ECommerce at GMNet

Creating Wealth; Growing Local Economies with Local Currencies

201104161400

Communities everywhere are challenged by issues such as health, elder and child care, housing, education, food security and the environment. On the surface, these problems appear to be rooted in economic crisis�for example budget cuts have triggered reduced public services, soaring food prices have created food security concerns, and the subprime mortgage disaster has spawned record increases in foreclosures and homelessness. Creating Wealth demonstrates how a healthy society can be attained through developing new systems of exchange. Using creative initiatives such as time banks, systems of barter and exchange and local currencies, cities and towns can empower themselves and build vibrant, healthy, sustainable local economies.

ICIE Chapter Three Excerpt

201001301223

Intentional Cities, Intentional Economies
Excerpt from Chapter Three
by Gwendolyn Hallsmith and Bernard Lietaer

Community Currency Guide

201001062316

GCI has worked with a leading expert in the field, Bernard Lietaer, to develop a local guide to community currency. This workbook helps community leaders identify the kinds of complementary currencies that might be appropriate for their cities and towns, and gives them step-by- step advice on how to introduce them locally.

Background

201001062310

In September of 2008, Gwen traveled to China, South Africa, and France. In China, she worked with the Ottawa School of Public Service to train Central Party school professors to use skills and techniques for increased public participation, social equity, and sustainable development.

In South Africa, she and the mayor of Montpelier, Vermont, Mary Hooper, attended a conference organized by the International Center for Sustainable Cities in Vancouver, BC. After the conference, she went to Johannesburg to witness the graduation of 30 students from our Earn-A-Bike training program in Diepsloot.

In Paris, Gwen met with Bernard Lietaer, the co-author of a new book to be published in the spring of 2011 titled Intentional Cities, Intentional Economies, and visited a district energy plant being built by a company that is interested in working with the City of Montpelier on a similar facility.

Vermont Community Development Association

201001061427

Click on the link above to go to the page with the presentations for VCDA.

Invitation

201001021145

From Copenhagen to Congress our nations have not taken the action necessary to insure our survival, and all Earth�s species are in danger.

We live in an era of unprecedented challenge, and we need your spirit and your voice to join in our call for change. Please click on the Invitation Link above to download the invitation.

Announcement and Invitation

200912310909

We are convening a Council of All Beings in Montpelier, Vermont to bring the voices of nature to the center of our lives and actions, and to call decision- makers all over the world to listen more deeply to the voices of Earth.

We live in an era of unprecedented challenge, and we need your spirit and your voice to join in our call for change.

Please click on the Announcement and Invitation Link above to download the invitation.

The Economics of 350: Costs and Benefits of Climate Stabilization

200910070519

A report to read in preparation for Copenhagen.

Obama's Challenge

200812292313

This is a short narrative that describes practical strategies cities and towns can undertake to address top priority issues like housing, health care, economic revitalization, and climate change without needing a lot of new money from the federal government.

Community Currency Slide Show

200812292204

This is a 20 minute narrated slide show for local government leaders on how they can make real progress on top priority issues without needing a lot of money to do it.

China: Images of Spirit

200810072200

Images from Beijing and Xining that reflect important spiritual traditions in China.

Bike Project in Diepsloot

200810072154

These are slides of the graduation that was held for Earn-A-Bike program participants in Diepsloot, South Africa.

ICSC Conference in Durban, South Africa

200810072151

These are slides from the conference on sustainable cities we attended in Durban, South Africa.

Workshop in Xining

200810072145

These are slides about the workshop we presented to the professors of the Central Party schools.

Slides from Beijing

200810072141

Beijing, China

Paris

200810072138

Spending a few days in Paris with Bernard Lietaer, the co-author of a new book called Intentional Cities, Intentional Economies.

World Urban Forum Final Report

200701131757

Read the Final Report from the World Urban Forum, which occurred in Vancouver in June of 2006.

The Theory of Change

200612212333

This is a short slide show I prepared to illustrate the theory of change, for activists who are trying to make the world a better place.

EarthCAT and LASER Training in South Africa

200611011056

Read some notes and reflections about the training we are doing from October 18th to November 8th, 2006 in six provinces around South Africa.

Walking for a Change

200609092343

Read a short reflection on the recent walk from Ripton to Burlington, Vermont to raise awareness and political action about climate change. Bill McKibben and John Elder led the walk, which took five days. In his invitation, Bill writes:

This is not a partisan effort, nor is concern about global warming confined to "environmentalists." This march will include hunters, fishermen, and farmers; hikers, bikers and birdwatchers. We are students and businesspeople, sugarmakers and ski-lift operators. We are parents and grandparents, and young people facing lifetimes on a warming planet. We are people of faith, and secular people devoted to the common good. Indeed, we have all been moved in recent weeks by the efforts of our retiring independent Senator Jim Jeffords, who has introduced legislation on global warming that goes further than any previous effort to really grapple with this problem. One of our aims is to make sure that his principles�an 80 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2050, 20 percent renewable power by 2020, and cars that get at least 40 miles per gallon�prevail on Capitol Hill.

Community Currency Guide

200608232358

Some Irreverent Notes from the World Urban Forum

200607141131

GCI had a lot of fun attending the World Urban Forum in Vancouver this June. We also had some amusing encounters with various levels of officialdom. You can read the stories we have to tell in the attached file.

Local Action for Sustainable Economic Renewal: A Guide to Community Development.

200606191008

GCI has partnered with Michael Miller of America's Development Foundation, Hunter Lovins and Christopher Juniper of Natural Capitalism Solutions in Boulder, CO, Bernard Lietaer, and Wayne Fawbush to prepare this workbook for communities on sustainable ways to build real wealth by strengthening the local economy.

GCI Featured in Yes! Magazine

200605221523

The Summer, 2006 Edition of Yes! Magazine has a story about the work we are doing in Calgary. You can download the attached file to read it.

20th Anniversary of Chernobyl: April 26, 2006

200604252256

April 26, 2006 marks the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident in Ukraine, an event that changed the world. It was a key reason that the Soviet Union changed so dramatically, as the citizens of the eastern bloc started demanding better access to environmental information. It also ended the incessant growth of the nuclear power industry. We have yet to learn all the lessons of this disaster, however, and nuclear power is now being advertised as the solution to global climate change. It is not. Read the attached articles for more information.

South Africa: April, 2006

200604052140

The Global Community Initiatives Youth Employment and Training project in South Africa had a visit from one of our major funders - the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.

Sweden: March, 2006

200604052101

Gwendolyn was invited to Sweden by Green Cross International to speak to local community leaders about how to use the Earth Charter for local planning.

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

200602071415

The City of Calgary has embarked on an inclusive, long-term planning project called imagineCalgary - a sustainable development plan for the next 100 years.

Newburgh, New York

200602071319

In Newburgh, New York, a community in the Hudson Valley, GCI has partnered with the city on a Sustainable Master Planning process that will empower local citizens, NGOs, youth groups, and others in envisioning and building a sustainable future.

Local Action for Sustainable Economic Renewal (LASER)

200602061600

Diepsloot Youth Bicycle Project

200602051829

The Youth Bicycle Project in Diepsloot brings bicycles, vocational training, and sustainable development planning to a community with overwhelming poverty, rampant violence, and little hope.

South Africa Local Government Association

200602041851

GCI has been working with the South Africa Local Government Association to train their staff and member municipalities to use the EarthCAT planning process for sustainable development.

Headwaters

201006010740

Headwaters Information

Taking Action for Sustainability

200602091515

A workbook to help you change your world. This workbook provides a step by step guide for community leaders who want to achieve integrated goals of a safe and healthy environment, a vibrant local economy, good governance, and a high level of social well-being.

Taking Action for Sustainability

200602091515

The Key to Sustainable Cities

200602051021

Most of the world�s population now lives in cities, but despite wide agreement on the core values of sustainable societies, municipalities are so busy solving current problems they don�t have the time or resources to plan effective action for sustainability. The Key to Sustainable Cities uses the principles of system dynamics to demonstrate how today�s problems were yesterday�s solutions. The book points to a new approach to city planning that builds on assets as a starting point for cities to develop healthy social, governance, economic, and environmental systems.

Serbia: December, 2005

200604042225

Americas Development Foundation needed a staff training on local economic development techniques, so Gwendolyn, Hunter Lovins, and Christopher Juniper traveled to Novi Sad in December to deliver a four day training.