Molecular Biomimetics

In May 2008 the Ethos Foundation will convene its 6th Courageous Conversation at Byron Bay on the NSW North Coast.  Its theme will be: Bioneering Business - Seeding & Growing A New Economy. It will offer an opportunity over five days for those seriously interested in transforming the way we do business in a world of climate change and peak oil to work together to achieve powerful and practical outcomes.

200 participants will be invited in roughly equal numbers from sustainability related enterprises, the corporate sector, social and creative enterprises, community organisations, policy-makers and researchers. Preference will be given to those able to stay for the whole program, but shorter participation will be possible. The program will include plenary sessions with some of Australia's leading sustainability entrepreneurs and business leaders and Open Space workshops where participants can explore topics of their own choosing or work on projects that inspire them.

There will be plenty of opportunities for creative activities, relaxation and enjoyment of the beautiful coastal enviroment of the Byron Bay Beach Resort. 

Our keynote speaker will be Judy Wicks, co-founder and President of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) in the United States. Judy has been at the forefront of socially and environmentally responsible business for thirty years and now leads a groundswell of businesses across the US committed to building a sustainable economy.


The key themes of Bioneering Business

Local Living Economies
As we move into an age of profound uncertainty and environmental crisis, the resilience of our local communities and economies will be crucial.  What principles can guide us?  What can be learnt from the leading edge?  What models offer practical strategies?

Scaling Sustainability
The era of boutique “green” products and services is over.  Now we must make sustainability the norm – not some businesses and products, but all of them – and it must be economically viable and affordable for everyone. How can sustainability move from the economic margins to the mainstream?

Energy and Mobility
Some of our biggest challenges are in changing the culture and economics of energy use and mobility.  Here we confront the core pillars and the most powerful dreams of the mass consumer society that has, to a large degree, made everyone of us who we are.

Financing Sustainability
How can the transformation of our economy be financed?  What new financial products and institutions will we need?  Where and how will the necessary rethinking occur?  What role will the public sector play?  Are we even asking the right questions?

Sustainable Urban Ecologies
As the majority of our species becomes urban dwellers for the first time in our long evolutionary journey, the creation of sustainable urban environments is no longer a theoretical ideal.  Both greenfield developments and urban retrofitting and redesign offer critical learning to illuminate the shift from green buildings to sustainable human ecologies. 

Doing Business Sustainably
What models are to be found in the “knowledge” and “creative” industries, in the “third sector” and in pre-industrial societies that might inform our transition to a new way of doing business in harmony with the life support systems of the planet? If business-as-usual is no longer a realistic option, what does the new sustainable business paradigm look like?



What makes Courageous Conversations different?

Courageous Conversations are a new approach to conferencing based on deep listening, dialogue and connection. Courageous Conversations create the conditions for co-learning -- an opportunity to reflect together on our practice in the world, for breakthrough thinking, and to forge new partnerships and strengthen networks.

Courageous Conversations are definitely not your common garden variety conference. No “death-by-PowerPoint” here. No need to bring your soap box. These gatherings are about learning with and from each other in ways that have the potential to transform our work in the world.

Powerful Co-Learning

• You experience a co-learning environment that challenges the taken-for-granted assumptions and habits of thought that stifle innovation.

• We facilitate learning from each other’s experience and stimulate break-through thinking.

• Collaborative partnerships and networking are important outcomes.

Inspired Presentations

• The plenary sessions are catalytic forums that stretch your brain and excite your imagination.

• Some of Australia’s most creative sustainability entrepreneurs and scholars will be our presenters and discussion leaders.

• The emphasis is on dialogue that brings a diversity of experience to the questions that matter.

Deep Inquiry

• Part of each morning is spent in small facilitated groups that drill down into the themes of each day.

• You will find yourself asking deeper questions – going beyond the easy answers.

• “Thinking together” will take you to new insights and understandings.

Open Space

• Every day offers opportunities for in-depth explorations of topics chosen by participants.

• You can bring a challenging project to the Courageous Conversation and seek the support of others to take your thinking about it to a new level.

• New groups will form around key issues that emerge in plenary sessions and many will have a life beyond the gathering.

The first round for expressions of interest for Bioneering Business closes on the 18th February