South Africa is at a crossroads. There is widespread disillusionment and anger manifesting itself in violent attacks, in protests and illegal actions. There is frustration as the people believed that a democracy should have brought the dawn of economic prosperity, which would have led to eradication of poverty, increase in employment, delivery of basic services etc. There is apathy, […]
A cross-sector, multi-regional group of Lab participants are currently co-developing a prototype to bring electric bamboo bikes to Bhutan. Below is an overview of how this idea came about, and its progress to date. During the sensing journey to Vietnam, Lab participants visited a gifted young craftsman Mr. Tan in Hoi An who comes from a family of bamboo artisans. His father builds traditional bamboo goods such as furniture and houses and Tan has learned the traditional art and craft but designs innovative products, such as a wonderful bamboo bicycle frame. Amongst the participants who joined this sensing journey was Tashi Wangchuk from Bhutan, who has designed a new electric car suitable for Bhutanese terrain, and Vietnamese participants Trinh, Giang and Hang, who are engaged in organic agriculture, sustainable communities, social entrepreneurship, new economics and more in Vietnam. As the group saw the bamboo bike, an idea emerged to bring all these interest together and to create a new product that would bring together all these elements in an integrated way, this is how the idea of “Bambootan, Bike to Happiness” came about. When Giang came to Bhutan for the learning journey in May, she brought with her a bamboo bicycle frame made by Tan. Tashi will use this frame to build the first prototype of Electric Bamboo Bike in Bhutan, and will test the prototype and hope to move it into production by the end of the […]
There are currently eight prototypes emerging from the Global Wellbeing Lab 2.0. Over the coming weeks, each will be profiled in detail on this blog. As a preview of things to come, here are the names, regions, and and a single-sentence snapshot of the current prototypes: Bambootan: Bike to Happiness (Cross-regional) – bringing together bamboo bikes, electric motors, and much more… A Flourishing South Africa – reawakening Ubuntu, revitalizing vision 2030, and a wellbeing lab for South Africa… Deepening Wellbeing at Eileen Fisher (North America) – creating a new paradigm of wellbeing at Eileen Fisher, with GNH as a spiritual reference point. This will be achieved through individual, organizational, and societal transformation. Towards an Ecosystem of Civic Learning (Europe) – contributing to a ”Civic Learning Ecosystem”, based on broader social and environmental values, such as those included in the GNH concept. Global Wellbeing Lab Network (Cross-regional) – developing, organizing, coordinating and communicating the work of the Global Wellbeing Lab network. WE 7 (Wellbeing Economies) (Cross-regional) – an alliance of the world’s leading well-being economies… Pura Vida 2.0 (Costa Rica) Name: TBD (Brazil) Bambootan will be the first prototype profiled. Stay tuned and check back later this week!
A few Global Wellbeing Lab participants have published articles and posted blogs in various outlets over the past few weeks. Here are a few that have been shared widely amongst lab participants: Humility can light up the heart. Nipun Mehta is a living example of this principle in action. Here is a transcript of a speech he recently gave to 4,000 people in Atlanta, Georgia (USA) on the radical power of humility Lab participant Lorenzo Fioramonti recently published an editorial for Foreign Policy magazine in the US. Embedded in the article is one of the bold new prototypes emerging, among a number of others, from Lab 2: the creation of a WE7 Summit as a convening of the top 7 wellbeing economy countries in the world (in direct contrast to G7). He elaborates on the idea in a separate post here. The WE7 is an idea for a prototype that emerged out of the Global Wellbeing Lab. Know of other articles we should link to? Leave us a comment below.
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