Welcome to this edition of Changemakers.net, which focuses on finding ways to build an ethics-driven society. We invite you to participate as part of the Changemakers global online "open source" community that is competing to surface the best solutions to pressing social problems such as human trafficking and building an ethics-driven society. As solutions are submitted to this Web site, we invite you to collaborate with other community members to review and refine them, and to eventually help implement a solution if you wish.
In each new edition of Changemakes.net, this online community tackles a pressing global social problem (last November we began exploring creative ways to raise money and other resources for citizen organizations from a citizen base and beginning in March we looked at the best solutions to human trafficking).
Each issue on Changemakers, including the current ethics competition, includes the following elements: a mosaic of solutions, a framework for understanding the problem and its solutions, an innovation awards competition that surfaces and identifies the best innovation solutions, and opportunities for online discussion and collaboration.
For each issue that it tackles, Changemakers partners with leading social entrepreneurs who are working on the problem. Institute for Global Ethics, a leading citizen-sector organization dedicated to promoting ethical behavior in individuals, institutions, and nations through research, public discourse, and practical action.
The Ethics Mosaic—A Useful Tool
The "Mosaic of Solutions" is good place to start in this edition because it provides an overarching framework for understanding the problem of building an ethics-driven society, including the five primary factors that drive problems related to ethics in society; four fundamental innovative principles that have emerged from the work of social entrepreneurs who are working on ethics-related projects; and 23 examples of organizations with exemplary ways of building ethical foundations for societies. These solutions are placed on the mosaic according to the principle they use and the factor they are addressing.
The mosaic is a tool that demonstrates how the collective impact of these innovative solutions to building ethics is greater than the sum of their individual parts. As a member of the Changemakers community, you can now refine and expand the mosaic by submitting solutions to the innovation awards competition and through online discussion. Together, we can use the mosaic to make connections, create synergies, identify emerging trends and patterns, and find and fill gaps in the field.
Framework for Understanding Building Ethics-Driven Societies
Our introductory essay addresses ethics, the factors that stop us from behaving ethically, finding solutions to building an ethics-driven society, the role of youth, and opportunities to get involved. In addition, the Institute for Global Ethics (IGE) posted several chapters from its Curriculum on Ethical Decision Making that focuses on building decision skills. And you can follow ethics and ethical issues in the news on IGE's Ethics Newsline, the premier online source for news and information on ethics and current events. A new edition is available every Monday afternoon.
Changemakers News Service: Tracking the Trends
Changemakers.net is developing a news service to provide a steady feed of the latest thinking, significant trends, and new tools for the field of social entrepreneurship. In support of this issue on ethics, Roshan Paul provides an in-depth report on a project that is fostering a culture of ethics in the troubled Kashmir region and journalist Regan Morris reports on a growing movement to find an ethical response to the conflict in Sudan.
We are pleased that Sissela Bok, noted ethics expert and philosopher, has participated as a periodic
contributor of short written pieces on ethics and related issues. In addition to being Distinguished Fellow at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, Bok is author of several books on ethics including Mayhem: Violence as Public Entertainment, Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life, Common Values, and Secrets: On the Ethics of Concealment and Revelation.
Changemakers Innovation Award Competition
This Changemakers Innovation Award Competition provided an opportunity for organizations to submit their innovative solutions to build ethics-driven societies. As a member of the Changemakers online community (which includes representatives of funding organizations), you reviewed and rated the competition entries. Through online voting you are selecting the winners of the awards competition from a slate of finalists chosen by a panel of judges.
Kris Herbst, Web Editor
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