Sustainable Orcas Island

[This is Part D (the concluding comments) to Section 3 of the original 161 page document “1000Communities2”]

D.  Many Hands Make Much Work Light

1.  At no other time in the course of history has so many people had access to so much in the way of time-tested guidelines, inspiring role models, and service-oriented initiatives.

We should be able to actualize this potential into acceptable standards of living for a very high percentage of the people on this planet, and do so in a way that creates economic stability, maintains ecological sustainability, and emphasizes a high level of compassion for our fellow human beings.

2.  Well organized efforts to identify problems and brainstorm solutions are a universally recognized approach to problem solving which is commonly used in family, community, business, and government settings in every part of the world.

3.  Community Visioning Initiatives represent the most organized efforts to date at attempting to actively involve as many residents as possible in ongoing efforts towards community problem solving and community revitalization.

4.  This particular proposal—“1000Communities²”—advocates a model for Community Visioning Initiatives which would allow as much time as necessary, possibly even as much as 1½ years, so as to give as much importance to developing a close-knit community as it does to

                a)  contributing to accumulating and integrating the knowledge and skill sets

necessary for the highest percentage of people to act wisely in response to challenges identified as priority challenges

b)  helping people to deliberately channel their time, energy, and money into the creation of “ways of earning a living” which are directly related to resolving high priority challenges

c)  assisting with outreach, partnership formation, and development of service capacity for a significant number of already existing (or forming) organizations and businesses

d)  helping to build a high level of consensus for specific action plans, which will help inspire additional support from people, businesses, and organizations with significant resources

Hopefully, by encouraging as much formal and informal meetings with other people in the local neighborhoods for discussion, information sharing, mutual support and encouragement, fellowship and friendship—the result will include the building of a close-knit community of people with a healthy appreciation for each others strengths, and a well-developed capacity to resolve even the most difficult challenges.

5.  We need to periodically re-assess and re-develop the set of meanings by which we understand our experience and judge what is valuable.

6.  “We do not live unto ourselves, and the more we realize the repercussions of our actions on our neighbours and strive to act according to the highest we are capable of, the more we shall advance in our spiritual development.”³

7.  There are many important initiatives which are critical to overcoming the challenges of our times, but which are not quite “coming through the mist as much as they should be.”  Community Visioning Initiatives can be very helpful in exactly these kinds of circumstances, as this community building tool encourages and facilitates the creation of a “constellation” of initiatives by which the best (in view of the participants in the community visioning initiatives) solutions to the most difficult (in the view of the participants in the community visioning initiatives) challenges can bubble up to the surface, be recognized as priorities, and therefore be brought forward as appropriate recipients of people’s time, energy, and money.  Many people can realize the wisdom of deliberately focusing the way they spend their time, energy, and money.  The result can be a deliberate increase in the “ways of earning a living” which are directly related to overcoming the challenges identified by residents as priority challenges.  As the ancient Chinese proverb says:  “Many hands make much work light.”