created public and private institutions toward the solution of the world’s most vexing and urgent problems (the GlobalShift University).
2. Participates in an alliance it has cofounded to elucidate the concept of a new civilization and the practical paths leading to it, together with like-minded institutes and organizations (the Creating a New Civilization Alliance).
3. Participates in a further alliance it has likewise founded to help advanced-thinking individuals and organizations exchange information, adopt shared goals and objectives, and join together in the implementation of their activities and projects (the World Wisdom Alliance).
4. Brings together leading thinkers and visionaries to discuss the problems facing the world community and produce a realistic vision of a civilization that is peaceful and sustainable, in balance with itself and with nature (the World Wisdom Council.
5. Conducts periodic surveys of the new cultures of solidarity and responsibility in various countries and regions of the world to establish their size, composition, and values and to communicate the results to the new cultures as well as to the public at large (the International Survey of Emergent Cultures).
6. Organizes a series of events to support and celebrate the emerging culture of peace and solidarity on Earth (the Global Peace Meditation/Prayer Days).
7. Offers annual prizes to individuals whose thinking and activity exemplify the new culture and the new consciousness (the Planetary Consciousness Prizes) and confers awards on organizations and communities whose activities and projects translate the new consciousness into action (the Best Practice Awards).
8. Produces a series of books and reports and related visual materials that describe the critical conditions of the human community, trace the roots of the present unsustainability, and apply the latest insights of the sciences to offer practical guidelines for evolving a planetary civilization (the You Can Change the World book series).

 

Chapter 17: Objectives of the GlobalShift University

The initiative to create the GlobalShift University (GSU) is grounded in the belief that a fundamental shift is required in order to create a culture of sustainability. Current global challenges demand concerted action by all conscious individuals – informed and effective action that is optimised for maximum constructive impact. A growing number of concerned persons and institutions on every continent are currently involved in addressing these challenges, but there are numerous barriers that impair their ability to act on their vision and motivation. The required marshalling and channeling of common interest-based, planet-wide activism cannot be expected to occur spontaneously or evolve organically as long as social cohesion is driven by national ethnocentrism, individual egocentricity, and the special interests of public and private institutions. Four Fundaments Elements are needed to overcome this social fragmentation.

v  The First Fundamental Element is an overarching vision of a positive future, the proverbial “big ideas” that capture and galvanize the imagination of people. While there is no shortage of visionaries and big thinkers, there is no widely recognized and embraced framework or architecture for effective cultural, social, political, and economic reorganization. The lack of a systemic, commonly held, values-driven strategy for making positive change, grounded in science, spirituality, and fairness, diminishes and undermines the possibility of effective collective action.

v  The Second Fundamental Element is a set of effective communication processes and protocols that pierce the barrier of fragmentation, letting in the light of a new vision and conveying big ideas and interconnecting those who are ready to receive them. This would create synergisms and forward momentum toward planetary sustainability and peace among individuals, public institutions, and civil society as well as business organizations.

v  The Third Fundamental Element regards the key skills of interdependent action, today all too rarely present, such as the ability to develop covenantal relationships, engage in meaningful dialogue, engage in critical thinking, develop collective wisdom, and translate vision and ideas into meaningful action and robust processes of change.

v  The Fourth Fundamental Element is a new perception of the role of that timely and effective engagement by both business and government can play in collective action and the collaborative promotion of global sustainability.

INSTITUTIONAL MISSION AND GOALS

 

Chapter 18: Objectives of the World Wisdom Council

Chapter 19: Objectives of the International Survey of Emergent Cultures

Chapter 20: Objectives of the Global Peace Meditation/Prayer Days

Annex: Communication Beyond the Grave: Exploring an Explanation

Bibliography