Country: Australia
Organization: Integrative Improvement
2) Sector of activity: Education
All
3) Description of your products or services: The challenges we face in the world have arisen because of the way we have thought and acted as individuals and the way we have organised and governed ourselves. We have thought and acted as though our world is comprised of parts that can be separately exploited by humans and managed from one stable state to another. We have tended to act without a sense of wholeness - without integrity. Meeting the challenges will require completely different approaches to how we think and act as individuals and how we organise and govern.
This project directly addresses these challenges in a novel way. It is designed to improve the well-being of people and their environments through low-cost self- organising diffusion, refinement and implementation of my unique bottom-up Integrative Improvement™ (II) approach for achieving sustainable development.
II can be learned by all people and applied in all organisations. II emphasises dynamic connections, relationships and interactions in line with our current scientific understanding of the world as tending to be self-organising with human beings whose minds are naturally integrative. II improves in a balanced, integrative and sustainable way the lives people already have. II uses Integrative Governance™ enabled by human and machine-based technology in all organisations. II progress is measured by indicators of well-being such as The Australia Institute’s Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI).
4) Description of the operational model: AIM:-Improve the well-being of people and their environments through low-cost self-organising diffusion, refinement and implementation of the (II) approach to development.
STRATEGY:-Establish a self-organising networked Integrative Federation™ (IF) of largely virtual Integrative Improvement Institutes™ (IIIs)) in a number of countries using the training modules and templates at http://www.integrative-thinking.com and their complementary tools.
OUTLINE PLAN:-Have one IF website for teaching, research and consulting in II with a page for each Institute, for each tool and for research related to Integrative Thinking™, Integrative Governance™, Integrative Improvement™, Integrative Capitalism™ and Integrative Democracy™. A catalyst in each of 7 countries would select and train 7 people to be the IIIs Integrators Team (IIIsIT) in their country. Each Institute would select, train and license 7 people with experience in 7 industries to provide personal contact in 7 local areas to further diffuse II and, for a fee, train successive groups of 7 people from government, business and civil society organisations based on material on the website. These trained people would implement II in start-up and existing organisations and help in the further diffusion, refinement and implementation of II in line with the model outlined here.
TACTICS:- Sense and respond adaptively to other catalysts and end- users/citizens as the Integrative Improvement Institutes “virus” spreads.
5) Description of the financial model: This low-cost project is self-funding and all who participate will pay a small amount depending on their role and capacity to pay. For budgeting purposes here, all could be regarded as "clients" of the Integrative Federation. The amount paid by low-income people will be determined locally by each Institute. Federation and Institute Integrators will receive a monthly fee and a percentage of profits. Joint venture agreements will be negotiated with tool owners.
Client fees represent this approximate percentage of operational budget: 99%
6) Key operational partnership: a) A paper on the Project was presented at the Open Culture Conference at the University of Milan on 27-29 June 2005. b) Personal contacts have been made with potential catalysts and tool owners in Africa, Australia, Canada, India, Europe, Kuwait and the United States and the project has been publicised in group fora such as those in connection with the Development Gateway, “The Support Economy”, the Communication Initiative, the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. c) On 1 August 2005, Errol Goetsch of the XE4 Foundation for Excellence in South Africa at www.xe4.org joined me as a member of the first Integrative Federation (IF). d) The IF website is under construction at www.intfed.org . e) Practical tools that complement the training modules and templates at www.integrative-thinking.com are being collected. f) The IF, along with the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) and others will be among the first to test and use Archivemaker outlined at http://www.bdaweb.net which explains BdA (now known as DigitAlexandra). g) More existing institutions are needed to join the IF.
7) Current outreach:
We are at the Start Up stage. In line with the self-organising approach the project is designed to adapt as others join so it can meet the needs and wants of clients.
How many clients have benefited from your product/service in total? Over the last year? Not applicable.
What percentage of your clients is below the poverty line ($2 per day)? 0% There is no reason why anyone should be excluded as
payments are low and adjustable to local circumstances.
What is the order of magnitude of the potential demand for your products or services? Which
other low-income groups, countries or regions could benefit from it? Try to quantify (number
of clients, market size in currency):
The Integrative Improvement approach is the only one of which I am aware that: • addresses the improvement of individual and organisational integrity directly and in conjunction as the linchpin of sustainable development, • offers low-cost, easily memorised tools for doing this in any context and thereby, • provides a common basis for communication between individuals and within and among organisations – necessary for improving individual, organisational and overall creativity and performance, connections, relationships, interactions and trust. It applies equally to all stages of development.
8) Scale-up strategy:
How many low-income individuals do you plan to benefit in three years from now? How are you planning to scale up or replicate your solution? What are the major constraints to scale up?
The strategy is explained in the description of the operational model at 4 above. The only constraint to scale up is the rate at which catalysts join the IF.
Which specific areas - and why - in your field would benefit most from investment by corporations, foundations, and other investors:
A provisional list of the sort catalysts needed is: a) people from a range of countries and practical settings; b) people committed enough to obtain all the modules and learn about the processes; (Money raised goes to advance the Project.) c) people with institutional bases that would lift credibility and lower overheads; d) web builder and webmaster using preferably Open Source Software to provide and maintain the virtual presence of the Federation and its Institutes as per the outline plan; e) facilitator for meetings - mostly virtual; f) executive secretary; g) people to seek content for and coordinate the pages on the website under the headings "Institutes", "Tools" and "Research". Overall, fields,interests and skills will need to cover Planning, People; Market; Product; Money; Physical,Social and Cultural Environment-the SOARA Process of Integrative Thinking Elements.
9) The organization: How does the initiative fit with your overall organization's strategic goals and priorities? How did the initiative start?
The project is backed by long practical experience in development matters, in government, business and civil society organisations and by research over three decades. The initiative started with a knowledge of the considerable recent improvement in the scientific understanding of the human mind.
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10) On the mosaic diagram, which of these factors is the primary focus of your work?
- Factor: Poor understanding of the human and social capitals of low income communities
- Principle: Leverage the power of communities as both consumers and producers
Contact Information:
Name: Mr Graham Douglas
Organization: Integrative Improvement
Mailing address: 4 Cintra Street, Ipswich, Queensland, 4305
Country: Australia
Email: integrative@optusnet.com.au
Tel: 617 3282 9762
Website: http://www.integrative-thinking.com
Organization's legal status: Sole Trader
Number of Employees: 0
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