Green Innovators in Business - Recently Updated Pages

Green Innovators in Business Network

dwitzel — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:10:47 CST

Join January's "Growing GIBN Open Conference Call" with Carol Sanford to discuss her new book "The Responsible Business"

Tuesday, January 17th at 3PM ET 760-569-9000, 160031#

Find us on:

About Green Innovators in Business Network

The Green Innovators in Business Network (GIBN) is an open network for all business changemakers— those working with and within business to develop innovative approaches to sustainability challenges.

Become a GIBN Member and Supporter

Click here to join the GIBN Mailing List

Attend our Solutions Labs

One-day events held throughout the country that provide leading thinkers and "doers" from business, academia and organizations with the opportunity to explore the next generation of business sustainability— one in which we can grow profits for our companies and create positive impact on the planet.

Find out more about GIBN Solutions Labs

Join us for Growing GIBN Conversations

Monthly calls and webinars focused on topics that are most compelling to you -- a network of green innovators in business -- and draw on your experience and ideas. Some of these topics may be a continuation of the themes that emerged during Solutions Labs events.

How you can attend

CONTACT THE GIBN NATIONAL TEAM

National Supporters

Organizers

Growing GIBN Conversations

dwitzel — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:09:14 CST

In January, the organizing team of the Green Innovators in Business Network (GIBN) held three calls in an effort to gather feedback about how to grow and nurture GIBN. These calls generated a number of interesting ideas on how to provide ongoing support to -- and encourage collaboration among -- green innovators in business. We also discussed how to expand the GIBN network and ways to improve the GIBN Solutions Labs events. Overall, the conversation calls proved to be so thought-provoking and useful that we have decided to continue them throughout the year.

Growing GIBN Conversations are held on the 2nd Tuesday of every month in 2011.

These calls will focus on the topics that are most compelling to you -- a network of green innovators in business -- and draw on your experience and ideas. Some of these topics may be a continuation of the themes that emerged during Solutions Labs events. Others may be suggested during the conversations or during other GIBN calls and events.

Propose topics, network and stay connected with GIBN -
Follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn

Next Call: Tuesday, January 17, 2012 @ 3pm ET
Topic: Carol Sanford will talk about her book "The Responsible Business"
Call-in Information: Phone: (760) 569-9000 ; Code: 160031#

Past 2011 Growing GIBN Calls

February Topic: Strategies for Engaging your Colleagues and your Company's Leadership in Sustainability

March Topic: Evidence for Sustainability: Trends in Benchmarking and Reporting

April Topic: Portfolios for Sustainability with Diversey's Jeramy Lemieux

May Webinar: A Deeper-dive on Expanding Sustainability Initiatives with Jeramy Lemieux

May Topic: Getting Sustainability Initiatives Funded at your Organization

June Webinar: Triple Bottom Line Measurement & Benchmarking Network with Farron Levy

June Topic: Open Innovation - The EDF-Innocentive Eco-Challenge Series

July Topic: Increasing the Impact of the GIBN Solutions Labs: Focus on Intrapreneurs

August Topic: Social Media Tools for Sustainability in Business

September Topic: Employee Engagement in Sustainability Efforts

October Topic: Removing Barriers to Energy Efficiency

November Topic: The Business of Innovation

Boston 2011 GIBN Solutions Lab

odinzackman — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 22:09:44 CST

Are you trying to drive sustainable or “green” innovation within your company?
How would you redefine “innovation” for sustainability in your company and industry?
Are you pursuing new products that both address environmental challenges and grow your business?

Join EDF’s Innovation Exchange, the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, and DIG IN for the Green Innovators in Business Network (GIBN)’s third annual Boston Solutions Lab, to be held at the Microsoft New England Research Center on Thursday December 8, 2011.

This year’s event will explore how we conceive of innovation, and its role in addressing key environmental and sustainability challenges, including climate change, while maintaining economic and business growth. This event will draw on insights from in-depth research of corporate strategies conducted by the the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, Business of Innovating: Bringing Low-Carbon Solutions to Market, into effective methods used by leading companies today to help bring low-carbon technologies and solutions to market.

This is not a traditional conference but an opportunity to accelerate connections, foster learning, and catalyze change through a participatory format. Designed to engage interested business professionals in an ongoing learning community, the Solutions Lab brings together hundreds of professionals engaged in making their organizations more efficient, sustainable and leading-edge.

REVIEW THE BOSTON SOLUTIONS LAB AGENDA

Please share comments or blog posts about this event here:

http://www.ndcollaborative.com/blog/61-creativityinnovation/141-gibn11

For more information about GIBN, please visit the Green Innovators in Business Network wiki or contact Dave Witzel or Odin Zackman.

Generously Supported and Hosted by:

GIBN Solutions Labs

dwitzel — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 10:05:04 CST

Green Innovation in Business Solutions Labs

Boston, MA - December 8, 2011 - Join us and the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (formerly the Pew Center on Global Climate Change) for the third annual Boston Solutions Lab, to be held at the Microsoft New England Research Center on Thursday December 8, 2011. This year’s event will explore how we conceive of innovation, and its role in addressing key environmental and sustainability challenges, including climate change, while maintaining economic and business growth. Register for this event or for more information, please visit the Boston 2011 GIBN Solutions Lab page. Please stay tuned for more information about the dates, locations and themes.

Recent:

Indianapolis, IN - September 20, 2011 GIBN and local and regional partners including Capitol Assets and WFYI will be convening the Indiana Solutions Lab for regional businesses interested in sustainability in manufacturing, energy, and other sectors.
Register for this event or for more information please contact Odin Zackman (odin@digin.org), Andrea Bazemore (abazemore@capitolassets.net) or David Witzel (dwitzel@edf.org).

Orlando, FL - October 12, 2011 Manufacturing and retail companies will come together for the Vision 2050 Solutions Lab to discuss opportunities for a Zero Waste/100% Product future and build their leadership skills for change. This event is invitation only. For more information please contact Odin Zackman (odin@digin.org or David Witzel (dwitzel@edf.org).

Some of the themes presented and discussed at past Solutions Labs:

Engaging consumers and changing behavior
Employee engagement in sustainability
Stakeholder engagement in sustainability
Corporate/non-profit/government partnerships
Effective collaboration for sustainability
Metrics & benchmarking/creating standards for sustainability
Energy efficiency: dismantling barriers through behavioral change, financial instruments, and technological innovation
Greening IT - data centers, carbon management software, green technology
Green operations/ material use including supply chain, water, waste issues; life-cycle analysis
Sustainable transportation and freight
How to influence legislation
Creating green cities
Practical steps for implementing innovation at your company/organization
Sustainability and the profit motive
Leveraging sustainability initiatives to strengthen branding
Using private equity to drive innovation
Shifting corporate culture
R&D for sustainable products
Sustainability of food systems

See what a Solutions Lab is Like
Mark Leisher of Green Roads TV prepared this introductory video from the 2010 Washington DC Solutions Lab.

Explore innovative approaches for transforming business practices and creating new opportunities
Make connections and explore new partnerships with leaders from other businesses and sectors
Brainstorm solutions to shared challenges

Who Attends

Business professionals “doing” sustainability every day (CSR, operations, supply chain, marketing and other areas)
Investors exploring environmental opportunities
Academics conducting relevant research
Staff of non-profits, government agencies and consulting firms helping businesses benefit from environmental opportunities

You should attend if you are...

Driving environmental innovation within your company
Exploring "greener" products or services
Looking for new ways to engage employees, customers, suppliers, or your management
Looking for new partners, new approaches, new tools, and new ideas

What will you get?

Connections with leaders from business, government, academia, and non-profit organizations in your region
Cutting-edge approaches for transforming business practices
New ideas and new approaches to solving to your unique challenges
New partners, clients, employees

What should you expect?

Typical agenda format

For more information, please contact DIG IN.

Become a Supporter

We are looking for either your individual or your company's support in producing the 2011 Solutions Labs series. For more information, please see How to become a supporter.

You can also see a list of our 2009 supporters (thanks to all of them!).

What are the benefits of supporting the Solutions Labs?

Visibility of your organization as a leader in advancing innovation in green business
Opportunity to help create the content and format for the event
Attendance at the event for a certain number of your employees
Introduction to new ideas and resources to bring back to your organization

November 2011 Growing GIBN Call

maraguccione — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 20:55:28 CST

The Business of Innovation

Date: November 8, 2011

Time: 2pm ET
Call-in information: (760) 569-9000 , Code: 160031#

Listen to a recording of the call:

October 2011 Growing GIBN Call

maraguccione — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 20:54:06 CST

Removing Barriers to Energy Efficiency
Date: October 11, 2011
Time: 2pm ET
Call-in information: (760) 569-9000 , Code: 160031#

Sitar Mody from Environmental Defense Fund kicked off a conversation about how companies can reap immediate rewards through energy efficiency. She shared the latest results, and highlight useful case studies, from EDF's Climate Corps program. This past summer, Climate Corps worked with 78 companies, cities and universities around the country and uncovered efficiencies in lighting, computer equipment, and heating and cooling systems that could:

Cut 600 million kilowatt hours of electricity use and 27 million therms of natural gas annually, equivalent to the annual energy use of 38,000 homes;
Avoid 440,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually, equivalent to the annual emissions of 87,000 passenger vehicles; and
Save $650 million in net operational costs over the project lifetimes.

Listen to a recording of the call:

Next Steps & Feedback Session

BethTrask — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 15:21:08 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Sustainable Operations & Design

BethTrask — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 15:20:16 CDT

Session Moderator: Eric Anderson, Axis Architecture

Mark Heirbrandt, Ameresco : An energy services firm that provides renewable energy, energy efficiency and energy management services for governments, companies, etc.

Cameron Smith, Shiel Sexton (general contractor/construction management) a variety of projects construction and retrofit/renovation projects that focus on attaining LEED certification and energy/water/waste reduction. Some example projects presented:

* Keep Indianapolis Beautiful retrofit project Included rainwater collection, LEED gold certification, wind turbines (which efficiency of which has been criticized). Overall this project acheived 20% energy effiiciency and 35.7 water efficiency.

* Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics 50% energy efficiency; 75% waste reduction

Vop Osili, A2so4 Architecture, LLC As an architect who is now running for Indianapolis City Council, Vop advocated for building owners to start a dialogue with policy makers around this issue. We need incentives, regulations, financing, etc. to drive more sustainable design, construction and retrofitting.

Questions and Discussion:

* Are companies more interested in efficiency now?
Government officials and building owners are more interested in now, but are really just scratching the surface now with what is possible.

* Does it have to cost more, to retrofit or build a building to high efficiency standards, than a standard build or remodel?
A tricky question, and the answer is "it depends," but the opportunity absolutely does exist to build to high efficiency standards for the same cost or with very attractive payback/ROI rates on the investments in efficiency.

-- Vop suggests that a new commercial development could cost 15% more if building to the highest standards.

* How to finance sustainability and how to engage lenders in this conversation?

- Commerical lenders need to be engaged. They are the ones that need to consider making these investments available and manage the risk.
- Current interest rates are low, perhaps too low to attract lenders.

-

next step:
Financing
Staying in touch
possibly broaden the conversation (perhaps too much on energy)

Financing Sustainability in Indiana

BethTrask — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 14:12:05 CDT

Session moderator Phil Lehmkuler, Indiana USDA Rural Development, Indiana State Director

Faraz Abbasi, Centerfield Capital A local private equity firm. Several green tech
15 to 100m in size. Has invested in about 30 companies to date; currently hold about 20.

Cathy Tripodi, Indiana Department of Economic Development: Recruit companies, primarily manufacturing, to Indiana.

Phil Lehmkuler, Indiana USDA Rural Development: Offers a variety of financing programs for businesses, such as loan guarantees and grants for energy efficiency and renewable power.

Steve Eberly, Warren Country Local Economic Development Organization:

Financing Sustainability

BethTrask — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 13:40:23 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Technical Assistance for Sustainability

BethTrask — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 13:39:12 CDT

Session Moderator: Ethan Rogers, Purdue University Technical Assistance Programs

Overaching question asked in this session; Who do I ask for help around understanding and implementing clean energy, waste reduction, and other sustainability practices?

Speakers:

Craig Porter, Ivy Tech, Program Chair Sustainability:

* "Corporate College" offers trainings for companies, to given their employees specificalized skills and knowledge in a variety of areas, including LEED certification, solar businesses, energy efficiency, and green products, among others.

Kyle Cline, The Richard Lugar Center for Renewable Energy, IUPUI

* The Center offers a variety of programs to help Indiana businesses (especially in manufacturing) benefit from latest research and best practices coming out of the School of Engineering and Technology.

* Offers support in the areas of industrial energy efficiency, fuel cell technologies, distributed power generation and smart grids, and solar and wind power, mong others.

* The Center is also a Dept of Energy industrial assessment center that offers energy audits, provided by engineering students and faculty.

Carey Hamilton, Indiana Recycling Coalition

* Offers a variety of educational programs, recycling programs and policy/advocacy initiatives, primarilty focusing on the needs of Indiana's manufacturing sector.

* Tries to connect businesses to solutions, especially trying to increase recycling rates in Indiana. By turning around Indiana's low recycling rates, more recycled feedstock materials would be available for the growing number of Indiana's manufacturing businesses that are builidng businesses around recycled materials.

* Some current efforts include increasing food waste composting and promoting extended producer responsibility.

Discussion: What do businesses really need?

* Finding the people are trained in specialized skills (like in wind, solar, distributed generation). How can these programs help businesses connect with people who have the right skills?

* Help understanding utility bills (which tend to be highly complicated and few people within a company can actually interpret them and use the data properly).

* Need more specific training progams offered by people working in industry who have deep, highly specialized knowledge.

* An open mind! Entrepreneurs need a wide variety of resources to make their businesses thrive.

*

Solutions: Best Practices

BethTrask — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:55:39 CDT

Session Moderator Rick Cockrum, President, Capitol Assets

Indiana-based companies share their sustainbility strategies:

Noel Davis, President, Vella Gear: Manufactures precision wind energy components.

David Price, Division manager, Peoskey Plastics: Produces plastic film products from post-consumer plastic bags and other films, creating a closed-loop system. Collects films, for free, from partcipating retailers, manufacturers and other companies in exchange for a guaranteed source other their raw material. They not only pay for the material, but also cover all costs for its transportation to their manufacturing sites. More information can be found in this video http://bit.ly/qqVMnc

Scott Miller, Director of Sustainability, Knauf Insulation: More than 55% of content in the insulation is recycled glass, which comes from Oakland, Chicago, the Philadelphia area and Montreal. They also use a corn based adhesive. According to Miller, there are economies in using recycled glass over virgin materials, making the business model stronger. Growing curbside programs are increasing the availability of post-consumer materials, and by using post-consumer materials, the company gains product differentiation and brand strength.

Discussion

Lack of local manufacturing -- Need more manufacturing in the US. Why should we recycle steel in the US and then ship it to Germany to be manfuctured into a component and then ship it back to the US for use? What can we do to stimulate more US-based manufacturing?

Carrot versus stick -- These companies demonstrate that a lot can be accomplished via the "carrot", but what are the limits of that and what more could be done if policymakers passed laws regulating carbon emissions or other environmental policies? Like it or not, we will be paying more for energy ten or 15 years from now, and we need to not only deal with that reality, but prepare to benefit from it.

State Policy for Sustainability

BethTrask — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:52:39 CDT

Session Moderator: Jim Atterholt, Chairman, Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission

State Rep Mary Ann Sullivan (Member, Environmental Affairs Committee)

Rep Sullivan is a proponent of the following opportunities for using policy and regulation to further sustainability:

* PACE bills: A growing trend across the country, these bills allow property owners to finance their energy efficiency and renewable energy projects over the life of the property. The costs of the upgrades or solar panels, for example, stay with the property, not the owner, and are paid off over time. Indiana worked to get a bill through earlier this year, but did not quite make it. Advantages of PACE bills are that they are voluntary, create jobs, use private investements, and make communities healthiers by reducing emissions and increasing property values.

* Wants Indiana building managers to report publically energy use of their properties. Transparency is an important first steps, and in some parts of the country (like San Francisco) this information is already being publically reported.

* Extended producer responsibility laws: Theses laws require product manufacturers to take responsibility for their products throughout their life, not just until they are sold, including the disposal/recycling/reuse of products and toxics management.

State Rep Wes Culver (Vice Chair, Public Policy Committee):

Rep Culver key points covered:

* Believes energy policy should be bi-partisan

* Is a proponent of more incentives, expanding net metering (allowing people to use renewable energy at home or business and supplement with power from the GRID), PACE bills, deregulation, "smart outlets" for residential use, natural gas for trucks and fleets.

* Wants utility companies to be more open to the "Garage mechanics" of energy generation -- encourage energy entrepreneurs to sell power into the grid. More competition is a good thing, and would drive energy prices down.

Brandon Seitz, Director, Indiana Dept of Energy:

Brandon presented a variety of energy sustainability programs underway at the Dept, including

* Community energy plans (community audits, followed by energy project plans)

* Indiana Heating and Air Conditioning Incentive Program

* Greater Indiana Clean Cities partnerships, including animal waste to energy and electric vehicles distribution

Q&A & Discussion:

* If we are going to reduce our dependance on foreign energy, how can we grow domestic energy production that is renewable? Both Reps. Culver and Sullivan underscored the need for more innovation, to tap current areas of waste and channel them into new energy sources. Policy makers need to be bold enough to issue the challenges, via smart policies, to industry to innovate around clean energy technologies.

* Rep Sullivan: We need to tie these larger energy issues to Hoosier values (patriotism, frugality).

Conversation Catalyst

BethTrask — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 09:06:41 CDT

Dr Steve Charlton, VP and Chief Technology Officer - Engine Business
Cummins Inc.
Columbus, Indiana

Key points

* Cummins shares with all employees its core "Climate Change Principles," that include engaging employees, improving product efficiency and partnering with suppliers, plus advocacy aims, (e.g. developing responsible regulations and promoting incentives and technology development).

* It's maor focus of its products is on reducing C02 by increasing efficiency, including idle reduciton, developing hybrid engines (to be introduced in China soon), low carbon fuels, and waste heat recovery.

* Cummins was involved in the Commmercial Vehicle GHG Regulation, a federal rule that was approved in August 2011. It is also now working internationally on efficiency standards, particularly in China.

* Employee Engagement: A major focus that includes education and activities for the employees' homes, work places and communities.

- One key program is Energy Champions, in which one employee per site participates in a training program and is charged with improving the energy performance of his/her site (such as by conducting Treasure Hunts on a regular basis).

- The Environmental Challenge, an annual competition for employees to develop new ideas. Winning teams use their prize money ($5k to $15k) to support local community projects.

Full presentation deck attached below.

Indiana 2011 GIBN Solutions Lab

odinzackman — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 16:13:56 CDT

Do you want to redefine "business as usual" for your company and your industry?
Do you have ideas for operating more efficiently?
Do you want to get in the clean energy supply chain?
Can a business be profitable and energy conscious?
Do you want to learn how to grow your business using clean energy sources?

If you are interested in these and other topics related to sustainability, clean energy and business, we invite you to attend the Green Innovators in Business Network's Indiana Solutions Lab on September 20, 2011 at WFYI in Indianapolis, IN. The GIBN Indiana Solutions Lab, presented by Capitol Assets, WFYI, Environmental Defense Fund’s Innovation Exchange, and Dig In provides an unparalleled opportunity to learn from and with your colleagues about how to advance environmentally sound practices in your business while saving money and increasing profits.

Review the agenda for the GIBN Indiana Solutions Lab

During the Solutions Lab, you'll hear from following business leaders about these critical topics:

Conversation Catalyst: Dr. Steve Charlton, Chief Technology Officer, Cummins Engine Business Division (read Dr. Charlton's bio)

State Policy for Sustainability
· Jim Atterholt, Chairman, Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission Chair, Moderator
· State Senator Jim Merritt, Chair, Utilities and Technology Committee
· State Rep Mary Ann Sullivan, Member, Environmental Affairs Committee
· State Rep Wes Culver, Vice Chair, Public Policy Committee
· Brandon Seitz, Director, Indiana Department of Energy

Solutions: Best Practices
· Rick Cockrum, President, Capitol Assets, Moderator
· Noel Davis, President, Vella Gear
· Scott Miller, Director of Sustainability and Product Affairs, Knauf Insulation
· David Price, Division Manager, Petoskey Plastics

Technical Assistance for Sustainability
· Ethan Rogers, Purdue University Technical Assistance Programs (moderator)
· Craig Porter, Ivy Tech, Program Chair Sustainable Energy
· Kyle Cline, The Richard Lugar Center for Renewable Energy, IUPUI
· Carey Hamilton, Indiana Recycling Coalition

Financing Sustainability
· Phil Lehmkuler, Indiana USDA Rural Development, Indiana State Director (moderator)
· Cathy Tripodi, Indiana Department of Economic Development
· Steve Eberly, Warren County Local Economic Development Organization
· Faraz Abbasi, Centerfield Capital

Sustainability Operations and Case Study Design Session
· Eric Anderson, Axis Architecture (moderator)
· Vop Osili , A2so4 Architecture, LLC
· Cameron Smith, Shiel Sexton
· Mark Heirbrandt, Ameresco

Register for this event or for more information please contact Odin Zackman (odin@digin.org), Andrea Bazemore (abazemore@capitolassets.net) or David Witzel (dwitzel@edf.org).

September 2011 Growing GIBN Call

maraguccione — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 12:26:42 CDT

Employee Engagement in Sustainability Efforts

One of the most important elements of success in our sustainability initiatives is people. September's Growing GIBN call focused on the people instrumental in any business -- its employees.

Asheen Phansey of Dassault Systemes SolidWorks Corp. and Randi Braunwalder of HP lead the conversation and provided case studies of their work on employee engagement.

Notes from the September call

Download Slides from the Call

Listen to a recording of the call:

GIBN 2011 Solutions Labs

maraguccione — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:57:07 CDT

Solutions Labs provide leading thinkers and “doers” from business, academia and organizations with the opportunity to explore the next generation of business sustainability -- one in which we can grow profits for our companies and create positive impact on the planet. At these one-day, participatory events, participants craft the agenda and spend their time actively networking and brainstorming the next “big ideas” for accelerating green innovation.

Click into one of the following pages for more information about upcoming Solutions Labs:

Sustainability, Clean Energy and Business - Indianapolis, Indiana

RILA-WBCSD Vision 2050 Workshop - Orlando, Florida (By Invitation Only)

The Business of Innovating - Boston, Massachusetts

Energy Efficiency - Washington DC

Employee Engagement - San Francisco Bay area, California

Sample Agenda

HDA — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 09:18:44 CDT

(last update 5/5/10. Subject to change. Add your comments/suggestions.)

Green Innovation in Business Solutions Labs DRAFT Agenda

The 2009 events were in an open space "unconference" format. We received feedback that participants would like both more structure and more of a results focus. We still want to preserve the participant-led approach. With the 2010 series we are working to evolve the agenda to meet these objectives. The current draft agenda is below. Note the definition of the different styles of discussion in the 2nd table. Please comment!

Time	Topic	Objective	Facilitator & resources needed
9:00 AM	Opening, Welcoming	Introduce day and housekeeping	People at different tables
9:15 AM	Introductions	Everyone to get a sense of who’s in the room	Handheld mics
9:45 AM	Framing Our Goals	Explain the day, hear participants reflection, Morning Presenters/ Conversation Catalyst	Handheld mics
10:00 AM	Home Team	To connect with 3 other individuals to share ideas, resources, and issues. (Can lead to framing of open space/unconference sessions)	Groups of 4
10:30 AM	World Café OR Theme Tables OR Open Space 3 rounds of 20min each. Each table has a host/ facilitator while the rest of the participants migrate for each round.	World Café: Participants explore topical issues with a variety of participants and perspectives Theme Tables: Participants explore a single theme of choice for 40 minutes, followed by large group debrief Open Space: Unconference style breakout sessions on topics of interest that address guiding question/goal	1 facilitator/ host for each table. Tables, large cards or sheets of paper for drawing/ writing on. Colored pens and markers.
11:30 AM	Design and Debrief OR Open Space (continued)	D&D: Meet in initial design teams on issues surfaced during World Café Open Space: Unconference Session 2
12:30 PM	Lunch	Nourishment & networking
1:15 PM (3PM break)	Design Charrette 90 minutes for discussion and presentation of learning preparation	AM debrief followed by extended period to design innovative solutions from themes explored	Tables, markers, paper on tables Diverse participation, from expertise to people who are currently exploring the issues
3:15 PM	INNOVATE! Presentations	Share key learning and new innovations/solutions in 5 minute segments
4:15 PM	Large Group Debrief	Share what was learned & possible actions	Handheld mics
4:45 PM	Thanks and Reflections	Key learnings, action, network expansion

Definitions

Design	Specifics/ Process	Value	Outputs
World Cafe	People sit at a tables to explore a question or issue developed from the themes. As people talk they are invited to write down key ideas on large cards or paper on the table. After first round of 30minutes, people are invited to move around to different tables, carrying key idea’s and insights from their previous conversation to a newly formed small group. One “host” stays at the table to share with the new arrivals they key elements, phrases, and insights from their prior dialogue. The process is repeated for several rounds (generally 3). To conclude the world cafe, there is a harvesting of the conversations, in which each table reports out and all the participants contribute to spark a larger conversation and information exchange. If possible have a graphic recorder map the harvest conversation to make the action items and conversation visible.	Useful to access the intelligence and best thinking of groups. Fosters New Connections Conversations that lead to a larger conversation and network focused on questions that are critical to the real work in their organization. Harvest patterns, insights, deeper questions that lead to actionable plans and systems thinking. Cross pollination of perspectives. Idea’s become more richly connected during the progressive rounds and the collective knowledge becomes visible. Innovative possibilities of actions are brought forward.	If there is an action planning round at the end there is more potential for innovative actions or network development to happen.
Design Charrette	The word charrette may refer to any collaborative session in which a group designs or drafts a solution to a topic or theme. Design Charrettes take place in multiple sessions in which the group divides into sub-groups for a period of time. Each sub-group then presents its work to the full group as material for future dialogue. Design charrettes serve as a way of quickly generating a design solution while integrating the aptitudes and interests of a diverse group of people	a technique for consulting with all stakeholders promotes joint ownership of solutions and attempts to defuse typical confrontational attitudes	A design and solution to a topical issue A visual to aid in sharing and explaining the design and solution Understanding and connection with stakeholders to topic and solutions
Home Team Peer Coaching	A one-hour coaching session where each participant presents an issue to a group of your colleagues. Each person gets 15 minutes of undivided attention to explore their issue. Step #1: Introduce problem Step #2: Expand problem and brainstorm possible Approaches Step #3: Focus alternatives towards workable solution Step #4: Commit and Clarify It is important to think through the issue to be able to present it cogently and concisely. Below is an outline to write/ think about the issue/ topic in preparation for the session. 1. BRIEF STATEMENT OF THE ISSUE: 2. RELEVANT BACKGROUND INFORMATION: 3. WHO ARE THE KEY STAKEHOLDERS? 4. HOW HAVE YOU TRIED TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE SO FAR?	A solid group of people to support each other through out the day, and perhaps beyond. People to directly share resources with. Explore idea’s and solutions to topics and issues together.	A format to think through issues and identify stakeholders and further resources. Expansion of personal network More perspectives on handling issues.
Unconference / Open Space	A facilitated, participant-driven unconference/ event centered on a theme or purpose. The participants determine the themes and sessions of the day. A "bulletin board" of issues and opportunities posted by participants for breakout sessions that participants move freely between, learning and contributing. The whole group comes back at the end of the day to harvest and synthesize the contributions shared. Works best to have trained facilitators support the hosts of the break-out sessions. The four principles are: Whoever comes is the right people Whenever it starts is the right time Whatever happens is the only thing that could have When it's over, it's over	Harnesses and acknowledges the power of self-organization Freedom to explore different topics as one chooses. Open space to network and share resources A high level of complexity, such that no single person or small group fully understands or can solve the issue A high level of diversity, in terms of the skills and people required for a successful resolution Real or potential conflict, which implies that people genuinely care about the issue	More conversations and resources explored than formal conferences participants are given both the right and the responsibility to maximize their own learning and contribution
INNOVATE! "Big Idea" sharing Similar to TED events, Ignite, and Awesome Foundation	5-minute talks by people who have an idea—and the guts to get onstage and share it with their hometown crowd. If visuals are needed, presenters share their innovations, using roughly 10 slides that can auto-advance every 15 seconds.	Big Ideas and Innovations shared with a larger audience to spark new idea’s & support for the presenters	Quick format of presenting and learning about innovations

August 2011 Growing GIBN Call

dianahill — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 13:53:15 CDT

EDF Intern Diana Hill led this call about Social Media for Sustainability in Business, focused on why social media makes sense for sustainability in business, helpful sites and tools, and how GIBN is utilizing social media to assist its members to meet their networking needs.

Notes from the August call

Listen to a recording of the call:

May 2011 Growing GIBN Webinar

maraguccione — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 17:07:05 CDT

A Deeper-dive on Expanding Sustainability Initiatives with Jeramy Lemieux

Slides from Presentation.ppt

Listen to a recording of the call: