Project Action Teams:
The Project Action Teams that emerged from the Global Summit on Social Responsibility, have refined their goals, outlined necessary action steps, and broadened their recruitment of colleagues and other organizations ready to move beyond conversation to actual identification of the business opportunities and substantive impact of positive change-making for a just and healthy world.
This global event offers opportunities for learning, collaboration, innovation, and momentum-building in relation both to your own organization's path toward social responsibility as a business driver and to those maps of work being created and prioritized by the Project Action Teams.
Age as an Asset in Initiating and Sustaining Social Responsibility Initiatives
Vision:“Age as an Asset” will increase the capacity of associations to launch and sustain SR initiatives by engaging adults age 50+. The project will identify the unique strengths that adults age 50+ bring to SR initiatives, and articulate strategies that associations can use to effectively incorporate the wisdom, experience, skill and energy of adults age 50+. The project will develop an “Age as an Asset” checklist, and identify resources to help associations engage adults age 50+. The project will incorporate “Age as an Asset” concepts into training opportunities offered by ASAE and The Center.
Global Capacity: All Welcome
Vision:Global Connectivity - Bring together the entire world to develop solutions addressing the world's most pressing problems.
Mission:Magnifying Global Communication - Build a global communication tool that engages people around the world for exploration of sustainability initiatives, and the creation of implementation teams.
Global Connections
Vision:Global Connections is a virtual social responsibility clearinghouse (database) that will allow associations to connect and share needs and resources. This database will house existing examples and models, profiles, resources, case studies, success stories, stories with room for improvement etc. using various technology and media. www.globalconnections.org will catalyze interconnectivity between associations and associations' members for successful collaboration with the world.
Global Social Responsibility Partnerships
Vision:To create a virtual vehicle allowing the facilitation of strategic partnerships among nonprofit organizations with needs and other nonprofits will resources to provide. (www.SRMatch.com)
Guiding Principles
Vision:The Guiding Principles for Social Responsibility project is an initiative of the association community that asks organizations to embrace, support and enact, within their individual spheres of influence, a set of core values that promote socially responsible action. The initiative will create principles modeled after a set of principles contained in the United Nations Global Compact, which contains 10 universally accepted principles defining objectives in the areas of human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption.
Clean Water Initiative
Vision:Inspired by economist Jeffrey Sach' stories of regional water shortages, this initiative will focus on developing a series of local projects to help communities obtain clean, safe, accessible water through sustainable low-tech solutions by harnessing the skills and technological expertise of ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership membership.
One World Award
Vision:This project is developing an awards program with a name such as “Global Awards for Social Responsibility” to be presented in three categories: humanitarian, environmental and economic justice. Winners would be recognized for leadership in areas such as the application of new technology, new ideas, ease of replication and outcomes. It will be coordinated with the existing ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership Make a Better World Award Program.
Organizational Structures / Alliances
Vision:The vision of this initiative is to create a simple easy to use structure that facilitates high degree of productivity. Use all available resources in manageable way to create a structure that is dynamic and adaptable as the Social Responsibility movement evolves. Consider two images - 1. Envision a marketplace where everyone can come to share/trade their thoughts, solutions, dreams, etc. combine with 2. The image of an organism that through multiple stimuli grows exponentially all the while staying connected. The vision builds on the themes of Empower, Engage and Equip so that everyone can ACT through the marketplace to grow the organism.
Public Policy: Dialogue & Action
Vision:In the United States, and globally, there is a need for action on many pressing issues, such as those identified by The Seven Wonders Project. These are issues of survivability that affect not only association members, but millions around the world.
In the U.S., the issues are polarizing around the two major political parties. There is no forum for a national policy dialogue for reasonable individuals who are not polarized along party lines. In other words, no place exists to enter into the dialogue or voice ideas for a vast majority of people who are not positioned at the far left or far right of the political spectrum.
We, the association community, can plant a stake in the ground as the "third sector" to make this dialogue happen and move the outcomes to action.
Quality of Life for All
Vision:Explore how associations can improve the quality of life for people across the globe and develop sustainable programs to maintain it. An educational toolkit and other tools such as a website that includes a clearinghouse of available resources could be used to facilitate this. This project team will identify the top five ideas that might work and develop those further.
Recycle/Free-cycle/SHAREcycle
Vision:AHA (Associations Helping Associations) This group will create a forum to discuss and explore ways in which associations can reduce their environmental footprint and reduce waste at association meetings by reducing the amount of conference materials, give aways, etc. and donate extras/leftovers to community organizations in the city where meetings are being held. The group also was interested in setting up a virtual trading system similar to Freecycle, whereby associations with excess items could offer them to other organizations. The site would also include a “wish list” opportunity for associations to list items they seek.
SR Innovation on the Edge
Vision:Design a technology- enabled “Innovation Edge” to match needs and solutions, and connect associations around the world (social networking). This project envisions supporting all of the other projects around technology, particularly the Global Connections, SR Partnerships and SR Toolbox projects.
SR on Tap
Vision:Recognizing that education and intergenerational leadership will be critical to social responsibility programs; this group will develop Innovative education strategies about social responsibility program successes, including a film festival and mini summits around the 7 Wonders project.
SR Toolbox
Vision:More specifically, the toolbox will:
- - Be an interactive, online repository of information that changes and grows.
- - Have specific strategies and guidelines to benefit people and their organizations.
- - Be process and principles oriented.
- - Be flexible and general in nature, so toolkit ideas and resources can be used to create SR processes, services, or products;
- - Serve as broad a spectrum of individuals and associations as possible.
Starfish Community Network
Vision:This project was inspired by the idea that even on a beach filled with thousands of stranded starfish; a person can make a difference by saving even one starfish. So it is with social responsibility – even a small program does some good. The group is creating a community sustainability plan that will include online resources and a toolkit for use within a variety of groups.
Seven Wonders of the Socially Responsible World
Vision:This project will identify goals in seven areas-- education, environment, peace and security, health, prosperity, social justice and innovation/technology--with the hopes of convening mini-summits on each of these topics.
Conflicts among nations and groups are resolved through principled negotiation, mediation and arbitration; war and terrorism have become relics of the past. Within nations all people live with security of the person, free from arbitrary arrest and imprisonment.
Social Justice
All the world's people have access to fundamental justice and due process. They have access to methods of expressing legitimate grievances and redress-, without resorting to violence or other illegitimate means.
Environment
All the world's people live in environments favorable to health in body, mind and spirit. They live in harmony with their environments in a manner that sustains the long-term health of the air, water, soil and the other living things with which they share the planet.
Prosperity
All the world's people have incomes adequate to meet their needs for food, clothing and shelter. Further, they have the opportunity and means to develop their personal potential for self-actualization.
Innovation/Technology
The focus of innovation is on development of technologies that heal the planet, eliminate poverty, and increase the health and well-being of all the world's peoples.
Health
All the world's people have access to safe drinking water, nourishing food, vaccinations against lethal diseases, and medicines and health care when they are ill.
Education
All the world's people are literate in their native language and have access to education that will enable them to reach their potential.
