Integral Spirituality

This LOCALLY DRIVEN SOLUTION PROCESS is NON ISSUE SPECIFIC.

Target issues may include but  are not limited to POVERTY, CLIMATE CHANGE, PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUES, ENVIRONMENTAL SCARCITY/ DEVASTATION.

Whether fighting AIDS in Zimbabwe, saving rain forests in Senegal, or building healthy, sustainable communities in the USA; "7 Stages to Sustainability" empowers local and global "Partners In Empowerment" (PIE) to address locally identified threats to human and environmental security in the focus community*.

* FOCUS COMMUNITY can be village, town, target population, or region, depending on local needs and capacity of those stewarding the process (NGO, goverment agency, inspired citizens, +).

1. Identify and engage Partners In Empowerment™ (local and global): community members, collaborating organizations, socially conscious businesses & other stakeholders dedicated to improving human and environmental security.

* More specifically, "7 Stages to Sustainability" emphases six synergistic social and economic sectors:

Collaborating Nonprofits– Who: Community based and international nonprofits, Foundations, Govt. Service Agencies dedicated to Social, Economic, and Environmental impact.

Educational Institutions – Who: Private, Govt. & Nonprofit educational institutions & practitioners, Scientists, Technologists and those in academia advancing evidence based knowledge, research, understanding, technologies and other tools for a sustainable world.

Sustainable Businesses - Who: Aspiring and established sustainable businesses, Venture Capitalists, Investors, consultants/ advocacy groups harnessing market forces to build a sustainable world.

Responsible Media Groups– Who: Print, Radio, Web, Events, Public Information Agencies and journalists who uphold truth in journalism & conscious messaging to support an informed public.

Social Entrepreneurs– Who: Citizen, non-profit & governmental visionaries & innovators who create solutions benefiting SOCIAL PROFIT benefiting other people & the planet - just as a private sector entrepreneur seeks financial profit for selves and shareholders.

Artists in Action- Who: Musicians, visual and performing artists, actors, and celebrities. “Whether through visual art, music or poetry, Artists speak with integrity and the world listens"

2. Assess local assets (ethically & ecologically sourced human and natural resources with value-added potential) that can be developed and optimized to create sustainable livelihoods for people in need.

3. Develop a comprehensive community based plan of action with input from diverse PIE sectors, whereby long-term responsibility is shared between stakeholders.

4. Promote practical skill developmentand technical assistance in project management to maximize local stakeholder impact and self-reliance.

5. Transfer of appropriate technologies and best practices in health, renewable energies, sustainable agriculture, and education.

6. Assist development & marketing of products and services that value & protect indigenous cultural heritage and natural resources.

7. Build creative Public-Private Partnerships fostering economic opportunities for a sustainable future.

PROMOTING LOCAL SELF-RELIANCE & GLOBAL INTERDEPENDENCE!

Universal outcomes of this approach include:

1. Dependence on foreign partners is reduced.

2. Local capacity & social benefits increase. 

3. Community is socially empowered, and becomes economically integrated in a mutually supportive, participatory global network.

Case Studies/ RESULTS ofclose examples & development of best practices: 

READ (Rural Education And Development) Global: "It takes a world to build a village." offers a proven scalable case-study of a non-profit applying many key tenets of this approach.  Having successfully developed, implemented, and measured its program, READ exemplifies the recommended best practices that a non-profit would mirror in the implementation of "7 Stages".www.readglobal.org

Providing READ a platform to share its program results in Nepal, Empowerment Works invited READ Founder, Dr. Antonia Neubauer, to serve as The Global Summit 2008 Co-Chair of Collaborating Non-profits. Under Dr. Neubauer's stewardship, the collaborating non-profit session set forth firve guiding principals supporting best practices for a sustainable world were set forth for each of the PIE sectors. More info/ sign up for updates: www.theglobalsummit.org 

* Learn more about Empowerment Works' "7 Stages to Sustainability" community development system.

Results of this approach depend upon the commitment, collaboration capacity, and --most of all-- the creativity of those implementing it.

Empowerment Works' capacity building program areas supporting "7 Stages to Sustainability" effectiveness, education, and expansion include:

1) The Global Summit™ (TGS) bi-annual conference

2) Partners In Empowerment (PIE) global participatory network

3) Poverty Eradication Partnership (PEP) Tools - issue specific, collaborative solution templates

4) 7 Stages Consultancy & Multi-sector Collaboration Capacity Building Workshops

Together these programs provide a universal framework for critical mass collaboration in locally-led sustainable development.