Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Steve Brant Joins Editorial Board of NY Transportation Journal
In recognition of his work at NYC DOT's Bridge Bureau and his more recent help producing MOVING AMERICA FORWARD? A Presidential Candidates Forum on Transportation & Infrastructure (link to webcast of event) held at New York University in January of 2008, Steve Brant was recently invited to join the Editorial Board of the New York Transportation Journal. This journal is published by New York University's Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & Management.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Speaking at the Informal Cities symposium in Stockholm on September 7, 2008
Steve Brant will be speaking at the Informal Cities symposium in Stockholm, which is taking place from 6 - 8 September, 2008. Steve's topic will be Informal Global Governance: How Cities Can Get The Resources They Need.
Here is the abstract for Steve's presentation:
It is possible to reverse the "silent human catastrophe" that is under way in cities around the world. The secret lies in formulating a plan that addresses issues related to the design of the larger sociopolitical economic system in which the world's cities reside. While it is possible to use resources local to any one city to relieve life-threatening conditions on a short term basis, long term solutions require reshaping and redirecting the global sociopolitical forces that impact cities from outside. In this paper, I will talk about how the cities of the world can leverage the fact that they are now home to half of all the people on Earth to construct a plan for changing the sociopolitical economic system of the world for the better.
Starting with my knowledge of New York City’s plans to become a more sustainable city, I will discuss the limitations of efforts to find needed resources from within a city or even from within a state. Then, using my knowledge of the infrastructure crisis affecting both NYC and the USA as a whole, I will discuss the imbalance between funds spent on national defense and funds spent on projects to either renovate existing or construct new sustainable infrastructure. I will argue that this imbalance results from a contest between two mental models of how the world works: one based on obsolete beliefs from the past (such as zero sum economics) and one based on sustainable principles (abundance economics) from the future.
I will conclude by detailing a plan for resolving this conflict between past and future-based economics. The plan will leverage modern approaches to communication – both technological and sociological – to demonstrate how the world’s cities can acquire the resources they need from a transformed global economic system. The essence of this plan is the slogan “Every city has a foreign policy.”
Here is the abstract for Steve's presentation:
It is possible to reverse the "silent human catastrophe" that is under way in cities around the world. The secret lies in formulating a plan that addresses issues related to the design of the larger sociopolitical economic system in which the world's cities reside. While it is possible to use resources local to any one city to relieve life-threatening conditions on a short term basis, long term solutions require reshaping and redirecting the global sociopolitical forces that impact cities from outside. In this paper, I will talk about how the cities of the world can leverage the fact that they are now home to half of all the people on Earth to construct a plan for changing the sociopolitical economic system of the world for the better.
Starting with my knowledge of New York City’s plans to become a more sustainable city, I will discuss the limitations of efforts to find needed resources from within a city or even from within a state. Then, using my knowledge of the infrastructure crisis affecting both NYC and the USA as a whole, I will discuss the imbalance between funds spent on national defense and funds spent on projects to either renovate existing or construct new sustainable infrastructure. I will argue that this imbalance results from a contest between two mental models of how the world works: one based on obsolete beliefs from the past (such as zero sum economics) and one based on sustainable principles (abundance economics) from the future.
I will conclude by detailing a plan for resolving this conflict between past and future-based economics. The plan will leverage modern approaches to communication – both technological and sociological – to demonstrate how the world’s cities can acquire the resources they need from a transformed global economic system. The essence of this plan is the slogan “Every city has a foreign policy.”
Monday, February 25, 2008
The Jimmy Stewart Centennial Project
Steve Brant has received approval from The James M. Stewart Museum Foundation and the Stewart family for his proposal to organize a special Centennial Celebration Event in late 2008 in Washington, DC. (Jimmy Stewart was born in 1908.)
Leveraging the fact that Mr. Stewart's centennial is also an important election year, this event will focus on the question "How much better could the American government be?" and will be capped by a gala showing of the American classic film "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" at The Kennedy Center.
For more information, please go to www.JimmyStewartGoesToWashington.org
Leveraging the fact that Mr. Stewart's centennial is also an important election year, this event will focus on the question "How much better could the American government be?" and will be capped by a gala showing of the American classic film "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" at The Kennedy Center.
For more information, please go to www.JimmyStewartGoesToWashington.org
The Tällberg Forum - June 2008
Steve Brant will be participating in the Tällberg Foundation's annual Forum in June of 2008.
From the Tällberg Foundation's web site:
"For nearly three decades, the Tällberg Foundation has been deepening our understanding of issues related to leadership and change in society and business. The Foundation’s main focus of activity is to gather leaders from around the world and from a variety of backgrounds for discussions and reflection."
The overall question being dealt with at the Forum is "How on Earth can we live together?"
Steve is particularly thrilled to have been invited to join this network, because Dr. Russell Ackoff (Steve's mentor in the art and science of Systems Thinking) has a long standing relationship with Tällberg and has influenced them to use Systems Thinking in their own work.
From the Tällberg Foundation's web site:
"For nearly three decades, the Tällberg Foundation has been deepening our understanding of issues related to leadership and change in society and business. The Foundation’s main focus of activity is to gather leaders from around the world and from a variety of backgrounds for discussions and reflection."
The overall question being dealt with at the Forum is "How on Earth can we live together?"
Steve is particularly thrilled to have been invited to join this network, because Dr. Russell Ackoff (Steve's mentor in the art and science of Systems Thinking) has a long standing relationship with Tällberg and has influenced them to use Systems Thinking in their own work.
World Entrepreneurship Summit - January 2008
Steve Brant participated in the World Entrepreneurship Summit in London in January of 2008. Steve was on a panel discussing the financing of entrepreneurial ventures as part of the Summit's "Building the Evidence Base" track.
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